BookLove: March 2013

Posted by bennardfajardo on April 1, 2013 · 8 Comments 

I just had to change the featured image and the name for this monthly feature since the former is so clunky and messy while the latter is kind of obscene. So, as per the suggestion of Rhena, I changed the look and the name of this feature. Anyway, enough with the idle chitchat and on to the books I’ve acquired for the month of March and, surprisingly, it has a theme:

Well, all of them are short story collections and one anthology. I am currently in the state of immensely liking short fiction ever since I’ve read My Mistress’s Sparrow is Dead. In fact, 5 of the books in here are penned by the same authors who were featured in My Mistress’s Sparrow is Dead. Booksale and the Fullybooked bargain bin seems to be cooperating with me so I really didn’t hesitate when I was buying these books.

• Loot and Other Stories by Nadine Gordimer – This one stared at me from the book pile of Bookay-Ukay (which is dangerously near my place of dwelling) and I just picked this collection of short stories by this Nobel laureate without knowing what is contained within the pages.
• Natasha by David Bezmozgis – The title story of this collection is included in My Mistress’s Sparrow is Dead and it is one of the most haunting portraits of teenage love that I have ever seen. Finding this in a bargain bin totally caught me off-guard.
• Jesus’ Son by Denis Johnson – I have read from one of the blogs that I read that this short story collection is so good that it is required reading. I don’t know about it being required reading but one of the stories within, featured in My Mistress’s Sparrow is Dead, titled Dirty Wedding is devastating and brutal.
• No One Belongs Here More Than You by Miranda July – Another discovery from My Mistress’s Sparrow is Dead. The story Something That Needs Nothing is a portrait of unrequited and homosexual love that tugged my heartstrings in an unusual way and left me sad.
• Last Night by James Salter – There’s really no reason why I bought this book except for the fact that it was a finalist for the PEN/Faulkner Award and because Salter is considered to be one of the most brilliant yet underrated writers of his generation.
• Hateship, Friendship, Courtship, Loveship, Marriage by Alice Munro – Confession: I have not read a complete collection of Alice Munro’s short stories although I have read quite several on the internet and on some anthologies. This book is also supposed to be Alice Munro’s masterpiece and one of the stories here, the depressing The Bear Came Over The Mountain, is included in My Mistress’s Sparrow is Dead. 
• Birds of America by Lorrie Moore – The writer who penned what is probably the story (How To Be An Other Woman) that I liked best in My Mistress’s Sparrow is Dead. This is supposedly her masterpiece although How To Be An Other Woman is not included here.
• Children Playing Before A Statue of Hercules edited by David Sedaris – I am a sucker for anthologies and this one is just an addition to my ever growing collection of anthologies that I hope to read soon. Edited by David Sedaris, this collection contains personal favorites of Sedaris and these are stories that Sedaris considers as Herculai of short stories.

My March acquisitions are probably the best of this year so far and I expect to read most of these before the year ends. Assuming that I have the time, of course.

Filed under Book Love, Books · Tagged with Alice Munro, Birds of America, Book Love, Books, Children Playing Before A Statue of Hercules, David Bezmozgis, David Sedaris, Denis Johnson, Hateship Friendship Courtship Loveship Marriage, James Salter, Jesus' Son, Last Night, Loot and Other Stories, Lorrie Moore, Miranda July, Nadine Gordimer, Natasha, No One Belongs Here More Than You, Short Stories