Nicole Reads and Writes

Book Group News: January 2012

2012-01-22T10:23:00.000-08:00

This week, we had our year end Book Group dinner. Each month, we contribute $10 to the kitty, and then at the end of the year we go out to a nice restaurant for a "free" dinner. This year, as with years past, we went to Citrus City Grille at the Orange Circle.

CCG, 122 N Glassell St, Orange CA 92866
(714) 639-9600

The food at Citrus City Grille is excellent. I had the stuffed dates and the rack of lamb with butternut squash risotto, and I also tasted the beet salad and the tiramisù. They have a great Happy Hour that lasts until closing (Sun-Thurs), so it's affordable to have a cocktail or a beer. The only downside to the restaurant is the noise. I don't remember it being this noisy any of the times I've gone there in the past, but it was loud like a crowded bar - and we were sitting outside. It was very difficult to hear each other, especially to hear the ladies at the other end of the table. I think this could be attributed to the group of 20 women sitting near us (baby shower or birthday party, perhaps) and the group of six businessmen sitting behind us. Safe to say, I think next year we will try somewhere new.

Our other "year-end" tradition is to have a book exchange. This year there was a lot of stealing of books to be had, so I take that as a sign that everyone brought great books this year.

Finally, we read and discussed

A Game of Thrones: Book One

"Can a man still be brave if he's afraid?"
"That is the only time a man can be brave."

Overall, the book was a huge success (see my personal review here), and we gave it an average of 4.6/5 (pending a couple of to-be-finished scores). About half of us have watched the show (I haven't personally seen it - how I long for the days when I had HBO!), and we generally agreed that one thing the show really offered was an excellent, almost to-the-letter adaptation. This seems to be something that is unique to adaptations in the fantasy genre, because the fans of fantasy tend to be very vocal about keeping everything exactly the same.
Collectively, our favorite characters were Eddard Stark, Jon Snow, Arya Stark and Tyrion Lannister. The most commonly held issue with the book was the lack of a family tree chart at the beginning of the book. Yes, there is a list with the different families at the end of the book, but there isn't anything that's a quick and handy reference for when you are reading the book. By the halfway point, I assured the women who hadn't finished the book yet, the characters are clear and you don't constantly find yourself checking who a person is in your head. I promised to report on the second book (which I've already started).

Tune in again next month, when we'll be reading "The Paris Wife" (Paula McLain).

Resolutions - lost

2012-01-07T07:25:00.001-08:00

Last week I penned (typed) a long post about how resolutions were somewhat silly, because if you really want to change then you will make it happen regardless of the day, and then began listing my various resolutions (because I'm a contradiction).

And then I saved the post, I swear, because I wanted to include some pictures.

Only either I didn't save the post or it got lost somewhere in the series of tubes that is the internet. And now I'm trying to remember what I resolved to do...

So here are my (lost) resolutions:
1. Blog more: this really speaks to my desire to get my opinions out there (even though I don't typically plug my blog on facebook or anything). I almost always INTEND to blog, but I don't always have a chance to get my computer out and write it, and I find it somewhat tedious to blog on my phone.
2. Prepare one new dish each week: I really want to make sure that Liam has an open mind about eating, and he is willing to try new things. So far, so good. He'll eat basically anything that I give him, and he seems to like just about everything (of course, this can change at any moment).
3. Learn to sew: I don't own a sewing machine, and I don't want to sew clothes, but I would like to have the ability to hem things, or repair seams, or even (gasp!) make a quilt out of my favorite items of Liam's clothing from his first year on this planet. That's my "2012 Project." I would also like to be able to make blankets for my million friends who are having babies this year (okay, really I just want to make blankets for a couple of them), and I saw this awesome project on Pinterest for a Kindle cover that I think is super cute.
4. Become a better corresponder: yes, that's a made-up word. But the "Art of Correspondence" is something I'd really like to participate in more. There's something nice about just receiving a note from someone to say hello, but I think it might be equally gratifying to write a note to someone.
5. Try something new, professionally: I'm adopting a new book for my Italian class, and it's totally different from the books that I've used thus far for my classes. It promises to be a challenge (at first) but I think that it will be a good choice in the long run.
6. Get organized, both personally and professionally: My desk became a catchall during the holidays, and it still hasn't recovered. I would also like to get my lesson-plans somewhere digital so that I can just access them and print them out, with (ideally) links to the files I need for each day, or else a very easy-to-use folder system that I clean out and update regularly. My personal desk can probably be tackled in a weekend (and will include a trip to the organization section of a couple stores, since there are no shelves or drawers in this desk, which is really more of a secretary). My professional organization might prove a little more challenging, but I'm willing to give it a shot. PLUS, I have sort of a clean slate since I'm using a new book, which is organized completely differently.

Okay, so that is my best estimation of what my 2012 Resolutions were. I'll try to check back once a month to see how I'm progressing on each of them.

Reading, lately

2011-11-08T19:36:00.000-08:00

Lately, the majority of things I've been reading has limited to Liam's board books (Fifteen Animals, Goodnight Gorilla, and other similar books), but I have also been enjoying the Eragon series of books (I'm currently on Book II - Eldest). The stories are fun, but feel a bit juvenile. Yes, I know that they are Young Adult books, but they lack the sophistication of Harry Potter and the Hunger Games books. Perhaps it's because Eragon was written by a teenager.

Liam is keeping me busy, though, so it's taking me much longer to get through the second book than the first.

My book group is currently reading The Ice Princess (Lackberg), which I've already read and really enjoyed, so I'm thinking about reading / hoping to read The Preacher, which I believe is the next in the series from Lackberg.

Shameless Plug

2011-08-15T18:54:00.000-07:00

I just wanted to take a moment to rave about my friend Nina's photography company, Blackbird Ink Photography. You should check out her website - she's a great family and wedding photographer, and she's really easygoing. We worked together in the Media Resource Center, and hilarity ensued. I love looking at her pictures, and I can't wait to have her take Liam's picture!

Here's a little Liam to brighten your day

Firsts & Lasts

2011-07-19T21:47:00.000-07:00

We went to our first movie without Liam over the weekend. We - I - chose to see "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Pt.2" because I've been waiting to see this movie since November.
It was glorious. The movie was the perfect ending to the series, which might very well be the best film franchise in recent history. I will miss Harry, Hermione, Ron and the rest of them but am comforted by the fact that my child will also be able to enjoy the books and the films, and we will enjoy them together. I hope that he asks me to read Harry Potter to him; I think it will be a really fun experience for both of us.

Many people posted this quote on Facebook over the weekend. While I enjoy both series, I have to throw my hat in with the Boy Who Lived.

Harry Potter is all about confronting fears, finding inner strength and doing what is right in the face of adversity... Twilight is about how important it is to have a boyfriend.

Agreed.

Fun Friday: July 15th edition

2011-07-15T22:06:00.000-07:00

First we went to Stroller Strides.

Liam (on right) and his friend Cody finally got to play at the end of class,

because both were awake and happy.

Then we went on Liam's first carousel ride.

He was destined to enjoy it,

since he loves the feeling of a breeze on his face.

That's pretty much it.

No major meltdowns.

Just a lovely day.

It was pretty awesome.

It's all about the small victories.

Review: The Man From Beijing

2011-07-10T21:08:00.000-07:00

The Man From Beijing
Henning Mankell

We read this book for book group in the month of June, and the overall average score that this book received was a 3.43 out of 5. Originally I gave it a 4 star rating, but upon considering things as I prepared for this post I think I would have to knock my rating down to a 3.5, so I don't know what that would do to the above average.

Henning Mankell is a well-known author, though this was the first of his books that I had ever read. I got the free sample from Amazon and was hooked - the brutal murder all but guaranteed a great story that I would really enjoy. I love murder mysteries and intrigue.

I did enjoy the book as I was reading it. Let me say that upfront, because I would be insincere if I were to just criticize it and leave it at that.

The things I liked about the book:
1. I wanted to read it and see what happened next in the story, because I was interested in the way things played out.

2. The crime-solving narrative was interesting. As was the railroad narrative.

The problems that I had with the book:
1. There was a serious lack of tying up loose ends. I wasn't expecting everything to fit together really well like an episode of Law & Order or anything; there were just things that seemed like they were going to be important for a fair amount of time that ended up being relatively inconsequential and were never addressed, but I don't want to ruin the story so I won't say what they were here.

2. I think that it's possible that Mankell suffers from a bad translator, because a lot of the language seemed really forced and unbelievable.

3. The actual premise behind the murders was *somewhat* far-fetched. I say somewhat with a certain level of sarcasm, because it seemed really unrealistic.

4. The different parts, with the different narratives, didn't make the story hard to follow, but it seemed like they could have been separate books on their own and Mankell just didn't want to take the time to develop them very well.

5. There were many things that various characters did that seemed completely out of character, but they weren't explained in any way. It seemed like Mankell didn't have notes on the characters when he wrote the story, or that wouldn't have happened.

