Call me crazy. Or, rather, call me lazy first. I've been out of my mind with work (that would be the counter part to the balance part of the counter+balance that is my blog) and I've got so many ideas brewing and sketched and penned and outlined that I am suffering from an "I don't know what to post first" phobia. So, of course, I've posted nothing. Ah, my genius mind at work. Lots to say, so post nothing. A minimalist approach, if you will. But my usual overly forthcomingness will be back soon.
I will tease you with a few tidbits before I return to post all the gory details later this week:
- I managed to get to the reading (a term to be used very loosely in this case) of Emily Giffin (yes, matchy matchy does have a name) and I've got some things to say. A whole two weeks later, what still strikes me most is that she bears a startling resemblance to Sarah Michelle Gellar, only with a much huskier voice. I'm not sure what that tells you about the reading, but this should at least give you a visual to work with until I post the full debrief.
- Her books have been placed in the holds queue at my library. No, I could not bear to buy them. I would like to point out my utter dismay when I learned that I was #35 on the wait list for her latest novel Baby Proof and that there are 68 copies available for holds . What!?!?!?!?! The finest voices of our generation and previous generations only have a few meager copies available at best. But she has....68....and so many people are "holding" for these precious copies that I'm actually number 35? Ugh.
- When I manage to get one or two, I promise to read them with a somewhat open mind. No, really. How can I be so crummy if I've not even read the books?
- David Mitchell was on KCRW's Bookworm with Michael Silverblatt a week ago. My post on this is half-done, but you can check it out now if you're feeling antsy.
- Condalmo is asking an important short story question: Why aren't people more into them? I'm preparing my response for his blog now and will have it over later this week. Do check back both here and there. It should be an interesting dialogue.
- Svetlana Alexievich's Voices from Chernobyl blew me away. Pardon the awful pun. More on this to come. Highly recommended for a powerful reality check.
- Many moons ago (at least it seems like it now), I did see A.M. Homes at her Skylight Books reading. Fascinating. Post to follow.
That's it. I'm tapped. I am, however, back from many travels and will be a regular contributor at my own blog for the foreseeable future. Some graffiti posts, some photo posts, some i still really hate the wedding industry posts and various other shocking revelations to come. Do stay tuned.
