Bookworms's topics - tribe.net

Seven Deadly Words of Book Reviewing

2008-06-19T02:51:09Z

ha. (tho i'll confess to probably overusing 'compelling' more than i should.)

http://papercuts.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/03/25/seven-deadly-words-of-book-reviewing/

posted in Bookworms - 1 reply

Flying Off the Shelves

2008-06-04T18:33:35Z

a former roommate of mine here in San Francisco worked in an independent bookstore. and knew this scenario only too well.

http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/Content?oid=520472

posted in Bookworms - 9 replies

Jeanette Winterson

2008-05-22T16:32:04Z

Two books that I read over the summer that were really great were The Passion and Oranges are not the only Fruit by Jeanette Winterson.

I read the former on the recommendation of a friend and LOVED it so much that I went out to find another by her. The Passion is sort of a magical realism twisty-turning narrative, much of which takes place in Venice. If you've been to Venice and loved it, or if you haven't been there yet (and you will love it!) this book transports you there.

OANTOF is an autobiographical account of coming out in a very smalll, very religious community. Both of these books were fantastic, if not a little short. I was especially sad that The Passion didn't go on for a few hundred pages, as I was really enjoying my stay in the book's world.

Both of these short books are great to read while traveling (on planes, in airports, at cafes...) because they are told in a voice and style that is very accessible and personal, and you are not likely to get confused or off-track if you pick them up and put them down a lot like I do in transit...

posted in Bookworms - 1 reply

Love Hemingway!

2008-04-29T23:17:54Z

I just finished A farewell to arms and I loved the story. The sooner I get my hands on another Earnest Hemingway book the better. Does anyone else like Hemingway?

posted in Bookworms - 2 replies

can we just all take a minute to talk about how great Savage Detectives is

2008-04-07T19:37:38Z

so it's a little (okay, a lot) masturbatory, but it so so good.
Roberto Bolano did a very good thing.

posted in Bookworms - 2 replies

Fantasy & Romance Author seeks feedback!!!

2008-04-01T19:31:14Z

Hi all! R. Leigh here....

I am the author of The Winds of Asharra, a 600 page combination Fantasy & Romance novel recently published (please check out our site at http://www.thewindsofasharra.com ). We are actively looking for feedback on WOA since it is a crossover product, appealing to both Romance and Fantasy readers (something that has our traditional publishers scratching their heads). We're in the midst of both book launch and site launch time (very hectic) and would like your input.

In keeping with this request for feedback we are now offering the 600 page PDF version of WOA for FREE on our site (sure, we are hoping you will browse it and eventually purchase either the paperback or hardbound version, we admit).

Please check out the FREE pdf version and let us know how we can best market WOA to fantasy and romance readers. We'd really like to help WOA finds its fullest audience. Several bookstores are already getting onboard but we really need some input how to promote this hybrid creature. Consider this as a request to become part of a focus group. We'd really like to know your thoughts about WOA and how to best market it to both Fantasy and Romance fans. Please help the Winds of Asharra reach its audience. Being a crossover product is hard enough as is! Spread the word and show the Big Guys that something new is possible. Help us be carried along by the Winds of Asharra!!!

Thanks for your time!

R. Leigh

posted in Bookworms - 0 replies

What books would you buy?

2008-03-08T03:53:45Z

I got a gift certificate to a book store recently and if I stick with paperbacks I can buy around 10.
Here are some of my favorites:

Tom Robbins, Jitterbug Perfume
anything by Tom Robbins
Christopher Moore
Katherine Dunn, Geek Love
anything by Steinbeck
David Sedaris
Anthony Bourdain

Any suggestions? I was thinking about Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell. But I would also love to hear about some new (or old) authors.
thanks!

posted in Bookworms - 6 replies

RIP Gary Gygax, Co-creator of Dungeons & Dragons (X-posted)

2008-03-07T18:58:18Z

If it weren't for the creative guys at Tactical Studies Rules (TSR) I doubt we'd have the extensive fantasy- and mythology-based literature and games which are so popular and financially successful today.

Rest well, Gary.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gary_Gygax

Feiruz, a second-generation "gamer"

posted in Bookworms - 1 reply

help find quote

2008-03-04T02:21:06Z

Most of my books are in storage. I can't stop thinking about a part in a book, I believe in Indian Killer by Sherman Alexie, or maybe another of his books or a similar writer. In this part of the book the narrator is describing how outsiders driving through a reservation see junked cars etc as trash and slothenly as a result of their poverty. The narrator goes on to explain that these things could be being used as bedrooms etc.
If anyone recalls this from one of the books they have read please let me know.
Thanks

posted in Bookworms - 0 replies

Cheap paperbacks?

2008-02-28T17:09:48Z

Anyone know a good place to buy some REALLY cheap paperback books online? Like $2 cheap! Used books maybe.

posted in Bookworms - 0 replies

Touring in Booktowns

2008-02-20T06:05:36Z

from yesterday's "Galleycat" via Mediabistro.

-------

Touring in Booktowns

Stars and Stripes, the newspaper of the US Army, highlights a plethora of small towns around Europe and Asia who, by dint of operating many bookstores and selling many, many thousands of books per square miles, are known as "booktowns." There's Hay-on-Wye, the oldest and most famous, but booktowns can be found in Redu, Belgium; Bredevoort, Netherlands; and Kampung Buku Langkawi, Malaysia. A booktown is customarily a small town with a disproportionate number of shops selling secondhand or antiquarian books. Often there are retail activities that complement the core industry. Some are related, such as printing or book binding, while others, like restaurants and hotels, are not. And typically, the town regularly hosts book fairs for novices and collectors alike.

"For a booktown to be successful, you have to offer something else on the side," said Miep van Duin, board secretary of the International Organization of Booktowns, referring to complementary businesses. "In Redu, we have found a good compromise." They also know how to have some fun: Held in early August, Redu's "Night of the Book" festival is a time when shops stay open late, streets are packed and fireworks fill the midnight sky. "It's very pleasant and fun," Philippe Evrard, a bookshop owner in Redu, said in his best English. "There is music in the streets. Books are not only serious."

http://www.estripes.com/article.asp?section=140&article=48350

posted in Bookworms - 1 reply

Anyone read The grapes of wrath?

2008-02-17T07:32:52Z

I just started the grapes of wrath a few days ago. also just finished an auto biography by Janet frame and on the road by jack Kerouac. I'm thinking about reading some Hemingway after I finish the grapes of wrath, or I might read some more by Steinbeck while I’m still in the mood for Steinbeck.

posted in Bookworms - 6 replies

2008 Commonwealth Writers Regional Shortlists Unfurled

2008-02-15T21:51:17Z

http://www.mediabistro.com/galleycat/awards/2008_commonwealth_writers_regional_shortlists_unfurled_77492.asp

although it claims to be global, it's (not shockingly) overwhelmingly dominated by Canada, the UK, and Australia. still, some potentially interesting ones.

posted in Bookworms - 0 replies

used book store in LA

2008-02-01T09:41:24Z

I need some advice on where I can go to sell my used books that take a lot of titles and pay a fair price. I usually go to the Iliad in North Hollywood, but I never feel they pay me enough. Thanks!

posted in Bookworms - 3 replies

New Concept: Cross-Over Novels

2008-01-11T01:53:01Z

Agent Pendergast and Odd Thomas (character from Dean Koontz series) team up to solve something wicked in them there hills.

any takers? any other fun creative ideas I'd love to see them.

Like Ghost from American Gods meets Clay Riddell in some post zombie setting from Stephan King's the Cell, both trying with dreams to kill the signal that threw the world on its end.

its just a fun creative exercise

posted in Bookworms - 0 replies

Douglas Preston and Lincold Child mysteries

2008-01-11T01:45:29Z

Preston and Child books are AMAZING. I especially loved Still Life With Crows, but I can't seem to find anyone else who has read them. If anyone has read these awesome books please comment, I would love to hear opinions.

posted in Bookworms - 13 replies

2007, the year for creepy techno thrillers!!!

2008-01-11T01:26:37Z

As in experiment in sobriety, I took January off, giving my body a break from the ominous amount of partying I did in the latter half of 2006. Most of you know how common it is to replace one addiction with another. I'm here to tell ya', I've realized what my new addiction is: reading fast paced murder mysteries with an occult-ish twist!