Okay, so would I recommend the book? Sure. But I wouldn't want you to expect it to be another Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. Because it isn't. Where Stieg Larsson wrote a relatively complex story that was really well-developed, Mankell fell short on the development part and got a little too complex without explanation. Of course, I think that Mankell churns out a lot of books, so he might not have time to worry about these things.

Review: The Winter Sea

2011-07-10T20:50:00.000-07:00

The Winter Sea

Susanna Kearsley

I admit, I bought this book on my kindle because it was on sale for $2.99 and since I was waiting for my book group to meet before I bought the book for the following month, I didn't want to spend a lot of money.

That tidbit aside, I was really glad that I bought this book and would have gladly paid the usual $9.99 that Amazon charges for a book to read it. The premise is both original and something I'm relatively familiar with: an author is working on a book and is inexplicably drawn to a castle on the coast of Scotland, where she gets more inspiration than she has on any previous works, because she essentially transcribes the memories of an ancestor who she *randomly* chooses to use as the narrator for the historical novel she's writing.

Okay, so the premise is *somewhat* reminiscent of a few other novels, because there are elements of time travel and romance and Scotsmen (all reminding me of Diana Gabaldon, another favorite author of mine). None of these elements make it any less enjoyable - it was not really a romance novel (though I get the impression that Kearsley may be more known for that based on the other recommended books I've been seeing) and much more of a historical fiction novel (even though that's only half of the novel).

One thing that I really enjoyed about the work was the jumping between the contemporary narrative of Carrie, and the 1708 narrative of Sophia. At times it would frustrate me because I'd be really involved in one story right as Kearsley would switch gears to the other one, but I learned to really appreciate the way that the one narrative fed into the other.

My only criticism of the novel was that I would have liked to have more of either story; I wanted to hear more than what Kearsley offered in the book. I felt like both narratives, but more so Sophia's, were unfinished. With Carrie's narrative, I felt like there wasn't enough backstory and I would have appreciated having more substance to her narrative, or more interaction with her family; with Sophia's story I felt like Kearsley could have (should) write another book that tells us what happens next, and I also would have appreciated a little more backstory. I suppose that with Diana Gabaldon's Outlander as a comparison I've been spoiled, because she always tells us what happens next.

All in all, it was a fun, light read. Perfect for summer. And the kindle sale price was un.beatable. I would rate the book 4 stars overall - it would have been higher if not for those MINOR things mentioned above.

google+ (and -)

2011-07-08T21:48:00.000-07:00

There has quite a bit of hullabaloo about google+ today.

So I put out a post on facebook asking for an invite and immediately got one from my friend Jack (thanks!).

And I was really excited to get into the whole google+ing of it all.

But I just don't get it.

And I don't know if it's because it's new, so there aren't very many people on it, or what, but something about it isn't adding up (or plussing up, I suppose). I'm having a hard time finding people on it more than anything. And I've also been trying to figure this out...can people who don't use gmail even use it?

I'm still excited about it, but I think it will offer better competition to facebook if I can figure out how to fine people on it.

Thoughts?

And then there were three...

2011-03-26T10:24:00.001-07:00

It's crazy to think that an entire month has passed since Liam was born. It has both flown by and felt like the longest days and nights in the history of the world. It's a weird dichotomy.

I haven't really talked much about my pregnancy on the blog - maybe not at all - and I don't know why. So, here is the story of Liam's arrival.

About 4 weeks from my due date, he was still in the breech position. Just very comfortably sitting in a little Buddha-like position. After consulting with our doctor, we went in for a version, in hopes that they would be able to flip the baby over and I would still be able to have a traditional delivery. My doctor was confident that it would work, because I have a high tolerance for uncomfortability and the baby seemed like he wasn't a giant or anything. But, in a sign of the times to come, he refused to flip over. He was not having any of this outside manipulation of people trying to get him to change his position (I can only hope that this means he will have strong convictions about his beliefs when he grows up).

So we scheduled a c-section, which was not in my birth plan. It was a rough period of adjustment, until I started to think about the fact that I would get to avoid most of the uncomfortable parts of childbirth. Essentially, I walked into the hospital at an agreed-upon time and they pulled a baby out of my belly, like a magician pulling a rabbit out of a hat. I was still really nervous, having never undergone surgery of any kind, but I managed to rally by Saturday.

Saturday, we left the house bright and early:

We went to the hospital, and waited for everything to be ready.

Sean put on his scrubs:

I went into the Operating Room to get prepped, epidural-ed, etc.

Sean had to wait until the last minute to come into the room.

He said that he felt like he was waiting forever.

Once Sean came in, so did Dr. Linzey:

The epidural was the weirdest thing; I knew what was going on, but since I was partitioned from seeing the surgery part, I didn't really know what was going on. I felt some tugging, but it sort of felt like it was happening to someone else.

Really, it seemed like one second I was just laying on the table:

and the next second there was a baby:

And then we were three:

Dr. Linzey came to visit us in recovery.

Liam seemed a little upset to be out in the world, but Dr. Linzey was able to calm him down.

And we had a baby. And EVERYTHING changed.

The Oscars, 2011 Edition

2011-02-11T17:56:00.000-08:00

It’s that time of year again: awards season. I make an effort to see all of the films that are nominated for Best Picture, because they are also typically nominated in the other big categories and I always try to win the Oscar Ballot prediction games, even if I’m not playing with anyone else. Overall, I thought that the nominees for Best Picture this year were all viable candidates for the prize, though some stood out more than others. I just finally saw Winter’s Bone last week and now I feel like I can accurately rate and review the Best Picture nominees:

Black Swan – Natalie Portman did an amazing job in this and I definitely think that she deserves all of the accolades that she is earning for this film. And I really liked the film, too, because my husband and I were still talk about it the next day. It got under my skin. I don’t know if I really thought it was the best picture of the year, though it was definitely one of the finest performances I can recall – not just this year. Grade: A

The Fighter – again, I thought that the performances, particularly that of Christian Bale, were excellent in this film, even though I still find myself struggling to take Mark Wahlberg seriously. I appreciate the “true-story” aspect of this film. I would see it again, but it didn’t move me. Grade: A

Inception – this movie was right up there with Black Swan, and I found myself still talking about it and thinking about it days later; I felt like it needed a second viewing just to start making sense of it, rather than because I thought it was amazing. I thought it was really good, but not quite as good as some of its fellow nominees. Grade: A-

The Kids are All Right – I hadn’t seen this movie before the Golden Globes, and the fact that it won Best Comedy and the commercials made it seem lighthearted led me to believe that I was going to watch something completely different from what it was. Yes, there were moments when I found myself laughing, but it was not a comedy. The acting was good, and I understand that the premise was to show a portrait of what it means to be a family today. But it wasn’t my favorite. Grade: B+

The King's Speech – Colin Firth, like Natalie Portman, deserves all the accolades he is getting for this role. And the story is simultaneously accurate (feeling), moving and inspiring. But the thing that makes this film different from the other frontrunners is that it isn’t just an exercise in excellent acting (like Portman) or a really good story (like The Social Network); it has it all. Grade: A+

The Social Network – I was initially a little apprehensive about this movie; it seemed like one of those movies that was getting these excellent reviews and I wasn’t sure I bought the hype. I must admit, however, that, after watching the movie, I understand what the hype was about (though I still think it was a tad excessive). The story was actually quite heartbreaking, and I think that was the strongest part of the movie. Grade: A

127 Hours – James Franco represents Colin Firth’s biggest competition in the Best Actor category, because he basically carried this entire movie on his own. I was very familiar with the story, as I read the book a few years ago and definitely intrigued by the fact that they were making it into a movie. Franco’s ability to make being pinned down by a rock intense, moving and a stressful experience makes it deserve more accolades than it is receiving. Grade: A

Toy Story 3 – I found out I was pregnant right before I saw this movie, so I was already feeling emotional when I saw it. I think I cried more during this movie than any others this past year, but I have the same issue with its inclusion in Best Picture that I had last year with Up. There is a separate category for Best Animated Picture, and what this does is a) spoils the race in that category and b) takes the place of another movie that could have been nominated (and maybe deserved it more). Grade: A-

True Grit – I’ve only seen bits and pieces of the original, since it’s been playing on AMC regularly lately, but I really enjoyed this film. People are saying that Hailee Steinfeld should have been nominated in the Best Actress category (and not Best Supporting Actress), but I’m sure she’s thrilled to be nominated either way. The entire cast, especially Jeff Bridges, did a great job. And I don’t even like westerns. Grade: A

Winter's Bone – I remember when this film came out, and it was unclear what the film was actually going to be about. After seeing it, I still kind of feel the same way. The acting was good, and the movie was good, but I had a hard time articulating why to my husband (who didn’t watch it with me). I felt like one of the main drawbacks of the movie was unexplained backstory of the clan and such. I felt like I needed a family tree to figure out exactly who Jennifer Lawrence she was talking to. And I still don’t completely understand what happened to the father, aside from him being dead. Grade: B+

Best Picture

Will Win: The King’s Speech

Could Win: The Social Network, Black Swan

Should Win: The King’s Speech

Best Actress Best Actor

Will Win: Natalie Portman Will Win: Colin Firth

Could Win: Annette Bening Could Win: James Franco

Should Win: Natalie Portman Should Win: Colin Firth

Best Supporting Actress Best Supporting Actor

Will Win: Melissa Leo Will Win: Christian Bale

Could Win: Amy Adams Could Win: Geoffrey Rush

Should Win: Hailee Steinfeld Should Win: Christian Bale

Fall of Giants

2011-02-01T17:05:00.000-08:00

I finished this book last month; we read it for book group, which was supposed to be in December but had to be postponed. I was actually glad it was postponed because it gave me a chance to finish the book. I was just really busy with everything else that was going on around the holiday season (but I’ll get to that in another post). Anyway, onto Fall of Giants.

