BOOKLOVE: January 2014

Posted by bennardfajardo on February 2, 2014 · 12 Comments 

Books are going to be the cause of my ruination. It’s either I’m going to go broke from all the book hoarding, or I’m going to be crushed to death by all the books that are surrounding my sleeping area. There’s no escape but that’s my life and I love every minute of it.

I started January with another round of book hoarding as people like me are wont to do. Here are some of the notables:

• Selected Poems by Alfred Lord Tennyson – I’m currently inspired to explore poetry since the poetry collections had a dismal showing on my read books of last year (only one collection showed up, Allen Ginsberg’s Howl) and I intend to rectify that mistake by making sure to at least read 2 collections of poetry this year. This volume of selected poems from Tennyson just might be one of the collections that I will read this year.
• My Father’s Tears and Other Stories by John Updike – Updike’s reputation as a short story writer may have been eclipsed by his reputation as a critic and as a novelist but, make no mistake, Updike is still considered to be one of the most talented short story writer of his generation and he is often mentioned in the company of Carver and Cheever. My Father’s Tears is Updike’s final collection and was published posthumously.
• Brooklyn Noir 2 edited by Tim McLoughin – The Akashic Noir series has intrigued me ever since reading Manila Noir and the 2nd volume of Brooklyn Noir is actually the book that I’m most interested in from the series since, as a compendium of classic noir stories set in Brooklyn, it contains tales from HP Lovecraft to Jonathan Lethem.
• Elect Mr.Robinson for A Better World by Donald Antrim – To tell you the truth, I’m not really familiar with Donald Antrim. He’s one of the writers who’s always been at the back of my head but when I saw this book and noticed that it has an introduction from one of my favorite novelists, Jeffrey Eugenides, I couldn’t resist.
• All The Stories of Muriel Spark by Muriel Spark – Another writer who I only know by her reputation as a solid storyteller, I just couldn’t resist buying this whole collection of Spark’s complete short stories. Especially since  it’s being sold for cheap.

Also, because I passed by Books for Less in one of my sojourns in Manila, I couldn’t resist buying two books to start a new collection:

• Days Between Stations by Steve Erickson – Apparently this book has influenced Jonathan Lethem and Mark Z. Danielewski plus it received high praise from Thomas Pynchon upon its publication. However, what made me compelled to buy this was it’s subject matter regarding a man’s search for his past and his ideas about love.
• Love Always by Anne Beattie – Beattie is a writer who I want to read more of since she has a reputation of being good so I bought this book that was praised by Margaret Atwood. That’s how easy I can be coaxed into buying a book.

I am always a trivial person when it comes to choosing what books to buy but, in my defense, it’s because I love discovering obscure books and lesser known authors and, more often than not, I love the books written by these lesser known authors that has been unfairly branded by history as minor writers. If I can contribute in dredging them up from their unfair place in history, I would happily make myself broke to do so.

Filed under Book Love, Books · Tagged with Akashic Noir, Alfred Lord Tennyson, All The Stories of Muriel Spark, Anne Beattie, Book Love, Books, Brooklyn Noir 2, Days Between Stations, Donald Antrim, Elect Mr. Robinson for President, John Updike, Love Always, Muriel Spark, My Father's Tears and Other Stories, Selected Poems, Steve Erickson, Tim McLoughin