This is how I’m going to die. It’s my to-be-read pile, and I must admit it is significantly less deadly since I fell in love with my Kindle. The pile sits ominously – and yet enticingly – on my headboard, and considering Southern California’s habit of shaking like the devil, it will probably topple down onto my head, leading to an inoperable brain injury. Or at the very least a bruise.

Of course, now that I’ve photographed it, I suppose it’s the metal lamp with the sharp, skin-slicing edges and hot, searing bulb that looks the most likely to induce stitches and a less-than-flattering facial scar.

From left to right:

• Goodnight, Irene by Jan Burke
• The End of a Primitive by Chester Himes
• Lost Dog by Bill Cameron
• Winter’s Bone by Daniel Woodrell
• The Frugal Book Promoter by Carolyn Howard-Johnson (because I am both cheap and shameless)
• Life is a Series of Presentations by Tony Jeary (Yes, I am a little ashamed of myself.)
• Hoodtown by Christa Faust
• Queenpin by Megan Abbott
• Thirty-Three Teeth by Colin Cotterill
• A Date You Can’t Refuse by Harley Jane Kozak
• Lie in the Dark by Dan Fesperman
• Rain Fall by Barry Eisler
• Summer of the Big Bachi by Naomi Hirahara

On the Kindle:

• A Bad Day for Sorry by Sophie Littlefield
• Secondhand Spirits by Juliet Blackwell
• Born to Run by Christopher McDougall
• The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson
• Moby Dick by Herman Melville (Dude, I’m trying.)

I’ve got to read faster.

So what about you? What’s on your list?