Writer. Contributing Editor at The Discarded Image. Digital Content Strategist. Here's where I publicly explore the books I'm reading, the projects I'm working on, and other current interests. Currently reading
“The aim of life is to live, and to live means to be aware, joyously, drunkenly, serenely, divinely aware.† So said Henry Miller, American novelist.  I call this (as Madeleine L’Engle did, from whom I stole it) “living ontologically.”  Being. Experiencing. Questioning. Contemplating. Writing. And of course: Reading. Â
Which I’ve been doing a lot of in the last couple weeks (under the influence of sickness, cold weather, and the ongoing avoidance of work).  In addition to the novels I recently reviewed here (including the quietly beautiful The Madonnas of Leningrad by Debra Dean and the suspenseful Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro), I’ve finished two more by Wendell Berry (Remembering and A World Lost, both Port William tales built around the person of Andy Catlett); Jhumpa Lahiri’s only novel (so far), The Namesake; and The Novice’s Tale, the first Sister Frevisse medieval mystery, a series I discovered and mentioned just a few weeks ago.  I’m also working my way through Sing Them Home by Stephanie Kallos on my B&N visits.  And, FINALLY, I have just started—so don’t expect a review for a long time!—Sigrid Undset’s Kristin Lavransdatter trilogy (yes, the Tiina Nunnally translation).  Very excited about that.
In non-fiction, I have ventured into the wilderness with Paul Willis’ Bright Shoots of Everlastingness: Essays on Faith and the American Wild (review coming soon) and am still working my way through Wangari Maathai’s memoir Unbowed.
I’ve also added a few new blogs to Bloglines to balance my reading needs, including The Rumpus (providing the snarky bits) and Hoarded Ordinaries (provoking the contemplative).  And a friend has just relaunched his until-recently-dormant blog with a new name and a new angle: The League of Inveterate Poets “will explore the sometimes startling, sometimes sublime, sometimes outrageous, sometimes hysterical paths that can be generated when a piece of text, an image, a line of music––whatever––is kidnapped from its original context and left orphaned on the street for anyone to take home and do with as she pleases.”  Head over and see what’s startling/ sublime/ outrageous/ hysterical today.
What are you all reading this week?
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