I've been reading books about Salzburg, about Budapest, about all sorts of things. Most of them are our in my office, but it's been so long that I thought I would update now, and try to remember to update the others later.

Half Baked by Alexa Stevenson
I didn't expect to enjoy this memoir. I'm sort of over my dead baby phase. But the writing was really fine, unusually so for the genre.

Missionary Stew by Ross Thomas
Michael and I are doing a pilot for HBO, and I've been reading lots of spy stories.

Swamplandia by Karen RussellSuper fun, well-written. A little rough around the edges.

Esther's Inheritance by Sándor Márai
Hungarian fiction, man. Phew.

Embers by Sándor Márai
I am ashamed to admit this, and perhaps you'll think I'm unintellectual, but I just don't GET this writer.

Three Stages of Amazement by Carol Edgarian
A fun, quick read.

Operation Mincemeat by Ben MacIntyre
Really really fun book and fun writer.

An Exclusive Love by Johanna Adorján
Not particularly memorable memoir of the "my grandparents and the Holocaust" school.

Shadow Knights by Gary Kamiya
So. Much. FUN!!!

Skylark by Dezsåo Kosztolányi
Lovely and weird as hell. Lord, those Hungarians. Odd ducks.

Uncommon Sense for Parents With Teenagers by Michael Riera
Sigh.

Nemesis by Philip Roth
I haven't liked a Roth so much in quite a while.

The Painted Kiss by Elizabeth Hickey
Meh.

To the End of the Land by David Grossman
I cannot sum up everything I feel about this wrenching novel in a line or two. Just read it.

Fatelessness by Imre Kertész
This is one of the most breath-taking and devastating Holocaust memoirs I've ever read. And trust me, I've read A LOT of them, lately.

The Great House by Nicole Krauss
I only read this novel out of panic, because it's so similar to my own. She even has the Hungarian Gold Train in her book, which honestly made me want to quit writing and just go back to criminal defense. But, you know what? It's very different from my book despite some glaring (and terrifying) similarities. It's a good novel, especially the section from the point of view of the elderly Israeli.

This summer was terrific. Maine and NYC. I didn't read as much as I expected, though. Usually I read on the beach, but I did a lot of swimming, oddly enough.

Take One Candle Light a Room by Susan Straight
This book is break-your-heart lovely. The images! The language!

Up High In The Trees by Kiara Brinkman
I don't generally like novels written from the POV of children, but this book is terrific.

School for Love by Olivia Manning
Completely unexpected. A part of history I had very little familiarity with.

Room by Emma Donoghue
Why why why didn't I write this book? It's incredibly compelling. Stayed up all night!

The False Friend by Myla Goldberg
Oh the horrors of preteen girls. Brought me right back.

The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet by David Mitchell
One of my very favorite writers. Fabulous book.

Cinderella Ate My Daughter by Peggy Orenstein
Chilling. You'll never look at a tutu the same way again.

The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake by Aimee Bender
It's about time Aimee Bender got the popular following she deserves!

The Long Song by Andrea Levy
Quick read.

The Imperfectionists by Tom Rachman
Super fun.

Spies of the Balkans by Alan Furst
I don't care if he keeps writing the same book over and over. I like them.

Night Soldiers by Alan Furst
One of his first. Good.

A Visit from the Goon Squad by Jennifer Egan
I have exactly zero interest in the music business, but I still loved this book.

The Cookbook Collector by Allegra Goodman
I'm too competitive with Allegra -- great writer, mother of 4 -- to write fairly about her. But I read all her books!

One Day by David Nicholls
Gobbled this up.

First Love Last Rites by Ian McEwan
Creepy! But great.

Private Life by Jane Smiley
Such a great writer!

Only Children by Rafael Yglesias
Love the writer, love the book.

A Happy Marriage by Rafael Yglesias
Loved the book so much I read it twice.

Villette by Charlotte Bronte
This book is marvelous.

Persuasion by Jane Austen
Every summer I reread Jane Austen. Because she's the best writer in the universe.

Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen

Hitch 22 by Christopher Hitchens
A mixed bag for me, but when it's good, it's really good.

A Supposedly Fun Thing I'll Never Do Again by David Foster Wallace
I could just keep rereading this again and again.

I am staring at a vast pile of books that I've read these past two months. Truly insane quantities.

The Possessed: Adventures With Russian Books and the People Who Read Them by Elif Batuman
Many of these essays are truly delightful, funny and bright. A couple, however, were clearly sort of phoned in.

Border Crossing by Pat Barker
I could read nothing but Pat Barker to the end of my days. I mean, not really. But you know what I mean.

Orange is the New Black by Piper Kerman
A wonderful memoir about women saving each other's sanity and helping each other survive.

The Regeneration Trilogy by Pat Barker
The best. Ever.

Another World by Pat Barker
Not my favorite of her books, but still pretty awesome.

Freedom by Jonathan Franzen
This is a huge book and I read it in a single day. So that tells you how great I thought it was.

Juliet Naked by Nick Hornby
Delightful.

In the White Hotel by D.M. Thomas
The Babi Yar scene puts today's callow young Holocaust novelists to shame.

The Bedwetter by Sarah Silverman
She's funny. But what works on stage works less well on the page.

Every Last One by Anna Quindlen
I bought this for a plane ride and ended up crying like a freak.

Happy Now by Katherine Shonk
Quiet but moving.

The Girl Who Played With Fire by Stieg Larsson
OK, am I the only person in the universe who has noticed that the writing in this book is appalling? I mean, truly truly appalling. And it's all creepy S&M shit.

The Husbands and Wives by Laurie Abraham
Other people's bad marriages are like car accidents. You can't help but stare but it makes you feel bad.

Good God, it's been so long. I feel TERRIBLE. What has my problem been? I've been reading, but I haven't been logging. Probably because we've been traveling all over the place. We've been traveling so much, in fact, that I've left books all over the place. I fear I won't be able to log everything.

Three Junes by Julia Glass This was a reread, because I'm trying to figure out what makes really good three-part novels tick. It's a terrific novel. You should read it if you hadn't.

The County of Birches by Judith Kalman This is a short story by a Canadian-Hungarian writer. If you're Canadian or Hungarian, or if you're writing a novel like mine, by all means read it.

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

The Hours by Michael Cunningham Again, another three-part novel. Equally marvelous.

Kingdom of Shadows by Alan Furst I love a good spy novel, and this one is about a Hungarian.

In Other Rooms Other Wonders by Daniyal Mueenuddin This is a marvelous first story collection.

Too Much Happiness by Alice MunroI love Alice Munro. She's so quiet, and so incisive.

One Must Also Be Hungarian by Adam Biro
This book is sort of impossible to understand. I feel like I have to reread.

Morning, Noon & Night by Spalding Gray
There's something just a little bit depressing about how privileged he is and how unhappy.

The Innocent by Ian McEwan
Oh LORD this book is KILLER.

Nazi Women by Cate Haste
As bad as the men.

The English Patient by Michael Ondaatje
This is really the most perfect novel ever.

The Pursuit of Love by Nancy Mitford
Very silly but fun.

Of the Farm by John UpdikeA fine little novel. Maybe my favorite of his.

Life Among the Savages by Shirley Jackson
A pure delight.

Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel
Oh lord was this ever FUN.