Winter TBR

I've just gone through a spate of book ordering and buying and my TBR pile has all of a sudden grown astronomically. I thought I'd share some of the books I'm looking forward to reading this winter.

I'm currently reading Colson Whitehead's The Underground Railway. I heard about this book not because it's an Oprah Pick, but because the amazing Eleanor Wachtel interviewed him on her show, Writers and Company. Although I was slightly suspicious of the idea of the underground railroad being a real train, as opposed to a series of people and safe houses, this doesn't take away from the book. In fact, I'm sure this sort-of historical novel/genre-bending picaresque adventure will be one of my favourite reads this year.

I'm also looking forward to reading two Geoff Dyer books, Yoga for People Who Can't Be Bothered To Do It, and But Beautiful, A Book About Jazz. The Yoga book is a travel story, sort of. Dyer travels from place to place, (probably not doing yoga) and muses on journeys both exterior and interior. Since the Lieberman Smiths actually have some big travel plans coming up (2019!), I'm going to read this not with jealousy, but with my own future wanderings in mind. 

Forget Amazon or Goodreads algorithms, most of my reading comes from other people's suggestions. My former professor at the University of Windsor, Dale Jacobs, posted his top ten reads of 2016 on FB, and although it means I'll be a year behind in my reading, I'm looking forward to digging into Maggie O'Farrell's This Must Be The Place. I know very little about this book except it's about a man trying to find his place in the world.

When I'm on vacation, I like rummaging through second-hand bookstores for classics I've never read. I was in Toronto over the holidays and I picked up a copy of John Updike's Rabbit, Run. I can just hear the chorus of "What, you've-never-read-any-Updike? No, I've also never read any Bellow either, and I haven't delved into Russian lit the way I should, but Updike I shall read soon.

 Just when my list was looking like it had more male authors on it than female, Marjorie Ingall's Mamaleh Know Best: What Jewish Mothers Do to Raise Successful, Creative, Empathetic, Independent Children, came in the mail. I'm not sure I've ever read a parenting book (perhaps I should?) but Mamaleh looks both entertaining as well as instructive. Kudos to whoever designed the beautiful cover. (Jealous!) If Ingall's books is half as cheeky and interesting as her articles for Tablet, and her blog Sorry Watch, I'm sure I'll love it.