At the heart of it all, I’m a fan. A fan of books and bookstores. A fan of fiction and non-fiction. A fan of authors and publishers. And most of all I’m a fan of great conversations sparked by books. All that to say - I really need more bookshelves.
I have never really enjoyed poetry. I think I’m too lazy. I’ve always had to exert too much effort in trying to figure out what the poet is saying.
But I read this yesterday. And I went back and read it again. Today I went back and read it again. So I thought I would share the gem that she had found.
It won’t be long until everyone is just running wire copy from New York. Can you imagine? Thousands of newspapers all covering the same 6 books every day. How sad.
And the fade theorist has a post about a group of self appointing “prose pros” getting on board with letters and petitions. While I do agree with the theorist that the NBCC needs to wake up and participate in the world of new media (to quote her “Traditional print media, by comparison, is flat”), I do have to say that I would miss having the “professional” reviews in my newspapers. As much weight as I give my friends’ recommendations and suggestions, I’ve always been glad that there is a “filter” out there. Someone with enough skill and experience separate the junk from what might actually be worthy. And that, I think would be worth fighting for.
Here’s a short article brimming with links to book related podasts! Most are attached to “serious” book reviewers at newspapers. But others are produced by book publishers and books fans. And all contain good interviews with authors. It’s interesting to hear an author’s voice as they talk about there work. Not one of them has sounded like the voices inside my head as I read their stories.
Now I just need to start riding the bus so I have time to listen.