Hazy Bookworm
I want to blog, but am having trouble putting together a real post. For now, we'll all have to be content with hazy thoughts that have floated through my mind this past week -- all bookish, of course.
1. Determined to work on my Pulitzer challenge a little more this year, I started reading Angle of Repose (1971) by Wallace Stegner and I'm in book love again. Roll over, Robertson Davies and give Nick Hornby the news. What took me so long to discover this author? He's like John Steinbeck with a bit of F. Scott Fitzgerald thrown in. Even better, when he was a lit professor, his specialty was the American realism/naturalism period: Twain, Garland, Wharton, Crane, Dreiser, Norris -- many of my favorites. I must hit Kyobo bookstore next time I'm in Seoul and grab Stegner's autobiographical novel, The Big Rock Candy Mountain (1943). I'm a giddy bookworm; nothing pleases me more than discovering a past literary treasure.
2. Speaking of discovering fine authors from the past, I'm happier than ever that this seems to be my predisposition. Trish's unpleasant encounter with a new author distressed me greatly -- so much so, that if I had any inkling about reviewing new authors, all of that is gone now. It would be thrilling to discover some wonderful new talent all by my lonesome, but oh, well. Let other bloggers and critics and time sort them out.
3. I got curious about Mt. TBR and counted 'em up: 210 unread books! My library is flourishing, but it's gonna get harder and harder to convince people that I'm a poor little expat in dire need of reading material. In addition, I guess it would be poor form to complain about having to move all those books! from Gumi to Seoul in a couple of months.
8 comments:
There's something very special about the book that makes you fall in love with reading all over again, especially when you've never quite fallen out of it. :-)
You can never have enough books! Although I am sure you'll wish for a few less during the move--at least for a moment because you'll be so glad you have them again once you're all settled in. ;-)
Have a great week!
I'm feeling pretty much the same way about what happened with Trish. Very leery now of accepting review books from new or self-published authors.
I am still too scared to count my TBR. It's ugly. I blame paperbackswap.
Bybee, I just went all over blogosphere over that author brouhaha. Interesting.
210 books? I don't want to know my TBR count. Denial can be so comforting. Plus, y'know, I've bought more. What if the Apocalypse happpens? We'll need those books. It's prudent. ;)
That's three people that have raved about Wallace Stegner to me lately - maybe I'll have to get his book off the TBR mountain.
I love Angle of Repose, it's one of my all-time favorites. Stegner's novel Crossing to Safety is another favorite of mine (and my husband's, which is one of the reasons I dated him in the first place!)
What happened to Trish is a little irritating, for sure. That author was totally out of line but I do imagine he is just a big blow-hard when it comes to potential lawsuits and the like. The jerk will learn that he is well on his way to becoming a laughingstock via the world of bloggers, a world he wants to exploit to his advantage but trash when it doesn't work out that way for him.
BTW, Stegner is tremendous, isn't he? :-)
Wallace Stegner is the bomb, but he doesn't make me love Nick Hornby any less.
I can see how Trish's experience would make you nervous. I'm thinking about putting a disclaimer in my sidebar: Honest Reviews Only.
Hi there... saw your blog on the Book Trib site and thought I'd stop by.
I have close to 200 in my TBR pile. I have about 8 that I have to review within the next week or so. I honestly do not know how some bloggers read so many books at once. I can do 2 at a time if they are vastly different, but that is my limit.
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