It Never Stops

2009-03-11T18:39:00.002-04:00

I've moved! I've installed WordPress on my homepage, so now everything's moved over there. If you follow this on LiveJournal, I've also added a new feed. Enjoy!

2009-03-04T18:09:00.001-05:00

The Good Earth by Pearl S. Buck: I'd heard good things about the tale of Wang Lung's life in preindustrial China and his rise from poor farmer to wealthy family man, but for one reason or another I'd never picked up a copy. Now I have, and though the plot was a touch slow at first, I must say it's well worth the read. You learn quite a bit about the culture and lifestyle of the times without feeling like you're reading a history book. And with Buck's tender narration, even the most heinously primitive ideas - such as "woman" being synonymous with "slave" - came across more as The Way Things Were than something that stirred much righteous anger in me. Wang Lung and his wife O-Lan are very sympathetic, and there were times when I almost cried. Very moving, very educational, very memorable.

Also posted on BookCrossing.

2009-02-27T16:12:00.000-05:00

Naked by David Sedaris: As with all of Sedaris's books, this is a collection of autobiographical essays, mostly humorous. To be honest, this wasn't one of his better books. A lot of the stories felt simply too long and drawn out, as if they could have been split into two stories about two different things. I should also note that the stories are more sequential, so that things make the most sense when read in the order they are presented in the book. This wasn't a bad book, to be sure; I laughed in quite a few places. It just isn't as strong a set of tales as those found in his other books. Recommended for Sedaris fans, but if you're new to this author, you'd probably be better off trying out something else.

Also posted on BookCrossing.

2009-02-21T16:37:00.001-05:00

This week's WOW is about daily life versus writing life: Is your writing life healthy these days? How do you keep your writing life alive? What are some of the remedies you use to revive it?

Actually, my writing life has recently taken a bit of a turn for the better. I'm currently collaborating on a comic book series with my husband: I write the story and he does the art. Since he can't really do anything until I've done my part, he regularly gets me back in front of the keyboard when I've been procrastinating. It's not easy to find good collaborators, and I'm extremely lucky to have married someone I can also work with.

Lately I've also been doing a bunch of creative writing for swaps on Swap-bot. The latest two were fictional diaries: one from the point of view of a vampire, and one from that of a time traveler. They were a blast to write and it felt really good to get back into the groove again.

For a more short-term boost, I've collected a large number of writing prompt websites, which other people seem to use far more often than I. Instead of online prompts, I'm slowly working my way through Judy Reeves's A Writer's Book of Days, which is basically daily prompts plus weekly inspiration. I don't write daily, so I've fallen a bit behind the schedule, but it's a nice option to have whenever I feel like writing but need something to start with.

Lastly, one of my resolutions for this year is to finish The Artist's Way by Julia Cameron. But not, of course, before finishing the next comic. :)

2009-02-20T18:28:00.001-05:00

I'm currently reading The Good Earth by Pearl S. Buck. As with most books I read that have been translated to the big screen, I put the movie on my Netflix queue. However, having seen the trailer, I'm a little worried that the film will be unintentionally amusing. After all, the main characters, all of whom are Chinese, are played by a Ukrainian, a German, an Austrian, and a couple of guys from Ohio. Yes, yes, I know that the main characters were always played by white people no matter what, but looking at it from a modern standpoint is...well, just look at the makeup!

Anyway. I'm enjoying the book now that it's starting to pick up (the first half dozen chapters or so were pretty slow); as the movie claims to "be" the book, perhaps it'll be good enough that I'll forget the painfully non-Asian actors in cast of all-Asian characters. We'll see.

2009-02-19T18:53:00.001-05:00

Fermat's Last Theorem by Simon Singh: Most people are familiar with the Pythagorean Theorem which describes a right triangle: a^2 + b^2 = c^2. However, what you may not know is that Pierre Fermat claimed back in the 1600s to be able to prove that a^n + b^n = c^n has no whole number solutions for n > 2. Trial and error suggests this to be true, but for over 350 years, no one could prove it. This is the story of the equation and those who worked towards the eventual solution in the early 1990s, from Pythagoras through Andrew Wiles, who published the final proof. His proof is complicated enough that I suspect Fermat's proof was flawed, but it makes for a surprisingly engrossing read all the same. There are tons of names and personal stories in this book, and though they often feel tangential, every single person discussed has great bearing in one way or another on the solving of Fermat's Last Theorem. One doesn't usually equate mathematics with drama or suspense, but both are present here. Definitely recommended for anyone with even a passing interest in math or history.

