i thought this day would never come.

When spring came, even the false spring, there were no problems except where to be happiest. The only thing that could spoil a day was people and if you would keep from making engagements, each day had no limits. People were always the limiters of happiness except for the very few that were as good as spring itself.

That's the opening paragraph from "A False Spring" from Hemingway's A Moveable Feast. Friends, do you know how much it hurts me to say that I not only read this book, but I maybe even kind of liked certain parts of it? I do NOT like Hemingway. At all. But maybe a little bit in this book. He didn't feel like the pompous jerky-jerk I got from his other work. He felt okay, and sometimes we even agreed on certain things, and that really amazed me. (And yes, this is that book I was reading that I kept quiet about. Don't you understand now?)

My favorite story from the collection is "Birth of a New School" where Hemingway essentially verbally beats down this guy who interrupts his writing. Leave it to me to enjoy that piece the most, but I thought it was hilarious.

I'd say more, but this is Hemingway we're talking about, and I already feel slimy admitting that I might have maybe kind of sort of been a LITTLE wrong about the worth of all of his writing. This collection was okay. And that's it! Also, I'm thankful my friend Lisa convinced me to read it. It really is different from his other writing.

Now, I'm off to start Firelight by Sophie Jordan and Pastwatch by Orson Scott Card.

conquering my addiction.

Friends, I've done my best to conquer my addiction.

I've practiced strict, cold turkey regiments. I've practiced stepping stone elimination processes to reduce withdrawal, and I have done my best to just not think about that aching feeling inside of me, demanding to be filled by books.

But I think I really do have a problem.

That's the first step, right? But I'm not actually sure I want to recover, though I may rethink that statement the next time we move.

I visited the library this weekend, and oh my awesomeness. They had a library sale. We're talking BRAND NEW hardbacks here, peeps, for amazing prices. I know I know I know that I said I wasn't buying books this summer so that I wouldn't have to lug them home, but dudes, how could I pass them up? Here's my loot:

Sure, I already have a copy of Guernsey, but since I have read that book about eight times, I decided that I needed a copy in hardcover. I also picked up an Elizabeth Peters novel--don't judge!--and a Geraldine Brooks book which I started but had to return to the library before I finished, and a copy of The Three Musketeers so that I can return the copy I've been borrowing from K for the past kajillion years. :) Oh! And an Arthur Conan Doyle collection. Volume 2! Woot!

Did I mention that I paid $5 for these bad boys? That's $5 TOTAL, not $5 each. (Fist pump!) And do you see my kid's hands going for my books? BAD! No! Those are PRISTINE hardbacks. Leave them alone! Well, the Everyman's Library isn't pristine, but the pages are so lush and fantastic.

Now, down to business. What have I been reading? I finished Ex Libris, but you already knew that. I finished The Statistical Probabilities of Falling in Love, which should have been on the list, but wasn't. (And it's a YA title, meaning I've found a way to check them out, even if I can't peruse the shelves!) I'm moving through Pilgrim and Elantris, and I just picked up Finnikin and Here Lies. When it rains, it pours, right? (Those are mostly abbreviated titles, BTW, because I'm too lazy to type out the full thing. You'll forgive me because you always do. Thanks for that!)

Back in the Saddle Again....

Okay. I might be settled in. Almost. I've figured out the library (grumble grumble) and actually found some of the books from my list, so hopefully I'll make up some time by flying through the titles. Here we go:

• Pilgrim at Tinker Creek by Annie Dillard
• Bitterblue by Kristin Cashore
• The Night Circus by Erin Morgernstern
• Ex Libris: Confessions of a Common Reader by Anne Fadiman
• The Omnivore's Dilemma by Michael Pollan [Realized I've tried to read this before and just don't want to try again right now.]
• Under the Never Sky by Veronica Rossi
• Hood by Stephen Lawhead
• Shatter Me by Tahereh Mafi
• Elantris by Brandon Sanderson
• Legend by Marie Lu
• Firelight by Sophie Jordan
• Finnikin of the Rock by Melina Marchetta
• Pastwatch by Orson Scott Card
• Here Lies the Librarian by Richard Peck
• The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight by Jennifer E. Smith
• The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson

I finished Ex Libris: Confessions of a Common Reader by Anne Fadiman this afternoon. Dude, this was an awesome book. The essays were short and sweet and had meat to them, but at the same time, they were easy and fun to read--thank you, Anne Fadiman. I can't settle on a favorite essay, I just can't. As I'm trucking through this beauty, I kept thinking to myself, why don't I read some of these authors? Why don't I read Proust? I could read Proust! (Oh yeah. Um, I don't wanna.)

Now, off to finish The Night Circus, which I'm still nervous about, and start Elantris. Busy bee, I shall be!

