Sunday, May 17, 2009

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

18 comments:

  1. Deep breath, Nancy, deep breath :) You're running yourself crazy, lol. I'm so so sorry to hear about the migraines :( This has been a hell of a week for me too...I mean it's been like nearly every day I've had one and I had a real doozy today. I'm going to start shopping for a new neurologist because this one just isn't cutting it. I hope you're migraine free by the time you read this.

    I know EXACTLY what you mean about Simon's writing. I think The Secret Lives of People in Love is the most marked up book that I own! His writing is just so beautiful and nearly any sentence can be picked as a quote. I saw that you mentioned the other day that he has a few books under contract...any novels that you know of? I love short stories, but I'd love to see a novel from him.

    And look at all of those AMAZING books that you brought home!! I loved The Dead and the Gone though it was horribly depressing...I'm afraid The Hunger Games isn't much happier, but it was still amazing. Can't wait to hear your thoughts on them!

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  2. Chris,

    Okay. Breathing in. Breathing out. :)

    Same here on the migraines. This has been an absolutely miserable week. I guess the weather is killing us. When you find a good neurologist, let me know -- it might be worth the drive. I still don't have one. Since our only neurologist left town, nobody has come to fill his slot. The hardest part is finding one who understands that sometimes the best you can do is just to blast 'em with painkillers and sleep it off. Mine was very understanding and I felt comfortable going in for shots to knock out the throw-up kind, but it's more complex convincing a primary care physician that you'd be better off in a coma. I hated it when the neurologist left.

    Yep, my copies of Simon's books are marked all over the place. So, so many beautiful words and things to quote! He has one novel contracted and Secret Lives is going to be re-released by HarperPerennial. I'm hoping that by the time the novel comes out, there will be a second one contracted. Simon's a pretty prolific writer, so I think we have a lot of great reading ahead of us!

    The Dead and the Gone is definitely a bummer, but I've wanted to read it for so long that I think I was determined to enjoy every miserable minute. :)

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  3. I'm a former migraine sufferer myself. I have felt your pain. I hope that this week you can take some time to rest and stare off into space. Sometimes we need that mental break.

    I'm praying for you.

    I have a Van Booy book that I just haven't read yet. Maybe I need to pick it up to get out of my not-reading-anything-ever rut. I guess we all go through seasons.

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  4. Nancy, migraines are the worst. I just dread them and get them so often. They completely drain you even more days after they finally leave. I sure hope you start feeling better soon. Glad you got a whole pile of books though. I find retail therapy very helpful. Take care of yourself.

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  5. Anonymous10:50 AM

    I wish YOU many readable books and lots of sunny bright (not too bright) sunshine!

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  6. Sorry to hear you're struggling with migraines and allergies. That's enough to make you burnt out.

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  7. Nikki,

    I've had migraines since I was about 8 years old. You're lucky if you got rid of them; they never get any easier! Thanks for the prayers. :)

    Oh, heavens, yes. If you have a book by Simon, snatch it up and start reading. It might not be the right book to pull you out of your rut, but I have trouble imagining that. His writing is beyond awesome.

    Dar,

    I'm sorry you suffer from migraines, too. Yep, they do drain you well beyond the actual pain days. I still have what I call a shadow migraine -- just enough that you know it could go either way (explode into full-blown or go away). I'm hoping it will leave me alone, soon. Retail therapy is something I don't do much, anymore, so I really had fun. :)

    Care,

    Thank you, darlin'. It's very sunny, today. I still feel kind of yucky, but I think I'll take a long, slooooow walk, this afternoon. I need the sunshine. Happy reading! :)

    Kathy,

    Yes, allergies and migraines do make one feel a bit wrung out. The allergies are the main reason I detest living in the South. I want to move to a frozen wasteland, or at least somewhere without quite so such a lengthy allergy season.

