the list

There's a piece of paper fluttering around my chair, fuzzy here b/c I'm too impatient to fuss with the camera.

Books to buy:

The Knitting Circle by Ann Hood

Skylight Confessions by Alice Hoffman

Ten Days in the Hills by Jane Smiley

Divisadero by Michael Ondaatje

On Chesil Beach by Ian McEwan

A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khalid Hosseini

American Gods by Neil Gaiman

Finn by Jon Clinch

The Blade Itself by Marcus Sakey

We Need to Talk About Kevin by Lionel Shriver

I'll Steal You Away by Niccolo Ammaniti

And some books that have disappeared from my library and need replacing:

Haven Kimmel's novels

Huck Finn

Tom Sawyer

Catcher in the Rye


The frustrating thing is that I can't just go out and buy all of them at once. But, even if I did, there would be another such list in about three days' time.

If you like, feel free to add suggestions. I'm getting an early start on building my reading pile for the coming winter. :)

murderati-bound

I'm guest-blogging at Murderati on Saturday, so come on over and say hello!

You'll find a line-up of wonderful writers and always great conversation. See you there...

the work ahead

A novel, in the end, is a container, a shape which you are trying to pour your story into.

-Helen Dunmore

may day

And the day came when the risk to remain tight in the bud was more painful than the risk it took to blossom.

-Anais Nin

stillwater

***looking for Stillwater Writing Retreat? You can find complete information on the upper section of the page under its own tab***

"Just for fun, my family invented a religion like the Shakers we called Stillwater. I'm eldress, and we have a big celebration on Midsummer's Eve. It's really a state of mind. Stillwater connotes something very peaceful, you see, life without stress. Nowadays, people are so jeezled up. If they took some chamomile tea and spent more time rocking on the porch in the evening listening to the song of the hermit thrush, they might enjoy life more. Stillwater believers are very hedonistic. Life is to be enjoyed, not saddled with. Do you know that lovely quotation from Fra Giovanni? He was an old monk from away back who wrote to his patron, 'The gloom of the world is but a shadow; behind it, yet within our reach, is joy. Take joy.' That's the first commandment of the Stillwater religion. Joy is there for the taking." -Tasha Tudor, from The Private World of Tasha Tudor *** I discovered Tasha Tudor when we got the corgyn - she has written and illustrated several children's books featuring the corgi. As I looked for more of her wonderful books, I came across her cookbook, which I love, and the above book, which is a favorite, full of her ramblings and the most marvelous photos of Tasha in the Vermont cottage built by her son.