Plumtree's Potted Meat

50 Books in 2013

noreply@blogger.com (Cori) — Wed, 01 Jan 2014 15:39:00 +0000

Made it to 40 books in 2013. Many of which were pretty lowbrow. (The Woodcutter and Sisterhood Everlasting were truly horrible. I don't know what I was thinking.) Books in bold below are recommended. Back in the saddle!

1. Under Wildwood by Colin Meloy

2. Potty Training Boys the Easy Way by Fertlman & Cave

3. The Woodcutter by Kate Danley

4. The Twelve by Justin Cronin

5. Snow Flower and the Secret Fan by Lisa See

6. Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn

7. The Book Thief by Markus Zusak

8. The Year of the Flood by Margaret Atwood

9. The Fault in Our Stars by John Green

10. Jeff in Venice, Death in Varanasi by Geoff Dyer

11. Sisterhood Everlasting by Ann Brashares

12. Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? (And Other Concerns) by Mindy Kaling

13. Someday, Someday, Maybe by Lauren Graham

14. Ready Player One by Ernest Cline

15. In the Woods by Tana French

16. Does this Baby Make Me Look Straight? Confessions of a Gay Dad by Dan Bucatinsky

17. The Magicians by Lev Grossman

18. Freedom by Jonathan Franzen

19. Dead Ever After by Charlaine Harris

20. Growing Up Amish by Ira Wagler

21. Beautiful Ruins by Jess Walter

22. Everything is Perfect When You’re a Liar by Kelly Oxford

23. Spooner by Pete Dexter

24. The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern

25. The Financial Lives of the Poets by Jess Walter

26. The Magician King by Lev Grossman

27. City of Bones by Cassandra Clare

28. City of Ashes by Cassandra Clare

29. The Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman

30. Divergent by Veronica Roth

31. The Snow Child by Eowyn Ivey

32. Life After Life by Kate Atkinson

33. Insurgent by Veronica Roth

34. Shut Up About Your Perfect Kid: A Survival Guide for Ordinary Parents of Special Children by Gina Gallagher and Patricia Konjoian

35. Allegiant by Veronica Roth

36. The Signature of All Things by Elizabeth Gilbert

37. The Dinner by Herman Koch

38. The Pure Gold Baby by Margaret Rabble* (Left off at pg. 136. I just could't get into it.)

39. My Baby Rides the Short Bus: The Unabashedly Human Experience of Raising Kids with Disabilities. Ed by Bertelli, Silverman, and Talbot.

40. Eleanor & Park by Rainbow Rowell

“I cannot remember the books I’ve read any more than the meals I have eaten; even so, they have made me.”

- Ralph Waldo Emerson

50 Books in 2012

noreply@blogger.com (Cori) — Tue, 01 Jan 2013 15:29:00 +0000

50 25 Books in 2012

Otherwise known as the year of textbooks. Or the year I discovered the wonderment of Bill Bryson.

1. The Passage by Justin Cronin

2. The Partly Cloudy Patriot by Sarah Vowell

3. Inheritance by Christopher Paolini

4. Dead Reckoning by Charlaine Harris

5. Death Comes to Pemberley by P.D. James

6. The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

7. 11/22/63 by Stephen King

8. Broken Pieces: A Library Life, 1941-1978 by Michael Gorman

9. Developing Library and Information Center Collections by G. Edwards Evans

10. Fifty Shades of Gray by E L James

11. Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins

12. Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins

13. This Lovely Life: A Memoir of Premature Motherhood by Vicki Forman

14. Deadlocked by Charlaine Harris

15. Wildwood by Colin Meloy

16. Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association, 6th Ed.