Note: The UK version of this book, which I have, is titled Fermat's Last Theorem. The American version is called Fermat's Enigma. There is also another book called Fermat's Last Theorem which was written by Amir D. Aczel. Confusion abounds.

Also posted on BookCrossing.

2009-02-18T20:39:00.001-05:00

Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison: Maybe this is one of those books that really is better to be gone over in literature class, or maybe I'm just slow, but I sure didn't understand much. The prologue was sheer brilliance; after that things just got weird. A nameless African-American narrator describes his journey from ambitious college student to disillusioned hermit, encountering a series of bizarre characters along the way. From reading other reviews I understand that most of these characters are meant to represent certain groups or archetypes, but aside from the communist Brotherhood I missed the references. I'm not sure that mattered, though, after reading the epilogue, which just rehashed the points I did grasp. I tried to just go with the flow but far too often my response to this book was, "Wait, what?"

Also posted on BookCrossing.

2009-02-12T17:55:00.001-05:00

Tickled Pink by Rita Rudner: The subtitle, "A Comic Novel," should have been left off the cover. I was expecting a laugh-a-minute romp, which this is not. It's the story of two girls who run away to New York to make a better life for themselves: Mindy the dancer-turned-comedian (more or less Rudner in disguise) and Ursula the ubergorgeous model. There is quite a bit of humor, mainly in the form of one-liners, most of which are likely far funnier on stage than in print. Most of the drama comes from misunderstandings and people not talking to each other, which is a pet peeve of mine when it comes to plot devices. The final few chapters felt forced, as if Rudner got stuck and decided she needed a disaster or two in order to wrap things up. It's not a bad book, just not a very good one. I suppose die-hard fans of Rudner's stand-up comedy may enjoy this (and indeed, her routines are pretty funny), but readers unfamiliar with her will probably want to pass this one by.

Also posted on BookCrossing.

2009-02-11T19:21:00.001-05:00

Issue #1 of Animal Faith, a comic book series written by yours truly and drawn by the illustrious William Chrapcynski, is now available in full color. Check it out!

Only $4.50 - a bargain at twice the price! ;)

2009-02-10T19:44:00.001-05:00

My home library is pretty cool. They have a lot of branches, a user-friendly electronic catalog, and a good selection of titles. I don't tend to participate in any of their programs, as I tend to be either too young, too old, or too married for their target demographic, but sometimes I peruse the schedules out of curiosity.

Which is how I stumbled upon the upcoming teen events. On the 13th two branches are having V-day parties: Be my Anti-Valentine and a Goth Valentine Bash, and on the 20th they're having Noisy Library Music. I admit, part of me wants to go see these bands. Check out the descriptions:

TIDELAND: [dreamy noise rock]
HADOPELAGIA: [drone shake breakfast flakes]
MASSALIA: [acid rock noise infection]
SLIGHT SURFACE NOISE SOUND SYSTEM: [noisy noise]

As bizarre as it all sounds, I have to hand it to them for making an honest effort to appeal to adolescents without assuming it's still 1955. Or that everything they do has to revolve around books. Sometimes just getting them into the library is a vital step.

2009-02-05T10:30:00.001-05:00

The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd: It's hard to describe this book without going into a lot of detail. It's more or less about Lily, a teenager living in 1960s South Carolina, and her dealings with race, prejudice, and the death of her mother. It's a sweet and gentle story of acceptance and forgiveness. A touch predictable, but not exasperatingly so. All in all it's just a nice little tale.

Also posted on BookCrossing.

