First the Food

Photo Tour: The Marais, Paris

2010-03-07T07:13:00.008-05:00

Place des Vosges.

Jewish bakery on Rue des Rosiers.

Rue des Rosiers.

Bookstore.

Jewish Quarter.

Another Marais street.

Twelve Tips for Reading More

2010-02-04T20:02:00.003-05:00

My only New Year's resolution this year was to read more so I was excited to see twelve tips for doing just that in my recent newsletter from The Happiness Project. I think numbers 3 and 5 will be most helpful to me.

1. Quit reading. I used to pride myself on finishing every book I started. No more. Life is short. There are too many wonderful books to read.

2. Read books you enjoy. When I’m reading a book I love—for example, I’m now reading A. S. Byatt’s The Children’s Book—I’m astonished by how much time I find to read during my day. Which is another reason to stop reading a book I don’t enjoy.

3. Use TiVO. It’s much more efficient to watch shows on TiVO, because you skip the commercials and control when you watch. Then you have more time to read.

4. Skim. Especially when reading newspapers and magazines, often I get as much from skimming as I do by a leisurely reading. I have to remind myself to skim, but when I do, I get through material much faster.

5. Get calm. I have a sticky note posted in our bedroom that says, “Quiet mind.” It’s sometimes hard for me to settle down with a book; I keep wanting to jump up and take care of some nagging task. But that’s no way to read. Incidentally, one of the main reasons I exercise is to help me sit still for reading and writing -- if I don't exercise, I'm too jumpy.

6. Don’t fight my inclinations. Sometimes I feel like I should be reading one book when I actually feel like reading something entirely different. Now I let myself read what I want, because otherwise I end up reading much less.

7. Always have something to read. Never go anywhere empty-handed. I almost always read actual “books,” but I carry my Kindle with me everywhere, so that I know I’ll never be caught without something to read. It’s a great comfort.

8. Maintain a big stack. I find that I read much more when I have a pile waiting for me. Right now, I have to admit, my stack is so big that it’s a bit alarming, but I’ll get it down to a more reasonable size before too long.

9. Choose my own books. Books make wonderful gifts – both to receive and to give – but I try not to let myself feel pressured to read a book just because someone has given it to me. I always give a gift book a try, but I no longer keep reading if I don’t want to.

And some tips from great writers and readers:

10. Randall Jarrell: “Read at whim! Read at whim!”
11. Henry David Thoreau: “Read the best books first, otherwise you’ll find you do not have time.”
12. Samuel Johnson: “What we read with inclination makes a much stronger impression. If we read without inclination, half the mind is employed in fixing the attention; so there is but one half to be employed on what we read.”

The Girls from Ames Book Club Meeting

2010-01-28T21:53:00.008-05:00

Angela Bendorf Jamison, one of the eleven friends chronicled in The Girls From Ames, was our special guest at our book club meeting this month. Angela found us through one of our blog posts and graciously offered to come to one of our meetings. She answered all of our questions and updated us on the girls' lives. We had a great discussion about friendship and how it changes with the various stages of life. It was particularly interesting to get the behind-the-scenes scoop on how the book came together, the publication process and what's next for the group. Angela also posed for a picture with us - she's the second from the right in the back row.

Thanks for coming Angela!

"One rarely gets the sense in Roth that he would throw away his penis if he could."

2010-01-12T22:52:00.002-05:00

So. That title is hard to follow. But I've been thinking about this essay by Katie Roiphe for weeks. It's an essay on the "great American male writers" and how they write about sexuality. Basically, she points out that the Great Male Novelists of the 20th century (Roth, Updike, Bellow, etc.) were, in their writing, explicit and misogynist about sex. Sex was aggressive, virile, dirty, and well masculine. It was often uncomfortably intimate. It wasn't sweet.

But this was problematic, for feminists. The women characters in these books were often hated, ridiculed, despite the male characters' extreme displays of physical intimacy with them. So, post-feminism, we moved on. But what happened? When the next generation of great male writers established a collective voice, it was shockingly asexual. Think David Foster Wallace, Dave Eggers, Michael Chabon. Intimacy with women was reduced to, well, cuddling. Intimacy has become pure and childlike. There may be emotional connection between men and women. It might be romantic, but, well -- it's just not very sexy. It doesn't involve the intimacy of true risk-taking, soul-baring sex on the part of the characters. And if it doesn't involve risk - how can it be a genuine emotional connection?

I have some reactions to this article.

