Love and Books

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

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

Done for the Night

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

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

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

night-night.

Oh good grief

Willoughby is spouting his Byron. Whatever.

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

The Arrival of Willoughby

Hmm. He's OK I guess!

Oh and Sir John is Arthur Weasley.

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

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

Marianne Dashwood

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

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

Margaret Dashwood

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

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

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

I think I like this Edward better than Hugh!

I like how he's not quite so nervous.

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

Love the Production Value

It's absolutely gorgeous.

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

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

WTF??

Is this Jane??

That must be Willoughby, that cad.

Live Blogging Sense and Sensibility!!

Sense and Sensibility was her first published novel!!

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

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

Cops' Favorite Books

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

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

John Steinbeck

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

Friday Bookish Meme

From BTT . . .

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

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

Sense and Sensibility

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

Genius Recipe

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

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

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

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

Entering the Wake

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

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

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

Friday Bookish Meme

From BTT . . .

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

My answer's in the comments!

Wil Wheaton

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

Water for Elephants: Final Results

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

6 votes total.

Friday Bookish Blog Meme

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

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

Today's is:

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

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

Does anybody have any thoughts?

Library Elf

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

Blog Crushes

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

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

Snow Flower and Secret Fan Author in Durham

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

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

VALIS?

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

April Book Pick

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

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

Anna Karenina: Final Results

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

3 votes total.

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

U2 3D

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

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

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

Allison's Favorite Book-to-Movie Adaptations

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

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

Podcasts

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

2001 Book List

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