@Computersaurus hmm what to read next. Stephen King "Just After Sunset" which I received for Christmas? I have not read a scary book in awhile, tempt
Monday, December 29, 2008
@reading pt.3
@Computersaurus Just finished Carlos Castaneda "Tales of Power". This book seriously plunges your mind into an amazing spiritual journey. loved :-)
@Computersaurus hmm what to read next. Stephen King "Just After Sunset" which I received for Christmas? I have not read a scary book in awhile, tempt
@Computersaurus hmm what to read next. Stephen King "Just After Sunset" which I received for Christmas? I have not read a scary book in awhile, tempt
Sunday, December 28, 2008
Ghetto Glossing
Full of brunch from Wild Oat's in Larchmont and nothing but time to kill for the rest of the day, my friend Ann and I started to think of random (and cheap) things to do the afternoon of December 20th. We had totally forgotten that Ghetto Gloss was holding their Arts and Crafts Vintage Flea Market in Silverlake so we moseyed on over to enjoy the lovely day outdoors!
Fueled by coffee from Silverlake Coffee we roamed the various booths. I met a dog model - a little chihuahua named Guerro - who models for his own calendar. I scored a handknit cap with ear flaps...and EARS up top to aid and abet my obsession for random & cute things. Saw some lovely things.
We finally came across the Narrow Books Booth (a small operation run out of someone's living room). Christopher, the man manning the booth, was reading The Liar by Stephen Fry, a British actor/comedian known for his work as narrator to many a movie and also starred in V for Vendetta, among other things.
The Liar is a work of fiction about a boy attending public school (high school equivalent) in Britain. Christopher tells me that there are 2 storylines so the book is a bit scattered but follows the day to day problems of this boy who happens to be crushing on another boy. The protagonist is clever but not ambitious...and apparently also "pretty". The second storyline is more of a spy story - very old fashioned British style. "Very East vs. West", I am told. We don't get names at all. Characters are identified by the descriptions of their clothing or by Greek mythological code names. As all works with multiple storylines everything comes together somehow in the end.
Christopher then goes on to explain the difference between British and American writing styles (when it comes to spy stories). You get the day-to-day details and "minutia" of spy lifestyle/office work with documents and filing and phone calls whereas American spy stories involve fast paced thises and thats with explosions in between. The non-glamourous vs. the glamourous portrayals. He's a fan of spy novels, mostly British Intel like that of John Le Carre (one of his favourite authors).
Growing up Christopher enjoyed to read more "adult" books by John Updike like Rabbit, Run which involved a married man and adultery. Christopher even said how in the 6th grade he created a diorama of the man running from one house to the other. Brillz! He remembers getting a pretty good grade with it. "My teacher was totally cool with it...he was a smart guy and I'm pretty sure he read the book himself."
Books he recommends to his friends? David Foster Wallace's Infinite Jest. "The first 150 pages are definitely a chore but once you get passed them you're in for a literary ride! [editor's note: must get my book back...]
(yes, books do make great gifts!)
If Christopher were to adapt a book into a movie it would be his own. He's currently working on a novel with 4-5 plots. Currently in editing mode and he may axe one or more of the plots but that is still to be determined.
Before I left he handed me a booklet with a short story he has written called "The Unhappy Future". More on that later...
What book would you want to adapt into a movie?
Fueled by coffee from Silverlake Coffee we roamed the various booths. I met a dog model - a little chihuahua named Guerro - who models for his own calendar. I scored a handknit cap with ear flaps...and EARS up top to aid and abet my obsession for random & cute things. Saw some lovely things.
We finally came across the Narrow Books Booth (a small operation run out of someone's living room). Christopher, the man manning the booth, was reading The Liar by Stephen Fry, a British actor/comedian known for his work as narrator to many a movie and also starred in V for Vendetta, among other things.
