When I was a kid, the thing I looked forward to most was Thursday mornings. On Thursdays, the new comic books came out, and I would scrounge around for change, anticipating the slow pawing of the racks at the dime store on Wood Street as I perused the new arrivals. My only memories are of summer, rooting around the neighborhood for discarded pop bottles worth two cents each. All I needed was six for a new comic. Why anyone would leave the bottles as trash, I never understood. I'm not sure what I did in the winter. Hard to believe I would have gone without for so many months. I don't remember.
The reason I thought of this today: I heard about two new books coming out by two of my favorite authors, and I felt that old tug of anticipation, the yearning to feel the heft of the book in my hand, to check out the blurbs on the back and the acknowledgments and any other ancillary information before I delved into the first sentence.
The authors? Jean Thompson, one of the best short story writers around. The new book is a novel. And Geraldine Brooks, who brings history to life with real characters and briskly placed plots. She's brilliant.
Any new books you would recommend here for the millions of readers who check out this blog? (Keeping a blog is still a surreal experience for me. I'm not sure what's lurking out there. It feels like I'm screaming out a dark window and the only sound I hear back is the reverberation of my voice. Is anyone out there?)
The reason I thought of this today: I heard about two new books coming out by two of my favorite authors, and I felt that old tug of anticipation, the yearning to feel the heft of the book in my hand, to check out the blurbs on the back and the acknowledgments and any other ancillary information before I delved into the first sentence.
The authors? Jean Thompson, one of the best short story writers around. The new book is a novel. And Geraldine Brooks, who brings history to life with real characters and briskly placed plots. She's brilliant.
Any new books you would recommend here for the millions of readers who check out this blog? (Keeping a blog is still a surreal experience for me. I'm not sure what's lurking out there. It feels like I'm screaming out a dark window and the only sound I hear back is the reverberation of my voice. Is anyone out there?)
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