2009-02-01T07:08:00.000-05:00

Banana Rose by Natalie Goldberg: Like, I suspect, most people who read this book, I picked it up out of a love for Goldberg's books on writing, most notably Writing Down the Bones. In those books she emphasizes freewriting and original detail far more than standard stuff like plot, character, and revision, and it is quite evident in this debut novel. Nell is a hippie living near Taos, New Mexico; this is the story of her journey to becoming an artist. The language is vibrant and the metaphors unforgettable, but the story and dialogue often fall flat. Nell is a total brat for about the first half of the book, which was long enough that I didn't really care much what happened to her by the end. That said, I cannot overemphasize the gorgeousness of the prose. Sure, the story is about Nell, but mostly it is a love letter to New Mexico. It made me long for the desert. Hopefully Goldberg's later novels have improved character and story without losing the fantastic imagery.

Also posted on BookCrossing.

2009-01-31T14:42:00.001-05:00

The Jane Austen Book Club by Karen Joy Fowler: A clever little book about - you guessed it - a book club which reads all six of Jane Austen's novels. Ignore the back cover blurbs; you will enjoy this far more if you're already an Austen fan. The original characters are cute, but by and large it's written for Janeophiles.

Also posted on BookCrossing.

2009-01-23T20:20:00.002-05:00

Time and Again by Jack Finney: Though the story is about time travel, this is not what one would commonly consider a science fiction novel. Simon Morley, a bored illustrator living in 1960s New York, joins a top secret government program that sends him back to 1882. Rather than your standard time travel machine, temporal distances are covered through self-hypnosis and a bunch of hand-waving involving vague references to Einstein. But never mind all that. Since the narrator is from modern times, his descriptions of New York of over a century ago emphasize the sorts of things historical fiction would not: the little differences in everyday life, the future locations of certain buildings, that kind of stuff. In terms of nostalgia, it's simply wonderful, and I thoroughly enjoyed learning about life in the late 19th century. Unfortunately, at the end it becomes tiresomely preachy, obsessing over the "good old days" that, as any historian knows, never really existed. The loose ends are also a little too neatly tied up, but by and large the book is a fun look at how people really lived back in the day.

I listened to this on audiobook, then discovered the book has sketches and photographs. Perhaps if I'd looked at the paperback copy on my shelf I would have noticed that it was specifically listed as an "illustrated novel" but that's what I get for not paying attention.

Note: this book was never made into a movie. That was Somewhere in Time by Richard Matheson. The confusion is understandable; both use self-hypnosis as a means of time travel, and both involve romance that spans the decades.

Also posted on BookCrossing.

2009-01-22T18:27:00.001-05:00

Lady Audley's Secret: I often seek out film versions of books I've read, so when I discovered this TV movie was available on Netflix I immediately added it to our queue. First off, I'd like to say that this movie was gorgeous. The sets, props, and costumes were simply breathtaking. Unfortunately, it looks like the budget all went towards the visuals instead of hiring a good screenwriter and decent director. The acting is wooden, the dialogue silly, the blocking stilted. The changes from the book were unnecessary and didn't add anything to the story whatsoever. In fact, I'm not entirely sure I would have been able to follow much of what was going on had I not read the book first. In short, don't bother with this film. If you'd like a good costume drama, try Shakespeare in Love.

2009-01-21T18:56:00.000-05:00

Give Me a Break by John Stossel: This is a quick read. I enjoyed Stossel's conversational tone and his no-nonsense way of addressing the issues. And in general I agree that government needs to shrink, lawsuits need to be reduced, and there's no virtue in being a victim. His anecdotes were a mixture of humorous and maddening, as most stories of government stupidity are. Unfortunately, I don't see this book as convincing anyone with firmer beliefs than the most tenuous of fence-sitters. As a reporter, Stossel knows how to break down complex issues into bite-sized chunks. Unfortunately, that means his evidence is a collection of soundbites from interviews rather than papers and studies you can go look up yourself. Interviews are a good source of information, but I am always wary of nonfiction books lacking a bibliography or at least a "further reading" section.

Also posted on BookCrossing.

2009-01-16T09:55:00.002-05:00

This week's Write on Wednesday is a short survey. I know I've been horrible about actually doing these on Wednesday, but ehh, whatever.

