Edward - What a Girl Wants?

This article has sparked such a good discussion on Facebook, I wanted to get all of your thoughts on it.

Children's Books Recommendations

Hi everyone! I miss you guys and am hoping to make it back to book club in January (and hopefully bring the girls to the holiday party in a few weeks). I have a book dilemma that I thought you guys would be perfect to solve, and hopefully can have some fun in the process:

I'd like to get Isa some new books for Christmas and want to graduate from the board books we've been reading to her to something with a bit more of a story. She's almost 2 and a half, and lately has really preferred the crazy stories we make up for her to books, so I think we need new books to pique her interest. For those of you with kids already past this age, what books did your kids like? For those of you without kids, what books do you remember enjoying? I'd love suggestions of titles, authors or even book type. Thanks!

Best of 2008 lists

I came across this neat music and literature blog today called Largehearted Boy. He has tons of cool stuff to explore on his blog but one especially nice feature is his compilation of all those year-end "best of books" lists. You can see his list for 2008 so far here.

From his blog, I saw a link to USA Today's list of best-selling books for the last 15 years. The books on this list aren't too surprising (hint: we muggles love our diet books!) but I still find these types of lists fascinating.

Monday Meme

Just a quick question. What book are you thankful for?

Celebrity Lookalikes!

Post your own!



Victoria Bernadotte is apparently a Swedish princess. So disappointed there's no Katie Holmes or Audrey Tatou!

Finally, an official diagnosis!

Do you have PEWS?

Post-Election-Withdrawl-Syndrome:

The feeling of general depletion and emptiness in the few days after a presidential election. Caused by the sudden withdrawal of any campaign coverage, sound bites, or pictures of babies being kissed. May be accompanied by aimless clicking on news websites looking for something to read.

*NOTE: This condition has been observed in people whether their chosen candidate won or not.

Other symptoms: actually having to read the book club book to have something to talk about this month.

Rednecks for Obama, Part 2

Fashion Icon of the Week

Michelle Obama rocked the J. Crew ensemble on Leno last night.



The vivid yellow color looks amazing on her and the cut of the outfit perfectly suits her body type!

Ramona Forever

Ramona Quimby is finally coming to the big screen. The linked article is a wonderful interview with Beverly Cleary, author of the Ramona books. She still writes them! A quote from the article:

"I haven't been very enthusiastic about the commercialization of children's literature," she says. "Kids should borrow books from the library and not necessarily be buying them."

What do you think of this comment? If we are truly facing economic hard times, and a turn towards more sensible spending habits, these are words to live by. I appreciate her perspective. Young readers aren't just a market to sell books to, they are our children! As a non-commercial environment, the library seems to protect them from the kind of subtle manipulation that even our beloved bookstores engage in. In libraries, children have a space to explore and discover literature at their own pace and on their own terms.

Friday Flashback: Bee Season

In 2001, we read Bee Season by Myla Goldberg. (Later, we also read her book, Wickett's Remedy.) How many of our current members have read Bee Season? It is one of the book club books that I still think about frequently. It is my favorite representation of enlightenment, or nirvana, divine trancendance, whatever you want to call it. Becoming one with God. I guess I like the depiction of it in the book because it doesn't happen in a way that any of the human characters can comprehend or make sense. Or so I remember it. I also love the exploration of obsessive-compulsive disorder, the genetic and practical variations of this kind of mental illness in a family, and its relation to their spiritual practices. So fascinating. It would be great to read and discuss it again.

Suite Francaise: Final Results

Didn't like it - 0
It was OK - 0
Liked it - 1
Really liked it - 1
It was amazing - 0
Didn't finish it - 1

3 votes total.

You Might Be A Redneck If ...

I know many of us are immersed in the upcoming elections so here are some literary-related political items I came across today.

David Sedaris has a funny essay about undecided voters in The New Yorker. An excerpt:

To put them in perspective, I think of being on an airplane. The flight attendant comes down the aisle with her food cart and, eventually, parks it beside my seat. “Can I interest you in the chicken?” she asks. “Or would you prefer the platter of shit with bits of broken glass in it?”

To be undecided in this election is to pause for a moment and then ask how the chicken is cooked.

In today's NY Times, Margaret Atwood has an editorial about debt and how it is much larger than just money. I learned she also has a book coming out on the same topic titled Payback: Debt and the Shadow Side of Wealth. Who knew she had such an interest in the subject?

And on a non-literary note, how awesome is this: Rednecks for Obama. Two men from Missouri, one 74 and the other 60, are on a mission to get rednecks like themselves to vote for Obama.

Dress Shopping

OK, so since our virtual makeovers at the beach, I am shopping obsessed. I kept seeing this dress in internet ads that I thought looked perfect for Marina.
It inspired me to go virtual shopping for others as well. I tried to remember the styles and colors we discussed for each person during our virtual makeovers. For those of you who weren't at the beach, if there's a certain style you really like, let me know and I'll be more than thrilled to go shopping for you as well! Here's what I found.

Allison:

Katie:

Dawn:
Cindy:

Me:

Yes, I get the sequins!!

Now we just need a cocktail party to wear them to. . .

First the Fashion?

Today as I was getting my coffee at work, one of my more stylish colleagues (she is more junior than me and I don't know her name, oops!) said, "I LOVE your dress! I always admire your sense of style!" Of course, I felt very self-conscious (yet thrilled!) and thanked her.

Because I have no boundaries, and think that other people must find my life as fascinating as I do, my immediate instinct was to say, "Oh I just got the most wonderful style tips from my book club, we had a fabulous girls weekend at the beach, and we picked celebrity style icons for each other!"

Thankfully, not having yet had my coffee, I was able to suppress the urge!

Dreams from my Father: Final Results

Didn't like it - 0
It was OK - 1
Liked it - 3
Really liked it - 2
It was amazing - 0
Didn't finish - 0

6 votes total

Monday Meme

Yeah, it's Tuesday, but I'm just happy to be blogging again and not obsessing over a grant application!

This week's discussion: libraries (again)! One of my favorites.

What is your earliest memory of a library? Who took you? Do you have you any funny/odd memories of the library?

Post your answers in the comments!

Bookstore Spotlight: Denver

Last week, Dawn and I were in Denver for the Joint Statistical Meetings (she a presenter, me a tag-a-long spouse). Being the book nerds we are, we decided to visit the local bookstore, the Tattered Cover Book Store, one of the largest independent bookstores in the US. It was in a beautiful old building with two floors of books, lots of armchairs and couches, and even fireplaces.

They had a nice display of book club suggestions. I don't think we've read any of these as a book club or at least not since I've been in book club.

Unfortunately Dawn and I did not get a picture of us together at the bookstore but we did get a good one that night before dinner.

If you're ever in Denver, visit this store!

Book Club for Intellectually Disabled - Nice Story

Book Club Girl posted a link to this story about a book club for adults with developmental disabilities. It is such a neat idea, I thought you might like to read it.

Twilight

I know Katie has started reading the Twilight books . . . has anyone else? I am so intrigued. I almost wish we read them so we could go to the midnight book release next weekend. Salon recently published an interesting commentary on these books, starting with the observation that the main character is no Buffy!