17. The Evaluation and Measurement of Library Service by Joseph R. Matthews

18. 1Q84 by Haruki Murakami

19. Meaningful Learning with Technology by Howland, Jonassen, and Marra

20. Neither Here Nor There by Bill Bryson

21. A Walk in the Woods by Bill Bryson

22. In a Sunburned Country by Bill Bryson

23. The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid by Bill Bryson

24. Stories I Only Tell My Friends by Rob Lowe

25. Mr. Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore by Robin Sloan

"There are things you just can't do in life. You can't beat the phone company, you can't make a waiter see you until he's ready to see you, and you can't go home again."

-Bill Bryson

50 Books in 2011

noreply@blogger.com (Cori) — Sun, 01 Jan 2012 15:23:00 +0000

Make that 29.

2011 was the year we became parents, and my personal reading time took a decidedly juvenile turn. A little less Proust, a lot more Llama Llama Red Pajama.

Preemies: The Essential Guide for Parents of Premature Babies by Dana Wechsler Linden
Home Game: An Accidental Guide to Fatherhood by Michael Lewis
Man Walks Into a Room by Nicole Krauss
The Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum
Bossypants by Tina Fey
A Game of Thrones by George R. R. Martin
A Clash of Kings by George R. R. Martin
A Storm of Swords by George R. R. Martin
A Feast for Crows by George R. R. Martin
A Dance with Dragons by George R. R. Martin
Dead in the Family by Charlaine Harris
Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston
The Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan
The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-time Indian by Sherman Alexie
The Way to Rainy Mountain by N. Scott Momaday
Bless Me, Ultima by Rudolfo Anaya
M.C. Higgins, the Great by Virginia Hamilton
Brokeback Mountain by Annie Proulx
Missing May by Cynthia Rylant
Blue Boy by Rakesh Satyal
Obasan by Joy Kogawa
The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini
The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Diaz
On Beauty by Zadie Smith
Funny in Farsi by Firoozeh Dumas
A Step from Heaven by An Na
Ask Me No Questions by Marina Budhos
The Invention of Hugo Cabret by Brian Selznick
Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet: A Novel by Jamie Ford

“Perhaps all the dragons in our lives are princesses who are only waiting to see us act, just once, with beauty and courage. Perhaps everything that frightens us is, in its deepest essence, something helpless that wants our love.”

-Rainer Maria Rilke

50 Books in 2010

noreply@blogger.com (Cori) — Sun, 02 Jan 2011 14:25:00 +0000

2010: otherwise known as the year of the guilty pleasure read. Funny how grad school makes you crave the low-brow, like the Sookie Stackhouse series I became obsessed with mid-summer. Series fiction abounded, with a few notable exceptions, like McCann's "Let the Great World Spin" and Atwood's "Oryx and Crake". Most disappointing was Palahniuk's "Tell-All", which I'd looked forward to but found self-indulgent and predictable. Dare I say, I'm over you Chuck. The reverse-plot-surprise-ending-with-a-heap-of-the-vulgar-to-keep you-off-the-sent formula he uses in every book feels played out at this point. The man who got famous for taking so many risks needs to, well, take more risks. So here we are, 41 mediocre reads in 2010. (I resolve to make better selections in 2011.)

