Top Ten Tuesday: Topping Fall's TBR

Top Ten Books That Are On The Top Of My TBR List For Fall
Top Ten Tuesdays are brought to you by the folks over at The Broke and the Bookish.

I don’t keep up with what books are being released, and when, so this list consists of books that I want to read, regardless of publication date.  Also, this is not a commitment to actually read these books. I tend to pick up books based on what strikes me at a particular time. This list is more like “Books That Sound Good and I Want to Read Them Soon-ish, Probably.” Without further ado, the list (in no particular order):

1) To the End of the Land, David Grossman. This is my book club’s next pick. I’m not sure if I’m going to be able to make our next meeting, but I’ll read the book anyway.

2) The Taste of Salt, Martha Southgate. I read Southgate’s critique of The Help and it made me want to read one of her novels. I was able to buy The Taste of Salt online, even though it supposedly isn’t being released until September.

3) Scottsboro, Ellen Feldman. This was recommended to me by fellow blogger nomadreader, after I mentioned I did not like The Help. It was an Orange Prize nominee in 2009.

4) The Penelopiad, Margaret Atwood. Um, Margaret Atwood is awesome. I am ashamed to say I’d never read anything by her until my book club picked The Blind Assassin  to read last year. Since then I’ve also read The Handmaid’s Tale, and I’ve been wanting to read more. When I heard she had a retelling of the Odyssey from the perspective of Penelope, Odysseus’s wife, I had to add it to the TBR list.

5) A Happy Man, Hansjörg Schertenleib. The Publisher, Melville House, sent this to be as part of an awesome collection of books that I won by participating the Art of the Novella reading challenge. This is part of their Contemporary Art of the Novella series. The front flap says that this is the first time the author has been translated into English. That’s got me interested. I like reading books in translation.

6) Mr. Fox, Helen Oyeyemi. Eva over at A Striped Armchair has been singing the praises of Helen Oyeyemi. She’s got good taste, so I thought I’d give this one a try.

7) Assata: An Autobiography, Assata Shakur. I’m interested in radical movements in the 1960s & 70s, so, yeah, I want to read this. It will probably be the first on this list that I actually get to, because I have it sitting next to me, and it’s on loan from my neighbor. Since I’m moving soon, I want to have it read and returned asap.

8) Pigeon English, Stephen Kelman. I’ve got this Booker longlisted novel checked out from the library, and I want to get to it before I move and have to return it!

9) The Buddha in the Attic, Julie Otsuka. Another library book that I need to read and return. I checked this one out in my attempt to read more by this year’s Brooklyn Book Festival authors.

10) American Gods, Neil Gaiman. I’ve never read anything by Gaiman, despite hearing good things. This may be the year to change that.