From Gwenda's very compelling entry about the death of urban planner and writer Jane Jacobs, I headed over to Maud Newton to read Duncan Merrill's eulogy for the amazing lady. I have never heard of Jacob's book, The Death and Life of Great American Cities, but I certainly have added it to my end of the year list. (This is the list I put out for my birthday and Christmas to family members for gift ideas - and if I don't get the books by the end of the year, then I just buy them myself!) Working on the Voices of New Orleans web site has really made me more conscious of the city and what can be done in good and bad ways to rebuild it then I would have been otherwise. I read a lot about NOLA and it is clear that we are in a dangerous place in terms of rebuilding. Jacobs' work is certainly something that should be referenced by the people planning the city's future - whether they will do it or not of course is anyone's guess.

And how do I find out more about Merrill's decision to relocate to New Orleans after Katrina?

I haven't seen anyone else comment on this but am I the only person who is stunned by the fact that Jenny D has 164 library books in her house and is planning to read them all in very short order? (SOme she admits have already been read - but still!) I read fast and I read a lot but this is beyond impressive. I'm so looking forward to her comments on all this ecelctic reading - and I really want her to write a great book of essays on reading. I swear. Soon.

Today I received three great books for review - and the third copy of a book that is in my June column. (It's a great book but why do they keep sending it to me?!) I have a review of Catherine Fisher's Darkhenge in my May column and her agent sent me a copy of the British release of her new book, Corbenic. It's about a modern boy who gets caught up in the castle of the Fisher King and if the awesome castle picture on the cover is any indication of the story's gothic goodness, I'm going to love this book. The US edition comes out from Harper this Fall - but I had problems with the Harper catalog earlier this month and went straight to the author to make a request. I do now have a contact at Harper who let me know that I can request through her (amazing how those authors I got in touch with made their voices heard!) but this edition was already on the way. I hope the American cover is this cool too - it's totally the kind of book that urban fantasy and adventure readers will love.

Milkweed sent me Scott Russell Sanders' essay collection The Country of Language. I finished his memoir, A Private History of Awe recently for review in June and want to include this earlier book in my write-up as well. I find Sanders to be a very interesting and honest writer and I'm curious to learn more about how he works at his craft.

And from Harper (crazy, I know) I received Peaches, a story about three friends and the summer where they "discover the secret to finding the right boy, making the truest friends and picking the perfect Georgia peach." If that doesn't sound like a great teen girl beach book, then I don't know what does. (And wow - author Jodi Lynn Anderson apparently wrote it without the assistance of her unconscious photographic memory!)

Last night I read The Black Brothers, a graphic novel based on the lives of young boys who became "human broomsticks" in mid-19th century Italy. I have never heard of these kids, or how they were basically sold into slavery to help their parents and lived truly miserable lives in the Italian cities. (Who in their right mind would send a kid up a hot chimney in a bakery and expect him not to pass out?) More on the author and history as I work on the review, but wow - what an outstanding historical read.

Finally, Booklist has an essay by Rush Hour editor Michael Carr (read about how Leila loves RH here) about how there are too many books left to read in his lifetime, especially older books. "...work involves reading new books, lots and lots of new books. So many new books that there will never be enough leisure time to get back to the ones I somehow missed over the many years now gone by." He concludes that the chance to read the old books is gone forever and he's so glad that he caught some of them in his youth (Dickens, Dumas, Hemingway, etc.) I understand all the new books arriving at your door with demands to be read - and the whole job that demands you read them as well - but I always have one older book going along with everything else and I read 10 pages of it a day, minimum. Sometimes I fly through an older book in a couple of days other times, like now with Sir Neville Henderson, I do my ten pages and then go back to something new (the two books on coal, etc.). But I always have one old book going. And Henderson's book is very very good - if it wasn't I would have put it in the donate pile by now - but I know I'm not reading it fast enough to neglect my review books. I can't imagine having to only devote your reading time to brand new books - I'd have to pass by Jane Jacob's urban planning book for example and certainly don't want to do that.

It's all about the balance I suppose, and I'm happy to have found a system that includes both 2006's Corbenic and 1940's Failure of the Mission.