Alison Pace

Last Minute Gifts

(Alrighty, not heart-ing New York in the snow as much as I was a few days ago.  Also, I think it is about 0 degrees out.  But onwards.)

Do you still have any gifts left to get, and not a whole lot of time left to get them?  I think an ASPCA Holiday Honor Gift is a really terrific idea this year.

Just click here, donate as much as you'd like in honor of someone on your list, and the ASPCA will send them a really adorable electronic postcard letting your recipient know.  It's fun, really easy, and most importantly, helps animals.  I sent one each to my canine-loving editor and agent.

And if cute electronic postcard isn't your thing, you can always just donate to your local animal shelter...

Happy, happy!

I Heart New York in the Snow

 

Books (Reading / Want to Read)

Now that the election is over and I'm not spending nearly as much time with MSNBC and Keith Olberman as I had been, I'm very happily getting back into a reading groove.  I've finally gotten to David Sedaris' latest essay collection, When You Are Engulfed in Flames, and I'm enjoying it very much.  While it's not as laugh-out-loud funny as, say, Me Talk Pretty One Day, Sedaris writes wonderful, spiraling essays (something I'm very interested in these days as I myself am writing some essays.) 

In between essay reading, I've just started Kate Atkinson's second mystery, One Good Turn.  I bought it when it first came out in paperback and then it got lost in the vortex of my bookshelves.  I've been hearing so many good things about her third mystery, When Will There Be Good News, that I want to catch up so I can read that one, too...

After that I'm excited to read Maria Semple's This One Is Mine.  The author and I were at the same writers workshop a few years ago and she was super nice and sent me a copy.  While buying books is a great thing to do, especially now, getting gratis copies every now and then is fun, too.  Also, the book looks terrific.   Click on the link and see all the good things people are saying.

Finally, inspired by the NYT 100 Notable Books of 2008, as of this post I have the very best intentions to get to The Good Thief, How Fiction Works, White Heat, and Unaccustomed Earth.

What are you reading?