The Post-Birthday World: Final Results

didn't like it - 0
it was OK -0
liked it -0
really liked it - 3
it was amazing -1
didn't finish it -0

4 votes total

365 Nights

If you were at book club Tuesday night, you know what I am talking about. . .

Charla Muller, the author of 365 Nights: A Memoir of Intimacy is coming to the Regulator Bookshop Friday, July 25.

Exciting Girl Stuff News!

Lush Cosmetics is opening a store in Crabtree! If only it were Southpoint . . .

Sonya's Answers to Reading Quiz

1. Do you remember how you developed a love for reading?
I think I always loved to read- my parents say I memorized books from about the age of two. But the first book I remember completely adoring was Anne of Green Gables- I devoured the entire series and read them many times. I just loved Anne so much and even took to naming the trees and streams near my house like she did in the books.
2. What are some books you read as a child?
Well, guess I should have looked ahead, but when I was really small I loved a book called I am a Mouse and Sesame Street books like The Monster at the End of This Book. Later, I loved The Babysitter's Club and choose-your-own-adventure books.
3. What is your favorite genre?
Fiction, but I like both contemporary and literary.
4. Do you have a favorite novel?
The Poisonwood Bible
5. Where do you usually read?
Anywhere I get the chance, but usually in bed or on the couch.
6. When do you usually read?
Before bed or during a sporting event I'm not interested in.
7. Do you usually have more than one book you are reading at a time?
I can barely handle one at a time.
8. Do you read nonfiction in a different way or place than you read fiction?
No.
9. Do you buy most of the books you read, or borrow them, or check them out of the library?
I try to get most of my books at the library- I love the idea of being able to give them back when I'm finished with them, plus it saves money. But, I do buy on occasion and seem to do that more frequently these days for convenience's sake.
10. Do you keep most of the books you buy? If not, what do you do with them?
I give them away in big stacks to Goodwill, or if it's a book I really love, to my sister or mom.
11. If you have children, what are some of the favorite books you have shared with them? Were they some of the same ones you read as a child?
The Monster at the End of this Book, Goodnight Moon, I am a Mouse and fairytales- all books I read as a child.
12. What are you reading now?
Dreams from My Father by Barack Obama, with no chance of finishing before tonight.
13. Do you keep a TBR (to be read) list?
Right now I have a stack of books on my nightstand from an overly ambitious plan to read three books while on vacation (I read about 30 pages total the entire week), but usually I don't have a list.
14. What’s next?
Probably next month's book pick, but I really want to read Animal, Vegetable, Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver and it's in the aforementioned stack.
15. What books would you like to reread?
I'd love to re-read books I hold very dear, like Poisonwood Bible, The Red Tent, Circle of Friends and other books that really spoke to me the first time I read them to see how my perspective has changed. I also think I need to read Atonement again- I liked it the first time, but I don't think fully appreciated it.
16. Who are your favorite authors?
Barbara Kingsolver, Maeve Binchy, Jane Austen, Meg Cabot and David Sedaris (how's that for diverse?)

Allison's Answers

1. Do you remember how you developed a love for reading?
I remember being read to a lot plus my mom was a teacher.
2. What are some books you read as a child?
Berenstain Bears, Beatrix Potter, Ramona Quimby
3. What is your favorite genre?
Literary fiction
4. Do you have a favorite novel?
To Kill A Mockingbird
5. Where do you usually read?
On the couch or on my porch
6. When do you usually read?
Weekend days
7. Do you usually have more than one book you are reading at a time?
No, I usually read one book over a couple of days rather than drag several books out for weeks.
8. Do you read nonfiction in a different way or place than you read fiction?
No but I also don't read a lot of nonfiction.
9. Do you buy most of the books you read, or borrow them, or check them out of the library?
This is embarrassing given my profession but I usually buy them. I've found this to be true of most librarians so I don't feel too bad.
10. Do you keep most of the books you buy? If not, what do you do with them?
If I love a book I keep it, otherwise I give them away.
11. If you have children, what are some of the favorite books you have shared with them? Were they some of the same ones you read as a child?
I don't have children but I tend to gravitate towards Eric Carle books when reading to kids or giving gifts. Today I read The Very Hungry Catapillar and Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See? to my nephew.
12. What are you reading now?
Dreams From My Father by Barack Obama, of course
13. Do you keep a TBR (to be read) list?
Yes, see "Allison's Bookshelf" under Links
14. What’s next?
Something fun, maybe a Jennifer Weiner book or the new Lauren Weisberger book.
15. What books would you like to reread?
There's too much I want to read for the first time so I don't think I'll be rereading anything in the near future.
16. Who are your favorite authors?
Ian McEwan, Margaret Atwood, Anne Tyler

Liz's Answers

This only took me 5 minutes!

1. Do you remember how you developed a love for reading?
No. I don't remember not loving to read.
2. What are some books you read as a child?
Dr. Seuss, Curious George, the Shoes books, Beverly Cleary
3. What is your favorite genre?
Literary fiction
4. Do you have a favorite novel?
The Cider House Rules, Emma, Atonement, East of Eden, or The Post-Birthday World
5. Where do you usually read?
In bed. Before I had a child, I read on the sofa in the living room. Sometimes I still read there if he's asleep.
6. When do you usually read?
Naptime on weekends and before bed during the week. Sometimes at lunch.
7. Do you usually have more than one book you are reading at a time?
Yes.
8. Do you read nonfiction in a different way or place than you read fiction?
No.
9. Do you buy most of the books you read, or borrow them, or check them out of the library?
I check most of them out from the library. Property is a sin! (I'm not serious about that. But I do hate accumulating things. And I love libraries.)
10. Do you keep most of the books you buy? If not, what do you do with them?
I try to give them away unless they are an absolute favorite or a reference book.
11. If you have children, what are some of the favorite books you have shared with them? Were they some of the same ones you read as a child?
Green Eggs and Ham, The Little House, Goodnight Moon (yes, yes, no)
12. What are you reading now?
Dreams from My Father by Barack Obama and Careless in Red by Elizabeth George
13. Do you keep a TBR (to be read) list?
Yes, you can view it here.
14. What’s next?
The History of Love by Nicole Kraus.
15. What books would you like to reread?
Emma, The Cider House Rules, The Post-Birthday World
16. Who are your favorite authors?
Jane Austen, George Eliot, Philip Pullman, Elizabeth George

Monday Bookish Meme

Yep, I know it's Thursday. Busy week. It's a long one from Barbara H.

Cut and paste these questions into your own post, or answer in the comments. You can just pick and choose which questions you want to answer.

1. Do you remember how you developed a love for reading?
2. What are some books you read as a child?
3. What is your favorite genre?
4. Do you have a favorite novel?
5. Where do you usually read?
6. When do you usually read?
7. Do you usually have more than one book you are reading at a time?
8. Do you read nonfiction in a different way or place than you read fiction?
9. Do you buy most of the books you read, or borrow them, or check them out of the library?
10. Do you keep most of the books you buy? If not, what do you do with them?
11. If you have children, what are some of the favorite books you have shared with them? Were they some of the same ones you read as a child?
12. What are you reading now?
13. Do you keep a TBR (to be read) list?
14. What’s next?
15. What books would you like to reread?
16. Who are your favorite authors?