So far in 2007, I've read 8 of these pulpy page turners, and will probably finish 6 by the end of the month, at my current pace. Below is a post from a blog I did in mid-January, citing 4 of them. I'll include the rest on a later post, since I'm still at work:

1. "Black Wind" - F. Paul Wilson

This is a novel set just before and during WWII. It tells of two young men growing up in San Francisco, one an American and one a Nisei (2nd generation Japanese), each of whom ends up working for Naval Intelligence on opposite sides. "Black Wind" refers to a super secret weapon from Japan's dark Ashikaga period, able to suck the life out of all it encounters. This novel is Shakespearian in its ironic twists and turns. There is romance, but don't let that scare you away...it's bitterly ironic romance. A good read, all the way through, especially in how Wilson illustrates the way in which the uber-nationalistic Japanese generals co-opted the alleged Divinity of their Emperor to launch the country into a wars of conquest, even though Admiral Yamamoto (the one who planned and implemted the attack on Pearl Harbor) was vehemently against it. Having studied this very subject at UCSB, I must say Mr. Wilson did an outstanding job at the research level.

2. "The Ice Limit" - Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child

A fabulously rich business tycoon decides to open his own museum in upstate New York, to rival even the lofty New York Museum of Natural History, (an institution that figures prominently in all of the Preston and Child novels). Upon hearing of a huge meteorite with strange properties that's just been discovered on the southern most island of Tierra del Fuego, he hires an extraction team, buys a massive cargo ship and outfits it with a team of engineers to haul this 25,000 ton behemoth back to his museum site. Of course, everything goes horribly wrong. If you like nautical novels with big storms and nail biting engineering logistics, as well as extraterrestrial rocks with a stable atomic number above 400, you will love this one.

3. "Cabinet of Curiosities" - Douglas Preston & Lincoln Child

A "Cabinet of Curiosities" was what we used to have before we had such things as museums of natural history.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cabi...uriosities

It was during a time when Western cultures were exploring the "savage" cultures of Africa and South America and bringing back "exotic" flora, fauna, and cultural relics, such shrunken heads, war spears, and magic talismans and totems. This novel begins with the grim discovery of a charnel with 36 mutilated skeletons under a bricked in foundation, while construction for a new multi-story apartment building is under way. Special Agent Pendergast of the FBI is on the scene immediately. Pendergast figures largely in most of the Preston & Child novels. He is a supremely eccentric, funereally attired, lethally trained, forensic expert who often freelances cases to which the FBI doesn't actually assign him. This particular novel pits him against a man who may have cheated death for 150 years, by making a substance out of spinal fluid from LIVING SUBJECTS. This book is superb, not only from a suspense standpoint, but also from a historical/scientific one. All of the Preston & Child books are great as a crash course in natural history, and the politics of museums and curators in general. With this one, I had my dictionary near at hand, and used Wikipedia quite a bit. I love it when a good book is so interesting that it FORCES one to learn!!!

4. "Fear Nothing" - Dean Koontz

This book is interesting from the point of view of the protagonist, Christopher Snow, who has a rare genetic disorder called XP (xeroderma pigmentosum)

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xero...igmentosum

that renders the day time very deadly indeed. Only being able to venture out safely at night, he discovers that his little town of 20,000 or so on the central coast of California is indeed both bizarre, and terribly dangerous. Frankly, this book is a bit of a letdown, both because it's a wee bit pretentious, being written in the first person (which only works in hard nosed crime novels (Elmore Leonard comes to mind), or masterpieces, neither of which this book is.) The other letdown is that the plot ends up being the standard Dean Koontz "secret government project gone horribly wrong" type deal. But now that I've read the first book in the series, I will of course, read the other two.

At the moment, I'm reading yet ANOTHER Preston & Child book, called "Still Life with Crows", again with Agent Pendergast, this time on vacation. In Kansas. His idea of a relaxing vacation is unofficially investigating a serial murderer that may or may not be the vengeful ghost of a man who was massacred by vengeful Sioux spirit warriors at the end of the Civil War. Lots of ritually mutilated bodies in corn fields populate this novel. Pendergast is at his wicked funniest here. Kinda reminiscent of the agent played by Kyle McGlaughlin in Twin Peaks in how he both adores and mocks small town America in the same breath.

posted in Bookworms - 1 reply

great airplane reading...?

2008-01-08T06:41:10Z

provocative title to titillate nosy seat neighbors?
short story collection that kept you intrigued?
gripping storyline you just couldn't set down??

fast reader on a 5 hour flight needs book recommendations please!

this question arose because I just finished blazing through Cormac McCarthy's The Road and it would have made an excellent flight book. Though apocalyptically dark and intense, I could not put it down.

posted in Bookworms - 9 replies

Seminal books as a child ....

2008-01-04T00:50:14Z

Don't know quite why it occured to me, but out of the blue i started thinking about what books were the most affecting / captivating to me as a rug rat....
You know... the first books that made u beeeeegggg like u did for nothing else - for just ONE MORE CHAPTER TONITE....!!!!!! PLEEEEEEZE!!!

James and the Giant Peach
Charlie and the Choclate Factory
Stuart Little
Alice Thru the Looking Glass

(Treasure Island too..., but it doesn't fit into the startling point i'm about to make...)

But what hit me outta the blue was how related they all kinda are.....
They're ALL kid alone, out of his(or her) element.....in varying degrees...

Anybody else able to draw parallel about thier faves like that....

posted in Bookworms - 23 replies

Spanish Language book store in L.A. ?

2007-12-31T03:06:50Z

One of my friends is on some latin american literature kick and asked me if I knew a good spanish language book store. Me? Im some stupid midwesterner - I dont speak spanish. duh.

Anyone around here have a good tip?

posted in Bookworms - 2 replies

Book Design Review's "Favorite Book Covers of 2007" ( & Poll)

2007-12-15T00:35:01Z

http://nytimesbooks.blogspot.com/2007/11/my-favorite-book-covers-of-2007.html

[ i'm liking "Like You'd Understand, Anyway" ]

posted in Bookworms - 1 reply

A Real Thrill

2007-11-12T06:43:24Z

without trying, I became the 777th member of this tribe! I am a bookseller and magician so this is a real thrill for me. Wishing us all peace love abundance and insight. Good reading to all, Akasha

posted in Bookworms - 0 replies

Anyone in the Seattle area want to trade Orwell books?

2007-11-07T19:42:39Z

I just finished Animal Farm, and I want to trade it for someone's 1984. Am I in luck?

posted in Bookworms - 3 replies

Discovering Jonathan Lethem

2007-11-06T00:22:27Z

Knew of "Motherless Brooklyn' peripherally.... never paid it too much attention, cause it was TOO popular.....

But came across "Fortress of Solitude" and "Men and Cartoons" by complete happenstance, at a couldn't-afford-not-to-buy-it price at the Strand.....

Being the life long comic book, and Brooklyn resident.... It's so wild, and rare, a thing to hear the streets that were ur urban crib as a backdrop...
The sense of absolute TRUTH that struck me found me smiling repeatedly, as i went thru "Fortress"... (so truthfully, I can't be THAT sure that my enjoyment of his stuff isn't unduly influenced by the personal-ness of his material....).

About 3/5 of the way thru it.....

"Men and Cartoons" is an a amazingly unique and quirky, sci-fi -ish collection of short stories....(with a future world of people living en masse in their cars, WITHIN their traffic jams, aging superhero professors, and germs with troubled teen offspring....).

3 or 4 more stories for me to go in it.....

Any other fans of his....?

posted in Bookworms - 1 reply

For Halloween: "Capote in Kansas: A Ghost Story"

2007-11-01T16:41:36Z

Was Boo Radley a real person?

Why didn't Harper Lee ever write another book, after TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD?

What did she see in Kansas, when she was with Truman Capote writing IN COLD BLOOD, that changed her life forever?

Did the ghosts of the murdered Clutters ever visit the very people who brought them back to life?

What made Truman Capote pick up the phone, in the final year of his life, and make one last call to his childhood best friend, now his almost bitter enemy? What does he say that sends her to a cemetery in the middle of the night -- where her family -- and their childhood secrets --are buried?

If those questions intrigue you, then you'll want to read the new novel by Kim Powers, CAPOTE IN KANSAS: A GHOST STORY.. It's a sort of "fantasia" about two of our greatest and most mysterious writers, and the inescapable memories that bind them together. But more than just a book about Capote and Lee, it's about all our childhoods: when you played barefoot outside, late into the night, or pretended there was a haunted house in the neighborhood, and didn't understand the grown-up world of adults and death -- or understood it all too well.

Entertainment Weekly says: "Powers astutely summons the intense sorrow behind a life-long friendship gone awry."

