Book Therapy

It's been a heck of a week. I haven't had a job in almost two years, but this week some part-time work came my way and required a ton of heavy lifting which has left me completely drained of mental energy. Physically, no problem; perhaps the other crap on my mind has also contributed, but I digress.

What I did tonight was stop my the local book mill and scan the shelves for an hour or so. Have you ever used such activity to get your mind off things? It worked great for me back in college, and I'm glad to see it still works now. I made notes on a few books I'd like to read eventually, including a new crime novel called Gutshot Straight which appears very promising. Alas I cannot afford hardcover prices anymore (or, more honestly, I won't pay them) so I'll wait until I see it in the new awful paperback format.

Speaking of paperbacks, am I the only one who dislikes the new elongated format that has given publishers and excuse to charge more money for what they used to sell for $6.99? Makes me mad. I used to be able to get three books for $20 but now I can barely get two with that money.

I noticed some crime-related graphic novels this evening, an anthology of crime stories called Noir from Dark Horse Comics and Filthy Rich, written by Brian Azzarello, which is a one-shot noir riff that has a promising premise. I don't know how I feel about crime comics. Prose is more vivid than pictures, I think.

Anyway it was a relaxing night. I should send out some queries for my spy novel but I'm even too tired for that.