What should I read next?

What are your greatest fears? Public speaking? Showing up in public naked on accident? Death? 


You know what I'm really afraid of? Being stuck somewhere without paper and pen to write with and a book to read. Seriously. My husband always makes fun of me for how I pack. Even if we're just going somewhere overnight, I have to pack multiple books - so I have a book I'm actually in the mood to read. Sometimes you want a beautiful thought provoker, sometimes you want some silly brainless fun, but then there's always the random wild card. 


Maybe you can understand that having to put all my books away into boxes in preparation for our move, I'm feelin' pretty anxious. Granted I've got enough pages on my current book to last me probably until and through the move - just the thought that I could finish and not have enough books available makes me start to grind my teeth.


I used to be a compulsive book buyer. I currently have multiple boxes of books in three different cities. That's after several sessions of trying to go through them and take as many as possible to used book stores. 


[sidebar: One of my favorite literary passages is in Italo Calvino's If On a Winter's Night a Traveler, where the author walks you through a book store, not categorized by genres, but organized instead according to your experiences with books - probably inspired High Fidelity's autobiographical organization of albums. I can't do it justice, you should check it out for yourself.] 


Recognizing that I had a problem, I made a rule for myself a while ago that I had to read three books before I was allowed to buy another one, and that helped me curb the habit. I hardly ever buy books anymore, but that means that when I do, they really better be worth it. 


If you can remotely identify with me on any of this, you can perhaps share my excitement when I read Joanna Goddard's tip on this website that helps you figure out what to read next. It's like getting lost in a rabbit trail of movie trailers, checking out potential books to dive into. This is doing wonders to calm some of my weird anxieties. 


But here's the thing, I can't just trust a website, I need some testimonials to help me out. So while I'm dreaming about the day when I'll let myself buy my next book, you can help me make a good choice by giving me some input. 


Some recent books I've read and enjoyed lead to some potential suggestions:



1) Divisadero by Michael Ondaatje. One of my favorite authors, Ondaatje's background as a poet clearly comes through in his prose. He's from Sri Lanka, where I studied abroad, and a good portion of the book takes place in the Bay Area, my most recent home. He pays beautiful homage to place while spinning riveting character development throughout an unconventional plot structure. 


Out of the recommended list, Saturday by Ian McEwan interests me. I enjoyed Atonement [thanks for lending that to me Emily!]. Is this one worth checking out?




2) Bossypants by Tina Fey. For my thoughts on that, see our conversational review post if you missed it. 


mmm . . . weird list of rec's. Possible website fail. Looking for hysterically funny here people. Not sure how Jane Eyre makes that list - good - but not quite what I'm going for with this one. Maybe Goodnight Nobody by Jennifer Weiner? 








3) The Philosophical Baby by Alison Gopnik. It's full of research from all sorts of fields from Psychology to Computer Science, and it's woven together by great philosophical questions, and it's about babies. This woman foresaw my pregnant-waddle-entry into that Pegasus bookstore the day I found that book and wrote it just for me. I wasn't 100% satisfied, but I was quite stimulated and entertained. 


This one only yields a singular recommendation: Richard Wiseman's 59 Seconds. In reading about it I feel both intrigued and skeptical. Any input?

Hmmm . . . looks like I really need some back up. Have any Lobsters out there read these books? Got any thoughts? Should I check them out or stay away? Anyone else have fun with this "What to read next" website, or found it useful?