1. What’s your favourite genre of writing? -- Humorous fiction, often with a fantastic bent.
2. How often do you get writer’s block? -- I don't really believe in writer's block. Sometimes I have more trouble with a story than others, but I've never been like "OMG I can't write anything!" I can always blather aimlessly on paper. The trick is turning it into something worth reading.
3. How do you fix it? -- Blather aimlessly on paper until my brain stops farting around and gets down to business.
4. Do you type or write by hand? -- Both. Freewriting is better by hand, for me, but when I'm really cooking on a story I prefer to type because I can do it far more quickly.
5. Do you save everything you write? -- Yeah. I don't always look at it again, but it's all there, either on a drive or in a box.
6. Do you ever go back to an old idea long after you abandoned it? -- Yup. Never turns out how I'd expected it to back in the day, but it's always interesting.
7. Do you have a constructive critic? -- My sister is helpful in general. Unless you mean Inner Critic, in which case not just no, but hell no.
8. Did you ever write a novel? -- Only if you count NaNoWriMo, but I don't.
9. What genre would you love to write but haven’t? -- Historical fiction. My problem is that I get so excited when I first start a new project that I lack the patience to do the research, then once I get into the research I've lost momentum on the story. I'm kind of self-defeating that way.
10. What’s one genre you have never written, and probably never will? -- Political drama (science fiction or otherwise).
11. How many writing projects are you working on right now? -- Actively? Uh, I guess two. An interesting project on Swap-Bot and the next chapter of Animal Faith.
12. Do you write for a living? Do you want to? -- I write for pleasure. I tell myself I would love to get paid for it, but deep down I suspect that harsh deadlines would turn it into a chore.
13. Have you ever written something for a magazine or newspaper? -- It was a college magazine, but yeah. Some awful piece on Hare Krishnas.
14. Have you ever won an award for your writing? -- Not unless you count a minor poetry award on Artella.
15. What are your five favourite words? -- I don't have favorite words, though an old boyfriend was convinced my favorite word was "obnoxious".
16. Do you ever write based on your dreams? -- I've tried but it never comes out very well. So instead I write down my dreams and occasionally take some of the imagery from them, rather than trying to turn the mess into something coherent.
17. Do you favour happy endings, sad endings, or cliff-hangers? -- Happy endings. I don't like going to all the bother of reading something only to have it be a cliff-hanger, nor do I enjoy making an emotional investment in characters only to be disappointed in the outcome. After all, there are more than enough sad and unresolved endings in real life.
18. Have you ever written based on an artwork you’ve seen? -- Yes, and the artist loved the story. I kept meaning to write based on other stuff but haven't gotten around to it yet.

2009-01-15T20:27:00.000-05:00

Brother Odd by Dean Koontz: The third of the books about Odd Thomas, a man who sees the lingering dead, witnesses demon-like creatures that thrive on violence, and can find anyone via "psychic magnetism." Here, Odd is on sabbatical at a local monastery, figuring there shouldn't be much death or violence in the area. Of course he's wrong, or we wouldn't have a story. But he's wrong in a terribly contrived and unconvincing way. I guess I probably should have stuck with the first book and not bothered with the others, but Koontz does occasionally churn out a real gem (like, for instance, the first Odd Thomas book) and hope springs eternal. But the characters were flimsy, not to mention the preachy theology mixed with the obnoxiously earnest pseudoscience really got on my nerves. The whole thing felt really forced.

I know I shouldn't get irritated with an author for using quack science to further the plot of a novel that already starts with a pretty outrageous premise, but it still annoys me because so many people think it's true. Say it with me now: human will does not alter reality, even on a subatomic scale. Sure, it makes for an easy out in fiction, but I'd much rather people gave it up entirely.

All in all, I think I'll skip any further Odd Thomas books, as there are sure to be more, unless someone recommends it highly. I'm tired of being disappointed.

2009-01-12T19:19:00.001-05:00

Heart-Shaped Box by Joe Hill: It's been a while since I last read a good old fashioned ghost story. Here, aging heavy metal rock star Judas Coin purchases a dead man's suit, purported to be haunted, just for laughs. Unfortunately, it turns out to be indeed haunted by the spirit of the stepfather of an old flame of Jude's. The writing was deliciously spooky, the rock star angle was refreshingly different, and the ending was satisfying without feeling too tidy. I'll have to keep Hill in mind next time I'm in the mood for a scary good time.