Publishers Weekly calls it "welcome", "offbeat" and intriguing."

The Advocate calls it "dark and captivating."

Pulitzer Prize winner Oscar Hijuelos writes: “I thought I knew the story of Truman Capote and Harper Lee. I was wrong. Kim Powers brilliantly brings their strange relationship alive in a way a standard-issue biography never could. Weaving together fact, speculation and fantasy, he creates a sort of emotional biography that will haunt you long after the last page...just as the ghosts of the slain Clutters must have haunted them.”

Maybe best of all, Library Journal, in a starred review, has this to say:
"In his exceptional first novel, Emmy and Peabody Award winner Powers presents us with Truman Capote in the last year of his life. Addled by drugs and alcohol and despairing the wreck his shining life has become, he is plagued by the ghosts of the people whose deaths he chronicled in his greatest book, In Cold Blood. The now-old Harper Lee, or Nelle as she calls herself, is the only one who has a shot at understanding Truman—his childhood friend, she served as companion and researcher on the trip to Kansas that produced In Cold Blood. But Nelle has her own ghosts to exorcise having to do with why she never wrote a second book. In Kansas, Powers speculates, Truman exposed Nelle to her own sexuality, which she continues to suppress. And at his famous 1966 Black and White Ball, green with envy over Nelle's having won the Pulitzer Prize for fiction, Truman spreads the rumor that it was he who wrote To Kill a Mockingbird, not she. Powers, whose 2006 memoir, The History of Swimming, was a Barnes & Noble Discover Great New Writers pick, succeeds brilliantly in blending fact and fiction to produce a sensitive portrait of two lost souls. Heartily recommended for public collections."

VISIT KIMPOWERSBOOKS.COM

posted in Bookworms - 0 replies

The way to Christ is simple

2007-10-22T17:56:15Z

God's Blessings often benefit all people. But many of His promises are only for His own children. If you're not sure that you're a part of God's family, He offers you this invitation. The way to Christ is simple:

1. Admit that you have a need.

For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;
Romans 3:23

2. Believe that Jesus is God, the Son, who paid the wages of your sin.

For the wages of sin is death [eternal separation from God]; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Romans 6:23

3. Call upon God.

That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.

Romans 10:9

King James Version

The Holy Bible

ISBN 978-1-58660-198-0

Barbour Publishing

www.barbourbooks.com

posted in Bookworms - 3 replies

Hi all - newbie here.....

2007-10-04T20:56:36Z

My name is Deb and I'd really appreciate some input...maybe you can help me out here?

Ten years ago when I was doing a spot of travelling someone leant me a book to read. I wrote down all the particulars which I subsequently lost and I have since never been able to track this book down - unsurprising as I can't remember the title or the author. But I can tell you what it's about.......

A man and a woman have a baby. They fear for their lives and sanity, and that of their baby son, so they put him in a basket and float him down a river to what they hope is safety. Their fear is due to the tyrannical and despotic nature of the Chief Policeman, who rules the Village of Little Egypt (is that a correct recollection? I'm not sure) with an iron hand. (The story is set in the UK in the 80's).

Their son, called Moses Egypt, floats away and grows up never knowing about his parents and their village and the fear that everyone is ruled by. Until events as a young adult conspire to have him return to his birthplace and confront/deflate the tyrannical Policeman who makes everyones lives so dreadfully unhappy.

The writing was fresh and modern and hugely innovative (to my mind) as it managed to intermingle modern situations with this almost mythical essence of the village and the way the Policeman ruled it and those who lived there. At one point there is a description of how a desperate man once tried to escape from the village dressed as a ploughed field - and amazingly I recall this as not some bizarre description of a surrealist concept, but as a logical and truly desperate attempt by a desperate man to get away from the place. The village is like a vortex of hatred and fear.

Now what I do recall is that the book was published by Bloomsbury, and that the author was a man. I've searched using keywords, the publishing house and by describing the content. To no avail. I've also posted this here on book Tribes but no-one knows it!

If anyone can help I will be massively grateful.

posted in Bookworms - 11 replies

The Whole Five Feet or 57 miles of Penguin?

2007-09-16T04:15:36Z

http://www.thewholefivefeet.com/what.html

http://www.amazon.com/Penguin-Classics-Library-Complete-Collection/dp/0147503078/ref=pd_bbs_8/103-1351605-8631834?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1188536947&sr=8-8

posted in Bookworms - 0 replies

New Tribe Jumble Bums

2007-09-12T20:01:45Z

I love the Jumble (“that scrambled word game”) in the morning paper. Some time back I started jotting down the words of the day and turning them into phrases (--canned bamboo * tempo trophy * limber dismay * ). Why not? Sometimes they inspire poems or descriptions for stories. (“Limber dismay” is classic, even if I didn’t think of it!)

So I’m starting this tribe for other lovers of the Jumble and wordplay.
There’s a link in case you wish to play the daily Jumble online.

http://tribes.tribe.net/jumblebums

posted in Bookworms - 0 replies

Lovers of Levengers

2007-09-11T15:53:59Z

Lovers of Levengers
Lounging in leather chairs
Laughing loud, leering low,
Luring each other upstairs.

(I wrote this in a message to my friend Ann, who also loves Levengers, the store supplying "tools for serious readers.")

www.levenger.com/HOME/RtlHomePage.asp

Check out the version of this poem on my profile to see a picture of such a dreamy leather chair and ottoman, perfect for the serious reader. (Seriously beyond this reader's means, sadly.)

posted in Bookworms - 0 replies

"Confessions of a Book Abuser"

2007-08-28T13:32:08Z

I find this blasphemous as well and side with the chambermaid. (though i do agree with and condone the act of personal marginalia.)

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/03/04/books/review/Schott.t.html

posted in Bookworms - 16 replies

Library book request - Dynamic Belly Dance

2007-08-24T23:58:05Z

Would you like to read a book about the art of belly dancing filled with beautiful photos and illustrations?

If yes, please ask your public library to add to their collection:

Dynamic Belly Dance, The Joyful Journey of Dancemaking and Performing by Ramona
ISBN 978-0-615-13326-3

This book is available to library distributors. If your librarian has questions about availability or needs further info/excerpt/details, go to www.DynamicBellyDance.com

Thanks so much! I'm the author of this new book, and need your help in getting it into libraries.

posted in Bookworms - 0 replies

Infidel by Ayaan Hirsi Ali

2007-08-23T06:12:39Z

Just finished reading this and really enjoyed it. Anyone else read this..what'd you think?

posted in Bookworms - 0 replies

Jean-Claude Izzo’s Marseilles Trilogy

2007-08-20T00:09:25Z

This summer I’ve been luvving Jean-Claude Izzo’s Marseilles Trilogy. Has anyone else read this guy?

Izzo is categorized/marketed as a noir writer, but that really doesn’t do him justice. For one, it's amazing how thoroughly Izzo conveys life in Marseilles. One feels one's been there, lived there, suffered there. And now, after reading the first two books, I'm secretly glad I don't live there. But I have to admit, you’d be hard pressed to find an author of Izzo’s stripe who writes as well as he does about food. In fact, I’d argue that the Marseilles Trilogy is best read with an abundance of finger foods close at hand. Oh, and a glass of wine. Start with “Total Chaos”, then “Chuormo”, and finish the triple course, as I’m about to do, with “Solea”. Sure, his plots can get a bit murky at times, but that’s not why you’ll love him. Jean-Claude Izzo’s a perfect summer read.

posted in Bookworms - 2 replies

new bookstore on nob hill

2007-08-20T00:06:58Z

i was so surprised to see this i had to share: while walking to work the other morning i saw a brand new independent bookstore on bush near jones, 1017 bush to be exact, called babylon falling. looks like those stores around 16th and valencia that are always fun to browse through. i'm planning to go there soon and buy something just because, and would encourage anyone else in the neighb' to do likewise.

and since you're there, you can always flow down the hill to kayo books on post @ leavenworth for all your pulp fiction needs (though they're only open thursday to sunday or something like that.) a great bookstore!

posted in Bookworms - 3 replies

Don DeLillo's "Falling Man"

2007-07-02T06:47:01Z

Just starting it - anyone gotten through it yet?

posted in Bookworms - 4 replies

This Bookshelf is My Altar

2007-06-15T20:02:35Z

This bookshelf is my altar,
Whose consecrated pages
Keep fresh all I’ve ordained
Most lasting from past ages.

posted in Bookworms - 0 replies

Esotouric's new John Fante and Charles Bukowski LA tours

2007-05-19T16:29:12Z

Esotouric, the eclectic bus adventure company whose offbeat tours expose L.A.'s secret history, is thrilled to announce that this August 16-19, we'll be organizing a gala downtown celebration for what would have been Charles Bukowski's 87th birthday. Stay tuned to www.esotouric.com for much more news about Bukday.

