I returned from Spain on late Saturday afternoon. We had a wonderful time, which I will discuss later (there are pictures!). I read 5 books while away too, so perhaps I will post on those as well. But the main point here is that I’ve returned refreshed and ready to resume relating ridiculous things. Sorry, got carried away with the alliteration, but see? That means I’m back in action. More to come, I promise.

I’ve had several posts get eaten today, which is okay since I don’t have much to say anyway. I’ve been reading and working and planning for my trip. Somehow it seems trite to worry about what books to bring with me to Barcelona when some people don’t have homes anymore. But I am open to suggestions. Anything you think I should read on vacation? (to try to appease my guilty feelings, here’s the Red Cross link for donations.)

You’ve noticed the lack of posting lately. Work is still running my life right now. That’s not to say that I am not reading. I most definitely am! All I want to do is read when I am not working right now. It’s so relaxing. Things will lighten up soon and I will keep try to post each week (in fact, I am in the middle of writing a review). But September will be light, especially since I am finally going on vacation! I am turning 30 in a few weeks and Mr. Bookdwarf and I will be in Barcelona on the big day (though honestly I am not feeling that upset about it). I went there about 5 or 6 years ago, but I don’t remember that much other than all of the Gaudi buildings and sculptures. Does anyone have recommendations for Barcelona? Of course, I will have to scout out any bookstores while there, but restaurants, bars, places to see? Let me know.

I am feeling overwhelmed with options here. Do you ever dread the moment when you finish book? Usually, if a book is good enough, you just don’t want it to end. But these days finishing a book means I have to choose a new one to read. Do you ever feel really good about crossing a task of a To Do list? As someone who is a bit of an organizational freak, I get an insane pleasure crossing things off lists. That’s what I sometimes felt finishing a book. Ok, that one’s done, on to the next (though books are never just tasks to me. Except for Psaltis’ book, which I finally finished yesterday. I only read all the way through because I wanted to see if it could get better. It couldn’t). With my job in a bookstore, I add books to my TBR list at a rate that I cannot possibly get to them all. I’ve got probably 150 books in my office alone, not to mention the piles at home. Sometimes I even toy with the idea of posting my TBR list, but the task frankly seems daunting. Perhaps I will take pictures to post. Max of the Millions has a great system which involves putting all the books on a numbered list and using a random number generator to pick a number. That way he gets to the stuff he’s always meant to read but hasn’t gotten around to yet (Nabokov for me). Right now I am at a lost of what to do. I don’t know that the number system would be right for me. How do you decide what to read next?

I don’t think I even have to explain myself here.

A survey for blog authors:

I read this article in the NYT and thought “Aha! I am not the only one!” I feel vindicated somehow. I always felt guilty about my dislike of certain foods. I consider myself a foodie, but I hate eggplant. I loathe that purple grossness. I worked as a cook in a Greek restaurant in high school and I have bad associations from my days there. Also with olives. So I was pleased to see that I am not the only one that dislikes food not just because of the taste (though eggplant is a double doozy, because it tastes disgusting too. And has a gross texture. I really dislike eggplant). It made me feel ashamed. You’re out at a restaurant with friends, they want to share an appetizer. They pick the eggplant one, because “hey, everyone loves eggplant!”. Then I look like an ass when I try to explain.
What foods do you dislike the most? There has to be something. No one likes to eat everything.

Finally, a holiday weekend. And the rain has stopped. At least for this hour. I saw sunlight this morning for about 5 minutes and seriously just stared at it. With the long weekend, I may not be able to post much next week. Tuesday David Sedaris is appearing at my store and I get to do some crowd control (my new career as a bouncer. fun!). Our event schedule slows down (thank god) for the Summer, but we still have some great ones. Kelly Link and Steve Almond will be appearing on June 22nd, for instance. And then on Thursday I head to NYC for Book Expo America until the following Monday. I was going to try and procure a laptop (from the laptop fairies perhaps?) in order to blog while there, but was not able to find one. I will see what I can do and take copious notes on all the goings on in NYC. I get to go to some fun cocktail parties and dinners, though, and meet great authors. What a fun job I have. So, you will be hearing from me somewhat sparsely over the next week and a half.

I’ve been remiss in getting the Globe review together for the past 2 weeks. My apologies for that. It’s not that I don’t like doing it or that I am planning on stopping. Just got too busy with work. And I am off this afternoon to Woodstock NY for some overdue family time. Yes, my mother, father, sister, brother-in-law, and Mr. Bookdwarf all in a small house with 1 bathroom surrounded by hippies. Hopefully I will have some stories when I return, as well as this coming Sunday’s review review.
And thanks everyone for the historical books recommendations. Any other suggestions? I loved Crimson Petal and the White, if that helps.

I’ve got talented friends. They are so talented that their products were mentioned in today’s Daily Candy, which is a free daily e-mail newsletter providing the ultimate insider’s guide to what’s hot, new, and undiscovered. Yay for my friends!