Ann Brashares' Forever In Blue
Despite all the Brashares-related controversy, I had to find out what happened to those wacky and lovable traveling pants girls. Their story wrapped up satisfyingly (and of course predictably) and even featured a baby bunny. I'm in a good mood, so let's give it an A.
Tuesday, January 09, 2007
baking gadgets
Here's a feature on some essentials for the home baker. I don't know that I really need a digital scale or a blowtorch, but I have been meaning to get most of these other items (except the stand mixer and the round cutters, which I am fortunate enough to own already).
Too bad none of their links actually work. :) (The Sur la Table site is always worth browsing, though.)
Too bad none of their links actually work. :) (The Sur la Table site is always worth browsing, though.)
Monday, January 08, 2007
2007 book 1
Oh man, it feels so weird to be back at the beginning!
Annie Dillard's The Maytrees
My awesome boxx picked up an advance copy for me at MLA; despite my Dillard fandom, I've actually never read any of her fiction before. This novel definitely scores high on literary merit--symbolism, especially involving the sea, and meditations on aging and dying abound. Basically it's the story of a married couple (the titular Maytrees), and tells their story in flashes back and forth in time. The thing is, I think I'm too young for this book. It's like the first time I read An American Childhood, when my mom got it for me b/c Dillard went to the same school I did--I just didn't quite get the point of it all. I was too young to understand how beautiful those sorts of ruminations can be. It's the same thing here (and it's one of the reasons I tend to avoid books being narrated by very old very horny men--I just don't get the aging thing yet, plus EW, stop writing books where 80 year olds get with 20 year olds already! It doesn't happen unless they're Hef, you know?)--it's a lovely book, and the characters are pretty interesting (though not all are entirely fleshed out), but I'm 27 and I can't relate to 60 year olds with all this history, really. I mean, basically it's a very quiet book except for one thing I don't want to spoil, so it's hard for me to explain. Um, ok. B+.
Annie Dillard's The Maytrees
My awesome boxx picked up an advance copy for me at MLA; despite my Dillard fandom, I've actually never read any of her fiction before. This novel definitely scores high on literary merit--symbolism, especially involving the sea, and meditations on aging and dying abound. Basically it's the story of a married couple (the titular Maytrees), and tells their story in flashes back and forth in time. The thing is, I think I'm too young for this book. It's like the first time I read An American Childhood, when my mom got it for me b/c Dillard went to the same school I did--I just didn't quite get the point of it all. I was too young to understand how beautiful those sorts of ruminations can be. It's the same thing here (and it's one of the reasons I tend to avoid books being narrated by very old very horny men--I just don't get the aging thing yet, plus EW, stop writing books where 80 year olds get with 20 year olds already! It doesn't happen unless they're Hef, you know?)--it's a lovely book, and the characters are pretty interesting (though not all are entirely fleshed out), but I'm 27 and I can't relate to 60 year olds with all this history, really. I mean, basically it's a very quiet book except for one thing I don't want to spoil, so it's hard for me to explain. Um, ok. B+.
weekend updates
OK, I know it's been 2007 for a whole week, so really you all must be expecting some book reviews by now. I'm currently halfway through two different books, both of which are just OK, which is making it hard to care enough to finish either.
I saw "Children of Men" this weekend, and it was profoundly depressing. The trailers and reviews sort of point toward its grimness, but it's a lot more violent and terrifying than any of those had led me to believe. Just a warning in case any of you see it!
In other news, I think I accidentally exposed the roll currently in my Holga (the back of the camera fell off), which totally sucks as it had what I hoped were some cool pictures on it.
Also, my dad has turned my bedroom into a brewery!
I saw "Children of Men" this weekend, and it was profoundly depressing. The trailers and reviews sort of point toward its grimness, but it's a lot more violent and terrifying than any of those had led me to believe. Just a warning in case any of you see it!
In other news, I think I accidentally exposed the roll currently in my Holga (the back of the camera fell off), which totally sucks as it had what I hoped were some cool pictures on it.
Also, my dad has turned my bedroom into a brewery!
Thursday, January 04, 2007
damn you, gawker!
Great! Now I'm going to feel all guilty when I buy and immediately read the final book in the Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants series. (It comes out on Tuesday!)
Tuesday, January 02, 2007
action figures
Via The Beat: new Supergirl and Wonder Woman figures! Way too expensive for my blood, but is it wrong that I secretly covet Wonder Woman's "Office Savvy" ensemble? I'd totally wear those shoes (even though I never wear heels).
