Back With A Meme

Hola, internets! I've missed you. *muah*

You know where I've been and what I've been doing, viz, home and entertaining/feeding/cleaning my little guy practically 24/7. I say practically, because even though I've had lots of help (mom and mil and of course, the new daddy), the kid demands to be fed for half an hour every two hours, and believe me that gets annoying.

But he's really an angel otherwise. :)

On with the blog! What have we for you today? Why, it's an Unusual Books meme.

List 10 books you have on your bookshelf that you think nobody else on your friends list has on theirs.

I'm tagging everyone who's still reading this blog. Get to it!



1. My Little Book of Poems, by Kathy Mailer (An old, old pocket-sized book of nursery rhymes, most I've never heard of.)

2. FM 21-76: The U.S. Army Survival Manual (Got it at a used book sale for $0.25. Have yet to crack its covers.)

3. The Elementary Particle, by Michael Houellebecq (Weird novel I found barely readable but Saurabh liked.)

4. Tripping to Somewhere, by Kris Reisz (Straight from the author, autographed and all.)

5. The Compromise, by Sergei Dovlatov (Was part of an anniversary present for Saurabh - a book of short stories by a famous Russian writer. Verdict: Eugh.)

6. The Patty Perfect Guide (An etiquette book for the "working girl" published in the 1920s. Hilarious in its unabashed sexism: "The busy executive has no time to notice your manicure or your new hairdo. The Patty Perfect secretary is always professional, and isn't disappointed when he doesn't.")

7. 21 Great Stories, edited by Abraham H. Lass and Norma L. Tasman (I had to throw this in here. It's possibly the best collection of short stories I've ever read, and I read those a lot. Many of the stories in this book make my top 10 list of favourite works.)

8. An Illustrated History of the Third Reich, by John Bradley (Switzerland 2003 - my host in St Gallen gave me this book.)

9. Kolyma Tales, by Varlam Shalamov (Another book of great short stories, and as close to literature, officially speaking, as I've ever really been able to appreciate.)

10. Haunted Encounters: Stories of Departed Pets, edited by Bidouna (The one book I'd be willing to actually bet money that nobody else I know owns. My first published story appeared in this book.)