My Elizabeth Gilbert Moment

Last week, I tried a new yoga/meditation practice called Yoga Nidra. Yoga Nidra is also referred to as yogic sleep. It is a guided meditation you do while lying down. I went to a class given by Donna Norfolk at the Yoga Practice Center. The session lasted about 90 minutes. We started by greeting each other and just settling down. Then, we recited (chanted) a yoga sutra called the four great attitudes. The attitudes are:

• peacefulness towards all beings
• joyfulness towards all beings
• kindness towards all beings
• compassion towards all beings

After the chant, we spent about an hour being guided through a body scan in which we were made aware of all the energy in different locations of our bodies. Then we had some time of complete silence. I went in and out of sleep at the beginning but once I woke up fully, it was a very interesting feeling of being completely alert and relaxed. Amazingly the time flew by without me being aware of it passing. Having the full hour and a half with no pressure to do anything but relax and explore my mind was luxurious. At the very end we wrapped up and completed the chant again. I found myself thinking, "I have to tell my book club about this!" and "This is so Eat, Pray, Love!" I left feeling refreshed and also a little on the happy "I love all things!" side. I recommend trying it if you can find a class.

Monday Bookish Meme

From BTT. . .

What, in your opinion, is the definition of a “reader.” A person who indiscriminately reads everything in sight? A person who reads BOOKS? A person who reads, period, no matter what it is? … Or, more specific? Like the specific person who’s reading something you wrote?

Post your answer in the comments!

Friday Flashback: Naming our Group

Our book club was nameless until 2000. If you've ever tried to plan a lunch or dinner out with us you know we can be some indecisive people, so it took some effort to come up with book club names. Most of them were pretty bad:

The Miami Relatives
The Excitement
Oprah Alternatives
Triangle Area Readers
RTP - Read Talk and Prepare Food
Acute Triangle Readers
The Commuters
Commuting Readers
Food Comes First
First, the Food
To Read or not to Read
Book 'em!

OK some explanation - "The Miami Relatives" was Laura Mullins' idea. I think I voted for this one. It was at the time of the Elian Gonzalez incident and it was just funny. "The Excitement" was a reference to one of the early books we read, Angela's Ashes. In it, young Frank McCourt refers to sex, which he knows hardly anything about, as "The Excitement," always capitalized. That was one of my nominations, and I still think it's funny too.

By the way, if you're now wondering what happened to Elian, he just joined the youth Communist Party this month! The CBS news story makes me so angry - it's introduced as "Remember Elian being forcibly removed from his relatives 8 years ago . . ." without any mention of the fact that he was being taken back to his father! The whole story is sad but I'm happy he's alive and well and with his daddy. Probably a good thing we did not name our book club after those relatives.

Chock Full o' Lists

Entertainment Weekly is celebrating its anniversary with many top 10 and top 100 lists of tops in entertainment in the past 25 years - including a list of the top 100 new classics in literature, and Will Arnett's top 10 TV moments that made him cry.

Monday Bookish Meme

From BTT:

Think about your favorite authors, your favorite books . . . what is it about them that makes you love them above all the other authors you’ve read? The stories? The characters? The way they appear to relish the taste of words on the tongue? The way they’re unafraid to show the nitty-gritty of life? How they sweep you off to a new, distant place? What is it about those books and authors that makes them resonate with you in ways that other, perfectly good books and authors do not?

This is a hard one for me. I'll have to think about it a bit. Post your answers in the comments!

Friday Flashback: Harry Potter Night!

At long last, I'm posting the pictures from Harry Potter night. Almost one year ago, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows was released. We had dinner (and margaritas!) at On the Border and then went over to Barnes and Noble to stand in line for our copies.

What a crowd!

Luckily, Dawn and Katie escaped the attack from Cindy the Dementor:
I dominated in the night's quidditch match. Allison and Sonya were there to cheer me on. Around midnight, we lined up and started moving.

But first we had to take the obligatory nose picture.1:20 AM: Success!

"Her mix tape's a masterpiece . . . "

For those of you who still have old mix tapes from your past (preferably made by old boyfriends), you can post pictures of the tape, the songlist and a story here. I can't wait to do this with some of mine. I can only hope that one of the many people for whom I made mix tapes will do the same with one of my creations.

Raise your hand if someone put Depeche Mode's "Somebody" on a mix tape for you . . . that was pretty much the standard profession of love song by alterna-geek (and potentally gay?) boys in my high school years.

Ghostwritten: Final Results

didn't like it - 0
it was ok - 0
liked it - 2
really liked it - 4
it was amazing - 0
didn't finish it - 0

6 votes total.

Most Discussible Books of 2007

I am learning so much from Book Club Girl. A while back, she posted Reading Group Choices' top 11 most discussible books from 2007. (Reading Group Choices is another book club recommendations website.) We have read 4 of them! The complete list is:

#1 Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen
#2 The Glass Castle by Jeanette Walls
#3 Snow Flower and the Secret Fan by Lisa See
#4 A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini
#5 The Memory Keeper's Daughter by Kim Edwards
#6 TIE: Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert
#6 TIE: The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini
#7 My Sister's Keeper by Jodi Picoult
#8 Nineteen Minutes by Jodi Picoult
#9 The Book Thief by Markus Zusak
#10 Three Cups of Tea by Greg Mortenson and Daivd Oliver Relin

--Barbara Mead, President, Reading Group Choices

Of the remaining we haven't read as a club, I think The Book Thief and Three Cups of Tea look the most interesting. These have been on my list for a while.

N&O Summer Reading List

I personally can never get enough summer reading lists. The N&O published their suggestions on Sunday. The printable PDF guide is here, and it is a nice list. It contains some interesting recommendations organized according to summer movies - the idea is that you can save money by reading books of the same genre rather than going to the movies . . or something like that. Apparently there is also a N&O book club blog.

Monday Bookish Meme

From BTT

Have you ever been a member of a book club? How did your group choose (ot, if you haven’t been, what do you think is the best way to choose) the next book and who would lead discussion?

Do you feel more or less likely to appreciate books if you are obliged to read them for book groups rather than choosing them of your own free will? Does knowing they are going to be read as part of a group affect the reading experience?

Well, I think we can ignore the first part of this question. Post your answers in the comments!

New Feature: Friday Flashback

Since alliterative titles are all the rage in blogging, I'm moving the memes to Mondays.

