Saturday, February 09, 2008

Retail Therapy

I ended up taking yesterday off (but the writing cogs kept turning like Jen from Spiral Skies said they would!) and nipped out to Chapters with the list of books recommended to me by yours truly.

I only checked out the second hand section but I quickly spied Case Histories by Kate Atkinson and After You'd Gone by Maggie O'Farrell.

I also picked up from the short stories section: A New Book of Dubliners (Short Stories of Modern Dublin) and Phoenix Irish Short Stories 1996, both collections by various writers, and The Hill Bachelors by William Trevor.

In Waterstones I picked up the book club's current read I Married a Communist by Philip Roth and I also grabbed Iain M. Banks' new novel Matter.

While I was browsing it dawned on me that to avoid the short stories label I will have to link my stories more concretely than I have been (think Cloud Atlas and Love and Longing in Bombay) so I might link the characters through blood or marriage.

Couldn't have happened at a better time - just before I start rewriting! And now I have an specific goal for my rewrite which helps my nerves.

8 comments:

Alix said...

glad the cogs kept turning! Enjoy the books I'll have to check out the short story ones I've just begun getting into short stories. Have a great weekend.

Jen said...

Brilliant to find such an inspiring bundle of books at just the right time.

I'm glad your cogs are still turning too... it's clever how that do that, trapping all the bits of info we need while we're doing other stuff, isn't it?

Yvonne said...

Hi Alix, I'll keep you posted on the short stories and have a brilliant weekend yourself!

Jen, it's amazing how my mind keeps working away, in bed, the shower, walking down the road...it's great!

-Ann said...

Have you read Pam Houston at all? "Waltzing the Cat" is sort of interrelated short stories. "Sighthound" is more of a novel, but the way each character gets to narrate their own chapters, it's nearly like a book of short stories.

Yvonne said...

Ann, thank you so much for the heads up, I've never read Pam Houston but her novels round right up my street. I'll definitely keep an eye out the next time I'm book shopping.

Michelle Dalton said...

Yay for buying books! :) Absolutely hated Case Histories though - had to abandon it half way through.

Anonymous said...

It's funny how the brain keeps ticking over in the background when you deliberately decide to do something else. Suddenly things start surfacing/falling into place. It's not something you can force but it's great when it happens!

Didn't know Iain Banks had a new one out. Will go investigate...

Yvonne said...

Econgirl, I'll let you know how I fared with it...

Jen, I started his new one and I'm not impressed so far, and that is hard for me to say because I love his books! Hopefully it will improve but it's just so flabby...