Also posted on BookCrossing.

2009-01-11T10:05:00.001-05:00

Not so long ago I found myself doing some painfully tedious and long-running tasks at work. I was so bored that music was not even enough to keep me sane. Out of desperation, I started looking for free audiobooks online. Pretty soon I stumbled upon the surprisingly vast selection at LearnOutLoud. From here I was able to listen to a large number of titles, including Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass (read by an excellent narrator from FreeAudio.org), Free Culture by Lawrence Lessig, and several titles from the public domain catalog at Librivox. Since the majority of readers are volunteers, not all of them are the great voice actors I've been spoiled by on professional audiobooks such as George Guidall and David Aaron Baker. However, more of them are excellent, some of them are good, and many of the recordings have a different reader for each chapter, so you're not stuck with the same droner for an entire book. It was a good way to pass the time when I was stuck at a computer with an insanely loud CD drive (seriously, it sounded like a plane taking off) and in need of distraction. And I listened to some stuff I probably never would have picked up otherwise, even at the library.

2009-01-10T07:07:00.000-05:00

I'm not much for webisodes, but I'd like to recommend one anyway. It's a comedy called EXIT Stage Left, about a guy struggling to put on a play and all the bizarre characters he has to deal with. I heard of it because it stars the lovely and talented Annamarie MacLeod, whom I know through her work with Sine Fine Films. I encourage you to check it out; it's very well done - and quite funny to those who have worked in theater.

On that note, if you enjoy it - or any webisode, for that matter - be sure to nominate it for a Streamy, the new award for online video entertainment.

2009-01-09T18:49:00.000-05:00

The Orchid Thief by Susan Orlean: When my pharmacist caught sight of this book, he asked if it was a thriller. That is one thing this book is not. It is, however, a slew of other things. Though it began more or less as Orlean's interest in the trial of one John Laroche, a Florida man caught poaching ghost orchids off park land with a trio of Seminole Indians, it rapidly blossomed into a full-scale investigation of the orchid-loving life. Evidently people go mad for these plants, sort of a "gotta catch 'em all" attitude for the floraphile set. And considering there are tens of thousands of orchid breeds, many costing hundreds or even thousands of dollars and meticulous care, it can become quite the costly and timely pursuit. Sound boring? Surprisingly, it isn't. Perhaps the most fascinating part for me was not the unexpectedly vehement passions of orchid enthusiasts, but rather Orlean's bald-faced judgementalism. It said a lot about her attitudes, and rather than being an impartial observer, she was clearly flabbergasted by the entire orchid culture - indeed, about any passion of that magnitude for anything. Without that air of "OMG look how weird this is" permeating throughout the story, this would have been rather dull. I didn't know the orchid world was so cutthroat, but after you've spent time with sports fanatics and anime fanboys, you realize that there are many things in this world that interest people far more than they do you, and nothing is too unusual to obsess over.

If you want to get a taste of the many orchid varieties, check out the sampling at Orchid Court.

Also posted on BookCrossing.

2009-01-07T20:27:00.003-05:00

Courtesy of BookCrosser stinalyn, I bring you The 2008 BookCrossing Top 100. (Actually it's the top 120, due to some mega ties.) I've bolded the ones I've read. Sorry for the long entry; I linked to my reviews where I could, but sometimes I just had to comment.