1 - Lost by Gregory Maguire
2 - Tess of D'Urbervilles by Thomas Hardy
3 - My Antonia by Willa Cather
4. The Angel Experiment: Maximum Ride Series, Book 1 by James Patterson
5. School's Out Forever: Maximum Ride Series, Book 2 by James Patterson
6. Saving the World and Other Extreme Sports: Maximum Ride Series, Book 3 by James Patterson
7. The Final Warning: Maximum Ride Series, Book 4 by James Patterson
8. Max: Maximum Ride Series, Book 5 by James Patterson
9. The Turn of the Screw by Henry James
10. Reference and Information Services by Richard E. Bopp and Linda C. Smith
11. Foundations of Library and Information Science by Richard E. Rubin
12. The Oxford Guide to Library Research by Thomas Mann
13. The Help by Kathryn Stockett
14. Dead Until Dark by Charlaine Harris
15. Living Dead in Dallas by Charlaine Harris
16. Club Dead by Charlaine Harris
17. Dead to the World by Charlaine Harris
18. Dead as a Doornail by Charlaine Harris
19. Definitely Dead by Charlaine Harris
20. All Together Dead by Charlaine Harris
21. From Dead to Worse by Charlaine Harris
22. Oryx and Crake by Margaret Atwood
23. Dead and Gone by Charlaine Harris
24. The Short Second Life of Bree Tanner by Stephenie Meyer
25. Let the Great World Spin by Colum McCann
26. The Appointment by Herta Muller
27. Tuck Everlasting by Natalie Babbitt
28. Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen
29. The Eye of the World by Robert Jordan
30. The Great Hunt by Robert Jordan
31. The Dragon Reborn by Robert Jordan
32. Soulless by Gail Carriger
33. Changeless by Gail Carriger
34. Blameless by Gail Carriger
35. You: Having a Baby by Michael Roizen and Mehmet Oz
36. Cataloging and Classification by Lois Mai Chan
37. Internet Technologies and Information Services by Joseph B. Miller
38. Tell-All by Chuck Palahniuk
39. The Magician's Nephew by C.S. Lewis
40. The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis
41. The Horse and His Boy by C.S. Lewis

"Outside of a dog, a man's best friend is a book. Inside of a dog, it's too dark to read."
-Groucho Marx

There is no one alive who is youer than you.

noreply@blogger.com (Cori) — Thu, 28 Oct 2010 16:41:00 +0000

We made a human! Hence, I've been pondering children's books lately. As a child, my mother read to us every night until third or fourth grade. At first it was things like Golden Books and Dr. Seuss, and then we moved up to a chapter of Alice in Wonderland each night. I'm sure this is part of what fostered my own love of reading, and I want the same love for our child. I read some poetry (e. e. cummings) to my belly the other night, as they say it can hear in there now. I was born without the singing gene, so I thought I could at least give this- a rhythmic lullaby of beautiful verse. I hope he/she heard me and moved his/her tiny hands. ("nobody, not even the rain, has such small hands"...)

As I set about creating our wee thing's first library, I'm left wondering which children's books we should include in the baby's collection. Having slim-to-no contact with children in recent years, I'm not sure what people read to their kids these days. When I think children's books, I think Green Eggs and Ham (the first book I read by myself), Goodnight Moon, Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs... One friend swears by How to Potty Train Your Monster and another by Click Clack Moo. There is much work ahead of us. So many books, so many gleeful trips to Borders...

Today you are you, that is truer than true. There is no one alive who is youer than you.
-Dr. Seuss

Reading maketh a full man

noreply@blogger.com (Cori) — Wed, 09 Jun 2010 00:39:00 +0000

Hot Guys Reading Books: It's an entire blog dedicated to nothing but pictures of real men caught in the act of reading. The simplicity is beautiful. So are the men. Enjoy.

50 Books in 2009

noreply@blogger.com (Cori) — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 21:56:00 +0000

And by 50, I mean 41. Foiled again!

Unexpected enjoyment this year - Josh Bazell's debut novel, Beat the Reaper. I'm not usually into punch-em-ups, but Reaper's scrappy wit kept me on the edge of my seat and wanting more from Josh Bazell. I also really dug Brave New World. (You know I love me some dystopian fiction.) Expect more science fiction on the plate for this coming year. I have a hankering for space-y goodness in 2010. (2010! This is the future.)

