Sunday Pie - Complete with 4 and 20 blackbirds, looking crusty and a bit miffed

Admittedly, I have nothing to say about blackbirds. I just thought they sounded like the best pie filling to describe my week - a week that involved migraines, allergies, burn-out, disappearing muses, and rain, rain, rain.

I've already mentioned several times, this week, that I'm a little burned out. However, I was Saved by Simon as a second reading of Love Begins in Winter pulled me out of my grievous but short-lived reading black hole. And, to Simon I must apologize. I had every intention of posting a review of Love Begins in Winter before the release date (the 14th of May, I believe) but hadn't anticipated that my blogging muse would run off with the yard man. No, we don't have a yard man, which is exactly the point. It appears that we need one desperately and the yard man of my wishes and dreams has run off. And whoosh, there went my blogging muse, so obviously it's a romance made for those who believe in the supernatural.

Let me just begin by telling you that Simon's books are quickly becoming my most tattered possessions. I read them, flip back to look for quotes, read them again, open them at random and stick my finger on a paragraph to see what I find . . . and I spilled a bottle of water on his first book (bad reason for the book to become a mess). Usually, I keep my books pristine. The fact that I feel like it would be best to buy several copies of each of Simon's books in order to preserve at least one gives you an idea just how much I value them.

And, now on to the pie of my weekend reading. I finished my second reading of Simon's book on Friday night. Saturday we drove to Borders because they obviously need my support with all those vicious rumors about their end drawing nigh floating about. On Friday, I saw the coupon that said "Spend $50 at Borders, get a $10 gift card," and scoffed, "As if I'm going to spend $50!" Yes, you know the end of that sentiment. The books I spent my $50 on:

The Dead and the Gone by Susan Beth Pfeffer

Love Begins in Winter by Simon Van Booy (only my second copy -- I'll need a few more; incidentally, it was shelved in poetry instead of literature at our Flowood Borders and we had given up finding a copy till my husband found it during a serendipitous moment . . . as he plunked down on a chair in front of the poetry section)

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan

Obviously, I'm in a Young Adult mood. I already whipped through The Dead and the Gone. More on that, later. Much later, I suppose, because . . .

I have 4 book tours, this week, and I haven't read a single title from the upcoming tour pile. I'll post the sneak peek chapters without any review unless lightning strikes, turning me instantly into a speed-reading freak. Also, my blogging muse will have to show up. At this point, I can read and ramble just fine; I simply can't get myself to write a review.

Thursday will be my first open day and I'll double-post my reviews of SLOB by Ellen Potter and Love Begins in Winter, both of which I should have posted last week or the week before. And, by then I hope to have finished The Nonesuch by Georgette Heyer (which has unaccountably not made it into my sidebar. Neither did The Dead and the Gone, but that's another story). I'm also reading and enjoying The Non-Runner's Marathon Guide for Women by Dawn Dais. Lord knows when I'll finish, though.

This all makes me sound overwhelmed, still (at the very least, extremely scheduled) but it's the fact that I'm not going to push the issue of reading those tour books on time that I hope will spare me from spiraling back into the reading black hole (a horrible place to be -- I'd advise you give it a wide berth). A little staring at the wall, a little sleep, a lot of running in the park, and maybe I'll be normal by Thursday. I may not comment at blogs, this week, just to save my dwindling stockpile of brain cells.

I wish you all a pleasant week, full of great books and sunshine,

Bookfool, or rather what's left of Bookfool