Since June 16 sees the debut of our tour of John Fante's Bunker Hill, and Fante and Bukowski are so deeply entwined in the city's literary legacy, we're extending this special, limited time offer: Purchase one seat on the 6/16 Fante tour and one on the Saturday 8/18 debut of Haunts of a Dirty Old Man: Charles Bukowski's Los Angeles, and save $20 on the combined fare. Interested? Visit www.esotouric.com/fante for more info.

Our tours include Raymond Chandler's Los Angeles, The Real Black Dahlia, Weird West Adams, Blood & Dumplings, Pasadena Confidential and Hallowe'en Horrors. Coming soon: Reyner Banham Loves Los Angeles.

best regards,
Kim
Esotouric

Upcoming Esotouric tour and event schedule:
Sat May 26 - Pasadena Confidential
Sat June 16- John Fante's Dreams of Bunker Hill
Sat June 23 –Weird West Adams
Sat July 21 – Raymond Chandler's Los Angeles: In A Lonely Place
Fri Aug 17 – Charles Bukowski's Birthday Party event
Sat Aug 18 - Haunts of a Dirty Old Man: Charles Bukowski's Los Angeles

posted in Bookworms - 0 replies

Social Sampler - a new social networking event

2007-05-11T07:58:00Z

Social Sampler

meet other bookworms to talk about books and reading.. create your own conversation tables..

http://www.SocialSampler.com

Try something new... Meet someone new...
28 activities 7 rooms 6 hours 300 chairs 10,000 square feet
6 pm to 12 midnight Saturday May 26
$12 general - $6 Students with ID
each Fourth Saturday of the Month
Oakland Veterans Hall
200 Grand Avenue, Oakland CA 94610
info Scott (650) 326-6265
scottFNW@pway.com
Light refreshments. Large parking lot. Casual comfortable attire. All ages.
Average age 30. Average attendance 150 - 250.
A non alcohol event. Join, watch, or wander activities. several helpful hosts

CONVERSATION TABLES: Movies, Books, Relationships, Culture, Tech, Dining, Humor, Random Chat, Artists, Networking, Writers, Harry Potter, Pets, Weather, Vacations; DANCING: Waltz, Swing, Latin SOCIAL : Board games, Card games, Social games, Sing alongs, Script Read alouds, Costumers club, Toys, Food sampler

Conversation Tables
Each Conversation table has a different theme such as Movies, Books, Relationships, Culture, Tech, Dining, Humor, Random Chat, Artists, Networking, Writers, Harry Potter, Pets, Weather, and Vacations.

Each table has a deck of cards with a different topic on each card. Each card is turned over one at a time. People talk about the topic as they wish until everyone who wants to talk is finished. Then the next card is turned over. For example, for the Movie Table, topic cards include “Your favorite movie?” “Your favorite actor?” “Your worst movie experience?” “Your favorite theatre” “Your favorite movie snack?”. Similar topic cards decks are set on each conversation table. You may participate or just listen. You may join or leave any table at any time. There is a host at each table to answer questions.
Movies Table May 26 -a table each for Spiderman III, Shrek III, Pan's Labyrinth, movies in general.
Books Table Recent book discussion, writing, literature, business of authorship
Relationships Table Romance and Relationships discussion
Culture Table Symphony-dance-opera-ballet-theatre
Technology Table Technology, computers and science fiction
Dining Table cooking, fine dining, restaurant, food, cooking experiences
Humor Table Read Jokes, write cartoon captions
Random Chat Table There are 100 cards: "What was the oddest thing you have ever seen?""What is your worst hair day?" “What was your worst job experience?" "Most embarassing moment?"
Artists Exchange Table Exchange techniques, shows, art
Networking Table Business Networking: startups, marketing strategy, IPO, financing
The Writers Exchange Table mutual help for new writers and authors
Harry Potter Table movies, books and trivia
Pets Table cute pet stories, pet health
Vacations Table favorite vacations, budget vacations, dream vacations
Weather stories Table Everyone has interesting stories about weather. Blizzards, hurricanes, earthquakes, hail

Dancing
Waltz Dancing Dj music for Waltz, Polka, Congress of Vienna, Bohemian National Polka
Swing Dancing Dj music for Lindy, East Coast Swing, West Coast Swing, Shag, Balboa, Blues dances
Latin Dancing Dj music for Salsa, cha cha, samba, mambo, bachata, cumbia dances

Games Room
Social games including charades, acronamatic, the question game, story time, WHAT IF? There are social board games in the room: pick up a social board game, select a table, and invite other to play with you. You may leave any game at any time. All games stop after 30 minutes so that everyone can try other games.

Board games including cranium, outburst, monopoly, Pictionary. There are social board games in the room: pick up a board game, select a table, and invite other to play with you. You may leave any game at any time. All games stop after 30 minutes so that everyone can try other games

Card games including Hearts, Holmes Card Game, Magic: Mamma Mia, other. There are many decks of cards and many specialty card decks. Pick out a game, select a table, invite others to join. You may leave any game at any time. All games stop after 30 minutes so that everyone can try other games.

Social Rooms

Toys
Legos, Tinker Toys, K’nex, Erector sets, modeling clay, group jigsaw puzzles, crossword puzzle. You are welcome to play with the toys and invite others to join you.

Script read-alouds
reading aloud scripts from TV, plays, movies, such as the Simpsons, Seinfeld, Friends, Mash, All in the Family, Hamlet, Shakespeare in Love,Buffy, Coupling, American Beauty. There are many scripts on the table. Pick one that you would like to read aloud. Select a table, invite others to join in. Everyone selects a character, and start reading aloud.

Food Sampler There is a different food sampler each Social Sampler. Some food sampler themes are ice creams, chocolates, coffees, potato chips, cookies. Odd Ice Creams with be sampled for May 26: Avacado, Buko (Baby Coconut), Ginger, Green Tea, Halo Halo (Buko, Langka, Ube, Pineapple, Mongo &Sweet Beans), Langka (also known as Jackfruit, a relative of the Fig), Lychee, Mango, Thai Tea, Sweet Coconut, and Ube (purple Yam).

Costumers Club activities include swap or sell fabric, clothing, or costumes' sewing circle talk; or meet potential new clients about new costumes, tuxes, or gowns; or finish a costume in a 'stitch and bitch' session. This is a group for costumers and seamstresses who make costumes, gowns, wedding dresses, and clothing for such events as Renaissance Faire, Dickens Faire, Science Fiction costume masquerade balls, Halloween balls and events, Sea of Dreams NYE, Anon Salon events, Costume cons, Belly Dancers outfits, Greater Bay Area Costume Group events, Art Deco's Gatsby picnic, Newport Week, San Francisco Waltzing Society, Friday Night Waltz New Year's Eve formal Waltz Balls, Peers and Gaskells formal balls.

Sing alongs
Sea Shanteys are songs traditionally sung by sailors to accompany and set the rhythm for certain kinds of heavy, repetitive work on board ship—raising and trimming the sails, raising the anchor, and working the pumps.

Musicals are the songs from musical plays and movies, such as Sound of Music, Grease, Singing in the Rain, Brigadoon, Hair, My Fair Lady, Oklahoma, Guys and Dolls.

Folk songs are just that: traditional folk songs

posted in Bookworms - 0 replies

raw shark texts

2007-04-30T00:11:09Z

Read this book NOW. Steven Hall, The Raw Shark Texts. I didn't go to sleep from the moment I opened it until I finished it a day later.

posted in Bookworms - 0 replies

Meta Fiction

2007-04-27T20:55:08Z

What do we think of meta fiction, or fiction that breaks the "fourth wall" between author and reader? Am I using the term correctly?

The latest example of that I've read is Adverbs, by Daniel Handler. I loved the book for its style and language, not sure what I thought about it addressing readers directly, getting cute with the concept of authorial distance.

opinions, anyone?

posted in Bookworms - 2 replies

List 3 novels you're sure to read again (and again)

2007-04-25T18:13:32Z

My picks today are:
PALE FIRE, Vladimir Nabokov
THE STRANGE CASE OF DR. JEKYLL & MR HYDE, R. L. Stevenson
ALICE IN WONDERLAND, Lewis Carroll

posted in Bookworms - 125 replies

God Bless you Kurt Vonnegut!

