1. The book(s) I'm currently reading:
I've been on a Richard Yates kick lately and this biography by Blake Bailey is fantastic. I started Little Boy Lost yesterday, too.
2. The last book I finished:
The Report by Jessica Francis Kane - my review is here.
3. The next book I want to read:
This is the hard one... will it be one from my London pile,
or a classic,
or perhaps one from the shelf?
4. The last book(s) I bought:
5. The last book I was given:
See number two above... it came from a fellow book blogger (thanks again, Lynne!).
Let me know if you decide to play along with One Book, Two Book. Simon is collecting links, too.
Happy Mother's Day! The Children's Book leaps out at me from all of these. Such a wonderful book, and well worth the long read.
ReplyDeleteWow -you've got STACKS of lovely books to choose from there.
ReplyDeleteHalf of a Yellow Sun is my favourite book of this year so far. I hope you enjoy it :)
ReplyDeleteI am drooling over your London book pile!
ReplyDeleteGreat post!
ReplyDeleteI hope you like Little Boy Lost. I read (& reviewed) it a few months ago and loved it.
Tough choices for picking your next read....you have many books that are also on my shelf or on my tbr list. I especially want to read the last 2 you bought, Half a Yellow Sun and The Weismann's of Westport.
You have some wonderful Persephone books, too!
How exciting!
Enjoy, JoAnn!
Happy Mother's day.
Frances - I HAD to buy a paperback copy of The Children's Book when we were in London...don't care for the US cover at all. Seems like it would be a good summer read.
ReplyDeleteVerity - It's a nice to have a selection to choose from, but too many choices can get overwhelming... need to keep within the happy medium.
Tiny Library - I've been waiting for a reasonably priced copy to cross my path for quite a while... was thrilled to find it in Florida!
Reviewsbylola - LOL! That is my most comforting pile of books :-)
Amy - I've only read the first 30 pages or so, but loved Little Boy Lost instantly. My Sanibel finds made me very happy - think I'll reread Sense & Sensibility before The Three W's of Westport.
Oh, such problems to have, right? I don't think I've read any of them, but I think if my arm were twisted I could come up with a few I'd read!
ReplyDeleteSo many great books to pick from, no wonder you can't decide! I'll echo Frances and suggest The Children's Book, though. Definitely worth the time investment.
ReplyDeleteWhat a bounty to choose from for your next book! And makes me realise I must read more Whipple...
ReplyDeleteBeautiful stacks of books! I vote for THE SPACE BETWEEN US from your shelves :)
ReplyDelete(p.s. it's nice to see a sunny header photo ... spring is here!)
We truly have similar taste in books. Nice stacks there JoAnn.
ReplyDeleteBTW...Thanks so much for the sweet comment on my Mother's Day post. I appreciate it. Hoping your day was special as well.
What a nice dilemma you have. So many nice choices. I like those nice gray books from London. One of those would be my choice.
ReplyDeleteLOL! I was going to join in on this meme last night but couldn't come to a definitive conclusion about my next read. Good for you, you left it wide open!
ReplyDeleteI really hope you love Little Boy Lost as much as I did, the ending blew me away.
All of your piles look lovely..have fun choosing!!
ReplyDeleteOh, I was going to say The Children's Book but then I saw The Makioka Sisters. I think you would really like that one.
ReplyDeleteLovely, lovely books . . . too difficult to choose!
ReplyDeleteYou have some awesome choices here! Little Boy Lost sounds good!
ReplyDeleteHappy Belated Mother's Day JoAnn. I read Half of a Yellow Sun a while back and I just loved that book. It's hard to pick when there is so much to choose from to read.
ReplyDeleteLots of lovely books to chose from.
ReplyDeleteI played along this week. Good way of focussing ones mind!
Happy Mother's Day!
ReplyDeleteI see the Space Between Us on your shelf and heartily recommend it - it is great!
I love the new picture of the lake, btw - the colors of the sky are beautiful!
Sandy - I'll bet you've read at least a couple of these.
ReplyDeleteNymeth - I've never read Byatt, so I'm looking forward to The Children's Book.
Simon - I loved Someone at a Distance, but Whipple is unbelievably hard to find in the US. I seized the opportunity to stock up :-)
Dawn - I'm hoping to get my book club to read The Space Between Us. Maybe I could sell it better if I read it first!
Diane - Our tastes seem very similar - that's just one reason I value your opinion;-)
Margot - Oh yes, those nice grey books. I love them!
Darlene - I know the photos of multiple books were cheating a bit, but I seriously have no idea what my next book will be.
Staci - You can be sure I will!
Gavin - My mother just read The Makioka Sisters and is recommending that one, too.
Beth F - It IS hard to choose when there are so many great books in the stack.
Sheila - I'm loving Little Boy Lost so far.
Darlene - There have been so many great reviews of Half a Yellow Sun over the past couple years. I just knew a copy would come my way eventually. I'm hoping my book club will read it!
josbookjourney - This is such a fun meme! I'll be over to see your answers, too.
Booksnyc - The Space Between Us is a book I bought hoping my book club would select it. I'll still read it even if it's not chosen, then I can lobby even harder.
Wow, lots of great choices! I can recommend Love in a Cold Climate; The Belly of Paris; and The Priory. All great, great books.
ReplyDeleteKaren K - Almost too many good choices! I bought The Belly of Paris last year, and I feel a Zola mood coming on soon...
ReplyDeleteYe gadz your London pile gives you some wonderful things to choose from. I love love love the Whipple short stories but I just finished They Were Sisters today and I think it may have bumped the short stories form their top spot as my favorite Whipple. Then again I really liked the Priory as well. And Some Tame Gazelle is my favorite Pym. Can't wait to hear what you have to say about all of those.
ReplyDeleteThomas - What I really need to do is take the whole stack and head to an island off the coast of Maine ;-)
ReplyDeleteWashington Square is on my shelf waiting to be read and its length looks tempting right now! Hope you had a great Mother's Day :)
ReplyDeleteStacybuckeye - I really liked the other James novels I've read, so bought this at out Border's store closing sale. Hope to get to it soon.
ReplyDeleteIf I can steal some more moments I might do this for tomorrow since I have noooooooooothing bookish to write about as of late. ;)
ReplyDeleteI just got a Persephone catalogue in the mail. Have you read any of their books that you'd recommend. Really want to get a couple but have no idea where to start!
Enjoy Half of a Yellow Sun. Beautifully written.
Trish - I don't think you can go wrong with anything in the Persephone catalog! Some of my favorites have been Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day, The Home-Maker, and Someone at a Distance. My tbr pile is stocked with several more after our trip to London.. can't wait to get to them all! Will look forward to your One Book, Two Book post.
ReplyDelete