Come by if you can!

This Wednesday, November 12, I'll be reading from my novel with Dan White, author the The Cactus Eaters.

12-1 pm, Umunhum Room of the Student Union at San Jose State University.

On Fire

Thursday morning as I walked to the gym, the sky was pure brown and the sun red, a result of more than 1,000 fires burning in California. Not many of the fires are closer to us than 50 miles and, still, it's been looking and smelling apocalyptic around here.

A number of people I know who live in the mountains and canyon areas have been evacuated or are on evacuation alert. It's been an eerie start to the summer.

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I finished reading Dan White's The Cactus Eaters this morning and wrote a review on Amazon. It's not hyperbole when I say I haven't laughed this much while reading in a long time.

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My friend Sally Ashton is guest blogger this week at The Best American Poetry blog. Her first entry today makes the point very well that Emily Dickinson was, well, a lot sexier than critics typically give her credit for.

Reading is my oxygen

My colleague Dan White's memoir, The Cactus Eaters: How I Lost my Mind--and Almost Found Myself--on the Pacific Crest Trail, was chosen by Salon as a top summer read. Salon talks about Dan's book even before David Sedaris' new one!

I have the book on my bed stand and will begin it soon. I'm looking forward to it because I'm sure it's hilarious and poignant, as the reviews say--and also because I will be teaching the book in one of my classes in the fall, and Dan will be visiting the class.

Also on my bed stand is a novel I'm writing a review on (I have an August 1 deadline) and and a huge stack of books I'm wading through as research for my historical novel.

I love books. I love reading. Life seems off somehow if I'm not in the middle of a meaningful story.