My new Storytellers Unplugged essay is up. It’s called “Potpourri” for the simple reason that it’s a meandering, stream-of-consciousness hodgepodge without a point. I was really stumped for a topic this month, so I opted for a State of the Union ramble.
My eBay auction of The Silent Land by Graham Joyce ends this evening. A great opportunity to snap up a fantastic novel a couple of months before it’s published here.
I read A Drop of the Hard Stuff by Lawrence Block, the new Matt Scudder book. It’s great to be back in Scudder’s company again. The book is something of a nostalgic flashback as it does not pick up where All the Flowers Are Dying left off six years ago. Instead, it begins with Matt and Mick Ballou having one of their late night gabfests during which Matt recounts the story of a childhood friend of his whose path he crossed a couple of times in later years, the final time nearly a year into his sobriety. It’s very much a 12-step novel, as the AA process forms a crucial element of the storyline and Scudder’s struggle to remain sober is soaked into every page.
Next up is The Janus Stone by Elly Griffiths. The main character is a British forensic archaeologist who sometimes assists the police when bones are found at a crime scene.
I’m not sure why fruitcake gets such a bad rap. I love fruitcake. I’ve even made it once, which was a ton of work. My sister sent me two after Christmas, one light and one dark. I used to favor the dark version, but now I think I slightly prefer the light variety.
Watched some football this weekend while reading and doing jigsaw puzzles. I was rooting for the Seattle team simply because they were such underdogs, but they were put in their proper place by Chicago. The Steelers game was interesting because it seemed so one sided in the first half. Was mildly disappointed by the Patriots loss. They didn’t look like their normal powerhouse selves.
Also watched some of the Golden Globes. Gervais. What can you say about him? Cheeky doesn’t even begin to touch it. Tom Hanks and Tim Allen looked like they were the hit men sent out to put him in his place. Some of his jokes were funny, but a lot of them were cringeworthy. My favorite moment of the evening was Kaley Cuoco’s reaction to Jim Parson’s win for The Big Bang Theory, and the way Parsons reacted to it.
