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!
Saturday, May 31, 2008
Friday, May 23, 2008
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!
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?
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.
Thursday, May 22, 2008
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.
it was ok - 2
liked it - 1
really liked it - 2
it was amazing - 1
didn't finish it - 0
6 votes total.
Wednesday, May 21, 2008
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.
Friday, May 16, 2008
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.
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?
Thursday, May 15, 2008
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
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
Wednesday, May 14, 2008
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.
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, May 9, 2008
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?
Thursday, May 8, 2008
Friday, May 2, 2008
Friday Bookish Meme
From BTT . . .
OK this week's seems kind of lame. But whatever:
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….
Thursday, May 1, 2008
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.
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.
I'm totally obsessing about it and being way too strategic.
Tuesday, April 29, 2008
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.
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, April 25, 2008
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?
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?
Thursday, April 24, 2008
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?
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?
Wednesday, April 23, 2008
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?
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, April 18, 2008
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!
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!
Thursday, April 17, 2008
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.
it was ok - 0
liked it - 2
really liked it - 4
it was amazing - 0
didn't finish it - 0
6 votes total.
Tuesday, April 8, 2008
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!
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!
Monday, April 7, 2008
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.
Sunday, April 6, 2008
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.
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.
Friday, April 4, 2008
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:
(This one's not as good as some . . .)
- 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?
(This one's not as good as some . . .)
Wednesday, April 2, 2008
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:
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.
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