2007-04-21T19:54:18Z

I for one will miss him. I can't tell you the number of hours I've chuckled over his works.

http://www.vonnegut.com/

posted in Bookworms - 5 replies

Major Book Geekery

2007-04-18T03:50:53Z

I am such a geek/nerd that I keep lists of current and recent reads in my profiles (here, LJ, etc.). There is even a link to all reads in the past few years. Anyone else do this?
I used to have my current list as my .sig line in emails, but people got tired of seeing it!

posted in Bookworms - 25 replies

How can i find the books on learner autonomy or books about learning strategies on TEFL

2007-04-11T15:31:26Z

Hi:
I'm in trouble now .I'd appreciate it if anyone who help me to find or get the books about learner autonomy in English learning and teaching .I badly need the books or journals on learning strategies of learning foreign language (especialy English learning ).In the local library i cannot acess these kinds of books.if anyone could help me in the tribe.Thank u.
In faraway China .There is a bookworm who wishes the friends that share the same experience would generously offer some aids. i'm expecting the dream could come true.
Yours,
Yao chunliang.
my email:yaochunliang2006@163.com

posted in Bookworms - 1 reply

Youth Services Book Club

2007-04-11T05:16:19Z

Hi All!
While persuing through tribe, I noticed there were book tribes mostly geared towards adult reading. Therefore, I started a tribe for Youth Services Librarians or anyone interested in Young Adult or Children's books. No pressure, the link is below is interested.

http://tribes.tribe.net/youthserviceslibrarians

Mahalo,
Jubei

posted in Bookworms - 2 replies

Where do you want your books to go when you die?

2007-04-01T03:16:37Z

So Steve said this in the "Have you ever loved a book so much..." Thread.
<I gave a signed John Fante to my best friend because it was the one book he said he always wished he had. He told me that, without the knowledge that I even had it and I thought he was going to cry when I pulled it from a shelf and put it into his hands. Yes, I did place a great value on the book, both intrinsic and extrinsic, but it was the right thing to do if that makes any sense.>

So, you have six months to live. What do you do with your library? Who do you give what books to? In the will or in person? And the extra?

Cause I'm not sure I know about mine. Heck, I don't knwo where my kiln goes....

posted in Bookworms - 26 replies

Gene Wilder book

2007-03-26T17:45:33Z

Has anyone read the new Gene Wilder book, “My French Whore: a Love Story”? I watched an interview with him today and it sounded interesting. It’s just that I don’t usually read a lot of celebrity books and wanted some input before buying it.

posted in Bookworms - 0 replies

What's in a name?

2007-03-09T22:39:03Z

http://www.djmcadam.com/bookworm.html
http://rmc.library.cornell.edu/medievalbook/appetite_destruction/Eaten_Worms.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bookworm_(insect)

posted in Bookworms - 1 reply

Happy World Book Day

2007-03-08T14:42:08Z

... if it's World Book Day where you are. Maybe someday we could all have it on the same day ! Though it might be complicated to do something so simple... It might be easier to make every day a Book Day...

posted in Bookworms - 2 replies

Have you ever loved a book so much --

2007-03-01T00:45:45Z

-- that you wanted to eat it so that it would become a part of you?

posted in Bookworms - 24 replies

What do you use for a bookmark?

2007-02-18T22:37:56Z

The sales receipt? An index card for jotting notes on? A sticky note? Whatever's handy?

posted in Bookworms - 80 replies

Books I've read so far in 2006 (1-9)

2007-02-17T04:30:10Z

Crossposted to my several blogs and various reading communities.
Current and past reads can be found on my user info page.

1) Pawn's Dream by Eric Nylund (Fantasy) 345p B+
2) Daughter of the Bear King- Elanor Arnason (Science fiction) 239p C
3) Half Asleep in Frog's Pajamas by Tom Robbins- (novel) 386p C+
4) Venus of Dreams by Pamela Sargent (science fiction/planet terra-forming) 536p A
5) Venus of Shadows by Pamela Sargent (science fiction/planet terra-forming) 643p B+
6) A Whiff of Death by Isaac Asimov (murder mystery) 191p B
7) Child of Venus by Pamela Sargent (science fiction/planet terra-forming) 493p A
8)The Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World by Haruki Murikami (Japanese Lit/Sci-fi slant) 400p A
9) Job: A Comedy of Justice by Robert A Heinlein (Sci-fi/fantasy) A

Could not finish-
Galapagos by Kurt Vonnegut (read 156 pages of 295)

Thoughts on what I read-

1) Pawn's Dream was a fun yarn that should be read for sheer entertainment value. A fantasy novel that fluctuates between dual worlds. When Roland dreams, he lives in a magical land full of sorcery, evil plots, and beautiful lands. This Roland then, in turn, dreams of a modern day convenience store clerk in a strange machine filled land. Roland soon discovers that he is a Dreamer and that both worlds are real and he is living a dual existence. Long lost relatives find him in the "real world" and teach him about the "dream world" and magical powers he never knew he had. The two worlds collide into a fun romp of an adventure. A few plot holes, but the entertainment factor kept it going strong. The ending begged for a sequel I hope Nyland delivers!

2) Sticking to the dream world vs real world theme, I picked up Daughter of the Bear King. I had high expectations as Arnason's Ring of swords is one of my favorite books ever read. My hopes and this book fell flat- though I had to keep reminding my self that Bear King was written a decade before Ring, so perhaps her style just had not fully matured yet.
Esperance is an everyday day housewife type by day, and fierce bear warrior in her dreams. One day while doing laundry a freak accident sends her to another realm - her "real" realm, as she discovers she is royalty- half human, half bear (hence the title) and was placed on the Earth realm for sanctuary and refuge. This book dragged on to the point I almost gave up. Then, despite all the far-fetchedness, I saw through the parable and grasped the moral/message the author was trying to communicate. Figuring out the "deeper meaning" of the story allowed me to finish the book, but I was still left with a hungry spot in my soul for the depth that was lacking in this story. Skip this and go straight to Ring of Swords!

3) I've heard so many good things about Tom Robbins, so I was excited to start reading Half Asleep in Frog's Pajamas. I can see glimpses of why he is so well praised, he does have a very unique writing style. However, I was not too fond of this book. The narration point of view was certainly interesting, YOU are the main character, Gwen, a Filipino stock broker over Easter Weekend the days after the market crashes. Try as I might, I did not like ANY of the characters. I thought they were all stupid people that I would kick in real life, they were THAT annoying. Well, Larry Diamond was a least a little intriguing even through his being a very annoying person. The story line was pretty silly and unreal. The only redeeming qualities were 2 of the requirements I have for a book- the witty social commentary and it stimulated curiosity, to the point of research (on some ancient african religions).

4,5,7) The Venus Trilogy by Pamela Sargent was excellent. Sci-fi mets generational family saga. The story starts on a post "resource wars" earth and then travels to the terra-forming of Venus. Beautifully crafted and deserves a long write up, but I would hate to take anything away from the magic of these books. I was sucked in. At times it is more hard sci-fi bent, at other times it focuses more on the family saga and social science elements of the various cultures and sub-cultures. Sargent blends all of these elements perfectly. I was not surprised to discover she holds a MA in classical philosophy.
This work is often compared to Robinson's Mars trilogy. However, this was written roughly a decade before. I plan on reading Mars sometime in the semi near future.

6) A Whiff of Death was a fun read. Murder by chemistry. When a professor discovers one of his grad students dead in the lab, he knows this "accident" was a meticulosity plotted murder. But who and why?? Asimov uses his chemistry degree and his fine story telling to weave an entertaining tale, very different from his sci-fi tales. Because social mores were a very different when this was written and set, it can come across in places as a bit dry and backwards. I had to keep reminding myself that this was about, and written during, the fifties culture and mind set.

8) The Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World is now considered of my favorite books of all times. I went in with no knowledge nor expectations, and was just completely wrapped around the alternating story lines. Cyberpunk meets surrealism. Absolutely delicious. At the end of some chapters I found myself positively weepy from the sheer beauty of his writing. Very powerful stuff. I'm definitely going to check out more books by Haruki Murikami.

9) Job was a brilliant piece of work, Heinlein at his best- funny, wacky, and totally a Mr. Toad's Wild Ride. Very interesting social concepts and observations on various religious beliefs are packed into this book combined with wit and humor. A must read.

