Tuesday, December 25, 2007

Happy Holidays to all

It’s Merry Chaos here in Princeton. In a pleasant role reversal, the children are quietly entertaining themselves with newfound Christmas booty, while the adults are indulging in much deserved champagne, caviar, and foie gras de canard (from the Gascony Mothership, no less) while the turkey cooks.

No matter where you are and what you believe, I hope that your day is filled with peace and glad tidings!

Saturday, December 22, 2007

mission accomplished

I’m pleased to report that I have just set a PR for number of books read in a year. I just finished reading Calvin Trillin’s Feeding a Yen, a thoroughly awesome book, bringing the tally to fifty books read this year. Even when I was a publisher’s rep, getting paid to read, I only managed to read, cover to cover, around thirty-five books annually. Oh, I read a lot then, especially for the job, but I tended to read only the first fifty pages of a given book, thus ruining my average.

This is an exciting goal to reach!

Wednesday, December 19, 2007

first lines meme

I like a trip down memory lane as much as the next person. And, since I've been uninspired to write much of anything—outside of work, that is—this seems like a fine time to hop on this first line meme. Here is the first line from the first post of the month for each month this past year.

January: Way back in April, as I was looking through the Coming Soon literature "aisle" at Powells.com, I made a note that Julia Glass had written a new book, The Whole World Over.

February: Before Water for Elephants was published by Algonquin Chapel Hill last May, a number of friends expressed interest in it.

March:Granta has just announced their second-ever list of best American writers under 35.

April:
I’m a sucker for first novels and for novels set in exotic locations.

May: This is my first post for the month of May, which was a somewhat cruel month for reading and writing—just not enough time.

June: zilch

July:
The highly anticipated, final installment of Harry Potter is very close to its official on-sale date.
August:
The Man Booker Prize long list has been announced.

September:
Last October, I posted a list of 39 books I would endeavor to read beginning on my 39th birthday.

October:
Admit it.

November:
I’m the kind of geek who gets super excited when book group rolls around every six weeks or so.

December:
I like a trip down memory lane as much as the next person.