Homer & Langley by E.L. Doctorow

There is a fantastic used bookstore in Chattanooga called McKay's. Every time we pass through the city we try to stop by. Usually I'm trolling around for YA novels for my classroom library, but this time I was actually trying to find myself some literary fiction. Since deciding that I was going to read 50 non YA books this year, I've had to face the fact that my taste in literary fiction has become somewhat atrophied over the last several years. I'm on a very laid back mission to work on that.

To that end, I snagged an E.L. Doctorow novel: Homer & Langley. My reasoning on this is a little vague, but here's how it went. Fact 1: over ten years ago a person, who's taste in literature I trust, recommended that I read Ragtime. I dutifully bought the book and never managed to read it. I later found out that this is not an entirely uncommon experience of the book. Fact 2: I became a fan of Cory Doctorow. Fun tidbit - Cory Doctorow is not at all related to E.L. Doctorow, but speaks of him highly. I figured therefore that I would give good ole E.L. another chance.

So then, Homer & Langley.  Well the good news is that I was riveted. I read most of it in the car on the way back from Chattanooga. I finished it the next day on the couch which resulted in me wallowing in a profound funk. Reading Homer & Langley is like watching a train wreck happen. I mean it's just awful. Both Homer and Langley are easy to sympathize with and the entire book is watching them slowly descend into secluded insanity.

Homer and Langley are the children  of privilege living in New York City. The lived in an elegant home during and elegant time. Homer is blind. He goes blind as a teenager. Langley, the older brother, survives the first world war but is ravaged by a mustard gas attack. By the time Langley gets home, the sibling's parents succumb to the influenza epidemic.

Langley isn't right in the head and slowly descends into madness. Homer, due a somewhat passive nature, becomes more and more reliant on his mad brother who compulsively collects junk and feels a deep distrust of most.

It doesn't end well.

In fact, the end was so awful that I ended up feeling just deeply icky and depressed. The only thing that made me feel better was to find out that the book is based on two real brothers who lived in New York. I'm not sure why that should make me feel better, but somehow it does. I spent the rest of the evening reading up on Homer and Langley Collyer who are one of the most notorious and publicized cases of compulsive hoarding. Interesting stuff.

Ok, next... something happy.

Catch-Up Week . . . I Hope

I am continuing to slide behind so I'm going be a little underhanded in order to make up some ground. So I'm going to stack the list with books that are either short or likely to be quick reads. Normally, to read on pace I would have to read about four books a week so I'm going to give myself four easy/quick reads. The rest of the books on the list will be more normal for reading lengths. Ideally, I'll manage five books this week if not six.

1. The Case Against Tomorrow by Frederik Pohl - Short Stories (I only have three stories left in the collection)
2. The Westing Game by Ellen Raskin - YA (It's really short)
3. Life is Funny by E.R. Frank - YA (It's young adult and while not super short, it's also not long)
4. I Am David by Ann Holm - YA (very short)
5. Clockwork Angel by Cassandra Clare - YA
6. Clockwork Prince by Cassandra Clare - YA
7. Clockwork Princess by Cassandra Clare - YA
8. City of Heavenly Fire by Cassandra Clare - YA (all the Clare books are hefty coming at around 500 pages each in length but I have them from various libraries and need to get them read and back)

Keep your fingers crossed for me.

Keeping the Pace

So, according to the little widget in Goodreads, I'm about 5 books behind my pace for 200 books. The pace I'm at would put me at about 160 books by the end of the year which is none too shabby anyway. However, I would really like to see if I can manage the 200. So, while the number to make up is still low, I'm going to make up the difference.

To stay on pace it works out that I need to read 16.66 books per month, or 3.8 books week, or roughly 1 book every two days. It's not an impossible pace, but it is a tough one.

Additionally, I have all those subgoals. It's turning into an interesting puzzle. I think for the next few weeks, I'm going to start putting together a weekly selection of about six books just to keep things moving in the right direction.

