Catching Up and Starting Over

How did it get to be January 10, 2014 already? You'd think that by this point in my life I'd be prepared for how quickly time ends up in the rearview mirror as I speed forward, but sadly I seem to be incapable of learning this particular lesson.

One thing I have learned is that it's better to muddle on and start anew rather than lament what I've not accomplished. In this spirit, I'm not going to offer up one a "Best of 2013 Reading" post despite having mentally written a million of them since various media outlets started publishing their anointed cannons back in November. After all, despite reading a hundred books last year, I didn't even put a dent in the books on my shelves waiting to be read, much less sample more than a single drop of what was published.

I will say that 2013, in my weightless opinion, was a pretty good year for books and that as of this moment, 2014 is looking pretty spectacular too.

With just the books issued this week my "2014 To Read" shelf is already overstuffed, though that's nothing new. Just look at this line-up:

Little Failure by Gary Shteyngart
On Such A Full Sea by Chang-rae Lee
Leaving the Sea: Stories by Ben Marcus
What I Had Before I Had You by Sarah Cornwell
The Invention of Wings by Sue Monk Kidd

        

Next week brings Rachel Cantor's debut 'A Highly Unlikely Scenario' and 'Perfect' from Rachel Joyce, the author of 'The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry', a New York Review of Books reprint of Balzac The Human Comedy and Okey Ndibe's 'Foreign Gods Inc.' I'm already reading as fast as I can to get ahead of the curve given that the there seems to be no relief in sight.

I will be reading and reviewing most of these, as well as other new releases including the latest Flavia de Luce mystery. Besides posting books reviews, I'm also planning on putting together a weekly round-up of Philadelphia area author events each Monday. There are a lot of amazing writers that are going to be visiting over the coming months and they don't all come to The Free Library. Local indie stores and educational institutions sponsor great writers and open the doors to the public.

If you'll excuse me, I need to go read.