What's on the shelf?
My reading list for November - and probably December as well
Earlier this year, due to some stupid and bureaucratic legal issues, the interlibrary loan system in Maine was shut down. As a result, for several months, I was constrained to what I could find on the shelves of my local library, on my to-be-read shelf, and on my Kindle. It wasn’t like I was lacking anything to read (and honestly, it felt good to read some of the books that I’ve been planning to get to for several months years), but it was extremely irritating that I couldn’t simply request anything that took my fancy and have it turn up a few days later.
Instead, I kept a list of books to order when everything was back to normal. It’s… a long list.
Anyway, now it’s all up and running again, so today I started ordering some of the titles on my wishlist. When I add them to the books I’m already reading, I think they’ll keep me busy for a little while. Here’s what’s in store for me over the next few weeks.
Gilgamesh, Stephen Grundy: a lengthy retelling of the oldest known story.
Roadwork, Stephen King: a violent thriller, one of the Bachman books.
Crouchback, Sarah Woodbury: historical mystery/romance in 13th century Wales.
Islamic Spain, L.P. Harvey: Muslim life in Spain from the 13th to 15th centuries.
Nexus, Noah Yuval Harari: how humans have shared information for 10,000 years.
That Hideous Strength, C.S. Lewis: the third part of Lewis’s dismal attempt to write Christian SF.
Thus Spake Zarathustra, Nietzsche: re-reading this for the first time since college, because… I’m not sure, really.
The Call of Cthulhu, H.P. Lovecraft & Gou Tanabe: manga adaptation: I’m not sure what to expect.
The Warriors, Sol Yurick: the book which inspired the 1979 Walter Hill film.
Annihilation, Jeff VanderMeer: another book on which a film was based.
Marnie, Winston Graham: the source novel for the famous Hitchcock film. (Are we seeing a theme here yet?)
The Greatest Gift, Philip van Doren Stern: the book on which the film It’s A Wonderful Life was loosely based.
The Indian Tomb, Thea von Harbou: the source for one of my favorite Fritz Lang movies.
The Accidental Tourist, Anne Tyler: book club selection. I know absolutely nothing about it, but it looks dreary. However, I guess I can read it and then watch the movie with William Hurt, Kathleen Turner and Geena Davis.
The Book of Elsewhere, China Miéville (and Keanu Reeves): I know Reeves gets top billing as the author, but he didn’t write a word of it. It’s all Miéville, based on an idea by Reeves.
The Ministry of Time, Kaliane Bradley: billed as “a time travel romance, a spy thriller, and a workplace comedy,” so how could I say no?
Meanwhile, I’m listening to Day of the Triffids (John Wyndham) for the umpteenth time, and I also have The Moon and Sixpence (Somerset Maugham), The Blue Hour (Paula Hawkins), an adaptation of It Can’t Happen Here (Sinclair Lewis) and two new episodes of Pilgrim (Sebastian Baczkiewicz) queued up on audio.
So, what’s everyone else reading (or listening to)?
What a great reading list. I think I might steal a few :-) That Gilgamesh trans looks interesting. Love that you have Lovecraft on the list. Happy reading!
I've been reading a lot of R C Sherriff recently. I'm gearing up to dive into Proust (I may be some time) but after that I'm tempted to follow your lead and read some books that were turned into movies, especially those that are nothing like the movie. As Michael Powell said, "When you buy the rights to a famous book that turns out to be useless for a screenwriter's purposes, you keep the title and throw away the book."