Top Ten Books I'm Psyched to Tackle this Fall

Top Ten Tuesday

Book's I am excited to read this fall:

1 - 3. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix/ Half Blood Prince/ Deathly Hallows
I'm in the middle of an epic Harry Potter read through. Currently I'm making my way through Goblet of Fire, but the final three books obviously a must read for a enjoyable fall.

4. Fortunately, the Milk - Neil Gaiman
The second Neil Gaiman release of 2013, and this time a children's story! After Ocean at the End of the Lane and finally picking up American God's this year I'm excited to go back to the first version of Neil I encountered, that of a children's storyteller.

5. The Fallback Plan - Leigh Stein
Sometimes I'm a masochist. I watch Girls at 11 am on a Tuesday. That's what being part time at a financial institution and living with your parents let's you do. Though I'm sure Fallback Plan is going to hit way to close to home and give me a major case of the "listening to the National and dreaming of preschool" I can't wait to start it.

6. Fraud - David Rakoff
I've been looking for the David Sedaris sized hole in my future reading plans since finishing Let's Explore Diabetes with Owls back in April and purchased Rakoff's first essay collection. Fingers crossed I picked the right collection to start with!

7. The Goldfinch - Donna Tartt
NEW DONNA TARTT. GUYS. NEW DONNA TARTT.  

8. Bellman and Black - Diane Setterfield
I am equally excited Diane Setterfield's follow up the The Thirteenth Tale. I'm going to try and manage my expectations though, there are only so many "can't put it down" books one author can write.

9. White Teeth - Zadie Smith
This year I've been tackling authors that I've previously had little success with. I've tried reading three different Zadie Smith novels and have never gotten past the 100th page. I hear good things about White Teeth and if 2013 let me finish a Ian McEwan novel I sure hope it let's me finally form an informed opinion on Ms. Smith.

10. Necessary Errors - Caleb Crain
Error's came out this summer and is the one book I've bought for my Kindle this year that I haven't finished. This is unacceptable. You're next, buddy.

So those are my OMG I'M STOKED picks for fall. It's new releases and old favorites, dark and funny, second tries and new experiences. If that doesn't describe fall to a T I don't know what does.

Fall at Hogwarts

It's that time of year again. No, I'm not talking about the season of pumpkin flavored everything - though I just found out pumpkin spice M&M's are a thing. In my house the beginning of September can only mean one thing and that is that it's time for me to be cardigan deep in Harry Potter.  Some years this means I watch a movie every few days, some it has meant binge sessions on pottermore.

However since I graduated from college I find that instead of lazily reading about Harry's adventures over a short summer I push back my yearly reading until the start of the Hogwarts term. Without classes to mark the changing of the seasons I've taken to living vicariously through my favorite wizard. I'm already a third of the way through Prisoner of Azkaban!

Now I know I've written extensively on this blog about Harry Potter and there isn't a lot more for me to say on the subject. At least not much that isn't just incoherent fangirling. That's what my tumblr's for. Instead I thought I'd share with you some of my favorite Potter related things!

This is my Harry Potter shelf. Yes the series gets it's own shelf. It's got my set of Scholastic hardcovers , the DVDS, the Bloomsbury Adult Editions (in the box, they're paperbacks), A mini Hogwarts express, a misleading snow-globe that has Snape instructing harry and a custom mug from etsy. 

I'm obsessed with the cover art on the 15th anniversary reprints of the series. Kazu Kibuishi did a remarkable job capturing iconic moments in each book. When put together the spine also make a beautiful outline of Hogwarts. 

I'm  can be a girly girl. I love jewelry. So when I found this necklace on Etsy for under $5 I was one happy muggle. Remember, hallows, not horcruxes, guys.

Back when I used to check teefury every day I came across this Ravenclaw Quidditch shirt. I usually only wear it to the gym but it's super comfy. I do see shirts for the other three houses come up fairly frequently, but I'm Ravenclaw at heart. 

One last piece of Potter related squealing: JK Rowling announced today that she is going to write the screenplay for a Fantastic Beasts film. Queue screaming and fainting.

Do you have any fun Harry Potter related memorabilia? Hit me up in the comments!

Summer Reading Wrap-Up

While 2013 has been a mixed bag of good  and okay-who-was-I-in-a-past-life-to-deserve-this terrible luck overall this summer is already establishing itself as a pleasant memory. A memory tinted by a new house and some good books and not by the loss of a beloved pet and chaos of my personal life.  Not that those things didn't happen, i'm just choosing to remember the past three months as ones I was engrossed in the Land of American Gods, or the Brooklyn of The Love Affairs of Nathaniel P. I'm remembering make shift book clubs, both here in Michigan and ones conducted via text several hundred miles away.

 Maybe the occasional birthday celebration or late night philosophical chat session with some of old friends will find their way into the narrative I'm remembering, only time will tell. What I do know for certain is that I finished these books between July and now. They were mostly pretty amazing.

American Gods - Gaiman
The Ocean at the End of the Lane - Gaiman
An Abundance of Katherines - Green
The White Queen - Gregory
The Love Affairs of Nathaniel P. - Waldman
Dispatch from the Future - Stein
The Kite Runner - Hosseini
The Cuckoo's Calling - Galbraith/Rowling
The Enchantress Returns - Colfer

Now that Labor Day has passed and all the lucky ones are back at school I'm starting my annual binge read of Harry Potter. Time for oversize sweaters and my Ravenclaw scarf!