Choices, choices

What will you be reading on
January 10, 2008?

I'm still slogging through The Devil in the White City. I am almost half-way through the 388 pages. The actual construction in Chicago of the first World's Fair in the United States is fascinating. They were desperately trying to "out-Eiffel the Eiffel Tower" and create a Fair that would top the previous one in Paris, which the famous Tower was built for. However, the concurrent story of the murders perpetuated by a man who may have been one of the first serial killers in the United States in the down the street from this World's Fair is giving me ulcers.

But I have before me the traditional stack of Christmas books that I received as presents. Every year we exchange books, especially among the adults. And it is taking all the will-power I possess to not tear into my pile.


One book I'm looking forward to reading is City in Amber by Jay Atkinson. He is a professor of writing at a local public college. The story is set in Lawrence, Massachusetts, a depressed former mill town that came into national prominence during the 1990's when a set of fires turned into an arson wave. Lawrence was once a shining example of a 19th century industrial city. The novel moves from 1848 to the 1990's.

A brief description of The Abstinence Teacher by Tom Perrotta struck me. It described how a high school health education teacher who believes in comprehensive sexual education is confronted and shamed by the local church which believes high school students should only learn about abstinence. It seems like a wonderful piece of fiction reflecting today's politics and inability to listen to each other, especially when faith is involved.

So, my hope is to be done with The Devil in the White City before Day to Read on January 10th. I think one of these books will be what I'm reading.

What books have you recently acquired? What is sitting in your to-be-read pile?