Ken Follett’s tome – I use that word deliberately because, at over 1,000 pages, the book itself was quite hefty. This was an example of when I am really happy that I have a kindle – I know that I couldn’t carry a book that size around in my purse, and I like to read wherever I can. The kindle was a lifesaver with this book.

The stories in the book revolve around different families in different countries during World War I. Some of the characters were more likable and relatable than others, and some of the stories were more intriguing than others, but overall I really thought that Follett’s novel showed a very clear understanding of the period and the nuances of the different experiences of WWI. Follett could find a very lucrative career writing History books for people who need history to be personalized in order to really understand it; at times, especially during the battle sequences, the historical detail can begin to get a tiny bit dry, but I still found myself able to enjoy it, even though I don’t consider myself much of a military history enthusiast. (Incidentally, I read in the acknowledgments that Follett employs a company called “Research for Writers” in New York to help with his research for these massive undertakings – will you please hire me?)

I also really appreciate the fact that Follett clearly has a plan. I know that there are two more books in the series, and I think that I would have been let down a little if I had not known there was a sequel coming. The ending, which I thought did an excellent job of closing the action of the book, felt a little unfinished, but that’s because the story itself is unfinished.

I did feel like, at times, Follett was forcing the various characters to all have children at approximately the same time for the sake of the trilogy and, while I appreciated the insight into the battles, I wish that there hadn’t been quite so many in such detail. Other than these two criticisms, I really enjoyed the book, and I felt like I learned quite a bit from it, since he makes it a point to relate things that realistically could have happened, especially when he has real historical figures in the fictional story.

I would recommend this book to people who enjoy history, who enjoy the time period, or simply enjoy an excellent story and appreciate Follett’s writing. It really pulls a person into the story.

My rating: 4.5/5

So busy!

2011-01-25T13:49:00.000-08:00

I feel like I haven't posted anything in ages - and looking at my recent posts, I'm right! I guess that I could take it as a sign that I've been busy and that's something positive, right? Right?

Anyway, here's an update about what I've been up to:

On a professional note, I planned and taught a course as an autonomous unit, with myself as the only representative of an Italian department. The community college teaching is very different from the university scene. I don't mean to knock community colleges - I think they are a great resource and really important part of higher education. However, the motivation level fell into two categories: really motivated or really not motivated. My class started with 32 students and ended with 14, a phenomenon that my colleagues assured me was very common, especially with night courses that aren't obligatory (because I was really worried that it was something about me that was scaring the students off). Of these, it was almost evenly divided between people who were a) either returning to school after a long absence or else were extremely motivated to get into a particular university, and people who were b) killing time and trying to make their unit requirement. The students were all nice and the 14 in the final group all seemed to enjoy themselves in the class, but I can't figure out how to change my approach for next Fall. I won't be teaching until next Fall because I've been busily growing a baby inside of me, and the community colleges can't hire people to cover classes for those weeks surrounding giving birth.

On an academic note, I can happily say that I defended my dissertation proposal in December and it was very well received by my advisor and the rest of the committee. One of the biggest accomplishments involved with this - I didn't even cry! I tend to get very emotional about academic things, and I tend to cry when I feel cornered (it's one of my least attractive qualities). I think that defending the proposal on skype helped, because there was the whole internet in between us, and I was really vigilant in my preparations. I've taken about a month's worth of a break to recover, and am starting to think about making some progress again. Which is daunting in its own way. But let's just take this time to celebrate that first accomplishment.

On a personal note, I'm almost 36 weeks pregnant and totally ready to get this little alien life form out of my belly. I've had what my friends have called a particularly "boring" pregnancy, because I haven't been sick at all or had any weird and abnormal cravings. I was exhausted at the beginning and am starting to be exhausted again, and can't wait to meet this little guy.

That's it for now. I know that each portion got a bit shorter and briefer, but it wasn't intentional.

This week...

2010-09-13T16:33:00.000-07:00

Okay. I know I've been extremely bad at posting these last few weeks - er, months. And I wish I had a good reason, aside from it being summer (which is no longer a good excuse), me being pregnant (which is, but I'll wait to use it until later), me working diligently on my dissertation proposal re-write (which is somewhat true), and me finally getting a job and teaching getting under way.

But I am not full of excuses.

Instead, I will give you a list of those things which I will blog about before Sunday:
1. Not Me
2. The Surgeon
3. Mockingjay
4. Why I love the Hunger Games Trilogy, a retrospective
5. A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius
6. My Summer, also a retrospective
7. My Autumn, a projection (but possibly as accurate as the weatherman in Madison, who once said, "There is no way I could've predicted that." Aside from the fact it's your job.)
8. The rat
9. Weekly Geeks (this week's)

Of course, these may not be in this particular order, but I think that if I stick to doing them, I'll get the ball rolling and they'll be out this week.

The Physick Book of Deliverance Dane (#29)

2010-06-30T10:15:00.000-07:00

I bought The Physick Book of Deliverance Dane because I was attracted to the cover, I was intrigued by the story, and I was really excited that the author was a graduate student - it gives me hope that, not only are there other people out there in my situation, but other things can be accomplished while working on the dissertation.

The main character is also a graduate student, and the book opens with her qualifying exams. Something that I remember well - though in my department they were called Prelim exams, the oral portion was still pretty terrifying.

The thing that I loved about Connie - the protagonist - is that her grad-student-ness is really believable. Even though I don't completely agree with every way that she is presented, particularly when she talks about how she and her roommate lived off a free cheese plate from a department meeting for a week. That's a bit of an exaggeration, at least in my experience, because I've always had a teaching job (though, of course, I'm sure that Cambridge is a more expensive place to live than Madison, so I'll give it to her). It's clear that Howe is also enmeshed in that world. I also really appreciated Connie's finely-honed skill of research. It's something that is often overlooked by people who don't understand the life of a graduate student, but is one of our most marketable qualities.

Somehow, the even less-than-plausible aspects of this book were still believable, and the way that they were presented made them that way. I still won't go into great detail, but I think this was one of the better books I've read this summer, and maybe even this year. I was pleased to see that the characters were all presented as strong people, and I thought that the relationship between Connie and her mother, Grace, was really honest and complicated; I also liked the relationship between Connie and her best graduate student friend and roommate, Liz.

Definitely recommend this book.

Overall, 4.25 out of 5.

The Big Shaggy, or Heart

2010-06-24T22:10:00.000-07:00

A couple of weeks ago, there was an article in the New York Times that talked about the benefits of studying the Humanities (which I do) and also discussed something he called "The Big Shaggy." I've honestly been thinking about it ever since then.

It got me thinking about the idea of heart, especially in light of some of the most recent World Cup matches.

I saw heart in Landon Donovan, in the 91st minute, after he made that goal - and in my husband, who was more enthusiastic about a soccer match than I had seen him about any sports even recently. Since soccer has so few goals, typically, and in this match there was only the one goal, it makes for just the most electric moment. It's something that permeates through the crowd, like the sound of the vuvuzela.

I saw heart, passione, in the Italians today. Sadly, it was too late. Today, in the wake of the heartbreaking loss to Slovakia, Marcello Lippi blamed himself for his team's early exit (you can read an article about it here). Of course, I would point to the fact that Totti and Del Piero retired from the national team, and especially that Buffon was injured and wasn't tending goal. I think that if the team had been able to rally before the 81st minute - because they DID rally and they were on FIRE for those last minutes of the game - things could have been different.

And, heart? Big shaggy heart? How about Isner and Mahut? They played that monumental set in Wimbeldon, playing for two days straight? They showed heart.

I hope that the American team keeps this level of heart for Saturday - and beyond, because I think that the heart they played with has the opportunity to really take them far.

The Vanishing of Katharina Linden (#28)

2010-06-24T15:34:00.000-07:00

I received this as an advanced reading book, and even though it took me a while to get around to reading it - my dissertation proposal draft was handed in last week and my TBR list keeps growing - I thoroughly enjoyed Helen Grant's first novel.

The Vanishing of Katharina Linden, once you get past the really wordy title, is somewhat mystery, somewhat realistic, somewhat portrait of what life can be like in a small town - in this case, in Germany at the end of the twentieth century. I don't want to give too much away, because I thought it was an easy read, enjoyable book, at times mystery and at times psychological. My one complaint was that I wasn't completely pleased with the very ending of the book - I liked the way that the story tied up but wasn't thrilled with the complete aftermath - I don't think it was technically an epilogue but that part of the book that was most epilogue-ish.

