Never fear, I am alive and well. The Bookish Girl is in quite a pickle. But me? Well I’m fine as a cheap-ass bottle of wine. An update on the heroine’s plight will be added soon enough - patience is any super-hero’s greatest virtue.

I’ve been knitting. It has been keeping me relaxed, sane, and on my way to nirvana. Life is happening over here and I’m not stopping it. No sir-ree Bob. Now if only I could tell you all about it. Alas, the one limitation of the internet - you never know who’s a-reading.

On to bigger and better things:

End of the year book lists.

I have two more to share with you.

The first is from the Boston Phoenix, they do a fabulous job of noticing some new/newer short story authors. I love the short story. I haven’t read them as much as I used to but will argue their literary significance to the death. Secondly, Ron Charles of the Christian Science Monitor reviews some great books of the year. I love reading his reviews and have never been disappointed.

I was going to do a list of the best books that I’ve read in 2004 but I only started keeping track this summer. How in the world such an obvious OCD task escaped my routine is beyond me. The fringe on the carpet* is perfectly straight, but I have no idea what books I read in the beginning of this year. Of the ones I remember, The Bone People by Keri Hulme is up there (link on the sidebar.) I’m still trying to process that book. The characters live with you. They are incredibly well developed. In fact, I can think of few other books that do this as well as Hulme. There are three main characters: a child, a woman, and the child’s father. Some of them take part in some despicable acts. However, at the end of the day - as a reader I still liked them. This aspect of the novel, coupled with the unique prose, has left me still thinking and longing for more. I highly recommend it. Be aware that it is a challenging read, emotionally and physically.

Robby and I are trying to catch some stray kittens in our neighborhood. They’re wily little things, they think we are going to kill them. Anyone have any advice? Our next attempt may involve a have-a-heart trap. The poor things are crying through the night, which tells us the mama is no where to be found.

* well, it would be straight if I had fringe on my carpet.