1) Hell yeah, Katie Roiphe is right! I feel like I have no interest in reading Roth, Updike, etc. But I do feel this infantilization of adult love that shows up in the books of the writers she mentions, including my beloved Jonathan Safran Foer! How can it be a good thing for sex, or masculinity, to become childlike?

2) But what about the women writers? Where do Shriver and Atwood and Niffenegger fit in? They write about sexual relationships between men and women that don't seem quite so childlike. What alternate perspectives are they presenting? Are they more real? Or more fantastic?

3) There are other male writers Roiphe doesn't mention: McEwan, Perotta, Irving. We have read all three of them in book club. Are they just not "great enough' for her to consider? Because they present alternate, less conservative, and riskier versions of sexuality.

4) She doesn't mention the "pornification" of our culture. Perhaps we don't need to visit the great male novelists for sexual explicitness, because whatever variety of porn you want is everywhere. The barriers were broken by the 60s, and being dirty is just not a big deal. Or maybe since sexual depravity is so commonplace, with internet porn, that level of intimacy is not needed between real people (or literary characters) to get the same effect. That's a little scary.

But I agree with Roiphe that something is lost. There's got to be something in the middle between misogynist and childlike. Just not sure what the next wave of writing will show. Does this strike a chord with anyone else? Would love to discuss at book club!

Allison's Favorite Read Books of 2009

2009-12-30T18:05:00.004-05:00

With just a few hours left in 2009, I wanted to post my top books of the year. According to Goodreads, I read just 15 books in 2009 so rather than do a top ten list I thought I would just highlight a few of my favorites. And speaking of the number of books I read, my one and only resolution this year is to read more -- hopefully at least two books a month.

Half the Sky: Turning Oppression into Opportunity for Women Worldwide is the book that stands out to me the most this year. What should be very depressing subject matter is actually uplifting and inspiring. The book is very readable and offers practical suggestions for what the reader can do to help. I hope this book becomes a part of high school and college curricula.

Most of my other non-book club reading this year was mysteries and I read two excellent ones this year: The Likeness and What the Dead Know. I heard the word mysterary somewhere once (mystery + literary) and that is a perfect description of these two books. The ending of What the Dead Know actually brought me to tears.

Happy New Year! Hold me to my New Year's reading resolution!

List Time! Liz's Favorite Books Read in 2009

2009-12-07T21:04:00.004-05:00

The New York Times released its Ten Best Books of 2009. I have not read any of them. (Although I do have Kate Walbert's A Short History of Women checked out from the library.)

For my top 10 list of 2009, I have to consider all the books I read this year. If I counted only 2009 releases, there would only be 1 or 2 on the list. But here's my list, in order (#1 is my fave of the year). What's on your list?

Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell (friendship, Victorian, magic)
The Host (body snatcher, not Twilight, love)
The Girl who Played with Fire (trafficking, justice, Sweden)
Dead and Gone (Sookie Stackhouse #9) (southern, vampire, blondes)
From Dead to Worse (Sookie Stackhouse #8) (see #4)
The Irresistible Revolution: Living as an Ordinary Radical (Jesus, charity, poverty)
Whatever it Takes: Geoffrey Canada's Quest to Change Harlem and America (schools, cities, equality)
What Happened to Anna K? (not Tolstoy, New York, modern)
NurtureShock (parenting, science, chatty)
Intuition (postdocs, cancer, truth)

Update: Inspired by Sasha Frere-Jones' best shows of 2009, I added three word descriptors to my book list.

Kindle's Competitor

2009-11-30T21:43:00.004-05:00

Now that Kindle is a hit, Barnes and Noble is offering the Nook. When I saw the ads for it (while Cyber Monday shopping) I was barely intrigued, having decided an eBook reader is not for me at this time. However, I subsequently had a conversation with a friend at work who noted that with a Nook, you can actually loan out your books to other Nook users! You enter the other user's email address, and they are notified that the Nook-book is available to them. It's downloaded to their Nook and off the original owner's Nook. It's available to the other user for 2 weeks, after which period it gets sent back to the owner's Nook. The Nook then restricts the borrower from being able to borrow that title again.

It's still not going to replace my library card. But I'm slightly more intrigued now.

The Book Thief: Final Results

2009-11-30T21:30:00.001-05:00

didn't like it - 0

it was OK - 0

liked it - 0

really liked it - 3

it was amazing - 1

4 votes total

SciFi and Philosophy

2009-09-20T22:55:00.003-04:00

I recently came across this article from 2008 on "Why Science Fiction is the Last Bastion of Philosophical Writing." I think it's a little overstated, but I share some of Clive Thompson's sentiments, especially the following statement:

"I studied literature in college, and throughout my twenties I voraciously read contemporary fiction. Then, eight or nine years ago, I found myself getting — well — bored.

