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I want this:
Rowing in Central Park
NOT THIS:
Time for this:
(replace cold looking drink with hot toddy)
Thank you, dear work, for closing your doors to the elements at 3pm. Time to go trek home and warm up in front of the gasping radiator, with a hot toddy and a good book (title tbd).
For those others of you heading home early on this wintery Wednesday, I suggest you make my simple hot toddy too! Make tea (anything black tea works – I personally like mango and lemon, through raspberry wasn’t horrible), add a splash (“splash” is at your whim) of whiskey, lemon juice and a dose of honey, and watch the flakes swirl down.
Sorry, as this is uber last minute. Every night when I can’t fall asleep, I write book reviews in my head. Now, if only I had some sort of machine that transcribed these eloquently written thoughts onto this page, I would be one happy girl. But since that never happens, and my obviously wonderful thoughts have utterly dissipated by the time my alarm “brrrrringsss” in the morning I slack.
The recent review traipsing through my mind is that of Kate Jacobs‘s wonderful holiday novel KNIT THE SEASON. I admit to having finished this before Halloween and listening to Christmas music since the last page (my poor roommate). I was holding off on my review until it was a more appropriate Christmas time, but now I am tardy and TODAY is the day when Kate Jacobs is chatting LIVE via Penguin’s Reading Room!
Don’t miss this! In a mere 68 minutes (12:30PM Eastern time), you’ll have the chance to ask this beloved author anything you want to know about Dakota, Anita, knitting, or her cute dog Baxter…
CLICK HERE for the link directly to the Reading Room, and join me as we wait in anticipation for Kate to chat.
Kate signing oodles of her new book!
Growing up, I associated my “community” with distance – however far my parents were willing to drive to deliver me to play, and later the mileage I covered in my own car, cabs, trains, and planes.
As I’ve continued to age, the boundaries shifted from place to place, but frequently covered tangible ground. Within my community were others that shared similar interests and hobbies and had somewhat comparable moral values. Under their influence, I purchased clothing, drank my first wine cooler, and got my navel pierced. Obviously, my most prevalent hobby/interest has always revolved around books (even in my “rebel” years). And since reading is typically a lonesome activity, when I meet those rare souls with whom I can banter, discuss and share favorite authors and writing styles, I hold on tight. Luckily, with the advent of social media, connecting with people has never been so easy.
Thanks to noted technology, my community is no longer limited by distance. I can find people with shared libraries by a quick blog search, or if I’m really lazy just log into GoodReads or LibraryThing and see whose bookshelves are most similar. I can get personal book suggestions, read intelligent reviews, and even win the occasional new release through blog giveaways. So while my community may no longer be on speed dial, it is very accessible.
Earlier this month, the Denver Post questioned the future of book blogs in the interesting article, Who Will Write the Future? While the article is examining the more prestigious litblogs and discussing pay walls, I think it overlooks the importance of the book blog that may be “more enthusiastic than professional.”
…ok, now that you’re hooked, why don’t you stumble on over to the complete article at Beneath the Cover for a little thumbs up action 🙂
My booklist has taken an R-rated twist
I consume books regularly and try to be open to all genres (except Twilight and Harry Potter; I refuse based on principle), but tend to stick with titles that offer some literary content or even just a thrill. Lately, my titles have been more suspect and less something I would proudly read while riding on public transportation (yet another reason I need an EReader!). Strippers and womanizers have dominated a few of my recent literary ingestions.
Tucker Max
Drunkenness & Debauchery with Tucker Max: To some, Tucker Max is a hero: One to emulate, live vicariously through and high-five. To me, he is a cringe-worthy example of all that’s wrong in society today – a mediocre looking man who somehow has managed to find innumerable women who willingly exploit themselves and become a topic of Max’s only talent – writing. I Hope They Serve Beer in Hell is written as a memoir, filled with vignettes of stories, aka one-night stands.
For Max, sex is an activity akin to my shopping habit. He just walks out on the street, sees something he likes and takes it home – nothing personal or even especially friendly. I don’t even care enough to go on a tirade about this, because the strongly offensive nature is exactly why this exaggerated content is so popular. If everyone just ignored it, Max would hopefully disappear, and suffer from some STD, alone.
- Novelwhore’s Grade: C (Mediocre, like the author)
- Title: I Hope They Serve Beer in Hell
- Author: Tucker Max
- Publisher: Citadel Press (Kensington)
On-Stage with Juno’s Screenwriter, Naked: The blockbuster success of the Summer Movie of 2007, “Juno”, about the pregnant high-school giving her baby up for adoption, resulted in an umbrella effect of PR for the author, Diablo Cody. Not the typical glitzy Hollywood Screenwriter, Cody had already been around the block before achieving fame and there is no doubt many people who became fans experienced her naked at multiple strip clubs in Minnesota.
Yes, Minnesota. The cold state in which the taking off of clothes makes me shiver was the setting of Cody’s memoir Candy Girl: A Year in the Life of an Unlikely Stripper. College-educated with a normal childhood (if there is such a thing), she had a job in an advertising agency before wandering into an Amateur Stripping contest and becoming rather addicted to the thrill. This memoir reminds me of Chelsea Handler’s Confessions of My Horizontal Life, as both women managed to maintain a conversational, self-deprecating voice while describing intimate things. Entertaining throughout, this memoir offers a subversive thrill to a taboo subject and ends before getting overly disgusted from the vivid descriptions of what is done for cash.
