Books I should be Reading

I thought about posting a list here of all the books I have bought and haven’t read yet, but I decided it would be too embarrassing. Besides, there are still many books in boxes since our move, so I couldn’t make an accurate list, could I? Instead, here’s the pile on my night table, the ones I have started to read or really, really, want to start.
Information Development: I know this sounds boring, but the author, JoAnn Hackos, is one of my idols and this is her latest, the book I got most recently and the one I really need to swallow whole in a hurry. (624 pages, softcover — yikes)
The Laws of Simplicity: This little hardcover came with the Hackos book and has a much better chance of rising to the top because it’s just over 100 pages and feels good with its sexy-smooth dust cover.
The Victorian Internet: I’ve wanted this one for ages, so I finally added it to my last Amazon order. It’s all about the telegraph and the “nineteenth century’s online pioneers” and it looks like a good curl-up-by-the-wood-stove read.
Wikinomics: Another must-read-to-keep-up choice that sounds interesting. Trouble with this one is that if I don’t get to it soon, its trendiness will be over. Ooh, the pressure!
A Midwife’s Tale: This is a Pulitzer Prize winning novel based on a genealogical artifact, a diary of an 18th century Maine midwife. I picked it up at a Harvard bookstore when I was in Boston last December and it has sat on my night table ever since. Maybe I’m saving it for a summer day in a hammock.
The Power of Positive Dog Training: Claire sent me this one and I’m halfway through it, already trying it out on her dogs and mine. The good thing about having dogs, and having a book like this, is that if the day isn’t going too well, you can still feel like a positive human being by doing training exercises with a dog. Pooch+something they know how to do or can figure out+treat=success!
Paint Ideas and Decorating Techniques: I’m a sucker for these ones at the remainder sales. Anything that makes me think I can transform my house in a weekend to a designer paradise, I’m there. It comes down to a chaste, non-fattening indulgence in fantasy — so what’s wrong with that?