Why? I think it's because I was reading novel after novel about the real world. And there are, at the risk of sounding superweird, only so many ways to describe reality."

Meanwhile, I'm reading a fabulous fantasy/alternate history which was shortlisted for the Booker: Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell. One thing that shines in JS&MN, that Thompson doesn't highlight in his piece, is the ability of science fiction (or in this case fantasy) to present very lucid examinations of questions of morality, by taking us out of our day-to-day prejudices and contexts. My favorite science fiction novels create parables that have stayed with me and inspired me to try to live a more just life - books like the Ender Saga, and The Sparrow, for example.

5 Minute Chocolate Mug Cake

2009-09-08T22:36:00.003-04:00

This post is on the food side of things but I was so excited by it, I had to share. Tonight I was craving something sweet but didn't have anything in the house. I remembered seeing this single-serving chocolate cake recipe all over the internet this summer and I decided tonight was the night to try it. There are all kinds of variations but the basic premise is that you scale a chocolate cake recipe to one or two servings, pour it in a mug, and microwave it for a few minutes. I chose this recipe randomly and it was a success! It wasn't the best chocolate cake I've ever had but it was very good for taking less than 5 minutes. It would have been even better with ice cream -- maybe next time.

New Approach to Teaching Reading

2009-09-03T22:04:00.003-04:00

Last week I read about a new method of teaching literature in middle school where, rather than teaching a common novel or story that all students read as a group, students choose their own reading material that they then discuss with the teacher individually and with one another. The reasoning behind this method is that if students have a personal interest in what they're reading, they will be more likely to develop a habit of reading. For one teacher profiled in the story, her students even fared better on standardized reading tests after adopting this method.

Critics of this method say that these students may miss out on works of quality and complexity and the common body of knowledge that comes from reading literary classics. But maybe by reading books of their own choice and becoming habitual readers, they will eventually choose more "difficult" books down the road.

The article also mentions a school district in NY that sets aside 40 minutes every other day for all sixth, seventh, and eighth graders to read books of their own choosing. Where was that when I was in middle school? I used to race through assignments and tests so that I could have a few free reading minutes before everyone else finished and we moved on.

North Carolina Literary Festival

2009-08-31T18:22:00.003-04:00

Coming up the weekend of September 12th is the North Carolina Literary Festival, being held at UNC. I really enjoyed it when it was last held in 2006, at Duke. I believe a group of us went to listen to Barbara Kingsolver. I think it would be fun to do something similar this year. There are several evening keynotes, including John Grisham, but most of the authors will be speaking throughout the day on Saturday and Sunday. One of my favorite sessions at the 2006 festival was a conversation between Allan Garganus and Ann Patchett. Garganus is speaking several times at this year's festival so he's definitely on my list of must-see authors. Take a look at the schedule and let me know if you'd be interested in making this a group outing.

Eat, Pray, Love: The Sequel

2009-08-25T07:00:00.000-04:00

Another memoir from Elizabeth Gilbert is c oming out in January. Titled Committed: A Skeptic Makes Peace with Marriage, it's a follow up to the previous book, exploring her marriage to "Felipe," the man she met her "Love" chapters.

What do you think? Was Eat, Pray, Love enough? Or are you ready for more Gilbert?

First the Food is on Twitter!

2009-08-24T07:00:00.000-04:00

We have recently started tweeting. I think it is a good way to share and keep track of news/public debate on items of personal interest. We will mostly tweet links to interesting literary or book club related articles. Perhaps a few on women's relationships and on politics! Or local NC/RTP area goings on. Please follow us if you're interested in these topics. And let me know: what would you like to see us tweet about? What do you think you would use it for, if at all?

The Lace Reader: Final Results

2009-08-23T08:36:00.001-04:00

didn't like it - 1

it was OK - 5

liked it - 2

8 votes total.

Yay, we had a lot of people voting this time!

Monica Ali

2009-08-07T17:11:00.003-04:00

Has anyone read anything by the author Monica Ali? The New York Times recently reviewed her latest book. Brick Lane and her new book, In the Kitchen, both sound really good. And In the Kitchen seems like it would have a nice culinary theme for a book club meeting.

Where's Spike?

2009-08-05T17:17:00.008-04:00

You may have seen this week's cover of EW, with the 20 best vampires of all time.

