What I'm Reading

As usual, I have too many books going at once. I am working on the publicity for Myla Goldberg's second novel this fall (Wickett's Remedy), so right now I'm reading Bee Season. It's as wonderful as everyone says it is. Scarily enough, I should start reading my Spring 07 books soon--Kevin Brockmeier's The Brief History of the Dead, Max Barry's Company, Charles D'Ambrosio's The Dead Fish Museum, to name just a few.

But, as always, non-work books still hold sway over me. I'm reading a YA novel called Crooked by Tom and Laura McNeal, recommended by my editor. So far it's great. I need to read a LOT more in the YA world, since I'm soon to be a part of it. I'm also reading About Town, a history of The New Yorker by Ben Yagoda. It's fascinating reading about the early days of the magazine. I love literary histories in general. I finished the Melville bio, which was fantastic, and now I may start the oral history/bio of Truman Capote.

I'm still reading Deborah Eisenberg's Twilight of the Superheroes. I've read about a story a month--very slow, I know. I love her stuff, and it's nice to slowly savor it. But I need to finish it, b/c there are about five other new story collections I'm dying to dip into (by Ben Fountain, Scott Snyder, and Edward JOnes). I got a galley of Alice Munro's new book coming out in November, The View from Castle Rock, so I'm dying to start that. Her last story in the New Yorker was great--and it's not included in the new book. The new book was rumored to be her last, so this new story gives me hope that she's still going to keep writing her brilliant short stories.