The Liar is a work of fiction about a boy attending public school (high school equivalent) in Britain. Christopher tells me that there are 2 storylines so the book is a bit scattered but follows the day to day problems of this boy who happens to be crushing on another boy. The protagonist is clever but not ambitious...and apparently also "pretty". The second storyline is more of a spy story - very old fashioned British style. "Very East vs. West", I am told. We don't get names at all. Characters are identified by the descriptions of their clothing or by Greek mythological code names. As all works with multiple storylines everything comes together somehow in the end.
Christopher then goes on to explain the difference between British and American writing styles (when it comes to spy stories). You get the day-to-day details and "minutia" of spy lifestyle/office work with documents and filing and phone calls whereas American spy stories involve fast paced thises and thats with explosions in between. The non-glamourous vs. the glamourous portrayals. He's a fan of spy novels, mostly British Intel like that of John Le Carre (one of his favourite authors).
Growing up Christopher enjoyed to read more "adult" books by John Updike like Rabbit, Run which involved a married man and adultery. Christopher even said how in the 6th grade he created a diorama of the man running from one house to the other. Brillz! He remembers getting a pretty good grade with it. "My teacher was totally cool with it...he was a smart guy and I'm pretty sure he read the book himself."
Books he recommends to his friends? David Foster Wallace's Infinite Jest. "The first 150 pages are definitely a chore but once you get passed them you're in for a literary ride! [editor's note: must get my book back...]
(yes, books do make great gifts!)If Christopher were to adapt a book into a movie it would be his own. He's currently working on a novel with 4-5 plots. Currently in editing mode and he may axe one or more of the plots but that is still to be determined.
Before I left he handed me a booklet with a short story he has written called "The Unhappy Future". More on that later...
What book would you want to adapt into a movie?
Saturday, December 27, 2008
turn the page?
I still prefer my page-turners...
Do you use an e-book device? Are you considering switching over?
Friday, December 26, 2008
fitty dollas worth
Looky Looky! Lil' ol' me received a $50 gift card to Border's Books as a holiday gift! What books should I get? Suggest away...
Did you get any books (or bookstore giftcards) this holiday?
Did you get any books (or bookstore giftcards) this holiday?
Tuesday, December 23, 2008
Monday, December 22, 2008
ode to mija
Color Me Badd's "I Wanna Sex You Up" came on the office's 90's XM station the other day and my first reaction was to dart my glance to my left and "whisper-scream" Erica's name. We had been YouTubing old 90's jams at her apartment one night and had a groove sesh to this video, reliving our single-digit youth! (May we also suggest this Zhane gem?!) Alas, my partner in crime no longer sits in my blindspot but here is a little ode to "mija"...the only other person (lately, besides le mec) who analyzes/has a fascination with words/tone/structure/placement, whether it be a passage in a book or wondering why someone uses a single lower-case initial to sign their emails...but we digress...
Busy workin' girls take their lunches at their desks! Busted Erica sneaking in some reading time between bites. She was reading Louis De Bernieres A Partisan's Daughter. Erica had read a NY Times review about the book, describing it as an unconventional love story between an unhappy man going through a mid-life crisis and a Yugoslavian prostritute. Erica was sold after that!
At the time she was about midway through the book. The book takes place in 1970's London. The main character is a man named Chris who is in his forties, trapped in a loveless, sexless marriage with a woman he refers to as the “The Great White Loaf.” One day he ‘passively’ picks up a prostitute by asking her “do you have the time?” – which he thought was a polite enough way to confirm whether she was in fact a prostitute in the first place. He ends up giving the young Yugoslavian woman named Roza a ride to her run-down, bohemian roofless apartment building, but she doesn’t sleep with him (she is not in fact a hooker but she never clarifies this). From there on out Chris pays Roza consistent visits and gets enraptured by her embellished stories about her father and other sexual coming of age stories which she tells to “keep him interested.” They slowly begin to fall in love with one another her dilapidated apartment – he with her fascinating, unconventional way of being, and she with his polite and loyal dedication to her.
