Books: Gifts, Borrowed, and a Dare

It is prevalent to give bookish people books as gifts.  The challenge lies in how to pick the right book and why. In that effect, let us peruse the books I recently received.

§  Dancing After Hours by Andre Dubus- from Angus – A collection of short stories depicting loneliness, lack of love, and moments of redemption. Dubus’ creations were compared to Raymond Carver’s. This will be a pleasure indeed.

§  The Brooklyn Follies by Paul Auster- from Bennard- The story, more or less, is about redemption, having reasons to see life again in a different avenue, after having considered death as an only option. This is something I want to sink my teeth into.

§  Everlasting by Kathleen E. Woodiwiss- from Maria- One of the last two books before this favorite author died. Romance is the key theme here, and I do need some dose of that. LOL

§  Project 17 by Eliza Victoria- from Lynai- This is my first Victoria piece and it’s a mystery novel. A mystery is my kind of candy!

§  White Teeth by Zadie Smith- from Bennard- This one I snagged from the book pile during the TFG Yuletide Party.  Monique and I agreed to buddy-read it this year. The story is surrounded by extremism and dilemmas. I think this one is already cut out for us.

Thank you very much, guys!

This next book is something I purposely borrowed. The lender is such a sweet soul, trusting me with his copy.

§  Man in the Dark by Paul Auster- from Bennard- I have a certain love for Paul Auster.  For a while now, he’s my source of good mindfuck that left me breathless and wanting.

The last book is a dare. We had our F2F25 last January 18, at The Appraisery. Our post discussion activity involved stating our best and worst reads from 2013, then being dared to read someone else’s worst read, standing on the belief that “one man's trash is another man's treasure.”

§  The Things They Carried by Tim O’Brien- from Patrick- We drew lots, and this is what I picked up. It is a collection of short stories, semi-autobiographical, about American soldiers (platoon) who fought during the Vietnam War. It’s too early to assume that I’ll find a treasure here, but I’m keeping an open mind since I do enjoy reading short stories. I have a mental note of associating short stories with the term gleaning.

I have to make some adjustments on my reading plan this year, I think I can still work it out.  Determination and management!