I’ve been reading a tremendous amount lately. Mostly because I keep trying to keep myself writing well and the best way for me to do that is read well. Michael’s about to head off on an incredibly long tour, so we’ll see what happens. Sometimes I just go to ground with a pile of novels, sometimes I lie in bed and watch Supernanny all night. Is it me or does that show not inspire an existential malaise? Picturing the Wreck by Dani Shapiro I recently met Dani Shapiro for the first time. She a delight. And gorgeous to boot. The Mistress’s Daughter by A.M. Holmes Some true stories are just so bizarre and incredible it’s hard to imagine how you could make them believable as fiction! Divisadero by Michael Ondaatje Everything out of this man’s pen is gorgeous. The Price of Privilege by Madeline Levine Would have been an interesting article, but a bit of a stretch as a book. Double Visionby Pat Barker Is it just by comparison to the trilogy that this disappoints? The Corrections by Jonathan Franzen Other than the whole Mr. Turd debacle, this novel is truly marvelous. Lullabies for Little Criminals by Heather O’Neill Very brutal and funny. The Amateur Marriage by Anne Tyler I picked this book apart with a magnifying glass trying to figure out how it was constructed. On Boxing by Joyce Carol Oates I‘m reading up on boxing for my novel.

A Family Daughter by Maile Meloy Again, picking apart.

Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen I fucking hate when they put pictures of dingbats like Keira Knightley (what is WITH that underbite?) on my novels. But I needed a bigger print. Because I’m apparently getting incredibly OLD, too old to read my favorite books in pocket size. Black and White by Dani Shapiro This book made me use up an entire evening researching Sally Mann’s children.

Remainder by Tom McCarthy I loved it, until it jumped the shark.

On Beautyby Zadie Smith Does anybody still need to be told what an EXTRAORDINARY writer Zadie is? Persuasion by Jane Austen I just cry the whole time I read this book.