One of the more interesting aspects of the book is the use of German words - they aren't glossed in the text, though they can both usually be determined from the context and there is a glossary presented at the end of the novel. I appreciate Grant's decision, and I also think that she assumes the reader will take the time to look up the words in the glossary. I don't always think to look up the words, because it stops the flow of the reading and breaks my concentration. But it gave a sense of authenticity to the book, since it's set in Germany and, for some readers, it can be difficult to remember that when reading in English.

I would recommend the book without hesitation; it comes out in August.

Wednesday in one word

2010-06-23T22:22:00.000-07:00

sunbathing.

Ten Things for Tuesday

2010-06-22T20:46:00.000-07:00

1. Tonight I had dinner with one of my very favorite people and our moms. Love them. Hope it becomes a monthly tradition.
2. I'm loving iOS4 - and now I don't feel like I need to get an iPhone 4.
3. I really want to see Toy Story 3. Hoping for this weekend!
4. I think that Netflix on the Wii is pretty awesome.
5. I actually miss the hilarity of the high school English papers - is this a sign?
6. I have two books to review for my blog. But I'm not doing it.
7. I'm trying to eat less meat. Just because.
8. I miss living in Madison, but am really glad to be so close to our families and to my oldest friends, especially Courtney.
9. I turned in a draft of my dissertation proposal today.
10. Done is better than good.

Monday Musings: e-readers

2010-06-21T07:59:00.000-07:00

I go back and forth on the whole concept of the e-reader. I have a much earlier post called "Where I hope technology will fail." And now I'm contemplating getting one - I know, right? I still hope the e-reader isn't the death of the book, but at the same time I don't really think that anything will ever completely replace that whole feeling of opening a book, and going to the bookstore. Finding new authors. The smell of books, especially old ones. Getting an actual autograph inside a book. Love, love, LOVE all of those things.

But what about academic books? Or books that I wouldn't spend much money on? I feel like, if I had an e-reader, and there was a book that I was on the fence about, or that I knew I wouldn't probably read again, it would be good to have. It would also be really good for academic articles, or so I hear.

So, that brings me to the current dilemma:

Kindle, iPad or nook?

The thing I like about the nook is the ability to share books, and it's really the only thing that I like the most about it. I think that color touch screen is cool, but I'm not overwhelmingly impressed by it. The note-taking is somewhat tedious, because the keyboard is on the touch screen.

The things - there are two - that I don't like about the Kindle are the lack of sharing and the fact that you can't try a working model in a store before you buy it (yes, they SELL it at Target now - which I like - but it's not functional so I can't fiddle around with it, and even though the girl I was talking to about the nook at Barnes & Noble was pretty daffy, I could still play with it, which was nice). I like the two sizes (and, if I'm going to make the investment, maybe the bigger one is actually worth it?). I like the little tactile keyboard, even thought the letters are really small it's easier to type with buttons; I think it would be easier to use with both hands. I really like the note-taking feature on the Kindle (at least, on the iphone app, which I just discovered how to use).

Their libraries are similar; though the girl at BN pointed out to me that they have exclusive rights with some publishers, the Amazon free library is more comprehensive. I really like the e-ink technology, I think that it's a pretty cool concept. I like the super-long battery life.

My biggest problem with the Kindle and the nook is something that they share, which is exclusivity. I can't buy a book on BN.com and use it on a Kindle; I can't buy a book on amazon.com and use it on a nook. I can't buy a book in iBooks and use it on either one of them. I think that, honestly, if I could buy an electronic book from wherever I wanted and use it on my e-reader, I would've already bought one. Amazon, can you open up an amazon.it already? That would probably push me over the edge. I also read somewhere that amazon will convert academic articles into Kindle-readable documents in five minutes - is that true?

Which brings me to the iPad. I love - and don't love - the iPad. I don't love the back-lit screen - if I wanted to read on the computer all day, I would. I don't love the short battery life (compared to the other e-readers). I get it, iPad, you're a computer, but you need to work on your longevity. I don't love the fact that I can't use Word on it - seriously, can you just develop that? I don't love the whole pay-$30-per-month-for-3G - especially since AT&T service blows - but would it be a waste to get the wi-fi only model? I don't love the price - at $489 for the smallest model, it's almost twice the price of both the nook and the 6" Kindle (but just a bit more than the 9.7" Kindle). Oh, and I love me a touch screen. If Kindle had a touch-screen, I'd be all over it.

I do, however, love the fact that I can download a Kindle app and a nook app and read books from any of them on the iPad by opening their application. And I do kind of love the fact that it is also a functional computer and I can do word-processing on it.

In conclusion:
nook: pretty, but aside from its random monopolies with certain publishers, I think its main selling point is that it has the in-store support.
Kindle: my favorite of the e-readers, but I don't like that I can't just buy books wherever I want them. Also, meager selection of international titles.
iPad: good offerings of both kindle and nook apps, but battery life and excessive monthly charges make me hesitant to buy it.

My question to you is, do you have one of them? What have you found so far? Which would you recommend?

The Surgeon (#27)

2010-06-20T15:07:00.000-07:00

I read The Surgeon for book group. The murder-mystery is pretty straightforward - it has some twists and turns, but is overall a bit predictable. The premise for the novel is this: a serial killer is attacking women in Boston, and he bears a strong resemblance to a similar serial killer who was working five years ago in Georgia, but was killed by his fifth - and surviving - victim.

The work is gory, and definitely a page-turner. I read it in a couple of days, and I really felt like I was reading a trashy summer novel. Which is exactly what it was.

The whole time that I was watching it, I kept feeling like I was watching an episode of Criminal Minds. Or even a very-special episode of Law & Order SVU, where they involve people from different jurisdictions. It followed the standard format for a CM episode, and I found myself wanting to skim over the narration because it felt like I would be able to watch this episode any time.

Gerritsen did a good job providing insight into the serial killer's point of view, and I definitely appreciated the serial killer's unexpected personality profile. The writing had a good pace, but I just wasn't able to get attached to any of the somewhat flat characters or into the story, which I felt I would be able to predict about halfway into the book.

So, good summer reading, but I'm glad that I borrowed the mass-market copy from someone.

I give it a 2.5 out of 5.

On Ulysses, on Bloomsday

2010-06-16T07:01:00.000-07:00

Ulysses is the story of these men

and their experiences on one day, 16 June 1904.

(images via Ulysses "seen")

Now, every year on June 16th, people in Dublin act out the odysseys of Stephen Dedalus and Leopold Bloom, bringing the novel to life. It's a tradition, one that is steeped in literary history.

Always on the list of "Best Books" and clocking in at over 300,000 words, Ulysses remains one of the most daunting and brilliant novels of all time. While it is extremely difficult to get through, it's also extremely rewarding. I read it in a graduate seminar, and we spent almost eight weeks on it. And we still felt like we needed more time. But it's beautiful and brilliant and when you're reading it, you can tell you're reading something important. Even if you don't always understand what is going on.

Ulysses is, of course, an adaptation of The Odyssey, but it's also the story of Modern Man, Modern Dublin and Modernity.

If you're interested in learning more about Ulysses, here are two lovely places to do it:

Ulysses "seen" - a graphic adaptation of the work. Only completed through "Telemachus" but it has the makings of greatness.

re:Joyce - Frank Delaney's recent project, podcasts dedicated to various episodes in Ulysses. This project just started, and will finish for Bloomsday next year.

Just to help, I'm also going to offer "Ulysses in 39 words"

I: Buck concelebrates II: Stephen educates III: Stephen cogitates

IV: Bloom evacuates V: Bloom exfoliates VI: Bloom commiserates

VII: Crawford prevaricates VIII: Bloom masticates IX: Stephen explicates

X: Dublin perambulates XI: Boylan adulterates XII: the citizen co-agitates

XIII: Gerty titillates XIV: Mina parturiates XV: Bella emasculates

XVI: a sailor exaggerates XVII: Our heroes micturate XVIII: Molly menstruates

This comes from a postcard that I picked up in Dublin at the James Joyce Centre.

Ulysses is something that everyone should read.

It is on those lists for a reason.

It changed literature. Completely.

It changed me, too.

You know it's winter...

2010-06-11T17:05:00.000-07:00

...when I start watching Elf every other day and calling myself a "cotton headed ninny muggins" - okay, I do that anyway and I'm also aware of the fact that it isn't winter. But this is BIG, RELEVANT NEWS!

Today I read this article on the NYTimes that said, essentially, that they are bringing two of my favorite things and rolling them into one big example of wintery goodness! That's right, they're making Elf into a musical!

Get excited! I'd list off my favorite lines here, but I'm working and literally took a five minute break to check something out on the internet and I can barely contain myself.

The Girl Who Kicked the Hornets' Nest (#26)

2010-06-10T14:47:00.000-07:00

I bought this book while in Ireland on my honeymoon - though it would be released in the US a week or so later, I couldn't wait and was super excited to read this before my friends. So I've chosen to include the European cover.

