What's on my Nightstand?

Alex Brower

Information Services Director

I have a nontraditional “nightstand” where I keep my TBR (to be read) pile. It is a bag that shifts around my house, so I don’t have to deal with the shame of not reading what’s in it. This helps me pretend that it doesn’t really exist and leaves room for other nightstand stuff, like sleep masks, some change, and several bookmarks. Okay, the bookmarks might be several receipts, a sticker that I keep forgetting to stick anywhere, and one Cards Against Humanity card. Once I officially start a book, it goes on the nightstand. Here are three titles that I am currently hiding from myself that will one day (hopefully) make it to the nightstand: 

The City of Good Death by Priyanka Champaneri

I was drawn to this book because I love a good ghost-y, magical realism story. It also has a really pretty cover, which I am a sucker for. The story also talks about beliefs and rituals surrounding death in India, and I choose to learn about new things through fiction. Nonfiction book about something I want to learn about? Ew, no. Fiction book that includes something I don’t know about and there’s a ghost (I think)?! Yes, please!

My Best Friend’s Exorcism by Grady Hendrix

The main reason I want to read this book is because of the cover. And it’s about an exorcism, which intrigues me. But it’s mostly the cover: it looks like a classic 80s horror book, complete with terrible photoshop and great hair. I’ve read a couple of other books by Hendrix and they are lighthearted enough to balance out the scariness and gore, which I handle terribly. I am still afraid of the Goosebumps cat from the cinematic opus Call of the Cat that I watched in fourth grade.

A House Called Awful End by Philip Ardagh

Even though I've read this book before, I’m still counting it. I remember it being one of my favorite books from when I was a kid and I have been on a kick of rereading books that I used to love. This one is about a young boy named Eddie who comes to live with his aunt and uncle. They have odd rules and keep the company of a stuffed stoat. One of their rules is that children should not be seen or heard, only smelled, and Eddie must wear an onion around his neck. That might be made up, as it has been approximately 10 years since I read it the first time. I remember it being hilarious and filled with misadventures, so I’m excited to see whether it has held up. How could it not?

Those are just a few of the books in the official nightstand-avoidance bag. The contents change as I give up and return books that never draw my attention once they are no longer in the flattering library or bookstore lighting. Maybe one day I will be stronger than the bag and just read all the stuff I bring home, but that would mean there were no new books! And that is, frankly, not a world I want to live in.