The postman brought me today one newsletter from Amnesty International, a bill for my subscription for the Age and the Summer Book Guide from Reader’s Feast
This is an old one from Spring 2008, but you know what I mean- those glossy little publications from your favourite bookstore with all the latest products, short blurbs and some breathlessly enthusiastic recommendations from staff with names like “James” and “Rosie”. What suckers are we: actually SIGNING UP to receive advertising! How much does one have to pay, I wonder, to have one’s book featured in this little freebie that keen readers actually ASK to receive? Still, I do like to see what’s around and tuck it away in the I’d-like-to-read-that-someday part of my brain.
Just occasionally I marvel at the fact that “James” and “Rosie” manage to read such current books that- well, look at that!- just happen to be advertised in the same little publication, but hey- they work in a bookshop. But I was impressed that “Nigel” in this recent brochure nominated Geraldine Brooks’ “Foreign Correspondence” as his favourite book of the year- a book that was published in 1998 and much enjoyed by the ladies-at-bookgroup. Or, I wonder suspiciously, has it been re-released?
The Resident Judge of Port Phillip 