Thursday, December 8, 2011

The Final Top 10 for 2010

  • Fire to Fire, by Mark Doty
  • The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake, by Aimee Bender
  • The Ticking Is the Bomb, by Nick Flynn
  • The Art of Description by Mark Doty
  • Name All the Animals, by Alison Smith
  • A Poetry Handbook, by Mary Oliver
  • The Wild Iris, by Louise Glück
  • Native Guard, by Natasha Trethewey
  • All-American Poem, by Matthew Dickman
  • Rock and Roll Will Save Your Life, by Steve Almond
  • This has sat in my "drafts" folder for almost a year, waiting for me to come up with something else to say for it, and I'm giving up and moving on to 2011. 2010 was the year I started reading a lot of poetry, and I think for 2011 I will have separate lists for poetry and prose -- see the sidebar.

    Monday, December 5, 2011

    Monday Morning Quote: Steve Martin on Inspiration

    Through the years, I have learned there is no harm in charging oneself up with delusions between moments of valid inspiration.

    I read this book after seeing a video of a conversation between Connie Willis and Neil Gaiman at the 2011 World Fantasy Convention in San Diego, CA (below). At the end of the conversation Ms. Willis, a favorite author of mine, suggested that they each recommend one book for the attendees to read, and this was her choice.