I decided, arbitrarily, in October, to read through the alphabet. There is so much noise in my head that whenever any coherent thought bursts its way through, I tend to do whatever it says (see, also cat ear hair clips).

Like many attempts, however, X stumped me. I don’t have much interest in X-men and most other books starting with X seem to be about vampires in outer space. There is an Edith Wharton collection that starts with X (Xingu), so why don’t I read that? 1. I have to find a cord to connect my Kobo to the computer and I’m too lazy to do that and 2. I have to spend today finishing up Z (Zoo Station, which is really Wir Kinder vom Bahnhof Zoo and only in a newer translation is Zoo Station) and the chances of me doing that rather than pissing the day away b staring vapidly at the grey weather outside is very low. Vanishingly. Epsilon low.

Now I have to decide how to list this. All books in alphabetical order? A canonical example for each letter? Keep reading and see.