April Book Haul

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Man vs. TBR: Pseudoreality Prevails

Man vs. TBR #1/12

While I don't anticipate any further bending of the rules from here on out, I've already "revisited" my ridiculous, self-imposed Man vs. TBR book-buying reduction pledge from last month and am now shooting for a grand total of no more than twelve book purchases for the entire year.  OK, so I'm obviously willing to cheat to succeed--but what was the first book purchased?  NYU history professor Karen Ordahl Kupperman's The Jamestown Project in e-book format, a New Year's Day transaction I practically "had" to make to test drive a certain shiny new gadget that found its way into the house earlier in the day.  In non-cheating news, I also wanted to remind everybody that the group read of Roberto Bolaño's The Savage Detectives that many of us have been looking forward to for quite some time now is finally due to take place during the last weekend of the month.  For more details and/or a look at the list of others who'll be participating, you can check out group read co-host Rise's post here or my post here.  Hope you're able to join in on the fun!

Thanks to Jenny Volvoski for allowing us to borrow her cool cover design for The Savage Detectives group read (use of this image as a badge has been approved by the artist).  Other rad covers as imagined by Jenny can be found at her art blog From Cover to Cover.

Man vs. TBR

Now that my book-hoarding prowess has been amply demonstrated for any/all of my book blogging peers to take note of (for the record, the list still isn't quite complete), I'd like to shift gears for a moment and deliver a post that's a conceptual slap in the face to both the holiday shopping season and to excess in general: yes, that's right, I hereby publicly announce a plan to limit myself to a grand total of seven new book purchases between now and the end of 2012.  Three reasons why this crackpot plan will fail: 1) I have no willpower.  2) I love buying shiny new paperbacks.  3) Buying books is a noble way to help support the arts--especially if you have no willpower.  Three reasons why this voluntary simplicity plan might succeed: 1) I've been so successful at stockpiling cool books that most chain bookstores only elicit elitist disdain from me these days.  2) I have access to a great university library system that I somehow perennially underuse with my usual buy now and ask questions later acquisition methodology.  3) Simon from Savidge Reads went a whole year without book-buying in 2010, thus proving that it's not necessary to have to pepper spray other consumers to get to that IQ84 Murakami endcap--if you have a well-stocked TBR at home.  More posts on my experiment in fiscal austerity later and/or when I come to my senses and throw in the towel.  Until then, what I hope will be my last three purchases for 2011: Juan Carlos Onetti's La vida breve (Punto de Lectura), José Lezama Lima's Paradiso (Cátedra), and Volume II of Robert Musil's The Man without Qualities (Vintage).  Hey, it's been zero days since my last book purchase.  How about you?

TBR by Country: Italy

Given that there's a higher percentage of books I really want to read on this list than on any of the previous ones and that I'm still salivating over not yet purchased novels by Dino Buzzati and Elsa Morante not to mention countless Italian Renaissance works, I think Italian lit will probably join French lit and Spanish lit as some sort of reading project in 2011 lit for me.  More on that in a perennially vague while.  Until then, totals to date are as follows: Italy (12) + Spain (24) + Argentina (47) + France (32) = 115 books in the TBR.

*

1) Boccaccio, Giovanni.  The Decameron (Penguin Classics) [partially read].
2) Calvino, Italo.  If on a winter's night a traveler (Harvest) [partially read].
3) Castiglione, Baldesar.  The Book of the Courtier (Penguin Classics).
4) Manzoni, Alessandro.  The Betrothed (Penguin Classics).
5) Massimo, Valerio.  Manfredi (Oscar Mondadori).
6) Mazzantini, Margaret.  Non ti muovere (Oscar Mondadori).
7) Moravia, Alberto.  Contempt (NYRB Classics).
8) Pirandello, Luigi.  The Late Mattia Pascal (NYRB Classics).
9) Sciascia, Leonardo.  To Each His Own (NYRB Classics).
10) Sorba, Pietro.  Bodegones de Buenos Aires (Planeta).
11) Svevo, Italo.  As a Man Grows Older (NYRB Classics).
12) Vasari, Giorgio.  The Lives of the Artists (Oxford World's Classics).

TBR by Country: Spain


All the following are in Spanish with the exception of three titles in Catalan that are marked in red and three works about Spain but not written by Spanish authors at the end of the list.  With any luck, I'll be able to put together some kind of a Spanish literature reading project next year to complement my French literature reading project plans.  In the meantime, totals to date: Spain (24) + Argentina (47) + France (32) = 103 books in the TBR.

