Woohoo! I'm going to Atlanta this weekend to see some of my favorite people!
Friday, June 15, 2007
Wednesday, June 13, 2007
2007 book 84
Stephanie Kallos' Broken for You
This novel was recommended by a fellow librarian whose tastes I trust implicitly, and it did not disappoint. The story centers on a 70-something woman who discovers she has a brain tumor; deciding to change her life completely, she ends up taking in all sorts of metaphorical waifs and strays, particularly one damaged stage manager named Wanda. Kallos does an excellent job of weaving all her narrative strands together, and though the ending was perhaps a little bit too neat, I really liked it. A.
This novel was recommended by a fellow librarian whose tastes I trust implicitly, and it did not disappoint. The story centers on a 70-something woman who discovers she has a brain tumor; deciding to change her life completely, she ends up taking in all sorts of metaphorical waifs and strays, particularly one damaged stage manager named Wanda. Kallos does an excellent job of weaving all her narrative strands together, and though the ending was perhaps a little bit too neat, I really liked it. A.
Tuesday, June 12, 2007
2007 book 83
Aryn Kyle's The God of Animals
This is the story of a twelve year old girl living on a poor horse farm in Colorado; her older sister has just run off to be married, her mother never gets out of bed, and her father is struggling to make ends meet by selling out. It's a very moving coming of age story that doesn't spare the reader (I'm still reeling from one event near the end) and gets a solid A.
This is the story of a twelve year old girl living on a poor horse farm in Colorado; her older sister has just run off to be married, her mother never gets out of bed, and her father is struggling to make ends meet by selling out. It's a very moving coming of age story that doesn't spare the reader (I'm still reeling from one event near the end) and gets a solid A.
Monday, June 11, 2007
2007 book 82
Michael Ondaatje's Divasadero
I'm not really sure where to start with this one. The first half centers on two sisters and a young man who works on their farm; they are torn apart and the novel follows their three divergent lives. Then suddenly it becomes the story of a writer one of the sisters is researching. Um, what? I kept waiting for it to get back to the main plotline, but it doesn't. In retrospect, the second half is stronger, but when you're waiting for the conclusion of some other story entirely, it's hard to get into it. B.
I'm not really sure where to start with this one. The first half centers on two sisters and a young man who works on their farm; they are torn apart and the novel follows their three divergent lives. Then suddenly it becomes the story of a writer one of the sisters is researching. Um, what? I kept waiting for it to get back to the main plotline, but it doesn't. In retrospect, the second half is stronger, but when you're waiting for the conclusion of some other story entirely, it's hard to get into it. B.
Sunday, June 10, 2007
2007 book 81
Harlan Coben's The Woods
This mystery/thriller type story involves a county prosecutor, Paul, who's had more than his share of tragedy--his sister disappeared twenty years ago, presumably murdered along with several other campers at the summer camp where Paul was a counselor; his mother left him; his wife died of cancer. When a dead man is discovered who may be tied to the summer camp murder case, things go haywire. The writing in this novel is often ham-fisted and overly dramatic, but the story moves quickly and was pretty riveting. I saw some of the twists coming, but not all of them. Definitely a good summer book. B+.
This mystery/thriller type story involves a county prosecutor, Paul, who's had more than his share of tragedy--his sister disappeared twenty years ago, presumably murdered along with several other campers at the summer camp where Paul was a counselor; his mother left him; his wife died of cancer. When a dead man is discovered who may be tied to the summer camp murder case, things go haywire. The writing in this novel is often ham-fisted and overly dramatic, but the story moves quickly and was pretty riveting. I saw some of the twists coming, but not all of them. Definitely a good summer book. B+.
Saturday, June 09, 2007
2007 book 80
Larry Doyle's I Love You, Beth Cooper
EW gave this a rave and Evan Dorkin did the cover and chapter heading art, so I've been looking forward to this for a while. Unfortunately, it was really stupid, trite, etc. It's all about the night of high school graduation, after the valedictorian (the stereotypical loser nerd) confesses his love for the head cheerleader during his speech, inciting the rage of her Army boyfriend. Wacky adventures ensue--think classic 90s comedy "Can't Hardly Wait" without cool subplots like Lauren Ambrose and Seth Green macking in a bathroom--until the entirely predictable ending. D.
