In my absence

I've stayed away from here for longer than I meant.  At first I was just exhausted from studying for finals.  Then my mother-in-law was in town.  And then I didn't feel quite right posting over the weekend end, in light of what had happened.  A "hey, here's what I'm doing" post seemed inappropriate, somehow.

But here I am.  And here is what I've been doing.

This is my nightstand.  It doesn't quite look like this anymore, and usually there are some other things, like eyedrops, on there somewhere.  (I had laser eye surgery a year ago and I highly recommend it.  It has changed my life.  The downside is that I have to use eyedrops a lot, especially in the morning.  It can make wearing mascara a pain in the patootey.)  This is the pile of books I hope to get through before I go back to school on 15 January.

(I'm going to link these to their respective Amazon pages, but I get nothing back from Amazon.)

In no particular order, the line up is:

Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter.  I've actually read about two-thirds of this and then got sidetracked by I'm not sure what.  Anyway, I want to finish it.  And I really like that the present-day narrator lives in Rhinebeck, NY.

Consider the Oysterby MFK Fisher.  Being both a foodie and a reader, I've been meaning to read this for years.  I know that I bought it when I lived in California, so that means I've had if for at least four years.  It's time to read it.  It is, after all, a very small book.

Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell.  I wanted to read this before the movie came out.  I didn't get around to it, so I never saw the movie.  (According to the reviews, I'm not sure that is anything to lament.)  I've heard good things about the book, though.

The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern.  I mentioned that I saw this on a table at a bookstore, and a friend of mine sent along her copy.  I honestly can't even remember what it is about right now, just that it sounded interesting.

World War Z by Max Brooks.  Zombies.  What can I say?  And besides, I have to read it before Brad Pitt completely ruins it.

The Best American Essay of 2012.  I've been reading this series for years.  I love the literary essay, creative non-fiction, what ever you want to call it.  This series is guest edited each year by a different author.  What I love about it is that year's collection retains the (for a better word) flavor of the editor.  The year edited by David Foster Wallace has a completely different feel than the years edited by Susan Orleans or Christopher Hitchens.  This year's collection is edited by David Brooks of the NYTimes, so I am looking forward to reading what he thought was interesting.

In the Woods by Tana French.  This sounded good while I was at the bookstore picking up some Christmas gifts.  And the essay book for me.  And a knitting magazine for  me.  And a magazine about keeping chickens (a dream of mine, so obviously for me).

The Passage by Justin Cronin.  Vampires.  Love the undead (unless we are talking Twilight undead).

The Book Thief by Markus Zusak.  I know it is YA fiction, but there is a lot of YA stuff that is really, truly amazing right now.

Also on the nightstand, but not there for "winter break reading" are The Knitter's Almanac because it is always on my nightstand, An Everlasting Meal for constant inspiration, The Sharper Your Knife, the Less You Cry simply because I haven't finished it but can't seem  find the energy to do so, and a daily gratitude/highlight journal.

And to show you, dear Reader, what I have to got though to get a decent photograph, a couple of shots from the discard pile.

Hey, whatcha doing?

Hi Peep!