The last time I posted about our history was in February, when I posted our book selections from 2001. In 2001 we had just experienced an influx of new members and really started to get our routine down. Whereas in our first few years, our meetings would often get canceled or postponed, meetings got regular and were generally well attended after 2001. As Irina McGovern would attest, with regularity comes the need to spice things up a bit! (Sorry, couldn't resist the reference to our current book.) In 2001 we did our first mystery month in which:

• we select a mystery novel for the month's book
• it must be a "whodunit" type novel that can be figured out, rather than a basic suspense novel
• one member reads the entire book and tells everyone where to stop reading
• we come to the meeting and try to figure out who, why, how etc by asking only yes/no questions
  

It has become our favorite tradition. This is always one of the best meetings of the year. When we first started doing it, Katie had to leave early because she did not want to know who the murderer was before finishing the book. One year we paired mystery foods with the mystery selection, bringing filled foods with mysterious ingredients. This was inspired by the famous book group Mostly we Eat. (Actually I think the mystery month idea might have been inspired by Mostly we Eat as well.)

Our mystery month selections are listed below. Which was your favorite?

2001: Green for Danger by Christianna Brand
2002: Death of an Expert Witness by P.D. James
2003: For the Sake of Elena by Elizabeth George
2004: The Missing Piece by Antoine Bello
2005: Death Comes as Epiphany by Sharan Newman
2006: And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie
2007: Dead Famous by Ben Elton
2008: The Virgin of Small Plains by Nancy Pickard

Lit Lovers!

Lit Lovers is a website designed for book clubs. It has a really cute design and has suggestions for book selections (many of which we have read!), recipe ideas (including Indian and British food that might be appropriate for our next meeting - no Russian meals or spiced popcorn though), discussion guides, and mini-courses on literature appreciation. I think I'm going to visit again. I'll post a permanent link on the bottom left side of our blog.

Oh! And Lit Lovers has a featured book club section. I have written to the developer to see if we can be a featured book club at some point. Since we have our own blog and all!!

Poetry

My cousin David is a poet (and an English professor). When I was young I would try to read this poetry books that my parent's had stacked on their book shelf (same shelf as the classic "North and the South" by John Jakes---god I loved Patrick Swayze back then). Anyway, I could never really understand the meaning of his poetry and it always made me feel nonliterary. I thought it might be interesting if I brought a book of his poems to book club...we could read a poem or two and everyone could share in their amazement that I'm related to someone who speaks so eloquently (yes, I had to use spell-checker for this entire post).

Here's a link to some of his work in anyone is interested...

Can't eat, can't work, can't sleep??

The Post-Birthday World: Is it possible not to love, but to be in love with a book? I finished it last night at 2:30 AM, basically reading the last half in one sitting. When I stood up to stretch and ruminate, I had no idea what time it was and was shocked to see the numbers glowing on the kitchen stove clock. I slept soon after, but not very deeply. Some words describing my feelings today: giddy, all stomach butterflies, completely unable to concentrate on work, and increasingly, achingly empty. I need more coffee to clear my head but I'm afraid of increasing my heart rate even more! The precipice of pleasure and pain indeed!

I remember Allison writing about needing to take a walk after Cold Mountain. On the one hand, I want to hurry up and process this book and move on because really, I have work to do. But on the other hand, I hate to let Irina, Ramsey and Lawrence go. I was considering re-reading the book immediately to be better able to discuss it next week but at this point I think that would be torture. Let the mourning period begin.

Alas

I have just discovered the person I want to be. All envy aside, it looks like it might be a useful site for our club!

Have you started The Post-Birthday World yet?

1. Are you as stunned as I am by this book? The writing is breathtaking, painful, precise.
2. Like Irina, I am completely obsessed with Ramsey Acton.
   
3. Thematically, PBW follows Ghostwritten really well - with all the events hinging on a chance, split-second decision.
4. I cannot stress this enough: be very careful when you do a google image search for snooker.
   
5. Is anyone else thinking that we have had some really awesome book club selections lately? All of our books in 2008 have been really, really good. We rock!
   

Someone who gets it!

This morning I allowed myself to read all the Sex and the City reviews. I got more and more frustrated by stupid male reviewers, and then the woman who wrote the NYT review really pissed me off. Get this: she disregarded the movie for its one-dimensional male characters! But I finally found one I completely agree with so I thought I'd share it. It's from an LA Times (female) reviewer.

____________________

Also, I was doing some reading on the new Brideshead Revisited, for which we saw a preview last night, and found this awesome bit about Emma Thompson and the weight of the actress who plays Julia. Go Emma!

Ghostwritten follow-up

This morning I was thinking about Ghostwritten and the series of random events/coincidences that led to the end of the book. That got me thinking about the series of random events in my own life, which got me thinking about the series of random events that brought us all together in bookclub. If we were to write a book about the formation of our bookclub using the Lost/Ghostwritten style of storytelling, which random connections would we include?

For me, I picked biostatistics as my major because I liked the color of the brochure. If the brochure had been another color, or if I'd seen another one I'd liked better, I might never have met most of you, and Dawn, Liz, Katie and I might not have started the bookclub. Liz, I remember you and I started working at RTI the same day - wasn't sure if you met Katie and Dawn separately. If not, if we'd started work on different days, we might not have connected. So what led us to working there on the same day? Can anyone else think of any, seemingly unrelated, random events that brought us all together? I know there's a Buffy connection, and Marina has a lot of random connections with everyone!

Friday Bookish Meme

From BTT:

Books and films both tell stories, but what we want from a book can be different from what we want from a movie. Is this true for you? If so, what’s the difference between a book and a movie?

Summer Reading

I always look forward to the NPR summer reading story with recommendations from independent booksellers. Here's this summer's edition. The full list of recommendations is here.

Kate Vaiden: Final Results

didn't like it - 0
it was ok - 2
liked it - 1
really liked it - 2
it was amazing - 1
didn't finish it - 0

6 votes total.

July Book: Race and Politics

For the July book, I pick Dreams from My Father by Barack Obama. It is his memoir about race, class and politics in his life, written after he graduated from Harvard Law School but before he began his political career. This Paper Cuts post mentions the book in the context of questions about Obama's ability to win white blue-collar voters.

Buffy still inspires!

Check out how Buffy saves a NPR reporter's soul....

Never Enough Books

Last weekend, I was watching CBS Sunday Morning (yes, I'm an old person) and I saw the sweetest story about a couple and their book collection. One million books! He was a farmer and has gradually turned building after building on their farm, including a manure tank, into book storage facilities and a book store. She was a professor and at one point he sold his cows so that he could attend graduate school with her, typing all of her papers. Watch this video, it will make you feel good.

Breathtaking!

What is librophilia?

Check out these beautiful pictures and fall in love.

Friday Bookish Meme

From BTT:

Scenario: You’ve just bought some complicated gadget home . . . do you read the accompanying documentation? Or not?

Do you ever read manuals?

How-to books?

Self-help guides?

Anything at all?

Essential Reading

Um, I finished Ghostwritten a few days ago and was really confused. But mostly in a good way.

The wiki summary is enlightening - I so only picked up on about 25% of the story.

I can't wait to discuss it. I'll try to pull together some other materials for us to reference.

Other links:
a published review
a lit blog review

I know we can come up with some better ones

Who are the thinking woman's sex gods?

Paper Cuts wants to know.

Usually I'm really good at this but can't come up with a list right now.

Clive Owen?
Christian Bale?

It must be low hormone time for me because nothing is coming to mind.

