And finally, the post you have all been waiting for,
What Carolyn & Jason are Reading this Holiday Season
Carolyn
1) The Corrections by Jonathan Franzen – I’m officially jumping on the Franzen bandwagon. I’ve wanted to read The Corrections for many years, and with Freedom such a huge success, it seems like the perfect time to fall for Franzen. (Plus, joining @shanparsons, @meghanpaton and @corybeatty in a mini Corrections book club is too good to pass up.)
2) Serena by Ron Rash – Since I started working at HarperCollins, everyone has talked about this book. I mean everyone. In any given meeting, people bring it up as a favourite, a must-read, and quite frankly I’m tired of the “you mean you haven’t read it?” looks of disgust.
3) Debt Free Forever by Gail Vaz-Oxlade – I love Gail Vaz-Oxlade. I could watch ‘Til Debt Do Us Part 100 times a day. I’m not-so-secretly hoping that Slice runs some sort of marathon during the holidays. To boot, I’m going to curl up with Debt Free Forever for a post-Christmas read, and learn everything I can about saving, paying off loans, and channeling my inner Gail!
4) The Forgotten Garden by Kate Morton – Someone from Simon and Schuster handed me this book a few years ago and told me I’d love it. Not long after, I got on the joy that is the HarperCollins roller coaster, and quite truthfully haven’t read a non-HarperCollins title in probably over a year. This book has crept up the bestseller charts since hitting paperback, and I think the holidays make for a perfect time to tune into the buzz.
Jason
1) The Bullpen Gospels by Dirk Hayhurst: I was told recently; by someone whose opinion I respect very much, that this was one of the best sports books he’s ever read (possibly THE best). The book is about baseball, but also delves into the human condition and sounds like a compelling read for the holidays.
2) Let the Great World Spin by Colum McCann: I am ashamed to say I haven’t read this book yet. It is beloved around the office, won the National Book Award and Colum is such a great guy, so this should be an easy one to get into right away.
3) Just Kids by Patti Smith: This was on just about every top books of 2010 list that I have seen so far, it has recently won the National Book Award, and I saw her on The Colbert Report this week and was immediately enthralled with her. She doesn’t skirt her past, she owns it and feels it’s important to share. I have a feeling this will be one of those books I will not be able to put down.
4) The Surrendered by Chang-rae Lee: After living in South Korea for 2 years I have a soft spot for any novel that touches on the Korean War and Korea in general. It is the story a woman orphaned by the war and her reflections on the past. A copy of the book was sent to me by a friend in New York a few weeks back and I immediately put it in my holiday “To Read” pile. The more I hear about it, the more excited I am to pick it up. Publisher’s Weekly just recently named it as one of their top 10 books of 2010, and I haven’t seen a single bad review. I am pumped to read this novel.
Wanna know what Jessica, Justin & Meghan are reading over the holidays? Click here!
How about Brad & Shannon? Click here!
We want to know what’s on YOUR reading list! Let us know in the comments below. (If you read The Corrections you can chat about it with Cory, Shannon, Carolyn & Meghan in 2011)
