Reni

it’s been a long time. Met my husband of 16 years here. Jorge Fabregas. Happy Birthday VC! My life would be so different had I not bumped into this place. love to all.

SO good!

I love love loved The Memory Palace!

Reading has been scarce these days....but I am slowing making my way through a few: and when I have full capacity of my normally sleep deprived brain (which isn't often):

thank you everyone! I only have one hand to type - since I have Bea in my lap - so I need to make this quick. We're relaxing, rocking, nursing and listening to Pete Seeger. This kid has me utterly blissed out. I am so in love.....as we all are. Big sister Em is sooooo smitten and loves to help with her bath and rock her in the swing. heeeeere's Bea!! with big sister....

I just finished Swamplandia! and it left a little to be desired. Russell is a brilliant writer and can really turn a phrase. The first 2/3 of the book are stellar. It's dark and filled with just enough magical realism to make it fantastical and interesting without going overboard. I am not a fan of magical realism for the most part, but this was just right. The last 1/3 of the book? Meh. It dragged and it really felt like the author had no idea where to take the story or the characters. It took me awhile to push through to the end. I hate when that happens. Next....

That means they're closing the store at Michigan and Pearson (Water Tower)? That was my favorite one. I also liked the one on State Street. Bummer. And Lou....no such thing as too much coffee or lattes/mochas.

That is a GREAT quote Maudie! Graham WISHES I patronized the library more often....I always seem to find reasons to go to the bookstore. It's a disease. I can't help it!! I do regret it when it comes time to move. Since we're living in a transitional situation right now, all of my books are stored in boxes. I can't even tell you how many there are. I think they took up like 1/3 of our moving truck. Yes, it's a disease. Actually, I revisit my books and a lot of them are non-fiction that I return to frequently. One of my favorite spots in St. Louis is the corner window of this one Barnes

I did see this analysis a long while back, but don't worry, I am not going to slam you for posting it again. Like Sir Stewart, it's nice to see some Sopranos talk. I loved that show and nothing has really taken its place for me.

p.s....that video is funny.

One of my best friends works at Borders and we have talked about why Barnes and Noble posted a quite profitable quarter at the end of 2010 and Borders is tanking. My theory is that Borders tries to be too many things. Like someone just mentioned, they have so much CRAP! I used to be a loyal Borders shopper, but about 2 years ago I switched to Barnes and Noble. I don't feel as overwhelmed when I go in there. And like people have mentioned, their prices on DVDs and CDs is ridiculous. I never bought those things there, only books. While I know how the book industry prices things, I have no idea h

It used to be called Amazon....it's called True Colors now. The owner is so nice and they have such a fantastic selection of books, even beyond the women/gender studies genre. I spent ages in there when I was through there about a year and half ago. There's also a great feminist bookstore in Chicago called Women and Children First. It is one of the few things I miss about Chicago. Luckily, the indie store in my neighborhood has a great women/gender studies section. I love it.

Bookstores don't really "mark up", they charge "list price", which is to be expected in any store front bookstore, especially smaller stores. Instead of talking mark-up, it's really more about discount. I used to work for a book publisher and we sold at bulk rate, around 50% off the list price to the larger bookstores/distributors, 30-40% off list price to the smaller shops and distributors. A place like Amazon, since they buy in such HUGE numbers from publishers, can buy at a deeply discounted rate, passing along those savings to their customers. Most brick and mortar stores, because of overh

In the last couple weeks, I read these: and I am now reading Franzen's Freedom - I am about 70 pages in and it hasn't grabbed me yet....I am hoping it will, soon. I have been re-reading this: (one of my all time favorites....and I am hoping it will help to re-charge my batteries in order to write a journal article I have had in my head for a long time) And up next:

I got this for Christmas and it's waiting patiently on my nightstand. I am reading this right now..... It's fantastic.