joanne harris

Someone just told me that Joanne Harris will be doing a promo tour of Lithuania in February. My first reaction was to squeal with joy, but come to think about it, I’m not sure I know what to do when one meets a favourite author. Perhaps something like today’s Questionable Content. Or maybe just come for the first fifteen minutes and then sneak out, like it happened for me with Tomas Venclova this spring.

Lately, every book I pick up just seems to drag; I’ve been reading the same pocket-sized paperback since September. Maybe, as the world shudders at the threat of swine flu and excess dustiness, this is just no time for leisurely escapes into the world of letters, or maybe it is my thesis-in-(lack of)-progress that has killed the last philological spark in me for the rest of the year. Either way, Harris’ website says she is about to release a new novel (due April), and that love of reading better come back till then.