Erica likes the book but isn't too crazy about the way the story is told. It shifts between 3rd person omniscient, to 1st person from his perspective, to 1st person from hers – with no immediately apparent pattern. She would prefer if it were only in omniscient point of view or from Chris' perspective so that she could see what he's really thinking since Roza is doing all the talking and her intentions and motives are quite obvious.
A few of Erica's favourite books from high school was Sylvia Plath's The Bell Jar because , at the time, she was sad and identified with the main character, Esther Greenwood. (Editor's side note: my sister got me this book for my birthday in HS with an inscription that went something like, "I read this book and thought of you. You remind me of the main character and I think you can relate." As an aside from THAT, I can write a book about the different/random gifts I get from people that reminded them of me...) Other book she loved? Goodbye Columbus by Philip Roth (Erica is a Roth fan). She also enjoys Edgar Allan Poe and Oscar Wilde. Some favourite short stories that always stuck with her are Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s “The Yellow Wallpaper” and Nathaniel Hawthorne’s “The Birthmark” .
Can she remember the first book that really got her into reading? A tough question, she says, but it is probably a tie between Emily Bronte’s Wuthering Heights and Oscar Wilde’s Picture of Dorian Gray.
Thoughts on books adapted into movies? Like most people, Erica feels the movies are never as good as the book but she still likes watching them to see how the story is interpretted. And, as a Harry Potter fan, she will attest to the movies being as great as the books!
Erica and I were in book club together and read Richard Yates' Revolutionary Road so we are very excited to see the movie starring Kate Winslet and Leonardo DiCaprio. The trailer looks amazing and we really hope the adaptation will suit us fine.
And if Erica were to write a novel she tells me, "I’m sure it’d have to do with love and hurt and loss, and wanting the unattainable…blah blah blah."
I dove into my "odd shelf" question to pry around. (I am reading a book called Ex Libris where the author talks about having an "Odd Shelf". Her "Odd Shelf" contains books about anything and everything related to arctic travel/exploration/etc. She talks about other authors who have a shelf for books on specific porn and how her husband's "odd shelf" deals with all things about rainforests.) What's on her odd shelf? She has the whole Harry Potter collection (I suppose that counts). Erica, like myself, used to own all of Anne Rice's vampire novels. To reiterate what Sonya of People Reading asked me in an email, "What is our fascination with vampies?"
What was the last book you picked up based on a review you read in the paper or magazine?
What is on your "odd shelf"?
Busy workin' girls take their lunches at their desks! Busted Erica sneaking in some reading time between bites. She was reading Louis De Bernieres A Partisan's Daughter. Erica had read a NY Times review about the book, describing it as an unconventional love story between an unhappy man going through a mid-life crisis and a Yugoslavian prostritute. Erica was sold after that!
At the time she was about midway through the book. The book takes place in 1970's London. The main character is a man named Chris who is in his forties, trapped in a loveless, sexless marriage with a woman he refers to as the “The Great White Loaf.” One day he ‘passively’ picks up a prostitute by asking her “do you have the time?” – which he thought was a polite enough way to confirm whether she was in fact a prostitute in the first place. He ends up giving the young Yugoslavian woman named Roza a ride to her run-down, bohemian roofless apartment building, but she doesn’t sleep with him (she is not in fact a hooker but she never clarifies this). From there on out Chris pays Roza consistent visits and gets enraptured by her embellished stories about her father and other sexual coming of age stories which she tells to “keep him interested.” They slowly begin to fall in love with one another her dilapidated apartment – he with her fascinating, unconventional way of being, and she with his polite and loyal dedication to her.
Erica likes the book but isn't too crazy about the way the story is told. It shifts between 3rd person omniscient, to 1st person from his perspective, to 1st person from hers – with no immediately apparent pattern. She would prefer if it were only in omniscient point of view or from Chris' perspective so that she could see what he's really thinking since Roza is doing all the talking and her intentions and motives are quite obvious.
