• Wow, there’s so much material in this article about chick lit and the recession from The Independent. First, let’s discuss the name “recessionista fiction”. That just has to go. I’m not sure why it bothers me so much, but if it were furnture, I’d take it out back and set it on fire. Second, I can’t believe it, but I might agree with Plum Sykes! Read what she has to say.
• I really enjoyed Michelle Hunevan’s piece at The Millions called “On Walking and Reading at the Same Time.” She argues that listening to books while walking/hiking offers its own rewards.
• This is only tangentially book related, but this opinion piece from the L.A. Times on processed food is so off the mark. Granted, it’s one person’s opinion, but really? She seems to have missed the point, that the so called “cheap” products she embraces are in fact cheap. There’s a hidden cost to them whether she wants to acknowledge that or not! Man, she hit a nerve with that one.
• The Guardian analyzes President Obama’s reading list.
• I finished reading Frank Bruni’s memoir Born Round over lunch today. It’s definitely equal to the hype. His descriptions of his family members shows a genuine eye for understanding how people interact. I wish I could have met his grandmother. I’m going to miss reading his restaurant reviews every week.

• Check it, new fiction from Orhan Pamuk in this week’s New Yorker. I believe it’s part of his forthcoming novel Museum of Innocence due out in October.
• If you still haven’t read last week’s issue, don’t forget to read the article on New York City’s worst teachers. As someone who is friends with many teachers, I found it pretty fascinating.
• Hey, look, I’m quoted in the Globe in an article on books of miscellany! I always fear sounding like an idiot when reporters call. I don’t sound that bad this time.
• That’s it for today. I’m hoping to get back to a regular posting schedule now that September is here. It’s a busy month (I’m getting married at the end of it) but there are too many good books coming out soon to not post about.

I spent a long time writing a review of Richard Powers’s Generosity today. I just couldn’t get it right. It’s a novel of ideas, one which makes Ed say he “foresees some animosity from the vanilla critics hostile to idea-driven novels, but book bloggers, YouTube chroniclers, and MFAs would do well to plunge into this chance-taking narrative, which introduces vital questions about what the reader’s relationship is with media, scientific dissection, and ‘creative nonfiction.'” It’s true. This novel is all over the map, not just in terms of subject matter (Happiness, what is it) but how we access information, the dissolution of privacy, the perception of science in a mass-media world. I’ll try to work more over the weekend on it.

David Ulin’s article on “The Lost Art of Reading” relates to at least one of the themes in the book. He purports that the demands for his attention with our ADD culture prevent him from reading for long stretches of time. It struck a chord with me not because I’m ADD when it comes to reading, but I find my relationship with books has changed now that I work with books all day. Sometime when I come home and have eaten dinner, I don’t want to read! It’s very strange. I love reading. I do it everywhere, even while brushing my teeth. But television has its own allure.

On a completely different topic, Mr. Bookdwarf and I are heading to Florence, Italy in a week or so for a wedding. No, not our own, that’s next month. This is for a childhood friend of Aaron’s. So I’ve got some plane reading to plan for as well as reading while in cafes. Know any books set in Florence or Italy? Suggest away!

And to end this post, doesn’t Judith Jones’s post make you want to see Julie and Julia? I didn’t particularly enjoy Powell’s book, but the movie sounds fantastic. As least the Julia Child parts do. I also throw in a teaser by mentioning an upcoming event my store is hosting later this Fall involving Judith Jones in conversation with Lidia Bastianich. I don’t have an exact date yet and I might get in trouble for even mentioning it, but I’m too excited.

My friend Churchill bought this book in our used department the other day:

The boys at Green Apple Books made a hilarious series of videos showing a smackdown between the Book and Amazon’s Kindle:

Shelf Awareness reports

Sean Bean will star in HBO’s adaptation of the George R.R. Martin fantasy-book series Game of Thrones, with Tom McCarthy directing. The Hollywood Reporter noted that “Mark Addy is in final negotiations to also join the production. Kit Harrington, Jack Gleeson and Harry Lloyd also have come aboard. . . . Bean will play Lord Eddard ‘Ned’ Stark, known for his sense of honor and justice, who becomes closest adviser to King Robert (Addy). Harrington will play Jon Snow, Bean’s bastard son, and Lloyd will play Viserys, a powerless ruler who seeks to marry off his sister to a powerful king. Gleeson will play Joffrey, King Robert’s son. Peter Dinklage also is in the cast for the production, which is in the pilot stage and begins shooting in October in Ireland.”

I read the first book in the series and I’ve had the second on my shelf for a while. I think that because it’s HBO, it might turn out pretty well. It’s nice to a good fantasy adaptation being done that’s not a cheezy NBC Sunday night movie or whatnot.

I said in my post last week that I would be going to BEA in New York and would report all that I saw and heard there. Well, plans changed. I went home Tuesday not feeling quite well. I ended up in the ER where they told me I need an appendectomy. I had surgery on Wednesday and finally got home Thursday. I’ve been at home recovering since then. No BEA for me! I’ve been on the internet but not posting or twittering mainly so I would avoid any percocet-addled writing. That would be embarrassing. One of the disappointing aspects is that I’ve barely even read the last few days. All I managed to do was catch up on New Yorkers!

I also wanted to thank everyone for the kind thoughts and tweets. I expect to be back to normal in a few more days.

I did get to read a three books over the weekend. I finished Cheap: The High Cost of Discount Culture by Ellen Ruppel Shell, a very interesting account of how our desire for cheap goods has led to the extolling of convenience over quality. It’s fascinating learning about how and when our perceptions changed. Then I read Await Your Reply by the nice Dan Chaon. I met him last week at a dinner and am looking forward to eating with him again this Thursday. His latest novel investigates what makes up a person. Finally I decided to read Elizabeth Strout’s Pultizer Prize winning Olive Kitteridge to see what the fuss was about. I liked how she used the connected stories to paint a picture of one person. It’s not a long book, but very engaging.

I’m off tomorrow to New York for Book Expo. I’ll be meeting publicists, authors, and of course, other booksellers. It’s always exciting and I’m hoping to post while I’m there. I’ll also be on a panel called Social Media and the Independent Bookseller with several other great folks. That’s on Thursday at 2:30. Come check it out if you’re attending the day of education!