2009 Reading Queue

I'm approaching the end of that wonderful tome Middlemarch and finding myself agog at the huge number of books I've acquired over the past few years and have not yet read. The culprit for many of them is Housing Works, where I can find used books for $0.50-$1.00, as well gifts from many folk who know a good book gets my little heart aflutter. Here are some books I hope to read in the coming year (in no particular order):

1. Absurdistan
2. War and Peace (the new translation)
3. Aspects of the Novel
4. Kafka on the Shore
5. Germinal
6. Three Lives, by Gertrude Stein
7. The Golden Notebook, by Doris Lessing
8. The Emperor's Children, by Claire Messud
9. Best American Short Stories of 2008, ed. by Salman Rushdie (already reading)
10. Midnight's Children
11. Satanic Verses (I think it might be a Rushdie year for me...)
12. Natasha, by David Bezmogis

I'm realizing now this list doesn't include many books sitting patiently, quietly, waiting to be plucked off the shelf and to receive little bends and cracks in their spines. I think this will be a good year.

Garden of Earthly Delights

Well, it has been eons since I've written anything here. Since I last wrote, I've gotten married, been to Spain, changed day jobs, spent two weeks in Wilmington, DE for work, and...whew. That's enough of an update on the personal end of things.

Tonight, M. is taking me to Martha Clarke's Garden of Earthly Delights. On our honeymoon, we gaped at Bosch's masterpiece in the Prado, but had to jostle with the expected swarm of tourists to enjoy all its bulbous glory. Now we are going to see this dance based on the painting, originally performed in 1985 and now resurrected for your viewing pleasure. The website has a fun feature where you can click on each part of the painting's triptych and gaze at all Bosch's details, both glorious and horrible. (Click on "the painting".) Enjoy!