So for this week, the selection is:

1. City of Lost Souls by Cassandra Clare - YA (I'm in the middle of the series and would like to keep it moving.)
2. Abhorsen by Garth Nix - Adult Lit (Also the middle of a series)
3. Birthday Letters by Ted Hughes - Poetry (on loan, so I'd like to get it back before it gets absorbed)
4. Masterpiece by Elise Broach - Middle Reader/YA (been sitting on it for a while and it's short)
5. Lords and Ladies by Terry Pratchett - Adult Lit (middle of a series but also just because)
6. Lemonade Mouth by Mark Peter Hughes - YA (I have it out from the library and I'd like to get it read and back)
7. The Power and the Glory by Graham Greene - Adult/Classic (because I've already got it started...so a bonus book)

We'll see if this helps me get going.

Master List Version 1.0

Ok, I'm going to do this a little different this year. Instead of brand new themed lists each month, I'm going to work off of a master list. The list is a work in progress, so every month or two I'll pull off the things that are read and add in new titles that make the stack.

At the end of each month, I'll post a running list of the titles read for the year.

YA Lit

1. Crewel by Gennifer Albin (L)
2. Altered by Gennifer Albin (UF)
3. Unraveled by Gennifer Albin (UF)
4. He Said, She Said by Kwame Alexander (UF)
5. The Crossover by Kwame Alexander (UF)
6. Booked by Kwame Alexander (UF)
7. Solo by Kwame Alexander (UF)
8. The Playbook by Kwame Alexander (UF)
9. The One and Only Ivan by Katherine Applegate (L)
10. El Deafo by Cece Bell (L, GN)
11. The Letter, the Witch, and the Ring by John Bellairs
12. Masterpiece by Elise Broach
13. Drowned City: Hurricane Katrina & New Orleans by Done Brown* (GN)
14. Simon Thorn and the Wolf's Den by Aimee Carter* (UF)
15. Simon Thorn and the Viper's Pit by Aimee Carter*
16. The Warrior Heir by Cinda Williams Chima (CL)
17. The Wizard Heir by Cinda Williams Chima (CL)
18. The Dragon Heir by Cinda Williams Chima (UF)
19. The Enchanter Heir by Cinda Williams Chima (UF)
20. The Sorcerer Heir by Cinda Williams Chima (UF)
21. The Bone Witch by Rin Chupeco*
22. City of Bones by Cassandra Clare (L)
23. City of Ashes by Cassandra Clare (UF)
24. City of Glass by Cassandra Clare (L)
25. City of Fallen Angels by Cassandra Clare (L)
26. City of Lost Souls by Cassandra Clare (L)
27. City of Heavenly Fire by Cassandra Clare (L)
28. The Pants Project by Cat Clarke*
29. Code Orange by Caroline B. Cooney (L)
30. The Maze Runner by James Dashner (L)
31. The Scorch Trials by James Dashner (UF)
32. The Death Cure  by James Dashner (UF)
33. The Eye of Minds by James Dashner*
34. The Rule of Thoughts by James Dashner* (UF)
35. The Game of Lives by James Dashner* (UF) 
36. 13 to Life by Shannon Delany (L)
37. Secrets and Shadows by Shannon Delany (L)
38. Bargains and Betrayals by Shannon Delany (L)
39. Destiny and Deception by Shannon Delany (L)
40. Rivals and Retribution  by Shannon Delany (UF)
41. On the Devil's Court by Carl Deuker (L)
42. A Girl Named Disaster by Nancy Farmer
43. City of Dark Magic by Magnus Flyte
44. Life Is Funny E. R. Frank
45. The Thief Lord by Cornelia Funke (L)
46. The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman
47. One for Sorrow by Mary Downing Hahn*
48. The Someday Suitcase by Corey Ann Haydu*
49. I Am David by Anne Holm
50. The Water Seeker by Kimberly WIllis Holt
51. Tiger's Curse by Colleen Houck (CL)
52. Tiger's Quest by Colleen Houck (UF)
53. Tiger's Voyage by Colleen Houck (UF)
54. Tiger's Destiny by Colleen Houck (UF)
55. Lemonade Mouth by Mark Peter Hughes (L)
56. Accidents of Nature by Harriet McBryde Johnson (L)
57. The Right Track by Harmony Jones* (UF)
58. The High Note by Harmony Jones* (UF)
59. Sold by Patricia McCormick (L)
60. Wildwood by Colin Meloy (L)
61. Under Wildwood  by Colin Meloy (UF)
62. Wildwood Imperium  by Colin Meloy (UF)
63. Autobiography of my Dead Brother by Walter Dean Myers (L)
64. Sunrise over Fallujah by Walter Dean Myers (CL)
65. The Fallen Angels by Walter Dean Myers (CL)
66. I'll Give you the Sun by Jandy Nelson (L)
67. Yummy: The Last Days of a Southside Shorty by G. Neri (L, GN)
68. The Seance by Joan Lowery Nixon
69. Jacob Have I Loved by Katherine Paterson
70. Clementine by Sara Pennypacker
71. The Ruby in the Smoke by Philip Pullman (UF)
72. The Shadow in the North by Philip Pullman (UF)
73. The Tiger in the Well by Philip Pullman (UF)
74. The Tin Princess by Philip Pullman (UF)
75. The Westing Game by Ellen Raskin
76. The Key to Rondo by Emily Rodda
77. The Wizard of Rondo by Emily Rodda (UF)
78. The Battle for Rondo by Emily Rodda
79. A List of Cages by Robin Roe*
80. So B. It by Sarah Weeks (L)
81. Window Boy by Andrea White (L)
82. Memoirs of a Teenage Amnesiac by Gabrielle Zevin (L)
83. The Book Thief by Markus Zusak (L)