1 - Endurance; Shackleton's Incredible Voyage by Alfred Lansing
2 - The Good Earth by Pearl S. Buck
3 - Mozart’s Wife by Juliet Waldron
4 - A Lion Among Men by Gregory Maguire
5 - The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde
6 - The Host by Stephanie Meyer
7 - Anne of Green Gables by Lucy Maud Montgomery
8 - Me : Stories of My Life by Katharine Hepburn
9 - The McSweeney's Joke Book of Book Jokes by the Editors of McSweeney's
10 - March by Geraldine Brooks
11 - Crazy Cock by Henry Miller
12 - Mirror Mirror by Gregory Maguire
13 - The History of Love by Nicole Krauss
14 - America (The Book): A Citizen's Guide to Democracy Inaction by Jon Stewart
15 - Watchmen by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons
16 - Revolutionary Road by Richard Yates
17 - Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister by Gregory Maguire
18 - Wifey by Judy Blume
19 - American Gods by Neil Gaiman
20 - The Pleasure of My Company by Steve Martin
21 - Year Zero by Jeff Long
22 - Angels & Demons by Dan Brown
23 - Emma by Jane Austen
24 - Pride and Prejudice and Zombies by Seth Grahame-Smith
25 - A Prayer for Owen Meany by John Irving
26 - The Jane Austen Book Club by Karen Joy Fowler
27 - Possession by A.S. Byatt
28 - The Last Apprentice - Revenge of the Witch by Joseph Delaney
29 - The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula K. Le Guin
30 - Storm Front by Jim Butcher
31 - Fool Moon by Jim Butcher
32 - Grave Peril by Jim Butcher
33 - The Pluto Files by Neil DeGrasse Tyson
34 - The Savage Detectives by Roberto Bolano
35 - Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater
36 - The Widows of Eastwick by John Updike
37 - Brave New World by Aldous Huxley
38 - The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold
39 - Beat the Reaper by Josh Bazell
40 - The Songs of Distant Earth by Arthur C. Clarke
41 - The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson

In Honor of The Father- Year Zero

noreply@blogger.com (Cori) — Mon, 18 May 2009 00:31:00 +0000

Last time I was home, my father recommended to me the book Year Zero, by Jeff Long. He excitedly recounted the plot and told me how he'd not been able to put it down. Prior to this moment, I was unaware my father even read books. Despite my life-long passion for reading, he'd never once mentioned a book he enjoyed. I've never seen him reading a book; I didn't know he owned any books. My father and I don't share many interests; his main hobbies include riding his motorcycle and nascar, and though I love my dad, I've never felt like our passions could find a middle ground. So when he recommended a book to me, it was like a dream come true. My father and I sitting around discussing a book-- fantasy!

Needless to say, next time I was at Borders, I bought said book... with a groan. The cover reads "New York Times bestselling author" and has a byline by Dan Brown calling it, "A superbly original thriller," ... just the kind of mass market paperback I normally avoid- like the plague. It sat on my shelf for several months while my snobbery precluded me from picking it up. Then last week a friend's father died unexpectedly, and that night I started reading Year Zero. How could I not want to share something with my dad while I still had the time?

And it was great! Just the kind of page-turner summer read that you'd want to talk about with your dad. It's packed with enough action to keep it going, enough meat to give you something to talk about, enough "what if" to make you think. In a summer where Angels & Demons is likely to make millions, pick up Year Zero if you're in the mood for a different religious thriller experience... then call your dad and tell him you love him, because you never know- the world could end tomorrow. ;)

50 Books in 2008

noreply@blogger.com (Cori) — Sun, 25 Jan 2009 15:32:00 +0000

I had a quest to read 50 books in 2008- I made it to 39.

Not a failure, says I, because in the process I discovered the intensity of Jose Saramago, whose Blindness ranked among my favorites of the year, Steve Martin, whose acting efforts have always left me lukewarm, but whose Shopgirl was an unexpected pleasure, and Sarah Vowell, whose Assassination Vacation made me interested in US history for maybe the first time ever. (Books I'd recommend are marked with asterisks below.)