The final in the Millennium trilogy, The Girl Who Kicked the Hornets' Nest was probably the most daunting of the series, both to read and, I imagine, for Larsson to write. I love love LOVE the whole series of books, and I can't believe how amazing the Swedish film was, and I fear the day that they announce Brad Pitt to be playing the role of Blomkvist in the American adaptation. It will just ruin it.

So, what can be said about the characters and the concept that hasn't already been said? Nothing. So, to jump into the last of the trilogy, I will say that biggest flaw I found with the book was that it got a little rough to get through around the middle of the book. Like the first books, I remember thinking that there was too much of parallel plots happening, and waiting for the plots to cross-over and reveal what the whole point of the book was. So, that happened with this book, but this book seemed like an actual tome beacause of its 700+ pages. Once I was able to get over that hurdle, however, the book was, like the rest of the trilogy, fast-paced, edge-of-your-seat, and psychological, all while being wonderfully written and consistent in style with the previous books. The characters grow throughout each of the books, and I love that there aren't a plethora of irrelevant characters being introduced in each of the books.

Well done, Mr. Larsson, and it's unfortunate that none of us will get the chance to read any more of your works.

Overall, I give the book a 4.5 (out of 5).

A Tribute to Direction

2010-06-07T08:48:00.000-07:00

Over the weekend I went with my husband and my parents to Del Mar for the wedding of one of my favorite cousins, and got to spend some time with some of my other favorite cousins and family members. The wedding was really beautiful, the reception was lovely (and the food was delicious), the rehearsal dinner was a really nice party. We went to my Aunt's house on Sunday morning for a coffee before driving back up to Orange County, and it was a really nice moment to reflect on the weekend. But one thing stood out for me more than the other things.

Just over ten years ago, in September of 1999, I attended the funeral of my uncle Marco, an amazing, loving, vivacious person who affected the lives of everyone around him. He had been a professor of Political Science in San Diego for many years, and he just had the ability to light up a room and infect it with a sense of joy. He died really unexpectedly and it really affected me. I felt like I was kind of in a funk - I was a senior in high school and I was having trouble figuring out what I wanted to do with myself. Everything was feeling rote and like I was just an automaton - wait, that's not completely accurate. I wasn't depressed or anything, I was just feeling uninspired.

Anyway. It was at his funeral that I really, truly realized what I wanted to do with my life, and found the direction that, until then, I had been missing. We were sitting at the funeral, and I looked around, and there were so many people there, people he had really inspired and affected. It moved me. With college applications on the horizon, I scrapped whatever poor writing sample I had been preparing until that point and re-wrote my essay about how inspiring he was, and how much I wanted to have an impact like him. I don't remember exactly what I wrote, but it was clearly heartfelt, because here I am ten years later and I'm working on making it happen.

During the wedding and the reception, he was mentioned during toasts and prayers and I almost started to cry each time, or I started to tear up thinking about it. I'm starting to tear up now, actually, but that's neither here nor there.

As we sat on their porch on Sunday morning, drinking coffee and reminiscing about the wedding, my Aunt sat down and asked me how my dissertating was coming along; I did my usual bob-and-weave answer, and she asked me more pointed questions that would be difficult to avoid, so we had a nice chat about my progress and topic and she told me about her experiences dissertating and, all of a sudden, it struck me that not only had I not heard from my advisor in ages, no one had asked me about my progress for a while, and not just because I try to skirt the issue whenever it comes up. It's because no one here has really been through it - it's not their fault, they just don't know what to ask and I don't like to have to continually explain my process. So I've stopped being open about what is happening with my progress because, in explaining the different things that I have to do (on the long timeline, not immediately), it can really stress me out.

But I digress. What I took out of that weekend visit was that I remembered Marco, and I remembered how important he was in helping me find my way, and I felt all reinvigorated to finish my proposal sooner rather than later, and I'm just hoping to finish it next week. That's the plan, at least.

As tributes go, I can't mention his professional accomplishments or anything along those lines, because they are beyond the scope of my knowing Marco. I knew him as an uncle, a gregarious, insightful and kind man who helped me find my direction. Twice.

Little Bee (#25)

2010-06-01T08:46:00.000-07:00

Does it seem like I've fallen off the reading wagon? I haven't, I assure you. But I've been really preoccupied with my dissertation proposal, my sister-in-law's wedding, my honeymoon, and my job grading high school English essays can really take its toll after a while. But I just realized I had read Chris Cleave's book and not reviewed it, and before it gets too far into my memory (I finished it almost a month ago), I thought that I would jot down my review about it.

The back of the book says,

"We don't want to tell you what happens in this book. It is a truly special story and we don't want to spoil it...Once you have read this book you will want to tell your friends about it. When you do, please don't tell them what happens. The magic is in how the story unfolds."

So, I won't tell you what happens or anything along those lines. I'll just tell you about what I thought of it and how I came to read it.

I had been wanting to read this book for a while, because I was drawn to the cover (I once read that book covers and wine bottle labels are sort of designed with the appropriate audience in mind, so I always think about that when I buy either without knowing I want to buy them going into the situation). I finished it as I arrived in Ireland on my honeymoon (which was brilliant and grand and deserves its own post), so I carried it around the country with it only to never blog about it when I returned. Which was accidental.

I liked the book. I wouldn't say that it rocked my world or that it was one of the best books I've read this year, but I was intrigued by the story, which was at times heartbreaking. The ending was the strongest part, as well as the relationship between the two women (they're mentioned on the back, so I'm not giving anything away). Thinking back to the book, I can't think of anything that I didn't like about the book, I just can't think about anything that made it particularly amazing.

Overall, I would give it a 3.8. Out of 5.

Weekly Geeks: In the Beginning

2010-03-27T09:15:00.000-07:00

For this Weekly Geek installment, I'm asking you to think back to the moment when you realized "I am a reader!" The moment you felt that desire to read everything! The moment you knew you were different than most of those around you and that this reading thing was for real.

- Tell us what book you were reading when that moment occurred.

I've had the realization that I was a "reader" a few times in my life - I mean, when I decided that I wanted to go to graduate school for Italian Literature, and devote my entire life to literature, I think that was a pretty good moment. But the pivotal moment in my life, when I started reading avidly, happened much earlier. You could argue it was in elementary schoool, but that's a little difficult to define. In high school, in the middle of my World Literature Junior English class, when we read Night by Elie Wiesel, I knew that something was starting to fall into place. He was the first person who, after reading the book, I was inspired to see him in person (I even took my English teacher), and I've continued to be somewhat preoccupied with the specific challenges of Holocaust Literature to this day. However, during my Senior Year, I started really reading things that weren't just assigned. The first book in this series was The Perks of Being a Wallflower, by Stephen Chbosky.

- Review the book. (You can even re-read it if you'd like and actually have time.)

The Perks of Being a Wallflower is an entertaining, honest and insightful coming-of-age novel about a teen boy, Charlie, who is neither the complete outcast nor the most popular boy in school. He lives a relatively typical high school lifestyle, but he also has a friend who recently committed suicide, adding to his struggles. He survives his first year through the help of his two friends, Samantha and Patrick, and manages to make it through the year.

I honestly don't remember too much else about the book, but I remember that I loved it and that it really made me want to read more and more.

- If you can't pin it down to one book, what other books define this moment in your life?

There was a whole string of books that I read during this time period, but I can't recall the names of most of them. I remember House of the Spirits, The Fuck-Up, A Regular Guy, Confederacy of Dunces, and Night (which I read again and again).

- What is it about those books that caused you to feel this way?

The thing that I loved about the books was that I started to feel a connection to reading - the characters, their stories, and the effect that they could have on people. I think that it was here that I started to understand why reading is so important to history - even though none of the books I was reading were the books that would change History, they were the kinds of books that were important to personal histories.

Radio Silence

2010-03-26T11:14:00.000-07:00

So, I realize that I've been really silent lately. No book reviews, no updates, nothing. It's nothing personal, you two readers, I promise. I've just really been struggling with my work, so I've been less-inspired to read for pleasure, because it's all starting to blend together.

A quick breakdown of my problem:

When we moved out to California for Sean's job, it seemed like a great situation: I was just finishing taking classes, I'm not on guarantee for teaching anymore (so my work would be semesterly with no guarantee of the next semester), I can write from anywhere, and Sean's job is a really good one, he had just finished his Master's program, and he was starting to tire of Winter. Because we're both from California, and 100+ inches of snow is quite the adjustment.

In reality, it's been even harder to write from home than I could have ever expected, primarily because I'm not entrenched in the university-system, I'm not surrounded by others who are also writing dissertations, and it's been really difficult to get feedback from two thousand miles and two time zones - all things that I just didn't realize were going to be such challenges for me. I often feel trapped at home, because we only have one car and we live a mile from a road that would even have a bus stop - and public transportation in Orange County is unreliable at best.

This might not have been such a struggle, but I also don't have a job (not that I haven't been applying and looking) and I often feel like I'm just sort of not accomplishing anything. Like I don't have anything to show for the reading that I do, or for the time that I've been out here.

