A stack of books before the box

There's this thing coming up. I'm moving to Pittsburgh. On Tuesday. With a U-Haul.

But I'm jumping ahead -- in the fall I start the MFA program in creative writing at Pitt, which is shorthand for the University of Pittsburgh. I'm really excited.

I'm so excited that I'm moving to Pittsburgh before I have to. I'm hoping it'll give me time to buy a bike and practice until I can power it over the hill to school. And I found a cool place, midway between a grocery store and a graveyard. I love that.

I waved goodbye to LAist Sunday, am having a yard sale Saturday (105 N. Berendo St) and today I sold my car. Now all I have left to do is pack. I'm on box #14 of books and there are still more. I've been keeping the latest in my 75 books stack (I'm going to make it, despite my slow start) and here they go, before they get packed like the rest. In mixed-up order:

#9 The Girl in the Flammable Skirt by Aimee Bender. Damn she's good!

#10 Willful Creatures by Aimee Bender. The torture story made me turn away from the page. Wow.

#11 The Newton Letter by John Banville. Boy, I'm missing it. I'm really missing it.

#12 Prep by Curtis Sittenfeld. If I hadn't gone to boarding school, my reaction would be different.

#13 Brookland by Emily Barton. Should have loved it. Didn't.

#14 Laurel Canyon by Michael Walker. Before LA's rural canyon was a place of privelege.

#15 Girls in Peril by Karen Lee Boren. Interesting and lean.

#16 Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell. Love love love.

Comments

[Gwenda]

#12. How?

Inquiring minds want to know...

[Carolyn]

Hm. I kept flashing back to my (near-forgot) boarding school experiences and trying to decide if her narrative rang true (yes, but no), if my version was more interesting (yes, possibly), and if I should have written my own version of this book (no, no, no).

If I hadn't had my all-about-me movie playing in my head, I would have thought, huh, not bad chick lit (ooh, fighting words).

[Karen]

Hey Caroline -- best of luck with the move and the MFA. You plan on having an online presence from the East? If not, you will surely be missed.

[Gwenda]

Ah, interesting. I highly recommend John Green's YA Looking for Alaska, if you haven't read it yet, as a totally different boarding school novel. (Which I liked far more.)

Good trip and bon chance, dearie!