I've been reading a ton lately. Mostly because I'm judging a contest and doing research for a novel, but also because I can't seem to decide what to do next. I'm in HBO limbo, I'm in nonfiction limbo. Hard to figure out which direction to turn.

Homer & Langley by E.L. Doctorow A very good novel, if not his best.

Big Machine by Victor La Valle Magnificently original.

The Man in the Wooden Hat by Jane Gardam A perfect specimen of one of my favorite genres of English novels.

The Sky Below by Stacey D'Erasmo I was very grateful to discover this author.

Auschwitz and After by Charlotte Delbo Very difficult to read. Haunting.

The Informer by Juan Gabriel Vásquez Got off to a terrific start. Then petered out -- for me, that is.

The Confessions of Edward Day by Valerie MartinIf you're interested in the theater, you'll enjoy this book.

Changing My Mind: Occasional Essays by Zadie Smith
She's so smart it's scary. She's also charming as well. This essays are magnificent.

Vanessa & Virginia by Susan Sellers
As I am Bloomsbury obsessed, I quite enjoyed this.

Ordinary Men by Christopher R. Browning
I'm not sure how 'ordinary' they were. Or, rather, I think there is something different, or was something different, about ordinary Germans. But then again, they don't have an exclusive on bigotry and murderousness, do they?

Nazi Women by Cate Haste
As bad as the men.

Blame by Michelle Hunevan
Great novel!

The Children's Book by A.S. Byatt
I love love loved this novel.

Into That Darkness by Gitta Sereny
I honestly think every single person in the world should be forced to read this.

The Zookeeper's Wife by Diane Ackerman
If you believe this novel, the vast majority of Poles were busy saving Jews. Well, since 90% (YES! THAT MANY) of Polish Jews were exterminated, and since the very few who survived tell us that the vast majority of Poles not only did nothing but applauded the death of the Jews among them, it's hard not to feel like much of this novel is horse-shit. I understand the impulse to glorify the few righteous Gentiles, but the whole point is that there were VERY few of them. That's why they were so amazing. Brave beyond all measure. Anyway, I'm sure this book made a lot of people feel good.

An Elegy for Easterly by Petina Gappah
I seem to never get enough of African fiction nowadays.

This Way for the Gas, Ladies and Gentlemen by Tadeusz Borowski You want to know what it was really like to be a Pole during the Holocaust? Read this.

The Ask by Sam Lipsyte
Super super fun novel.

What the Dog Saw and Other Adventures by Malcolm Gladwell
I always enjoy reading him.

Oh God. Have I really left it this long? I don't even think I still own half the books I read this summer. How the HELL am I going to reconstruct this?

Oh well. I'll give it the old college try. You'll notice a lot of Holocaust-related novels this time. Research for a novel I may or may not write.

Girl Factory by Jim Krusoe.
Interesting, weird, pretty great.

The Enthusiast by Charlie Haas
Delightful. A veritable "romp."

Wanting by Richard Flanagan
Great novel about Charles Dickens.

Perfect Circle by Sean Stewart
I kind of loved this, although at the very end I started to worry. He pulled it out, though.

The Children's Day by Michael Heyns
This is a terrific, terrific book.

Survival in Auschwitz by Primo Levi
If you haven't read this you should be ashamed of yourself.

Committed by Elizabeth Gilbert
Oh GOD I wish I'd written this book. The perfect next step. But no, it had to Liz! Well, she did it better than I ever could.

Black Water Rising by Attica Locke
It's been a long long time since I read a mystery. Pretty well out of love with the genre, I'm afraid.

Hitler's Willing Executioners by Daniel Jonah Goldhagen
Chilling, depressing, sad as fucking hell.

A Gate at the Stairs by Lorrie Moore
When I want to find out what real writing is, I read Lorrie Moore.

The Adderall Diaries by Stephen Elliott
Sad, gripping, great.

The Magicians by Lev Grossman
Reading this was just as much fun as reading all those terrific series I adored as a kid -- from Half Magic to Narnia and on and on.

The Thing Around Your Neck by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
Lovely stories.

Love & Obstacles by Aleksandar Hemon
Gave this a prize!

Both Ways is the Only Way I Want It by Maile Meloy
She is just such a great writer! Marvelous collection.

Hell is Other Parents by Deborah Copaken Kogan.
Awesomely funny essays by my dear dear friend Deb.

Irreplaceable by Stephen Lovely
Depressing. Interesting, but depressoing.

Heroic Measures by Jill Cement
Oh my god, this book is GREAT. I mean, really really great. And I hate little dogs.

Refuge by Terry Tempest Williams
No one writes like Terry. No one.

A Happy Marriage by Rafael Yglesias
One of the best novels I've read in years.

That Old Cape Magic by Richard Russo
Definitely readable.

Await Your Reply by Dan Chaon
This book is killer. I mean, seriously. Go buy it. NOW.

Nurture Shock by Po Bronson
Every educator should read this immediately. What the HELL are we doing starting high school before 9:00?

Anatomy of the Auschwitz Death Camp by Yisrael Gutman and Michael Berenbaum
You know, honestly, there's just no way to make some glib comment about this.

The New York Regional Mormon Singles Halloween Dance by Elna Baker
Cute.

I Shudder by Paul Rudnick
Hi-larious!

Yeah yeah yeah. I know. I've been busy! Crazy stuff. Touring, TV pilot for HBO. I've been reading, god knows, just not logging. So here I go.