I've been in school nonstop since kindergarten, and I didn't take any time off before starting grad school, so I've never really been in such an unstructured environment. It feels like I've been running on a treadmill (with a trainer) for years - even when I'm not really in the mood the belt keeps moving under my feet so I continue to go through the motions and make progress, and there is someone constantly pushing me to keep at it - and, suddenly, I'm trying to run on the road, alone, and it's just way harder to keep running when I don't feel inspired, especially since the only person who knows when I don't pound the pavement is me, you know? That's the best analogy I can come up with, and I think that it fits.

Any advice on how to force myself to accomplish more? About anything, I guess, but I'm obviously looking for help in the arena of writing my dissertation proposal.

So, that's why. I'm going to try to start being more diligent. About working. Because then reading for fun becomes more natural. And I've got quite the list of "to-read" books just staring at me.

Weekly Geeks: Authors We Love

2010-03-10T15:27:00.000-08:00

This week's Weekly Geek is all about authors:

Tell your readers what is it about "an" author that you are most passionate about, that have you coming back for more from them, following their every blog post – literally blackmailing people to read their books?

Who are some of your all time favourite authors?

And what is it about them that makes you keep going back for more?

Diana Gabaldon is a writer who has never let me down. Outlander was one of the books that got me excited about reading sagas - I've always been a reader but until I was in college I shied away from those books that were super long. I don't even mind waiting the two or three years between installments in the series, because since the books never disappoint I am always really excited to read them again. Ken Follett is another epic writer, and Pillars of the Earth and World Without End are two of my all-time favorite books; I have given Pillars of the Earth as a gift many times, to men and women with the same level of enthusiasm. I could read Pillars time and again, and it's always a book that I love to return to when I'm in a lull. I've recently discovered Frank Delaney, who is a remarkable storyteller. His characters feel alive, like I could reach out and hug them. When I finish his books, I immediately want to open them again, because they are just beautifully crafted and I'm not done with the characters.

Of course, I'm a grad student, which means that I read for a living (or whatever you want to call it), and my relationship with some authors is a bit different. I'm always intrigued by Italo Svevo, one of the quintessential Modernists in Italy, and I think that I could read La coscienza di Zeno (Zeno's Conscience) again and again - I have, in fact, read it many times for different classes and exams, and I always find something new and interesting to do with it. I always walk away with something from these neurotic, self-conscious protagonists. Working on my minor, I really and truly read James Joyce for the first time - I'd read him before but without understanding or appreciating much. He does things with literature that are so special and different, there aren't even words to describe what he did for literature; Ulysses really is at the top of the list of all-time books for a reason.

So now I'm done with classes and I'm working on my dissertation. It's a difficult thing, deciding on who - or what - you want to work for the next few years (and to what you might possibly dedicate a significant part of your life's research). And I don't take that decision lightly, so I'm writing on Primo Levi and Italo Calvino. They were my first favorite Italian authors, and after four years of intense studying, I came back to the same two writers. Italo Calvino's Cavaliere inesistente (Nonexistent Knight) was the first book that I read in Italian, during my first Italian literature class in Italy - it was a major accomplishment for me, reading the short, fantastical story of a suit of armor that doesn't have a knight inside. Calvino's narrator is almost always aware of his or her own role in the story being told, and he plays with the reader in unexpected ways. Primo Levi's "Canto of Ulysses," one of the chapters in Se questo è un uomo (Survival in Auscwitz) is beautifully written, and really highlights the power of books and language, especially for Levi. I've read the works of these authors more than any others. I must admit, it's not just because I'm writing about them - they're just brilliant, poignant, beautiful and heartbreaking; not all of these things at once, but all of these things at different times and for different reasons.

I'm afraid my answer might have been a bit too long. But, hey, that's what I do.

Teaser Tuesday: Ireland

2010-03-09T08:57:00.000-08:00

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme hosted by MizB of Should be Reading.
Teaser Tuesday asks you to:
--Grab your current read
--Let the book open to a random page.
--Share with us two (2) “teaser” sentences from that page, somewhere between lines 7 and 12.
--You also need to share the title of the book that you’re getting your “teaser” from… that way people can have some great book recommendations if they like the teaser you’ve given!

My teaser comes from Ireland, by Frank Delaney. I just finished this book on Friday, and it's sitting right next to me, so it was much easier to pull a teaser from this one rather than go into the next room. Plus, it's a beautiful book.

Ronan climbed the stairs, dimly aware of a rising problem. Worried that something might somehow be his fault, he curled up in bed and arranged the pillows so that the arguing voiced blurred.
His father arrived.
"Well, champion?"
Ronan said, "Wasn't it grand? D'you think he'll stay?"

From Ireland: a novel (Frank Delaney)

Oscar night!

2010-03-07T14:59:00.000-08:00

It's Oscar night, and I'm completely ready for it:

I've seen all ten of the Best Picture nominees:

Avatar: great visuals and graphics, but it's just like Dances With Wolves, only blue.

The Blind Side: an inspiring true story, told with heart.

District 9: interesting concept, and a different story from most. But weird.

An Education: coming-of-age story, which is usually predictable, but this has something to say.

The Hurt Locker: a socially-relevant, honest portrait of a difficult situation. Very intense.

Inglourious Basterds: a very Tarantino interpretation of history - magari!

Precious: socially relevant, and full of heart.

A Serious Man: very Coen-esque depiction of a realistic family story.

Up: heartwarming and lovely Pixar film.

Up in the Air: an honest, poignant look at a man and a commentary on life.

When I heard that there were going to be 10 nominees, I was a bit confused - were there that many exceptional movies last year? No. There were a lot of good movies, but exceptional? Come on! Last year I would've believed it (hello, Academy, way to snub Gran Torino, which was the best film last year), but this year's nominees left me underwhelmed. But I watched them all, and here are my overall impressions.

District 9: really? I heard an interview on NPR, and they said that they chose to nominate 10 films because people are more likely to watch the Oscars if they've seen the films nominated, but why not nominate The Hangover - it was hilarious, easily one of the most entertaining movies of the year, and most people saw it. It's easy to suppose that more people saw The Hangover than saw District 9; I thought that the underlying apartheid commentary was interesting, but the movie was just kind of lacking overall.

Up: now, I loved Up. I thought it was a great movie. But it was also nominated for Best Animated Feature, and it just seems like it shouldn't be nominated twice. Maybe that's just me, but I didn't think that it was one of the best films of the year. I actually liked The Fantastic Mr. Fox a bit better, and I thought that Wes Anderson's use of the stop-animation was more inventive, but I don't think that it has a chance to beat Up, especially with two nominations. I saw four of the five Best Animated feature nominees, and it really is just a race between these two (though I really liked Coraline and thought The Princess and the Frog was a charming throwback to old-school Disney princesses).

A Serious Man: this was the last of the ten films that I saw (I finished it the morning of the Oscars). The Academy loves the Coen brothers, and I usually really enjoy their films, but I didn't think that this one was one of the best pictures of the year.

Okay, so in conclusion, I'm rooting for The Hurt Locker and Precious - I don't think that Avatar was one of the best films of the years, but it seems that the bells and whistles of all the special effects are allowing people to overlook the fact that the story wasn't original. Yes, it was good, and yes the effects were awesome, but it wasn't the best picture of the year. I would also be really happy if An Education won, but that isn't likely, since it's been mostly a race between Bigelow and Cameron. But what about Invictus? Clint Eastwood's two principal actors are nominated, but he loses out again?

I'm still really looking forward to the Oscars. I love watching the red carpet. I think that Alec Baldwin and Steve Martin are going to be hilarious as hosts. They celebrate the films that were the best this year, for the most part; the Academy always gets some things wrong (The Reader was terrible, but they all loved it), but it still makes for an excellent and entertaining night.

Ireland: a novel (#24)

2010-03-06T07:00:00.000-08:00

Ireland is a story about Ronan, a boy who hears a traveling storyteller for three consecutive nights, and is forever changed by the experience. Ronan’s relationship with the storyteller is mysterious, sometimes frustrating (because the reader really identifies with Ronan’s journey), moving and heartwarming. It is lyrical, for the storytelling is rich with moments that make you sit back and collect yourself, because you didn’t realize that there could be something so poignant written. It is epic, for it spans centuries and millennia without missing a beat. It is transporting, for it feels like you are really there, in a living room by the fire, sharing this moment with Ronan, who is lovable from the moment he is introduced.

Ireland is also a story about stories, the lost art of the traveling storyteller and the way that myths and history are weaved together to form a blanket that encompasses all sides of history. It hearkens to the days when families spoke to each other, sharing their collective histories to pass on to successive generations.

And, to top it all off, it’s beautifully written. Frank Delaney’s writing warms the heart like freshly baked bread (I’m sitting next to a loaf of it right now and it smells the way that I imagine it has smelled for centuries). Rarely have I encountered a book that takes on the whole spectrum of emotions like this book; I wanted to start reading it again the second I finished it, making the stories into part of my own personal story.

I know this review seems like a laundry list of things that I loved about the book. Reading over the review, I see that. The only thing that I didn’t like about the book was that it ended; I’m comforted by the fact that I will be able to read it again and again, revisit the characters in both the Storyteller’s tales Ronan’s narrative. This kind of book does not happen everyday.

