So Many Books, So Little Time...

Currently Reading: The Witch's Daughter by Paula Brackston and Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix by J.K. Rowling

Lately, I discovered a magazine called "Bookmarks" that is entirely about books. (A magazine about books? What a wonderful concept!) Each issue includes in-depth reviews, themed book lists, and various articles about particular books or authors. I already have favorite magazines for the genealogy buff and the farmgirl inside of me, but now I have finally found a magazine for my inner book nut!

I have also finally decided to indulge in three books I have wanted to pick up for a long time: Book Lust, More Book Lust, and Book Lust to Go, all by Nancy Pearl. Pearl is a librarian who wrote these books as a way to help readers find books they will enjoy. Each book includes themed lists that point readers to books new and old, along with Pearl's witty or insightful commentary. Although I have always been excited about these books, I have also been extremely reluctant to read them, for one weird and insane reason: I have too much to read already. The beautiful thing about magazines or books which discuss and recommend books is that you find more books to add to your list. The awful thing about magazines or books which discuss and recommend books is that you find more books to add to your list. And my list is long. Jacob could climb it to heaven and skip the ladder altogether. So why attempt to add more to it?

It all comes back to my favorite buzzword: "potential." I am convinced there is nothing better than the prospect of new worlds, new stories, and new characters to discover. One of the best parts of finding new books is that you never know when it will happen. Perusing bookstore shelves, getting recommendations from friends, shelving a book while working, surfing fantasticfiction.com.... the potential to find the next "Yes, that book spoke to my soul" book is what propels my quest. I live for that moment of intense excitement and delicious anticipation that follows a great book find, that Christmas-morning/vacation travel/first kiss sort of jittery feeling in my stomach. I relish surfing through reviews, admiring book covers, and skimming jacket covers. Some people may get their endorphins from exercising; I get mine from book hunting.

And so Book Lust will be in my hands shortly.

Some of the new treasures on my book list:
- The Dovekeepers by Alice Hoffman (I loved her novel The Red Garden, so although this looks much different, I am greatly looking forward to it)
- Sarah's Key by Tatiana de Rosnay (Picked up this little find at a UW-Madison bookstore for about a buck... very exciting)
- The Orphan Sister by Gwendolen Gross (I am always intrigued by books that center on family relationships. Not sure how good this one will be, but it reminded me of The Weird Sisters by Eleanor Brown and I loved that one)
- War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy (I have pushed this one back too many times- it is time to just dive in).
- Boone County Then and Now (Because what would life be like without some local history thrown in?)
- The Book Lust books mentioned above, which will no doubt cause my reading list to double
- A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man by James Joyce (I need a little Irish in there)
- The Good Earth by Pearl Buck (A recommendation made long ago, but never followed up on)
- The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde (Another one that has been on my list for quite some time)
- The Wilder Life: My Adventures in the Lost World of Little House on the Prairie by Wendy McClure (Since I am nothing if not a giant Little House fan!)
- Not to mention the eighty or so books I have on the Reread List; plus, Nathan and I are still wending our way through the glorious world of Harry Potter. Whew! This bookworm is going to be very busy.... busy but irresistibly, magnificently happy. That is the power of a book, my friend. Now if you'll excuse me, I have an issue of "Bookmark" to read. Happy book hunting!