#1- My Name is Red by Orhan Pamuk
#2- Cakes and Ale by W. Somerset Maugham
#3- Beasts by Joyce Carol Oates
#4- The Snapper by Roddy Doyle*
#5- Shopgirl by Steve Martin*
#6- The Heart is a Lonely Hunter by Carson McCullers*
#7- The Women of Brewster Place by Gloria Naylor
#8- A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius by Dave Eggers
#9- And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie
#10- Death on the Nile by Agatha Christie
#11- Murder on the Orient Express by Agatha Christie
#12- The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison
#13- The Golden Compass by Philip Pullman
#14 - The Confessions of Max Tivoli by Andrew Sean Greer
#15 - The Subtle Knife by Philip Pullman
#16 - The Amber Spyglass by Philip Pullman
#17 - The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger
#18 - Twelfth Night by William Shakespeare
#19- I, Elizabeth by Rosalind Miles*
#20- Little Birds by Anais Nin
#21- Twilight by Stephenie Meyer
#22 - New Moon by Stephenie Meyer
#23 - Eclipse by Stephenie Meyer
#24 - Breaking Dawn by Stephenie Meyer
#25 - The Yiddish Policemen's Union by Michael Chabon
#26 - When You are Engulfed in Flames by David Sedaris
#27 - Blindness by Jose Saramago*
#28 - Cat's Cradle by Kurt Vonnegut
#29 - Persuasion by Jane Austen*
#30 - Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen
#31 - The House of Mirth by Edith Wharton
#32 - The House of Seven Gables by Nathaniel Hawthorne
#33 - Northanger Abbey by Jane Austin
#34 - The Moon is a Harsh Mistress by Robert A. Heinlein
#35 - Assassination Vacation by Sarah Vowell*
#36 - The Witches of Eastwick by John Updike
#37 - Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert
#38 - Brisingr by Christopher Paolini
#39 - The Tales of Beedle the Bard by J.K. Rowling

Luckily, the coldest winter in recent history has me well on my way to 50 in 2009.

“The mind can weave itself warmly in the cocoon of its own thoughts, and dwell a hermit anywhere.”

-James Russell Lowell

26 Years of Jane Austen Aversion -- Cured

noreply@blogger.com (Cori) — Tue, 07 Oct 2008 21:00:00 +0000

I haven't blogged in quite some time, mostly because I was busy getting married... the strangest consequence of which is I suddenly love Jane Austen.

How can this be, after 26 years of finding Romantic Lit tame and dry, (dare I say boring?) I've woken up one day with an appreciation 4 years of university English study couldn't create? Perhaps my scant months of marriage have taught me to appreciate subtly, where before I wanted the bold, raw meat of Modernism?

Whatever the cause may be, my foray into Austen so far includes Persuasion, Pride & Prejudice, Sense & Sensibility, and I just started Northanger Abbey. I enjoyed Sense least, mostly because I found Elinor a little cold and had no sympathy for Mr. Willoughby, (that scoundrel!) Persuasion is the easiest and shortest, if you're looking for a quick taste to get you in the mood.

If you haven't tried the classics in awhile, I urge you to give Jane another chance. You may find you suddenly adore using words like "signify" and "insipid" about the house, or suddenly overwhelmed with the desire to plan a vacation to Bath. (Though I hear Jane wasn't really a fan.) Now, how to convince Hubs to be Mr. Darcy for Halloween. hmm....

"It sometimes happens that a woman is handsomer at twenty-nine than she was ten years before. "

-Jane Austen

(here's hoping!)

1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die

noreply@blogger.com (Cori) — Fri, 23 May 2008 12:45:00 +0000

Peter Boxall's new work, 1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die, as reviewed by the NYT today (Volumes to Go Before You Die), lead me to create my own personal list of "must reads". Upon starting the task, I found myself breaking things into mental categories:

*Literature: Imperative to my intellectual growth- ie: Ulysses;
*Nostalgia: This book made me love books back when we are just discovering what we love- ie: Little Women;
*Guilty Pleasures: I stayed up until 3 reading this book in one night, though I wouldn't admit it to my friends- ie: Eregon

