I thought tonight I would be telling you of some of my bookish finds but my outing to Barnes & Noble tonight wasn’t successful. I have a little gift card burning a hole in my pocket and I wanted to use it but didn’t find the books I was looking for so I have no books and no post — sort of…
Did you catch NPR’s article on the best foreign fiction of 2008? Their top five picks are the following:
- Senselessness by Horacio Castellanos.
- Kieron Smith, boy by James Kelman
- 2666 by Roberto Bolaño. I did see this one tonight at B&N and it is such a nice looking edition.
- Metropole by Ferenc Karinthy.
- The Lost Daughter by Elena Ferrante.
I’d only heard of the 2666 book but of course now I’m curious about all of these others. If you want to read excerpts from the books check out the NPR link.
I haven’t checked my yearly stats but I get the feeling most of my reading is still pretty much equally divided between American and British authors but I’ll let you know later on when I do my end of the year stats. I can’t believe it’s almost time for those.
So that’s about it but before I forget, it’s time for another exciting edition of Estella’s Revenge. Go check it out and add more books to your TBR lists, read up on the Dangerous Reading Challenge and enter to win a book!
Thanks for the link. Metropole sounds really great, actually they all do. I didn’t end up reading as much international or translated fiction as I would’ve like this year. That is kind of sad that in all the thousands of books that come out in the US every year, only 340 this year were translations.
Sorry your bookstore trip was unsuccessful. My husband gets mad at me when I spend so much time wandering the aisles looking to spend a gift card and tell him I didn’t find anything. He wonders how I can go into a store with a bazillion books and not find a thing to buy! LOL It has to be something I know I want or a book that just feels right to me.
I too have a Borders gift card to use myself but I am not sure what I want to get. I probably need to make my way over to the store and see what is out. Interesting picks from NPR.
I am definitely interested in seeing your yearly stats!
tanabata – Metropole also has a pretty nice cover doesn’t it? I always say I’m going to read more foreign fiction or I should say in translation but usually 10 is about the maximum. Which I guess isn’t too bad but you always wonder what gems you are missing from other countries. And, yes pitiful that only 340 were translations!
Anna – Isn’t that funny? I just had in mind two books that I wanted and couldn’t find them. Surprisingly these are new books! Ah well, I guess I’ll just have to go back to the bookstore another time – what a hard life 😉
christine – It’s funny with gift cards, I feel like I have to really get something special so I do tend to hold on to those for a while 🙂 I hope you get some good stuff when you go and oh yes, I’m curious about my stats as well. I think I did better last year!
they all sound good. I am piling my TBR
Hopefully your next book store trip will be a success. I usually find a ton of stuff in the bookstore…I’m sick this way! I have a disease…its a book-a-holic disease.
You tempter, You! (Just kidding.)
More great finds.
I need to win the lotto so I can read full time.
No books at all? Shocking! But, you couldn’t post without mentioning some delicious titles. I have a feeling you’ll find something, next time around.
veens – I know the feeling 🙂
Serena – I hope so too! The problem was that I had my heart set on two books so I was all grumpy that I couldn’t find those. I should have just caved in and bought something else. My wish list is so long I know I could have found something! 🙂
Isabel – Ha,ha… Did you play the lotto? Good luck girl. I hope you win so you can be a woman of leisure!
Bookfool, aka Nancy – I know! Next time, I think even if I don’t find my books I refuse to leave the bookstore empty-handed 🙂
I stopped by Borders this evening after work to buy a gift card for my father-in-law and came out with two books I hadn’t expected to buy. I probably should have just gone straight to the register. 🙂
Hopefully you will find what you are looking for on your next trip to the bookstore!
I can’t believe it’s getting toward the end of the year either! But I do enjoy looking back at the past year and making plans for the upcoming one, so that’s okay 🙂
Literary Feline – Ha,ha… Normally that would be my case too! I want to go to the bookstore today but I think I am going to have to wait until the weekend. I gotta do some bookbinding!
Dorothy W. – It seems to be rushing right towards us doesn’t it. I do enjoy looking back to see how my reading year has gone too 🙂
I’ve only heard of the Bolano and I know I really need to give his work a try. I didn’t read as much foreign fiction this year as last and not as much as I had hoped. Oh well, maybe next year.