Favorite authors

2010-03-05T19:00:00.000-08:00

I know I often say on this blog that I’ve found a new favorite book – or, that I’ve really enjoyed a particular book and now I’m hooked on a series of related stories. But it has taken a long time for me to say that I’ve found a new favorite author (it might even go back to Primo Levi, who is now the subject of my dissertation).

I’m a graduate student. I read for a living, or at least in the hopes of reading for a living. I read fiction, nonfiction, literary theory, criticism and philosophy day in and day out. I take a lot of books out of the library. I mark up books (not from the library, though) with notes and thoughts, usually about the ways that I can relate the books together or to note where a passage will help me make an argument. I take notes of the things that I read, so when I return to the book to write about it I will be able to find the pertinent quotes for the paper, article, etc more easily, because time is energy and sometimes I lack both. But I can’t remember the last time that I wrote down a quote because it was beautiful, or because it made my heart swell and want to read it to someone nearby, even a stranger. As I sat in my living room, the car, and a coffeeshop reading Frank Delaney's novel Ireland (because I did all three in as many days), I wrote down passages, even adding one to my facebook profile (which is really, immensely nerdy, but I couldn’t help myself).

As soon as I finished Ireland I walked to the bookstore and bought two more of Delaney’s books: Tipperary, which he himself told me is the next logical step (wait, I’ll get to that), and Venetia Kelly’s Traveling Show, which is his newest release (and, therefore, I can say that I have a first edition of it, even though I would just die if I stumbled across a first edition of Ireland – not literally, but you already knew that).

Oh, how did he tell me about Tipperary, you ask? Two days ago, I posted on twitter: “I’m #reading ‘Ireland’ by Frank Delaney. And it’s wonderful.” And, what happened? Frank Delaney started following me! I was shocked and really excited. I didn’t even know he was on twitter. So, I finish the book, and I want to start it again, or just let the universe out there know how much I loved it, or something, so I posted: “Just finished #reading Ireland by Frank Delaney: beautiful, epic, genuine. Thank you, @FDbytheword.” And he replied to it. It was the most awesome acknowledgment. He just, replied. Said thank you for the compliment. I about died.

So, what’s so great about Frank Delaney's writing? It’s some of the best storytelling I’ve read in ages. It's natural, the characters are likable and realistic, and there's something that makes it seem like he is there, in the room, telling the story. The language is rich, without awkwardness, and always has something to offer.

The moment that you know you've found an author, whether it's a new author or someone who is new to you, and you've really connected with what the author is saying, is a great moment. Who are some of your favorite authors?

The Language of Sand (#20)

2010-02-22T06:30:00.000-08:00

Ellen Block tells the story of Abigail, a lexicographer who takes a rental home on a small island where she will serve as caretaker of a lighthouse (which is no longer in use). The story unfolds in the aftermath of the loss of her husband and child in a fire, and Abigail's experiences - and the people she meets - on Chapel Isle help bring her back to life.

I really appreciated the framing function of the alphabet and the relatively obscure words that began each chapter.The words are always obliquely related to the story about to unfold, though it was difficult at times to see the ways that the words fit together.

Abigail (or Abby, as she comes to be called on the island) is a somewhat perplexing character; she takes this home because her late-husband had always visited the island as a child, but she doesn't seem to be renting the home to learn anything about him. Nor do the readers ever really learn anything about him, aside from a few memories that Abigail shares when she is alone. One of the only neuroses she carries from her old life is her understandable resistance to use the stove, since her family died in a fire.

I also really enjoyed some of the supporting characters, particularly Merle and the ghost of the lighthouse. They seem to be more willing to open themselves up and let the reader take a moment to understand life on the island. The main problem with the book was that it seemed unfinished. Abigail doesn't seem to grow, or address her grief, throughout the book, and while it's true that neither of those are prerequisites for a successful book, it makes Abigail seem to be more of a two-dimensional character.

I did enjoy The Language of Sand, even if it sounds like I thought it had all of these huge flaws. It was easy to read, and the colorful supporting cast made me want to care what happened to them. I just wish that the central character could have had as much life as the people she interacted with on a daily basis. Learning to cope with loss is a challenge, yes, and I really wanted to see Abigail deal with some of the emotions that were clearly bottled-up inside her.

Shiver (#19)

2010-02-21T06:30:00.000-08:00

I picked this book up at Borders completely randomly, because I've always been a sucker for good covers and the storyline seemed like it would fall in with the other books I was reading at the time, namely the Sookie Stackhouse series of books. Shiver falls into the YA category of books that are somewhat obsessed with the whole supernatural phenomenon. And I really wanted to like this book as much as I've liked other supernatural series, like Twilight and the Sookie Stackhouse books. I like Stiefvater's style, in general, and I think that she could have something interesting to develop here.

The plot is relatively straightforward: Grace was bitten by a pack of wolves when she was little, before the story starts (why not include some of the aftermath?) and she feels a particularly strong bond with the wolf who protected her from the others, and she always waits for him to come into the forest by her house in the wintertime. And then she meets Sam, who it turns out is this wolf, and the story of their relationship unfolds to the background of the ever-dropping temperature which threatens to turn Sam back into the wolf at any moment. All the makings of a good YA tale, which are typically easy to read and I tend to finish in about ten minutes.

But the characters were really lacking in depth and in personality. Even Sam was not a particularly charismatic character, and I didn't really feel Grace's plight, either. I didn't dislike any of the characters, but I didn't really have feelings about any of them one way or the other, because a lot of them seemed kind of like afterthoughts. Like, Stiefvater wrote this book and realized that there had to be other characters for the book to work. I really liked the parents, because they didn't need much development.

One thing I did like about the book, however, was the alternating points of view. This isn't something completely new, but I appreciated the varied perspective in that it offers something a little different. The two characters clearly experience the story in different ways, because they experience each other in different ways and each have something different at stake. But was it enough to save the book? I don't know. Will the sequel need two different perspectives, since the two characters aren't still in completely different worlds? Will Stiefvater give more chacters a voice in the story? I hope that she delves more into the characters' lives, because Sam's (or Beck's) story could be really interesting if it had time to develop. Time will tell. I'll probably read the sequel, but this won't be anything that I'm calling friends and telling them that they must read the book.

Weekly Geeks: Romancing the Tome

2010-02-18T09:11:00.000-08:00

In honor of Valentine's Day, Weekly Geeks offered all sorts of prompts regarding romantic literature (not romance novels, necessarily, but novels that have some romance in them). So, I decided to think about my favorite literary couple.

Of course, Reader and Reader are an interesting couple in Calvino's If on Winter's Night A Traveler, even though their relationship is not my favorite. And I was listening to an episode of To The Best Of Our Knowledge a while back and they were discussing the potentially negative impact of the Bella-Edward relationship in Twilight, showing young girls that it's okay and actually desirable to have a boyfriend who sneaks into your room and watches you sleep, who is overly protective and warns you not to get into any trouble (and won't let you be friends with someone just because they are eternally enemies - ugh). So, while I think that their relationship makes for good reading, their relationship seems a little co-dependent to be my favorite.

I really like Scarlett and Rhett Butler in Gone With the Wind, because they're such a classic couple; and Henry and Clare in The Time Traveler's Wife, because their story is so heartbreaking but they really, truly love each other.

But, my FAVORITE literary couple is, by far, Claire and Jamie Fraser of the Outlander series. They are both individuals; they are independent, and they love each other completely and honestly. Their love is just beautifully written by Diana Gabaldon, and they are absolutely believable as a couple (and as individuals). I don't think I could've continued reading all of the books if it weren't for Jamie and Claire. They both get time to develop as characters, and then they have time to develop as a couple as well.

Weekend wrap-up

2010-02-15T21:30:00.000-08:00

Well, it was quite an eventful weekend:

Lincoln's Birthday, the anniversary of my engagement, Valentine's Day, and President's Day.

So many opportunities for celebration!

What I did:

That's right. I went to the movies on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday.

None of the movies were earth-shattering:

Valentine's Day was exactly what it looked like it would be: something that wanted to be just like Love Actually but fell a bit short of the mark. It was alright, and fluffy fun, but I wasn't expecting anything special out of it.

Percy Jackson was, well, definitely a disappointment. I wonder if it would've been less disappointing if I hadn't read the book. This actually got a whole post for itself though, right here.

Wolfman was gory, and all of the actors did a fine job. Benicio Del Toro always looks like he's sleep-deprived (and I mean always, not just in this movie), Anthony Hopkins is spot-on as a creepy patriach, and Emily Blunt seems like she fits so well in this time period.

The Castle of Crossed Destinies (#15) and The Periodic Table (#17)

2010-02-15T20:35:00.000-08:00

Both Il castello dei destini incrociati (Calvino) and Il sistema periodico (Levi) are re-reads, as I prepare to write my dissertation proposal (any references I make will be to the English translations, though I read them in the Italian original)...So, why blog about them together? Symbols, I say.

