Black-Eyed Susans

I lost my mind a little bit this morning and became convinced the ceiling in the den is going to fall this afternoon. Even as I knew it was irrational, I still had to move the stuff I couldn’t bear to lose out of there. So, hey, in good news, I can move a whole drum set while crying hysterically.

But, in better news, I dropped off some copies of A City of Ghosts at the new bookstore in East Nashville, called East Side Story. It’s so cute and cozy. And I hope ambitious Tomato-festers will take a picture of my books on the shelf.  And now I am going to show you a few pictures of my garden, which is flowering away after threatening to die in July.

I will award extra points to whomever can explain why the rose picture turned out how it did. Did my iPhone just flake?  I don’t know. The Black-Eyed Susans make me very happy.

Every Review is Right

The Professor lent me The Thirteenth Tale to read and I was trying to describe to The Butcher the kind of book it is. I settled on “It’s the kind of book you’d give to someone who didn’t know you hated them.” And then I worried that’s why the Professor had given it to me.

I’ve never before read a book, finished it, asked myself, “Was that good?” and then checked the reviews on GoodReads only to discover that I agreed with them all. The people who gave the book one star are not wrong about its incredible shortcoming. The people who gave the book five stars are not wrong about its considerable awesomeness. The twist both makes no sense and perfect sense. The suggested romance at the end comes out of the blue. The writing is overwrought and frustrating, but I couldn’t put it down.

I still don’t know if I liked it. I didn’t even know how many stars to give it over at GoodReads. I don’t know if I would recommend it to you.

I guess I kind of feel like, if this book is your thing, you will fucking love it. Unabashedly. I mean, pulling out some kid’s Barbies to reenact your favorite scenes type of love. But I’m not quite sure who would love it. And yet, I kind of want to find those people and have tea with them.

I hate blog posts that end with questions, but I must know. Did you read this? What did you make of it? And, if you loved it, can we have tea and play Barbies about the twist?