11. Emma. Vol 6. (Kudos to ILL for getting this for me.)
12. The Vanishing Act of Esme Lennox by Maggie O'Farrell (Audiobooked. Not sure if I would have read this but it was a good listen. I liked the shifting point of view between the adult granddaughter & the elderly sisters, one of who has been in a mental institute for 60 years, the other with dementia. I like how she used the later two characters to explore internal coping mechanisms. And I liked the adult grand daughter, maybe not liked exactly, but she made a lot of sense to me, her choices & shifting point of view.)
13. 77 Love Sonnets by Garrison Keillor (This is not mushy love poetry, it isn't even all poetry about romantic love, but it is poetry about loving life & living loves, if that makes any sense. I can't think of anyone I wouldn't hand this to if they were at all open to poetry.)
14. Hush, Hush by Becca Fitzpatrick (Another entry to the YA-supernatural-doomed-love genre. the twist is that it fallen angels rather than vampires & the heroine has a a more developed sense of self-preservation than Bella. not bad. only recommending to people who haven't seen past the Twilight glitter entirely yet.)
15. Lover's Dictionary: a novel by David Levithan (Genius Levithan strikes again. Nobody else I'm aware of is writing such good prose about what love is, the frothy as well as the gritty. And I'm a sucker for fiction with footnotes or in a encyclopedic format so this is doubly good.)
16. Emma Vol. 7 by Karu Mori
17. They Call Me Naughty Lola:Personal Ads from the London Review of Books. edited by David Rose (I didn't like this quite as much as the sequel, Sexually, I'm More of a Switzerland, but I might just have not been so in the mood for it. It didn't seem so sad before.)
18. It all changed in an instant: more Six Word Memoirs by authors Famous & Obscure, edited by Smith Magazine (I love this series!)
19. The Strange Affair of the Spring Heeled Jack by Mark Hodder (Steampuck mystery, it this becomes a series I'd check out the next one. The premise was odd, but it is steampunk is it pretty much has to be. Burton & Swinburne were hilarious once they got together, I'd have enjoyed it more if that had happened sooner.)
20. The Book of Eleven: An Itemized Collection of Brain Lint by Amy Krouse Rosenthal (She's had me hooked since Encyclopedia of An Ordinary Life. This wasn't as good as that, but I laughed some.)
21. Revolution by Jennifer Donnelly (Really, really good! Punk smart Brooklynite falls into revolutionary Paris, really great soundtrack if you recognize the songs they mention.)
22. How Did You Get This Number: essays by Sloane Crosley (Not exactly humor, but not not funny, odd, but good odd. I will read anything she puts her name to, I like the way she thinks.)
Wednesday, February 9, 2011
January Readings
1. Sexually, I'm More of a Switzerland: More Personal Ads from the London Review of Books. Edited by David Rose. (Hilarious & sweet. Perfect for when you might feel like the oddest crayon in the box. Will put a hold on the first one. Thanks to J. for handing it to me.)
2. House of Dolls by Francesca Lia Block (My favorite rockstar author takes a crack at kids books... It's okay, but it's no Dangerous Angels.)
3. All Things Alice by Linda Sunshine (Cute little book of Lewis Carroll quotes with masses of vintage illustrations.)
4. Almost French by Sarah Turnbull (Memoir. It was interesting to see Paris from the point of view of an outsider trying to make a life there & that kept me in it even though I was not enthralled by her writing style.)
5. Dandelion Fire: Book 2 of the 100 Cupboards by N.D. Wilson (I really enjoyed 100 Cupboards but in its trilogy I found myself just barely keeping track of the multiple characters roaming separately and by the end I just didn't care anymore. Have not put the third on hold.)
6. Matched by Alley Condie (Very cool. Utopia/dystopia/futuristic. What is you lived in a society that found your perfect mate for you? What if it was wrong? Fans of Hunger Games, Brave New World, 1984... anyway, it's great fun. Question authority, read poetry.)
7. Walks with Men: fiction by Anne Beattie
8. The Frozen Thames by Helem Humphreys (A collection of short stories that take place on or around the Thames at various times when it was frozen. Interesting meditation on cold, ice, celebration, life in London over a long period of time in snapshots of lives.)
9. Baby, Remember My Name: An Anthology of New Queer Girl Writing. Edited by Michelle Tea. (My favorite was "Homo Marriage Redux" by Zoe Whittal. Some fun stuff, some sad stuff, some strange stuff, that's how anthologies go.)
