My reading list

Last night I mistakenly watched yet another episode of The L Word. [insert massive shudder] It wasn’t a mistake in that I accidentally caught it while channel surfing. No, I actually pushed the On Demand button on my remote and carefully selected it to watch. That was the mistake.

If you didn’t catch the most recent episode, count yourself lucky. If you, like me, actually watched it (OK, I fast-forwarded through several parts), the only things that will save yourself from nightmares are (1) reading scribegrrrl’s recap; and/or (2) burying yourself in books. You know, stories printed on paper, which can be found in libraries (aka oases of education and good taste) or bookstores (aka places that sell really good stories about lesbians, such as those written by Sarah Waters).

So I wanted to do my part. Here’s what’s in my reading list these days:

To get a little more detailed:

I’m currently reading Melissa Marr’s Wicked Lovely. I was planning to read this several weeks ago, but when I brought it home from the library (see lovely library sticker on the end there), Amy stole it from me and read it first. Luckily, she enjoyed it so much that she went out and bought the sequel, Ink Exchange, so at least we both have that to look forward to!

I recently picked up a copy of Bones of Faerie by Janni Lee Simner, a postapocalyptic fairy novel (YA), after seeing it get great reviews all around the web, including over at Shaken & Stirred (a blog title after my own heart). I love the postapocalypse, and I have a soft spot for fairies, so I can’t wait to read this one. (OK, I sneakily already read the first chapter, which forced me to read the next two also. But then I stopped. I don’t like reading more than one novel at once.)

Next up, a couple of nonfiction books — Wolf Songs: The Classic Collection of Writing About Wolves, edited by Robert Busch, which I’m reading because Book 2 has wolves in it. And I like nature writing. This collection contains Aldo Leopold’s classic essay “Thinking Like a Mountain,” which is only three pages long but for some reason I still have not read.

The Heart Has Its Reasons: Young Adult Literature With Gay/Lesbian/Queer Content, 1969-2004, by Cart Michael and Christine A. Jenkins, is a reference I’ve been consulting for an article I’m writing.

Next is another YA novel, Ravenhill by Timothy Hillmer. It’s about a school shooting at a small-town high school — a sobering topic, to be sure. I’m really looking forward to reading it, though, because it’s written by my seventh-grade language arts teacher! Mr. Hillmer! He was one of my favorite teachers of all time, and I can say that now and not be brown-nosing, because I am way past seventh grade now.

The last two books are more nonfiction that I’m reading for Book 2 purposes. The Web That Has No Weaver: Understanding Chinese Medicine by Ted J. Kaptchuk, and The Hound and the Hawk: The Art of Medieval Hunting by John Cummins. What could medieval hunting have to do with Chinese medicine and, um, wolves? [evil laugh] The plot thickens!

So, after stacking up all the books in my reading list, I felt a lot better. Also, having a cocktail helped. In fact, having a cocktail while reading is pretty much awesome.

What’s on your reading list? And/or, just how bad was that L Word episode? Does anybody really believe that straight men like to work as drag queens?

Related posts:

1. 2009 Rainbow List spotlights queer YA fiction
2. New Year’s Reading Resolutions
3. On reading “Harriet the Spy”

Tagged as: The L Word, YA fiction