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  8. Yay! You got a copy of The Hunger Games!! But hey, don't you have a Barnes & Noble down there?!?! ;)

    I really need to get a copy of one (or both) of Simon's books. You've been raving about them for a long time now and I'm convinced they're "must reads."

    Hope you find a yard boy (or man) soon. Hey, when is your marathon? Isn't it getting kind of hot & humid? Ours was on the 2nd and I can't imagine those poor folks running in the hot weather we're having now. Let me know so I can send virtual cheers your way!

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  9. Les,

    Yes, I finally gave up and decided to just fork over the big bucks for The Hunger Games. I'm looking forward to reading it. :)

    We do have a Barnes & Noble, but it's on the wrong side of town. We were in Jackson . . . oh, now I remember why -- it was Friday, not Saturday. I knew something about what I said sounded wrong. Anyway, we went to the dental school because David had some work to get done, so I shopped while he got his teeth screwed in or whatever. Flowood's Borders is down the road from the dental school. B & N is north, in Madison, too far to zip over and back to the dental school.

    You should definitely rush out and buy a copy of Love Begins in Winter. The Secret Lives of People in Love is going to be re-released and isn't as widely available, yet, but it will be, eventually. The second story in LBiW left me a little cold, but the others are so beautiful and moving that I can't imagine you wouldn't enjoy them, even just for the rhythm of his writing.

    I desperately need to hire someone to work on my yard. The half-marathon is in June. We're not sure we'll make it, since we've had 2 or 3 wacky weeks, but the full marathon is in October and we still have time to get back on track for that. It's cool, today, but that won't last. We've been very hot and humid, yes, and it will just keep getting worse. I can't say you get used to it, but I felt like I became acclimated, to a certain extent, when I was running regularly in the past.

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  10. Oh Nancy, migraine are the pits! I usually get them when I eat too much sugar. I now pretty much know exactly how much sugar I can have before it triggers one.

    I hope you feel better soon.

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  11. Teddy Rose,

    I didn't know sugar could be a migraine trigger! Interesting. It's good to know your limits. Chocolate is one of my migraine triggers and I've always had to be careful not to eat much of it. Now, I'm kind of without chocolate, anyway (still visualizing little slave boys harvesting cocoa if I look at chocolate) so no worries.

    I'm feeling much better, this week. The sun came out. Wahoo!

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  12. I can't wait to read Simon's book!!! And I'm about to start The Hunger Games. It seems like everyone in the blogosphere is reading it right now. Woot!

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  13. Andi,

    You will love Simon's new book. All classic Simon, with some extra fun added material in the back. I'm thinking I want to read The Hunger Games very soon, too. I'm enjoying the books I'm reading, but yeah . . . everyone and their brother seems to be reading The Hunger Games. I'm usually patient, but in this case resistance was futile. I just needed to buy some fun books.

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  14. I haven't been in a book slump but between misplacing my book then finding it. Yeah, so finally finished it. lol

    I wish I could spend that much money on books but that would go over like a lead balloon. :) So enjoying the books I have that I haven't read yet. :)

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  15. Krista,

    I'm glad to know I'm not the only person on the planet who loses her own books in the middle of reading them. So embarrassing.

    I can get away with plunking down $50 on books, these days, because it's become something on the order of a semi-annual affair, although Buy Indie Day also set me back a bit. Surely Minneapolis has a great library system, don't they? Our sucky library is the main reason I've bought so many books, over the years. They have books, but are unaccountably shy of the titles I most desperately want to read.

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  16. I am having a hard time finding my muse to write blog posts, too! It's very annoying! I took a blogging break, but it didn't really help. I think I just have too much on my mind! I hope things start to destress for you soon!

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  17. Kailana,

    I feel the same. I'm taking a half-hearted blogging break -- just posting the tour books that have a standard format -- but I feel like I could stand a week in a cabin with no internet access. In fact, I'm looking into places to go. Same here . . . just too much on my mind. I hope you get your muse back, soon. :)

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  18. We do have a good library system, just not reading much so sticking to my own books for now. :)

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