The Pile #2

Here's an updated look at the to-be-read pile to my right, from top to bottom...

Sherlock Holmes: The Complete Novels and Stories Volume 1 - We have been reading selections from here for the past 2 weeks of class, which has been just fine with me. This week we will be discussing "A Scandal in Bohemia" and "The Five Orange Pips" to close out our semester (outside of the paper due Wed. and our final the following Wed.). At some point, I would like to read everything in this and the second volume.

Asimov's June 2010 - Yes, I'm still many months behind on my SF magazines but I have at least started this one, which got off to a great start with Allen M. Steele's "The Emperor of Mars."

The Passages of H.M. - I just read about Jay Parini's novel based on Herman Melville's exploits and decided to request it at the library. It came in and I picked up it today. For some reason, my 19th century Brit Lit class has me thinking of the same period in American Lit and Melville is a biggie.

Masked - This has not been touched since the last picture of the pile. It will be at some point.

Chew Vol. 2 - The same can be said about this.

Fables Vol. 14: Witches - This latest volume of the long-running series just came out Thursday and I can't wait to dive into it. I really should finish the paper before that happens, though.

The Pile

Now that I've written about the last two things I've read, I thought I'd run down what's currently sitting in my to-be-read pile. I'll go top to bottom...

The Mar./Apr. issue of F&SF - No, you didn't read that cover date incorrectly. I'm waaaaay behind on my SF magazine reading - there are 3 more issues of F&SF and 7 (!) of Asimov's still socked away in a drawer (well, the drawer isn't big enough to hold them all, so some are shifted to the bookshelves behind me) after this one. On the plus side, I've read over 120 pages of this issue since last night and will read more after this post is completed.

English Victorian Poetry - We're spending two days on poems from this anthology between novels in my English class. We covered Robert and Elizabeth Barrett Browning and Matthew Arnold on Wednesday and will discuss Alfred, Lord Tennyson on Monday.

The Woman in White - This novel by Wilkie Collins is next up after the poetry. It's the longest novel we've read in class so far and I'll need to knock out large chunks in a short amount of time. I'd heard of Collins before this but not the book and I'm eager to check it out. Strangely, it also got a mention in Bob Dylan in America.

Masked - This is an anthology of super-hero prose stories edited by Lou Anders, who usually puts these sorts of things together very well. I've read the first four stories so far but that was a while ago. It's not that I've lost interest - I just need to carve out some more time.

Squirrel Seeks Chipmunk - I was a fan of David Sedaris's essays in The New Yorker back when I was a subscriber and this small book of short stories seemed like a good way to check in with him again. The title alone, you know?

The Last Run - This is the third (and final?) Tara Chace novel from Greg Rucka, a series that started as the comic Queen & Country. You know, I'm still not sure I own all those trades (a quick check reveals I didn't get the final one of the main series or a couple of the offshoots). Anyway, the last novel came out in 2005, so it's been a while.

Chew Vol. 2 - This collects issues #6-10 of the ongoing series about cibopathic Tony Chu. It's an odd premise and a great book.

Fantastic Four - This is one of the most venerable comics in the Marvel Universe, of course. This particular collection contains the first six issues of the current run by Jonathan Hickman which has gotten pretty good reviews. The first story is a multiple worlds tale and I'm a sucker for those, so I'm interested to see Hickman's take on the team.

It'll take a while to get through these but I'm always ready to read...