Recently, we got a hold of Joyce Carol Oates and asked her one question. We could have asked her more but, for some reason, we only asked her one. Hmm... that was probably pretty stupid of us. OK, well, we'll have to find her again sometime soon. But for now, we only have the one thing.

Ms. Oates, as you may know, is the author of such books as Freaky Green Eyes, Big Mouth and Ugly Girl, and most recently, The Gravedigger's Daughter. We asked her what her favorite Shakespeare play is. Shakespeare, as you may know, was a playwright who wrote such works as Hamlet, Romeo and Juliet, and Die Hard 4: Die Hard With Avengeance. Well, the first two anyway.

Ms. Oates responded thusly: 

My favorite of Shakespeare's tragedies is King Lear, which I have read and re-read numerous times. It is a great, demanding, profoundly moving work, with fairy-tale origins; its vision of evil, and of the power of "good" to transform evil, is searing.

Searing? Yes. Powerful? Yes. Hungry? No thanks, I had a nice lunch before.

Why are we talking about William Shakespeare? I dunno. I think the better question is: Why aren't you talking about William Shakespeare?

Think about it!

Then come back and check with us here on Friday. We've got something for you.

Ooh! Presents! Yayyyyyy!!!!!!!

Tis the season...
WORD

Did I blog about this before? I feel like I blogged about this before? Hmm... anyway, I have decided that I'm not reading enough. Awful right? The editor of READ magazine isn't reading enough. So I'm implementing a new literary diet into my daily routine. If you haven't guessed what it is yet, then you aren't one who reads subject lines are you?

25 pages a day

It doesn't seem so hard, right? I think the last time I blogged this idea I said I was going to attempt to read 50 pages a day. Well, that was probably well over a year ago and if I remember correctly, it only lasted for about a month. Let me tell you though, that was a wicked cool month.

Reading regularly is easy once you get into it. Set your own goals and try it yourself. Read 10 pages every night before you go to sleep. Or read 5 pages in the morning while you're eating breakfast. Whatever you want. Or... you could just read. There doesn't have to be any strict rule about it. Maybe this whole idea turns you off. That's fine, too. I suppose it could seem like a project to force yourself to read a certain amount every day. And the last thing you need is yet another project. Am I right?

Well anyway, this is about as informal a bloggy entry as you'll ever see here. Things have been crazy hectic lately and it's all we can do just to keep our heads above water. I hope you are enjoying your READ magazines. Are you? Hope so. I really do.

Stick around here for a couple days. We've got a huge hit coming your way on Friday. Want a hint? Check out the back cover of READ Issue 7. That's the Native American issue. Do you see that guy there wearing the crown? Yeah, he's pretty cool. Trust me.

OK. Read.

WORD

Before you stuff yourself with turkey and stuffing and mashed potatoes and cranberry sauce ... oh, sorry there, I was busy wiping away my drool ... anyway, you should check out the new movie Enchanted.

I was a little leery before I saw it. I mean, an animated Disney movie, with the characters coming out into the real world? But I was utterly, well, enchanted by it. (Sorry, it had to be said at least once. It's out of my system now, don't worry.) A cartoon princess, Giselle (Amy Adams), falls in love with her prince, but the wicked stepmother (Susan Sarandon) doesn't want Giselle usurping the throne. So the wicked stepmother sends Giselle into the real world. Uggh, and who wants to be in the real world? Certainly not me.

Once she lands on the mean streets of New York, the lost, confused, and adorably-naive Giselle meets Robert (Patrick Dempsey), an equally adorable single father. Robert is convinced Giselle is nuts, but helps her anyway.

But wait, of course there's more. Giselle's prince is off to the real world to save her. The queen sends a henchman with a poisoned apple to do away with her. There's a musical number in Central Park, thousands of critters cleaning house (ew, by the way), a dragon ...

Adams's Giselle is wide-eyed and innocent. But just wait until she discovers anger--and real love--for the first time. It's a star-defining role. If you didn't know who this actress was before (I'll admit, I had to do an IMDB search myself), you will after this movie.

The movie is charming and touching. Hilarious, heartwarming, suspenseful. I almost felt myself crying at some points, but then I got mad at myself because it's a Disney movie and I'm an adult. But still ... Oh, and watch out for references to other famous Disney movies.

Basically, Enchanted is everything you'd expect a Disney movie to be, yet it some how defies all the stereotypes and cliches. Plus Mr. Dempsey isn't too hard on the eyes. I'm just saying.

Anyway, no matter what you do, have a great Thanksgiving. Enjoy spending time with your families, eat some good food, and try avoiding the crowds at the malls. Oh, and if you get bored, why don't you write us about some of your favorite Thanksgiving traditions, or what you plan to do with all of your spare time, or what books you want to read next. (Hey, this is a literary blog, I had to throw it in!)