What I’m Reading: David Mitchell, Neil deGrasse Tyson, Stephen Colbert…

At the end of May I mentioned that I had just wrapped my spring semester at Columbia and managed to squeeze two books into the interim period. I’m usually a voracious reader, but with most of my energies devoted to class-related readings, it’s been difficult to make progress on leisure reading. However, I’ve managed to just this weekend finish The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet by David Mitchell, which while I enjoyed, I did not love as much as Cloud Atlas (which was spectacular–go read it, if you haven’t already).

Still left in my partially-read queue are Death by Black Hole by Neil deGrasse Tyson, Stephen Colbert’s America Again, and An Everlasting Meal (all on-and-off reads). Oh, and I’m–slowly and somewhat tediously–also reading Les Misérables in the original French on my iPhone. (Hey, I’m just trying to keep my French reading abilities honed.)

Devoted yarn crafters may be fans of the website Ravelry, which allows you to keep track of the progress of your knitting/crochet projects and has popularized the term “WIP” (for “work in progress”) as shorthand for your ongoing projects.

Can I start the term “BIP” or book in progress? I feel like I have a lot of those right now. (Actually, it’s the same number as my WIPs: a scrap blanket, a baby sweater, a short-sleeve top, and a long-forgotten cardigan.)

Oh, and here’s just a partial look at the books I have in my future-reading queue (not pictured are somewhere around 6 that I have lent to my parents while I’m working through these…I don’t have a problem or anything…):