The end of August is always a time of transition. My older son Greg moved back to college earlier this week to assist the new students with orientation. It's hard to believe that this year HE is not the new student. Packing this year was much easier. He basically rounded up the boxes that were stored in the basement, plucked some clothes from his closet and was off. It was easier emotionally to say goodbye as well since he has proven he does not disappear! My younger son Cory will be starting his first year of high school. Although September is right around the corner, I still do not feel that summer should be coming to an end so soon. June in the Northeast was cooler and wetter than usual, and I was on the road for business travel for most of July, so perhaps that is why I am a bit thrown off. But for the record, the weather improved in August, and with no business travel, I finally was able to clock in some hammock and pool floating time!

Yesterday was the 13th anniversary of the launch of Bookreporter.com. While I got some emails telling me that this means we should have a bar mitzvah, no one mentioned that we are now in our teen years. And you know how feisty teens can be. I think that label very much suits us. I wrote a blog piece where I share a bit of what this experience has been like for the last dozen plus one year and thank the folks who make it happen every week. You can read it here.

Last weekend the weather was gorgeous. Early Saturday morning I headed outside with OXYGEN, a novel by Carol Cassella, and plunked myself down in the hammock. When I looked up a few hours later I was on page 200. I love books that tug me into the story like that. OXYGEN is the story of an anesthesiologist who has something go deadly wrong with a patient during what seems like a routine surgery. It then moves on to explore the impact and aftermath that follows.

Whenever possible I like to get out to author readings in the city. Last night my older son and I went to see Jonathan Tropper’s standing room-only event for THIS IS WHERE I LEAVE YOU. Jonathan read from parts of three chapters of the book, giving readers a version of a book reading based on the style of a movie trailer --- just some highlights. For the record, it worked. Since I enjoyed the humor in this book, during the Q&A I asked him if he gave a lot of thought to the comedic timing in his books. I will get to the answer in a moment, but first I must share my embarrassment. Unbeknownst to me for years I have been pronouncing "comedic" with the British affectation, with a “long e” sound instead of the American way with a “short e.” (And now I feel like an English teacher.) You can hear both versions here by clicking on the little flags at the top of this page.