Book Inbox (11)
Whilst doing a late Spring clean this evening I decided to finally organise my overflowing bookshelf - which earlier today consisted of 3 squashed and disheveled shelves of books, 1 shelf of music/games and 1 shelf of DVDS. So, I put all my music/games in storage, which has given me a 4th shelf for my books to finally breath. During this reorganisation, I made a pile out of the books that I’ve not had the chance to read yet (or started reading and put aside).
Since the start of the year I’ve been reading nothing but journal articles and books for college, and since college ended term I’ve been indulging in a lot of fiction (Jeff Lindsay and Kathy Reichs in particular - don’t read into that too much!) but every single time I’ve looked at these books on my shelf individually, I’ve wanted (very much!) to start reading them, I just lack that extra motivation.
To motivate myself to read them all - I’ve set them aside on one half of my new 4th shelf (which just happens to be at eye level), and I plan on making sure that I get through all of them by the end of the Summer. They won’t be joining their comrades until they are read, so it’ll be like a Book Inbox, currently 11 unread books, and since there is nothing worse than a full inbox, I’m hoping these will be read quite soon.
What’s in your Book Inbox?
June 16th, 2008 at 10:17 pm
The Richard Dawkins one is a good one!
June 16th, 2008 at 11:06 pm
I read The God Delusion last summer, possibly the heaviest book you could choose to read by the pool on a sun holiday, but I enjoyed it nonetheless. After reading Human Instinct by Robert Winston I’d planned on reading The Selfish Gene as a follow-up but didn’t get the chance, till now!
June 17th, 2008 at 12:25 am
Just bin Dexter and watch the show, if a book has a very good television/film adaptation, don’t bother with it… you’ll just wind up on your deathbed saying “oh lord why did I read Upton Sinclair’s crappy book Oil?!”.
Books I have yet to read from my shelf:
Bob Dylan-Chronicles
Ray Bradbury-Farenheit 451
Haruki Murakami-Hard Boiler Wonderland and the End of the World
The other half of Franz Kafka’s short stories
the majority of The Best of Myles na gCopaleen
June 17th, 2008 at 10:24 am
Ah no - Dexter is worth the read (although the TV adaptation really did work better)
If you make it through Blink let me know what you think!!
June 17th, 2008 at 10:27 am
Wordpress for dummies?
June 17th, 2008 at 3:36 pm
I’ve got a lot of books to read and have done the same thing… but to no avail!
I fell head over heels in love with Christopher Brookmyre about 2 years ago and bought all of his books - have read 5 - there’s about 4 more I’ve started and stopped.
I’ve also got Brothers (about Kennedys).
I love books but there’s not enough time in the day!
And now we have to start reading college books again… boo
June 17th, 2008 at 3:38 pm
Oh and The Language Instinct is great - read it now Sinead!
June 17th, 2008 at 4:46 pm
Now there’s a question Sinead… I might make a list later, or you might have inspired me to write a post :-) I have at least 20 or more…
Definitely start on Blink - it’s eye opening.
June 17th, 2008 at 7:46 pm
Great idea. I’ve started so many books and not finished them. I’m two years reading “Seven Years in Tibet”. Maybe it’ll take me 7 years to finish it. :-(
June 17th, 2008 at 7:46 pm
@B’dum B’dum - I’ve actually read the first two Dexter novels and really enjoyed them, they’re more developed in some ways and the storylines are slightly different (especially in the second book) than the TV show.
@David - I’ve been dying to read Blink and The Tipping Point for ages, if you can see from my picture I got a few pages in and then got distracted by some other book. Everyone seems to be reading it at the moment though, so I’ll let you know how I get on.
@The other David - It’s more on the coding side of things, hoping to take the next step from tweaking wordpress themes to creating my own. You’re welcome to borrow it or flick through it next time you’re home.
@Karen - Christopher Brookmyre? Anything like The Dirk Gently novels by Douglas Adams? From the synpsosis of his books it seems that way. I might have to pick one of his books up, once I get through these! I think the college books are going to have to wait. As for the Language Instinct, I read most of it during 2nd and 3rd year but didn’t get to appreciate it as it was for class, looking forward to reading it for pleasure though.
@Rick - Make sure to take a picture and create a space for your books, I’ve already been inspired to start reading the Shatner autobiography and I can gladly report that it’s hilarious and wonderful, just like Shatner himself.
June 17th, 2008 at 7:50 pm
@aquaasho - Maybe it’s just not meant to be! I’ve bought books before and not read them, Dune for instance, I tried and tried and just gave up, realising that the writing style just wasn’t my cup of tea and so I just went and watched the movie again!
June 17th, 2008 at 7:59 pm
Wow, that’s a lot of non-fiction - respect! Pinker is great though.