I've decided to lump them all into a shmorgasborg of booky goodness, disreguarding whether I consider it part of the valid cannon and going purely on whether I enjoyed it enough to read again. As I can't possibly choose from every book I've ever read, (though in the last 3 years I've started keeping a list,) I perused my LibraryThing catalog and picked only from among my own collection. I've left out those which I know will probably belong on the list eventually but that I haven't gotten around to reading yet. (That was harder than you might think, as many of the "snobbery books" are on the yet to read list.) I've also left out plays and books of poetry (I sense future lists for the like...) So here goes, though I've probably forgotten many treasures, I humbly offer:

50 of My Favorite Books (in my collection)(in no particular order):

Ulysses - James Joyce
The Fountainhead - Ayn Rand
Confederacy of Dunces - John Kennedy Toole
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy -Douglas Adams
Little Women - Louisa May Alcott
The Handmaid's Tale - Margaret Atwood
The Blind Assasin- Margaret Atwood
Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen
Ham on Rye - Charles Bukowski
Post Office - Charles Bukowski
Alice's Adventures in Wonderland - Lewis Carroll
The Awakening - Kate Chopin
(Any of the Hercule Poirot mysteries)- Agatha Christie
Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell - Susanna Clarke
The Name of the Rose - Umberto Eco
The Sound and The Fury - William Faulkner
As I Lay Dying - William Faulkner
Madame Bovary - Gustave Flaubert
Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close - Jonathan Safran Foer
Everything is Illuminated - Jonathan Safran Foer
Good Omens - Neil Gaiman
Memoirs of a Geisha - Arthur Golden
The Left Hand of Darkness - Ursula K. Le Guin
High Fidelity - Nick Hornby
The Hobbit - J.R.R. Tolkien
(The Lord of the Rings trilogy) - J.R.R. Tolkien
The Children of Men - P.D. James
Fear of Flying - Erica Jong
Girl, Interrupted - Susanna Kaysen
On the Road - Jack Kerouac
The Dharma Bums - Jack Kerouac
Fall on Your Knees - Ann-Marie MacDonald
Wicked - Gregory Maguire
Angela's Ashes - Frank McCourt
The Heart is a Lonely Hunter - Carson McCullers
Lolita - Vladimir Nabokov
The English Patient - Michael Ondaatje
Fight Club - Chuck Palahniuk
The Bell Jar - Sylvia Plath
Anthem - Ayn Rand
Harry Potter (yes, all of them) - J.K. Rowling
Le Petit Prince - Antoine de Saint Exupery
The Winter of Our Discontent - John Steinbeck
East of Eden - John Steinbeck
Anna Karenina- Leo Tolstoy
Mrs. Dalloway - Virginia Woolf
A Room of One's Own - Virginia Woolf
Jane Eyre - Charlotte Bronte
Night - Elie Wiesel
The Subtle Knife - Philip Pullman

"A creative man is motivated by the desire to achieve, not by the desire to beat others. " - Ayn Rand

I Has a Grammar

noreply@blogger.com (Cori) — Wed, 14 May 2008 21:35:00 +0000

I occasionally read the tongue-in-cheek blog Stuff White People Like and thought you might share my amusement in this recent post on Grammar. I chuckled while reading because it's true; I get a not-so-secret satisfaction at pointing out obvious flaws in the newspaper, my coworkers' emails, the regulations coming from our elected officials that I edit everyday... Only yesterday I found myself scoffing at a set of new laws which used that when it should have been who. The caste system is alive and well in America, and you can tell the Sudras by their choice of there vs. their.

To err is human, to forgive divine.

-Alexander Pope

Quiz Thyself!

noreply@blogger.com (Cori) — Sat, 26 Apr 2008 11:40:00 +0000

Wondering what to do with all your useless literary knowledge? Take the Never-ending Book Quiz and prove your worth!

Report back.

"It is a very sad thing that nowadays

there is so little useless information."

- Oscar Wilde

Writing that Counts: 2008 Pulitzer Prize Winners

noreply@blogger.com (Cori) — Thu, 17 Apr 2008 14:40:00 +0000

The 2008 Pulitzer Prize winners were announced last week. (I love that Bob Dylan got a nod.)

