Raspberries???!!!!!

Hey Janet,

Raspberries—geez—the stores I shop don’t offer raspberries on a string with a tassel on them! Did you finish Eat Pray Love yet? I have to tell you that I didn’t actually read this book, I listened to it on CD. It’s available at the Grand Forks Public Library and it’s narrated by the author—she does a great job. Do you remember when she goes to Italy to eat and learn Italian? Do you remember when she goes to the soccer game and hears what she thinks are beautiful Italian phrases until she realizes it’s all cursewords? I laughed out loud as she narrated the yelling of Italian fans then followed it with the English translation. This book is such a journey of self-discovery that it’s like having coffee with your best friend when you turn on the CD. Maybe UND should buy the CD?

Anyway, last night I missed the presentation at the Empire on Salman Rushdie’s Satanic Verses because of my bookclub meeting. We were discussing his Ground Beneath Her Feet (though very few of us got through the whole book—there’s so much to it!). Our book club decided to read Russell Banks Affliction (I praise that in a previous post) and Junot Diaz’s The brief wondrous life of Oscar Wao before the Writer’s Conference too. Diaz is supposed to be a “hot” writer and he must be—a lot of the copies in Grand Forks are currently checked out.

This Sunday: “Writer’s Conference 101” book talk at Barnes and Noble 2-3:30. They will do poetry readings of Alice Fulton (I won’t be able to make it but if you’re thinking about it go -- you don’t HAVE to read ahead of time).

Take care!
Kristen