Critiquette’s Christmas Books Wish List

The following are books that I hope to read in the last week of 2009 and the first few months of 2010. Add them to your holiday wishlist, too! You can also just read The New York Times 100 Notable Books of 2009 . . . I sure did.

1. The Art Student’s War, by Brad Leithauser. Leithauser is a former professor at Mt. Holyoke (I never studied with him, which is a crying shame, though I heard him read from The Art Student’s War at an alumnae event a year or two ago.) and a current professor at Johns Hopkins. The Art Student’s War is a Detroit novel taking place during WWII.

2. A Gate at the Stairs, by Lorrie Moore. Coming of age in the Midwest.

3. Half Broke Horses, by Jeanette Walls. Pioneering, bad-ass women. Also, it has “horses” in the title, which is usually good enough for me.

4. Columbine, by Dave Cullen. I read a lot about this book when it first came out (first on Henry Sene Yee’s book design blog) and have found Cullen’s insight into the Columbine incident to be fascinating. I don’t often tackle non-fiction (I need a strong narrative to stay interested) but Amazon’s excerpt of Columbine has me thinking that I’ll manage.

5. Wood Nymph Seeks Centaur: A Mythological Dating Guide, by Francesca Lia Block. I read some Block in high school, and I find the concept behind this book to be hilarious and appropriately nerdy.

6. Her Fearful Symmetry, by Audrey Niffenegger. The Time Traveler’s Wife is one of my favorite books, so I’m really eager to read Niffenegger’s second book. Coming of age ghost story.

7. Gourmet Rhapsody, byMuriel Barbery. I have, but haven’t read The Elegance of the Hedgehog, though I have read the first page and know that I’m going to like the writing. I love writers who recycle characters, so this book goes on my list for sure, even without the delicious literary foodie theme.

8. Far North, by Marcel Theroux. I like post-apocolyptic books, and I loved the excerpt from this.

9. American Salvage, by Bonnie Jo Campbell. A collection of gritty Michigan stories.

10. Box set of Sookie Stackhouse/True Blood books, by Charlaine Harris. Because if my eyes don’t get to behold Eric the vampire while the TV show True Blood is on hiatus, then I might as well let my imagination.

11. Swimming, by Nicola Keegan. I was sold when Publisher’s Weekly said it was “sarcastic and f-bomb laden.” Coming of age and lots of water, some of my favorite things.

12. Ratio: The Simple Codes Behind the Craft of Everyday Cooking, by Michael Ruhlman. Slate had an interesting review, and the liberal arts student in me likes to know the concept and how things work without having to memorize specifics.