San Francisco

To write about all the things I did in SF would simply just take way too much of my time, so rather than do that, I will simply list them.
1. Gayngs show at the Independent
2. took a nap in Golden Gate Park
3. walked around Haight/Ashbury
4. Stepped in gum three different times in one day
5. ate amazing pastries at Tartine
6. burrito love at Taqueria Cancun
7. visit to the Mission Branch Library during storytime
8. City Light Books
9. had too much garlic at the Stinking Rose
10. discovered Comstock and the joy of great mixology
11. Communism (inside joke obviously)
12. had fun with Emily and Ross

In the end, SF is a great city. Would I live there? Definitely not!
Would I visit it again? Most definitely.

Graceling Booktalk

Here is my latest booktalk. It is Graceling by Kristin Cashore.

Born To Run Booktalk

Here is my Booktalk for Christopher McDoughall's Born to Run using Jing.

Book Lovers

What is it about a book that attracts you? Are you drawn to the image on the cover? How about the size or shape of the book? Are you drawn to it because someone suggested you check it out. Maybe you heard about it in the paper or saw someone on the bus reading it and they were smiling.

Reader's tastes are as varying as chocolate, which is having a resurgence in its craft here in Seattle. Dark chocolate with 70% cacao, dark chocolate with 80% cacao, white chocolate, milk chocolate, milk chocolate with nugget, the list goes on just as book genres and appeals are concerned in the book lover's world. We have the obvious ones, like the fiction lovers, the non-fiction, the mystery lovers, westerns, urban fiction, young adult, true crime, and again the list goes on with the more obscure. And then comes the list of appeals, plot driven, character driven, witty...so many to name.

I think this is what makes the hobby of reading fun and exciting. When I see an interesting book arrive in our morning delivery it reminds me of the feeling when I am browsing the chocolate isle of the market. Which one should I try....dark chocolate with 70% cacao and jalapeno bits??? oh wait, what about this one...milk chocolate with crushed mint leaves. I get a wonderful rush and I can wait to get it while saving the other for my next time. I also never seem to run out of options too, making this one of the best hobbies to have.

Currently I am reading two books that are different kinds of chocolate. One is a YA book that I can't seem to get enough of: Graceling. The other is simply cracking me up: I Was Told There'd Be Cake. Simply decadent. Try a piece.

Sarah Vowell

I have been on a Sarah Vowell kick lately. Her newest book, Unfamiliar Fishes is on its way to me and I can't wait to check it out.

This morning, while sitting at Tully's going over my book annotations, I received a GoodReads newsletter spotlighting an interview recently conducted with her via GoodReads questions. It is funny to me because of the timing of this. Last night I picked up A and J from the airport, who had just arrived home after spending time in Hawaii sunbathing and playing with lava (literally, with sticks).

Anyway, I can't wait to read this book.

Here is the interview:
(http://www.goodreads.com/interviews/show/576.Sarah_Vowell?utm_medium=email&utm_source=Mar_newsletter&utm_content=vowell)

What to Read???

I am stuck with the predicament of what I should be reading. I recently finished 'Born to Run' by Christopher McDougall and loved it. I can't decide of what to read next. I stare and stare at the stack of library books on my counter.
The ones that are catching my eye most are 'Why We Run: A Natural History' by Bernd Heinrich, 'Outliers' by Malcolm Gladwell, and "Yours Ever: People and Their Letters" by Thomas Mallon. The runner in me wants to read the first. The letter writer in me wants to read the last. I am simply just intrigued by the middle. Some people can read multiple books at the same time but I just am not part of that crowd. And this is why I can't decide...