The list includes Lestat, several different versions of Dracula, Edward Cullen, Bill, Angel, and Keifer Sutherland from The Lost Boys! But I was dismayed to find that you-know-who did not make the list. This is so wrong. It is obvious that Spike is the best vampire ever! Angel whines, Edward pines, Lestat attempts suicide. But Spike is the only vampire who ever has come to the realization that he is evil, and then gone out and done something about it. He's the only one who fought Hell demons to get his soul back, and won. And then, he became a hero. Sure, Spike was the comic relief and Buffy's man stud for a while. But he saw his flaws and tried to make himself a better man, much like another favorite hero of mine.

It's a shame that Spike only made EW's list of hottest vampires. But at least he got something.

The Girls from Ames has a local connection

2009-08-03T11:49:00.004-04:00

I'm becoming more and more intrigued by this book, especially as many of my friendships are now in their second decade, along with this book club. It turns out one of the Girls lives here in NC and is a cancer survivor- http://unclineberger.org/news/2009/release0730/

Two Questions

2009-08-02T08:00:00.000-04:00

With which to start a book club meeting, per Book Group Buzz:

“If you particularly enjoyed this book, what did it offer that you found most satisfying?” or “If the book disappointed you, how would you define its most glaring weakness?

I like the idea about asking what was the most satisfying aspect of a book. Or the least satisfying.

The Monsters of Templeton: Final Results

2009-08-01T08:00:00.000-04:00

didn't like it - 0

it was OK - 1

liked it - 1

really liked it - 0

it was amazing - 0

didn't finish it

2 votes total

The Hobbit: Final Results

2009-07-31T23:19:00.001-04:00

didn't like it - 0

it was OK - 1

liked it - 0

really liked it - 0

it was amazing - 1

didn't finish it - 0

2 votes total

Nine

2009-06-28T17:22:00.003-04:00

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?

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

The 4 in my carry-on?

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

Posting from the JFK airport.

Buffy vs. Edward

2009-06-23T22:36:00.003-04:00

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

You can also buy this T-shirt:

Case Histories: Final Results

2009-06-22T22:29:00.001-04:00

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

2009-06-22T08:15:00.000-04:00

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?

2009-06-19T16:17:00.003-04:00

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

2009-06-10T19:59:00.007-04:00

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

2009-06-04T21:46:00.005-04:00

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.

Charlaine Harris in the NY Times

2009-05-20T09:13:00.003-04:00

The NY Times has an article on Charlaine Harris and the Sookie Stackhouse mysteries. The latest novel, Dead and Gone, is going to be No. 1 on this Sunday's hardcover bestseller list. You can read the first chapter here.

She seems like a neat lady and I'm glad to see the NY Times devote space to her particularly since in the past they have been guilty of ignoring genre fiction.

2009 Agatha Awards

2009-05-04T16:41:00.003-04:00

March is Mystery Month is one of my favorite months of book club. However, it's always a challenge to pick an appropriate mystery. The format of the meeting requires that it be a whodunit novel that lays out all the clues and offers the reader a fair play chance of identifying the murderer and motive. Occasionally, we pick a book that doesn't really work.

However, the Agatha Awards are here to help us out! The Agatha Awards go to novels that:

contain no explicit sex
contain no excessive gore or gratuitous violence
usually feature an amateur detective
take place in a confined setting and contain characters who know one another

I'd be willing to bet that Agatha winners are almost all fair play whodunits.

The 2009 Agatha winner is The Cruelest Mont h by Louise Penny. It looks charming!

Wolfpack

2009-04-28T20:36:00.003-04:00

Last week, this photo of the "wolfpack" from New Moon was released.

Pulitzer Prize for Fiction: 2009

2009-04-24T17:21:00.009-04:00

The Pulitzer Prize winners were announced this week. The winner for fiction is Olive Kitteridge by Elizabeth Strout. LitLovers (the website that featured our group last year!) has a good compendium of summary, biography, and reviews. This book was first brought to my attention through a rave "You Must Read This" review on NPR by Melissa Bank, author of The Girls' Guide to Hunting and Fishing.

Update: Omnivoracious also posted a list of the top 15 most likely winners (regression analysis alert!), before Olive Kitteridge was announced. It might be a good resource for making book selections.

The Girl with the Dragon Tatoo: Final Results

2009-04-24T08:00:00.000-04:00

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

5 votes total

Who are the Girls from Ames?

