Have You Finished Your 2013-2014 To-Read List?

I know I haven't! I haven't finished my 2012 list yet, either. Bygones? No, just bigger stacks. Sigh.

But since it's more fun to reflect on books I'm glad I read than books I wish I had time to read... what was your favorite read of the 2013? And would you like to blog about it? I welcome guest posts, folks!

(The best way to reach me is via my silly Facebook page or by sending a message on Twitter.)

This year, there was no doubt about my favorite book. While I read an about-even mix of fiction and non-fiction titles, the amazing story of Henrietta Lacks, so well-told by Rebecca Skloot, was my hands-down favorite.

I hope you had a favorite (or a dozen) this year, and that 2014 brings you many more worth flipping through. Cheers!

Are White Chicks All That? Notes in the Margin & Unfinished Books of 2013

DON'T LOOK NOW but there are only 27 more reading days left in 2013. Sadly, Hilton Als' White Girls is going to be on my list of unfinished books this year. And it's a long list. ~ sigh ~

Why didn't White Girls make the gotta-finish pile of books? As much as I enjoyed (all 100+ pages of!) the first essay in the compilation, Tristes Tropiques also made my head hurt a bit. On some pages, I felt lost; then Als threw me a line and I got hooked again. One that grabbed me:

Rube's Cubes from Agweb.com

Our love was a confusion of non-twinning, that is, we didn't recognize anything of ourselves in the other. [p 17]

A fine line, isn't it?  But there's a big pond of brilliant writers and too many of them beckoned me at the time.

Addicted to Nonfiction?

In addition to Ann Pachett's tempting Truth and Beauty and her dear friend's Autobiography of a Face, I'm determined to close the year with no un-read issues of National Geographic and CRJ. And that's a daunting task.

Bridget Jones' New Tricks 

Sometimes it's easy to dismiss a book. I mean, you know right away if something isn't worth your time, right? Well, I thought so until the NYT made me think again about the middle-aged Bridget Jones. Dagnabbit.

What about you? I'm always open to guest bloggers -- whether you'd like to gloat about all the books you've read this year or wallow in the guilt of a too-tall stack of unfinished books. Or play a game, like Guess Who Has the Most Library Late Fees? That's always fun.*

Contact me if you wanna be my next guest poster!

~Diane Stresing

* I swear, it wasn't me!