March 11th was my blog's (affectionately known as Blob) 17th birthday. I didn't forget; I've just been distracted with moving and unpacking.
Cake's good anytime, right? Get that frosting knuckle-deep and all tardiness can be forgiven, or at least, that's my plan.
To celebrate this year, I thought that instead of looking back at the past and how Blob came to be, we'd look into the hazy future, glimpse a book-lined horizon, and take another peek at Blob's Endless Wishlist. 17 books, one for each year. Snort. Yeah, right. There are so many more than 17. Restraint is not my middle name:
The "Dolphin" Letters [Robert Lowell and Elizabeth Hardwick duking it out at the end of their marriage. Robert Lowell being his usual, um, self and using Hardwick's letters verbatim in his poems without her permission.]
Blitzed [Nonfiction. Nazis on speed]
River of Doubt [Theodore Roosevelt's perilous journey down the Amazon, 1913-1914. I must get around to this book!]
Home - Julie Andrews. [first volume of her memoirs]
Fire Season - Phillip Connors [recommended by my IRL bookworm buddy, Teri Pre AKA The Enabler]
Jack - Marilynne Robinson
The Vanishing Half - Brit Bennett [I got this for Christmas!]
Ottessa Moshfagh book. [New novel. 2020 Title?]
Becoming Duchess Goldblatt [Because Care loved it. I think she gave it like a gazillion slices of pie]
The Talented Miss Farwell - Emily Gray Tedrowe
Dancing at the Pity Party - Tyler Feder [Spawn read this graphic novel. Said good things about it]
Winners and Losers - Martin Quigley [1961 novel. Recommended by Nancy Pearl]
Imperfect Union: How Jessie and John Fremont Mapped the West, Invented Celebrity, and Helped Cause the Civil War - Steve Inskeep. [History]
Burnt Sugar - Avni Doshi
The Discomfort of Evening [Int'l Booker Prize winner]
The End of Vandalism - Tom Drury [Novel. 1994. Recommended by Nancy Pearl. A love (picture of triangle): Dan Norman, the sheriff of Grouse County, Tiny Darling, a mostly inept thief, and Tiny's wife, Louise]
The Fountain Overflows - Rebecca West [1957, novel]
Adrienne Rich biography
The Moth and the Mountain: A True Story of Love, War and Everest
Waste: One Woman's Fight Against America's Dirty Secret - Catherine Coleman Flowers
We Keep the Dead Close - Becky Cooper [Is it disconcerting to anyone else that this author has such a sprightly name and her book's subject matter is rather grim?]
Why We Sleep: Unlocking the Power of Sleep and Dreams
Divorcing - Susan Taubes [Novel. 1969.]
American Cheese: An Indulgent Odyssey Through the Artisan Cheese World - Joe Berkowitz
Eggshells - Catriona Lally [short stories? novel?]
Shuggie Bain - Douglas Stuart
Eat a Peach - David Chang [Chef. Memoir]
Hamnet - Maggie O'Farrell
3 Martini Lunch [Fiction? Nonfiction? ETA: This is about Sylvia Plath and Anne Sexton hanging out. No wonder it went on the wishlist!]
Pull of the Stars - Emma Donoghue
Eleanor - David Michaelis [biography. Madly circling this one at bookstores these days]
Requiem for a Dream - Herbert Selby, Jr. [Novel. 1978.]
Usually I would say 'Happy blogiversary!' but in this case it should be Happy Blobiversary! A great list- I have not heard of a single one of the books on your list. Except maybe Fire Season and Requiem for a Dream. Happy reading!
ReplyDeleteWow, the years are flying by, aren't they? It's hard to believe that anyone has been maintaining a blog for that long...yours must be one of the oldest ones still out there, I"m betting.
ReplyDeleteGreat list of books to look forward to during 2021. I've read a couple of them, and seeing a few others on the list has reminded me of my lost intentions to read those too. I'll have to revisit those.
Congrats!
Congratulations. Blob is on the cusp of adulthood! But seriously, 17 years is a long time. I am impressed. I am also impressed by the list of books. You have such a great mix of fiction and nonfiction. I've read the The Vanishing Half, The Fountain Overflows and Shuggie Bain. All are worth reading, for sure.
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