Friday Bookish Meme

Writing guides, grammar books, punctuation how-tos . . . do you read them? Not read them? How many writing books, grammar books, dictionaries–if any–do you have in your library?

This one's for all the statisticians . . .

The Indexed blog, sample below. Genius. She's now featured on Freakonomics.

I love this picture.

Obama drinks PBR in Raleigh!

Friday Bookish Meme

From BTT . . .

OK this week's seems kind of lame. But whatever:

Quick! It’s an emergency! You just got an urgent call about a family emergency and had to rush to the airport with barely time to grab your wallet and your passport. But now, you’re stuck at the airport with nothing to read. What do you do??

And, no, you did NOT have time to grab your bookbag, or the book next to your bed. You were . . . grocery shopping when you got the call and have nothing with you but your wallet and your passport (which you fortuitously brought with you in case they asked for ID in the ethnic food aisle). This is hypothetical, remember….

Some New Blogs

Here are some noteworthy blogs I visited as part of the Weekly Geek challenge.

Tripping Toward Lucidity - Well when I saw she was in NC, I had to visit. She has excellent taste and a lovely blog layout.

Bybee's blog is personable, honest and interesting. I could not stop giggling about and envying her Middlemarch dream featuring Will Ladislaw.

Tammy in FL's blog documents her reading, and her attempts to complete 101 goals in 1001 days! She is a girl after my own heart.

Everyday Reads - a lovely and insanely readable blog. And she gets it when she speaks in beatitudes about Atonement, which you'll remember got nods as our book club's most admired selection.

Book Club Classics - I like how this blog is book club-oriented; not just book review or book news oriented. For any of you who are searching for ideas about what to pick for your next selection, she maintains a great list.

Election Day

Help! I still can't decide who to vote for! Has anyone truly made up their mind? Do you mind sharing why? Post in the comments if you feel comfortable.

I'm totally obsessing about it and being way too strategic.

Weekly Geeks, a Challenge

In our book club, we are all geeked out and proud of it. I'm discovering that the blog world is full of geek pride.

Last week I posted about book reading challenges. This week I found a book blogging challenge, called the Weekly Geeks. It is a blog reading challenge for book and reading bloggers.

The challenge is kind of complicated but it works like this.

1. The Weekly Geek theme is posted.
2. Sometime in the following week, you post about your progress in your blog.
3. Leave a link to your post in the Weekly Geek theme comments.
4. Other readers of the Weekly Geek theme are encouraged to come view your blog.

So I'm going to try doing this challenge on behalf of First the Food. I am interested to see if our blog appeals to other blog readers. I also wonder if other people blog their book clubs the way we do.

Friday Bookish Meme

From BTT . . .

Do your reading habits change in the Spring? Do you read gardening books? Even if you don’t have a garden? More light fiction than during the Winter? Less? Travel books? Light paperbacks you can stick in a knapsack?

Or do you pretty much read the same kinds of things in the Spring as you do the rest of the year?

What to Read Next

The Millions blog posted about "the way we read," meaning, how readers choose their next books. One person described in the post read alternating male and female authors for an entire year. Another person (it may be the same reader actually) used a spreadsheet with a "short list" of books and then a random number generator selected the next book for him off the short list.

Reading challenges appear to be popular among bookish blog writers. Someone will suggest a challenge, for example, in the next 6 months read 6 books with an Arthurian theme. Or, read 3 books that have been recommended to you by other people.

Reading challenges appeal to me because I like the idea of making a list and crossing books off it once I've finished them. Who doesn't love a sense of accomplishment? But I've yet to join one. If I turn reading into a compulsive list-making exercise, it will be like everything else in my life! I just want to keep it special.

How do you pick the next book you're going to read? Do you have a system? Is it completely spur-of-the-moment, based on your mood? Do you set goals for yourself? Do you accomplish them?

Pasta Night

Wednesday is pasta night in my household. About every other week I make this recipe, Broccoli Pasta Alfredo. The mock "alfredo" is sauce made from plain yogurt, ricotta, parmesan, and walnuts. It is the perfect busy family-working mom recipe. Why?

1. It cooks in 30 minutes or less and requires only 1 pot (plus the food processor).
2. It contains a green vegetable - and you can easily make it with frozen broccoli to make it easier.
3. Fresh garlic!
4. The half cup of walnuts is a great way to give your family some good fats.
5. It contains no meat, and the ingredients can be kept in the fridge for a week or longer so it is always on standby.
6. It's super easy to vary with seasonal veggies and herbs. Mmm, fresh basil makes it so yummy.
7. I have made it with low fat and no fat yogurt and ricotta and it's been just has good.

I love making this recipe -since it's no-fail, I feel so confident and talented when I do it, like when Bridget Jones goes shopping for her dinner party, before the cooking turns into a disaster! Does anyone else have favorite go-to recipes like this?

Friday Bookish Meme

(Sorry I skipped last week folks . . . it was that evil cold.)

From BTT:

I’ve always wondered what other people do when they come across a word/phrase that they’ve never heard before. I mean, do they jot it down on paper so they can look it up later, or do they stop reading to look it up on the dictionary/google it or do they just continue reading and forget about the word?

Post your answers in the comments!

The Virgin of Small Plains: Final Results

didn't like it - 0
it was ok - 0
liked it - 2
really liked it - 4
it was amazing - 0
didn't finish it - 0

6 votes total.

Read these books!

Or at least, read the list. The book, 1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die, was published a few years ago. I am always drawn to it when book browsing, but then I talk myself out of it - why do I need to spend my time reading about reading books . . . wouldn't it be better spent reading actual books?

Then I found a neat little tool. Someone called Arukiyomi has created a spreadsheet that you can use to track your progress through the list. I spent about 5 minutes filling it out for myself. I have read 80 of the listed books, or about 8%. According to the spreadsheet, that means if I die at the average age of a female (provided by the spreadsheet), I have to read 19 of these a year for the rest of my life to finish the list!!

OK, that's stressful. But the really cool part of filling out the spreadsheet? A total of 21 of those books, I'd read in book club. At our current rate of about 2 per year, that means in another 500 years we'll have the list completed!

Here are the book club books on the list, in reverse chronological order:

Middlesex
Atonement
Life of Pi
White Teeth
The Blind Assassin
The Poisonwood Bible
The God of Small Things
Alias Grace
A Fine Balance
Corelli's Mandolin
Cat's Eye
Beloved
The Handmaid's Tale
A Confederacy of Dunces
One Hundred Years of Solitude
Lolita
Tender is the Night
The Awakening
The Portrait of a Lady
Anna Karenina
Jane Eyre

All I have to say, is good thing we read all those Margaret Atwood books!

Jhumpa Lahiri

The Namesake is one of my favorite books we read in book club. I just can't wait to read Lahiri's new collection of stories which, as usual, is getting stellar reviews.

Live Blogging Sense and Sensibility!! Part 2

This week, I read some other live blogs and realized that I did not use the conventional style for mine. So this week I'm going to do that, for example:

9:01 Getting started. Hi Gillian! Oooh, X-Files movie coming out soon.

