I’m taking a month off to travel and I’ve been stockpiling paperbacks for the trip. Here’s the list:

The Cloister Walk, Kathleen Norris  (Part memoir, part spiritual exploration. I love her writing.)

Pardonable Lies, Jacqueline Winspear (She’s a friend and this is part of her wonderful Maisie Dobbs series.)

O Pioneers!, Willa Cather  (A classic that I’ve never read.)

The Royal Physician’s Visit, Per Olov Enquest  (My friend Christina gave this to me months ago with rave comments.)

Three Junes, Julia Glass  (The reviews sounded great.)

Letters to Montgomery Clift, Noel Alumit  (Noel is a friend and also teaches at UCLA Extension. His first novel.)

Interpreter of Maladies, Jhumpa Lahiri  (I’ve heard so many good things about this book. I’ve been meaning to read it for ages.)

Reading Lolita in Tehran, Azar Nafisi  (ditto)

The Kite Runner, Khaled Hosseini (ditto)

The Memory Keeper’s Daughter, Kim Edwards (A woman came up to me at Borders in Bozeman Montana when I was buying this book and said, “It’s wonderful! I couldn’t put it down.” Word of mouth has sent it soaring on best seller lists.)

The Starter Wife, Gigi Levangie Grazer (A friend of a friend, and it looks like a fun read.)

The Late Wife, Claudia Emerson   (Just won the Pulitzer Prize for poetry.)

Best American Poetry 2001, Robert Haas, editor

If you’ve read any of the books please check in below. I’d love to read your comments. 

And a thanks to all of you who sent in a description of what’s on your desk. If you hit the comment button under the “McNally via Goldberg Exercise” post, you’ll be able to read them all. (and post one of your own.)

I’ll be back in September.