Again, I am rather foolishly adding these books to my already lengthy TBR list. I love finding new titles to crave.

Dough: A Memoir by Mort Zachter. Recommended by Lisa at 5 Minutes for Books. I read another review of this book, but Lisa’s is the one that convinced me that I have to find a copy somewhere and read it.

Infidel by Ayaan Hirsi Ali. Recommended at Lines in Pleasant Places.

The Gutenberg Elegies: The Fate of Reading in an Electronic Age by Sven Birkerts. Recommended by Janet at Across the Page.

Bad Mother by Ayelet Waldman. Recommended by Florinda at The 3R’s. I think I want to read this one; I’m determined NOT to buy in to the Perfect Parent Syndrome that I do believe is rampant in our society. However, I hope I don’t find out that I’m just making excuses, and I really am a Bad Mom.

Scoop by Evelyn Waugh is already on deck for the Semicolon Book Club in October. Here’s a review from Word Lily.

Half of a Yellow Sun by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie. Recommended by Ti at Book Chatter. I’m quite interested in books set in and written by authors from the 53 (more or less) countries of Africa. I would like to compile a list of recommended books with one or more from each country. Half of a Yellow Sun is set in Biafra, a part of Nigeria that was involved in an attempted breakaway from that country in the late 1960’s. Also recommended at Small World Reads, The Magic Lasso and Pages Turned.

The Spellman FIles (and sequels) by Lisa Lutz. Recommended by S. Krishna.

Best Intentions by Emily Listfield. Recommended by S. Krishna. The trust issues and complex relationships in this book made it seem as if it would be a worthwhile read.

The Forever War by Dexter Filkins. Recommended by Gavin at Page247. About the war on terrorism in Afghanistan and Iraq.

The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane by Kate DiCamillo. Recommended by Emily at Homespun Light. Nope, I’ve never read it, although I’ve read widely differing opinions on it.

Fixing Abraham by Chris Tiegreen. Recommended by Becky at Operation Actually Read Bible.

Forest Born by Shannon Hale. Recommended at Becky’s Book Reviews.

Enough/bastante! I estimate that I may be able to finish all of the books on my reading list by the year 2100, at which time I will be approximately 143 years old.

Book Psmith reviews a P.G. Wodehouse title I’ve never heard of.

Tender Grace by Jackina Stark is recommended by My Friend Amy. I’m willing to try Christian fiction if it’s well-written and thoughtful. This one sounds as if it could be both.

My Friend Amy also reviewed WInter in Madrid by C.J. Sansom, a book set during the Spanish CIvil War that I read and reviewed last year. It’s not for the faint of heart since it’s both long and essentially hopeless, but both Amy and I agree that it’s worth the time and the grief.

Leah at The Friendly Book Nook inspired me to check out either Tiger Lillie or Songbird by Lisa Samson. Ms. Sansom is another Christian author that I’ve never read, but I’ve heard good things about her writing.

Krakovianka recommends Crow Lake by Mary Lawson. SInce she says it’s the first good book she’s read in a while, I thought it would be worth a look.

The Elegance of the Hedgehog by Muriel Barbery. Recommended by Fleur FIsher. The title by itself almost had me, and then the review clinched the deal. A suicidal but observant child, a Japanese businessman, and an arts-loving recluse—what a combination of characters!

Old Books, Rare Friends: Two Literary Sleuths and Their Shared Passions by Leona Rostenberg & Madeleine Stern. Recommended at Book Psmith. Wouldn’t it be fun to be a rare book dealer/collector? Next best thing: reading about a pair of rare book dealers with a rare friendship.

In the Woods by Tana French. Recommended at Whimpulsive. I read a review of this mystery/suspense title somewhere else, and it sounded like a good read. SuziQOregon’s review tipped the book over the edge into the maelstrom that is my TBR list.

The Help by Kathryn Stockett. Recommended by Jennifer at 5 Minutes for Books. Jennifer gave this new title such a glowing review that I can’t resist. The Book Lady also recommends this one, calling it “addictively, compulsively readable.”

The School of Essential Ingredients by Erica Bauermeister. Recommended by Jennifer at 5 Minutes for Books. I already added this book to my list. (Recommended by Megan at Leafing Through Life) I think I might actually buy a copy, read it, and then send it to Eldest Daughter, who loves to read and to cook.

The Only True Genius in the Family by Jennie Nash. Recommended by Natasha at Maw Books. Father-daughter-grandaughter relationships and the origins and incarnations of artistic talent and genius. I must admit that I could be jealous of my talented children if I let myself think about the comparison.

