Book Lust: this month's books in a basket

Nancy Pearl gets credit for coining the phrase "book lust," but I certainly suffered from it before I knew the term (which just gave me unpleasant flashbacks to seminar discussions of Foucault and defining sexuality... brrr...). This month's expenses have curtailed my spending power, so the following titles exist in my thriftbooks cart, tantalizing me and waiting for next payday! Despite their absence from my shelves (where, admittedly, they would be behind other piles yet waiting to be read) I thought they deserved a moment of mention.

As I said, I'm teaching a class on the graphic novel in the fall, so my mind turns, this month, to graphic novels I'd like to explore. Bone is often compared to The Lord of the Rings, so that's one of the reasons it appeared on my radar!

I encountered this title during a fun shopping adventure with students (the two wonderful gals who work on the literary magazine with me opted for a movie outing). It's been so long since I've read much fantasy; I no longer recognize authors or series - but this talked about an immortal Queen Victoria. Who can resist that? Will Albert be a zombie? Life is full of questions!

I'm teaching a class on the literature of sport this summer. I know little about sport of any kind, but I'm always looking for new genres to read in. I fell in love with the television series Friday Night Lights and I was off to the races, reading Dyden's The Game, The Boys of Winter, The Boys of Summer, and a host of others. Gorgeous George surfaced during my search for topics to cover with my class and the theatricality drew me in. I'd love to learn more!

My husband's current favorite television show is Black Sails, which leads, by way of books, to Treasure Island... which led me to be curious about Stevenson. I know very little about Stevenson, but I've enjoyed the works I've read by him. This feels like a good time for us to get acquainted!

I feel that I have a good grasp of certain royals - The early Plantagenets, for example, or Queen Victoria - but others never really made it onto my radar. I became interested about Simpson and the abdication "crisis" when I watched The Crown and I've been filling in my information about Queen Mary, George V, George VI, and Edward VIII. I don't have the sort of awe/interest in them that leads people to buy commemorative merchandise, but I do wonder what it must be like to live inside such an old institution while simultaneously dealing with the modern world.

Somehow, in all my fantasy reading, I missed Elric and his adventures, but now that we've met at last, I'm curious to see Wendy Pini's take on him. In The Big ElfQuest Gatherum she discusses her obsession with Elric and getting lost in his world. Her final take was rather negative, but I spend a lot of my life getting lost in things and seem to emerge unscathed (if a little starry-eyed!)




So, these are the contenders for this month's longing looks! I've little doubt that the passing days will swell and rearrange their ranks, so I'll keep you posted as Book Lust moves to Book Acquisition... and thence to Book Conquest! Maybe I need a cape...