Reading Journal

I finished "Circle of Friends." Amazing, as always. Didn't take very long, mostly because I spent the bulk of Thursday in bed with it. I had forgotten a lot about what happened, since it had been so long since I last read it. (About 5 years, at least.) But as I read, I started to remember more.

One of my managers at work saw me reading it and mentioned she liked that one, too. I saw her on Friday and told her I had finished it. She said she'd always wish Binchy had written a sequel to it, because she wants to know what happens with Benny and Jack.

Spoiler Alert

We both agreed that we were glad that Benny and Jack aren't together at the end of the book. But we disagreed about whether or not they would eventually get together later on. She thought they would, but I said I thought Benny was too smart for that. I think she realized what it would take to keep him around, and she wasn't willing to do that. It's not the kind of person she was, and she was too smart of a gal to go changing for the likes of him.

Spoiler's Over
I got my copy of this year's Briar Cliff Review last Friday. Ironically, I got it about the time I was visiting Briar Cliff, hoping to catch the Head Editor. Managed to catch the Poetry Editor, and I may mail some submissions out this August. Fiddle with "The Gleamer and the Thief" so it's either one page or two. It would drive me nuts to have it any other way. I'd also want to look through some of my poetry and find 2 more that I could submit along with it.

Someday, I'd like to write something on Calvary Cemetery and submit it to the Review. Something like that would be a prize for their Siouxland section. The only problem is I'm not sure what direction I want to take. The story of how I found it is rather interesting, but it's not really enough for a feature. Trust me, I've tried. I'd almost have to include all of the experiences I've had there to fill up two of their pages. (They use a pretty small font and single spacing.) Doing that would certainly provide me with enough challenges in terms of coming up with transitioning between those experiences, though. So many decisions to make with that project! Is it any wonder my sandwich book has been tabled?

I haven't read very many things in the Review yet. Just the Fiction and Poetry Contest Winners. Wasn't all that impressed with the Fiction one; it just didn't seem long enough. There wasn't enough there. The action happened much faster than I was prepared for, but the idea of it was nice. The poem was good, though. I really enjoyed the ending. Wish I had it right next to me to quote it, though.