An Exact Replica of a Figment of My Imagination by Elizabeth MacCracken. Recommended by Natasha at Maw Books. I’m not sure if I can detach enough to get through this book or not. It’s a memoir by an author whose first child was stillborn. My fifth child died eight months into my pregnancy. I am intrigued by the subject of Ms. MacCracken’s memoir, but also some what uneasy about reading it. And if it’s as well written as Natasha says, that might make it worse.

The Madonnas of Leningrad by Debra Dean. Recommended by Mindy Withrow. Mindy’s review made this one sound like something I wouldn’t want to miss.

The Terror by Dan Simmons. Recommended by Ti at Book Chatter and Other Stuff. This one just sounds like (scary) fun, maybe not terribly deep but “cool” for this spring or summer when Houston gets unbearably hot.

Bound South by Susan Rebecca White. Recommended at S. Krishna’s Books. Southern fiction. About a mother and daughter and growing up and getting old. Gotta check it out.

Enough. I have so many books on my TBR list that I’ll have to get a life extension permit just to have time to read them all. But what a life!

I try to go through the reviews posted at the Saturday Review each week and make note of the books that I might want to read myself. Here are the results of that endeavor:

A Passion for Books by Harold Rabinowitz and Rob Kaplan. Recommended by FatalisFortuna. I love books about books, too.

I am encouraged to read Beloved by Toni Morrison, a book that I have had on my TBR list for a long time, by Krakovianka’s review. Perhaps Black History Month would be a good month to take the plunge.

There Is No Me WIthout You by Melissa Fay Greene. Recommended by Jane at Much Ado. I’ve been working for a long time on a booklist of books about or set in Africa, at least one book that gives a picture of the history and/or ambience of each country on the continent. Maybe I should post the incomplete list here on Semicolon sometime and ask for help. Oh, this one is nonfiction set in Ethiopia.

Change of Heart by Jodi Piccoult. Recommended at the 3Rs. I’ve read one or two books by Ms. Piccoult, and I think I might like this one.

Winter Wheat by Mildred Walker. Recommended by Julie at Deliciously Clean Reads. Set in Montana, this novel is the Depression era story of a girl growing up and seeing her home through new eyes.

Cutting for Stone by Abraham Verghese. Recommended at The Book Lady’s Blog. With such a glowing recommendation, I can’t resist.

Trail of Crumbs: Hunger, Love, and the Search for Home by Kim Sunee. Recommended by My Friend Amy. A memoir of a an abandoned Korean child, adopted by American parents, who as an adult searches for her roots and for a sense of belonging.

Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet by Jamie Ford. Recommended at Educating Petunia. Ms. Petunia makes this one sound irresistible, too.

As usual, I found way too many books to add to my reading list, but I’ll just have to enjoy adding them, looking forward to them, and eventually reading them.

As I looked through the entries for this week’s Saturday Review, these are the books that caught my eye and were added to my TBR list.

We Need To Talk About Kevin by Lionel Shriver. Recommended by Jackie at Farm Lane Books. I’ve seen this one reviewed and recommended elsewhere, and I thought about giving it a try, even though the subject matter is harrowing: a difficult child who grows up to be a violent criminal. I thnk it might give me something to think about, but if it traumatizes and frightens me, I’ll warn the rest of you off.

Q & A by Vikas Swarup, Recommended by Jackie at Farm Lane Books. This book is the source for the new movie Slumdog Millionaire. It sounds like fun.

The School of Essential Ingredients by Erica Bauermeister. Recommended by Megan at Leafing Through Life. This review is from an ARC; the book will be out on the 22nd. It sounds sensuous in the best sense of the word.

Justinian’s Flea: The First Great Plague And The End Of The Roman Empire by WIlliam Rosen. Recommended at Blacklin’s Reading Room. I’m always looking for good, quality, and most of all interesting, nonfiction, especially biography and history. I love history, but only if it’s not dry and not weighed down by a bunch of statistics and unimportant minutia. Justinian’s Flea sounds like something I could enjoy learning from.

Endurance: An Epic of Polar Adventure by F.A. Worsley. Recommended by bekahcubed. We watched Kenneth Branagh’s movie about Ernest Shackleton a couple of years ago, so I’m familiar with the basic outlines of the story. However, this memoir by a member of Shackleton’s expedition would be a good read for a winter’s night.