A few of Erica's favourite books from high school was Sylvia Plath's The Bell Jar because , at the time, she was sad and identified with the main character, Esther Greenwood. (Editor's side note: my sister got me this book for my birthday in HS with an inscription that went something like, "I read this book and thought of you. You remind me of the main character and I think you can relate." As an aside from THAT, I can write a book about the different/random gifts I get from people that reminded them of me...) Other book she loved? Goodbye Columbus by Philip Roth (Erica is a Roth fan). She also enjoys Edgar Allan Poe and Oscar Wilde. Some favourite short stories that always stuck with her are Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s “The Yellow Wallpaper” and Nathaniel Hawthorne’s “The Birthmark” .
Can she remember the first book that really got her into reading? A tough question, she says, but it is probably a tie between Emily Bronte’s Wuthering Heights and Oscar Wilde’s Picture of Dorian Gray.
Thoughts on books adapted into movies? Like most people, Erica feels the movies are never as good as the book but she still likes watching them to see how the story is interpretted. And, as a Harry Potter fan, she will attest to the movies being as great as the books!
Erica and I were in book club together and read Richard Yates' Revolutionary Road so we are very excited to see the movie starring Kate Winslet and Leonardo DiCaprio. The trailer looks amazing and we really hope the adaptation will suit us fine.
And if Erica were to write a novel she tells me, "I’m sure it’d have to do with love and hurt and loss, and wanting the unattainable…blah blah blah."
I dove into my "odd shelf" question to pry around. (I am reading a book called Ex Libris where the author talks about having an "Odd Shelf". Her "Odd Shelf" contains books about anything and everything related to arctic travel/exploration/etc. She talks about other authors who have a shelf for books on specific porn and how her husband's "odd shelf" deals with all things about rainforests.) What's on her odd shelf? She has the whole Harry Potter collection (I suppose that counts). Erica, like myself, used to own all of Anne Rice's vampire novels. To reiterate what Sonya of People Reading asked me in an email, "What is our fascination with vampies?"
What was the last book you picked up based on a review you read in the paper or magazine?
What is on your "odd shelf"?
Monday, December 15, 2008
house of phantoms
"...wish i could've stayed around to watch the last band play. hey hey hey. i heard that they broke up last fridayyyyy."
Friday - December 12th, 2009 - marks Phantom Planet's final show. 15 years. What a great ride. Thanks to 'le mec' i got to be part of this LA scene's history @ the Troubadour in West Hollywood.
After reliving oldies but goodies, seeing former members make cameos, and watching Alex Greenwald walk across the crowd a la Jesus Christ on water I made my way east over to Los Feliz for some late night grub. The beloved Fred 62 was busy so we made our way across the street to the House of Pies. On my way out I come across Elaine sitting in a booth, reading whilst waiting for her food, with her friend Mike.
Elaine is reading Incubus Dreams by Laurell K. Hamilton. I am told that it's part of the Anita Blake vampire hunter series. Elaine claims this genre of books are considered "paranormal romance novels". I'm intrigued because I've never heard the phrase/genre before!
Elaine loves reading these types of books! When asked if she were into Anne Rice (the way I was when I was younger) for the vampire-ness she says Rice novels aren't her cup of tea. As for the Twilight series Elaine thinks they are 'ok' but that the books are clearly a rip-off.
The last book she read was Wishful Drinking, Carrie Fisher's first memoir.
A few of her favourite books are Catcher in the Rye and The Great Gatsby
If Elaine were to write her own book it would be about a quirky girl from the San Fernando Valley living in a Filipino household. Autobiography? Perhaps. Oddly enough, that could also be the story of MY life! :)
Elaine also happens to be part of a writer's workshop called The Undeniables. Check out her section of the site here!
Read anything in the Anita Blake vampire hunter series?