EW gave this a rave and Evan Dorkin did the cover and chapter heading art, so I've been looking forward to this for a while. Unfortunately, it was really stupid, trite, etc. It's all about the night of high school graduation, after the valedictorian (the stereotypical loser nerd) confesses his love for the head cheerleader during his speech, inciting the rage of her Army boyfriend. Wacky adventures ensue--think classic 90s comedy "Can't Hardly Wait" without cool subplots like Lauren Ambrose and Seth Green macking in a bathroom--until the entirely predictable ending. D.
Thursday, June 07, 2007
tony cartoons
Hooray for Sean McBride (who I knew in college), whose Tony cartoons premiered on Salon today. Apparently a new one will be appearing every Wednesday. I've seen some of them and they're hilarious, so check 'em out!
Wednesday, June 06, 2007
library thing
OK, OK, after several years of thinking about it, I finally joined Library Thing and started listing my books. I'm listed under "wordnerdy" so if you're on it, add me as a contact! I look forward to perusing your libraries as I keep adding books to mine.
Tuesday, June 05, 2007
2007 book 79
Laurie R. King's The Game
And yet another Mary Russell/Sherlock Holmes book finds the duo in India, in search of the missing titular character of Rudyard Kipling's Kim. This one had all the madcap adventures and danger lacking in the previous volume, so I thoroughly enjoyed it. Side note: the dedication reads "For the librarians everywhere, who spend their lives in battle against the forces of darkness"--hee!
And yet another Mary Russell/Sherlock Holmes book finds the duo in India, in search of the missing titular character of Rudyard Kipling's Kim. This one had all the madcap adventures and danger lacking in the previous volume, so I thoroughly enjoyed it. Side note: the dedication reads "For the librarians everywhere, who spend their lives in battle against the forces of darkness"--hee!
Monday, June 04, 2007
cute sweater
Stef, who was kind enough to teach me how to knit back when we were freshmen in college (ah, nostalgia! Remember when all our boyfriends and guy friends joined our Stitch 'n' Bitch group, making the bitching a lot harder? Those were the days), has an awesome sweater pattern up at Magknits. Yay Stef!!
Sunday, June 03, 2007
summer tv
Ah, summer. The time of year all tv fans dread; the time of year they all expand their Netflix subscriptions. Luckily there are TWO food-related reality shows to see us through these dark times! The Next Food Network Star premiered tonight (one early notable character starred in The Mighty Ducks 2 and 3) and season 3 of Top Chef begins on Wednesday. Hooray for food-related drama! But please let is my less head-shaving heart-breaking drama than we saw on season 2 of Top Chef. That almost killed me for food-related competitions for good--except that I'm really bored. I was hoping to get hooked on the cheesiness of The Starter Wife, but it was too stupid for me to even make it through one episode.
Luckily here in North Florida we're only half an hour from Georgia and get the Georgia Public Broadcasting network, which has been pretty outstanding lately thanks to pledge drive season. I got to watch several hours' of Anne of Green Gables: The Sequel and almost called my mom to ask her to mail all the books to me so I can reread them!
GPB is also the station that got me into the Vicar of Dibley several months ago; after seeing an episode that ended with a raunchy jokes about three nuns going to heave, I netflixed the entire series and fell in love. Imagine my joy last weekend when, flipping through the channels, I caught the 2006 Christmas and New Year's specials that I hadn't even known existed. They were a sweet and funny capstone to a classy and hilarious series, and the sheer randomness of catching them on a night at a time that GPB doesn't usually air the show felt like a special present to me and warmed my cynical and tv-snobby little heart.
Back to food tv star competition! I'm hoping the show pulls out another Dan and Steve and not another Guy Fieri, b/c that dude is pretty annoying.
Other pleasant tv surprises tonight: TMC's Wizard of Oz/Spirited Away double feature. Nice!
Luckily here in North Florida we're only half an hour from Georgia and get the Georgia Public Broadcasting network, which has been pretty outstanding lately thanks to pledge drive season. I got to watch several hours' of Anne of Green Gables: The Sequel and almost called my mom to ask her to mail all the books to me so I can reread them!
GPB is also the station that got me into the Vicar of Dibley several months ago; after seeing an episode that ended with a raunchy jokes about three nuns going to heave, I netflixed the entire series and fell in love. Imagine my joy last weekend when, flipping through the channels, I caught the 2006 Christmas and New Year's specials that I hadn't even known existed. They were a sweet and funny capstone to a classy and hilarious series, and the sheer randomness of catching them on a night at a time that GPB doesn't usually air the show felt like a special present to me and warmed my cynical and tv-snobby little heart.