1. Harry Potter (series) by JK Rowling - Though the quality declined somewhat as the series progressed (my favorites remain books 1 and 4), I have no objections to this choice.
2. The Lord of the Rings by JRR Tolkien - My husband's all time favorite.
3. To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
4. Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
5. The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger
6. Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë
7. The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini
8a. The Stand by Stephen King
8b. The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood
10a. Memoirs of a Geisha by Arthur Golden
10b. Nineteen Eighty-Four by George Orwell
12. Life of Pi by Yann Martel
13. Gone with the Wind by Margaret Mitchell - Read this years ago. I remember liking it, though I'm not so sure I would were I to read it now.
14. The Chronicles of Narnia (series) by CS Lewis - I've read the first book, thought it was kind of meh, never bothered with the rest.
15. Discworld (series) by Terry Pratchett - I've read The Colour of Magic but have thus far not been inspired to seek out any of the other books.
16a. The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver
16b. Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë
16c. The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (series) by Douglas Adams - Excellent. One of the few series I've read multiple times.
19a. The Hobbit by JRR Tolkien - It gave me narcolepsy, hence my reluctance to tackle LOTR.
19b. The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafón
19c. A Prayer for Owen Meany by John Irving
19d. Little Women by Louisa May Alcott - Received this in a gift exchange in fourth grade. Everyone else got toys. I was so disappointed I never even read it. (This was before I started reading for pleasure with any regularity; that wasn't until college.)
19e. Atonement by Ian McEwan
19f. The Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett
25. His Dark Materials (series) by Philip Pullman
26. The Book Thief by Markus Zusak
27. Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier
28a. The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
28b. Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen
30a. The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time by Mark Haddon
30b. The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd - On my TBR pile.
30c. Watership Down by Richard Adams - This was on my TBR pile for many years, but I could never get into it.
30d. The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold
34a. My Sister's Keeper by Jodi Picoult
34b. The Red Tent by Anita Diamant
36a. Good Omens by Neil Gaiman & Terry Pratchett
36b. The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck
38a. Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides
38b. Persuasion by Jane Austen
38c. Catch-22 by Joseph Heller - One of the few books that actually so engrossed me I literally gasped in one place.
38d. Twilight (series) by Stephenie Meyer
42a. The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams - Interesting that this book singly appears on the list as well as the series as a whole.
42b. The Catcher in the Rye by JD Salinger - I read this for a class and enjoyed it. I'm not sure I would now; I think it's something you have to read by a certain age to really appreciate.
42c. Angela's Ashes by Frank McCourt
42d. Anne of Green Gables (series) by Lucy Maud Montgomery - I read the first book back in grade school. I remember liking it okay.
42e. Tess of the D'Urbervilles by Thomas Hardy
42f. A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini
48a. Anne of Green Gables by Lucy Maud Montgomery - Uh, see above.
48b. Girl with a Pearl Earring by Tracy Chevalier
48c. One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel García Márquez
48d. Brave New World by Aldous Huxley - Very good, but then, I've got a thing for dystopia novels.
48e. A Fine Balance by Rohinton Mistry
48f. Stephanie Plum (series) by Janet Evanovich - I read the first and second books and while they were reasonably entertaining, I felt no desire to read any more.
48g. The Great Gatsby by F Scott Fitzgerald
48h. Alice's Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll - Excellent. I've read both Alice books at least three times.
48i. Les Misérables by Victor Hugo - I confess I read the abridged version, but I really liked it.
57a. The Eyre Affair by Jasper Fforde
57b. Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff, Christ's Childhood Pal by Christopher Moore
57c. Year of Wonders by Geraldine Brooks
57d. I Capture the Castle by Dodie Smith
57e. Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close by Jonathan Safran Foer - I've read Everything is Illuminated and it was pretty meh, but I hear EL&IC is much better.
57f. L'Etranger by Albert Camus
57g. Midnight's Children by Salman Rushdie - Honestly, after reading The Satanic Verses, I'm not all that interested in reading any more Rushdie.
57h The Dark Tower (series) by Stephen King.
57i. The Other Boleyn Girl by Philippa Gregory
57j. The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield
67a. The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown - I wonder how many people were annoyed by this book's presence on a "best of" list.
67b. Perfume: The Story of a Murderer by Patrick Süskind
67c. The Mists of Avalon by Marion Zimmer Bradley - On my TBR pile.
67d. The Secret History by Donna Tartt
67e. Great Expectations by Charles Dickens - Read this in high school and hated it.
67f. The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett
67g. The Little House Books (series) by Laura Ingalls Wilder
67h. The Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank - Read this in high school and loved it. Very sad.
67i. Fingersmith by Sarah Waters
67j. Bel Canto by Ann Patchett
67k. Moby Dick by Herman Melville
67l. Thursday Next (series) by Jasper Fforde - See my comments above. I wish this list didn't include series and their first books separately.
67m. We Need to Talk About Kevin by Lionel Shriver
80a. Artemis Fowl (series) by Eoin Colfer - Only read the first book. It was okay.
80b. The God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy
80c. The Name of the Rose by Umberto Eco
80d. Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury - Good book, but the movie is terrible.
80e. Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck
80f. Emma by Jane Austen
80g. Outlander/Cross Stitch (series) by Diana Gabaldon
80h. Love in the Time of Cholera by Gabriel García Márquez
80i. The House of the Spirits by Isabel Allende
80j. The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas - Weird. I was positive this was on my TBR pile but, looking at the bookshelf, it evidently is not. It should be.
80k. A Short History of Nearly Everything by Bill Bryson
80l. Captain Corelli's Mandolin by Louis de Bernières
80m. In Cold Blood by Truman Capote
80n. PS, I Love You by Cecelia Ahern
80o. The Giver by Lois Lowry - Read this while visiting a prospective graduate school and was so sucked in I finished it in a single day (unheard of for me at that time), and had to pick up another book at the airport because I hadn't expected to run out of reading material so quickly!
80p. The Power of One by Bryce Courtenay
96a. Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card - I read this years ago and enjoyed it. I now have the rest of the series on my TBR pile, so I'll be rereading it soon.
96b. Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman - On my TBR pile.
96c. Dune by Frank Herbert
96d. A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess
96e. A Suitable Boy by Vikram Seth
96f. Bleak House by Charles Dickens
96g. Wicked by Gregory Maguire
96h. Bridget Jones's Diary by Helen Fielding - I got a huge kick out of this book.
96i. Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen - Read this in high school and remember enjoying it.
96j. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain - Very good. Huck is awesome.
96k. A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens
96l. Alias Grace by Margaret Atwood
96m. Cat's Eye by Margaret Atwood
96n. Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell
96o. Cold Mountain by Charles Frazier - The movie was pretty boring, so I doubt I'll be reading the book any time soon.
96p. Dracula by Bram Stoker
96q. Earth's Children (series) by Jean M Auel
96r. Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Café by Fannie Flagg
96s. It Had to Be You by Susan Elizabeth Phillips
96t. Marley and Me by John Grogan
96u. Peter Pan, or The Boy Who Wouldn't Grow Up by JM Barrie
96v. The Green Mile by Stephen King
96w. The Memory Keeper's Daughter by Kim Edwards
96x. The Vampire Chronicles (series) by Anne Rice - I quit after The Tale of the Body Thief. I enjoyed them, but the quality noticeably decreased with each successive installment.
96y. Tuesdays with Morrie by Mitch Albom

