I'm trying to do a little housecleaning and have updated my commenting options. I have noticed that many blogs are now set up to let comments thread around discussions, so I've done the same. Now commenters can chat with each other and not just leave static comments at the end of the post. (So feel free to chat amongst yourselves if you so desire!). I've left off the comment verification, which I think can be both helpful and a nuisance. Helpful to stop spammers but a nuisance for people who want to leave a comment but have problems doing so. I know I need to revamp the look of things here, but I'm not very good at change and well, I'm also lazy. So, I'll keep thinking about it and maybe one day you'll drop in and find a new design in this space (though it's best to keep your expectations low for that one).
I don't know about those of you who also blog, but summer is definitely here in my corner of the blogosphere. It's been very quiet and erratic in terms of visitors and comments left (which is for me the best part of blogging). I've been at an all time low in terms of people stopping by, which I know is due to a couple of things. There is just too much going on at the moment with people going on vacation or just spending time outside doing other things. I've also not been a very good visitor myself, which I do apologize for. I read a lot via Google Reader (which I decided to stick with even though there is now a continual feed rather than being able to mark all posts read and make them disappear--I've gotten used to it), but then tend to run out of time when it comes to clicking out and leaving comments. I know this happens to others, too, so try not to feel bad when I do it or it goes quiet here as I suspect others are encountering the same 'lack of enough time' problem. I generally don't pay all that much attention to behind the scenes statistics, but lately when I do go check it has been sort of painful to see the decline in visits. But this is my online journal and I shall keep treating it as such and am always appreciative for anyone who stops by and says hello and shares a bit of bookish chat and not worry so much about numbers.
I was going to do a Tuesday Teaser today, as I have started reading Karen Armstrong's A Short History of Myth (thanks to Buried in Print for the recommendation), but laziness and a desire not to bore everyone excessively about my mythology reading means I'll put that off for a little while. I'll just say that it is fascinating reading if you are interested in learning more about myths. She goes all the way back to the Paleolithic Period to talk about its origins, so this is going to be a perfect companion read. Now I'm tempted to read the rest of the books in the Canongate Myths series. By chance the most recent addition to the Myths list is A.S. Byatt's book Ragnarok, which also happens to be one of the choices on the Slaves voting list. If you're inclined to read along, head on over and cast your vote for the book you would most like to read. I plan on reading Ragnarok in any case (again the timing is right), and happily the library where I work has it in on hand. Working in a library can be so convenient when it comes to reading projects.
Speaking of which, I received a small box of books in the mail yesterday that I recently ordered and included was Armistead Maupin's Tales of the City, which the NYTBR calls "an extended love letter to a magical San Francisco". I've already started reading and I can tell I am going to whip right through this one. When it came out in 1978 I believe it was serialized. Although I was still pretty young in the 70s I have a happy recollection of the life back then (probably exactly because I was so young!), so it is going to be fun reading, too. So far it's very light and breezy and evocative of the time and city. I've been reading up on the various neighborhoods of San Francisco and thinking of the places I want to go and things I want to do, so there is at least name recognition even if I don't actually "know" the city--yet. I was just thinking I would read the first book in the series (there are six), but now I think I might at least get the second book, too, though I have lots of other books on my (possible) reading list.
I could go on about the books I'm reading, and how much I am enjoying John Steinbeck's East of Eden (pretty amazing story actually--finally a classic that I find I want to keep reaching for) or Andrea Camilleri's The Terra-Cotta Dog (I'm intrigued by Inspector Montalbano--he's a serious trip--some of the things he says and does crack me up), or about the books on the top of my 'next up' reading pile like Len Deighton's Bomber (which I am a little apprehensive about as the blurb describes the bombing run by a particular crew as being their "last"--though every review I've seen has been overwhelmingly positive, so I need to dive in and not worry already about the outcome of the story), but I guess I'll save those books for later posts.
Happy reading everyone.