FICTION
The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Diaz (Riverhead Books)

DRAMA
August: Osage County by Tracy Letts

HISTORY
What Hath God Wrought by Daniel Walker Howe (Oxford University Press)

BIOGRAPHY
Eden's Outcasts by John Matteson (W.W. Norton)

POETRY
Time and Materials by Robert Hass (Ecco/HarperCollins)

POETRY
Failure by Philip Schultz (Harcourt)

GENERAL NONFICTION
The Years of Extermination by Saul Friedlander (HarperCollins)

MUSIC
The Little Match Girl Passion by David Lang (G. Schirmer)

SPECIAL CITATION
Bob Dylan

Avada Kedavra! Rowling Curses Lexicon's H. Potter Plots

noreply@blogger.com (Cori) — Tue, 15 Apr 2008 13:07:00 +0000

Does J.K. Rowling have a right to protest thievery of her H. Potter material? Yes. Will she win? Sadly, no.

Rowling's in court this week testifying against a proposed H. Potter encyclopedia published by Lexicon. Word is she was planning her own encyclopedia (with proceeds donated to charity, no less) when Lexicon beat her to the punch and produced their own version. Yes, she's the richest woman writer in the world; but I say to you- she still has a right to own her own ideas.

You may say Rowling has enough success to share, and there's certainly enough fan-base willing to shell out for every bit of merchandising even vaguely related to her hit series, but I stand in defense of Rowling's intellectual rights. The woman produced an iconic story, a story that made both children and adults excited to read, excited to purchase books and cherish them, and excited to look for others to fill the gap now that they've concluded. It seems there are plenty salivating to take advantage of that excitement. Though copyright laws allow for nearly anyone to publish a companion series to her story without violating her rights, I wish we'd let her exhaust her efforts before encroaching on them. Can there be too many books on one subject? Quality over quantity, I say. Putting out nine hundred different companion books while the real author is still alive and writing: Riddikulus!

Find out more: Rowling Testifies Against Lexicon Author.

Reading is Sexy: Because You Heart Shopping Almost as Much as Reading

noreply@blogger.com (Cori) — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 19:58:00 +0000

Perhaps you're in the mood to put down that book and pick up your credit card. Want to tell the world you're clever via witty merchandising? If so, check out a few of my favorites...

Sarah Utter: Be it mug, t-shirt, or bumper sticker, grab something from her super cute Reading is Sexy line, and broadcast your brains and your girl bits simultaneously.

Literary Luminaries: Waiting on the weather for that trip to the lighthouse? You'll relish the rain when you get to break out your Virginia Woolf umbrella. Or spend monsoon season catching up on correspondence with the delightfully artsy Great Writers boxed note card set.

Shakespeare's Den: What could be more fun than a James Joyce finger puppet? You might even be inspired to craft your greatest work of poetry with a genuine quill pen, or give the gift of kitsch with author action figures.

Cafepress: Spice up your cubicle with some cheesy literary goodness. Choose a design and put it on just about anything, from magnet to clock to mouse pad to bbq apron? I love that I can put Leopold Bloom on 90 products; yes, everything from my dog to my bum. Don't like anything they have to offer? Make your own.

Smart Women: Though I've been a fan of the Smart Women Thirst for Knowledge cups since I saw them in Bust many years ago, I only recently discovered their line of library/office goodies. I plan to buy the sweet Reader's Journal as soon as stock replenishes.
Speaking of Bust, you don't have to be into women's lib to dig these Dorothy Parker martini glasses. Because sometimes a good book is best paired with a drink. (Hemingway, anyone?)

Library of Congress: I'm always on the lookout for curious decor for my future hypothetical library in my future hypothetical mansion. I adore this lovely print Disgusted With Life, She Retired to the Society of Books for my reading room, as well as these vintage Federal Art Project propaganda prints.