2009-01-03T13:54:00.002-05:00

The Binary Souls / Other Dimensions website has been revamped. It is now easier to navigate, you can comment on all comics and blog entries, and feeds are available in multiple places. Be on the lookout for new music, a nifty animated series, and a new chapter of the print comic series Animal Faith.

2009-01-02T09:50:00.001-05:00

The Romance Reader by Pearl Abraham: Rachel is the teenaged daughter of a rabbi in a cloistered Hasidic community. She's quite the rebel: she gets a library card, reads romance novels, wears sheer stockings, goes out without a kerchief, and wants to wear a swimsuit while working as a lifeguard (as opposed to an ankle-length dress). This book would have been much less frustrating had the rest of the family been more sympathetic. Everyone was so spiteful and self-centered, ready to sell out their kin in an instant to make themselves look good in front of the neighbors. It was frankly sickening. The ending was moderately uplifting, but by that point I was so tired of the petty bickering that I was just ready for it to be over. It was interesting to learn a little bit about Orthodox Jewish customs, such as the various things they cannot do during Shabbat and their wedding rituals, but mostly I wanted to take everyone in this family by the shoulders and give them a good shake.

Note: All comments in this review refer exclusively to the characters and situations in this novel. None of my comments are meant to apply to Hasidic culture or the Jewish community in general.

Also posted on BookCrossing.