Reading

I surrender!! I am surrounded by so much reading material, and I am never going to get through it! I canceled my subscription to The New Yorker because a) my boyfriend gets it and it seems silly to duplicate it, and b) reading it all weekly was just too much. There was no time to read anything else - or if I did, I couldn't get the magazine finished. But now he has brought me all these back issues and I keep looking at the pile, knowing there is no way in hell I will ever get through them all. Waiting for me are the following: American Pastoral by Philip Roth; an obscure book by E. Annie Proulx; the next book for my book group (A Question of Upbringing, by Anthony Powell); the most recent edition of The Sun Magazine, the rest of the current book for my book group (The English Teacher by R.K. Narayan); America: A Prophecy, by Sparrow; the book I realized will not be ok for my next selection for the book group because it is short stories and they are not allowed (Drown, by Junot Diaz) but I want to read it myself anyway; archy's life of mehitabel; Eric Clapton's autobiography; a photo essay about Burning Man; all of the Best American Short Stories of 2007 save the first three (which I have actually managed to read); and O. Henry: Complete and Unabridged. Coming in the mail are two books I have ordered and am considering for my next selection for the book group: Under the Feet of Jesus, by Helena Maria Viramontes, and Trumpet, by Jackie Kay. I am already inclined toward the former, because it is only 176 pages.

This list does not include all the books and magazines I would like to read when I hear about them or even notice on my shelves that I haven't got around to reading yet. Nor does it include all the stuff I SHOULD be reading for work. Or the daily newspaper, which gets short shrift (apart from the crossword) these days.

I may have to quit my job.

Help!