Summer Reading List 2012

The list is far from final, but here is what I have so far:

• Pilgrim at Tinker Creek by Annie Dillard
• Bitterblue by Kristin Cashore
• The Night Circus by Erin Morgernstern
• Ex Libris: Confessions of a Common Reader by Anne Fadiman
• The Omnivore's Dilemma by Michael Pollan
• Under the Never Sky by Veronica Rossi
• Hood by Stephen Lawhead
• Shatter Me by Tahereh Mafi
• Elantris by Brandon Sanderson
• Legend by Marie Lu
• Firelight by Sophie Jordan
• Finnikin of the Rock by Melina Marchetta
• Pastwatch by Orson Scott Card
• Here Lies the Librarian by Richard Peck
• The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight by Jennifer E. Smith

It's on the shorter side, that's for sure, and these are not in order. Book completion will be based on a number of things, such as library availability, Audrey's mood, time of day, etc. I may try and tack on some of last year's books that I couldn't find copies of. And like last year, the plan is to share some of my thoughts with you as I finish the books. Fun, right?

To the many people who have suggested I read The Hunger Games: I'm sorry, I can't. I understand it is supposedly fantastic. Know that my resistance to reading them is not the same as my reasons for not reading Twilight. I honestly don't think I can handle the subject matter. Also, someone told me a major spoiler from the final book, and that pretty much killed it for me.

I hope to start Bitterblue today, but I've been trying since Friday, so we'll see.

and now...it is time...

I'm considering hiring an announcer to follow me around. Forget that two adults and a baby subsisting on a grad student's stipend is a creative monthly effort, I like to think I could find the mulau to do this. Maybe they'll let me pay them in cookies? (PS-I'm not sure I can forgive my father for imparting his expensive food tastes onto me. My tongue craves decadent and costly morsels and have I mentioned the grad student stipend?) Anyway, back to my announcer.

I'd have him follow me around, alerting everyone to the presence of a local celebrity. He'd say things in his deep announcer voice like, "And now, it is time, for the midwest to experience the awesomeness that is Audrey!" I need you to envision this with me. It's very important.

Now that you have that picture in your mind, imagine my announcer saying, "And now, it is time for the summer 2011 reading list!"

(It really is!)

It's a little small this year. (Bummer deal.) But oh! Does it have potential! And while I said I'd start on May 14th, I decided to start earlier because it's finals week and I needed the pick-me-up. Here, in all its glory:

• The Book of Other People by Zadie Smith
• The Female Quixote by Charlotte Lennox
• The Amulet of Samarkand by Jonathan Stroud
• The Secret Life of CeeCee Wilkes by Diane Chamberlain
• Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist by Rachel Cohn
• Half Moon Investigations by Eoin Colfer
• Behemoth by Scott Westerfeld
• Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater
• Light Can Be Both Wave and Particle by Ellen Gilchrist
• The Emperor of Nihon-Ja by John Flanagan
• Novelties and Souvenirs: Collected Short Fiction by John Crowley
• Perfect Chemistry by Simone Elkeles
• The Elegance of the Hedgehog by Muriel Barbery
• Maia by Richard Adams
• Peter and the Starcatchers by Dave Barry
• Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell by Susanna Clarke
• The Scarlet Pimpernel by Emmuska Orczy

The other book I've devoured of late is The Evil B.B. Chow by Steve Almond.

catty remarks about shoes.

I'm reading The Order of Odd-Fish by James Kennedy. I didn't think I would enjoy it. However, in efforts to explore my reading horizons in the YA world for the sake of my dear, future audience, I decided reading it might somehow contribute to my writing pursuits. The cover is bizarre--ostriches and a stomach with a city on top of it and a big fish and trees and a brain, all cluttered around a girl's (presumably the main character's) face. The inside description was bizarre, but it promised to be "equal parts Monty Python and Roald Dahl."

Sixty-seven pages in, I'm enjoying myself, and I find myself drawn to Sefino, a three-foot tall speaking cockroach who wears smoking jackets and silk ascots and constantly finds himself the ridicule of a newspaper that inexplicably gets delivered to him every morning, even though he's never been able to find out how or why or even where this newspaper is published.

I know. It sounds weird. But it's magical.

My favorite line so far? From page 56, and from the lips (the jaws?) of Sefino, "I can't die! I'm not properly dressed! Everyone in heaven will snicker and make catty remarks about my shoes!"

I'm eager to finish it.

Anyway, it's been a nice, quiet reading day, interspersed with my son crawling around my feet, pulling on everything, and finding every possible choking hazard in my home and trying to shove it in his mouth mere seconds before I yank it away with a loud, "Not for you!" At one point, it was a big chunk of wood. Awesome, right? Then, when there were no more choking hazards to unearth, he took to sucking on the floor. I noticed when there was a big wet patch on my kitchen tile, no smaller than a square foot. Excellent.

That didn't stop me from finishing Stephen R. Lawhead's The Skin Map. Have you read him? You really should. It's the third book in a row that I've really enjoyed, which is surprising. Usually I'm moaning about the sub-par quality of modern literature, but lately, that avenue of complaint has been closed to me. I like it that way. And I know what you're saying. Just what are all of those good books I've been reading in a row? Well, in order:

• Tyger, Tyger by Kersten Hamilton
• By Darkness Hid by Jill Williamson (The writing was horrific, but the story was good. And by horrific, I simply mean that sometimes paragraphs had very little sentence variance, and things didn't always flow.)
• The Skin Map by Stephen R. Lawhead
• and now, The Order of Odd-Fish by James Kennedy
• Oh, and I reserved my copy of RA#10, The Emperor of Nihon-Ja by John Flanagan (April 19th, hooray!)
  

What have you been reading lately? Anything good?