What I'm Reading, What I've Read and What I Want

I used to review a lot, but for a couple of reasons I've stepped away from it.  I still read a lot, but for the most part I'm not sharing my thoughts on everything, especially if they're on balance negative thoughts.  I consider it a little bit of a luxury to not have to be overly critical.  (If I said I'm a Virgo, would you understand?)

But I don't want the world to think I've stopped reading.  Even if I haven't had time to sit down for a proper review, I can at least give a shout out to what's on the table where I keep my books.

• Oxford Messed Up is the story of a Rhodes scholar who suffers from OCD and her path to wellness and love. A lot of Van Morrison music.
• Daughter of Time Young widow Meg thought the 21st century was filled with challenges.  Will 13th century Wales be any better?
• A Thirty Something Girl Hope Jackson's thirtieth birthday is anything but welcome after she's lost pretty much everything she ever thought she had.  Things you can get back and people can come into your life, but does any of that help when you can't let go of your mistakes?
• Molly Hacker is Too Picky!  Finding Mr. Right is hard; looking for that person when all of your friends plus the town's busy body thinks it's their job to "help".
• Resurrecting the Street is an account of how the Government Securities Markets came back after 9/11.  As much a story about what happened that day to the people as to the infrastructure.
• The Gargoyle After a man who had no inner life and made money off of his looks is burned in a fire, a mysterious, eccentric woman arrives at the hospital to help him recover.  It's a love story that will delves into history and mysticism.
• Self-Printed If you're contemplating self-publishing, this is an excellent guide.  This is not a get-rich-quick scheme; rather it's a make a develop-a-reliable-long-term-income-stream book.  There is quite a bit of technical advice about how to publish on Kindle and Smashwords, with all of the attendant problems that can arise.  If you end up deciding that you want to hire someone else to do this for you, you're not alone.

What I'm waiting for with bated breath

• Poseidon: Earth Shaker Why?  Because it's the latest installment in George O'Connor's series about the Olympians, and we all know I love George O'Connor.

What I Really, Really want more of

• Good economic history. Please, don't even breathe Niall Ferguson's name in my direction.  This is the kind of stuff of my dreams.
• A grown up book about solar power. There's a fair amount for kids, but I want something I can sink my teeth into- history, applications, goals- the whole shebang.
• An Asian country's economic outlook, and preferably one that reflects that Asia is not a monolith.
• More on education policy, including K-12 and higher education.  I'm picky though, and do NOT recommend Diane Ravitch unless you'd like to hear all of the reasons I can't stand her.

Don't Even Bother Recommending

• Anything by Emily Giffin.  Her bullying- ahem, her husband's bullying- this summer soured me on anything she may ever write.