*

1) Anónimo.  Libro de Alexandre (Cátedra).
2) Anónimo.  Libro del Caballero Zifar (Cátedra).
3) Anónimo.  Poema de Fernán González (Editorial Castalia).
4) Alvar, Carlos y Alvar, Manuel (eds.).  Épica medieval española (Cátedra).
5) Berceo, Gonzalo de.  Milagros de Nuestra Señora (Crítica) [partially read].
6) Falcones, Ildefonso.  La catedral del mar (Grijalbo).
7) Goytisolo, Juan.  Don Julián (Cátedra) + Count Julian (Dalkey Archive).
8) Herralde, Jorge.  El optimismo de la voluntad: Experiencias editoriales en América Latina (Tezontle).
9) Laforet, Carmen.  Nada (Destino).
10) Lope de Vega.  El caballero de Olmedo (Clásicos Castalia).
11) López de Ayala, Pero.  Rimado de Palacio (Clásicos Castalia).
12) Marías, Javier.  Mañana en la batalla piensa en mí (Debolsillo).
13) Márquez Villanueva, Francisco.  El concepto cultural alfonsí (Edicions Bellaterra).
14) Martín-Santos, Luis.  Tiempo de silencio (Crítica).
15) Pérez-Reverte, Arturo.  El caballero del jubón amarillo (Alfaguara).
16) Riera, Carme.  La meitat de l'ànima (Proa) [partially read].
17) _____.  L'estiu de l'anglès (Proa).
18) Ruiz Zafón, Carlos.  El juego del ángel (Vintage Español).
19) Santa Teresa de Jesús.  Libro de la vida (Clásicos Castalia).
20) Somoza, José Carlos.  Clara y la penumbra (Debolsillo).
21) Teixidor, Emili.  El Llibre de les Mosques (Proa).
22) Fletcher, Richard.  Moorish Spain (University of California Press).
23) Kurlansky, Mark.  The Basque History of the World (Penguin).
24) Reilly, Bernard F.  The Medieval Spains (Cambridge University Press).

TBR by Country: Argentina

la sala de café de la librería Eterna Cadencia

Honduras 5582

Palermo, Bs.As.

http://blog.eternacadencia.com.ar/

OK, so maybe I need to slow down on buying books from Argentina for a while.  Or stop accepting them as gifts from my in-laws.  In the meantime, here's a found photo of what's probably my favorite bookstore in Buenos Aires, Eterna Cadencia, naturally located just a short distance away from both calle J.L. Borges and Plazoleta Cortázar.  As always, feel free to let me know if you have any questions about the following authors or titles and/or if you care to share a comment about Argentinean literature in general.  Next TBR list: books I own from Spanish or Italian authors now waiting to be read.  Totals to date: Argentina (47) + France (32) = 79 books in the TBR.

*

1) Aguirre, Osvaldo.  Rocanrol (Beatriz Viterbo Editora).

2) Aguinis, Marcos.  El atroz encanto de ser argentinos (Booket).
3) _____.  La pasión según Carmela (Sudamericana).
4) Aira, César.  Las aventuras de Barbaverde (Mondadori).
5) Arlt, Roberto.  El paisaje en las nubes: Crónicas en El Mundo 1937-1942 (Fondo de Cultura Económica).
6) Barsky, Julián y Osvaldo.  La Buenos Aires de Gardel (Editorial Sudamericana).
7) Bioy Casares, Adolfo.  La invención de Morel (Booket).
8) Bonasso, Miguel.  Recuerdo de la muerte (Booket) [partially read].
9) Borges, Jorge Luis.  Ficciones (Biblioteca Borges/Alianza Editorial) [partially read].
10) _____.  Historia universal de la infamia (Biblioteca Borges/Alianza Editorial) [partially read].
11) _____.  Narraciones (Cátedra) [partially read].
12) Caparrós, Martín.  El interior (Planeta/Seix Barral) [partially read].
13) Chaves, Gonzalo Leonidas y Lewinger, Jorge Omar.  Los del 73: Memoria Montonero (De la Campana).
14) Conti, Haroldo.  Cuentos completos (Emecé).
15) Cortázar, Julio.  Bestiaro (Punto de Lectura).
16) _____.  Cuentos completos/3 (Punto de Lectura).
17) _____.  Rayuela (Cátedra) + Hopscotch (Pantheon) [partially read].
18) Eloy Martínez, Tomás.  La mano del amo (Alfaguara).
19) Fogwill.  Cuentos completos (Alfaguara).
20) Fontanarrosa, Roberto.  Te digo más...y otros cuentos (Ediciones De la Flor).
21) Fresán, Rodrigo.  Mantra (Mondadori) [partially read].
22) _____.  Vidas de santos (Debolsillo).
23) González, Betina.  Arte menor (Clarín/Alfaguara).
24) Hernández, José.  Martín Fierro (Kapelusz).
25) Lanata, Jorge.  ADN: Mapa genético de los defectos argentinos (Planeta).
26) Mancilla, Lucio V.  Una excursión a los indios ranqueles (Edicol).
27) Marechal, Leopoldo.  Adán Buenosayres (Fondo de Cultura Económica).
28) Martínez, Guillermo.  Borges y la matemática (Seix Barral).
29) Martínez Estrada, Ezequiel.  Radiografía de la pampa (Losada).
30) Morales, Bruno.  Bolivia Construcciones (La Nación/Editorial Sudamericana).
31) Olsorio, Elsa.  Cielo de tango (Planeta).
32) Pauls, Alan.  El pasado (Anagrama).
33) Piglia, Ricardo.  La invasión (Anagrama).
34) Premat, Julio.  Héroes sin atributos: Figuras de autor en la literatura argentina (Fondo de Cultura Económica).
35) Rolón, Gabriel.  Historias de diván: Ocho relatos de vida (Planeta).
36) Rosendo González, Pablo.  La Argentimna fuera de sí (Editorial Sudamericana).
37) Sabato, Ernesto.  España en los diarios de mi vejez (Seix Barral).
38) Saer, Juan José.  Glosa (Seix Barral).
39) _____.  Trabajos (Seix Barral).
40) Saítta, Sylvia.  El escritor en el bosque de ladrillos: una biografía de Roberto Arlt (Debolsillo) [bought at Eterna Cadencia!].
41) Santucho, Julio.  Los últimos guevaristas: La guerilla marxista en la Argentina (Byblos).
42) Sarmiento, Domingo Faustino.  Facundo (Cátedra).
43) Sorensesn, Diana.  A Turbulent Decade Remembered: Scenes from the Latin American Sixties (Stanford University Press).
44) Strafacce, Ricardo.  La banda del Dr. Mandrile contra los corazones solitarios seguido de La conversación (Beatriz Viterbo Editora).
45) Walsh, Rodolfo.  El violento oficio de escribir: Obra periodística (1953-1977) (Ediciones De la Flor).
46)  _____. Variaciones en rojo (Ediciones De la Flor).
47) Nouzeilles, Gabriela and Montaldo, Graciela, eds.  The Argentina Reader: History, Culture, Politics (Duke University Press).

