Archives - Weekly Update

On Wednesday, August 27th, Bookreporter will celebrate its 29th anniversary! When I think of this, so many memories come to mind, the first of which is the sound that we used to hear when we connected to AOL in those very early days.

At that time, book covers and author photos were the size of postage stamps, and they needed to be uploaded into the AOL system 24 hours in advance if we wanted them to show up. When authors would “appear” with us, the interviews were conducted by phone. There often would be someone on the team in the office typing for the author, and the interview would run in lines of chat in an “auditorium setup” online where readers sat in make-believe rows. Events could “sell out,” and you wanted to be in the row with your friends so you could “chat” during the program. I know, it is pretty amusing and sounds so archaic!

I feel like I spend a good part of the day entering verification codes for everything from logging onto banking to logging onto Facebook and Instagram, and then to sites that I cannot figure out why I need verification. I think my phone gets more verification code texts than it does people texts. Using the desktop that I always work on, I am asked for codes, and to note that I use this device and clear it for later use. And then the next time, I once again have to do a code.

This last week has brought with it some stunning weather, though the beautiful summer skies were marred on Wednesday by smoke from the Canadian fires. Last night, an almost full sturgeon moon lit up the skies (the full moon will be in place on Saturday). I am working outside today, pounding away on my laptop, as I capitalize on a day without too much heat or humidity. And to complete my perfect summer vibe, Husband Tom picked up lobster rolls for lunch from the Cousins Maine Lobster truck. Perfect!

I think I have asked this before, but I am asking again. January and July each have 31 days. So can someone explain to me again why January feels like a year and July feels like a day? I feel like I ask this question every summer! And I am not sure the 31 days of August will feel like they go by any more slowly, but I plan to make the most of them. In the New York City area, it is looking like a picture-perfect weekend ahead with temps in the 80s, sun and no humidity. The weather trifecta!