Double-Stacked Bookshelves

Moving on to the letter N for today and it's all about Vladimir Nabokov. Vladimir Nabokov (1899-1977) The first book I ever read by Nabokov was Pale Fire , a parody of detective fiction full of comic suspense, literary idolatry,and political intrigue that begins with a 999-line epic poem followed by the literary line-by-line breakdown of said poem in novel form.  But it's so much more than that.  It's genius.  Pure genius.  Vladimir Nabokov is a Russian-American novelist whose first nine novels were written in Russian.  He gained international notoriety through his English prose work.  His work, both fiction and non-fiction, has garnered him much success; he was a finalist for the National Book Award for Fiction seven times...but never won.  In addition to writing novels, Nabokov was also a university professor at such prestigious institutions as Wellesley College and Cornell University.  Oftentimes, Nabokov would act as his own tra...

Another Wednesday has fallen upon us and that means it's time for another edition of "Why I Love Wednesday", a meme hosted by Alexis at Reflections of a Bookaholic .  This week's topic is Gifted Books .  While I don't tend to get many books as gifts (I can be slightly difficult to buy books for) and am more apt to give them, there are a few that have been given to me and were great gifts. First on this list would be Ingeborg Bachmann's Malina .  I received this book in the original German from my, much loved, German professor when I graduated from undergrad.  She wrote a beautiful inscription on the front page and it's definitely a book that I will keep for as long as I can.  I have yet to read the entire thing (it's in German, therefore a little more slow-going than an English version), but I am determined to one day finish it. Secondly would be a Christmas present I received from my parents years ago.  I have always been a huge fan of Nirvana a...