Sunday, July 27, 2008

It's endless

Working for a publishing company has many many benefits. The fact that almost everyone can recommend at least ten great books if you're stuck, getting to market something you are passionate about (not just something you believe in or think is quite good really), working with and for and on behalf of creative, clever, interesting people, the smell of books as you walk through the warehouse from your car, the company car that comes with my job isn't bad actually. But it really is all about the books.

There is one possible downside. The books are endless. I'm going through a phase that I'm sure everyone does before you finally shrug your mental shoulders and come to terms with the fact that you can't ever read everything. That no matter how hard you try, no matter how long you read, no matter what other things you sacrifice to allow time for another couple of chapters, there will always be more books to read. There will be classics you won't get to and prize winners you'll have to skip and entire catalogues by single authors that you'll just have to pass up.

*SHUDDER*

And I have to be very careful where this takes me. You see my very favourite thing in the world is reading. And it's not like my very favourite food in the world being Thai. You see I say I could just eat Thai food for the rest of my life. But I'm probably lying. I could probably eat it for a couple of months and then, eventually, I'd really want something with cheese in it. Or olives. Or a even a slice of toast.

But reading- that I could do incessantly, interminably. For. Ever.

So when someone asks me to do anything outside of work I have to resist the urge to use the amount of reading I need to do for work as an excuse to just read and read and read. And it would be a perfectly valid excuse not to do something considering there's about 300 new titles every month, excluding other publishers and the massive, infinite back list of the last few thousand years of written word.

But while I love love love to read I would hate hate hate to have no friends left to discuss the books with and recommend them to. And also, obviously, my friends are lovely.

But it's tempting.

And then you add in that it's winter. And take into account that Alex The Invalid is staying with me having been knocked off his bike and broken his ankle. I have the perfect trio of excuses to spend this weekend inside with a selection of books.

So here I am. Updating my blog. Doing something proactive about communicating wiht the outside world.

Hi world.

Need any books?

Thursday, July 24, 2008

GOOD morning

I work on The North Shore of Auckland City now so very day I cross the harbour bridge. Most mornings the sun is just coming up over rangitoto and glistening on the water. Vury purty.

And today as I approached the harbour bridge it happened. Someone has done a Beastie Boys A team theme tune mash up! I LOVE it. Great song to drive over the bridge to. I just about blew the speakers in my car.