2007 books
Here's a look at some of the books coming our way in 2007 . . . Some of my favorite authors (like Michael Chabon, Haruki Murakami, and A.L. Kennedy, not to mention two authors that made my best-books list in 2005, James Meek and Marina Lewycka) have books coming out!
I won't be reading the new Norman Mailer, though. Ugh.
I won't be reading the new Norman Mailer, though. Ugh.
Monday, January 01, 2007
Vanilla Ice!
Happy 2007! My baby sister Jamie (on the right) and her friend Heather rang in the new year with Vanilla Ice.
Sunday, December 31, 2006
favorite books of 2006
I read 142 books in 2006. 100 of them, or over 70 percent, were by women (including two co-written with a male author) . So shame on all those best-of lists that are white-male-centric! There were plenty of amazing books written by women this year.
Anyway, it's the last day of the year, I'm not getting anymore reading done, and it's time to post my eleven favorites of 2006! Alphabetically by author:
Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie--Half of a Yellow Sun
Gillian Flynn--Sharp Objects
Nell Freudenberger--The Dissident
David Grossman--Someone to Run With
Sara Gruen--Water for Elephants
Maile Meloy--Family Daughter and Liars and Saints*
James Morrow--The Last Witchfinder
Marisha Pessl--Special Topics in Calamity Physics
Scott Simon--Pretty Birds
Scarlett Thomas--The End of Mr. Y
Markus Zusak--The Book Thief
Some of my favorite authors--David Mitchell, A.B. Yehoshua, and Haruki Murakami--all published wonderful and readable books this year, but none quite made the list. The ones I recommended most frequently were Pretty Birds, Water for Elephants, and The End of Mr. Y.
__
*Both books are excellent on their own, but as counterparts they're pretty brilliant.
Anyway, it's the last day of the year, I'm not getting anymore reading done, and it's time to post my eleven favorites of 2006! Alphabetically by author:
Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie--Half of a Yellow Sun
Gillian Flynn--Sharp Objects
Nell Freudenberger--The Dissident
David Grossman--Someone to Run With
Sara Gruen--Water for Elephants
Maile Meloy--Family Daughter and Liars and Saints*
James Morrow--The Last Witchfinder
Marisha Pessl--Special Topics in Calamity Physics
Scott Simon--Pretty Birds
Scarlett Thomas--The End of Mr. Y
Markus Zusak--The Book Thief
Some of my favorite authors--David Mitchell, A.B. Yehoshua, and Haruki Murakami--all published wonderful and readable books this year, but none quite made the list. The ones I recommended most frequently were Pretty Birds, Water for Elephants, and The End of Mr. Y.
__
*Both books are excellent on their own, but as counterparts they're pretty brilliant.
Friday, December 29, 2006
favorite graphic novels of 2006
Bryan Lee O'Malley--Scott Pilgrim and the Infinite Sadness
Alison Bechdel--Fun Home
Linda Medley--The Collected Castle Waiting
Hope Larson--Gray Horses
Gabrielle Bell--Lucky
Phillippe Dupuy and Charles Berberian--Get a Life
And of course I'm continuing to read (and love) the following titles: Y the Last Man, Fables, Powers, and everything Love and Rockets.
Alison Bechdel--Fun Home
Linda Medley--The Collected Castle Waiting
Hope Larson--Gray Horses
Gabrielle Bell--Lucky
Phillippe Dupuy and Charles Berberian--Get a Life
And of course I'm continuing to read (and love) the following titles: Y the Last Man, Fables, Powers, and everything Love and Rockets.
Thursday, December 28, 2006
Wednesday, December 27, 2006
favorite cds of 2006
Here were the CDs I loved in 2006, put on mix CDs, sang along to in my car--in alphabetical order!
Audubon Park--Teenage Horses
Eric Bachmann--To the Races
all the Eccentric Soul Comps
Erie Choir--Slighter Awake
Essex Green--Cannibal Sea
Girl Talk--Night Ripper
Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass--Whipped Cream and Other Delights Rewhipped
Hot Chip--The Warning
Hotel Lights--Goodnightgoodmorning
Portastatic--Be Still Please
White Whale--WWI
Yeah, that's eleven--so what? TV on the Radio probably should be on there too, but I got that pretty recently so it hasn't had as much of a chance to seep into my consciousness.
Audubon Park--Teenage Horses
Eric Bachmann--To the Races
all the Eccentric Soul Comps
Erie Choir--Slighter Awake
Essex Green--Cannibal Sea
Girl Talk--Night Ripper
Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass--Whipped Cream and Other Delights Rewhipped
Hot Chip--The Warning
Hotel Lights--Goodnightgoodmorning
Portastatic--Be Still Please
White Whale--WWI
Yeah, that's eleven--so what? TV on the Radio probably should be on there too, but I got that pretty recently so it hasn't had as much of a chance to seep into my consciousness.
