A brief intermission

It’s raining here, perfect reading with a cup of tea weather. But, despite bookshelf full of books and a Kindle 3/4 full of books I haven’t read, I can’t seem to land on a book to read right now.  I pick one up, read a few chapters, put it down uninterested…try another and so on. I know from experience this will pass but it is quite unsettling not to be reading anything right now.  So during this lull  – HERE  is the New York Times Book Review’s 100 Notable Books of 2014 for inspiration…hmmmm, maybe a trip to my favorite independent  bookstore later …don’t judge.

P. D. James 1920-2014

“When I first heard that Humpty Dumpty fell off the wall, I immediately wondered: Did he fall–or was he pushed?”

P. D. James,  the beloved mystery author and creator of Commander Adam Dalgliesh and Cordelia Gray, died Thursday at age 94.  I was fortunate to hear her speak in person (at City Arts and Lectures here in San Francisco) and she spoke with quiet intelligence and was remarkably down to earth and unassuming — and I imagined that she would happily welcome you to sit down in her kitchen to share a cup of tea.

Beauty in the Messiness.

So this Thanksgiving I continue to be thankful for growing older, for everything I have learned, and for my beautiful messy, imperfect life.  May you also find some beauty in the messiness of your life.

Read the full post on Lisa’s blog HERE.

If Authors Ordered at Starbucks

Created by an English literature and a history student (presumably with exams to avoid), this post will probably do nothing for you unless you enjoy the smell of a fresh hardback or skip evenings out for a book in bed.

For the want of a comma…

I often question my overzealous use of the comma, but when I read Ann Patchett’s response to a review of her most recent book, I sighed with self satisfaction…

 Puppy Love

To the Editor:

I was grateful to see my book “This Is the Story of a Happy Marriage” mentioned in Paperback Row (Oct. 19). When highlighting a few of the essays in the collection, the review mentions topics ranging from “her stabilizing second marriage to her beloved dog” without benefit of comma, thus giving the impression that Sparky and I are hitched. While my love for my dog is deep, he married a dog named Maggie at Parnassus Books last summer as part of a successful fund-raiser for the Nashville Humane Association. I am married to Karl VanDevender. We are all very happy in our respective unions.

ANN PATCHETT

NASHVILLE

How to Tell if You Are in a Gothic Horror Novel

On this Hallowed Eve – a scary warning here.

“Something is wrong – something is terribly wrong   …    It’s probably nothing.”