Vote It Up: Book Blip

March 22, 2010

Crossroads

What to read?  What to read?

I have a loaner copy of Tori Murden McLure's book Pearl in the Storm, which I have a.) wanted to read and b.) feel compelled to read because 1.) she completed her MFA from the same university that I will be attending, 2.) she is now the new President of said university, and 3.) she's kinda my husband's boss.  No pressure there (so long as she NEVER READS MY BLOG).

I also want to read Julia Sweeny's God Said Ha! super bad and have wanted to ever since I heard an hour-long This American Life devoted to her reading from the book.  This goes back to the narcism problem, however.  Sweeny has a falling out with religion; my own falling out with religion is the topic of a collection of essays I am working on.  Sweeny is very droll; I make sloppy attempts at droll-dom.

Or, I could go back to the list and read something depressing like Reynold's Price, Tobias Wolff, or Augustin Burroughs.

Thoughts?

4 comments:

  1. i've had three people talk about 'pearl in the storm' in the past couple weeks. i have it on my shelf and want to read it as soon as i can - so if you're taking suggestions, go for the boat across the ocean.

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  2. Go for Tori. Because you have a way cool blog and she's going to end up reading it someday, especially if you blog about her book ...

    One question about your falling out with religion--were you ever "in religion" enough to have a falling out?

    One of the administrators/profs in Steve's (my hubby's) department at school is a way out and in your face gay artist/former Mormon. He must have experienced some major altitude sickness on the way down.

    --smooches, Cath

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  3. I am reading Carol Bly's Beyond the Writers' Workshop: New Ways to Write Creative Nonfiction, which is super cranky but also very thought-provoking. Might be worth a read before you start the program, just to give yourself a little internal conversation ahead of time.

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  4. Thanks for the suggestions, y'all!

    As for the religion question: before your time, Cath, but probably not as deeply "in religion" as you once were. I was an unquestioning believer throughout childhood.

    And, oh, Eek!, one more book to add to my list. I'm overwhelmed before I've even begun. However, I do like cranky.

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