Books, Etc. with Lynn Carey: Books and Memories

Each book equals a memory for Lynn—including a particularly memorable interview with Hunter S. Thompson (and Johnny Depp).

There are worse things to be drowning in than books. However, I often feel I am suffocating a little due to the amount of volumes surrounding me.

I’m not complaining! I know how fortunate I am to have so many of my favorite thing in the world. Lots are sent from publishers with the hope that I will write about them, and I often do (and I swear I give consideration to every single one). 

They tend to be divided in piles. Many are possible Times Book Club contenders. There are those that could be blogged about. There are those I think I should read. There are those that go straight to the donation bin at the library—they are either self-help, or have something to do with religion or finance.

And there are those in what I call my rainy day pile, since beach season is over. Just the other day when it was pouring, I put on fuzzy slippers and read Sophie Kinsella’s newest, Twenties Girl. It was great fun!

I also have piles of books that I’ve read and can’t bear to give away. Shiksa Goddess, for instance, reminds me of the lunch interview I had at the Ritz Carlton with the amazing author and playwright Wendy Wasserstein. It was one of her last books before she died.

I’ve also saved all of Hunter S. Thompson’s books because they remind of one of my favorite interviews in my career. It’s a story in itself, but let’s just say he wanted to have the interview at the Mitchell Brother’s O’Farrell Theater (a porn movie house). He changed his mind when I eagerly agreed (I knew it would have added to the story!). Instead, my photographer and I went to his hotel room at the St. Francis Hotel and Johnny Depp opened the door; the actor was following him around because he was going to star in the movie of Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas. What followed was an hour or so of lots of whiskey, cocaine, and Flexeril (all imbibed by Hunter, not the rest of us). Amazing. I loved Hunter S. Thompson. I’m still mad at him for shooting himself in the head.

Like I said, I’m not complaining. With every unread book is another possible adventure. With every read book is a memory. The rest, that eventually go to the library, will serve as both for others.

For 12 years, Lynn Carey has run the Times Book Club, which now appears in the Contra Costa Times and Oakland Tribune newspapers. For the past 17 years, she's lived in Lafayette with her husband, Lamorinda Sun columnist Mike Zampa, and their two teenagers.

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