9:02 Oh jeez this Tom Le Froy crap. Why does it have to be a man who taught Jane about love? Of course he had been in love with her . . . she was famous by then! Probably everybody who met her when she was 18 said that.

Anyway so I will just post and edit as we go.

9:03 I'm not really in the same mood as last week. I have some proposal crap to work on and I'm leaving for the airport at 6:30 AM. Not even close to being packed. And I'm getting Charlie's cold because yesterday morning when he coughed, his output landed in my eye.

9:05 In college, as a proper Janeite rationalist, I much preferred Elinor. Romantic sensibility, bosh. But these days I feel more sympathy for Marianne. Jane is a little harsh with her. Maybe that's why I find this gentle version of her appealing.

9:08 I agree with Dawn, this Edward is better than Hugh Grant.

9:09 And now he's chopping wood and sweating. And brooding. OMG. He's the bomb.

9:11 Oh Mr. Palmer!! I miss Hugh Laurie so much. Who the heck is Dr. House anyway?

9:12 Back to the chopping and sweating - that damp ruffled white shirt is the Davies formula. And it works!

9:14 Oh the Misses Steele are hysterical!! I love them!!

9:16 This Elinor is so good!

9:20 LOL! Charlotte's silks!

9:24 Colonel Brandon.

9:25 If only Hugh Laurie and those Misses Steele would get together. Oh it would be so funny.

9:26 Poor Marianne. Does anybody else remember going to the school dances and looking for that one guy all night? Especially after you spent one delightful night flirting and bonding with him, over Dinosaur Jr and the Cure, or something like that, and he told you he'd see you at the dance? Only when you finally found him he was dancing with someone more popular and blonder? Yep, I had that same misery and his name was Kevin Peterson. Good on me, I didn't faint. Thankfully so, because there was no Colonel Brandon to catch me. But I like to believe I am better for it!!

OK no need to dwell on age 15 anymore. Ick.

9:30 Wait, while I was reminiscing, Colonel Brandon is fighting Willoughby? I am confused. Did this happen in the book? It's completely enjoyable, but is it canon?

9:34 Oh poor wretched Marianne. I just can't stand it.

9:37 Oh right, I remember. That's why he's fighting Willoughby. Elinor's black with white striped dress is so awesome.

9:44 Miss Lucy Steele. So funny! I love her!

9:45 "I have heard him say he was never any happier than with us at Norland." Go Marianne!

10:04 Does this Jane Austen book have the best sisterly relationship? I think it might. Will have to think about it some more.

10:15 Those are falcons and not carrier pigeons right? OK, definitely a falconer.

10:17 Poor Elinor! She is too restrained. I never studied this in school. But the ideal is something between Elinor and Marianne right? Elinor is not Jane's ideal is she? I mean I love her, but she's not just practical she's terribly repressed.

10:23 Chickens?!! That's how it ends? With chickens??

10:27 Russ is home from Kentucky. I need to catch up with him (then write my proposal, then pack for Cincinnati) and I will have to process this later. It was really good until it ended with barnyard fowl.

White People??

The blog Stuff White People Like is kind of amusing and fascinating, in an Onion sort of way.

Friday Bookish Meme

From BTT:

• When somebody mentions “literature,” what’s the first thing you think of? (Dickens? Tolstoy? Shakespeare?)
• Do you read “literature” (however you define it) for pleasure? Or is it something that you read only when you must?

Comments, anyone?

(This one's not as good as some . . .)

Big TV News

News for Dawn Joss Whedon fans: his new series starts this fall on Fox! Starring Eliza Dushku. It’s called Dollhouse and here’s a description:

The drama, stars Dushku as Echo, a member of a group of men and women who are imprinted with different personalities for different assignments. In between tasks they are mind-wiped, living like children in Dollhouse, a futuristic dorm/lab. A group of people, known as "Actives" (or "Dolls"), have had their personalities wiped clean so they can be imprinted with any number of new personas and hired out for particular jobs, crimes, fantasies and occasional good deeds. When not imprinted, the Actives live, childlike and unremembering, in a hidden facility nicknamed "The Dollhouse". Although the Actives are ostensibly volunteers, the operation is highly illegal, and under constant threat from a determined federal agent on one end and an insane rogue Active on the other. The story hinges around a greater and more subtle threat: Echo, a female Active, begins, in her mind-wiped state, to become self-aware.

Sounds very complicated. But good! It will be so nice to have Whedon back on TV. Also for Dawn BSG fans: one of the main characters is played by Helo from Battlestar. Yep, I like him.

Love and Books

The NY Times Book Review had an interesting essay this weekend about whether literary taste is a deal breaker in relationships. While the idea of Harper and I sitting around discussing novels and sipping coffee sounds nice, I'm okay that it's probably never going to happen. I mostly read fiction and he reads non-fiction and comic books. When we first started dating, I thought it would be fun to have our own mini book club. Oh, how naive. Our first book was A Confederacy of Dunces, my pick, and neither of us liked it. Our second book, his pick, was Summer for the Gods, a history of the Scopes trial. I think I read about 10 pages. And there our book club ended. Oh well, at least we both like to read.

What about everyone else? Would someone's reading taste affect how you feel about them? Could you be with a non-reader?

Done for the Night

Part one of Sense and Sensibility is over! I guess there's just one more episode left.

Oooh and previews for next week: Colonel Brandon is a falconer! Yummy.

OK sorry that all my live blogging is just about how cute the boys are but really, isn't that the purpose of these Jane Austen adaptations?

night-night.

Oh good grief

Willoughby is spouting his Byron. Whatever.

When I was thinking of baby names I liked the name Marianne, because of this book.

The Arrival of Willoughby

Hmm. He's OK I guess!

Oh and Sir John is Arthur Weasley.

Ack, this part always breaks my heart when Colonel Brandon comes to see Marianne after she's fallen (literally) for Willoughby. Ouch! I hate it so much.

I love this Colonel Brandon. Have to say. Not so into the Willoughby.

Marianne Dashwood

This Marianne is really growing on me. It's weird. She's not Kate, but she's got a sweetness that Kate doesn't have.

Oh! My heavens. Who is that Colonel Brandon?? He's very Darcy/Colin Firth like. Oh! According to IMDB he's that scheming Duke of Norfolk from The Other Boleyn Girl. Have to admit, I did find him intriguing, um OK sexy, in Boleyn Girl.

Margaret Dashwood

This Margaret Dashwood is totally adorable. What else was she in . . . let's check IMDB.

Holy Shit! There's a new-ish Brit TV version of Ballet Shoes - starring Emma Watson! (Lucy Boyton, aka Margaret Dashwood, plays Posy.) Ohhh . . . did any of you read the Shoes books? I loved them so much! I still have my old copies.

Damn, it's not available on Netflix. Just a 1975 US made for TV version.

I think I like this Edward better than Hugh!

I like how he's not quite so nervous.

Awww . . . Edward and Elinor are bonding in the dead fathers' club.

Love the Production Value

It's absolutely gorgeous.