TBR by Country: France

While I'm not entirely sure I want to fill you all in on just how big a book hoarder I am, I've been toying with the idea of typing out a copy of my TBR list for ages.  So here are the French books currently in the collection waiting to be read, not counting the three I'm reading right now (Flaubert's Madame Bovary, Perec's A Void, and Proust's Swann's Way), library books, or the many novels I'm merely coveting at this point.  Since this may or may not be the last post of this kind here, I'll go ahead and let stats freaks and any other curious types who come across this know that French authors probably account for the second most books on my TBR list by country after the presumptive winner: Argentina.  In any event, feel free to let me know if there's anything good or bad you care to share about the following titles and/or whether you have a favorite country or countries represented within your own TBR list.  Always interested in hearing about stuff like that!

*

1) Anonymous.  Aucassin et Nicolette (GF Flammarion).
2) Anonymous.  Raoul de Cambrai (Le Livre de Poche).
3) Balzac, Honoré de.  Eugénie Grandet (Le Livre de Poche).
4) _____.  The Girl with the Golden Eyes (Melville House).
5) Baudelaire, Charles.  The Flowers of Evil [with parallel French text] (Oxford World's Classics) [partially read].
6) Bernard of Clairvaux.  On the Song of Songs I (Cistercian Publications) [partially read].
7) Colette, Sidonie-Gabrielle.  La femme cachée (Folio).
8) _____.  The Pure and the Impure (NYRB Classics).
9) Flaubert, Gustave.  Un coeur simple (Le Livre de Poche).
10) Flori, Jean.  Chevaliers et chevalerie au moyen âge (Hachette Littératures).
11) _____.  La première croisade: L'Occident chrétien contre l'Islam (Éditions Complexe).
12) Gautier, Théophile.  My Fantoms (NYRB Classics) [partially read].
13) Gide, André.  Les caves du Vatican (Folio).
14) Goncourt, Edmond and Jules.  Pages from the Goncourt Journals (NYRB Classics).
15) Grimaud, Hélène.  Leçons particulières (Robert Laffont).
16) Huysmans, Joris-Karl.  Against Nature (À Rebours) (Penguin Classics) [reread].
17) Joinville, Jean de.  The Life of Saint Louis.  In Chronicles of the Crusades (Penguin Classics).
18) Kehew, Robert (ed.).  Lark in the Morning: The Verses of the Troubadours (The University of Chicago Press).
19) Laclos, Choderlos de.  Les liaisons dangereuses (Hachette Classiques).
20) Leblanc, Maurice.  Arsène Lupin, gentleman-cambrioleur (Le Livre de Poche).
21) Maupassant, Guy de.  Contes de la becasse (GF Flammarion).
22) _____.  Monsieur Parent et autres nouvelles (Folio Classique) [partially read].
23) Nerval, Gérard de.  Aurélia et Les Chimères (Le Livre de Poche).
24) Proust, Marcel. Remembrance of Things Past, Volume III: The Captive; The Fugitive; Time Regained (Vintage).
25) Rabelais, François.  Gargantua and Pantagruel (W.W. Norton) [partially read].
26) Radiguet, Raymond.  Count d'Orgel's Ball (NYRB Classics).
27) Roquebert, Michel. L'épopée cathare (Perrin/Privat).
28) Schwob, Marcel.  Vidas imaginarias (Longseller).
29) Soupault, Philippe.  Last Nights of Paris (Exact Change).
30) Stendhal.  Le Rouge et le Noir (GF Flammarion).
31) Yourcenar, Marguerite.  Nouvelles orientales (Gallimard).
32) Hollier, Denis (ed.).  A New History of French Literature (Harvard University Press).*

*Not all French authors here but whatever!