Reading, Reviewing, and Reading, Oh My!

I've been incomunicado for a week but, believe me, not for a lack of reading and writing. It's just that I had an opportunity to review a digital title for Library Journal and I jumped at it. I had read that the New York Review of Books was going to become a publisher, bringing literary fiction to the e-book world and saw a title that appealed to me. At almost 400 pages and with a week to download, read, and write the review, I was scrambling for time. Fortunately, I couldn't put this book, The Water Theatre, down. Watch for it soon!

Meanwhile I received a traditional paper copy of another book to be read and reviewed by next week and I actually missed reading and reviewing a  third title, Under the Shadow of the Banyan, that I had gotten from NetGalley because I just couldn't keep up. Oh yes, when they say "so many books, so little time," they aren't fooling around.

Imagine my trepidation when I opened this morning's New York Times to find that a book I had reviewed for LJ last month was on the front page of the Book Review section! How did my opinion measure up? Was I on the wrong side? Oh for the pleasure of having so much space in which to explain myself! 200 words - yes, I always go over - is just so restrictive.

The book is called Three Strong Women by a Senegalese author named Maria Ndiaye. You can read my review at Barnes and Noble:
http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/three-strong-women-marie-ndiaye/1107393617

Oh, and though I haven't seen it myself yet, I notice that my review of Barbara Kingsolver's latest novel, Flight Behavior, is also printed (though it appears to have been cut just a titch) at the Barnes and Noble website. Thank you B and N!
http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/flight-behavior-barbara-kingsolver/1108621192?ean=9780062124265

Yes, I've been a busy gal! One might wonder how I have time to work. I may take a break today - it's a lovely, thundery, rainy day in Southwest Florida - and curl up on the couch with Don. We've discovered a replacement for MI-5 that has us on the edge of our seats. It's a British series by Prime Suspect's wicked Lynda LaPlante called The Commander. Great fun!