2009-04-23T07:00:00.000-04:00

They are 11 women from Ames, Iowa who have sustained a 40 year-friendship. A new book, The Girls from Ames, has been written about them by Jeffrey Zaslow, who coauthored The Last Lecture with Randy Pausch.

The book highlights their ground rules:

Don’t brag about husbands’ jobs or incomes. Don’t gloat about children’s achievements. Make every effort to be with each other for key events. In addition, Zaslow observes, “Ames girls learned early that the way to keep female friendships alive was to listen and talk, in that order.”

One compelling comment from Jeffrey Zaslow featured in the Christian Science Monitor review:

Men’s relationships take different forms. “Men tend to build friendships until about age 30, but there’s often a steady falloff after that,” Zaslow states. “Men’s friendships tend to be based more on activities than emotions. They connect through sports, work, poker, politics…. Women talk. Men do things together…. Women’s friendships are face to face, while men’s friendships are side by side.”

I think I might have just found my next book pick.

Discussion Guides for Case Histories

2009-04-19T21:16:00.003-04:00

From Reading Group Guides

From Transworld Publishers

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

2009-03-28T16:29:00.002-04:00

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

2009-03-24T07:00:00.000-04:00

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

2009-03-23T07:00:00.000-04:00

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?

2009-03-22T00:06:00.003-04:00

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

2009-03-19T20:49:00.003-04:00

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

2009-03-16T22:18:00.005-04:00

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

2009-03-11T07:30:00.000-04:00

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

Facebook

2009-03-10T07:30:00.000-04:00

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

2009-03-09T07:30:00.000-04:00

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

2009-03-08T20:47:00.002-04:00

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

2009-03-08T20:45:00.001-04:00

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.....

2009-03-07T17:56:00.002-05:00

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

2009-03-06T22:15:00.000-05:00

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.

The Best of the Best: 2008 Books

2009-02-08T21:35:00.001-05:00

This blog post creates a sort of meta-analysis of the best books of 2008 and ranks them in terms of the number of votes they got from all the best of the year lists that went around. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo is on the thriller/mystery list.

NY Times Review of Blindness

2009-02-07T21:10:00.002-05:00

This review (of the book, not the recent movie) contains many spoilers, so you may want to hold off reading it until you've finished the book.

Link here.

The Alchemist: Final Results

2009-01-31T19:38:00.002-05:00

didn't like it - 0
it was OK - 3
liked it - 4
really liked it - 3
it was amazing - 0

10 votes total

Dracula: Final Results

2009-01-31T19:33:00.001-05:00

10 votes total

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

March Mystery Nominations continued

2009-01-27T21:53:00.003-05:00

A nomination from Marina:

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson: Cases rarely come much colder than the decades-old disappearance of teen heiress Harriet Vanger from her family's remote island retreat north of Stockholm. This first of a trilogy introduces a provocatively odd couple: disgraced financial journalist Mikael Blomkvist, freshly sentenced to jail for libeling a shady businessman, and the multipierced and tattooed Lisbeth Salander, a feral but vulnerable superhacker. Hired by octogenarian industrialist Henrik Vanger, who wants to find out what happened to his beloved great-niece before he dies, the duo gradually uncover a festering morass of familial corruption—at the same time, Larsson skillfully bares some of the similar horrors that have left Salander such a marked woman.

March Mystery Nominations

2009-01-27T20:44:00.003-05:00

Since March is coming up, we probably need to pick our mystery soon. I've been doing a little research and have a few nominations below. Please feel free to offer others in the comments or a separate post.

1. What the Dead Know by Laura Lippman: A driver who flees a car accident on a Maryland highway breathes new life into a 30-year-old mystery—the disappearance of the young Bethany sisters at a shopping mall—after she later tells the police she's one of the missing girls. As soon as the mystery woman drops that bombshell, she clams up, placing the new lead detective, Kevin Infante, in a bind, as he struggles to gain her trust while exploring the odd holes in her story. Deftly moving between past and present, Lippman presents the last day both sisters, Sunny and Heather, were seen alive from a variety of perspectives. Subtle clues point to the surprising but plausible solution of the crime and the identity of the mystery woman.

2. In the Woods by Tana French: Rob Ryan and his partner, Cassie Maddox, land the first big murder case of their police careers: a 12-year-old girl has been murdered in the woods adjacent to a Dublin suburb. Twenty years before, two children disappeared in the same woods, and Ryan was found clinging to a tree trunk, his sneakers filled with blood, unable to tell police anything about what happened to his friends. Ryan, although scarred by his experience, employs all his skills in the search for the killer and in hopes that the investigation will also reveal what happened to his childhood friends.

