My secret thought, exposed on a public web site. This is what keeps me up at night (and far away from my keyboard):
The physical act of writing a book may not be difficult, but there's a big difference between smacking away at a keyboard and writing something that anyone who doesn't really love you wants to read. -- from The Shocking Truth About the Slush Pile
++++++
Question: If a blog post is posted and nobody reads it, does it make a sound?
++++++
Am I the last person to know about this site? Cool.
++++++
Summer unofficially starts this weekend. The most "summery" book I remember reading was called Seventeenth Summer by Maureen Daly. Since it's a teenage love story written in the Fifties, I can't believe it's still in print (I can't believe people would find it relevant!). So I ordered myself a used copy, just for nostalgia's sake. If only I had an apple tree to read in, with a tall glass of lemonade ...
+++++++
Do people really read at the beach? I think it's a marketing myth. Sort of like hair conditioner that can actually make your hair look shiny and not greasy. I always found the beach far too glarey for reading, what with the sun reflecting off every surface: sand, sea, lavishly-oiled bodies. Then you get all hot and sweaty and the pages stick to your hands and then the wind ruffles the pages too much and then when you try to hold them down with your hot, sweaty hands you get sand in the bookspine. And then you lose your place after watching the young men play shirtless beach volleyball, and then you realize you have a blazing headache, the kind you get from too much sun and not enough water and squinting and laying on a hard surface too long and sucking in your stomach to make it look somewhat flattering in front of the shirtless volleyball players.
+++++++
But I digress.
Everyone enjoy a safe, happy Memorial Day weekend (even if you're not in the States). And, if you get a minute, let me know what your favorite summer reading involves.
16 comments:
I didn't know about that review site so you don't get to be the last :) And yes, people do read at the beach. At least I did when I used to go to the beach but that hasn't been for a very, very long time.
I'm reading short stories--
The Bridegroom by Ha Jin --I would recommend him-- ( he's new to me).
and I re-read an old fave--Updike's A&P
Novels: I am almost halfway through "Being Dead" by Jim Crace-- so far very interesting.
I'm trying to read new stuff this summer hitting the library. anyone's suggestions would be appreciated for my Library list
reading on the beach-- for me it can only be done under a big umbrella!--but the "state beach" (sounds more beachy than it actually is) by my house has picnic tables and big trees-- so I can read there--
I didn't know about the review site either! Cool!
I can't really read at the beach...mostly because I'm always watching my kids and only irresponsible moms read novels while their kids drown ;-)
Re: the poster in Pvt Benjamin: My heart leapt when I first saw it so many years ago--I just knew who it was, but the scene is so quick-- when the movie kept playing on cable I kept trying to snap it and.... finally sgot it! Only then did I I realize he was wearing ...the harmonica holder...
once asked what other job he'd be good at besides the one he has...he couldn't think of any except maybe 'harmonica holder model' in some catalog.
Chronciles is a very good book, because he always kept journals about what days felt like, what happened, what things smelled like, the weather everything... and the book is about people he admires and so forth...
I've been trying to read in the sun since I could read and you have just pointed out the indisputable fact - it doesn't work! I wish I'd known; I could have been napping all that time.
I don't have a favourite summer read, but I am unreasonably excited about my reading matter for this weeked - Natasha Mostert's (fellow South African) The Season of the Witch and Lionel Shriver's The Post-Birthday World.
When I was a teenager constantly in search of a tan I did a lot of reading out in the sun. Couldn't do it now. But at that time I loved big old fashioned family sagas, particularly those written by Susan Howatch. I have a vivid memory of lying of an ancient sun lounger lost in 'The Rich are Different' !
I tried reading at the beach a few times, but with sunblock on your fingers, holding/turning the pages leaves greasy stains on the paper.
Beach reading most possibly can only be achieved with books that you don't mind staining.
But then again, the point of the beach is the water, so I rarely read at the beach. :P
Hair, sun, and swimsuits that wrap around you are what my summer reading involves. Winter also!
The Hood Company
i had the exact same thought today when I saw some yahoo alert for beach reads. As far as I'm concerned there is NO point in reading at the beach, except MAYBE, maybe, for a trashy magazine full of celebrity gossip. I hate my books getting suntan lotion on them or WORSE, sand in them. This must be a myth.
Conditioner, my friend, is not. I wouldn't be allowed out in public if conditioner didn't exist, so medusa like would I be!
I confess I read at the beach on my last vacation (in a shaded spot, of course). My copy of The Wind-up Bird Chronicle still has sand in it.
Nope, you're not the last person to know about that site. I am.
Seventeenth Summer looks like such a sweet book - I wish I'd read it when I was a teen.
As a former library employee who used to have to note all the books that came in with sand trapped in their mylar covering and water damage from their bottoms being placed against wet swimsuits, I can attest that yes, people do read at the beach - although I wished they wouldn't!
i've never even heard of that book reviewing site.
summer started for me three months ago, but alas, i'm still in school. how ever will i pull off the expected 4.0?
I think you're right about beach reading as a myth. Right along with bathtub reading, I say.
I haven't been to the beach in forever but I do like it. Then again, I tend to sit under a huge umbrella so that helps to keep the glare away. Summer to me means more light books. Lots of mysteries and that sort of thing.
I read at the beach...and in the bath-tub. However, paperbacks are essential and preferably ones that can be battered.
I have been saving a few used books that I got in Boston for a buck. that way i don't cry when they get dropped in the pool or greasy with sunblock.
Post a Comment