Summer begins on June 21st. One of my greatest joys is the cache of books I have hoarded through the winter. For every holiday since September (Christmas, my birthday, Mothers’ Day, Easter) I request books. Some are soft cover, but many are hard cover. They get stashed away and almost forgotten until the weather turns. Now it is time to pull them out, pack them up, and transport them to the cottage and the weekend read-fests begin.
I’ve always enjoyed the feature in Oprah Winfrey’s magazine that has famous people reveal what’s on their bookshelves. Some of my winter buys have been suggested by their descriptions of why they love certain books.
Here’s what’s in the cache this year:
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Feed My Dear Dogs – Emma Richler
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The Underpainter – Jane Urquhart
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The Piano Man’s Daughter- Timothy Findley
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The View from Castle Rock – Alice Munro
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Cellophane – Marie Arana
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To all appearances a lady – Marilyn Bowering
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Sweet Land Stories – E.L. Doctorow
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A spot of bother – Mark Haddon
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Stolen Lives – Malika Oufkir
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Ten Little Indians – Sherman Alexie
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The God of Small Things – Arundhati Roy
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The Shadow Boxer – Steven Heighton
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Stick out your tongue – Ma Jian
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The Courage Consort – Michel Faber
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Remember me – Trezza Azzopardi
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Mosaic – Soheir Khashoggi
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The Constant Gardener – John Le Carre
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Anna Karenina – Leo Tolstoy
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The other side of the bridge – Mary Lawson
Hi! I read a book by Doctorow a few years ago …. hold up in a B&B, sat in front of a fireplace (OK, just gas but it felt all cosy!) and read ‘City of God’. I wouldn’t put it on anyone’s ‘have to’ read list but for some reason it hit me at the right time, in the right way. It was probably more the time was right and that happened to be the book, but I remember liking that I thought about a lot of things as I read it, which is a great escape from the present.
Anyway, if you read his book noted above, do tell what you thought.
Thanks for sharing – I may have read City of God also – I read so much I often forget.
I’m just noticing that I’m reading books that aren’t even in the box yet….The Girls (about cojoined twins, in their voices – very cool); The Good House by Bonnie Burhard (Canadian, London, Ontario) and Smoke (Kitchener’s one community one read choice).
Let me know what books you recommend also.