My TBR is fuller than ever with all the new spring offerings. It's almost overwhelming, but I'm up to the task. Here is what I'm most excited about reading:
FICTION
Jane Steele came out last year, but something about it has been gnawing at me since. I like the cover, but I also am interested in an alternate reality in which Jane Eyre is a serial killer. I did my homework on this, and it seems like a well done reimagining, and the deaths aren't gruesome. Has anyone read it? What did you think?
I made a mini-challenge this year to read a reading curveball, and I think Dark Matter might be it. I've read so many bloggers who just loved it, even though they're not sci-fi readers. I think I'll give it a whirl and see how it goes.
I'm seeing some buzz for Exit West, and what I'm hearing mostly is that this one isn't about the plot (an immigration love story), but about the beautiful writing.
The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency series made an Alexander McCall Smith fan of me, so I'm interested to try another of his series. I settled on The Sunday Philosophy Club from the Isabel Dalhousie series.
Amy Stewart is releasing book three in the Kopp Sisters series, Miss Kopp's Midnight Confessions. I plan to read book two soon so I'm caught up before this is released in the fall.
And then there's Mr. Rochester, a novel filling out the other half of the Jane Eyre story by giving us the tale of Mr. Rochester's life. Can I just tell you how much I love that cover?
I was intrigued by My Mrs. Brown when it came out, then it fell off my radar, and now I've rediscovered it (and bought a copy). It's about an unassuming women who needs a very special dress for a very special occasion, and the reader knows no more than that. I'm a sucker for a quiet novel.
I've bought a copy of We Were the Lucky Ones though I've had enough hefty WWII novels for a bit.
Speaking of WWII novels, I recently bought a copy of The Chilbury Ladies' Choir, about a women's church choir during the war. I hope it will be something like The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society, which I'm absolutely adoring right now.
NONFICTION
I have a very romantic view of baseball. If I have to watch a spot, it will be baseball. And I love baseball movies and books about baseball. Also, I love road trip books. I Don't Care If We Never Get Back combines baseball and road trips, and it sounds like the perfect summer read.
The Preacher and the Presidents is written by the team who wrote The Presidents Club. I've always been a little fascinated by Billy Graham and the fact that he had a personal relationship with most every recent president. This book examines those relationships.
Having just read Bret Baier's book about Eisenhower, I've added his memoir about his little son, Paul, to my list of things to read someday.
PERSONAL GROWTH
Yeah, I've included Astrophysics for People in a Hurry in my "personal growth" section. I feel I need to fill some knowledge gaps, and Seven Brief Lessons on Physics didn't do it for me.
In February, I read Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie's We Should All Be Feminists, and I was less than impressed with its simplicity. Perhaps her follow-up, Dear Ijeawele, or A Feminist Manifesto in Fifteen Suggestions will go into more depth.
There is a strong pull within me toward minimalism, but at the same time, I like the cozy feeling of being surrounding by things with strong memories and deep beauty. The two desires war with each other, and I live pretty successfully somewhere in the middle of minimalism and hoarding. But Fumio Sasaki's Goodbye, Things is likely a book I'll read to satisfy my Japanese-minimalism self.
I ran across 13 Things Mentally Strong People Don't Do lately, and judging by the table to contents, I have trouble with at least six of the thirteen, so I picked up a copy for my personal growth mini reading challenge.
I'm a fan of Jen Hatmaker, and I adored her last book, For the Love. Of Mess and Moxie comes out this August, and I can't wait. She writes about being a bold Christian woman, a wife, a mom who makes hilarious mistakes, and a church worker, and she does it with such candidness and humor you can't help but say "Amen."
Gretchen Rubin is coming out with a new book detailing her personality framework, The Four Tendencies. I'm not really into personality frameworks, and I prefer her happiness books to her recent one on habits, but Rubin is one of my auto-buy authors, so I'll be buying a copy as soon as it's released.
BOOKS ABOUT WORDS
It's been awhile since I've found a book about words to gobble up. I'm ready for these. Naboko's Favorite Word Is Mauve is a book that statistically examines authors' most-used words, and tells us what that says about them. It sounds much more fascinating than that. I'm a sucker for books that try to quantify things like this.
And then there's Hemingway Didn't Say That where Garson O'Toole corrects misconceptions about who said what and why others often get attributed.
ART
President George W. Bush turned to painting after leaving office, and Portraits of Courage is a short-ish book of his paintings of soldiers with accompanying stories.
And for a touch of whimsy: Peanut Butter Dogs, a book of photographs of dogs trying to eat peanut butter. It doesn't take much to satisfy some folks. And by some folks, I mean me.
POETRY
I've added four books of poetry to my to be read list to help me reach my reading goal of reading 1,000 poems again this year. I've added: Hafiz's The Gift, The Essential Emily Dickinson (selected by Joyce Carol Oates), Robert Hass's The Apples of Olema, and Garrison Keillor's O, What a Luxury.
GARDENING
I am not a gardener. I'm ready to admit that now. I want to be one, but I am not one. I resent weeds too much to be a gardener. But I love books about gardening. I think The Thoughtful Gardener looks gorgeous (check out the pics on Amazon), and I've long wanted to read The Wild Braid, conversations with poet and lifelong gardener, Stanley Kunitz.
CHILDREN'S
And last but not least, some exciting children's books. See You in the Cosmos is being compared to the best in contemporary children's literature, including Wonder. It sounds wonderful.
Juana & Lucas is the winner of an ALA award, and it looks charming.
I've wanted to read the first in the Ruby Redfort series, Look into My Eyes, for awhile now.
And a third Calpurnia Tate Girl Vet book will be out in the fall: Who Gives a Hoot?
Whew. That was a long list. Who knows how long it will take me to get to some of these, but, as I like to remind my husband: books keep.
What have you added to your TBR lately?
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