What Anne Rice books have you read?
Got any favourite vampire novels/short stories?
Friday - December 12th, 2009 - marks Phantom Planet's final show. 15 years. What a great ride. Thanks to 'le mec' i got to be part of this LA scene's history @ the Troubadour in West Hollywood.
After reliving oldies but goodies, seeing former members make cameos, and watching Alex Greenwald walk across the crowd a la Jesus Christ on water I made my way east over to Los Feliz for some late night grub. The beloved Fred 62 was busy so we made our way across the street to the House of Pies. On my way out I come across Elaine sitting in a booth, reading whilst waiting for her food, with her friend Mike.
Elaine is reading Incubus Dreams by Laurell K. Hamilton. I am told that it's part of the Anita Blake vampire hunter series. Elaine claims this genre of books are considered "paranormal romance novels". I'm intrigued because I've never heard the phrase/genre before!
Elaine loves reading these types of books! When asked if she were into Anne Rice (the way I was when I was younger) for the vampire-ness she says Rice novels aren't her cup of tea. As for the Twilight series Elaine thinks they are 'ok' but that the books are clearly a rip-off.
The last book she read was Wishful Drinking, Carrie Fisher's first memoir.
A few of her favourite books are Catcher in the Rye and The Great Gatsby
If Elaine were to write her own book it would be about a quirky girl from the San Fernando Valley living in a Filipino household. Autobiography? Perhaps. Oddly enough, that could also be the story of MY life! :)
Elaine also happens to be part of a writer's workshop called The Undeniables. Check out her section of the site here! Read anything in the Anita Blake vampire hunter series?
What Anne Rice books have you read?
Got any favourite vampire novels/short stories?
Saturday, December 13, 2008
@reading pt.1
my twitter & brightkite friends reading @ lunch
@emarchan the perfect lunch: book, sunshine, gentle waterfall next to tall, green grass. ruined by spiders, grasshoppers, ants, too close, too late (everything is illuminated. first timer.)
@escapist Never fails. If ever I grab lunch alone with a good book, the table next to me is full of conversation about ad models and iPhones and SMS.
@emarchan the perfect lunch: book, sunshine, gentle waterfall next to tall, green grass. ruined by spiders, grasshoppers, ants, too close, too late (everything is illuminated. first timer.)
@escapist Never fails. If ever I grab lunch alone with a good book, the table next to me is full of conversation about ad models and iPhones and SMS.
Thursday, December 11, 2008
Sci/Fi Sighting
On my lunch break walking by the Beverly/La Cienega bus stop across from the Sofitel hotel. Ken is waiting for the Dash bus and passes the time with V: The Second Generation by Kenneth Johnson.
It's a sci/fi book that, according to reader Ken, is about alien lizards who come down to Earth to steal our water, and then make humans their main course meal! The books were actually a TV show once upon a time (in the 1980s, I believe). It was actually comprised of 2 mini series and was a failed weekly show (so I am told).
Ken has a penchant for sci/fi books. The last book he read was a Star Trek book. He enjoys both the TV show and the books but made it known that he is not thrilled at all for the upcoming J.J Abrams movie coming out in May of '09. Oh if you could've seen the disgust written all over Ken's face...
What book does Ken like to recommend to people? On A Pale Horse by Piers Anthony. It's another sci/fi-esque book that he thinks is great because of its insight on death. The book follows a guy in some near-future who kills the Grim Reaper and, as a result, becomes the new "Grim Reaper". He has to decide who gets to die now, how, and all that good stuff. Civil service a la purgatory? Ridic!
Growing up Ken enjoyed Where the Sidewalk Ends by Shel Silverstein for the poems. He also loved The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis. Thoughts on the somewhat recent movie adatation? "It was an adequate movie but I thought the cartoon was better."
