Chocolate Chip Mint Cheesecake Pt. 2 (AKA The List)

While we are at Powell’s, we should make The List.

The List is plausibly the most enjoyable part about book shopping.

It’s a bit like picking Barbies. When I was little, my sister, friends, and I would take all our Barbie stuff—all our Barbie stuff—throw it onto a bed, and pick. One item at a time, from the huge Barbie pool down to the ugliest hand-knitted Barbie sweater. Ostensibly with the idea that the stuff we chose was what we were going to use when we began to play. Picking took at least an hour, and often by the time we were done, we’d decide we would have more fun picking again, rather than actually playing.

The List is like picking Barbies because there’s no commitment. But plenty of inspiration for the future. You just write down all the books that make you think Hey! That would be cool. Next time. Because, of course you can’t afford to buy out the store.

Now it’s no small thing for a book at a bookstore to make my list. I am an author. I spend hours online searching and writing down book titles in my blue notebook. So when I take a trip to a bookstore and find a book that’s not already in the notebook, that’s impressive.

Here we go:

The Fool’s Girl by Celia Rees—I have seen this online, but I had not read the summary before or written it down. And it’s based on Shakespeare! So it goes on the list.

The Education of Bet by Lauren Baratz-Logsted—Another one I’d see online and was absolutely thrilled to a. read the summary and b. find out it’s a skinny book. Which means I might even get through it during the school year.

A Voice of Her Own: Becoming Emily Dickinson by Barbara Dana—This is an honest to goodness find, and I’m pretty excited about it. Because Emily Dickinson is an enigma. And anyone who can write like her deserves a YA novel. So I’m going to dig this up. Eventually. And for now, it’s on the list.

Rogue’s Home, the second book in the Knight and the Rogue Series by Hillari Bell. To be fair, Rogue’s Home was not available at Powell’s, at least not on the day I was there, but I found the title listed on the back of another book so I wrote it down.

Player’s Ruse by Hillari Bell. The third book in the Knight and Rogue series. Isn’t it lovely when there are more books in a series than you had realized?

That Perfect Someone by Johanna Lindsey—because sadly, I am a sucker for the Mallory Novels.

And finally . . .

Purple Heart by Patricia McCormick. How is I had not seen this? Not anywhere. But if you have not read Cut by Patricia McCormick, or her second book, Sold, then you are missing out. Her books are memorable. I will definitely be reading this one.

And that’s the list!