Category: Books Page 161 of 162

Friday Miscelleny – 6/7

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On June 7, 2013

In Books, News/Misc.

Odds ‘n ends over the week about books and reading that caught my eye. You’ve probably seen some/most/all of them, but just in case:

Dusted Off: Exactly How They Work

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On May 31, 2011

In Books

Of all the “motivational” style posters I’ve seen, this is probably closer to the truth than any of them (can’t imagine getting much closer, honestly). I’ve seen this link posted a handful of times over the last few weeks, and each time I’ve left the tab open, returning to look at it several times throughout the day. Figured it’s about time I put it up here…

Can’t imagine it’s going to work well on this here template, so you’d be better off clicking the link above or the image below and seeing it in a better way.

Books - That is exactly how they work

Dusted Off: Misc. Things about Books

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On April 28, 2011

In Books, News/Misc., Robert B. Parker, Spenser

  • We’re all more than familiar with the stereotype of the socially awkward bookworm (heck, it’s practically my whole identity for huge chunks of my life), but some recent research suggests that just might not be so. In fact, those who read a lot of fiction might be more empathetic than others (gotta say, that’s long been my theory, glad to see that I was probably right). (h/t:Lifehacker)
  • This has been linked like crazy all over, but author extraordinaire Michael Chabon has a great essay out about The Phantom Tollbooth (taken from his introduction to the forthcoming 50th anniversary edition). Loved, loved, loved that book (and re-re-re-re-re-reread it as a kid). A couple years ago I read it with my kids and fell in love again–thanks to Mr. Chabon, I have to go read it again.
  • I’m torn about this. I’m a huge, huge fan of Robert B. Parker, and the thought of not getting new Spenser and Stone volumes each year depresses me, but the news that the Parker estate and his publisher have hired new authors to continue his two main series (thankfully there’s no talk about more Cole/Hitch books). If Joan’s comfortable with it, it seems wrong for us fans to be naysayers. But, my initial reaction’s more like what Andrew Wheeler tweeted, “V.C. Andrews, move over: sharecropping to begin over Robert Parker’s barely-cold corpse.” (h/t:Harry Connolly’s feed). But, hey, it’s not like Parker treated his stuff as much more than a commodity anyway lately (and honestly, I liked some of the choices that the new Stone writer made with the movies more than Parker made). I do know I’ll be grabbing them up from the library as soon as humanly possible–and hopefully I’ll like ’em enough to head to a bookstore after that.

Dusted Off: 2010 Books

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On January 12, 2011

In Books, Calendar Items, News/Misc.

I kinda overdid it this year when it came to books. No doubt, helped in part by my Nero Wolfe Corpus project, I read 78 more books than 2009. Which is just insane. I didn’t think I was reading more or anything–I was just plowing through stuff. I can’t imagine I’ll even come close this year, but you never know… Here’s the list, for those who are interested.

Now for my personal rankings…

As I looked over my list, I gotta say I was surprised and chagrined to see how little non-fiction I read last year. I wasn’t consciously avoiding it, it just happened. Even if I hadn’t, I can’t imagine much being better than Stephen King’s Writing: A Memoir of the Craft. I should also note that Lies the Government Told You: Myth, Power, and Deception in American History by Andrew P. Napolitano is great fodder for paranoia, as well as a nice little history primer.

  • The Scott Pilgrim series – Bryan Lee O’Malley. There’s no way to pick one, gotta think of them as a package deal
  • Changes – Jim Butcher
  • One Day – David Nicholls–best book I read all year
  • Anasi Boys – Neil Gaiman
  • Boy Proof – Cecil Castellucci
  • Cursor’s Fury – Jim Butcher
  • Good in Bed – Jennifer Weiner
  • How I Became a Famous Novelist – Steve Hely
  • The Adventure of the Princess and Mr. Whiffle – Patrick Rothfuss (not really a novel, but trust me folks, this is worth the read)

Reading so much, however, leads to more than one stinker. Do yourself a favor and avoid these:

  • Point Omega – Don DeLillo
  • The Ask – Sam Lipsyte
  • Bite Me: A Love Story – Christopher Moore. And I really liked the first two in the series
  • Chemistry for Beginners – Anthony Strong. This thing just didn’t know what it wanted to be, and ended up being nothing.
  • Batman: The Ultimate Evil – Andrew H. Vachss I can’t even explain how horrible this would-be expose of child sex slavery disguised as a super hero story. It was as bad as it was well-intentioned and misguided.
  • Youth in Revolt – C. D. Payne
  • Zorro – Isabel Allende
  • Hello Kitty Must Die – Angela S. Choi
  • Starter for Ten – David Nicholls. Yup, same Nicholls that wrote my favorite book from 2010.
  • The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo – Stieg Larsson
  • The Girl who Played with Fire – Stieg Larsson

Dusted Off: 2009 Books

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On January 5, 2010

In Books, Calendar Items, Currently Reading, News/Misc.

Last year I tracked the books I read like the movies I watched. I was quite disappointed by the total, I have to say. I have resolved to do better, and that’s probably a resolution I can keep (much to the chagrin of TLomL). Not only did I not read as much as I thought I should, I wrote about what I read far less than I should’ve. I make no promises in that regard–time will tell.

Going over the list this morning I had a really bad moment, I absolutely couldn’t recognize book #4 on the list (Sacred Cows by Karen E. Olson). I had to go to a couple of different websites before the thing clicked with me–worse yet, once I remembered the book, I recalled enjoying it. And there are 3 sequels! I actually feel guilty about not reading more of Ms. Olson’s work (and forgetting that which I did read). I’ll fix that as soon as I can.

Anyway, if you’re interested, here’s the list.

I had a hard time coming up with “best of” lists, my instinct was to go for the “most literary” or whatever, but that ended up leaving off most of the books that I enjoyed most, had the biggest impact on me, etc. So instead, I went with the books I most wanted to write about (one I actually did), most of which I at least have a draft post about.

Non-fiction:
3. Marley & Me: Life and Love with the World’s Worst Dog – John Grogan
22. Confessions of a She-Fan: The Course of True Love with the New York Yankees – Jane Heller
29. John Calvin–A Biography – T. H. L. Parker
49. In Living Color: Images of Christ and the Means of Grace – Danny R. Hyde
56. Meltdown: A Free-Market Look at Why the Stock Market Collapsed, the Economy Tanked, and Government Bailouts Will Make Things Worse – Thomas E. Woods Jr.
88. Elmore Leonard’s 10 Rules of Writing – Elmore Leonard

Fiction:
26. Turn Coat – Jim Butcher
50. Spook Country – William Gibson
51. Dog on It: A Chet and Bernie Mystery – Spencer Quinn
55. The Name of the Wind – Patrick Rothfuss
69. This is Where I Leave You – Jonathan Tropper
75. The Sleeping God – Violette Malan
103. The Magicians – Lev Grossman

As far as the worst go…well, there’s the handful of books I didn’t bother finishing (poorly written, just offensive, couldn’t hold my interest…tho’ to be fair, some of those should get another shot from me) and then these, which for some reason I just finished.

20. Stalking the Unicorn – Mike Resnick
47. Chasing the Bear – Robert B. Parker
67. An Underachiever’s Diary – Benjamin Anastas 8/18/2009

104. Is This a Great Game, or What?: From A-Rod’s Heart to Zim’s Head–My 25 Years in Baseball – Tim Kurkjian (this was a fun read, just not a good book–a fine collection of brief anecdotes)
110. Bright-sided: How the Relentless Promotion of Positive Thinking Has Undermined America – Barbara Ehrenreich

Dusted Off: In nomine pizza domine!

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On April 13, 2009

In Authors, Books, Fiction, Harry Dresden, Jim Butcher, Urban Fantasy

a quick peak into my geekery:

*

Thanks to the virtual signing hosted by Dog Eared Books last week, I received my signed copy of the new Dresden Files novel, Turn Coat this weekend. This being the, I think, 6th signed book in my meager library,** this one is obviously being added to my “do not loan” list–honestly, not sure I’m going to let myself read it.

——

*The inscription, “In nomine pizza domine!” is the battle cry of Toot-Toot and his dewdrop faerie friends, as they attack the Summer Court in Summer Knight.

**I fully expect certain readers, like TLomL, will dispute the use of the word “meager.” On this, however, she is uncharacteristically wrong.

