Quote de jour
"To be misunderstood can be the writer's punishment for having disturbed the reader's peace. The greater the disturbance, the greater the possibility of misunderstanding."
                                                                                                                                                                                                                  ~Anatole Broyard
Over the next few weeks (months?) I'll include photos documenting the changing view from a favorite spot for reading. The tips of the maple leaves are turning fiery and early morning light is shard sharp.


It was, is, and will be a big reading week. I skipped a week of reading magazines (horrors!) and had to play catch up. Most magazines can be perused while multi-tasking like watching TV, waiting and driving ( just kidding). I think of them as light snacks but Vanity Fair is a full course meal which kept me up until 3AM. What a great cover of Jackie. I wonder if a child looking at the cover would know she's been dead for years? And is Oprah really losing weight or is this clever Photoshopping? RIP Gourmet Magazine. The oldest and my fave foodie mag in America got the axe from Conde Nast. I'll miss the recipes and the stunning covers. Purple and greens continue as popular colors and autumn brings the usual seasonal russets and halloweeny oranges. Catch words include: cheap, easy, healthy. Next week I predict a slew of Obama covers.



Books:
Writers rarely exert much influence on their cover design, but what happens when a writer happens to be a book jacket designer? A perfectly gorgeous cover like Julie Metz's memoir Perfection. The contents are pretty perfect too. Reading the arc of her husband's serial infidelity felt like watching a train wreck in slow motion. I can't fathom how some women can be so blind or in denial.
 
Not only is everyone and their mother writing a memoir  these days, but now they're writing two, three or more. In the case of Hope Edelman, she's made a career of it. I haven't begun her latest memoir The Possibility of Everything but I like the premise: the writer, her hubby and three-year-old daughter travel to Belize to find alternative healing from a shaman.

As a tarot reader, I loved the cover of The Grift by Debra Ginsberg. http://www.debraginsberg.comA crow holds the13th card (Death) of a tarot deck. I can't wait to read this novel about a fake psychic who finds real powers. Ms. Ginsberg has written two memoirs including one about her autistic son.

Last but not least, is the pocket-sized book of short stories Going Away Shoes by Jill McCorkle. It's a happy/sad day when I find a writer I like who has written extensively. It means I want to read her other books and I'm already in the land of "too many books, too little time." http://www.jillmccorkle.com