Making Book Plans

One just shouldn't make plans with the order of reading books, because another book, or several, will come along and change everything. My plan was to finish Jamaica Kincaid's Lucy (which I did - it was wonderful) and take her Mr. Potter along to begin reading while in Berkeley.

I took Mr. Potter along, but Alexander McCall Smith's 44 Scotland Street caught my eye at Moe's and Mr. Smith's book became the next on the list. I'm near the end and enjoying it immensely. Of course, it is not the mastery that one will find in Kincaid, but I don't think the two can even be compared. Smith's books are entertaining and perhaps not masterpieces, but they are also not fluff. He writes well and creates interesting characters.

Late last week I also purchased a Jack Johnson DVD that includes a concert at the Greek Theatre in Berkeley (where my graduation ceremony in 1993 was actually held). I am a huge Johnson fan. I also discovered another band on his label, Animal Liberation Orchestra (ALO), that I need to explore more. ALO sounds like pure hippie music. What can I say? It sounds great.