Books are my lifeblood. The only problem is that when I read, I don't write. And an even bigger problem is that although writing is the release I need for the rattling thoughts that careen through my brain, it is the words already printed and bound between covers that truly set me at ease. The more I write, the more agitated I become. With the words preloaded into novel form, however, I descend sweetly into the author's language, surrounding myself with a universe of context, a world of imagery, the unspoken sound of the voices of characters that live and breathe and hope and dream within the pages of a book that echoes in the folds of my mind. Books consume me, yet I always feel ready to explode with words.

If there was a way to do both at the same time, I would.

Two books I've never read I found out about yesterday and I'm eager for them both. One was recently out of print but just might be back, according to this article. It has a fantastic name: The Foxbat Spiral. Mal Karman wrote it in 1980, but from what the article implies, it really could be about the world we wander in (angry?) these days. The second book is by a favorite author, the man who wrote Dhalgren. That book blew my mind--actually it is more like it kidnapped it, because part of my brain will always be trapped within the city limits of Bellona. But the book I'm interested in today is by the same author, Samuel R. Delany, and it is called The Star-Pit. I've never read The Star-Pit. I can't even find a copy of it online, currently. And so until then, I'm going to give something new a try. I'm going to download the radio play that Mr. Delany and cohorts created back in 1967. And then I'm going to upload it to my iPod. And then I'm going to listen to it and tell you what I think. I wonder if I'll even be able to get through it. I'm not much on audiobooks. But I must give it a try.

Dhalgren is a book I wish I wrote. There are a few others out there like that. I look forward to finding out if The Foxbat Spiral and the The Star-Pit will fall into that category, too.