The Believers by Zoe Heller.
LOVED it. Seriously.

Admission by Jean Hanff Korelitz
Also great, except for the fact that I now know my children will never get into college and will attend what we in New Jersey fondly refer to as Harvard on the Highway - Bergen Community College.

When Washington Was in Vogue by Edward Christopher Williams
Lovely old Harlen renaissance novel.

The Winter Vault by Anne Michaels
Bit of a drama queen of a novel.

The Garden of Last Days by Andre Dubus III
Great, although I admit to liking the stripper parts a lot more than the terrorist parts.

The House on Fortune Street by Margot Livesey
Only the best book I've read in years.

The Bestiary by Nicholas Christoper
Probably would have enjoyed more if I gave the slightest shit about animals. I know, I know, sue me.

Just Like Family by Tasha Blaine
Compulsively readable NF about nannies.

Wetlands by Charlotte Roche
The most juvenile piece of total crap I've ever read. Avoid. AVOID.

The Slippery Year by Melanie Gideon
Lovely memoir.

Not Becoming My Mother by Ruth Reichl
Read it in a single (short) afternoon! Fun.

Sunnyside by Glen David Gold
Does NOT disappoint. Great writer.

The Unnamed by Joshua Ferris
God, I love this writer!

Little Bee by Chris Cleave
Sad and sweet.

American Parent by Sam Apple
Delightful.

Dangerous or Safe by Cara Natterson.
Way to freak out completely! But also to calm down.

Legend of a Suicide by David Vann
The middle section is incredible.

The Unit by Ninni Holmqvist
This book fucking rocks!!! I love a good dystopia.

Mary Robison by One DOA One on the Way
I loved this book. LOVED IT. And I don't usually "get" her.

The Seven Principals for Making Marriage Workt by John M. Gottman.
This man is a genius. He can predict divorce with a 93% accuracy rate in FIVE MINUTES.

Bonk by Mary Roach
I wish I wrote this book. I need an idea JUST LIKE this one.

Blink by Malcolm Gladwell
Did I log this already? It's terrific, I don't care what anyone says.

People of the Book by Geraldine Brooks
I love a good Jewish novel.

I've been twittering and facebooking and blogging like some kind of connection-hungry fool, so have left this poor little booklog for last. Here goes.

Prospect Park West by Amy Sohn. Entertaining way to while away a hideous cold.

Try to Tell the Story by David Thomson
I've always had a weird quasi-erotic fascination with English boarding schools. I blame it on those S/M floggings from Tom Brown's Schooldays.

Brooklyn by Colm Tóibín
A marvelous old-fashioned novel.

Stern Men by Elizabeth Gilbert
Thank god I didn't read this book before I wrote my own Maine novel. I never would have bothered. She's so marvelous I would have thrown up my hands at the prospect of such clear failure by comparison. I love Ms. Gilbert.

Serena by Ron Rash
Next time someone bitches me out for having unlikeable characters I'm going to point to this marvelous novel and tell them to suck it.

Glover's Mistake by Nick Laird
I love Nick Laird. LOVE HIM.

Four Freedoms by John Crowley
Not as good as Little Big.

Tree of Smoke by Denis Johnson
Killer.

Beautiful Boy by David Sheff
Now I'm scared. Really really scared.

Sophie's Choice by William Styron
The first half is the best novel ever written. The second half kind of sucks.

Happens Every Day by Isabel Gillies
Compulsively readable. And terrifying.

The Survivors Club by Ben Sherwood
Because I'm crazy.

The Clothes on Their backs by Linda Grant
Terrific.

The Women by T.C. Boyle
This book is great, and a very interesting complement to the next one in the list.

Loving Frank by Nancy Horan
Neither Horan nor Boyle can have been happy about the other, but the novels were both very good. Boyle is a better writer on a sentence level, certainly, but I like this one very much, too.

Hey, look at me, updating so soon! It's a lazy Sunday, I'm bored, and I already played Sorry, Uno and organized my 2008 tax boxes. All that was left was to update my log.

The Piano Teacher by Janice Y. K. Lee
A fun, fast read.

My Revolutions by Hari Kunzru
Some writers are just a delight to read.

Call the Midwife by Jennifer Worth
I alternated between wishing I'd had this kind of care and thanking God I hadn't.

Bloodletting & Miraculous Cures by Vincent Lam
I'm on a bit of a doctor roll. Good book.

The Book of Dads by Ben George, ed.
Some of these essays were terrific.

Cutting for Stone by Abraham Verghese
Wild. Who knew that Ethiopia was an Italian paradise? And then, not.

The Lazarus Project by Aleksander Hemon
I know this book is good, but it left me cold.

Sea of Poppies by Amitav Ghosh
Entertaining.

An Exact Replica of a Figment of my Imagination by Elizabeth McCracken
Heartbreaking, funny. Read it in one sitting.

The White Tiger by Aravind Adiga
Wow. India is just completely crazy.

Songs for the Missing by Stewart O'Nan
A good, strong story.

The Northern Clemency by Philip Hensher
I love these British novels.

Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell
I'm now completely obsessed with relative age disadvantage. My three younger kids are all completely screwed.

When Will There be Good News by Kate Atkinson
This is when I fell in love with my crappy, plastic, hideous interface Kindle. I just felt like reading Kate Atkinson, and there she was.