Oops!

OK, so I just realized that I am the culprit, the slacker who dropped the ball on this blog, and not my loving hubby as I was assuming. (Ooops!)  A very enthusiastic fan of the blog got on our case the other day, intoning how much she loved reading about our adventures and digs against each other.  This ones for you Val!

Even though it has been 2 years (YIKES) since either one of us blogged, we have still been reading up a storm, although with 2 little ones in the house we are better versed in Kann and Carle than King and Picoult.  

I recently read the book Mr. Penumbra’s 24 Hour Bookstore, which was a book club selection.  The story follows Clay Jannon as he searches for work in tech-savvy San Fransisco, and stumbles upon Mr. Penubra’s 24 Hour Bookstore, that is looking for a clerk for the overnight shift.  He quickly gets the job, complete with strange job requirements- man the counter in a 24 hour bookstore overnight where no one visits, write down descriptions of everyone who comes into the store and how they are acting, don’t read the books in the stacks in the back; these books are only checked out (yes, lent like a library) by the strangest of customers. 

Of course one day, a friend convinces Clay to inspect one of the books in the back of the store, and it is filled with a strange language nether one of them can decipher.  The mystery deepens as he realizes that these books are checked out in a set sequence, even though they are not shelved linearly.

I don’t want to spoil any more of the story, but it continues with lots of Silicon Valley trickery, a new coded book, and some very Da Vinci Code intrigues!

Now, Sir Donald, I pass the torch back to you!

The Odyssey

So, here we are again, and not much has changed since the last time I wrote. Being the ADULT that I am, I'll refrain from taking exception to my adorable honey's admonition the other day that the dropping of the blog ball was squarely on my shoulders, rather than her own. Neither will I stoop to saying things like:

"Neener, Neener, Neeeeeener!!!"

Because that would be childish.

So I won't.

;)

As for my own reading adventures, I'm just going to come right out and say that they have been less than stellar. I haven't been able to stay interested much in the pulitzer list, so I found myself wandering around the literary cellars looking for a vintage that I could really sink my teeth into.  

I came up with The Odyssey of Homer, and really liked it. I'm glad it wasn't ever on my high school reading list to be honest, I think because now that I'm older, I can actually appreciate it. It's amazing how many stories today derive from that work. 

I took in some Virginia Woolf through "A Room of One's Own," and "Mrs. Dalloway," found and then promptly dispatched my inner feminist, because I'm of the opinion that I would be a better lesbian than she, and I think I might have come to some reasonable understanding as to what the hell was going on in "The Hours." I still think it sucked as contemporary literature; though not nearly as badly as "Beloved."

I finished up Henry James' "The Portrait of a Lady" sometime around when Robbie was born, and found out exactly why H. James is widely thought of as the master of the "Innocent Lady abroad" tale. I was less enthusiastic about "Madame Bovary," but wasn't let down one bit by Flaubert's intricate tickling of the language. One regret: I wish I could have read it in the original french, which I'm sure must be far superior in its own way.

For now, I'm on my way through Sinclair Lewis' "Arrowsmith," which won the Pulitzer Prize in 1926. It's a good read, but with the baby taking up my time, and work, I'm afraid the good doctor hasn't gotten the attention he deserves. I'll resolve to do better. Thank you Val!