The Little Professor is one of my favorite academic blogs. She is a professor of Victorian Literature, and she owns the distinction of actually probably buying more books than I do. She reports her library’s acquisitions on a weekly basis, and while I probably won’t do it every week, it’s kind of a cool idea.

So…

1. Greetings in the Lord: Early Christians and The Oxyrhnchus Papyri by AnnMarie Luijendijk. Early Christians in Egypt, and the diffusion of Christian culture across the ancient world.

2. The Shah by Abbas Milani.What looks to be a very comprehensive treatment of the Shah’s life.

3. R Graph Cookbook by Hrishi Mittal. A bit disappointing for me, but it would be terrific for a student just learning to use R.

4. The Poison King: The Life and Legend of Mithradates, Rome’s Deadliest Enemy by Adrienne Mayor. The title says it all.

5. Yoga for People Who Can’t Be Bothered to Do It by Geoff Dyer. I think I’d probably hate Geoff Dyer if I met him in real life, but his travel essays are extremely diverting, as he describes his travels throughout the world and why most Americans get treated better abroad than they deserve.

6. Saul Bellow’s Letters Edited by Benjamin Taylor. Pretty obvious what this one is about. I suspect that this reading experience will be awesome with awesome on top.

7 The True Memoirs of Little K by Adrienne Sharp. Sharp brought us Black Swan, White Swan, which I just loved. In this novel, a 100 year-old woman remembers her life in the Russian ballet and mistress to Nicholas II.

8. The Weeds That Strings the Hangman’s Bag by Alan Bradley. If there is a more interesting young adult heroine, than Bradley’s Flavia de Luce, I’m not sure we could handle it. Unlike the insipid Bella from those yucky Twilight books, Flavia has personality–in spades. She’s a bloody-minded little pest with a brain, an oversized sense of curiosity, and no real parental supervision. The results are a delight.

What did I read this week? I read the Geoff Dyer book this week, and I also read When the Game Was Ours by Larry Bird and Earvin Johnson. I have a weakness for sports books.

Not sure what to pick up next…