Could not finish because was just too insane for me- Galapagos
While I appreciated what points Vonnegut was trying to make in this parable, it just was to drawn out for me. At page 156 (of 295), I had just had enough, it was just way too incohesive. Had this been a short story, I may have liked it.

posted in Bookworms - 29 replies

Cool beans

2007-02-03T00:37:17Z

For fans the last installment will come as a relief; no Anne Rice ending for Rowling.

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/02/01/books/01cnd-harry.html?hp&ex=1170392400&en=f72e672c61e2a5fb&ei=5094&partner=homepage

posted in Bookworms - 0 replies

New England Bookstores (X-Posted)

2007-01-19T03:39:13Z

I'm suffering from a bibliophilic drought. I recently moved to Southern Vermont and have yet to find a great bookstore. I really miss the bookstores I had back home in the Bay Area. Tell me what your favorite used bookstores are in New England. Thanks!

posted in Bookworms - 2 replies

The 10 Greatest Books of All Time

2007-01-16T15:30:21Z

Monday, Jan. 15, 2007 By LEV GROSSMAN

Let's not mince words: literary lists are basically an obscenity. Literature is the realm of the ineffable and the unquantifiable; lists are the realm of menus and laundry and rotisserie baseball. There's something unseemly and promiscuous about all those letters and numbers jumbled together. Take it from me, a critic who has committed this particular sin many times over.

But what if—just for argument's sake—you got insanely rigorous about it. You went to all the big-name authors in the world—Franzen, Mailer, Wallace, Wolfe, Chabon, Lethem, King, 125 of them— and got each one to cough up a top-10 list of the greatest books of all time. We're talking ultimate-fighting-style here: fiction, non-fiction, poetry, modern, ancient, everything's fair game except eye-gouging and fish-hooking. Then you printed and collated all the lists, crunched the numbers together, and used them to create a definitive all-time Top Top 10 list.

Yes, it would probably still be an obscenity. But it would be a pretty interesting obscenity. And that's what we have in J. Peder Zane's The Top 10 (Norton; 352 pages).

Each individual top 10 list is like its own steeplechase through the international canon. Look at Michael Chabon's. He heads it up with Jorge Luis Borges's Labyrinths. (Nice: an undersung masterpiece by a writer's writer.) He follows that up with by Pale Fire by Nabokov at #2. (Hm. Does he really think it's better than Lolita? Really?) Then with number 3 he goes straight off the reservation: Scaramouche, by Rafael Sabatini. (What? By who?) The whole exercise is an orgy of intellectual second-guessing, which as we all know is infinitely more fun than the first round of guessing.

There's plenty of canon fodder on the lists. Zane, who's the books editor at the Raleigh News & Observer, has done a statistical breakdown of the results, so we know, for example, that Shakespeare is the most-represented author (followed by Faulkner, who ties with Henry James; they're followed by a five-way tie, which you can read about for yourself). But I'm more interested in the dark horses, the statistical outliers, which lay bare the secret fetishes and perversions of the literati. Douglas Coupland puts Capote's unfinished Answered Prayers at number one, blowing right by Breakfast at Tiffany's and In Cold Blood, too. Jonathan Franzen begins straight up the middle, with The Brothers Karamazov, but turns a sharp corner at #9 with The Man Who Loved Children by Christina Stead, and another at #10 with Independent People by Halldor Laxness. The quintessentially American Tom Wolfe starts by reeling off four French classics in a row. Norman Mailer revives John Dos Passos's out-of-fashion U.S.A. trilogy for his #6 (and shows uncharacteristic forebearance by leaving his own works off the list). And so on. (At times one reads in the knowledge that one is being messed with. There's an outside, screwball chance that David Foster Wallace really reveres C.S. Lewis's The Screwtape Letters above all other books, but I feel comfortable asserting—having read Infinite Jesttwice—that Wallace does not feel that way about Stephen King's The Stand (at #2) or The Sum of All Fears, by Tom Clancy (#10).)

There are several lifetimes' worth of promising literary leads here—544 books in all. An 85-page appendix providing enlightened summaries of all the works mentioned is worth the price of admission all on its own. But to get you started, here, in all its glory, is the all-time, ultimate Top Top 10 list, derived from the top 10 lists of 125 of the world's most celebrated writers combined. Read it and— well, just read it.

Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy
Madame Bovary by Gustave Flaubert
War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy
Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain
Hamlet by William Shakespeare
The Great Gatsby F. Scott Fitzgerald
In Search of Lost Time by Marcel Proust
The Stories of Anton Chekhov by Anton Chekhov
Middlemarch by George Eliot

posted in Bookworms - 0 replies

Go Ask Alice?

2007-01-14T16:52:34Z

by Anonymous.
So, I thought I'd read this and see if it would be appropriate "just say no" propaganda for my pre-teen son. He is very aware of all the "culture" out there. But since I started reading it, i realize that if he didn't finish the book it might be more of a "just say yes"! This is supposed to be a young reader's book?? Maybe i am just paranoid (or naive) but it seems way too graphic to me for most 11-12 year olds.

What are your opinions on this subject?
And do you believe it is a true diary? Just asking.

posted in Bookworms - 14 replies

The rest of '06's books that I read

2007-01-14T16:46:39Z

I swear one of these years I'll do 50+ books again!
*cross posted to my various blogs and a bunch of reading communities*
(see profile for info on current and past reads)

10)The Time Machine by H.G. Wells (science fiction)128p B+
11)Carter Beats the Devil (Novel- Roaring 20's/Magic) 483p B
12)White as Snow by Tanith Lee (part of The Fairy Tale Series created by Terri Windling) 319p B
13)The Full Monty by Simon Beaufoy (screenplay) 145p B+
14)Women Who Love Too Much by Robin Norwood (Self Help) 294 p A-
15)Mystic River by Dennis Lehane (mystery/suspense) 448p B-
16)If The Buddha Got Stuck: A Handbook for Change on a Spiritual Path (Zen/Self help)240p A

Just could not finish and have no plans on picking up again -
Former Child Stars: The Story of America's Least Wanted by Joal Ryan (Non-fiction) 225p

Put away to start again another day-
The Tribe of Tiger: Cats and Their Culture by Elizabeth Marshall Thomas (non-fiction) 240p
Dragon's Play :A New Taoist Transmission of the Complete Experience of Human Life by Charles Belyea and Steven Tainer (Taoism)196p

Thoughts on what I've read-

10) Time Machine- Very prolific. Even though it was written over 100 years ago, I can still see the evolutionary outcome happening if we are not careful- a wonderful cautionary tale. The time traveler invents a time machine that takes him to the year 803,701. It appears to be a utopian society full of leisure and joy, but there is much more than meets the eye! Very dark and disturbing in a wonderfully thought provoking way. Very short novella that can be quickly and delightfully gobbled up. Highly recommend.

11) Carter Beats the Devil- Pure fun. I especially enjoyed it because it was set in San Francisco (where I live) and Oakland. It was fun to "relive" my city in the roaring 20's. Magicians, vaudeville, arch rivals, romance, deceit, strange presidential deaths, brothels, CIA, and inventors and their projects are all rolled into one rollicking ride. Based on the life of Charles Carter, with some interesting fictional additions, it is filled with historical characters and adventures. All of the mysteries are all tied up neatly by the end, almost too neatly for my tastes, as there really is nothing left to wonder about. If you are looking for something fun and light, this would be a good choice.

12) White as Snow- A dark and sensuous retelling of Snow White. It is almost worth it for the long introduction (almost 30 pages!) which delves deeply into the roots of the snow White fairy tale and its variations. I liked the story for the most part, though it did drag and try too hard in some sections. Lee masterfully blends in the mythologies of Demeter and Persephone, pagan rituals, and Catholic mores to make this tale even more complex.

13) The Full Monty- Every bit as fun as the movie! Excellent peek into the psyche of the working class man, self esteem and body image, societal pressures, and the differences between men and women. There were also a few scenes that did not make it to the film version.

14) Women Who Love Too Much- The title says it all. A must read for any woman who keeps finding herself in bad relationships. Warning- be prepared to dig deep if you want this to make a difference in your life. A lot of passages made me feel like I was reading my own biography, which was very painful and not easy. However, it has put a lot of patterns in perspective, shown me the roles I have had in my destiny, and is allowing me to make very healthy changes in my life.

15) Mystic River- A hard boiled mystery set in working class Boston. Jimmy, Sean, and Dave are boyhood friends until the day Dave gets abducted. All three boys are forever changed and they go their separate ways. 25 years later the three are reunited under grisly circumstances- the murder of Jimmy's 19 year old daughter. The thing I liked most about this novel, is that a good portion of it is "in the head", getting into the psyches of the characters. A good choice for when you are stuck in bed with the flu.