Wintergirls by Laurie Halse Anderson will be released in hardcover on March 19, 2009. Presenting Lenore reviews this new book by the author of Chains and Speak here. It’s about an anorexic teen named Lia, and I’m already intrigued by the review and by the premise of the novel.

My Father’s Paradise by Ariel Sabar. Recommended at Jew Wishes. OK, I know nothing about Kurdish Jews. I barely know where Kurdish Iraq is (north, right?). This book sounds as if it would educate me about a culture and a place that continue to be in the news, but haven’t been a part of my own mental geographical atlas.

Reading the OED by Ammon Shea. Recommended at The Book Lady’s Blog. I can actually picture myself doing this project. Someday when all my kids are grown, and I’m about 80, I’m going to take on some totally crazy reading project like reading the Oxford English Dictionary or reviewing all of the remaining books on the 1001 Books You Need to Read Before You DIe list or reliving the twentieth century by reading one or more bestsellers from each of the years of that century. I don’t know what my project will be, but it will have to do with books, and it will be ambitiously impossible. In the meantime, I’ll enjoy this book about another man’s ambitious and mad project.

Today, by the way, is the birthday of Winnie the Pooh creator, A.A. Milne. To add to your birthday celebration, here’s a link to some thoughts I wrote about Milne’s autobiography, entitled Too Late Now.

I try to go through the book review links posted at the Saturday Review each week, but with nearly 200 links posted this week, time is the enemy of thoroughness. I did glance over most of the reviews, and these are the books and other thoughts I found of interest to me:

A Thomas Jefferson Education: Teaching a Generation of Leaders for the Twenty-first Century by Oliver Van deMille. Suzanne used some categories from this book to talk about another book she was reviewing. I’ve heard of the Jefferson Education book, and I’ve been meaning to look for it. I am reminded.

The Housekeeper and the Professor by Yoko Ogawa. Recommended by 3M at 1 More Chapter. This one is a translation from the Japanese and includes a lot of mathematical references, bleeding over into philosophy I deduce. I thought it sounded like a good risk.

Strand: An Odyssey of Pacific Ocean Debris by Bonnie Henderson. Recommended by Carrie at 5 Minutes for Books. The story of a self-described “forensic coastwatcher,” this book is not the sort of thing I would pick off the shelf without a recommendation from someone else, but when Carrie describes it, I am intrigued. I need to read more nonfiction, especially more about nature and science. But it has to be nontechnical and concentrated on story or you’ll lose me.

Counter Clockwise by Jason Cockcroft. Recommended by gautami tripathy. This fantasy time travel title comes out in February, and I think I’ll look it up then. It’s a children’s book, but it sounds like something I might enjoy and then pass on to the urchins.

Flipped by Wendelin Van Draanen. Recommended by Melanie at Deliciously Clean Reads. Because of where its recommended and because the premise sounds interesting, I think I might want to check out this YA novel both for myself and for Brown Bear Daughter who’s into YA realistic fiction.

Maps and Legends by Michael Chabon. Recommended by Girl Detective. Computer Guru Son is a Michael Chabon fan, but I’ve never read any of his books. I think a book of essays like this one would interest me more than Chabon’s fiction; it might even lead me to try some of his fiction.

Devil’s Brood by Sharon Kay Penman. Recommended by The Tome Traveller. I read When Christ and His Saints Slept by this author a couple of years ago, and I promised my self that I would pick up the next book in the series, Time and Chance, soon after. I never did. And now there’s a third historical novel about the life and times of Henry II and his wife Eleanor called Devil’s Brood. SInce each one of these novels weighs in at 700+ pages, I must get cracking soon. also, we’re studying the Middle Ages in achool, so this would be a good time to read the other two books in Ms. Penman’s story of Henry, Eleanor and their (in)famous children.

The End of the Alphabet by C.S. Richardson. Recommended by She Is Too Fond of Books. This one sounds fun and short, a nice counter-balance to all the heavy tomes on the TBR list.

Olive Kitteridge by Elizabeth Strout. Recommended at She Is Too Fond of Books. Also by Wendy at Caribousmom. I’ve been resisting this one because I don’t like short stories, but I’ve also been inclined to try it since it’s gotten lots of good reviews and since I liked Strout’s Abide With Me when I read it. So I’ve reached the tipping point and onto the list it goes.

I have, in fact added all of these books to my ridiculously unwieldy list of books that I want to read. I may decide someday that I’ve reached the “tipping point” on that list and stop adding books, only endeavoring to finish the list before I die. Maybe when I’m about eighty year old?