Teaser Tuesdays asks you to choose two sentences at random from your current read. Identify the author and title for readers. 
"What I'm doing when I'm writing poetry is I'm making a little side salad. Just the right amount of sprouts on the top, maybe a chickpea or two. No bacon. Maybe a slice of egg. It doesn't feel like writing at all."
(ch. 3)
The Anthologist: A Novel
by Nicholson Baker is a book I found by happy chance at the bookstore, just at the time I began to make an occasional side salad, bits of poetry. People who write and read poetry on the web are hugely supportive, never nasty, and find good things to say, no matter what you write. I am enjoying this book in small bites. Goodreads book description: "The Anthologist
is narrated by Paul Chowder -- a once-in-a-while-published kind of poet who is writing the introduction to a new anthology of poetry. He's having a hard time getting started because his career is floundering, his girlfriend Roz has recently left him, and he is thinking about the great poets throughout history who have suffered far worse and deserve to feel sorry for themselves. He has also promised to reveal many wonderful secrets and tips and tricks about poetry, and it looks like the introduction will be a little longer than he'd thought.What unfolds is a wholly entertaining and beguiling love story about poetry: from Tennyson, Swinburne, and Yeats to the moderns (Roethke, Bogan, Merwin) to the staff of The New Yorker, what Paul reveals is astonishing and makes one realize how incredibly important poetry is to our lives. At the same time, Paul barely manages to realize all of this himself, and the result is a tenderly romantic, hilarious, and inspired novel."
and gave it four out of five stars. 
, edited by Garrison Keilor. 
Definitely relaxing to read. I recommend it when you don't have time to tackle a long novel but want to read some one's opinion or feelings or observations on a variety of topics. Surprising how many poets have similar experiences and reactions. And of course, I love the way they express themselves. 
by Henry Chang, a mystery set in a big city China Town. I've also just finished 
On Feb. 24, I'll be doing a TLC book tour and posting a review of a travel memoir, 
. Please come back and look for it!
. So far, I how how to end a sentence so that it becomes a question. I also know how to say goodbye, sayonara, with the proper intonations, so that it sounds like Japanese! I'm slowly getting used to the sounds, stops, tones, etc. 
