I don't know if you do this or not, but sometimes seeing all the books I have yet to read and long to read again (who's lucky enough to have the time for that?) the only thing that comforts me is to get up and run my fingers along the bookcase. As passionate book lovers, we can't possibly read everything we want to, but sometimes knowing it just exists is enough.

Tonight I pulled my Charles de Lint books down off the shelf and experienced the giddiness I first felt upon discovering his wonderful work years ago.

All of his writing is heartfelt, magical and Mr. de Lint is so in tune with the human spirit he seems both masculine and feminine. His Newford stories, in particular, touch the soul. After his novel Memory and Dream (I can't possibly sing its praises enough) Moonlight & Vines is my next favorite of his.

This is the kind of fiction that makes you wish it were real and the characters inside your very best friends.

Way back in 2003, Uncut music magazine released an absolutely wonderful cd featuring different musicians covering David Bowie...mind-blowing* interpretations include Culture Club's "Starman," Guy Chadwick's "Fall In Love With Me," Edwyn Collins' "The Gospel According To Tony Day," Blondie's "Heroes" and Duran Duran's "Fame."

 

While it was originally put together with lots of care, only numbers 1, 4 and 6 were exclusively recorded for this released. More information can be found here:

 

http://www.discogs.com/Various-Starman/release/1054988

 

*Mind-blowing in strictly non-Bowie terms, of course. He's in a class by himself! :)

I used to believe this, honest to goodness I did. Now I know it's not true or, if it is, it's all about the books in the picture, not someone special I might meet.

I don't refer to myself as unattractive to get pity or be disingenuous. I do it, and particularly did it when I used to try the personals, to be honest, to prepare someone who's about to meet me in person for the first time if it's in a certain context.

"Oh, no, no, no one's ugly. You shouldn't call yourself that." One woman assured me over the phone the night before we were to meet. I silently agreed with her because I normally hate the word "ugly" and would never use it to describe someone else.

The next day we met at a Starbucks in Rockville. Meeting for coffee is always better than for a meal because if things don't work out well, things don't drag out so long.

But during this particular instance, the woman had barely sat down at the table (her eyes clearly showing her disappointment) before she bounced back up and told me she'd just remembered she'd forgot to feed her cats. You could hear the screech of her tires as she pulled out of the parking lot.

I'd blame it on my personality, but we took lots of time getting to know each other on the phone first. She said she liked my voice, shared my interests in books and music and wanted to get to know me better. But none of that meant anything the moment she laid eyes on me. I've never seen such panic in someone's eyes before. Well, I have, actually, but not quite like this.

Things have always gone so much better up to the "meet in person" date, that I sometimes think (if I still wanted to date) that I would try finding love exclusively through phone and email contact. I'm less shy that way and, for weeks or even months, I can look like whatever the person envisions in her mind.

In the end, that's not a real relationship. You can't hug or eat dinner or just hang out comfortably with someone over the phone...not in any way that warms your soul. For that, for me in particular, I'm better off with books. Books might not be able to hug me in any physical way, but they touch my heart and soul and they honestly could care less what I look like...

I reread this incredibly sweet love story last weekend. It opens in 1978 (and features a restaurant I remember from childhood-Beefsteak Charlie's!) and focuses on two classmates who fall in love during their senior year.

They vow to stay together forever but college plans separate them and nearly twenty years pass before they see each other again. Witty, hysterically funny, touching and sincere, ALMOST LIKE BEING IN LOVE might have you wondering whatever happened to your first love...

True love is almost as hard to find in a book as it is in real life. Hundreds of lesfic romances try to get it right, but often fail. That is why authors like Gun Brooke are so valuable to the genre.

The earnest, heartfelt writing appeals to me, sometimes speaking to personal experience that cuts quick to one's very core: 

"During phys ed, when the other girls talked about their latest crush on a boy, I felt nothing. Instead, there was a girl.” Manon smiled as if she could see her. “Funny, I can’t even remember her name, but she was shy and really pretty. I liked to watch her play basketball—the way her body moved, and how she beamed after she scored. I exchanged maybe ten words with her, but the fact that I found her cute and attractive…and had nobody to talk to about it scared me to death."

Coffee Sonata is beautiful and sweet, sometimes so much so it makes your heart hurt. And there's certainly lots of love to go around, even if that is what contributes to the one weakness in this novel: too much story and not enough time to tell it.

Vivian and Mike, Manon and Eryn...four wonderful women, all unexpectedly falling into relationships they never see coming. Of the two relationships, I cherished the one Vivian and Mike share the most. They feel so fiercely and fear so much. 

Manon and Eryn are great as well, but the "coming out" issues and family concerns hit just a bit too close for me. As terrific as the book is, Coffee Sonata bites off more than it can chew at times. It might fare just a tad better as two separate romance novels.