10 New Must Reads for February

So my favorite bookstore just posted this list on Facebook and oddly enough the #1 book was the one I was considering on the bus this morning.

1. Wise Men - Stuart Nadler
2. My Brother's Book - Maurice Sendak
3. How Literature Saved My Life - David Shields
4. The Love Song of Jonny Valentine - Teddy Wayne
5. See Now Then - Jamaica Kincaid
6. The Dinner - Herman Koch
7. This is Running for Your Life: Essays - Michelle Orange
8. Vampires in the Lemon Grove - Karen Russell (I still want to read Swamplandia!)
9. White Girls - Hilton Als
10. The Office of Mercy - Ariel Djanikian

Which ones are you adding to your reading list?

I think I'm definitely in for Wise Men, The Dinner, Vampires in the Lemon Grove (I have a new appreciation for short stories), and The Office of Mercy.  Part of me almost wants to try to read all ten (sorry bank account) but then again February is the shortest month and I'm sure there will be another 10 new must reads in March.  So many books, so little time. 

#sofanuary in review

So I spent most of the month of January celebrating my birthday throughout the country (SF, NOLA, NYC).  All of that travel time gave me plenty of time to read.  See below for my quick reviews.

Tenth of December - George Saunders (NY Times Article)

• I've never been one for short stories but this book had me from page one.  I constantly found myself at the end of the story wishing for more.  I also noticed that with short stories the emotions hit your quicker and harder.  ‘Puppy’ killed me.  This a quick read so pick it up!

The Age of Miracles - Karen Thompson Walker (NY Times Review)

• Told from the point of view of a 10 yr. girl starting on the day they realized that Earth's turning has started to slow.  I feel different reading books from the point of view of a child as though I’m suddenly been transported back in time myself.  It is amazing to watch the impact the small impacts that something so huge has on society.  I constantly found myself wondering how people could continue living there lives with so much uncertainty surrounding their future.  I wanted to know how it happened and how it was going to be fixed.     

I picked up The Age of Miracles in a bookstore on Lexington Ave in the Upper East Side.  I still love dropping into bookstores and taking a look around.  I find the experience much more personal that just downloading a book.  I still split my time between "real books" and downloads but will stop in a bookstore any chance I get.

What is everyone else reading?