allthepage

So, I’m getting ready to go to Berkeley to visit a friend overnight and pretending it’s a writer’s retreat. Unlike people who pack too many clothes, I pack two books about writing, my current marginal paperback, six legal pads, fourteen pens, War and Peace–you get the idea. While I’m scanning the shelves trying to find my beloved copy of Bird By Bird, I notice a book called Someone Not Really Her Mother. Looks interesting. Make a mental note to come back to it later. It is late at night, the light in my living room is stingy, and I cannot, cannot find this book that I know is there. I see a book on writing by Elizabeth Berg that I don’t remember, so I pull that, thinking it can’t hurt to have back-up, and, again, I see Someone Not Reallt Her Mother. Hunh. The search continues. Finally, I locate my required Anne Lamott–heavy sigh–and, as my eye pans back, what do I see, but Someone Not Really Her Mother! Something is amiss here. It’s like that old game show Concentration, or the memory games that network Web sites like to feature: I had seen that book in two places, yes I had! Not the first time. On at least three other occasions I can think of, I’ve purchased the same book–in hardcover–twice without realizing it. Which goes along with the times I’ve purchased books, only to realize I’ve already read them–but still can’t remember how the story ends. In this case, I had received a (free!) review paperback and then bought a hardcover copy–so that’s where my retirement fund went! I’m really hoping I haven’t read my newly (re) discovered book(s). But now you know the real reason I blog about books–so I can remember what I’ve read!

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