Friday, June 23, 2006

Auditioning books

I'll be in the Bay Area next week, but it's not a vacation. Anyway, some of my evenings will be free and I thought I'd take a few books to read. Always prepared, I reserved a few titles from the library last week, so I have the following:

First in Thirst by Darren Rovell
The Boy Who Fell Out of the Sky by Ken Dornstein
Flavor of the Month by Joel Best
Which Brings Me to You by Steve Almond and Julianna Baggott
Icebergs by Rebecca Johns (who blogs here)

For now I'm ignoring the lack of racial diversity and reading the first few chapters of each to gauge my immediate interest. I know I'll read the last one eventually -- it's not often that an author of a published book visits Brevity and leaves a comment -- but I have to believe that, even with my unusually proactive reading tendencies, I won't finish them all.

And, like a skittish radio listener who's found a good song on one station, I can't help but think that there's some great option I'm not exploring. So what are you reading, or eager to read? What do you think I'll like? Feel free to leave suggestions.

55 Fiction Friday counted 927,548 little pieces. Such betrayal!


Josie was hired by the government to address low voter turnout. She tried countering every common excuse: inclement weather, work schedules, distrust, lack of information, indifference. Miraculously, her new measures withstood judicial scrutiny.

Now, after the singing debates, Americans could call in their votes at any point during Election Week. Standard text messaging rates apply.

3 comments:

maisnon said...

Yeah for coming to the Bay Area - I'd love to meet you while you're here!

Oscar Madison said...

some of my evenings will be free and I thought I'd take a few books to read.

....And, like a skittish radio listener who's found a good song on one station, I can't help but think that there's some great option I'm not exploring.


Yeah, there is Neel. It's called "going out." For God's sake, at least promise us you'll take those damned books to a crowded cafe and try to pick someone up. Or browse in City Lights Bookstore.

Erin aka- absent-minded secretary said...

San Fran is one of my favorite cities to explore, even if I am by myself. You should go to the Museum of Modern Art, there are lots of good places to sit and read around there, and it's near the financial district so you can be more likely to pick up a well dressed someone, if you take oscar's advice. :)

My favorite book in this last year was Summerland, by Michael Chabon. It's sort of in the fantasy-youth-literature genre if you like that sort of thing.