I could read before I could talk. I mean, I wasn’t reading Tropic of Cancer or anything and granted, I didn’t talk until I was 4 (I’ve since, my coworkers will tell you, made up for lost time), but I could read. When I was a kid, the biggest treat my parents could give me was a new book. I was that kid — the one who snuck a flashlight into bed so I could read under a pillow, the one who brought books to every family gathering, the one who brought a book to the dinner table (something my parents encouraged, up to a point).
That hasn’t changed. My office at home — affectionately named the BatCave — has books everywhere (to paraphrase the title of a book reviewed by Scott Harrell). I’m not, unlike David Warner (see his review), a hoarder — I only keep the ones I want to read and re-read or use as reference. So the stacks of books in the BatCave are all ones I want to read. Soon. In September, my book’s publisher sent me to the Southern Independent Booksellers Alliance annual conference, where I came home with about eight huge bags of books — for free. Even better, I spoke with many of the authors, which made me want to read the books even more.
I have the rest of the week off and I’m going to try and make a dent in them. Tops on my list? Truevine, which is also the first book in CL’s new book club, Creative Reading. We’re thrilled to announce our partnership with Inkwood Books; our first Creative Reading will take place at Inkwood in January.
Just like my BatCave, we’ve stuffed this issue with books — and they’re overflowing online, too. David W. delves into a new theater coffee table book and Scott H. tells you why you should read Music Everywhere, an insider’s look at the Gainesville music scene in the ’60s and ’70s (Tom Petty’s the tip of the musical iceberg). Kate Bradshaw looks at popular dystopian literature and how it applies to society today, and our visual art critic Caitlin Albritton looks at Georgia: A Novel of Georgia O’Keeffe. Mark Leib reviews (and enjoys) freeFall’s Peter Pan, based on a book and playing in rep with Peter and the Starcatcher, which is based on the book by Dave Barry and Ridley Pearson.
Speaking of Pearson, I met him at SIBA and asked him if he’d ever done an interview about his explorations of Disney after hours for his series, Kingdom Keepers. He gave me a wide smile, like I’d finally asked the question he’d been waiting to answer, and so you can read his account on p. 29 of what it’s like at the Magic Kingdom when the lights go off and the crowds go home. Thomas Hallock goes into the woods with Florida legend Jeff Klinkenberg and asks him about his process. We give you tips on finding self-published books that don't suck. And Jon Kile, whose “Self-Publishing Notebook” appears regularly at cltampa.com, has an excerpt from his upcoming self-published book, The Napoleon Bloom (I gave it a beta read and assure you it definitely doesn’t suck).
And, in case that isn’t enough, we’ll be going online with books over the next seven days — book signings, reviews and even a sneak peek at Peter Meinke’s new collection of short stories, The Expert Witness. I heard him read at Inkwood on Small Business Saturday and it blew me away.
Over the next year, we’ll expand how we do books — including an upcoming online feature about how indie bookstores are actually on the rise, reviews, more Q&As with authors and, for as long as she’s game, “Shit My Mom’s Read,” a semi-regular online feature of my mom’s take on books. The woman’s a reading machine.
Looks like I have a few nights of reading with the flashlight ahead of me, and I don’t mind a bit.
—Cathy Salustri
