"Atlas Shrugged is absurd but strangely compellling . . ."

Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand is one of many highly read, often cited books that I have never read. I read The Fountainhead in high school and liked it, but then later learned that Rand was a brutal capitalist and haven't been as impressed with it since. Has anyone read Atlas Shrugged? This review certainly makes me interested. Maybe it would be a good choice for the January book one year? I must admit one reason I'm interested is because every now and then it gets discussed on Mad Men!

YA News

Judy Blume's books have been given new covers. What do you think? It's making me want to re-read Deenie. The copy I had was dated even when I read it.

Blindness: Final Results

didn't like it - 0
it was OK - 1
liked it - 0
really liked it - 1
it was amazing - 0
didn't finish it - 4

6 votes total

What do you do in your succissive moments?

That is, your spare time.

I read.

I found Save the Words while blogreading today.

And I did not want to temerate my recent public commitment to updating the blog every week.

Lost Boys of Sudan

Has anyone read What is the What, Dave Eggers' novel/biography about Valentino Achak Deng, a Sudanese refugee? I've heard great things about this book but have not read it myself. Today at work I received an email that Deng along with some other refugees will be in the area early next week to talk about their experiences and the nonprofit they've started to build schools in Sudan. Below is the schedule of their appearances which can also be found here. I'm thinking about going to the one Monday night if anyone is interested.

March 23: UNC-Chapel Hill, 12:30-2:00pm in the Blue Cross Blue Shield Auditorium located in the Hooker Building.

March 23: Judea Reform Synagogue 7:00-9:00pm

March 24: Wake Forest University, 11:00-12:30pm in the Pugh Auditorium in the Benson Center.

March 24: Duke University, 4:30-6:00pm at Fleischman Commons in the Sandford Institute for Public Policy.

March 25: Meredith College, 10:00-12:00pm in Jones Chapel.

The Time Traveler's Wife: The Sequel

Not a sequel, but Audrey Niffenegger, author of The Time Traveler's Wife, will have her second book out in the fall. It is titled Her Fearful Symmetry and according to this article it is "supernatural story about twins who inherit an apartment near a London cemetery and become embroiled in the lives of the building’s other residents and the ghost of their aunt, who left them the flat."

Speaking of The Time Traveler's Wife, Liz informed me that the movie version has been pushed back to February 2010. In other book/movie news, I read in Entertainment Weekly that Julia Roberts will star in "Eat, Pray, Love."

Best Fashion Blog Post Ever

You must, must look! Storybook inspired fashion. I especially love the Nancy Drew outfit.

Facebook

I love this top 10 list of why Facebook is for old people. I'm cutting and pasting the list so you don't have to, but it came from Time magazine.


1. Facebook is about finding people you've lost track of. And, son, we've lost track of more people than you've ever met. Remember who you went to prom with junior year? See, we don't. We've gone through multiple schools, jobs and marriages. Each one of those came with a complete cast of characters, most of whom we have forgotten existed. But Facebook never forgets. (See the best social-networking applications.)

2. We're no longer bitter about high school. You're probably still hung up on any number of petty slights, but when that person who used to call us that thing we're not going to mention here, because it really stuck, asks us to be friends on Facebook, we happily friend that person. Because we're all grown up now. We're bigger than that. Or some of us are, anyway. We're in therapy, and it's going really well. These are just broad generalizations. Next reason.

3. We never get drunk at parties and get photographed holding beer bottles in suggestive positions. We wish we still did that. But we don't. (See pictures of Beer Country in Denver.)

4. Facebook isn't just a social network; it's a business network. And unlike, say, college students, we actually have jobs. What's the point of networking with people who can't hire you? Not that we'd want to work with anyone your age anyway. Given the recession — and the amount of time we spend on Facebook — a bunch of hungry, motivated young guns is the last thing we need around here.

5. We're lazy. We have jobs and children and houses and substance-abuse problems to deal with. At our age, we don't want to do anything. What we want is to hear about other people doing things and then judge them for it. Which is what news feeds are for.

6. We're old enough that pictures from grade school or summer camp look nothing like us. These days, the only way to identify us is with Facebook tags. (See pictures of a diverse group of American teens.)

7. We have children. There is very little that old people enjoy more than forcing others to pay attention to pictures of their children. Facebook is the most efficient engine ever devised for this.

8. We're too old to remember e-mail addresses. You have to understand: we have spent decades drinking diet soda out of aluminum cans. That stuff catches up with you. We can't remember friends' e-mail addresses. We can barely remember their names.

9. We don't understand Twitter. Literally. It makes no sense to us. (See the top 10 celebrity Twitter feeds.)

10. We're not cool, and we don't care. There was a time when it was cool to be on Facebook. That time has passed. Facebook now has 150 million members, and its fastest-growing demographic is 30 and up. At this point, it's way cooler not to be on Facebook. We've ruined it for good, just like we ruined Twilight and skateboarding. So git! And while you're at it, you damn kids better get off our lawn too.

Michelle's Arms

Is this ridiculous, or do people have an opinion on Michelle Obama's bare arm style?! I really like Maureen Dowd's essay.

Favorite First the Food Pick of 2008

I guess it's on the late side, but what was your favorite book club book of 2008? As a reminder, here were our selections:

January - Anna Karenina
February - Water for Elephants
March - The Virgin of Small Plains
April - Kate Vaiden
May -Ghostwritten
June - The Post-Birthday World
July - Dreams from My Father
August - Suite Francaise
September - The Alchemist
October - Dracula
November - The Blood of Flowers

The Blood of Flowers: Final Results

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

3 votes total.

I've been bad.....

Ok everyone - I finally put a shortcut to this site on my desktop.
So maybe I will post here more often. Someone please hold me accountable!!!!!
Glad to be back!
Katie

The Stand: Final Results

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

3 votes total.