Over the holidays, a colleague and I browsed a book fair being held in our downtown lobby. This gem was among the relatively normal selection of books.
Thought I'd share this now that Idol is moving into the competition vs. all the audition crap.
An American Idol Soul. We didn't even bother looking inside the cover.
Okay, between packing, appointments, rebooking flights, and every other ridiculous chore I had today, I thought about the 10 novels I would recommend reading before death. Or at least before you claim to be a grown up somewhere in your 30s.
- To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee
- The Catcher in the Rye, J.D. Salinger
- War and Peace, Leo Tolstoy
- The Lord of the Rings, J.R.R. Tolkien
- 1984, George Orwell
- Catch-22, Joseph Heller
- Charlotte's Web, E.B. White
- The Martian Chronicles, Ray Bradbury
- The Grapes of Wrath, John Steinbeck
- The Wind in the Willows, Kenneth Grahame
While I think the AOL book list sucked, it's not easy to compile. And even though this is my own rant based on Dan Brown delirium, I can’t help but meme it – so let me start with Erin, Jason, Ron, and Nancie. Feel free to share.
Gone With the Wind.
To Kill a Mockingbird.
The Catcher in the Rye.
Atlas Shrugged.
Harry Potter…
Angels and Demons.....
The Da Vinci Code.......
Seriously? Dan Brown twice? This is truly a weird mix of books with no clear logic.
And not to pick on Mr. Brown, I enjoyed Angels and Demons, but for what sounds like such a critical list, I wouldn't rate his work above say, that of Hemmingway, Dickens, Swift, even Austen. Should I go on? I do find the inclusion of Stephen King’s The Stand interesting.
So, I guess I must pull my own list(s) together or quit bitching. Mhm.
Great quote in last week's EW magazine: "Patience is for the weak." Amen.
Context? Who needs context?
We never doubted its cool factor, and now Ficlets has won a award at SxSW. Nice. I really need to adjust my "to do" list and get back to authoring stories.
At the end of July there were multiple UFO sightings in England. Lots of eyewitnesses and photos. Seems legit, no? I missed the story when it was fresh thanks to my low-input vacation, but I see there was lots of buzz on Digg and various blogs.
Adding a laugh to the news article is a comment by Reg, who smartly concludes the aliens only came for the last Harry Potter book. Perhaps it was a failed distraction created by another publishing house?
Saw Order of the Phoenix at the end of vacation. Having read the last chapter and epilogue of the final book beforehand, the movie, for me, played like an interstitial in its plotting, certainly not length, making me wonder why the adult book fans even care to see the movies. Especially since the movies don't stay true to the books.
Oh, I'll spare the spoilers, but I absolutely adored the series ending. The end and the beginning of Sorcerer’s Stone are the only parts of the series I've read, but I so love what Potter has done for kids and reading. And book-shy adults, for that matter.
Posting about Satan's Halloween party reminded me of this quote:
Maybe this world is another planet's Hell.
-- Aldous Huxley
Then again, maybe we're just a bunch of sea monkeys sitting on some kid's desk.
I met Brad Meltzer who was very personable and talkative. A comic book geek (literally and figuratively) and novelist who also co-created the short-lived Jack & Bobby for TV. I bought a copy of The Book of Fate at the fest which he signed. This will be the first time I read his work.
We met the artist who created the poster for this year's fest and he signed one for me. I'm thinking of having it framed to hang in my office. We didn't stay for the whole event so I didn't get to hear Bob Woodward speak at the closing.
The swag was similar to previous years. Lots of Target sponsorship plastered around including the bottled water.
Banned book week is underway. The week ends on Sept. 30 with the National Book Festival in Washington D.C. I've attended twice and its a blast for book geeks. This year I particularly look forward to hearing from Bob Woodward and Doris Kearns Goodwin.
I love to read. Horror and spooky mystery novels are my favorites and my choice for relaxing, travel, etc. I also enjoy non-fiction focusing on our early American history.
Taking months to read a historical book is the norm; I leave the text on my coffee table and read a chapter now and then. Walter Isaacson is currently there with a book on Benjamin Franklin.
I hate to read fiction when I can't finish it quickly. It's like watching a movie in extended chunks of time - ugh. When I'm especially busy (aka the average work week) I mostly read a variety of magazines. Regulars include EW, People, Rolling Stone and Down East.
I got this link a couple of days ago and wanted to post a reminder (to you and to me) about "banned book week," Sept. 23-30. Celebrate the week by telling your winger friends/family/colleagues to back off, get a life, crawl back under a rock - whatever. Just leave the damned books alone.
From Google books:
... according to the American Library Association, 42 of 100 books recognized by the Radcliffe Publishing Course as the best novels of the 20th century have been challenged or banned.
Received this via the Stephen King mailing list tonight -- try and check it out.
August 9th, 2006 -- For those book lovers and fans world-wide who could not attend the star-studded literary event at Radio City Music Hall last week, "AN EVENING WITH HARRY, CARRIE & GARP" will now be available to watch free of charge in its entirety for two days only. On Thursday, August 10 and Friday, August 11. MSN will stream the event at http://video.msn.com, and beginning on Saturday, August 12 until the end of the month, highlights will be available on demand. MSN will enable viewers to make contributions to The Haven Foundation and Doctors Without Borders.
I'm a quasi Harry Potter movie fan. I enjoy each sequel more than the last movie. As for the books themselves, LOVE that Harry and friends have brought the joy of reading to so many kids. Love, love, love that. But the books are not a good read for me.
To add insult to (fan) injury, I found J. K. Rowling's reading on Tuesday night boring. Her selection showed an odd lack of creativity. Not that her young fans noticed -- they were in Hogwarts Heaven as they should have been. But I was bored.
Then again, Jon Stewart introduced Rowling and was hysterical (Mel Gibson, books killing TV, 5-month-old daughter on line for next book, more Mel). So, for me, Jo had a tough act to follow.
Tags: J.K. Rowling, Harry Potter, Harry, Carrie & Garp, Jon Stewart, Mel Gibson
Truly loved Harry, Carrie & Garp. There were 6,000 people at Radio City. Wall-to-wall bookworms.
Loved seeing Stephen King in person. He seemed truly energized by the event. He read from Different Seasons - a puke-alicious pie-eating contest. Best moment - he paused towards the end and asked with feigned disgust, "Who writes this stuff?"
I was agnostic towards John Irving going in, but really enjoyed his reading. He even voiced the character of a small boy, Owen Meany. Very funny.
Tags: Stephen King, J.K. Rowling, Harry, Carrie & Garp, John Irving