I don’t want to brag, but for a person who likes to read, my job is like Christmas every day. There are piles of manila-folder-colored packages on my chair and desk. Sometimes, depending on what time of year, there are boxes. All of these have books in them. Most are trade-paperbacks, because the Times Book Club only reads those. There are often hardcover as well; the smart publishers know to send these so I can read them and put the paperback on my schedule for the Book Club, which is set up months in advance. Usually.

Sometimes the books go immediately into a box meant for the Contra Costa Library system. Most self-help books go there. The most recent one is “The Secrets of Happily Married Women: How to Get More Out of Your Relationship by Doing Less,” by Scott Haltzman and Theresa Foy DiGeronimo. The fact that it appears to be the same sort of thing as that “Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus” crap isn’t even the most disturbing aspect of this book. No, it’s the cover. On the cover is a photo of a pedestal, with the bottom half of a woman standing on it. The woman is wearing a hideous floral skirt that look like an apron my mother would have worn in the 1950s if my mother had terrible taste. She’s also wearing matching pink mules that look to have, regrettably, some sort of Velcro or buckle on them. At least she’s not wearing hose with the open toes.

I don’t always judge the books by their covers. Some I put in the reject pile because they’re too genre-y, like the cop books with protagonists who are always sassy (if they are women) or tough-talking (the males). Or, they go in the pile because I know I’ll never use them for the Times Book Club such as another recent one, “That Sweet Enemy: Britain and France: The History of a Love-Hate Relationship”  by Robert and Isabelle Tombs, which actually sounds interesting but let’s be real here. It has 782 pages and footnotes.

The most interesting books today are:

“Catherine the Great” by Virginia Rounding. I know nothing about her so it sounded interesting. I probably won’t end up reading it, but it’s not in the reject pile yet.

“His Illegal Self” by Peter Carey. I have a soft spot in my heart for Booker Prize-winning (twice) author Peter Carey, because my son is a Peter Carey. (Carey is his middle name.) I once interviewed Peter Carey–the author — and told him this. He said, “Oh.” Anyway, this is a new book by the author, and it looks as intriguing as his others.

“Christine Falls” by Benjamin Black. It’s a crime novel but takes place in Ireland and I’m a sucker for anything that takes place in Ireland.

“Fieldwork: A Novel” by Mischa Berlinski. This one was a National Book Award finalist. It is confusing to me because the back blurb says Mischa Berlinski goes to Thailand and tries to solve a murder mystery. But the author is Mishca Berlinski. I think it’s fiction based on fact. And the confusing aspect is probably what intrigued the NBA board the most.

And, finally: “Beauty Junkies: In Search of the Thinnest Thighs, Perkiest Breasts, Smoothest Faces, Whitest Teeth, and Skinniest, Most Perfect Toes in America” by Alex Kuczuynski. I remember being intrigued when this one first came out in hardcover, so no way is it going in the reject pile. I can’t wait to dive in! I’ll report back on the skinny toes part especially.

Now, to go totally off subject, the Newberry and Caldecott awards were announced today. I actually gave one of the winners, a graphic novel, to my niece for Christmas. I love being ahead of the curve.

Bonanza Street Books is closing. This is sad because it’s yet another book store closing, but also because I’m one of so many people who have great memories of Bonanza. When the movie theaters were on the corner, it was a place to stop in before or after the film. Back in the day, there was an espresso bar, so we’d sneak the good coffee drinks and snacks into the theater. The multi-plexes closed down the Festival Cinemas, which was the bell tolling for Bonanza, according to current owner Peter Guadagni — who, by the way, long ago removed the espresso bar, given the Peet’s down the street and three Starbucks within as many blocks.

Personally, Bonanza means a lot to me because that’s sort of where we turned when we were getting the Times Book Club started. Kathleen Caldwell was the events planner back then, and to say she is an avid reader is a huge understatement. Not only does she read, she has authors everywhere who want her input on their manuscripts in progress.

Anyway, when I told Kathleen about the Times Book Club and asked for an idea about a first book, she didn’t miss a beat. She shoved “The Romance Reader” by Pearl Abraham into my hands and the rest is history. We’re about to announce our 88th book.

Kathleen now owns her own jewel of a bookstore, the amazing ”A Great Good Place for Books” in the Montclair district of Oakland. She’s still shoving books into people’s hands. Her bookstore is in a great location with plenty of foot traffic. My hair-stylist is across the street, so I get to pop in at least every five weeks and never leave empty-handed.

 Regrettably, Bonanza’s foot traffic isn’t so hot, especially with Target at one end of the street and Barnes & Noble at the other, two Costcos within 20 miles of each other and Amazon at the tip of the fingers. What’s also contributing to Bonanza’s demise is, people aren’t reading as much as they used to, according to a National Endowment for the Arts report.  And that is the saddest thing of all.

Last night there was a discussion on “The Dissident” at Book Passage in Corte Madera. Afterwards, we did a little browsing, as usual. I’ve mentioned the amazing sculptural jewelry they sell there, by artist Gretchen Shields. I can’t afford her stuff, though I love looking at it.