16) If the Buhdda Got Stuck- Absolutely wonderful book that gives do-ale suggestions for unsticking all the places your life is in a rut. Kasl is a psychotherapist in addition to practicing buddhism. Her advice is well thought out and clearly presented. It may be a little "fluffy", but strongly feel most people who benefit from this book. Highly recommend.

Could not and will not finish- Former Child Stars
Ryan's writing style was unbearable. What I hoped would be a thoughtful book was anything but. Why we treat "former child stars" as the butt of every joke and why/how our (society's) treatment of them leaves them as psychological messes was to be the focal point. She made me not care about something I thought would be an interesting social study. Complete trash.

The other books I did not finish are ones I plan on going back to later on.

posted in Bookworms - 0 replies

Mel brooks Loves my New book Man, Interrupted

2006-12-29T16:48:49Z

hi all I have a quirky book out called Man, Interrupted. I have two oscar winners on the cover and I'm working on the screenplay now. go to www.amazon.co.uk to check it out. best Jim give me some feedback if you read it! jim

posted in Bookworms - 2 replies

Help please

2006-12-10T04:26:05Z

Hello, i've posted a poll over on my LJ, if those interested could take the poll it would be a great help to me. I'm really trying to get a better, wider look at who's online that reads sf/f. Take care.

http://www.livejournal.com/poll/?id=885612

posted in Bookworms - 0 replies

Great books they ruined by forcing you to read them.

2006-12-08T12:18:01Z

I was forced into Shakespere too young and never really warmed up. (okay, part of that was the language barrier.)
My sister forced rubyfruit jungle down my throat, and it still makes me gag.
My other sister did the same with a confederacy of dunces, I just never found it funny.
And a lot of those timeless classics we read in high school just bored me irredemably.

Face it, sometimes the greatness of a book never recovers from that drearyness of being a force read.

What classics do you feel were a waste of your time?

posted in Bookworms - 21 replies

Paperback or Hardcover...What do you prefer?

2006-11-30T23:18:50Z

Of course paperback is more convenient in a lot of ways. You can irritate your literary, book-lover friends by bending that cover back (shame!!!!) so you can easily hold it in one hand as you read.

But isn't there just something cozy and substantial of having a hardcover book in hand? I always grab the hardcover. It just has more of that delicious-book-feel to me.

What's your bias?

Salihah

posted in Bookworms - 15 replies

National Book Award Finalists (Fiction)

2006-11-17T18:50:25Z

Mark Z. Danielewski, Only Revolutions
Ken Kalfus, A Disorder Peculiar to the Country
Richard Powers, The Echo Maker
Dana Spiotta, Eat the Document
Jess Walter, The Zero

On the one hand, I really really really want Richard Powers to finally win this award. He's been nominated before, and he has won other literary awards, and he has certainly deserved the award in the past.

On the other hand, The Echo Maker is not my favorite of his books.

But I haven't read any of the other nominees. Anyone else?

posted in Bookworms - 6 replies

super natural

2006-11-16T18:36:57Z

Just started reading a new book called "Supernatural" by Graham Hancock. Tis a very slow read, with lots of redundancy, but is also very good. A lot of ravings about David-Lewis Williams theorys, about religion and art during the past 60-35000 years (the beginning of art and religion mind you, after 100s of thousands of virtually un-interupted years of non-culture evolving humans on the planet) being catalyzed buy hallucinogenic plants, causing feed-back loops and the begginning of human symbolism.(my guess is that after tripping out on a cave wall and seeing many animal shapes apper on the rock surface, our ancestors would begin to try and express the novelty of it using there hands and drawing the images with there fingers, eventually evolving to the cave art that we see today) Very much common sense. But its starting to get fantastical, which is appealing because it was a slow read up to now. Grahm is starting to point his research in the direction of comparison, saying that the Aliens (Greys) of Modern society and there abductions are the same thing humans were beginning to experience 60-35000 years ago, but then, saw the aliens as therianthropes (animal/human hybrids), which is widely demonstrated with many depictions of previously enigmatic cave art. Also he claims, the same thing as faerie abductions during 1200-1600. Showing many reports of humans being taken to "under-ground" caverns inhabited by "the fearie folk" The corolations make for common sense to anybody who have experienced such "abductions" thru the use of hallucinogens , eg;DMT, high dose pscilocybon, high potency ayahuasca ect. Modern psychonauts using expressions as "the dome" "the elf-hive" ect :)
Different times and places in our evolution will account for the different descriptions of a common event, that Handcock repeatedly points out, we are all wired for thru evolutionary process.
So now he raises the question, why are these "other dimensional beings" assisting in the aid of human development which we have been evolved to have contact with??? Ive been playing with the idea that the text left by the Sumarians might actually be describing the same things, a race of outer space teachers come to hand the keys of spirtual knowledge. Could these be inter-dimensional beings in the trance state sense?? Inter-dimensional lust runs rampent on all continents. Like the lost city of El-derado, a parallel dimension achieved thru states of mind (not a city of gold you material-centric)

So I have 300 pages left to read, so far...........interesting

posted in Bookworms - 0 replies

Formatting in tribe -- technical issue

2006-11-15T00:48:37Z

Dear bookworm friends.

I know this isn't done much on tribe as a whole, but let's be daring and try something.

Let's change the subject line to reflect what our message is about, or to start our message, or something like that.

That way, when people reply to our messages, we can see to whom the reply is really directed.

I'll post some on here to show you what I mean.

posted in Bookworms - 28 replies

Help...Converting from Non-Fiction to Fiction

2006-11-11T17:49:40Z

Although I've dabbled in fiction books, I mostly just read non-fiction. I've been itching for a good novel lately and am looking for suggestions. I love Amy Tan, but need someone new. Please share your favorite titles and the authors, I'm book hungry!

Please something other than run-of-the-mill romance or horror/thriller authors!

Eager to hear your favorites.

Thanks so much,
Salihah

posted in Bookworms - 19 replies

Kids Literati

2006-11-07T03:58:43Z

I want to let you all know about my children's book review blog called Kids Literati. I post reviews of my favorite kids books, classics from my childhood, the best of my kid's bookshelf, and new releases. Check it out and let me know what your favorite books are that I should review!

Kids Literati - Kidlit Book Blog
www.kidsliterati.squarespace.com

posted in Bookworms - 0 replies

RIP, William Styron

2006-11-02T08:10:22Z

The superlative writer William Styron passed away yesterday.

Styron was the author of Sophie's Choice, one of the finest novels I've ever had the pleasure to read . . . and read . . . and read again. If you've never experienced it, you must.

My other favorite is Darkness Visible, his memoir of a deeply depressed period in his life. It's brief, stark, wrenching, and eventually uplifting. I read the book in Paris, where it takes place, making his skillful prose all the more moving and evocative.

RIP, Mr. Styron. Tipping my hat and my pen.

posted in Bookworms - 1 reply

Is it just me.....

2006-10-31T19:18:15Z

or has everyone else's list of "to read" books mutated at an alarming rate. Since I started coming to this and the "I've just finished reading..." tribe I've added probably 50 books to it.

what books have other tribe members inspired you to read that you might not have considered otherwise?

For me....
fountainhead
Geek love
virgin suicides
ok now I have a brain fart and can't think of anymore, but there's a lot.

posted in Bookworms - 4 replies

Bas Bleu

2006-10-22T17:27:55Z

Does anyone here get their catalog? If you don't, you might want to request one! Its a literary delight to browse through...full color, detailed descriptions, and reviews by Bas Bleu employees. (The people that work there actually read the books before putting them in the catalog) Nice mix of genres, lots of variety, and unique books and stories you won't find on the NYT Bestseller list, plus fun and creative gifts for booklovers. Check out the website www.basbleu.com

Salihah

posted in Bookworms - 2 replies

O'Neill

2006-10-16T21:31:56Z

happy birthday, eugene o'neill, 1888.

