I keep an extensive list of Recommended Reading I would like to buy, since if I ran out and bought every book I want to read, I would be inundated by such huge piles they would threaten to topple over and kill me (what a fitting way to die that would be!). Right now the list consists of 36 fantasy and science fiction books, 25 historical fiction novels, and 24 nonfiction books.

There are three major ways I find new books I want to read. One way is by reading book reviews either in magazines such as Locus (which is devoted to f&sf) and Historical Fiction Review, or online at websites such as SF Site and Emerald City. A second way is reading book catalogs which I get in the mail, either from remaindered books retailers such as Daedalus Books and Edward R. Hamilton Books or from book clubs such as Science Fiction Book Club, Quality Paperback Book Club, and Book of the Month Club.

The third way is by doing one of my favorite activities: going to a bookstore and browsing for an hour. That is exactly what I did last night at Border’s at Rockaway Mall, while Jean shopped at the rest of the mall. While I was there I came very close to buying one of the following books:

> The first three books in C.J. Cherryh’s atevi series–Foreigner / Invader / Inheritor. Cherryh was one of my very favorite writers from the mid-70s through the mid-90s. In fact, I have 24 books of hers in my collection, which is the third most books of any author after Robert Silverberg and Roger Zelazny. I am not sure why I never bought any of these three books, since they garnered generally good reviews when they were published, and they look quite interesting. Cherryh tends to write sociological sf of the “society-building” type, with the plots as much interior/characterization as action/melodrama.

> The other two books were travel books from Travelers Tales Books, which publishes a fascinating series of travel essays, each book devoted either to a specific aspect of travel, or a specific area of the world. The two books which interest me the most are Tibet–not surprisingly, since I have been very much immersed in Tibet this summer while editing Fei Fei’s book–and Italy.

If Jean had not returned to Border’s to pick me up, I think there would have been another book on my Books to Read list–which already contains 10 f&sf books, 23 historical fiction, 14 nonfiction, and 12 long series consisting of 40 books! Like I need more books to read! ☺