I’ve got two books queued up on my bedside locker - Miranda July’s No-one belongs here more than you, and Michael Chabon’s latest, The Yiddish Policeman’s Union.
June 17th, 2008 at 8:08 pm
@Catherine - They might be non-fiction, but not too hard to get through. Except for Flow, that’s going to be tough (the typeface alone is teeny tiny!) but ultimately rewarding… I hope. Beside locker is a great place for books.
You know what I really need to add to my stack? A great piece of Science Fiction - can anyone recommend one? It’s very hard to find good sci-fi these days.
June 19th, 2008 at 1:03 am
Great post Sinead, and I love the comments too.
Beside my bed, between the sides of the table (ie underneath it), as yet unread or vaguely dipped into:
WordPress for Dummies
Getting Things Done
Victoria Finlay - Colour: A Natural History of the Palette
Jodi Picoult - Second Glance
Raja Shehadeh - Palestinian Walks
Sosei Natsume - I Am a Cat (didn’t like it much when I started it)
Philip Pullman - Northern Lights
Patricia Cornwell - At Risk
RHS - Gardening for Everyone
Michael Langford - Basic Photography
Katherine Swift - The Morville Hours
Jon McGregor - if nobody speaks of remarkable things - awaiting a reread.
Oh dear, that’s too many isn’t it. Maybe I’ll be inspired to start one of them again, after this!
June 19th, 2008 at 1:18 am
Oops that was ‘Wildlife Gardening for Everyone’, not that it matters (except to me).
June 19th, 2008 at 6:41 am
Ah great minds eh? I’m reading Blink at the moment. It’s quite interesting. I can recommend No Logo by Naomi Klein and you’ll love DiceMan by Luke Rhinehart.
My Inbox includes:
The Beach - Alex Garland
Lord of the Flies - William Golding
This is not a drill - Paul Carter
and now that’s to you…the google story ;)
June 20th, 2008 at 11:45 am
@Debbie - have you read Jon McGregor’s second book, So Many Ways To Begin? Just as arresting and original as his first (which I picked up on a total whim and have read about three times now).
June 20th, 2008 at 9:51 pm
Thanks for the inspiration there, Sinead. I’ve not only set up the book inbox but I’ve ordered The Shat’s book and Blink too. As you may have noticed, I’m very easily influenced.
June 21st, 2008 at 12:28 pm
@ Debbie - I’ve dipped into WP for Dummies too, I just wish I had an online project to motivate myself to read the entire thing. Would you recommend Jodi Picoult? The GF seems to like her, but I’m not big into sentimental emotional drivel.
@ Sonya - I’ve read No Logo, have you read the Shock Doctrine? It’s size is very intimitading, so I haven’t picked it up yet. Lord of the Flies is a great read, you’ll definitely enjoy that.
@ Pedro - Nothing wrong with being influenced! I’m a few chapters into the Shatner biography now, he’s very funny and wonderfully honest but you have to try see past his GIGANTIC ego.
June 27th, 2008 at 10:13 am
@ Debbie, Catherine…. Totally agree about Jon McGregor, I randomly picked up “if nobody speaks of remarkable things” mostly because I found the cover quite arresting (I totally judge books by their covers) and was transfixed, read it all in one go. The biggest surprise about “So many ways to begin” for me was how different in style it was to the first - I love authors who surprise me like that. Can’t wait to read more from him.
June 30th, 2008 at 12:10 am
Hey Sinead. Finally getting around to this!!! Have posted mine http://rickoshea.wordpress.com/2008/06/30/2-b-red/ and can highly recommend as much sci-fi as you like. Not sure of what you’ve read I’d put these at the top of my list:
Anything by Arthur C Clarke pre-1990 or so…
John Wyndham - Day Of The Triffids
Harlan Ellison - Shatterday
Philip K Dick - The Man In The High Castle
Douglas Adams - The Guide parts 1 to 5
Richard Matheson - I Am Legend
Just to start like…
June 30th, 2008 at 7:28 pm
Thanks for the sci-fi suggestions. I’ve read everything by Douglas Adams and Philip K. Dick (have you never read my “about me” section? :P) and a lot of Arthur C Clarke, but I’ll definitely look into the others, thanks Rick! I’ll add them to my “Books to buy once your Book Inbox is empty” list.
July 9th, 2008 at 12:06 pm
I did this the other day! I cleared my book space… just figuring out my camera phone is the next problem! :)
July 9th, 2008 at 11:34 pm
That’s great! I’ve gotten through two books so far, but am now very distracted catching up on Boston Legal. Reading the Shatner autobiography made me want to watch it badly! And it’s so so good too.
July 10th, 2008 at 6:12 pm
I’m embarrassed by the lack of books i’ve gone through.
I do like Boston legal though too! :D