About a month ago, something very exciting happened to me. I was offered a part-time temporary position at a very popular independent new and used bookstore in Oakland, Walden Pond (we just won best bookstore 2010 in the East Bay Express!). This part-time temporary work was to be my foot in the door, to possibly acquire more hours and shifts in the future if I seemed to prove myself worthy. What was supposed to start out as a temporary gig two times a week, became in no time a nearly full-time job. I guess I proved myself? I'm pretty certain my entire body is not even in the door but far past it. And I'm really enjoying being a bookish nerd again, taking charge over the used fiction section, and having such a variety of projects going on at all times. Motivation to read has increased enormously, my list is growing yet again, and I find myself reading til I zonk out, something I haven't really done in awhile.
In the style of Nick Hornby's Polysyllabic Spree, the books I have recently finished, am in the middle of, and recently picked up are as follows.
Recently finished:
Herself in Love by Marianne Wiggins: Short stories focusing on mundane existence reminiscent of Raymond Carver, but far less sparse syntax. Each was better than the one before it, particularly "Insomnia" and the title story "Herself in Love".
The Effects of Living Backwards by Heidi Julavits: A satirical look at a post 9-11 reality in which plane hijacking preparedness is protocol was sadly disappointing. It feels like it could be Nabokov kind of cool, but really goes nowhere with its point other than to point out that people don't change.
Working on:
The Heart is a Lonely Hunter by Carson McCullers: Figured it is about time I read this classic! So far it is an intriguing character driven story that explores human behavior.
What is an Emotion? Classic Readings in Philosophical Psychology edited by Cheshire Calhoun & Robert C. Solomon: Bought this in Portland LAST AUGUST and finally cracked it open a number of months ago. The Introduction is hefty and I'm nearly finished just with it.
The Kiterunner by Khaled Hosseini: Chose this for a book club because the last tutoring session at the high school was on this book, it has been on the NY times bestseller list for at least 4 years, and we had a lot of copies at Walden Pond. Only a few chapters in and we're meeting on Saturday to decide when to finish it. It's told from the perspective of a man living in San Francisco who grew up in Afghanistan about what he experienced in the way of class and racism. At least, that's what I gather so far in a few chapters.
Coming up:
The Name of the Rose by Umberto Eco
Magister Ludi (or The Glass Bead Game) by Hermann Hesse
To See You Again by Alice Adams
One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez
The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake by Aimee Bender
