Dead-heading

As I was dead-heading the petunias last night it occurred to me we needed to do something similar in the office. With our programme finalised and the brochure at the printers its time to clear out the books we've been sent since the beginning of the year to make way for the books by writers who will be attending the festival.

So far I've gone through about 200 books and found two novels I'm interested in (Where are the Snows by Maggie Gee and Electrcity by Ray Robinson) a Granta City Guide for Budapest, and a book for my Dad... I may yet add Bad Faith by Carmen Callil to my selection. But the fact that out of so many books I can only find a handful which I want to read strikes me as slightly disconcerting. Yet there are some books here that make me wonder if anyone will read them at all. Does this, however, mean that they shouldn't be published....? I was reading an article a few weeks back (can't remember who wrote it or what paper it was in, sorry) suggesting that only the books that are needed should be published.

Who, then, will decide upon 'need'? Is this not a strange germination between dead-heading and pruning?

Onto better things: In our pigeon hole this morning was Issue Two of Pen Pusher - a free London based literary magazine. So I'm looking forward to going home this afternoon (we have a half day... What luxury!) and having a good read of it (I should of course catch up on the ironing, but who cares about creased shirts?)

Onto even better things: I have on the wall next to my desk the title information about AL Kennedy's forthcoming book Day. It says it will be published on 5th April 2007. I may grow to love April.

Onto truly excellent things: The turnips are ready to be harvested. They are the perfect size -not too big - and taste wonderful. Pity the weather is all wrong for mashed turnips and butter ....

I'm experimenting with font... let me know what you think.

Climbing Through the Undergrowth

In case you were wondering, I'm not dead.

We've been finalising our programme here in Cheltenham, and that generally results in having no time.

But I have been reading, and weeding, and having a good rummage in the literary undergrowth second hand bookshop I pass every night on my way home.

My current reads are The Ministry of Pain by Dubravka Ugresic and translated by Michael Heim, Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close by Jonathan Safran Foer and Benang by Australian writer Kim Scott, who isn't published in the UK but should be, and you can find details about his books at the Fremantle Arts Centre Press site. Another writer who is somewhat ignored in the UK is American Short Story writer Richard Bausch.

I've just finished Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro and Constitutional Stories by Helen Simpson, both good reads, and if you are going away somewhere peaceful where you can read all day these books are well worth packing. Unfortunatley I am not going away to anywhere warm and peaceful where I can sit reading all day (the irony of being surrounded by books all day is that you struggle to read more than one a week), instead I am going to make do with rooting about all the bookshops scattered around the South West and the Cotswolds (not too sure how I am going get to these places with the chronic lack of public transport round here -you have to get a train to Birmingham to get to Oxford which is half an hour or so up the road! - and my personal lack of car means I have to rely upon such transport). I'm going to start in Bath this weekend at the newly opened Mr B's Emporium of Reading Delights.