Cover of J.R.R. Tolkien's The Fellowship of the Ring. The illustration is an Alan Lee painting of the inside of a great hall, presumably Khazad Dum. Massive columns support an arched ceiling and a group goes on foot through the deserted scene as a bean of light shines through an unseen window. The author's name and the book title appear in yellow and white in the center and illustrator Alan Lee is listed, as well.

6/30 Fellowship/Tolkien I missed my read this winter & have just picked it up. This slow, unhurried (through the first 9 chapters, there is NO RUSH), beautiful tale of friendship is holding me together. Strong black tea, sugar, cream
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Cover of Ice Trilogy by Vladimir Sorokin/translated by Jamey Gambrell. The cover is a silhouette of a human figure filled with bright light, like sunlight through ice, framed by a darker background. The title appears in the center in a black or dark blue box with blue and white lettering in this line order: Ice Trilogy/Vladimir Sorokin/Translated by/Jamey Gambrell

6/29 Ice Vladimir Sorokin/t. Jamey Gambrell. A dystopia not for the easily hurt. It's going to take you down & kick you & then it gets weird & when you least anticipate, it's crushingly beautiful. Russian Caravan tea loose leaf in a french press
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Cover of Let the Dead Bury Their Dead by Randall Kenan. Background illustration is a colorful painting in the abstract folk style, featuring fire and human figures along with folk symbols. The text overaly from the top: Nominated for the 1992/National Book Critics Circle Award in Fiction/"Randall Kenan is a Genius/our black Marquez. He/weaves myth, folktales,/magic, and beauty like/no one else I know, and/doesn't miss a beat."/--Terry McMIllan/Let the Dead Bury Their Dead/Stories by Randall Kenan/Harvest American/writing

6/28 Let the Dead Bury Their Dead/Randall Kenan. A steep, bold mythos delivered as though the lore were shared history. I'd say iced tea bc Southern, but you'll be finishing this in a day, so it's coffee/iced tea/white wine & a sense of place
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Cover of Angels & Insects: two novellas by A.S. Byatt. The painting that comprises the background of the cover is a detail from what appears to be a late 19th Century, somewhat Pre-Raphaelite represenation fo a red-winged angel clad in short, red toga, or perhaps a fairy who is hovering among oversized bees and flowers against a dark background. The author's name appears on a grey tab ont he right midsection: A.S. Byatt/author of Possession. The title is in white script: Angels/&/Insects/two novellas. At the bottom, a grey band blocks off the cover with a review: "Astonishing...at once quirky and deep, brimming with generosity, imagination, and intelligence." The New Yorker

6/27 Angels & Insects/A.S. Byatt. Both novellas will transport you, to where is an open question. The New Yorker calls it generous. In what way? If Byatt does anything, she judges. Then she constructs the evidence gorgeously. So much Darjeeling

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Cover of Rebecca Brown's The Haunted House. The cover is a black and white tinted photo, roughly 1950 or 60s of a little girl, approximately 2 years old, in a white dress, turned about three quarters away from the camera. Her skin is white and her curly hair dark, one chubby cheek showing as she looks at something or someone off camera. The background of the phoot is a pleasantly middle class room featuring leafy wall paper and a radio table. The bottom of the photo is overlaid by a pale yellow rectangle with a textured reddish strip down the right side. The title appears within the yellow on a black strip with red lettering, and the author's name is under it in black or dark purple.

6/26 Rebecca Brown/Haunted House. Why is this out of print? Because modern publishing is a disaster. Find a used copy. Climb under your weighted blanket & exorcise your familial patterns with a pot of Seattle coffee, no cream
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Cover of Roger Zelazny's Nine Princes in Amber. The illustration is an elaborate painting with a dark, violet blue sky, fading into a pinkish sunreise or set. A moon crescents above a jagged blue on which a a road winds upward through spikes and spires highlighted in a cool white. In front of the moutain, light blue clouds obscure whatever is below and closer still is a green hilltop dotted with tiny yellow flowers and large trees, both leafy and conical. A riders appears at the top of the hill on horseback, wearing some kind of armor and carrying a tall pike.

6/25 Nine Princes in Amber/Roger Zelazny. Stress is a vise right now. Zelazny's writing will transport & obscure w mist & weirdling music. You can have that diet cherry 7up over ice. It'll taste just right with this gem of a classic fantasy.
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Cover of Homer's Iliad as translated by Stanley Lombardo. The background of the cover is a black and white photo of soldiers rushing from a PT boat onto the beaches of Normandy as the D-Day battle is fought. The photo is taken from the perspective of someone on the PT boat, looking toward the battle on the beach as dark clouds loom overhead. The title is at the top in narrow, red letters. Homer appears beneath the title in white. A the bottom the following appears split onto two lines: "Translated by Stanley Lombardo/Introduction by Sheila Murnaghan

6/24 Homer's Iliad/t. Stanley Lombardo. Fagles is also lovely. I have said before, I need the starting places, the deep downs. Excerpts will not do. I recommend brisk, iced tea with lemon and mint to sip as you weep for Troy
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