gloria mundi

Hack, cough, wheeze... sick with the creeping cruddy ague over here, caught in the grippe. In my feverish, somewhat laryngitic state, I must give a hoarse whisperer shout out to my peeps:

Number one with a Bullet: Joshilyn Jackson, kick-ass first time novelist, broke into the Book Sense list and topped the charts for April. Gods in Alabama is the number one choice of independent booksellers everywhere. Shouldn’t you be reading it?

Not to be outdone, Dallas Hudgens', Drive like Hell, made the Book Sense list for March and is a Barnes & Noble Discover Great New Writers selection.

Both are first novels, both are set in the South, and, coincidently, both Dallas and Joss (and the Happy Booker) attended undergraduate creative writing classes at Georgia State University. hmm … Of course, what they really have in common is their close personal friendships with the Happy Booker, but that could just be the fever and blog hubris talking...

And why am I telling you this? According to the Brits, who know about books, since they set aside a whole WORLDWIDE (Read: UK-wide) Day celebrating all things written, one in four readers chose their last book based on personal recommendation. (As reported in The Guardian.) Now the Happy Booker is no mathematician, but that sounds roughly like 30% to me—rounding up, for the positive spin. So it never hurts to get the word out...

And having done that, I am now going to crawl back to my fainting couch and retire, heeding the sage advice of my yahoo daily astrologer: "You may find it hard to get motivated today but this is fine. This is a good day to lay low. Your energy is apt to feel rather sluggish, so be conservative with how you use it. Pace yourself throughout your day."

Off to set my pace on tumble dry low...

For those who sent me MANY emails saying they wanted more of my husband’s fabulousness in the culinary realm, here’s an extreme make-over, Tapioca-style. (and yes, the "before" shot really depicts teeny weeny, itty-bitty tapioca "beads" before they become scrumptious, starch-on-a-plate pudding!)

From frumpy: To Fab:

Comments

[robyn]

i have been advised that rants are encouraged and they need not be topical. wondering if anyone has read the new Ann Lamott book. Also wondering if it annoyed anyone else? there were a few really good pieces but sheeh, i got tired of the pulpit, though was endeared by the bedraggled group of misfits who make up her inner circle.

[Scott]

The tapioca pudding was excellent.

[Alan Cheuse]

Nice work...good to read....