And by the way

With the new president comes a slightly different look for Wormbook. (Actually, it's a complete coincidence; I remember I had tried to update my template weeks ago but put it off and decided to do so today.)

I'm still using one of the classic Blogger templates, but if you see something that's super broken, won't you let me know? So far my only known issue is I seem to have lost my delightful Goodreads widget.

Incidentally in searching for new photos I have discovered there is a demand for scantily clad women with books as props. Search "woman reading" (though not at work!) and you'll see what I mean. I was thinking something a wee bit more decorous; this Picasso is saucy enough.

July sneak peek: Batter up!

Want to pre-mock my choices in reading material? Here are some things you can expect to find on Wormbook this month:

Item the first: In honor of my trip to Boston, a city where I spent a fair amount of time when I was in college in nearby Rhode Island, I'm doing a series on the books I liked best each year of my higher education. (Yes, I kept lists back then of all the books I read. NERD.) This is a vanity project I understand, since in 10 years I probably won't remember where and when I read each book and I may want to have a record of that. But hopefully it will remind you of some of your favorite books, for school or for fun, in your past.

Item the second: My second appearance on Talk of the Town is tentatively set for July 16. I'm going to be talking about a much anticipated (for me) book, Jancee Dunn's DON'T YOU FORGET ABOUT ME. This first novel isn't out yet, but my review should make it clear whether you should buy it or not. Incidentally, Dunn is a former MTV VJ who grew up in my boyfriend's home town in New Jersey and on whom he had has the biggest crush. Tee hee.

Item the third: The last week in July, I'm going to do another theme week a la Candace Bushnell week. Only rather the opposite, because instead of looking for labels or love we will be stealing bases and striking out for Baseball Week! In honor of America's national pastime, I'll be reading and talking about the Brooklyn Dodgers in THE BOYS OF SUMMER, buying a better team with MONEYBALL, going in the dugout with the Reds in THREE NIGHTS IN AUGUST and cheering on an eerily good player with Bernard Malamud's THE NATURAL. (I may add a fifth book to that lineup -- read any good baseball fiction lately?) Look for that starting July 28th.

And, of course, I'll be tackling my summer reading pile -- hooray for outsized expectations.

The Readiness Is All

I have an announcement to make. It's something that has been in the works for a few weeks but, as is common with things arranged through the Internet, seemed rather tenuous at first. And may I preemptively say, no, I am not quitting the blog.

When I started this blog I didn't consider myself a book critic. I read compulsively and sometimes I wrote reviews, but really I was just a dork who read a lot. I don't write about my reviewing activities much in part because I can hardly believe that I even get the opportunities I've had in the three years since, that people send me books in the mail and occasionally respect my opinion on them. And not to toot my own horn, but I think that's pretty awesome.

Beginning this month, the blog and I are doing something a little crazy: We're going live! I'm hitching my wagon to a D.C.-area radio show, Talk of the Town with Parker Sunshine, and will join Parker on air once a month to review a book of interest. I'll be covering mostly popular fiction and nonfiction, such judicious mix as Ms. Sunshine and I decide together, beginning with Elizabeth Noble's THINGS I WANT MY DAUGHTERS TO KNOW.

My first appearance will air June 25; till then I'll be taking impromptu broadcaster lessons from Camus (who used to be a college-radio DJ) and getting used to the sound of my recorded voice because I've never been on the radio in a non-calling-in-for-free-concert-tickets capacity. Hopefully it won't bother you if I remind you all to listen to the show that night (online if not locally), talk up the book itself, and generally drive you insane with my new! Fun! Project! Because I hope this will be fun. I have big plans for fun.

P.S.

Instead of updating "On the Nightstand" in the sidebar twice a week, I've replaced it with a Goodreads widget that shows basically the same thing. Let me know if you have trouble seeing it -- it looks fine on my browser, but one never knows. That way I won't have to tinker with the template every time I finish or start something.