"I hope there's a hell for the good somewhere."

posted in Bookworms - 0 replies

Tribe member on BookTV

2006-10-05T19:47:32Z

Yes, I know it's shameless self-promotion, but I'm happy that C-Span picked my talk tonight to tape (airtimes to be announced next week), so I'm telling my groups. The nonfiction book is about the discovery of the world's first "miracle drug" (and no, it's not penicillin). See www.thomashager.net for more. A few reviews below. Tom

“The fascinating story of the world’s first antibiotic. . . . A rousing, valuable contribution to the history of medicine.” – Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

“Grips the reader from the first paragraph. . . . a story of dedication, luck, tragedy and triumph that’s still relevant today.” – Bookpage

“Highly entertaining reading. . . . it is testament to Hager's skill that the inherently unsexy process of finding the chemicals that might help conquer strep is as exciting as an account of the hunt for a Russian submarine.” – Publishers Weekly

“A well-told tale of trail-blazing science.” – Booklist

“Highly recommended.” – Library Journal

“This is a grand story, and Mr. Hager tells it well, describing the birth of a new era in medicine -- soon to include penicillin and streptomycin -- and the difference it made to mankind. One can easily imagine 'The Demon Under the Microscope,' like 'Microbe Hunters' before it, inspiring in young, idealistic readers the enthusiasm for medical research and the zeal for healing that generates great physicians.” – Wall St. Journal

“Surprisingly entertaining. . . . [Hager’s] enthusiasm for the search for a ‘magic bullet’ drug in the early 20th century is infectious. He convincingly credits sulfa drugs for some of the most revolutionary and catastrophic moments in medicine. And anecdotes about the famous people affected – from Calvin Coolidge to Eleanor Roosevelt – are narrative spoonfuls of sugar.” – Entertainment Weekly

posted in Bookworms - 1 reply

Why are the independent bookstores all closing?

2006-10-04T17:18:41Z

It seems like every other week there is news about another independent bookshop shutting its doors. Is this due to pressure from the superstores, or [shudder!] is it simply because the public at large is not reading books anymore.

Go into Google and type in "bookstores closing". You'll be quite scared by what you see.

posted in Bookworms - 16 replies

Celebration of Indepedent Booksellers

2006-09-19T14:21:40Z

Libba Bray, whose Rebel Angels won NAIBA's children's literature award, read this "Ode to the Independent Bookseller" to a very appreciative audience:

Independent booksellers rock.

They are a cup of black coffee, straight up no chaser, in a half-caf-vanilla-hazelnut-with-whipped cream kind of world.

When you walk up to independent booksellers and say, with deepest apologies, "I'm looking for this new book about the Victorian era and I can't remember the author's name but it has Glass somewhere in the title," they do not roll their eyes and send you to the purgatory of the information desk--that circle of hell not described by Dante. No, they smile and say, "Why, I think you're looking for The Glass Books of the Dream Eaters by Gordon Dahlquist." Because they know everything.

Independents are the Iggy Pop of the book biz--on the edge, a little dangerous, cooler than you will ever think of being, and still alive despite the odds.

Instead of the T-shirts that trumpet, "I do my own stunts," they wear the shirts that say, "I do my own thinking." The badge that says, Hello My Name is Book Lover. The tattoo that reads, I Sell Banned Books--Ask Me How! They rip the gags off intellectual freedom and the silly bras off John Ashcroft's statue of justice.

(Okay, I made that last part up, but if you can actually do that it would be way cool.)

Independents are the personal recommendation. The word of mouth. The informed opinion. The debate. The discourse. The dissent. The punk rockers. The patriots. The hopeful realists and, occasionally, the pie-eyed dreamers, because sometimes we need to be reminded of that. They are the opposite of apathy. The ones who would raise their hands and say, "But . . . about those weapons of mass destruction . . ."

Independent booksellers know not to put People Magazine and industrial-sized tubs of Swedish Fish right next to the counter because that is just lighting the crack pipe and handing it over.

They are the ones who take aside disaffected, snarky seventeen-year-old girls from Texas, and even though that seventeen-year-old girl might be wearing a Devo-inspired, orange jumpsuit and heavy black eyeliner that she thinks makes her look like Chrissie Hynde but really just makes her look like she's been on the losing end of a bar fight, they say nothing but steer her instead toward Douglas Adams and Thomas Pynchon, Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance and The Stranger, Woody Allen and Amiri Baraka.

They are the openers of doors. The carnival barkers to exotic, new worlds. The Book Whisperers. They are charming dinner companions, and they always bring good wine.

Being around independent booksellers makes you feel smarter by association.

They are the good guys. They kick it Old School. They are the truthful friend who will say, "Honey, that book makes you look fat."

They are the front porch, the off-ramp, the scenic route, the handshake agreement. Independents understand that books have souls. They can put their ears to the bindings the way children put their ears to shells and hear the beating heart inside. And they treat our books accordingly, handing them off lovingly to others with a passionate appeal: "This one . . . listen . . . "

They do not want an author's soul to be remaindered.

It is not easy to be an independent these days. It is an age of twenty-four-hour sound bites, of product and packaging and a thank-you-drive-through-please marketplace, of "truthiness" and cynicism masquerading as patriotism, of lies and betrayals that challenge the ability to stand fast in independence.

As we sit here in Valley Forge, staring across the glittering forever highways of America to the historic land just beyond, it is a stirring reminder that this was a nation founded by independents. And it feels no less a radical, necessary act to me today to be a champion of books--to champion ideas, to explore the myriad complications of the human heart, to examine the individual not out of context but as part of the larger human story. We have never needed the independent spirit more than we do right now. It is necessary work, and I humbly thank you for it.

posted in Bookworms - 1 reply

Celebrate your freedom to read (Xposted)

2006-09-15T03:18:11Z

From: http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2006/09/celebrate-your-freedom-to-read.html:

What was your favorite book when you were in school? Did F. Scott Fitzgerald give you an inside look at a world of glamorous parties where the wealthy fell in love and went home with their feelings hurt? Did Holden Caulfield speak directly to your inner misanthrope? For decades, literary classics such as The Great Gatsby and The Catcher in the Rye have had a profound impact on millions of readers. Yet every year, there are hundreds of attempts to remove great books from schools and libraries nationwide. Fortunately, the American Library Association and many other organizations are fighting back with Banned Books Week, taking place this year Sept. 23-30.

For 25 years, libraries and bookstores nationwide have been celebrating the freedom to read during Banned Books Week, which is sponsored by the American Booksellers Association, the American Booksellers Foundation for Free Expression, the Association of American Publishers, the American Society of Journalists and Authors, the National Association of College Stores, and endorsed by the Library of Congress Center for the Book.

Now Google has joined the party. At google.com/bannedbooks, you can use Google Book Search to explore some of the best novels of the 20th century which have been challenged or banned. And while libraries and bookstores around the country celebrate the 25th anniversary of Banned Books Week with special readings, displays, and more, you just might end up with a visit to your local library or bookstore and an old favorite or a new banned book in hand.

posted in Bookworms - 2 replies

Small Presses you Love?

2006-09-13T07:31:39Z

Offshoot from the Independant Bookstore thread.

What small presses do you follow in whatever way. For instance, I don't own every Cleis book, but I tend to notice them on a shelf and pick up and browse. Remember, they (small presses in general) are a bastion against a mclandscaped publishing field. Which do you recommend?

posted in Bookworms - 1 reply

boring always = unreadable?

2006-09-05T04:13:29Z

The "boring books" thread raised an interesting question in my mind: can a book be boring, yet still good/worth reading?

I think many textbooks obviously fall into this category; the knowledge one gleans from a particular boring text outweighs the dullness of its content.
Novelist Thomas Mann is soul-crushingly boring, but is so linguistically adept/masterful, that I'll read him and finish his books (or put myself to sleep by them)- I guess these works to me represent something antithetical to pop-ficiton (riveting books that ultimately lack substance).

Other examples?

posted in Bookworms - 22 replies

War Day (and the Journey Onward) by Whitley Strieber and James Kunetka

2006-09-05T03:09:16Z

War Day (and the Journey Onward) by Whitley Strieber and James Kunetka
Genre-post-apocalypse novel, 515p, Published in 1984, Grade=A
Book 10 of '06

Post apocalyptic fiction/science fiction is one of my favorite genres. This book was one of the best post-apoc books I have read. The realism was astounding. This book made The Day After look like child's play (and I thought that was a great movie). The authors made themselves the main characters- two survivors of the nuclear war with Russia. They are both authors who decide to travel the war ruined United States to write a documentary on the effects, collect government documents from various sources, and interview folks along the way. Positively haunting. The voices echoed in this book could come from any of us. This is out of print and harder to find. However, I strongly recommend it, though be forewarned- it is not an easy read, it is pretty deep and heavy.

Cross-posted to my several blogs and various reading communities.
Current and past reads can be found on my user info page.

posted in Bookworms - 0 replies