There's another book coming out on September 9th, one that I would recommend even before my own:

Change We Can Believe In: Barack Obama's Plan to Renew America's Promise

It's a paperback version of Barack Obama's blueprint for change, which is already available for free.

Whether you're a Democrat, Republican, or Independent, I believe that it's vital to know where both candidates stand on the issues, and how they intend to address these problems if elected President. This is why I wanted to suggest that you also read the equivalent all-in-one publication by John McCain...only there doesn't seem to be one. I'm not being snarky here--honestly, I'm so tired of all the muckraking and mudslinging already--I'm just reporting what I didn't find.

If you are a bookstore employee interested in receiving autographed bookplates to commemorate the publication, please email me with the following information:

Your name
Name and address of store
How many bookplates you need

Eventually, I hope to make bookplates available to individual readers--but I'm not quite that organized yet.

(I totally agree with her observation that how it feels to be a teenager hasn't changed much over time, only the details are different.)

It's too bad for the Brothers Gibb that my poetic influence on the media didn't kick in until now.

Jasmin T. was the first to respond to the answer to the first question:

(What's So Funny 'Bout) Peace Love and Understanding) by Elvis Costello (If you have time, please click this link and listen to this song. It came out 21 years ago but is still so relevant today. And it rocks.)

Synchronicity by the Police (Which, by the way, was the ONLY song they didn't play that I really wanted to hear. Oh well, leave 'em wanting more...)

And J.S. came in minutes after her with those answers PLUS the answer to the bonus question:

Don't Stand So Close to Me by the Police (You know Sting was a teacher before he became an Global Rock Star/Tantric Sex God, right? Oh my.)

I just added dates for the Fourth Comings Paperback/Perfect Fifths Preview, with hopefully more to come. What makes me most excited about these appearances? Getting to read an excerpt from Perfect Fifths in front of a live audience of real people as opposed to out loud all alone in my office. (Um, that is, if anyone would be interested in hearing something like that...By the way, simply getting out of my house and away from this laptop runs a close second.)

There was one teenage girl singled out in the story who gave some rather embarrassing quotes including, “No one’s ever said you should read more books to get into college.”

Yikes.

Anyhoo, knowing how articles like this go, I was sure Motoko Rich would end it on a more optimistic note, citing how this teenage nonreader discovered the joys of reading in the dead-tree format after being given THE BOOK THAT CHANGED HER LIFE. And I thought to myself, "Hey. Wouldn't it be cool if that book was Sloppy Firsts?"

I'll end the suspense: It wasn't. (But it's okay. I mean, if any book is going to out-inspire mine, it might as well be a Holocaust memoir.)

It has been duly noted by many avid readers of the (retro)blog that I haven't recommended any books in a looooooooong time. It's not that I haven't been reading--I have. It's not that I haven't read any books worth recommending--I have. I just haven't had much time to blog about them. And I don't have much time now either, which is why I'm apologizing in advance for not providing these books with the praise they deserve. Suffice it to say that I think that all these books are very much worth reading.