Sunday Salon: Putting the nomad back in nomadreader

-
Things picked up a bit this week, but it's been mighty quiet around here lately, hasn't it? I've been traveling, job-interviewing, and (honestly) watching a lot of tv. Stress (and pending underemployment) left me without much of an attention span to read. Even Sweet Valley Confidential. Lately, I seem to only be able to finish 5-star books that almost force me to not put them down. But friends, things are looking up. I already spilled the beans on Twitter, but I got a job. A full-time, tenure-track, kick-ass librarian job at a fantastic university.

Yes, that means Mr. Nomadreader and I are moving again. (And yes, we did just move across town six weeks ago.) They don't call us nomads for no reason, after all. Just as soon as I (almost) finished unpacking, it's time to start again. By the end of May, we'll be back in Des Moines:

This may not *quite* be the view from our apartment,
but the rooftop patio is pretty amazing.
Ah, Des Moines. It's one of my favorite cities. It's vibrant, young, fun and has an amazing food scene. With the joy of returning to a city we love comes the sadness of leaving another city we love, Albany. The next two weeks will be full of packing, goodbyes, tears, and reliving fond memories of the last three years. I hope I'll be able to finish the Orange Prize shortlist before the winner is announced June 8 too.

As an affiliate, I receive a small commission when you make a purchase through any of the above links. Thank you for helping to support my book habits that bring more content to this blog!

Comments

  1. AnonymousMay 15, 2011 at 10:43 AM

    Congrats on the new job!

    ReplyDelete
  2. TheBookGirlMay 15, 2011 at 10:49 AM

    Congratulations on the job and the move back to a city you love :)

    ReplyDelete
  3. UnknownMay 15, 2011 at 11:28 AM

    I thought I moved a lot, but twice in two months makes me feel a bit queasy. Good luck with the move and the job!

    ReplyDelete
  4. MeghanMay 15, 2011 at 11:44 AM

    Congratulations on your new job! It sounds fantastic - and good luck with the move as well!

    ReplyDelete
  5. JennaMay 15, 2011 at 12:40 PM

    The new job sounds wonderful! It's always nice to get a job you really really want. Congrats and good luck with moving!

    ReplyDelete
  6. AthiraMay 15, 2011 at 12:52 PM

    Congratulations on the job!! I know how stressing it can be, so I'm glad you landed one and a fabulous one at that!

    ReplyDelete
  7. AndiMay 15, 2011 at 2:21 PM

    SUPER congratulations to you!!!!! So happy you got the job, and maybe this will be the last move for a wee little bit. :)

    ReplyDelete
  8. ZibileeMay 15, 2011 at 6:38 PM

    Oh wow! Congratulations on the new job! I hope that it is just what you have been looking for and that moving is smooth and as unstressful as possible!

    I also wanted to tell you that I watched The King's Speech last night with my husband. You were right on the money, it was just a fantastic movie, and Colin Firth did an amazing job in his role. It's hard to believe that he actually faked that speech impediment!

    ReplyDelete
  9. (Diane) Bibliophile By the SeaMay 15, 2011 at 6:50 PM

    Oh Congratulations. You'll love the academic environment I'm sure...I do.

    ReplyDelete
  10. AudraMay 15, 2011 at 7:10 PM

    Congrats, congrats -- sounds so exciting -- I'm jealous! I've heard wonderful things about Des Moines -- good luck with the move!

    ReplyDelete
  11. AmusedMay 15, 2011 at 8:54 PM

    Congrats on getting what sounds like a great new job and good luck with the move!

    ReplyDelete
  12. picky girlMay 15, 2011 at 11:04 PM

    Wow - absolutely fabulous news about the job, especially as tenure-track, full-time work isn't the easiest to come by at the moment.

    I hope you really enjoy your new post.

    ReplyDelete
  13. AlyceMay 16, 2011 at 12:02 PM

    Congratulations on the job! It sounds like you are going to be very busy in the next few weeks. I'm your interviewer for BEA. I sent you an email, but thought I'd leave a comment too (all while trying very hard not to look like a stalker). Are you still going to have time for the interview? No worries either way, just let me know.

    ReplyDelete
  14. CatMay 16, 2011 at 9:43 PM

    Congratulations!! That's so very exciting - and what good fortune to have found a job that you will enjoy and in which you will grow. Wonderful news.

    ReplyDelete
  15. wallaceMay 21, 2011 at 2:09 PM

    Congrats on the job! You're going to have to write a post on moving one of these days (your top tips) -- I bet you've got a system down pat!

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Thank you for taking the time to comment. Happy reading!

Popular posts from this blog

book review: A Dangerous Place by Jacqueline Winspear

-
Image
The backstory: A Dangerous Place  is the eleventh historical mystery featuring Maisie Dobbs. My reviews of the other eleven (plus Winspear's stand alone historical novel) are in my Book Review Database . The basics: Set four years after the last Maisie Dobbs novel, Leaving Everything Most Loved , in A Dangerous Place , we meet up with Maisie in Gibraltar in 1927 during the Spanish Civil War. She gets off her England-bound ship in Gibraltar because she's not quite ready to return. Note: this review contains spoilers about what happened in those four years of Maisie's life between books, all of which are revealed in this novel's first thirty pages.  My thoughts: Sunday I wrote about the Maisie Mail I received. These postcards appear in the book itself, along with many others. After setting the stage in Gibraltar in the opening pages (Maisie stumbles upon a dead body), Winspear recounts the last four years of Maisie's life in the form of postcards, letters, an
Read more

book review: Run by Ann Patchett

-
Image
The backstory: After loving State of Wonder  ( my review ), I set out to read all of Ann Patchett's books. The basics: Run  is the story of the Doyle family: Bernard, an Irish Catholic ex-mayor of Boston, his deceased wife Bernadette, their adult son Sullivan, and their two adopted college ages sons, Tip and Teddy, who are biological brothers. My thoughts: I'm beginning to think Ann Patchett is my soul sister. Her writing reaches me deeply, and I've adored everything she's written. It was a special treat to read Run , the novel of hers I knew the least about going in. Although I had the framework of two of her novels and one memoir, I didn't know what to expect. Run  isn't as universally loved as some of her other works, so I was particularly curious to see how it measured up. Admittedly, Run  started off slowly for me. It took two chapters to really get into the heart of the story, but once it happened, I was hooked. One of the things I love most about
Read more

book review: Gilead by Marilynne Robinson

-
Image
The backstory: Gilead  won the Pulitzer Prize in 2005, the National Book Critics Circle Award in 2004, and was longlisted for the Orange Prize in 2006. The basics: As Rev. Ames nears the end of his life in the 1950's, he begins a letter to his young son because Ames realizes his son is too young to really know him. Gilead  is that letter. My thoughts: Gilead  is a novel I'm been meaning to read for years. It's a character-driven, Midwestern narrative by one of our best contemporary writers. It should be a novel I love, yet I struggled to finish it and admit I was wowed by neither the story nor the writing. Gilead  seemed almost stream-of-consciousness at first. I appreciated that Robinson jumped right in: this novel is a letter from father to son; the reader's ignorance of these two characters is not the focus. As the novel progressed, more details began to be filled in, and the reader begins to understand the characters, setting and purpose. I enjoyed the fir
Read more