Wish list


Trying a new meme from Book Chick City called On My Wishlist.
On My Wishlist is a fun weekly event hosted by Book Chick City and runs every Saturday. It's where I list all the books I desperately want but haven't actually bought yet. They can be old, new or forthcoming. It's also an event that you can join in with too - Mr Linky is always at the ready for you to link your own 'On My Wishlist' post. If you want to know more click here.
Alex and Me -

Synopsis

On September 6, 2007, an African Grey parrot named Alex died prematurely at age thirty-one. His last words to his owner, Irene Pepperberg, were "You be good. I love you."

What would normally be a quiet, very private event was, in Alex's case, headline news. Over the thirty years they had worked together, Alex and Irene had become famous - two pioneers who opened an unprecedented window into the hidden yet vast world of animal minds. Alex's brain was the size of a shelled walnut, and when Irene and Alex first met, birds were not believed to possess any potential for language, consciousness, or anything remotely comparable to human intelligence. Yet, over the years, Alex proved many things. He could add. He could sound out words. He understood concepts like bigger, smaller, more, fewer, and none. He was capable of thought and intention. Together, Alex and Irene uncovered a startling reality: We live in a world populated by thinking, conscious creatures.


In The Sanctuary of Outcasts
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About In The Sanctuary of Outcasts -

Neil White, a journalist and magazine publisher, wanted the best for those he loved-nice cars, beautiful homes, luxurious clothes. He loaned money to family and friends, gave generously to his church, and invested in his community-but his bank account couldn't keep up. Soon White began moving money from one account to another to avoid bouncing checks. His world fell apart when the FBI discovered his scheme and a judge sentenced him to serve eighteen months in a federal prison.

But it was no ordinary prison. The beautiful, isolated colony in Carville, Louisiana, was also home to the last people in the continental United States disfigured by leprosy. Hidden away for decades, this small circle of outcasts had forged a tenacious, clandestine community, a fortress to repel the cruelty of the outside world. It is here, in a place rich with history, where the Mississippi River briefly runs north, amid an unlikely mix of leprosy patients, nuns, and criminals, that White's strange and compelling journey begins. He finds a new best friend in Ella Bounds, an eighty-year-old African American double amputee who had contracted leprosy as a child. She and the other secret people, along with a wacky troop of inmates, help White rediscover the value of simplicity, friendship, and gratitude.

Funny and poignant, In the Sanctuary of Outcasts is an uplifting memoir that reminds us all what matters most.


The Imperfectionists -

About The Imperfectionists

‘Off the record, who is it?’
He hesitates.
‘I don’t see why you need to know.’
But he does see, of course. ‘It’s my son.’
Their chuckles are audible over the speakerphone. ‘Are you serious?’

Lloyd Burko is having troubles with his sources, with his technology at the paper, and with his family. Deadline is closing in and he is falling apart. The Imperfectionists is a novel about the quirky, maddening, endearing people who write and read an international newspaper based in Rome: from the obituary reporter who will do anything to avoid work, to the young freelancer who is manipulated by an egocentric war correspondent, to the dog-obsessed publisher who seems less interested in his struggling newspaper than in his magnificent basset hound, Schopenhauer.

With war in Afghanistan and Iraq, the climate in meltdown and bin Laden still in hiding, the paper has plenty to fill its columns. But for its staff, the true front-page stories are their own private lives. As this imperfect bunch stumbles along, the era of high terror and high tech bears down, the characters collide, and the novel hurtles toward its climax...


So what's on your wish list?

14 comments:

Unknown said...

Thanks for stopping by my blog! I am now a follower. I did read Before I Fall. I fell in love with cover and bought it on impulse and I loved it! I need to read Delirium now by Lauren Oliver.

Pepsi Breath said...

Definitely going to read "Alex and Me." I'll add it to my ever-growing list of Someday I'm Going To Read.....

Anonymous said...

I don't know any of these books, but they sound interesting.

Unknown said...

You'll LOVE the Imperfectionists - it's a terrific book.

It has nothing to do with the book you picked, but my brother has an African Gray and it's the most freakishly smart bird - scares me, lol.

Naj said...

Interesting book choices! :D Thanks for your comment over at my blog. :D And no I haven't read Evermore yet. I'm waiting to get the boxset!

Melissa (Books and Things) said...

All of those sound so interesting. I don't think I could get through Alex and Me. Especially when that blurb made me cry! Hope you get them all.

Marathon said...

Wow, those look like some pretty neat reads! I hope you get your hands on 'em soon.

Thanks for stopping by the blog! I'm your newest follower. Be safe, have a wonderful weekend, and happy reading!

Asher K. (On My Wishlist)

BLHmistress said...

Alex and Me sounds great. New follower as well :)

On Our Wishlist

pussreboots said...

Alex and Me sounds good. I have more wishes from January. Come see what I'm wishing for

FICTION STATE OF MIND said...

interesting books, thanks for stopping by my blog
Happy reading!

Christy @ TheReaderBee said...

Great list! I'll have to check them out as well!

Mystica said...

I really would like to get your Alex and Me and In the company of outcasts! they both sound really good.

jayayceeblog said...

Every one of those books sound like fun and entertaining reads. I just ordered The Dirty Life: On Farming, Food, and Love as well as The Happiness Project, which is our book club's April selection.

AiringMyLaundry said...

Those books sound interesting. I have so many on my wish list it's not even funny...