It's just so hard for me to not think of Emma Thompson, Kate Winslet and Hugh Grant.

Wow it's kind of weird that the the woman playing Elinor has almost the same voice/accent as Emma Thompson. And the woman playing Henry's wife is playing it much like the woman in the Emma Thompson/Ang Lee version. She also seems like she went to the Miranda Richardson school of acting.

WTF??

Is this Jane??

That must be Willoughby, that cad.

Live Blogging Sense and Sensibility!!

Sense and Sensibility was her first published novel!!

I hope Gillian Anderson keeps announcing after the Austen series. It's fun to see her.

Whoah that's a steamy opening for a Jane Austen book. Might have to stop typing for a minute . . .

Cops' Favorite Books

I don't know why, but this is a really fun article to read about several cops in the Seattle area and their current and favorite reading material.

I read about this article and the Steinbeck piece from The Millions book blog.

John Steinbeck

There's an interesting review of Steinbeck's work in the New York Review of Books. It's kind of snide. I have always loved Steinbeck so much I forget how often he is criticized. Mostly for being moralistic and preachy. But I like my artists moralistic and preachy (hello Bono!). The review makes The Winter of Our Discontent sound interesting - especially in that it's such a different context much of his other work (i.e. northern elite rather than California farmers).

Friday Bookish Meme

From BTT . . .

While acknowledging that we can’t judge books by their covers, how much does the design of a book affect your reading enjoyment? Hardcover vs. softcover? Trade paperback vs. mass market paperback? Font? Illustrations? Etc.?

Post your answer in the comments and have a great weekend everyone!

Sense and Sensibility

USA Today gave the PBS's Sense and Sensibility four stars and said PBS saved the best for last. I absolutely loved "Miss Austen Regrets" and I can't imagine how S&S could be any better but I'm very excited to see for myself.

Genius Recipe

Happy Monday everyone!! I just had to share this genius recipe I made yesterday for Easter/Charlie's birthday. It is going to be an Easter tradition in my house . . .

Yes, it's Peeps Fondue! I deserve no credit, I didn't make it up. It was featured in Real Simple's online article, New Uses for Peeps. Melted chocolate and cream (with a bit of vanilla or brandy added) vastly improves the stale cardboard taste of Peeps. It absolutely delicious in a deep fried candy bar sort of way. Plus, if your friends and family are all secret sadists like mine are, there is great pleasure taken in stabbing the cheerfully tacky bunnies and chicks and dunking them in molten chocolate.

My Basic Recipe (adapted from Real Simple):
1 1/2 c. heavy cream
1 1/2 12 oz bags semisweet chocolate chips
a few dashes vanilla extract or almond extract, or brandy or some other booze
plenty of Peeps!

Bring cream to a simmer on stove top. Mix in chocolate chips and extracts. When melted transfer to fondue pot and serve.

Entering the Wake

We've got until May, but it must be said: Finnegans Wake - holy shit. Have you people been reading about this? Check the wikipedia and Amazon reviews. Then confess all fears and trepidations in the comments here. I am right there with you. I think if we just approach it without looking for a story, it could be fun.

Also I think the Joseph Campbell key to Finnegans Wake looks really interesting. Maybe some of us could read that instead of FW?

Here's a story about a book club affiliated with Boston College that is entirely devoted to Finnegans Wake.

Friday Bookish Meme

From BTT . . .

You’ve just reached the end of a book . . . what do you do now? Savor and muse over the book? Dive right into the next one? Go take the dog for a walk, the kids to the park, before even thinking about the next book you’re going to read? What?

My answer's in the comments!

Wil Wheaton

Did you all know that Wil Wheaton still blogs? Of course he does, he's Wil Wheaton! I moseyed over to his site after visiting The Park Bench this morning. I love how he's made a career of being a professional geek. The most recent post comments on Arthur C. Clarke, Obama's race speech, and his family. It could get addictive.

Water for Elephants: Final Results

didn't like it - 0
it was ok - 2
liked it - 2
really liked it - 1
it was amazing - 0
didn't finish it - 1

6 votes total.

Friday Bookish Blog Meme

I have not been posting for a while. Does anyone still check this blog? I hope you still do! There is kind of a neat blog out there, called Booking Through Thursday. They ask all their readers to respond to a conversation point related to books every Thursday, and post links to their blogs in the comments. (Called a meme, does anybody else in First the Food land do blog memes? It reminds me of pen pal friendship books. Those were so awesome!)

Until I get better ideas for things to post, I will be copying their Thursday memes.

Today's is:

"How about a chance to play editor-in-chief? Fill in the blanks:

__________ would have been a much better book if ______________________."

Does anybody have any thoughts?

Library Elf

Library Elf is an interesting service I just discovered. You set up an account, select your library from a list, and enter your card # and PIN. When your books are due, it sends you email reminders and text messages! I really need this. I have paid about $20 in library fines this year already for overdue books. With that much money I spent I could have bought a Barnes and Noble membership!

Blog Crushes

Most of us are here because we are a little bit addicted to blog reading, blog writing, blog commenting, or all three. Like memoir, the essence of blog isn't really the quality of the writing, or the meaning of the story. It's how much you like the author. As a reader, you find a voice you like, that makes you feel good, that you want to check in with every day, maybe joke around with in the comments if you're feeling daring. And when you post your comments? You spend 30 minutes editing 30 words. OK, maybe you all don't. But that's kinda how it is for me. Sounds a lot like . . . a crush! Blog crushes - we all have them. Who are yours?

My top blog crushes of the moment:
Mike Doughty, rock star. Most endearing post - confessing that he didn't vote in the primary.
Matt Raymond, Library of Congress director of communications. I just learned about this site this week as it was nominated by South by Southwest for a best blog award.
Mrs. Furious, stay at home mom. She's been documenting her cooking, housekeeping and weight loss for about a year now. And she totally cracks me up! (See this post on one of her most memorable gifts from her husband.) I love any SAHM who curses as much as she does.
Gretchen Rubin, founder of The Happiness Project blog. This is like one of those intimidating crushes on a professor. I can't quite keep up with her life improvement tips. But she's really cool.

Snow Flower and Secret Fan Author in Durham

Lisa See, author of Snow Flower and the Secret Fan is going to be at the Regulator Bookshop in Durham on March 13th. I would like to go if anyone else is interested. Here are the details:

LISA SEE
Thursday, March 13, 2008, 7:00 p.m.
Lisa See will read from and sign copies of her bestselling (New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, San Francisco Chronicle, Boston Globe, and Entertainment Weekly) book, Peony in Love, newly available in paperback. Publishers Weekly writes, "A coming-of-age story, a ghost story, a family saga and a work of musical and social history...Peony's vibrant voice, perfectly pitched between the novel's historical and passionate depths, carries her story beautifully-in life and afterlife." See is also the author of the bestseller Snow Flower and the Secret Fan.

VALIS?

