Spring/Summer reading

It's that time of year when I start thinking about vacations, lying on the beach, and what I'm going to read while listening to the waves lap and the gulls squawk. I often will read some lighter stuff, but it certainly doesn't have to be fluff. My husband and I both read Garcia Marquez' slim novel, Of Love and Other Demons a couple of summers ago and that was perfect. I've been too busy lately to really think about what I want to dip into next, so I'll have to start making a list of possibilities. Both Roth and Updike will have new novels coming out this spring and early summer. I still haven't read Zadie Smith's On Beauty or Doctorow's The March. If you have reading suggestions, please post them.

Raconteurs news

The Raconteurs have done a few shows in England and a video for Steady As She Goes is up on the web site now in the Media section. Here's a review from The Guardian and also one from NME. The cd release is scheduled for May 9 (according to the web site) or May 16 (in other media accounts). They just announced the first show in the States--Irving Plaza in NYC on April 7.

Goodbye, Mr. Busch

I'm very sad about the passing of Frederick Busch at only 64 years old. He is one of my favorite writers, who thankfully, has left a wonderful body of work behind him. I wrote about finishing North, not long ago. Tragically, he died of a heart attack while visiting in NYC with his wife. He wrote about his son Ben, a Marine officer serving in Iraq, in Harper's last year. One of the obit. stories that I read indicated that there was one more novel, to be published in October--I think I remember him referring to it in an interview.