Attention span required

This morning, I was wondering what I could blog about today, and then I finally remembered it's Sunday. I can't remember what day of the week it is anymore. I need a job again.

Anyway. Sunday means booklove day! It also means I made it through the first week of NaBloPoMo! All good things. So onto business.

I finished Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell and it was fantastic. It really does fly by. The story is so good, and it keeps taking all sorts of delicious turns that you think will go one way, and then they go somewhere completely unexpected, and it's all still marvelous. I loved it, and I've already passed it on to my mom for her to read it.

Since then, I also finished David Sedaris' When you are Engulfed in Flames. I like David Sedaris' writing just fine, but his books go by so fast for me, and this time I actually think it's not just because I don't have a job and I can read half the book in a day if I feel like it. I think his kind of writing just slides past me very quickly. So while it's still a really funny book, and I'd still recommend it to anyone looking for something strange and entertaining, it's not my favorite type of writing.

Now I've started reading the other book I bought when I got the David Sedaris. Boy-Creature and I went to this little independent bookstore near Magazine Street called the Maple Street Book Shop. When we got there, it turned out they actually have two shops right next to each other, one for used books, and one for new. We only went in the used side. So I got the David Sedaris for a little over five bucks, and Robertson Davies' Happy Alchemy for five bucks as well. Not bad, for two fairly new books.

I've read Robertson Davies' Deptford Trilogy, which are some of his more famous works, if I'm not mistaken. I loved Fifth Business, very much, and while I wasn't crazy about The Manticore, it was ok; the last of the three, World of Wonders, was also very good, but not a terribly close second. Davies is a pretty prolific writer, and I can't pretend to be that versed in his books, but I enjoyed those books enough that I bought this just based on it being his writing. Happy Alchemy is a posthumous collection of his essays, speeches, and thoughts on music and theater. I'm not very far into it yet, but I like it so far.

The other thing I started is Tom Robbins' Fierce Invalids Home from Hot Climates. I've read even less of it than the Davies, because I just started it this morning and I seem to have almost no attention span today, but I think I'll like it. I read Even Cowgirls Get the Blues when I was in high school, and I've heard a lot of his other books are even better than that. Fierce Invalids... came recommended by a friend who lent it to my mom, who has since passed it on to me, so I've got a feeling I'll like it. So far he reminds me a little of Christopher Moore, although no monsters or demons or vampires have shown up yet, and I don't entirely expect them to. But I'm looking forward to reading more of it.