So did anyone else watch Lost last night? I'm trying to read Internet comments but am annoyed by all the comments about Sawyer's bedroom scene (not that I didn't enjoy it) and people gloating that they caught the twist all along. I for one didn't see it coming, but I've read enough online to know that the book featured in the beginning, VALIS by Philip K. Dick, holds clues to the episode and series ending overall. So, has anyone read this book? I glanced at the Wikipedia entry and promptly decided even that is too complicated for me to understand, so I was hoping for a simpler summary. Judging from the description, I'm glad we read A Scanner Darkly because Dick seems to get way more complex in his other works.

April Book Pick

I have chosen Kate Vaiden for our April meeting. It is by Reynolds Price who just celebrated 50 years of teaching at Duke.

On a side note, Powell's Books is an excellent resource for reading about books and helping decide which books to choose for book club. There are usually multiple reviews and first chapters. I find reading first chapters most helpful when narrowing down books.

Anna Karenina: Final Results

didn't like it - 0
it was OK - 1
liked it -1
really liked it- 1
it was amazing - 0

3 votes total.

I didn't vote because I still haven't finished it yet! I may come back and comment if/when I ever finish.

U2 3D

If you're even a moderate U2 fan, and you haven't been to see U2 3D, you should go. Russ took me last night for Valentine's Day (we celebrate on the night we can get a babysitter!) and it was so good. It's like being at a concert, but with an omniscient perspective - you can see all Bono, Larry, Edge and Adam's pores, hair follicles, sweat beads, etc. You see the enormous Argentinian crowd from their perspective.

It's interesting to see how they have their work stations set up around the stage. Also you get to see how they interact with each other, to me which is the real artistry and beauty of U2, the connection that these 4 men have been able to build and maintain for 30 years now.

Seriously, go see it, it's not something you'll be able to experience at home on video.

Allison's Favorite Book-to-Movie Adaptations

As you're reading a book, do you visualize how you would film it if you were making it into a movie? I usually think about which scene I would open with. The only movie I can remember actually matching up with what was in my head was A Thousand Acres. But I can't remember enough about the movie or book to add it to the following list:
1. Cold Mountain. I loved this book so much that I was afraid to watch the movie, especially when I heard Nicole Kidman was cast in the lead role. But happily, I loved the movie too. Points deducted though for filming most of the movie in Romania rather than North Carolina.
2. The English Patient. Another Anthony Minghella movie. Was Truly Madly Deeply a book first? If so, I should read it. I actually saw The English Patient before reading the book and I liked the movie better perhaps because the love story is more prominent in the movie. I'm curious how I would have felt if I read the book first.
3. The Secret Garden. The version of this movie I liked best was a 1987 Hallmark Hall-of-Fame TV movie that added a nice little epilogue that I don't think was in the book. I have not seen this movie in probably 20 years though so take this recommendation with a grain of salt.

... So I'm stuck. I can't think of any more book-to-movie adaptations that I liked and where I had also read the book (a rule I imposed for myself). So instead, here are two book-to-movie adaptations I'm excited about:
1. The Time Traveler's Wife
2. Shutter Island

Podcasts

Since I got my lovely red iPod Nano for Christmas, I have been listening to podcasts. I love listening to them while on the treadmill at the gym or while folding and putting away laundry. Apparently, Slate produces audio book club podcasts and they've just released one on Eat, Pray, Love. It looks interesting. I think I'll listen to it at the gym today and will report back later this week.

2001 Book List

January: The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver and Sister of my Heart by Chirta Divakaruni
February: Green For Danger by Christiana Brand
April: Waiting by Ha Jin
May: The Red Tent by Anita Diamant
June: Anil's Ghost by Michael Ondaatje
July: Taller Women by Laurence Naumoff
August: The Color of Water by James McBride
September: Kindred by Octavia Butler
October: Immortality by Milan Kundera
November: Bee Season by Myla Goldberg

Friday Five: Book to Movie Adaptations

Allison had this great idea for a Friday list. What are your top 5 book to movie adaptations? I'll have to do some more thinking about this but here are my initial thoughts:

1. A Room with a View. Best movie adaptation of a book ever. Period.
2. Bridget Jones' Diary. Can't top casting Colin Firth as Mark Darcy. Although it results in the loss of some of the best jokes. And I always have to chuckle when I remember that that's Tom playing the evil genius Gaius on Battlestar Galactica!
3. L.A. Confidential. Curtis Hanson made a good pulpy noir mystery a literary masterpiece, and gave Russell Crowe his career.
4. Little Women with Susan Sarandon, Winona Ryder, Claire Danes and Christian Bale. I always wanted to love the book but found it sooooo dull! Then I saw the movie. Love it!
5. Lord of the Rings. The whole trilogy. It took me 4 months to read the trilogy, and about 3 of those months were spent dragging through The Two Towers. But somehow Peter Jackson made it my favorite of the 3 movies! I can watch the battle at Helms Deep over and over and over again. I still get emotional when the elves show up to aid the men.

Now post your own! Happy Friday, everyone!

Graphic Novels

I've always been interested in graphic novels and comics in general but have never really read either. My favorite blog (pop candy) is posting lists of recommendations for those of us who are new to the genre. Today's list is the 25 essential graphic novels:


I just might choose one for my next book club pick!

September 2000: The Sparrow

In the fall of 2000, we read one of the most provocative books I think we've ever read. I noticed it wasn't on anyone's Top 10 list. It's not the kind of book that's lovable, like The Time Traveler's Wife, or Eat, Pray, Love. It's not really beautiful, either, like Lolita or Atonement. It's a book with a compelling mystery and an interesting problem that leads to a horrifying resolution. Really, I can't remember ever being so shocked by a book.

The story is: humans pick up audio signals, breathtakingly beautiful music, indicating sentient life on another planet. First contact is made by a team of Jesuits led by a Puerto Rican priest, Father Sandoz, the main character of the book. But something goes wrong on the expedition. Father Sandoz is the only survivor. When he returns he's been tortured, has lost the use of his hands, and he's lost his faith. There are two narratives working both backwards from Sandoz's account and forwards from the departure of the Jesuits to the culmination of the story and the explanation of what went wrong.

The Sparrow made me wish I was more religious. (A lot of books make me feel that way, really, but this one even more so.) It powerfully addresses the question of what it means to have faith and that idea I find fascinating, that doubt is perhaps the most important element of faith. I especially think it's interesting to hear what Catholics think of the novel. It's very Catholic in that the meaningfulness of the story hinges on a confession.

The author has had an interesting religious life. She writes that after being raised Catholic (nominally) and living her young adulthood as an atheist, she saw purpose for religion. From her website:

"In 1986, I became a mother and began to realise that I wanted my son to be raised in the kind of solid moral and ethical framework that had served me well, even as an atheist. Nevertheless, I could not return to Christianity in any of its forms. For me, the Incarnation was and is an insuperable barrier to faith.

After years of reading, thought and study, I made a formal conversion to Judaism in 1992. Judaism is, in essense, about raising children who will want to be good, without the bribe of heaven or the threat of hell. It proved to be a wonderful framework for our family. My son has grown up to be a mensch -- a good and strong man. He is about to found his own family with my darling almost-a-daughter Jessie. I look forward to having Jewish grandchildren someday, but that's up to the kids now."