Back to food tv star competition! I'm hoping the show pulls out another Dan and Steve and not another Guy Fieri, b/c that dude is pretty annoying.
Other pleasant tv surprises tonight: TMC's Wizard of Oz/Spirited Away double feature. Nice!
2007 book 78
Laurie R. King's Justice Hall
Yet another Mary Russell/Sherlock Holmes story finds them reunited with some of the characters from O Jerusalem in a very different setting--a rich old noble English family's majestic manor. I think these stories are more fun when Mary and Sherlock are off having adventures; the staid English society life can be a little dull even with all this murder and intrigue. I also thought the end was kind of predictable, but I guess the story was entertaining enough. B.
Yet another Mary Russell/Sherlock Holmes story finds them reunited with some of the characters from O Jerusalem in a very different setting--a rich old noble English family's majestic manor. I think these stories are more fun when Mary and Sherlock are off having adventures; the staid English society life can be a little dull even with all this murder and intrigue. I also thought the end was kind of predictable, but I guess the story was entertaining enough. B.
Saturday, June 02, 2007
2007 book 77
Peter Abrahams' Nerve Damage
A well-known sculptor, still in love with the wife who died 15 years earlier, manages to get a copy of his pre-written obituary and reads that his wife, who he believed worked for a think tank, worked for the UN. As he investigates this bizarre anomaly, he gets in some pretty deep stuff. I actually thought it was going to turn out that he was imagining the whole thing--there are a few red herrings that made me think so, or else I just assumed there was more to the story than this silly mystery/adventure plot. But it's pretty surface-level. The ending was really abrupt and kind of dumb, but it was entertaining enough. Maybe this was more of a beach book. B/B-.
Off to see Knocked Up!
A well-known sculptor, still in love with the wife who died 15 years earlier, manages to get a copy of his pre-written obituary and reads that his wife, who he believed worked for a think tank, worked for the UN. As he investigates this bizarre anomaly, he gets in some pretty deep stuff. I actually thought it was going to turn out that he was imagining the whole thing--there are a few red herrings that made me think so, or else I just assumed there was more to the story than this silly mystery/adventure plot. But it's pretty surface-level. The ending was really abrupt and kind of dumb, but it was entertaining enough. Maybe this was more of a beach book. B/B-.
Off to see Knocked Up!
Friday, June 01, 2007
Thursday, May 31, 2007
2007 book 76
Nicole Mones' The Last Chinese Chef
Mones, a food writer for Gourmet, writes a novel about a 40 year old widowed food writer who receives the disturbing news that her late husband may have fathered a child in China. She heads to Beijing to investigate the claim, and while she's there, works on an article about a half-Chinese, half-Jewish chef who's opening a restaurant, and to whom she is drawn. The story got a bit sentimental at times for my taste, and there was a little too much about Chinese culinary history for my taste (unsurprising, considering Mones' food writing), but it was still a sold effort. B+.
Mones, a food writer for Gourmet, writes a novel about a 40 year old widowed food writer who receives the disturbing news that her late husband may have fathered a child in China. She heads to Beijing to investigate the claim, and while she's there, works on an article about a half-Chinese, half-Jewish chef who's opening a restaurant, and to whom she is drawn. The story got a bit sentimental at times for my taste, and there was a little too much about Chinese culinary history for my taste (unsurprising, considering Mones' food writing), but it was still a sold effort. B+.
even more harry potter
THEME PARK!! I am so there!!! (Thanks to Kate T. and Christina for the link!)
Wednesday, May 30, 2007
damn you, comcast!
NOOO!!! Comcast changed my channel lineup sometime today and I no longer get the Game Show Network! Seriously, I love that Chain Reaction show and used to watch it every night. It's surprisingly challenging! (Sometimes.) Also, I love when they use brand names or people's names (once there was a chain of "BUD L_____ Sensitive" and a girl jokingly guessed "light?" and it was RIGHT! Also Puff Daddy was used once).
Anyway, I'm sad about this. It's all part of their plot to make everyone switch to digital cable (where GSN is now located). I don't WANT digital cable! 70 channels are enough for me!
Anyway, I'm sad about this. It's all part of their plot to make everyone switch to digital cable (where GSN is now located). I don't WANT digital cable! 70 channels are enough for me!
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