As part of my “Fill it Up” mini-happiness project this past weekend, I spent a wonderful hour in the library. Spending time with books and quiet left me refreshed and creatively replenished, but there was one downside: I ended up with far too many books to add to my already toppling tower.
Here was Saturday’s haul, half for research on my next historical novel, and half just for fun:
Research Reading
From top:
Connected: How Trains, Genes, Pineapples, Piano Keys, and A Few Disasters Transformed Americans at the Dawn of the Twentieth Century by Steven Cassedy (Longest. Subtitle. Ever.)
America’s Gilded Age by Milton Rugoff
America In The Gilded Age by Sean Dennis Cashman (Not sure how these similar titles will differ under the covers…)
America 1900 by Judy Crichton
Blizzard! The Great Storm of ’88 by Judd Caplovich (my actual topic for the novel!)
I’m hoping the middle three books will give me a solid general background on the era, and the last one focuses on the event I’m writing about. The first book is really more related to Waist, which I’m querying for at the moment, but I thought it seemed interesting and could be helpful to add more historical detail during re-writes.
Pleasure Reading
From top:
Find The Good: Unexpected Life Lessons From A Small-Town Obituary Writer by Heather Lende (seems like a good pick-me-up)
When to Rob a Bank by Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner (compilation of Freakonomics blog posts)
The Perfume Collector by Kathleen Tessaro (historical novel I’ve been meaning to read for awhile)
The Mansion of Happiness: A History of Life and Death by Jill Lepore (nonfiction; I’m curious to see how Lepore handles these gigantic topics)
Lost Lake by Sarah Addison Allen (I’ve been wanting to try another of her books since I read The Girl Who Chased The Moon over the summer)
The Road to Character by David Brooks (sociology + self-improvement, right up my alley)
How to choose between all these fabulous books, not to mention the ones I’m already reading? I doubt I’ll read all of them from cover to cover even if I renew them the maximum number of times, but I want to at least give each one a fair try.
Has anyone read these books? Any input before I dive in?
Ah, the joys and dangers of the library! I brought home a pile of books recently myself, and have enjoyed steadily reading through them. Don’t you feel rich when surrounded by so much book bounty?
I have no input on what to dive into as I haven’t read any of these, but I know you’ll enjoy picking each one up, reading a few pages, and deciding which one(s) to choose first. Have fun!
It does make me feel rich! Also relaxed. I could live in a library and my soul would be ever satisfied.