Thursday Night News Roundup

Before I get to the news bits, I just wanted to share a few thoughts (positive, this time, I swear). I just finished reading Markus Zusak's I Am the Messenger and was really blown away...but in a good way. Sometimes I'll read a book I enjoy and it will, perversely, make me feel worse about my own work. Sad, but true--I am one of those low self-confidence individuals. At any rate, I was reading I Am the Messenger and, instead of feeling bad about my work, or feeling like I could never accomplish such an imaginative and well-written novel, I just felt...good. Happy. I think it's because the book struck me as something only Zusak could have written. I couldn't imagine it coming from anyone else's keyboard, or pen, or brain. So: my wish to all of you (and myself) is for luck and success in writing the novel that only you can write. Seems like a worthy goal, eh?

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Okay, on to the news: a little NPR Roundup. Firstly, last week there was a segment on Talk of the Nation with Susan Patron (click for podcast), who spoke about her book The Higher Power of Lucky and the controversy raised by her use of the word "scrotum." (Tee hee! Scrotum!) Next, this past Monday I listened to a California Lectures broadcast of a conversation between Norman Mailer and Joyce Maynard. Their conversation convered Mailer's new book, which, in part, presents a fictionalized account of the childhood and adolescence of Adolf Hitler. I'm sure it's not YA by any stretch of the imagination, but I thought it was an intriguingly controversial idea, and I hope they make a podcast available. Lastly, for those of you who enjoyed Cybil Graphic Novel Award nominee Pride of Baghdad, you might be interested in yesterday's Talk of the Nation segment with an author/environmentalist/animal conservationist who decided to help rescue the animals of the Baghdad Zoo.

Yes, clearly I am an NPR addict! Anyway, I'll be posting a special treat later tonight or tomorrow, plus more news bits over the weekend. Cheers!