- Novelwhore’s Grade: B+
- Title: Candy Girl: A Year in the Life of an Unlikely Stripper
- Author: Diablo Cody
- Publisher: Gotham (Penguin)
Expected Stripper-Tale, with Political Twists: From my experience, Carl Hiaasen takes a normal murder/suspense/power plot and adds tidbits of sex and humor to keep the reader engaged. Striptease (an old title, found at library sale for $1) stays to this obviously successful formula and follows a young mother, driven to strip by the piling up of legal bills as she fights her ex-husband for custody of their young daughter (typical stripper sob-story, right?).
Seedy tale with the emotional mother-daughter pull, Hiaasen weaves his web of politics, blackmail and murder through the sleazy Governor of Florida, who’s in love with the stripper (like that Akon song!) and in bed with $millions$ behind the illegal farming of sugar cane. The stripper is realistic and smart, the bouncer muscular and clever, the Congressman aging and not aware of all that’s happening for his behalf, this book is another look at the different cogs in society and what happens when they interact. Definitely entertaining, but without the introspective angle of Candy Girl or the disgust-worth content of I Hope They Serve Beer in Hell.
- Novelwhore’s Grade: B-
- Title: Striptease
- Author: Carl Hiaasen
- Publisher: Vision
Cover Blurb: “Treat yourself to this book, please–I can’t recommend it highly enough.” -Elizabeth Gilbert, author of Eat, Pray, Love
Sweet but never boring. Intense but never overdone. Inspiring but never preaching. Loving but never raunchy. The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society is a rare novel, one that comes into our life without a sound, but leaves having made an imprint on our soul.
Such an odd, cumbersome title, and one that may have never appealed to me personally except Random House professionals, Susan Kamil, SVP, Editor-in-Chief, and Jane Von Mehren, VP, Publisher, Trade Paperbacks, came to my NYU SPI class to share their experience and the road to success. This title is globally recognized as this book has been on the New York Times Bestseller List since publication in 2008 (read the inside story of how it achieved such fame in my column on Beneath the Cover, “The Making of a Bestseller”). Small in stature (the trade paperback a mere 274 pages), this book may initially be cast-off as a whimsical historical fiction novel until you try to put it down… I dare you to leave it untouched for a full 24-hours once you’ve begun.
The characters are lively, quirky, and lovable as they communicate via hand-written letters in 1946, as they rediscover themselves and their world post the trauma and impact of World War II. You find yourself wanting novelist Juliet Ashton as your own pen pal and quiet Dawsey Adams as a neighbor. Twists and turns are discrete and natural so that you almost don’t realize when a revelation occurs and the impact in the character’s life.
This novel celebrates people who love books and the written word. Text, language and history are embraced within remarkable friendships.
Though the era has passed, issues of love, hope, and the kindness of the human spirit will always be timeless and this book (I wager) is destined to become a classic alongside the titles of the authors celebrated in the text, including the Brontes, Austen, Shakespeare, etc… This book appeals to a wide audience, as it is told from multiple perspectives allowing a glimpse into different psyches. I agree with Elizabeth Gilbert’s quote, above, to give yourself the gift of this book.
- NovelWhore’s Grade: A
- Title: The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society
- Author: Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows
- Publisher: Random House
PostSecret
In case you weren’t aware, Romance is the most successful genre of books; it’s also the most popular/successful type of EBook purchase. Coincidence? I think not. This PostSecret “secret” really touches on the secretive nature of the new digital mediums that are allowing people to read whatever they want without anyone knowing. The conservative Christian reading Chelsea Handler? The heterosexual reading about being gay? The wife looking into divorce? Handheld devices have really returned reading to a private endeavor.
Interesting insight in an amusing/frivolous way. Now if I could just get someone to donate an EReader to me so I could explore what non-socially acceptable books I may enjoy…
Now for all of you experienced bloggers out there, this milestone is hardly something of which to be proud. But, hell, I celebrate my half birthday (July
Visual Depiction of my excitement
28, mark that down) so have no shame in taking note (and being excited) of my one-month status!
As of March 10 (I missed the actual date by two days, oops), 21 posts, 14 comments, 24 spam messages and 670 views, I like to think I have come a long way since my first post that seriously took me two weeks to publish.
Thank you all for the comments and support, and please continue to come back and give me further feedback and even criticism, if you feel so inclined. Happy Reading!
“Sunbathing dress” may seem like an oxymoron, until now! Seen during Milan Fashion Week on Monday, Agatha Ruiz De La Prada debuted:
- The Sunbathing Dress!
Ok, I realize this directly relates not at all to books, but I was less than enamored with my own previous post on “The Last Lecture” and was determined to find something more interesting, and I think this dress may be it! Especially in this recession, this saves you money from buying two dresses, since it can be worn as a “sexy” pyramid dress when closed, or for a totally new look open one, or both, flaps!
I can just picture myself reading in the park or walking down Michigan Ave. and when the sun makes an appearance, I can just open my dress to soak up the rays! What fun, the possibilities are endless…
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