The minute I read about Lisa Robinson’s There Goes Gravity: A Life in Rock and Roll, I knew I had to read it. Not only am I a lifelong music fan, but especially as a teen I was enthralled with rock journalists. (I had no idea, of course, that by the mid-1980s, when my aspirations … Continue reading There Goes Gravity: A Life in Rock and Roll

I went through a bit of a humbling exercise today. We're having strange weather for May here in Atlanta—rain and highs only in the mid-50s—so the run I planned to do at the Chattahoochee today was simply not going to happen. Instead, I read some of The People in the Trees and ran some errands, … Continue reading The Never-Ending Story (of Book Bloggers)

I've decided to let my library card expire. On Sunday I turned in the last couple of books I'd checked out and cleared my hold list. My library system is actually quite good, so my decision is not based on any problems I've had concerning holding, checking out, or re-checking books. The problem is me. Libraries … Continue reading Checking Out

I had a tidy pile of Christmas money to spend this year, so I decided to take a long look at my wishlist and determine what to buy. Given that part of my commitment to the TBR Double Dog Dare challenge means no new books until April 1, I wanted to be sure that anything … Continue reading Cleaning up the Lists

Happy Thanksgiving to those of you here in the U.S. May you have a peaceful and safe holiday!

This is somewhat random, I realize, but I've been thinking a lot about political correctness in literature. I'm not talking about things like inclusiveness in regards to awards ceremonies, or authors calling each other out for being sexist in real life, and so on. I'm talking about when I see, for instance, a tweet from … Continue reading On Political Correctness and Literature

"A couple of times a year I make myself a tape to play in the car, a tape of all the new songs I've loved over the previous few months, and every time I finish one I can't believe that there'll be another. Yet there always is, and I can't wait for the next one; … Continue reading A Life Worth Living

I've been amazed the last few days at book bloggers' reaction on Twitter to yet another article by a literary critic about how book blogs are the scourge of the literary world (or something like that). The article was in The Guardian, and I am not linking to it here. Why? Because to link to … Continue reading Letting Go