______________________________

Why not seize the pleasure at once?
How often is happiness destroyed by preparation, foolish preparation!
-Jane Austen

I once dumped a guy for liking John Grisham

noreply@blogger.com (Cori) — Mon, 31 Mar 2008 17:35:00 +0000

Have you ever started to dig someone, only to discover the only reading material in their house is Maxim, or worse yet, Stephen King? You slowly find that you're no longer picturing them as the father of your future hypothetical children. There go the fantasy nights of lying in bed as he reads you the Fruit poems from D.H. Lawrence's Birds, Beasts and Flowers as foreplay...

This amusing article in yesterday's Times "It's Not You, It's Your Books" explores whether incompatibility in literature means incapability- period. I ask you, does book snobbery have a place in weeding out a potential mate? My verdict? Yes, yes it does.

Dear former potential boyfriend,
When I told you I was too busy to get involved right now, what I meant was I could never drop my drawers while your John Grisham collection eyed me from the shelf near the bed. I'm sure you'll be very happy with your new girlfriend, who you'll meet near the Nora Roberts books at Borders. Take care!

Like Crack for Book Nerds: Library Book Sales

noreply@blogger.com (Cori) — Thu, 27 Mar 2008 20:43:00 +0000

If you desire a notable collection, but have not the funds (ooh me, me!) you salivate at the idea of a bevy of cheap books in one convenient location. For this, my friends, let me suggest the Library Book Sale. An untapped gold mine of bargains and treasures, I keep a list on my fridge of local sales to scout out.

In the Cleveland area, you can usually find one almost every weekend, or at least once a month, with books ranging from 25 cents to one dollar. Not only do you get the fiscal joy of making off with as many books as you can carry for less than 10 bucks, you also get the satisfaction of rooting through boxes for authors you dig, and the subsequent snobbery affirmation when you place your finds on the check-out table next to the woman buying Danielle Steel and know that you are the superior being.

Things to watch out for:

1. Friends of the Library Preview Sales:

If you're obsessed with getting first choice at the pickings, you can join the Friends, who usually have a preview sale a couple hours, or even a day, before the public. Don't do this the first time you scout out a library. Some libraries have better selections than others and/or better prices, so make sure you like the one you visited before shelling out the fee. It's usually very nominal (I joined Macedonia's for 5 bucks) but at 50 cents a book, that's another 10 books you could buy with that money...

2. Take cash:

Some libraries accept checks, but nearly none accept credit cards. Keep a twenty in your back pocket, just in case.

3. Bring something to carry them in:

Some sales provide baskets or brown bags to place your selections in while you shop, but I nearly always run out of arm room and end up scooting boxes around with my feet. It may also help to bring a friend, for extra arm space. (Note: when bringing a friend, choose one with different literary tastes, so as not to come to blows over that one perfect find.)

4. Don't convince yourself to buy a book in poor condition:

Countless times I've found a scraggly-ass book I really wanted and gotten it despite my misgivings, only to find one in pristine condition at the next sale, also for 25 cents. Even for a quarter, it's not a deal if you get to the dramatic climax and it's missing pages 82-93.

Go forth and find many a happy bargain... just not until I've already picked them over, please!

The county names below link to lists of the 2008 local sales. If you're not in the Cleveland area, you can easily do a google search for "(insert your county) library book sale" to find your own fix.

Summit County, OH

Portage County, OH

Cuyahoga County, OH

______________________________

A house without books is like a room without windows. ~Heinrich Mann

I fancy myself a bit of a reader.

noreply@blogger.com (Cori) — Thu, 27 Mar 2008 20:14:00 +0000

Yes, as one of the masses of sad sorts who earned an English degree, then emerged from the academic womb ready for someone to pay us to read and discuss for a living, (whose naivete was swiftly rewarded with an unfulfilling desk job), I henceforth seek an outlet for all the words I consume on a regular basis.

Wee Blog, I dedicate thee to Mr. James Joyce: the first author to make me FEEL like being an English major had a point.