Quote de jour
"Reading like writing is a creative act. If readers only bring a narrow range of themselves to a book, then they'll only see their narrow range reflected in it."
~Ben Okri

What a difference a week makes. Last Sunday we were digging out of knee deep snow. Today, it's sunny with balmy mid 50's temps. I may be a reading addict but I'm not crazy. A quick spin on the keyboard and I'm so out of here.
Here's Johnny... again. Hmm, I forgot to return GQ with Johnny Depp on the cover to the library. Accident? I think not.

Nice to see women with meat on their bones like Mad Men's Christina Hendricks, but Oprah looks suspiciously slimmer. PhotoShop strikes again?

My writer brain will never be the same after reading last week's choice (scroll to to last Sunday to see pic). There aren't enough adjectives to describe the joy and wonder of Best European Fiction 2010. And, I still raving about the collection of essays by 30 brilliant writers about their muses and mentors in Mentors, Muses & Monsters. It's like a mini writer's workshop you can tuck in your bag.

In an informal survey of more than 50 editors and agents, author Cheryl Wyatt reports that 99% of them admit to only reading the first page of a submitted manuscript. If the story does not intrigue them in that first page, they won’t read on. That is true, but what happens to best selling writers who churn out a book a year? The same rules don't seem to apply.
I felt the need for some light reading and turned to chick lit writer Jane Green's latest but not greatest Dune Road. It starts strong but the multiple plot twists half way through made my head spin, which leads to skimming. Fast. For someone who reads as much as I do, it takes a lot to make me want to slow down and savor. That said, if I'd been lolling in a hammock with a mojito I may have fared better. The Asian influenced book jacket design made no stylistic sense for the theme or the setting. The title refers to a Gatsbyesque grand estate on Dune Road which is the home of one of the main characters, a reclusive writer.


Look at the beautiful book jacket of Sarah's Key by Tatiana de Rosnay. Doesn't it draw you in? It captures the essence of this remarkable book. The jacket photo has a vintage feel but any lover of Paris knows the Luxembourg Garden replete with pea gravel and metal chairs looks the same today. In the novel, the narrative switches back and forth seamlessly between Nazi occupied Paris in 1942 and sixty years later. I've only made a dent, but I'm already entranced. The film rights are sold. I can't wait for the film and her next book. http://www.tatianaderosnay.com

Listen to the writer speak about her important book.