Books I didn't finish in 2014 and am dragging with me into 2015

Maybe they're emblematic! But probably not.

Ruth Ozeki, A TALE FOR THE TIME BEING -- I really enjoyed this book up until the funeral (I hope that's vague enough to avoid all spoilers), a scene I found so upsetting that it was difficult for me to focus on everything that happened after. I'll probably finish it eventually, I just feel averse.
Jaimy Gordon, LORD OF MISRULE - someone left this National Book Award winner on the free shelf at work, making it easier for me to give it 10 pages before (as previously) I had rejected it as "not for me." I was fairly captivated -- but I was traveling somewhere, and it was a hardcover, so I set it down. As one does.
Sara Paretsky, BLACKLIST (no relation to the James Spader hamfest of the same name) -- started when I was at home over Christmas because my mom is a fan. Honestly, I should probably bump this one up so I don't forget all the clues in the mystery.
Gillian Flynn, DARK PLACES -- my library loan unexpectedly came up on Dec. 30 for this earlier novel by the author of GONE GIRL. So far it's even darker and bleaker -- fun! This is also an upcoming movie

Reading on the Road: Until then, we'll have to muddle through somehow

This is my 2,300th post on this blog! So it seems a fitting platform to announce that today I'm flying to Wisconsin where I will go into a cabin in the woods with no WiFi and never come out again, seriously. Okay, my parents' house is not that remote, but I am facing major burnout and lucky to be looking forward to a little unplugged time over the holidays.

I'm bringing Lionel Shriver's SO MUCH FOR THAT, Sara Paretsky's BREAKDOWN and Maria Semple's WHERE'D YOU GO, BERNADETTE, recently picked for Tournament of Books '13. These seem too cheerful so I'll pack this Kurt Vonnegut bio AND SO IT GOES that I got from my grandparents last Christmas. Seems like the perfect thing to read in the warm glow of my parents' flatscreen while my brother plays video games, one sister grades papers and the other one dozes off. My family is just so crazy this time of year.

Whether you are going away or celebrating at home, holidays or not, I hope you are happy and among those you love.

The time-traveler's widower is also dead (but it's okay)

Audrey Niffenegger's HER FEARFUL SYMMETRY hits stores today, the follow-up to the wildly popular novel (which I actually liked) THE TIME-TRAVELER'S WIFE. The new book follows a London woman buried in Highgate Cemetery (pictured) who becomes a ghost haunting her younger lover and her twin nieces, who have inherited her apartment. I hear not-so-great things, including from Commenter Marjorie who called it "twisty without being really satisfying" but I'm still putting it on my library hold list.

Guilty pleasure Sara Paretsky's new V.I. Warshawski thriller HARDBALL is also out today. I don't need to pretend like the Washington Post that these books have some Greater Significance other than gluing my eyeballs to the page for hours at a stretch. I won't buy this one in hardcover either, I'll wait for the mass-market, but I'll enjoy it when it gets there. On the other end of the teeter-totter from Paretsky, Richard Powers' GENEROSITY, his follow-up to the National Book Award-winning THE ECHO MAKER, describes a writing teacher in Chicago who becomes involved with a perpetually cheerful student. Surprised he didn't go for the Homesian title THIS BOOK WILL MAKE YOU HAPPY.

Photo: tyla