Nine

That's the number of books I packed for a 1 week trip to Poland. Not a vacation. A business trip. Five are packed in my suitcase. Four are in my carry-on. Only 2 are for work. (1 each in carry on and in suitcase.) The five in my suitcase?

1. A Song for Summer by Eva Ibbotson
2. Swimming Lessons by Mary Alice Monroe
3. the last Sookie Stackhouse book (#9)
4. Coming of Age in Second Life (work book)
5. The Believers b (Zoe Heller)

The 4 in my carry-on?

1. Infinite Jest (all 1000+ pages)
2. the 8th Sookie Stackhouse book
3. The Survey Interview of the Future
4. the 7th Sookie Stackhouse book (already finished, on the flight from RDU to JFK)

Posting from the JFK airport.

Buffy vs. Edward

I kinda love this in theory. From Bookshelves of Doom.

You can also buy this T-shirt:

Case Histories: Final Results

didn't like it - 2

it was OK - 3

liked it - 0

really liked it - 2

it was amazing - 0

didn't finish it - 0

7 votes total.

Harry Potter: A Romance

Meg Cabot has a hillarious blog post (please, just click through to look at the comments on the pictures) on how the new Harry Potter movie promotional materials make it look like (gasp!) a romance.

What Would Irina Do?

Remember Irina McGovern, central character of The Post-Birthday World? The book hinged around her choice between contentment with one partner and passion with another.

Well, Irina was the first person I thought of (after my husband and myself, I guess) while reading this NYT review of the new book, A Vindication of Love: Reclaiming Romance for the 21st Century, by Christina Nehring. According to the Times Review, her book is an argument for a "darker, more demanding vision of love."

Nehring thinks the contented happy ending of a stable marriage is too tame. The choice to stay in such a marriage is less a sign of emotional health than of insecurity. She praises famous "great lovers" like Frida Kahlo and Heloise, women who had the confidence to entangle themselves in demanding or unorthodox relationships. (Does this mean that when I find my husband a challenge I can credit my mental fortitude?)

Nehring might be wrong, but I'm fascinated by her argument and want to read the book. I especially admire how she seems to present the willingness to love at great risk as the woman's choice - rather than the woman "falling in love" and losing control the way many novels seem to do. What do you think? Does this sound like a good selection for book club? It might lead to some great discussions.

Infinite Summer Reading Challenge

When David Foster Wallace died last fall, I kept reading articles about his life and his writing and I became intrigued in particular with his novel Infinite Jest. Coming in at 1000+ pages plus extensive endnotes, it has been featured on best of all-time lists like this one from Time. Yesterday I saw several links to this website, Infinite Summer, which is challenging people to read Infinite Jest from June 21st to September 22nd, 75 pages a week. This seems doable and kind of fun to me. I like the idea of reading a book with a large group of strangers. In addition to the blog, which will have daily postings by guides and forums for discussing the book, there is also a facebook group and a goodreads page dedicated to the project. Anybody in with me?

The Kindle

Does anyone have a Kindle or considered buying one? I've been firmly anti- e-readers in the past but I think I'm warming up to the idea of a Kindle. A few people at work have them and love them. I'm impressed by how close the text looks to book text and it would be so nice for travel. I recently realized you can subscribe to magazines through it too. I'm all for reducing book and magazine clutter in my house. At ~$360, it's still too expensive for me but I can only assume cheaper, better versions will continue to roll out as it gains in popularity.