If he could write his own book? It would be about gaining super powers! The super powers he'd like to have? First he'd like the power of flight. Then he'd like the power of vulnerability. (Interesting)
Do you have a favourite sci/fi book series?
What would your super power be?
It's a sci/fi book that, according to reader Ken, is about alien lizards who come down to Earth to steal our water, and then make humans their main course meal! The books were actually a TV show once upon a time (in the 1980s, I believe). It was actually comprised of 2 mini series and was a failed weekly show (so I am told).
Ken has a penchant for sci/fi books. The last book he read was a Star Trek book. He enjoys both the TV show and the books but made it known that he is not thrilled at all for the upcoming J.J Abrams movie coming out in May of '09. Oh if you could've seen the disgust written all over Ken's face...
What book does Ken like to recommend to people? On A Pale Horse by Piers Anthony. It's another sci/fi-esque book that he thinks is great because of its insight on death. The book follows a guy in some near-future who kills the Grim Reaper and, as a result, becomes the new "Grim Reaper". He has to decide who gets to die now, how, and all that good stuff. Civil service a la purgatory? Ridic!
Growing up Ken enjoyed Where the Sidewalk Ends by Shel Silverstein for the poems. He also loved The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis. Thoughts on the somewhat recent movie adatation? "It was an adequate movie but I thought the cartoon was better."
If he could write his own book? It would be about gaining super powers! The super powers he'd like to have? First he'd like the power of flight. Then he'd like the power of vulnerability. (Interesting)
Do you have a favourite sci/fi book series?
What would your super power be?
Tuesday, December 2, 2008
Makin' Time
A book blog(Bookmeo.com) /fellow Twitterer (@bookhound) posted this blog entry a few weeks ago on "5 Tips On Making Time To Read". Seeing as I am having trouble "behaving" with my book-reading habits I found these rather interesting...doable...#3 is weird to me but it could work for you? I am a definite victim of #2 just because i get in these moods where I have to put down one book and read another that I am "craving". #4 with the short books/stories is cool. Le mec and I were talking about starting a "short story book club". Still waiting to come into fruition.
1) Set a “reading time” every day, many people do this before bed. You can work it into your schedule, after you do it several days it will become routine.
2) Limit the number of books you read. All too often I get started on four or five books at the same time. I have concluded that keeping my reading to no more than two books actually keeps me on track to finish those books.
3) You don’t have to finish every book you start. I have talked with people who think they have to finish every book they start. With the huge pile of books I have, I feel no obligation to finish a “stinker” book. If I don’t have a desire to turn the page, I normally don’t get past chapter 1. When we make the time to read it is important to enjoy the book you are reading. I know I likely miss out on some good books with slow starts, but there are plenty of books out there.
4) Read short books. I always feelgood when I finish a book. So every so often throw in a “quick read book” it feels great to finish a book.
5) Talk about the books you read. You can discuss books at book club or online. Sharing your joy about reading feels great. Encouraging reading, and getting people to read more books is great ! This keeps your passion for reading, and thus you will make more time to read.
Agree? Disagree? Got any tactics you utilise yourself?
chain gang
Silly really but I just saw this on a friend's Facebook status and I had to play along (?) Slightly altered for blog commenting purposes...and i chose "6th" line instead of the original "5th" because 6 is my favourite number:
Rules:
* Grab the book closest to you
* Go to page 56
* Find the 6th sentence
* Comment with the Title, Author, and that particular sentence
My contribution, accordingly:
- Reading Ex Libris by Anne Fadiman
- "Unlike the card that accompanies, say, a sweater, from which it is soon likely to part company, a book and its inscription are permanently wedded."
Rules:
* Grab the book closest to you
* Go to page 56
* Find the 6th sentence
* Comment with the Title, Author, and that particular sentence
My contribution, accordingly:
- Reading Ex Libris by Anne Fadiman
- "Unlike the card that accompanies, say, a sweater, from which it is soon likely to part company, a book and its inscription are permanently wedded."
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