After a good start to the year, my reading pace slowed considerably -- but I wanted to make a few notes. 1) I just finished "Quiet, Please" by Scott Douglas, which I'll be reviewing very soon for Solares Hill. I found the book an enjoyable read, though my expectations were raised a little too high because I so like the author's blog, Speak Quietly. Still, good to see young librarians out there telling stories. I'm about halfway through The Invention of Everything Else by Samantha Hunt, which I like a lot so far despite the fact that the author seems to be the hot new thing, went to my high school, is a couple years younger than me AND lives in Brooklyn. (Also, check out her website from the link on her name -- it's very cool.) And last weekend, I accompanied a bunch of birders to the Tortugas (for more on that trip, you can read my husband's column in the Citizen) -- the trip reminded me of a book I liked a lot and reviewed for Solares Hill a few years back: "Assassination Vacation" by the multi-talented Sarah Vowell. Vowell writes about being seasick on the trip to see Dr. Mudd's cell at the Tortugas but the really good parts of the book, to me, were about lesser-known assassins, namely the guys who shot McKinley and Garfield.