This is something I just found out about, started by Tynga’s Reviews.  You get to list books you’ve acquired with the intention of reading.  Gulp!  I try not to think too hard about my TBR list, but actually at the moment it’s not too bad.  So here are some books I’m planning to read soon, or have recently read and really, really need to write reviews for.  I’m going to see if I can keep it down to 5:

1.  Patchers of the Code (The Anders’ Quest Series Book 3).

The hotly anticipated (by me, at least) Book 3 of the Annals of Gentalia has finally come out, and I’m already deep into it (hehe!).  If you haven’t encountered this series yet, you MUST give it a try!  Only don’t come suing me when you encounter the M/M monster banging that happens at every turn of the plot!  For anyone who has ever wished their ordinary computer games could suddenly turn into a very, very naughty fantasy…fantasy.

2)The H-Spot: The Feminist Pursuit of Happiness

I just read this–review coming soon!  Filipovic combines musings on her own experiences as a woman trying to find happiness in a world that isn’t set up for female gratification with research and interviews with a diverse group of other women, all in search of the elusive (not really!) answer to the question “What do women want?”  A fascinating and thought-provoking read for anyone interested in feminism or happiness.

3.Monumental Propaganda

Western readers may not be familiar with the works of Soviet/Russian satirist and dissident Vladimir Voinovich.  And boy, are they missing out!  I routinely assign this novel, about dedicated Stalinist Aglaya Revkina trying to navigate a post-Stalinist world, to my intro course on contemporary Russia.  In turns enlightening, befuddling (at least to those who haven’t had the Soviet experience), and side-splittingly funny, “Monumental Propaganda” is essential reading for anyone wanting to understand the (post)-Soviet world.

4.Suite Française

I have not read this book yet, but it comes to me highly recommended.  Written by a Jewish woman in Paris during WWII who died in Auschwitz before the book could be published, this novel describes the chaos gripping Paris as the Nazis approached.

5.I Am a Chechen!

Another book I haven’t begun yet but plan to soon.  Again, Western readers may not be aware of Chechnya and what has happened and continues to happen there, but boy, they should be!  An unwilling part of Russia since the 19th century, Chechnya attempted to achieve independence again after the collapse of the USSR, only to implode into crime, terrorism, and appalling human rights violations, making Chechnya a major recruiting ground for Al Quaeda and ISIS.  “I Am a Chechen!” is unique in providing a Chechen, rather than Russian or Western, perspective on the country and the conflict, as well as Sadulaev’s trademark lyrical prose style.