From Freakonomics: Public Library Renaissance

2009-01-07T17:36:00.002-05:00

The NYT Freakonomics blog notes a Boston Globe article about how 2008 was a big year for public libraries: circulation increases, library card applications, and of course, job hunt searches were all up. It makes me happy. A bad year for publishing but good year for community libraries.

Reading Resolutions

2009-01-06T18:56:00.003-05:00

Does anyone have any reading related resolutions? I have one to read at least two books a month, our book club book plus one of my own choosing. I have a long list of books I want to read and last year I read only a handful of books outside of our book club picks. I have the free time so there's no reason I shouldn't be able to accomplish this goal. I'm publicly declaring this resolution here so you can all hold me accountable.

Also, if you haven't started The Stand yet, it's not too late! I just started last night and calculated that you only have to read 80 pages a day between now and book club to finish. That's doable, right?

Azar Nafisi

2009-01-05T14:09:00.002-05:00

Azar Nafisi, the author of Reading Lolita in Tehran, has a new memoir out, reviewed in this past Sunday's NYT. It appears to give a behind the scenes glimpse at the author's life and choices to leave, then come back to Iran (then leave again).

The reviewer is the author of another book I'd like to read, called Persian Mirrors: The Elusive Face of Iran.

Reading like a Girl

2009-01-04T21:50:00.002-05:00

Michelle Slayalla's NYT piece "I Wish I Could Read Like a Girl" breaks my heart. It's a quick eulogy for what readers lose when they grow up. Maybe that's our desire as adult readers - to recapture that youth and adolescence spent "draped over sofas and chairs and beds" and transported to another world.

Eeek!

2009-01-01T23:10:00.003-05:00

Wow, this blog is out of date! I resolve to be better with it in the New Year!

For those of you who want to read in installments, DailyLit is an interesting idea. It's a service that allows you to subscribe to books. Portions are sent to your email or RSS feed reader every day, so you can read little bits at a time. It's an interesting idea but the idea of reading books in email or in Google Reader is not at all appealing to me. Does anyone think this would work for them?

Edward - What a Girl Wants?

2008-12-23T13:54:00.001-05:00

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

Children's Books Recommendations

2008-12-03T13:12:00.004-05:00

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

2008-11-18T23:13:00.002-05:00

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

2008-11-17T07:00:00.000-05:00

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

Celebrity Lookalikes!

2008-11-16T21:04:00.005-05:00

Post your own!

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

Finally, an official diagnosis!

2008-11-08T17:52:00.002-05:00

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

2008-10-30T21:02:00.002-04:00

Fashion Icon of the Week

2008-10-28T07:00:00.000-04:00

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

2008-10-27T07:30:00.000-04:00

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

2008-10-24T21:04:00.000-04:00

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

2008-10-23T21:23:00.001-04:00

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 ...

2008-10-22T23:26:00.009-04:00

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

2008-09-17T20:00:00.001-04:00

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?

2008-09-15T20:00:00.000-04:00

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

2008-08-27T11:20:00.001-04:00

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

2008-08-26T12:14:00.002-04:00

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

2008-08-11T18:43:00.021-04:00

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

2008-08-07T13:56:00.002-04:00

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

2008-07-30T16:48:00.002-04:00

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

2008-07-18T20:35:00.002-04:00

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

2008-07-18T10:10:00.002-04:00

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!

2008-07-17T10:08:00.002-04:00

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

Sonya's Answers to Reading Quiz

2008-07-15T15:13:00.006-04:00

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

2008-07-11T22:47:00.002-04:00

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

2008-07-09T20:22:00.003-04:00

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

2008-07-09T20:18:00.002-04:00

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

2008-07-03T13:48:00.002-04:00

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

2008-06-30T15:13:00.000-04:00

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

2008-06-27T11:19:00.003-04:00

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

2008-06-24T21:51:00.003-04:00

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

2008-06-23T12:03:00.001-04:00

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!

2008-06-20T09:26:00.009-04:00

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 . . . "

2008-06-19T11:42:00.003-04:00

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

2008-06-19T11:38:00.000-04:00

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

2008-06-17T12:22:00.003-04:00

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

2008-06-16T20:46:00.004-04:00

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

2008-06-16T09:26:00.000-04:00

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

2008-06-13T14:55:00.010-04:00

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!

2008-06-12T14:59:00.003-04:00

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

2008-06-11T12:42:00.002-04:00

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??

2008-06-10T10:33:00.005-04:00

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.