I have been afflicted with a cold and a big dose of angry impatience with everything. I am sorry for not posting this week – it wasn’t intentional, but it was probably for the best, since you would have been treated to rants about things like shampoo bottles you can’t get the lid off, why no one is feeding me any lunch, and how I am not ready to go away.

But a parcel arrived from amazon yesterday and made everything better. Well, bearable anyway.

I realised that this little pile represents my author obsessions perfectly. By author obsession I mean the kind of author you would happily carry across a hot lava field in order to get them to safety so they can carry on writing, and no matter that you burn your legs to stumps in the process. That kind of obsession.

First is Girl Meets Boy: The Myth of Iphis by Ali Smith. She is just a genius with words. Her short stories are magical, and the further you delve into her work the more you get out of it. This new book is part of the Canongate Myths Series, which is a worthy thing in itself.

Second is my old favourite, Doug Coupland : The Gum Thief. Of course I fell in love with Generation X, but I’d actually recommend Eleanor Rigby and Hey Nostradamus! first, if you’re not into all the zeitgeist stuff (although that is what made his name, and he is still very good at it).

Last is a book （The Book of Other People)　I bought because I pretended it was work, since it’s about character exploration. The real reason I bought it is because there’s a piece by David Mitchell in there. The dude is a god. Read his books. When I was in Hay I heard him read an extract from his new book and I’m horribly horribly excited and I can’t wait. It makes me feel like a kid waiting for Christmas. If you were born sometime between 1970 and 1974, and grew up in a small English town then you must read Black Swan Green if you haven’t already.

Here’s hoping you’ve all had lovely weekends.