Reading List 05/08/13

It's really easy to pretend that you don't write a blog.
The first step is to stop posting. Life pushes on, sleep eludes, the kids get home from school just as the domestic duties quiet for the day. The blog is all but forgotten. Put off and postponed, its value dwindling to a point of, well, pointlessness. Anyone who ever cared has surely lost interest by now, so why go on?

It's not that I've stopped writing. I've made the big commitment to focus my writing energy on my manuscript. Still workshopping at Sarah Lawrence, still developing new bits and revising the old.  I have more chapters than I can use. Which is better than not having enough. Don't ask me how to cope with writer's block, because that is not my affliction. My challenge is double-edged: time management, and file management. It's been very hard to conceptualize the beginning, middle, and end of the manuscript without conquering these two bitches. So I've been clocking time in my office (which I think I'll start calling "my study") charting the path of my story. It's all there; it just needs a sober pilot.

As a complement to my book-writing effort, I'm back to reading books. Other people's books. Published ones. I've come across some excellent selections, which I'm going to mention in brief (below). These books have been inspirational, entertaining, enlightening. If I didn't think you'd like them, I wouldn't bother sharing. Trust the hot links for formal synopses and writerly reviews.


Telegraph Avenue, by Michael Chabon
A multicultural cast of modern-day characters, centered on a used vinyl/record store in Berkeley, CA.
If you've ever lived in the SF Bay Area, you will recognize these folks. Brilliant portraits, long and lurid sentence structure, engrossing and fun. A substantial volume, good summer pick.

Black Jesus, by Simone Felice
Stumbled on this one in an upstate NY indie bookstore. WOW. Tight and graphic and intense like an old wooden roller coaster. It's a short novel about a young veteran home from Iraq, the characters he meets and the ghosts that haunt him. The writing is fresh and strong, a distinctive voice. No one is black, in case you're wondering/assuming (as I did).

The Twelve Tribes of Hattie, by Ayana Mathis 
This debut novel received glowing reviews right out of the gate. I couldn't resist diving into this big black family. My own lost connection to my father's "tribe" was cushioned by these rich stories.

Home, by Toni Morrison
Finally got to this one. Gorgeous prose. Fine storytelling, as usual. Another war veteran story, but post-Korean War. Beautiful rendering of an era before my time. Important view into segregated 1950's America.

Half Blood Blues, by Esi Edugyan
I read a review in the NYTimes Book Review and had to have it. Great historical fiction detailing the misadventures and life-threatening dilemmas of a mixed-race band of jazz musicians in 1930's Europe. When race relations and self determination were immediate factors of life and death.

Well, happy reading!
Until a time when I can put the manuscript down, I don't think I'll be blogging with a whole lot of regularity. But this little reading list should keep you busy, if you like. Please feel free to post your own reviews/comments if you get into any of these titles.

Peace