The afternoon survey

It’s a slow news day, no question. Though I could start a protracted rant about “outsourcing” book edits or cackle in glee over the meltdown that is L’Affaire Kerik, or yet another “OMG, blogs trump newspapers!” piece (this time about gossip) frankly, I don’t really feel like it.

Never mind that with the year almost done, not only is everyone filing their “Best Books of the Year” lists, but Galleycat’s going meta and compiling trends from all those lists. And even though I’ve sent mine in to various places, for whatever reason, it all just feels old.

Maybe because at the moment, my interim bookshelf consists almost entirely of 2005 galleys. Perhaps it’s because I read my first “published in 2005” book back in, oh, July. So I’m thinking ahead these days. Thus, in the spirit of forward motion, I ask all of you: which books are you most looking forward to reading next year? Preferably those that are slated for publication during the next calendar year, but limited cheating is allowed (as in, 1 or 2 choices.) And for those that have read 2005-pub-date books, what did you think and which should we all be looking out for?