She's baaaaack

I am a huge Anne Rice fan.

A while ago, I noticed on Twitter that the glorious Ms. Rice was talking about watching a lot of werewolf movies. "Mark my words," I said to my boyfriend (let's call him Will). "Anne Rice is going to write a book about werewolves." Will's response was "Um...ok."

One thing I love about Anne Rice is her passion for her topics. If she is going to write a book, she researches it thoroughly and immerses herself in the details, which is why all the werewolf-themed tweets tipped me off to her next move. I've probably also missed several articles and press releases about her new book which would have alerted me. But this way, I get to feel proud of my perception. Because it turns out I'm right.

The Wolf Gift is Anne Rice's new book about, you guessed it (but we'll pretend I did first) WEREWOLVES!

This is very exciting as it is closer to the subject of Rice's best works, which are about vampires, witches and demons. My favorite Anne Rice character will always be The Vampire Lestat, but I'm sure her new work will not disappoint.

The Wolf Gift was published on February 14, 2012.

The Doll

Daphne du Maurier is one of my favorite authors simply because she wrote the ultimate romantically Gothic confection: Rebecca.

Naturally, I was very excited to find that 13 of her early short stories have been collected in The Doll: The Lost Short Stories.

According to ELLE Magazine, the collection is every bit as mysterious and suspenseful as her later novels.

Cheers.

Michelle Obama and Song of Solomon

According to People Magazine, Michelle Obama's "favorite book of all time" is Song of Solomon.

I remember reading it in high school and finding it strangely beautiful. Michelle Obama says she's looking forward to hearing her daughter's interpretation of the book, but it seems to be one of those works best read later in life. Even the smartest teen lacks some of the perspective and life experience to really understand great literature. The classics should be introduced early, but they must be revisited in order to make the greatest impact.

Alas

My reading goal for 2011 was 100 books. I made it closer than I did in 2010, when I read only 84. But try as I might, I couldn't manage it this year either. 95 books. So close. On New Year's Eve I powered through a mystery novel I've been reading for about 2 years and read a couple of short plays in between listening to audio books. But those last 5 books were beyond my grasp.

I became a little more realistic with my goal for 2012.

90 books.

Easily doable, right?

The Night Circus

The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern will leave you reeling.

Enter, if you dare, the black and white world of the circus where only the illusions are real. Meet the mysterious, tattooed contortionist and the twins with hair like fire. Meet the sad, quiet fortune teller and the beautiful illusionist. But you may only enter at night. During the light of day, trespassers will be exsanguinated...

eReaders

The day has come. I'm picking out the eReader I want for Christmas.

I adore physical books. Technology can never replace paper for those of us with souls.

But I love books in all their forms: brand new from Barnes and Noble, old and dusty from used book stores, downloaded for free from Gutenberg.org, or recorded on CD and nestled snugly in my car's 6-disc changer.

And if a Kindle or NOOK can make it possible to read in even more places, at more times than I can now...then bring it on. I am, however, also shopping for a cover for the contraption that will make it look like an actual book.

The Wake of the Bounty

In reading about the Bounty mutiny, I came across a reference to the book The Wake of the Bounty by C.S. Wilkinson. It describes a conspiracy involving Wordsworth which rescued Fletcher Christian from Pitcairn Island and returned him to England.

The theory sounds quite ridiculous, but fascinating nonetheless. It appears The Wake of the Bounty is a rather rare book, so I'll have do some looking around to find a copy.