Feeding the beast

So my main argument for getting an e-reader has always been: It'll enable me to hide my book addiction better.

And it's woooorkiiiing.

Every couple weeks kobo sends out $1 or $2 coupons for lists of books. And with the latest one, I just realized that the coupon applies to every book in the store except the publishers listed in the small print. So I can get a discount on all sorts of books! And they're discounted to begin with, so très cheap.

I caved and bought four books. Now I've got lots of new toys to read! 3 lite-n-fluffy, and one research.

Murder at Longbourn, by Tracy Kiely, turned out to be everything I had hoped it would be--a cozy mystery with strong tie-ins to P&P but without being an overly serious, self-conscious, joyless retelling of the story. The novel is jam-packed with Austen quotes and references to the various movies and adaptations that constitute Austen Inc. ...but branches out a bit to include Shakespeare, Dorothy Parker, Oscar Wilde and other literary wits. (Goodreads reader review)


This book has it all; an eternal love, a broken marriage, a life cut short, children in peril and a Gothic castle. In Ohio. (Goodreads reader review)


Clever plot, unusual subject (stamp collecting), interesting setting and time, and amusing characters flesh out this funny little mystery. Flavia is a smart and snarky little detective whose passion is poison. (Goodreads reader review) "There are times, Miss de Luce... when you deserve a brass medal. And there are other times when you deserve to be sent to your room with bread and water." (Inspector Hewitt to Flavia de Luce)


A groundbreaking report on how Seagram heir Edgar Bronfman, Jr, who lost $3 billion in failed deals, may be the record business's least-likely savior.

The Roots - Sacrifice (feat. Nelly Furtado)

titling

Author Jennifer Crusie's attempts to come up with the title for her nonexistent autobiography:

Gandhi’s title for his autobiography was The Story of My Experiments with Truth. That would be a good title for mine, too, since rationalization is my chief form of recreation, but I don’t think that’s what he was getting at. Lucille Ball’s was called Love, Lucy, but I don’t think Argh, Jenny has the same vibe. The Dalai Lama’s is Freedom in Exile. Mine would be Freedom in Ohio. Uh, no. MacKenzie Phillips’s was High on Arrival. I suppose I could call mine Screaming for Chocolate at Birth, but it’s not the same thing. Agatha Christie called hers An Autobiography which I think was just lazy of her.

So I looked for other inspiration. We have a new cookbook called Good, Cheap, and Easy. I’d use that but we’ve decided to get three hamsters and name them that, so it’s been used. Jean Kerr’s autobio was made into a movie; it’s called Please Don’t Eat the Daisies. Mine would have to be Please Don’t Pee on the Pillows or Drop the Crochet Hook or Die, Dog, neither of which has the sprightly vibe of Kerr’s. Also I’m not sprightly. Or I could just go for what I have decided is the summary of my life: It’s Here Somewhere. And of course there’s always the title that Lani and both claim, so whoever writes her autobio first gets it: You’d Hardly Be the First. And yet, not quite right yet. And there’s Nothing But Good Times Ahead, but since death grows ever nearer, that might be more optimism than I’m ready to flaunt, especially since God laughs when I make plans.