the birthday haul

Just today I went into the Duquesne bookstore, which now accepts the B&N discount card, and bought Elizabeth George’s With No One as Witness for 40% off (wisely spending that birthday cash). I spent my lunch hour reading it and it is classic George. I am settling in for a nice read tonight!

These are from my expedition a few weeks ago.

Justice Hall – Laurie R. King
The Game – Laurie R. King
The next two Mary Russell stories. I will read Justice Hall pretty soon but I want to read Rudyard Kipling’s Kim before starting The Game as Kimball O’Hara is one of the main characters – or, actually, the main mystery, as he seems to have disappeared. I started Kim this past week but my head hurt too much to try to deal with the dialects and terms. As soon as I feel better, I’ll tackle it. I’ve never read much Kipling (don’t ask if I like Kipling!) other than the Just So Stories, so it’ll be fun.

These fit into my weirdo adventure/action/mountaineering genre:

Touching the Void – Joe Simpson
I haven’t read Touching the Void, but now that they’ve made a movie out of it, I feel obliged to read the book before I see the movie. It’s supposed to be a heck of a story.

Where the Mountain Casts Its Shadow: The Dark Side of Extreme Adventure – Maria Coffey
Joe Trasker was last seen alive on the previously un-attempted east-northeast ridge of Everest on May 17, 1982. His longtime girlfriend Maria Coffey wrote Where the Mountain Casts Its Shadow about the partners, wives, family, and children left behind when extreme mountaineers perish during their adventures, and explores the drive that leads them to risk their lives for what is essentially sport.

The Cruelest Miles: The Heroic Story of Dogs and Men in a Race Against an Epidemic – Gay and Lanie Salisbury
The Cruelest Miles is about an expedition to get diphtheria vaccines to Nome, Alaska in the early 1920s. From the Amazon review: “The journey itself occupies the second half of the book; the authors judiciously flesh out the story with fascinating background information about Nome, the Gold Rush, dogsledding and Alaska. This is an elegantly written book, inspiring tremendous respect for the hardy mushers and their canine partners.”

And medical books seem to be my other quirky reading preference:

Just Here Trying to Save a Few Lives – Pamela Grim
I’ve already read this, but I liked it.

White Coat: Becoming a Doctor at Harvard Medical School – Ellen Lerner Rothman
Never read it, never heard of it. It just looked interesting. I’ll let you know….

And food:

Kitchen Confidential – Anthony Bourdain
I adore Anthony Bourdain – he’s smart, funny, irreverent, and more than a little bit goofy. He also has the most beautiful hands I’ve ever seen. Kitchen Confidential deals with his training and life in the restaurant world, and it’s entertaining as all-get-out. I own A Cook’s Tour and wanted to own this too. Plus, his devotion to his wife Nancy (all of his books are dedicated to her) is endearing and sweet, unexpected from a rough-cut guy like Bourdain. Although he did grow up with parents who took him oyster-chomping in France, so perhaps his rough-cut-ness is an act….

Tender at the Bone – Ruth Reichl
Reichl’s first memoir of her life details her childhood and her culinary adventures experienced with her eccentric family and friends. It took me a while to warm up to Reichl – although the last few chapters of Comfort Me With Apples may be some of the most powerful and heartbreaking writing I have ever read - but mostly I at first found her books sort of scattered and almost distant. But I warmed up to her over rereading. I guess I had to get to know her a bit. I will definitely buy her new one when it comes out in paperback, and I am happy to add this one to my collection.

I think I got them all. But if I missed any, it’s not as if I don’t know where to find you….