Trouble with Books

Posted by Colin Harvey Oct 23, 2009

The one thing I learned this week isn't something that's taught by any of my courses.

It's to make sure I read the labels on parcels beyond checking the surname, since there are two Harveys in the house.

I've ordered so many books for my course that when a big parcel turned up with the Amazon logo all over it, despite thinking "I'm sure I've had everything I ordered," I grabbed a knife and hacked open the tape sealing it.

And came face to face with the books I'd told Kate I'd like for my birthday. Oh crap, I thought. Yes, the label did say 'Mrs K Harvey' when I looked at it. That'll teach me.

Printed material seems to have it in for me on other fronts, too: There's no review this week, I'm afraid.

One of my monthly review magazines stubbornly refused to print the bottom six lines on each page of the electronic file, no matter how much I varied the print instructions. After wasting one hundred and ten sheets of paper, I decided not to bother. Instead I read a novel. After a wonderful opening three hundred and fifteen pages, it fell apart so badly in the last eighth that I decided life was too short to spend it writing a negative review.

Despite managing to read Jason Sanford's magnificent novella 'Sublimating Angels' last night, the full review of Interzone was never going to be ready in time. Given that next week is Halloween, it's a no-brainer -- I have to promote Black Static to next in the queue. I suspect that if I don't, I'll have even more trouble with books...