Short Story Collections

1. Wizards edited by Jack Danin and Gardner Dozois
2. Thrilling Tales edited by Michael Chabon
3. Confessions of a High School Word Nerd
4. The Sci-Fi Factor edited by Perfection Learning
5. The Case Against Tomorrow by Frederik Pohl

Adult Literature

1. Mansfield Park by Jane Austen
2. Ready Player One by Ernest Cline (L)
3. The Beekeeper's Apprentice by Laurie R. King
4. The Blind Side by Michael Lewis (L)
5. Sabriel by Garth Nix
6. Witches Abroad by Terry Pratchett (B)
7. Small Gods by Terry Pratchett (B)
8. Bad Monkey by Matt Ruff
9. Drowning Ruth by Christina Schwarz
10. The Killer Angels by Michael Shaara (CL)

Poetry

1. Where the Sidewalk Ends by Shel Silverstein (RR)
2. A Light in the Attic by Shel Silverstein (RR)

Professional Reading & NonFiction

1. A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier by Ishmael Beah (NF)
2. L.A. Noir by John Buntin  (NF)
3. The Science of Star Wars by Jeanne Cavelos (NF)
4. Literature Circles by Harvey Daniels (P)
5. Mini-Lessons For Literature Circles by Harvey Daniels & Nancy Steineke (P)
6. Charles and Emma by Deborah Heiligman (NF)
7. The Disappearing Spoon by Sam Kean (NF)
8. Book Love by Penny Kittle (RR) (P)
9. Choice Cuts by Mark Kurlansky (NF)
10. The Eastern Stars by Mark Kurlansky (NF)
11. Reading Ladders by Teri S. Lesesne (RR) (P)
12. Angela's Ashes by Frank McCourt (NF)
13. Good-Bye Round Robin by Michael F. Opitz (P)
14. The Writer's Workout Book by Art Peterson (P)
15. Cooked by Michael Pollan (NF)
16. Stiff by Mary Roach (NF)
17. Black Beard and Other Pirates of the Atlantic Coast by Nancy Roberts (NF)
18. The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat by Oliver Sacks (NF)
19. Teaching English by Design by Peter Smagorinsky (P)
20. An Edible History of Humanity by Tom Standage (NF)
21. Proust and the Squid by Maryanne Wolf  (NF)

(L) = from a Library    (B) = borrowed     (RR) = ReReads    (UF) = unfound/don't have access yet
(GN) = Graphic Novel    (NF) = NonFiction    (P) = Professional