Thank goodness the weather has cooled here in Santa Barbara to its normal temperatures. Two fires, one of which lasted nearly a month and destroyed a horrendous portion of our back country, are out. I’m not sure if they contributed to the temperatures that hovered in the high nineties for nearly a month, but it’s likely. What was particularly odd was last week when, literally overnight, it dropped more than 20 degrees to a more normal 73.

That morning I heaved a sigh of relief that could probably be heard all the way to the east coast. Despite being a native southern Californian, I do not like heat so the change has made me much more comfortable. Among other things, I read easier in cooler weather because I can sit for longer periods without feeling irritably hot. I’m also more inclined to tackle complex books. Plus I enjoy cold weather routines—blankets on the bed, a bowl of tomato soup and a grilled cheese sandwich, cats lounging on my lap—which drop out of my life in the summer. As for what we have this week, well, we’ve got these:

Woody Allen’s thoughts on his work and moviemaking in general are the subject of a new collection of interviews covering more than 30 years by Eric Lax. Henry L. Carriagan, in Readings, takes on this insightful look at a brilliant, controversial artist.

In Bibliopinions, Frank X. Roberts offers another original poem, this one about British poet laureate Tennyson’s original home. While he was a bit dismayed during his visit to find it now a private home and not open to the public, his trip nonetheless proved worthwhile as he so eloquently expresses.

After 30 years, Paul Clark decided to revisit with Dorothy Parker, a writer he once read for the witticisms he could himself use. The experience provided some new revelations as he discusses in A Walk Through My Bookshelves. 

In Seasoned Lightly, Anne Michael has taken up an unintentional challenge from Paul Clark’s previous essay about which book she would rescue in a fire if she could only rescue one. The result is wonderful, touching essay that will set your mind a-wandering much as it did hers.

Let’s go to the fair! In this week’s On Marking Books, I look at the original exhibition of the mid-nineteenth century that set the tone for all world fairs and exhibitions that followed it.

Until next week, read well, read often and read on!

Lauren