10. Hold Me Closer, Necromancer by Lish McBride (I got through this because I liked the main character, but I'm a little critical of bringing this many kind of magical people into a reality (werewolves, necromancers, witches & more) theres a certain point where it just feels like someone pulled out a myth dictionary and started opening it at random & tossing out types. I think there were also parts that were supposed to be funny (idea propagated by Sherman Alexie quote on cover) that just weren't my kind of funny.... Not hating, but it wasn't quite for me.)
2. House of Dolls by Francesca Lia Block (My favorite rockstar author takes a crack at kids books... It's okay, but it's no Dangerous Angels.)
3. All Things Alice by Linda Sunshine (Cute little book of Lewis Carroll quotes with masses of vintage illustrations.)
4. Almost French by Sarah Turnbull (Memoir. It was interesting to see Paris from the point of view of an outsider trying to make a life there & that kept me in it even though I was not enthralled by her writing style.)
5. Dandelion Fire: Book 2 of the 100 Cupboards by N.D. Wilson (I really enjoyed 100 Cupboards but in its trilogy I found myself just barely keeping track of the multiple characters roaming separately and by the end I just didn't care anymore. Have not put the third on hold.)
6. Matched by Alley Condie (Very cool. Utopia/dystopia/futuristic. What is you lived in a society that found your perfect mate for you? What if it was wrong? Fans of Hunger Games, Brave New World, 1984... anyway, it's great fun. Question authority, read poetry.)
7. Walks with Men: fiction by Anne Beattie
8. The Frozen Thames by Helem Humphreys (A collection of short stories that take place on or around the Thames at various times when it was frozen. Interesting meditation on cold, ice, celebration, life in London over a long period of time in snapshots of lives.)
9. Baby, Remember My Name: An Anthology of New Queer Girl Writing. Edited by Michelle Tea. (My favorite was "Homo Marriage Redux" by Zoe Whittal. Some fun stuff, some sad stuff, some strange stuff, that's how anthologies go.)
10. Hold Me Closer, Necromancer by Lish McBride (I got through this because I liked the main character, but I'm a little critical of bringing this many kind of magical people into a reality (werewolves, necromancers, witches & more) theres a certain point where it just feels like someone pulled out a myth dictionary and started opening it at random & tossing out types. I think there were also parts that were supposed to be funny (idea propagated by Sherman Alexie quote on cover) that just weren't my kind of funny.... Not hating, but it wasn't quite for me.)
Friday, February 4, 2011
A good breakfast better include tea
A short survey of my breakfast for Plinkyness, the usual, the ideal...
tea
Tea is warm & I'm always cold in the morning. It's enough caffeine to get me moving without the overpoweringness of coffee. It's gentle, & mornings seem so harsh.
protein & carb
Usually this is eggs & toast for me, but I greatly prefer having a noodle+tofu dish left over from the night before. Leftover phad thai or #17 from the pho shop is fantastic.
vitamins
I don't really like my little collection of moring pills, often make me gag a little, but the multi, rosemary, cranberry, flax seed oil, & allergy tablet keep my body happier than it is without them. If I don't take them after breakfast it just isn't going to happen.
I can't say 'no' to books
I can't not give book recommendations. If someone asks me I have to answer & sometimes I tell people about books when they don't really feel like listening.
I can't say no to greatly discounted dk yarn in blacks and or blues, espcially if machine washable or has any silk content.
...beach glass, sweet & sour "chicken," Heath or Skor bars, salads that include pear & walnuts...
....chai, earl grey, jasmine tea, anything in the antique shop with lace that fits me at all...
....my department manager, anyone crying on the phone, little kids reading books that remind me of anything I read as a kid (I just start jumping through hoops like its my job; it might be my job)...
...dogs-- they want petting & I'm their girl--
...boxes of book donations, even when everything on top looks trashy, & they smell a little heinous, there could be something really cool at the bottom, some Anne Sexton, or T.S. Eliot, or anything!
...wicked old dictionaries with beautiful curly typeface, even if the binding is dead the pages come home to become endpapers & other things...
...papercrafts, cut out constructables or origami, decoupage or bookmarks left by other people in library books...
...blank books of a roughly paperback size with sewn bindings & creamy paper...
...black pens with real ink (not Bics), hard tips, thin unbroken lines...
...very thin tipped paint brushes, neither weak nor too stiff, even though I already own more of these then I'll likely ever use up...
...double sided tape in handheld dispensers & glue in purse-sized quanities...
...shiny blue things...
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