Tuesday, December 26, 2006
let the lists commence! crappy books of 2006
The Favorites of 2006 will be coming soon, but in the meantime, here are the critically acclaimed, beloved-by-bloggers books I read in 2006 that I really didn't like!
Ali Smith--The Accidental
Mary Gaitskill--Veronica
Daniel Handler--Adverbs
Hilary Mantel--Beyond Black
Kathryn Davis--The Girl Who Trod on a Loaf
Shelley Jackson--Half-Life
Peter Carey--Theft: A Love Story
Maria Arana--Cellophane
Richard Powers--The Echo Maker
Heidi Julavits--The Uses of Enchantment
Emily Barton--Brookland
Those are in the order I read them. Man, it feels good to publicize that!
Ali Smith--The Accidental
Mary Gaitskill--Veronica
Daniel Handler--Adverbs
Hilary Mantel--Beyond Black
Kathryn Davis--The Girl Who Trod on a Loaf
Shelley Jackson--Half-Life
Peter Carey--Theft: A Love Story
Maria Arana--Cellophane
Richard Powers--The Echo Maker
Heidi Julavits--The Uses of Enchantment
Emily Barton--Brookland
Those are in the order I read them. Man, it feels good to publicize that!
2006 book 142
Gillian Flynn's Sharp Objects
This book is an excellent example of why I wait until the year actually ends before posting my list of favorite books of the year--this could very easily make the list and the year is almost over! Anyway, Flynn is also a writer for Entertainment Weekly, so I think I was expecting something light and pop-culture-laden (at least until I saw the cover, stark black with a razorblade). Instead, I was sucked into a story about a troubled woman who returns to her small hometown as a reporter, assigned to investigate the murders of two little girls. The whodunnit part of things isn't the main part--it's more about the protagonist's own psyche and she struggles to come to terms with her traumatic childhood--but it does a great job of really upping the intensity of the story. Seriously, I just read it in one sitting. A.
This book is an excellent example of why I wait until the year actually ends before posting my list of favorite books of the year--this could very easily make the list and the year is almost over! Anyway, Flynn is also a writer for Entertainment Weekly, so I think I was expecting something light and pop-culture-laden (at least until I saw the cover, stark black with a razorblade). Instead, I was sucked into a story about a troubled woman who returns to her small hometown as a reporter, assigned to investigate the murders of two little girls. The whodunnit part of things isn't the main part--it's more about the protagonist's own psyche and she struggles to come to terms with her traumatic childhood--but it does a great job of really upping the intensity of the story. Seriously, I just read it in one sitting. A.
Monday, December 25, 2006
what jews do on christmas
Or this one, at any rate.
I actually planned to drive to various places in town with my Holga, but it's been pouring for the last day or so and so I'm going to stay inside instead. Lukcily VH-1 is playing all sorts of non-holiday programming, and I also have Pete and Pete season 2, which I have been saving for just this occasion. Later I will reheat some of the channa masala I made for dinner the other night, b/c eating leftovers on Christmas is a family tradition. I will also probably knit. And read.
Loads of fun!
I actually planned to drive to various places in town with my Holga, but it's been pouring for the last day or so and so I'm going to stay inside instead. Lukcily VH-1 is playing all sorts of non-holiday programming, and I also have Pete and Pete season 2, which I have been saving for just this occasion. Later I will reheat some of the channa masala I made for dinner the other night, b/c eating leftovers on Christmas is a family tradition. I will also probably knit. And read.
Loads of fun!
Saturday, December 23, 2006
cupcakes
TWO cupcake bakeries are opening up in Pittsburgh this weekend! Wow!
I'm surprised the Triangle doesn't have even one yet . . . and not at all surprised that there isn't one here in north Florida. Maybe if I ever win the lottery I'll start a cupcake bakery. You know, with all my spare time. :)
I'm surprised the Triangle doesn't have even one yet . . . and not at all surprised that there isn't one here in north Florida. Maybe if I ever win the lottery I'll start a cupcake bakery. You know, with all my spare time. :)
Friday, December 22, 2006
how to fix a flat tire
I could have used this awesome advice on Monday, but then I was in party clothes and wouldn't have wanted to crawl around on the ground anyway.
new column at nextbook
David Rakoff (of This American Life, various books, etc) will be watching all 28 Woody Allen movies. Godspeed, Mr. Rakoff.
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