Dusted Off: Attack of the Spoilers

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On February 3, 2009

In Books, News/Misc.

So, the instant I heard that Joe Torre had a book coming out about his time with the Yankees, I ordered it (even if he technically wrote nothing). Now I’m wondering if I wasted my money. The book comes out today, and it’s already been making news thanks to a copy that a couple of NY journalists got their hands on a week or so early.

The leaked portion of the book couldn’t be more than a few paragraphs, and yet hours of TV/radio time, gallons of ink, GB of internet traffic has been devoted to it. Now that the book is out, and we’ll get more than an isolated comment about A-Rod or a description of Cashman’s treatment of Torre toward the end. I can’t imagine that we’ll see less reporting.

Now, I’ll try to avoid as much of that as I can, but it won’t be enough. If I’m not careful, I’ll end up reading/hearing the whole book before my copy arrives on Thursday, and I really won’t have time to dig in to it until Saturday.

I understand our media culture is all about getting the story out before anyone else. But when it comes getting the details of a book–memoir or best-selling novel (how many leaks about the ending of Deathly Hallows were there?)–movie, TV series finale, etc. what’s the rush? Can’t we wait for the intended audience to get a crack at it before rushing to print? What’s the benefit to spilling the details/ending/spoilers?

Internet fan sites and whatnot have the decency to warn readers about spoilers, so we can avoid them. Can’t legitimate news groups (or reasonable facsimiles thereof) do the same?

just a little griping, I guess.

Dusted Off: Say it just like Toy Story’s Little Green Men… (link fixed)

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On March 28, 2007

In Authors, Books, Fantasy, Fiction, Harry Potter, J. K. Rowling, News/Misc., YA/MG/Children's Books

“Ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooohhhhhh!”

Deathly Hallows cover released (a wrap around!).

Click here for a full image, and non-US covers.

Dusted Off: Books

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On October 6, 2006

In Books, News/Misc.

In the 50th anniversary edition, Christianity Today published their take on the top 50 books in evangelicalism’s last 50 years (H/T Ref21). I’ve read a decent-sized chunk of those. I’ve got my fingers on the pulse of evangelicalism, I guess. Some of those titles are frightening. Simply frightening (and I’ve read some of those I call that!)

Does it matter? Does anyone care what a movement considers important? What a magazine considers important? Yes. Tim Challies outdid himself today with his post, By Our Books Shall We Be Known. Challies quotes, Jay Parini’s essay “Other People’s Books” (which I clearly need to find):

What interests me about other people’s books is the nature of their collection. A personal library is an X-ray of the owner’s soul. It offers keys to a particular temperament, an intellectual disposition, a way of being in the world. Even how the books are arranged on the shelves deserves notice, even reflection. There is probably no such thing as complete chaos in such arrangements.

Other people’s books draw my attention, of course. They excite curiosity about their owners and the worlds they inhabit. But it’s finally my own books that matter, as they tell me about where I’ve been, and where I hope to go.

If that doesn’t describe my psyche, I don’t know what does. (other than a nasty coal mine…but that’s another post for another time)

The rest of the post is just as incisive. Other than the stuff about film, I like to think I’d have written the same thing–were I as talented as Challies, or took the time.

Dusted Off: Narnia Controversy

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On October 31, 2005

In Books, Fantasy, Fiction, News/Misc., YA/MG/Children's Books

I’ve long thought that the idea of reading The Chronicles of Narnia in chronological order is plain silly. The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe was the first, and needs to be read first. Prequels, like The Magician’s Nephew, demand a knowledge of the “quels” they’re “pre-” to. As I’ve been reading the series with my kids over the last few months (we step into The Last Battle today), I’ve become even more convinced that Lewis told them in the right order when he wrote them, not when he talked about it later.

John Miller over at National Review Online makes the case wonderfully. Mostly by quoting the two books vying for first read. He’s right, it’s Wardrobe all the way.

Lewis put the matter more succinctly in a letter toward the end of his life: “An author doesn’t necessarily understand the meaning of his own story better than anyone else.”

Lewis of course understood the meaning of Narnia. But a wise expert is not the same thing as a final authority — and on the question of which Narnia book should come first, Lewis was utterly wrong.

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