Hello St Marks

I think I may have reached the end of this blog, a bit over a year after I started. The goal was to track a year of reading, but I underestimated the burden of it. The writing, not the reading. I've missed a few books - not many, I think, but enough to take the shine off the comprehensiveness of the record. And who knew it would supplant my hardcopy diary so completely? A lifetime habit of putting pen to paper has stopped dead, with barely 10 pages since this time last year, and not a sensible word written. My book reading is documented, more or less, but a year of my kids' lives has passed unrecorded. So, to wrap it up, several posts: Recently read: 'Allotted Time' by Robin Shelton. A lovely memoir about two blokes in England taking on a local allotment. Robin's bipolar, a dad, an unemployed once-teacher, in a darkish place. Lightly told with very little detail, it's an oddly shy memoir (that seems odd, written down, but feels perfect for this modest book). Rob...

Nancy Pearl interviewed Michael Perry for Book Lust. It was delightful, very Nancy - her catholic taste, her enquenchable enthusiasm, this poet farmer - so I surfed to Amazon to track down Michael Perry. 11 days later, 'Population: 485' turned up (used, as-new condition US$3.95 plus $19.95 postage). Michael Perry writes personal memoir - 4 or more books to date, with this the first. In this book Michael returns to the town in Wisconsin he grew up in, where his family lives and works, and joins the volunteer fire brigade and emergency response team. His long, slow reunion with his much-loved home town is interleaved with stories from his EMT experiences - some funny, some tragic, all local and intimate. It's all very personal, and reflective, and pragmatic. Michael is smart and thoughtful and has found a place for himself - an educated man, a poet, soft-handed - in this tough, hardscrabble community. He works the fire brigade with his brothers and his mum: "Disagreement...

Assorted reading oddments all completed, some proven substantial, others not. "Northanger Abbey" was lovely. The plot is so slight, the humour bubbles at the surface. I do like Catherine very much but I love the wretched General Tilney most, and this made me laugh out loud: "Never had the general loved his daughter so well in all the hours of companionship, utility and patient endurance as when he first hailed her "Your Ladyship!". My second iPhone reading experience is also completed, leaving me bereft: "Infection" by Scott Sigler (is that his porn star name?). I was so keen to extend my drive time listening each day, I started wearing my earphones in the lift and, twice, to the bathroom. Daft, juvenile novel about alien invasion but it had me hooked from chapter 2, so hats off to Scott. I almost donated some money to him, as prompted by the post-story sales pitch. Iain Banks' publishers are releasing his latest novel, "Transition" as a...