I'm sorry I didn't see (or remember) your "joke about reading the only book on my shelves that I hadn't read yet" -
A little private joke just for you. I do that a lot. And you miss them a lot!
I'm sorry! It's not you. It's me.
Yes, I remember telling you about an author whose bio includes the claim that she has read EVERY BOOK on her shelves. (Well, good for you honey.) Funny, earlier this morning I had revisited my 3-star review of her book. Everyone else 5-stars her and sings her praises. Why did I find her so annoying? Her humility seems like an act...?
I revisited Annie Dillard, who remains fresh, original, timeless, insightful, memorable.
I also cannot review another book, by an author who lives near me - everyone else is piling on the 5-star reviews, and I found his little time-travel novel so Hallmark, so high-school, so lacking in sophistication and breadth and depth. Does anyone need to know what I think? I can do him a favor and just say NOTHING about his book, even though every author claims to want our honest feedback. (It's a lie. They want praise. And rave reviews.)
Yet another author, half an hour to the north, has been publishing and promoting her fiction, and it's just not 5-star material, so I have bought and read the book but not posted a review.
My mom actually liked this book. I was surprised. I bought her a signed copy, direct from the author, and the novel included WWII women and quilts. So, there's that angle.
And ANOTHER author from my hometown is clogging the social media group for alum with all these books he publishes. I bought his memoir. Awful. I sampled his children's books. Also not good. So three authors who live near me want buyers, readers, reviewers, but ugh ugh ugh, I cannot be honest without bringing down the wrath of the community.
So. Who cares what Carol thinks.
I'm such a critic.
---I still have not found your reference to the one book on your shelf you've yet to read.
Off to donate blood - on Valentine's Day!
Also, Ash Wednesday.
Most blood comes from repeat donors, and that's a problem, because donating so often depletes our iron, and I'm already chronically low on iron (hemoglobin) but I keep taking the pills and staying at the bottom of the range (12-17).