My non-comprehensive reading list

So I don't have a "real" review for you this week. The only new thing I've read (not strictly true, I'm working on Terry Goodkind's "Sword of Truth" series--on book 4 of 11 now) in the past week is Alan Alda's first book of memoirs, Never Have Your Dog Stuffed. I absolutely loved it; it's funny and sincere and interesting. Not too long, not too short. Some memoirs or autobiographies become dull or self-serving (well, I suppose they all are self-serving--money!), but Alda's was more focused on his growth as a person and actor. It dealt heavily with his mother's mental illness and how it affected him. It did not deal extensively with M*A*S*H, which may be disappointing to those who only really know him as Hawkeye, but since I wanted to know about Alan Alda, a man whose work I have admired for many years, I really enjoyed it. It's well-written; engaging and funny, with a natural use of language that flows like an easy conversation. I don't have his other book of memoirs (Things I Overheard While Talking to Myself), but hopefully I'll get it soonish. I only waited about 4 years for this one.

So beyond my mini-review, I have a non-comprehensive list of books I've read since I moved to the UK in February of this year. It's non-comprehensive because I don't remember for certain what all I've read. This list is most certainly not in the order I've read the books in. It's more in order of where they are on the bookshelves. This, by the way, is a bit of a battle for Adam and I; he doesn't hugely like how I have the books arranged--alphabetical by author's last name, and the only books separated by subject are the non-fiction ones, like textbooks or guidebooks (my books are still separated from his, which is a bit silly at this point). However, he's also just lazy enough that he hasn't bothered to rearrange the books. That, and he hasn't really told me how he wants them organized, which makes me think that a) he doesn't really know and b) it involves some arrangement by size, not subject/author/genre.

Books marked with an asterisk (*) I have read before. Books marked with a carat (^) are part of a series.

Alexander McCall Smith:

^The Full Cupboard of Life

^In the Company of Cheerful Ladies

^Blue Shoes and Happiness

^The Good Husband of Zebra Drive

Roald Dahl:

*Charlie and the Chocolate Factory

*Charle and the Great Glass Elevator

*The Witches

Terry Goodkind:

^Debt of Bones (more of a short story/companion prequel novella)

^Wizard's First Rule

^Stone of Tears

^Blood of the Fold

^Temple of the Winds (currently reading)

Robin Jarvis:

^The Whitby Witches

^A Warlock in Whitby

Philip Pullman:

^Northern Lights

^The Subtle Knife

^The Amber Spyglass

J.K. Rowling:

*^Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone

*^Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets

*^Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban

*^Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire

*^Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

*^Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince

*^Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

Alan Alda:

Never Have Your Dog Stuffed

Margaret Atwood:

*The Handmaid's Tale

Anthony Bourdain:

Gone Bamboo

Elizabeth Peters (series books are not all part of the same series):

*^Crocodile on the Sandbank

*^The Snake, the Crocodile, and the Dog

*^He Shall Thunder in the Sky

*^The Golden One

*The Copenhagen Connection

*^The Murders of Richard III

*^Die for Love

*^Naked Once More

*The Camelot Caper

Catherine Fisher:

The Oracle

Neil Gaiman:

The Graveyard Book

Allan C. Weisbecker:

Can't You Get Along with Anyone? (unfinished--it started to get convoluted and boring)

Stephenie Meyer:

^Twilight

^New Moon (unfinished, probably will finish today or tomorrow)

Pat Frank:

*Alas, Babylon

That's 39 books I've finished and am certain I've read in the last seven months. I'm pretty certain I've read more, but I borrowed a bunch, and I don't remember what I read whilst in Eugene (beyond Twilight and Alas, Babylon). It also doesn't take into account the news, research, and occasional fan fiction I read online, the rare magazine, a screenplay of Vancil's, or my own writing.

I'm rather surprised at the number of books on that list that I haven't read before. I have a tendency to reread books on a regular basis, so the fact that I've read and finished 18 new books so far this year pleases me. I should read more new books, and perhaps fewer series, but still, it's a start.