What I REALLY want is this: a novel I've either never read before or can't remember, either YA or adult, or possibly children's but has to be a thicker book, set in the present day and not centered around an animal. I know that candidates exist in my possession, but they are not readily in view and I don't want to make an even bigger mess by breaking open boxes, so I have set myself a Task of Remembering.
In blog post form.
What I'd actually like to read is Alpha Dog (there is a dog at the center, but it's contemporary YA so the dog is sufficiently in the supporting-character role that it would still suit my current mood), which I've been "meaning to read soon" for years, but I bought that so long ago that I have no idea what box it's in, so forget that.
I could try busting out Long May She Reign, though I'm not sure I'm ready for the 700-page tome.
There are the other Betty Macdonald memoirs...but no, I didn't want to go vintage, even for an adult book.
There's the third Lucy Dillon novel...maybe that's a bit too long.
X-Files novel Ruins always puts me in a good mood*, and not even the humor I see in putting "X-Files" and "ruin" together based on the revival is enough to quell my love of that book, but maybe I should not risk it just in case. (*I know I said no rereads, but CLEARLY I HAVE NO RULES. Only a desire to say "no" to everything I offer myself)
Honestly, what I really really want to read is The January Queen (even though it is both vintage and fairly animal-centric, it's meant for adults, I think, and so it's not the same type of animal-centric that a juvenile book would be, and I was walking on a state trail passing horse farms today so I really dig the setting), but I also know I have to suck it up and buy that off the internet if I want to read it, so I should put it out of my mind.
*pokes at a new stack* This one's been here so long I've gone clutter-blind to it and forgotten it contains actual books and isn't just a statue of colors standing on the floor. What's in here?
"YOU HAVE SEVEN MESSAGES." That's not a note I wrote to myself, but the title of a paperback YA novel I picked up at the dollar store that is exactly what I was looking for. BOO-YAH! And off I go.
Thanks for the help, me! And LJ, for listening.