Anyway, what I could  afford was a bracelet I’ve been anxious to own for several months, since I first saw one on-line, on the American Library Association web site when I was writing an article about great gifts for readers (that aren’t books). It’s by jeweler Caroline Forsman, and it’s stretchy, with inch-long copies of books, plus a panel that says “I Read Banned Books.” The books include ” To Kill a Mockingbird,” “Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland,” “The Color Purple,” “Go Ask Alice,” and “Howl.” Apparently there is a new one coming out that has “Huck Finn.” They tried for Salinger, but were told by the publisher he won’t approve anything.

Caroline Forsman is very cool. She emailed me after I mentioned her bracelet in the story that ran in December. She used to live in the East Bay and was the reference and young adult librarian in Contra Costa County and Vallejo. Her husband, John Forsman, was the Richmond City librarian, but she says he lost his job in a censorship controversy, something to do with the Berkeley Barb.  They lived in Berkeley from 1966 to ‘69.

Caroline now lives in New York City and has been making jewelry for almost three decades. She sells what she calls her “conversation piece” jewelry  on her website and in lots of stores and in museums; you’ve seen it, you just don’t realize it (for instance, she created those stretchy double-helix bracelets).

 Caroline also sells her jewelry at American Library Association conventions and all the proceeds go to the Freedom to Read Foundation, a foundation I knew very little about until today when I did a little googling. It’s a sister foundation to the ALA, and helps defend First Amendment cases and censorship issues.

All I did was buy a bracelet, but wow. It’s so much more than just a bracelet.

What I’m reading: This morning I finished “A Thousand Splendid Suns” by Khaled Hosseini. I’m so in awe of him. This book was wonderful, just as good as “The Kite Runner” despite what some critics have said. Next up: “Three Cups of Tea.”

By the way, Beth Lisick’s new book, “Helping Me Help Myself”  came out this week and it is great. I loved it so much I immediately read her first book, “Everybody Into the Pool.” I did a profile on her and went to her house in Berkeley. She’s funny and smart. If she comes to a book store near you, go see her. She’s a spoken-word performance artist as well as a really funny writer.

Yes, the lights went out this weekend in Mendocino. We were without power and water for 48 hours. I kept thinking that at least we weren’t in a reality TV show like “Survivor.” Some of the restaurants in town were open so we did manage to eat very well. I finished reading “The Dissident” by using my great little book light, and also finished “The Vanishing Act of Esme Lennox.” If anyone has read that book, please let me know. It’s a GREAT one for discussion! And I have some questions.  Sometimes I just read a book, la la la la la, and then — WHOA. And yes, sometimes I feel stupid when the WHOA happens.

 By the way, the book light I use is a Mighty Brite Xtra Flex 2 LED Light. And no, they are not paying me to advertise. In 20 years of marriage I’ve gone through 20 different book lights at least — occasionally even resorting to putting a flashlight in my teeth — and this is the one that does the trick the best. I bought my first Mighty Brite at Orinda Books (it was a one LED version), and the new one at Towne Center Books in Pleasanton.

Harper Collins must be one happy publisher today. They are publishing the memoir Benazir Bhutto finished a week before she was assassinated.

What I’m reading now: “A Thousand Splendid Suns” by Khaled Hosseini. It is fantastic.  Khaled has such a gift. I wonder if he was this good as a doctor? Next up: “Three Cups of Tea” by Greg Mortenson. I’m on an Afghanistan kick in preparation to the “Trust in Education” benefit at Walnut Creek’s Lesher Center for the Arts Jan. 18, when I’m interviewing Khaled Hosseini on the stage along with Bud McKenzie, who, like Mortenson, is building schools in Afghanistan. I saw “Charlie Wilson’s War” a week or so ago and at the very end of the movie, it was suggested to the U.S. Government that perhaps money should be spent on building schools there. Didn’t happen. Thank goodness for extraordinary citizens like Greg and Bud.

I’m going to try to blog every day. Well, maybe not weekends. And I’m not starting until I get back from vacation next week beause I won’t have a computer and chances are there will be no power on the Mendocino Coast due to the horrific storm heading our way. But, I will be reading. Am taking flashlights, just in case.  

The news in the book world today — and I hope it’s good news — is Tom Wolfe is working on a new book. It’s been called a sort of Miami-based “Bonfire of the Vanities.” It’s due out in 2009. I’m glad he’s churning them out quicker, after that 10 year-gap there before “A Man in Full” was published. “Charlotte Simmons,” which I never could get in to, didn’t sell well enough to suit his old publisher, so he switched to Little, Brown. I actually bought “The Right Stuff” for our cousin for Christmas. He’d never read it. It’s one of my all-time faves, and one of the reasons I wanted to be a journalist. It was hard finding it, though. After calling all the local bookstores I finally had to get it in San Francisco, at Staceys. Our cousin was very pleased.

What I’m reading now: “The Dissident” by Nell Freudenberger. It is great (thank goodness, because it’s the current Times Book Club selection). It’s kind of a mystery; Im halfway thru and not quite sure why the protagonist is a dissident.

Next up: “A Thousand Splendid Suns” because I’m interviewing Khaled Hosseini on stage Jan. 18 as a benefit for Trust in Education, which builds schools in Afghanistan. Also, “The Middle Place” by Kelly Corrigan, who I’m interviewing in mid-January. And at some point I’ve GOT to get to read “The Vanishing Act of Esme Lennox“ by Maggie O’Farrell, since I gave two copies away at Christmas.

Bye for now … off to find flashlights.