Symbols play a prominent role in both of these books; in the case of Calvino's tale, different travelers find themselves in an inn (that used to be a castle, or a castle that used to be an inn), and all have been struck silent. They take to communicating their stories by using a deck of Tarot cards, and the different people sitting around the table must interpret the stories as appropriately as possible. As the first person begins his tale, the narrator comments, "we thought we understood that, with that card, he wanted to say 'I' and that he was preparing to tell his story," suggesting that the entirety of the novel is full of conjectures and personal interpretations, which do not necessarily correlate to the actual stories being told (emphasis mine). As one traveler finishes his story, another story begins and may intersect with previous stories, until all the spaces are full. The resulting layout hearkens to the intersection of the individual and universal, the personal interpretation of others and one's personal projection into the Other's narrative. The stories can be read in a linear fashion, and if the protagonists of each tale are the cards on the outside edges, the various stories intersect in very clear ways.

The second part of the work, The Tavern of Crossed Destinies, leaves the reader with a much less organized layout; the cards and their stories are pulled at random and without a logical pattern. The narrator finds himself with three cards, "the Knight of Swords, the Hermit and the Juggler...as I have imagined myself from time to time...the moment has come to admit that only tarot number one honestly depicts what I have succeeded in being: a juggler, or conjurer, who arranges on a stand at a fair a certain number of objects and, shifting them, connecting them, interchanging them, achieves a certain number of effects." If the narrator is read as a version of Calvino himself, then this is the moment Calvino discusses how he views himself as a writer. Is writing simply a way of interpreting various symbols and presenting them in various fashions, depending on the desired outcome or reception? What bearing do the symbols have on individual lives?

Primo Levi uses different symbols - the periodic table of elements - in order to incorporate tangible elements into a less-tangible reality. The intersection of the chemical elements with the narrative story is representative of Levi's personal life. The chemical elements represent Levi's career as a chemist, and serve as a guide for Levi to navigate his lift. The narrative elements are composed of different types of stories - anecdotes, fantastic tales, histories, etc - and it is through these different tales and elements that Levi projects an image of himself that is equally multifaceted. Interesting, however, is the fact that Levi almost entirely leaves out the time period in which he was in Auschwitz, commenting that "I, a chemist, engaged here in writing my stories about chemistry, have lived a different season, has been narrated elsewhere." Though the story, "Cerium," in which this appears is related to Levi's survival during his time in Auschwitz, the story does not explore his experience with the same depth as his previous books. The symbol of Levi as a chemist is not reliant upon his surviving the Holocaust, though his surviving the Holocaust is reliant upon his profession as a chemist.

Two stories about halfway through the book, Lead and Mercury, are seemingly unrelated to the rest of the narrative. The story Lead, however, is more interesting, because it hearkens back to the ancient art of alchemy - of course, it's not the alchemy that you're probably picturing. The narrator, Rodmund, is able to identify a particular rock and extract lead from it. Through this, he is able to make his fortune: "I began traveling again, in search of rock to smelt or to be smelted [and fashioned into its many different uses] by other people; teaching them the art in exchange for gold. We Rodmunds are wizards, that's what we are: we change lead into gold." Though the alchemy does not happen by changing the molecular structures, it happens. Changing lead into gold, through whichever means possible, shows how a symbol - in this case alchemy - can be interpreted differently by different people because of their individual situations. Rodmund may not be an alchemist in the traditional sense of the word, but his act has the same result in both cases.

These works of Calvino and Levi, two of the most prominent writers of the twentieth century, rely upon symbols to give their works structure, but it is through the manipulation of these structures that they offer their unique perspectives on the world.

Seriously, Chris Columbus?

2010-02-13T20:51:00.000-08:00

I was really excited about seeing The Lightning Thief (I did, after all, start reading the books because I thought the movie could be fun). So we went to see it on Saturday afternoon. Young children filled the theater, and I found out that a lot of kids are reading the book in school! Riordan did his research, and at least the book would be something that the children would like. The little girls sitting next to me seemed really excited as the movie started.

Did the people in charge of adapting the book into a movie even read the book? I wanted to throw Percy's watery trident at whoever decided that they should take out some of the major plot points - especially since they were IMPORTANT to the development of the story.

"It's getting worse." What, Percy? The movie? "The dyslexia. The ADHD." That was actually a line from the movie. Because we wouldn't figure out that he was dyslexic when the letters started moving around in the museum? And, honestly, what was with the whole sitting-underwater-for-seven-minutes-thing? Didn't he think that was weird? "I just like being in the water." Unbelievable.

I was most disappointed by three things: 1 - the movie overall (sadly); 2 - the elimination of the entire claiming part of the gods; 3 - the development of the Percy-Luke plotline, as the way it unfolds in the book just flows naturally into the second book, and the movie just destroyed that whole dynamic. Ugh. Annabeth came off as a much less bright version of her book persona, and what was with Pierce Brosnan's Chiron?

I leaned over to my husband Sean when the credits started and said, "Now you have to read the book, if only so you know that it was good when it started."

The difference between the book cover and the movie poster says it all.

In the book, Percy is a regular kid who is thrust into an atypical situation;

in the movie, he's something completely different.

Spoiler alert: the movie was not good.

Redeemer alert: the book is still good.

The Book Thief (#16)

2010-02-10T16:30:00.000-08:00

Marcus Zusak's story of Liesel, told from the point of view of Death, was one of the most beautifully heartbreaking books I've read lately. And I've read a lot of books lately. The story was brilliantly narrated, the characters were complex and multifaceted, but did not seem affected or forced. The book is at once tragic and hopeful, and the world of Himmel Street with its vibrant inhabitants is completely imaginable. The Germans central to the story seem, at times, to be portrayed in a way that is more sympathetic than the historical record suggests, but their actions and attitudes are completely plausible nonetheless.

So, what did I like about the story? I really liked Death. What an interesting narrator, with his own asides and digressions. Death's way of unfolding the story - mostly linear, but with references to the past and future in ways that did not seem too contrived and did not take away from the narrative flow - was unique and peppered with moments that make the story difficult to forget.

The title The Book Thief suggests that Liesel's thievery is what defines her; however, rather than being defined by the books she steals, it is from the act of reading these books that she learns how to define herself. Her book, also titled "The Book Thief" and taken by Death, is never revealed to the reader, but Death describes it as having sections that tell her story and are each centered around a book. Which begs the question, which books are those that define us?

I would definitely recommend this book to anyone, but especially to book lovers.

Catching Fire (#14)

2010-02-07T06:30:00.000-08:00

Can you say cliffhanger? Don't worry, I won't give anything away, but WOW! I started this book immediately after finishing the first book, Hunger Games, and the book did not miss a beat from the first one. Catniss and Peeta return home after the Games to their home, which is simultaneously the same and completely different after the defiance of the Capitol, albeit an unintentional one.

As the story unfolds, Collins allows the reader to grow more attached to Catniss and Peeta, both as individuals and as a pair. She also introduces other supporting characters, expanding Catniss' family beyond her immediate nucleus to include her family of other Victors. The relationship between Catniss and the rest of her group is complicated, because Catniss and Peeta do not understand the extent to which they are all linked, nor their individual importance in the grand scheme of things. I, like Catniss, did not completely understand the scope of the struggle, but I have every faith in Collins to finish the story in a way that will make everything make sense.

The relationship between Catniss and Gale is a complex one; are they best friends or are they something more than that? Catniss' attempt to navigate her own emotions - and the struggle she feels between Gale and Peeta for her love - reflects the different roles she plays throughout her story.

I read this book in one day - and what a day it was! I can't wait to see how Collins resolves the struggle - I can't believe that the final book in the series is not released until August!

The Hunger Games (#13)

2010-02-05T15:30:00.000-08:00

Lucky number thirteen, eh? I received this book (and the sequel) in the mail from RJ for my birthday - I'm sending her the first four of the Percy Jackson series in reply this weekend. She told me she thought I would like these books, even though they (again) fall under the YA heading.

Suzanne Collins did not disappoint. Hunger Games is set in the future in the remnants of North America, and every year 2 children are chosen from each of the twelve districts to play in the "Hunger Games," a fight to the death orchestrated by the government and aired on television. Katniss, the protagonist, volunteers to go when her sister is chosen from the bowl. Along with Peeta, a boy she does not know very well (even though, we come to find out, he knows her well enough). But that's all the set-up, and something you could get from the flap of the book.

Collins' story sort of reminds me of Octavia Butler's stories, but for a younger audience. The main character struggles against all odds to survive in a wastelandish future, though the twelve districts are also reminiscent of an Orwellian future, with the government always watching. I found Katniss to be very relatable and realistically characterized, and there is not too much attention paid to the Capitol itself, since they do not spend very much time in the city.

The story of one girl against the world, in this case, the world is comprised of the twenty-three other competitors in the Hunger Games, the alliances and enemies she makes along the way, and her relationship with Peeta all step into the foreground at various moments in the book; Katniss remains the central character throughout, and her voice never waivers, even when she doesn't fully understand the motivations behind what she is being told to do.

New perspective

2010-02-04T11:54:00.000-08:00

I've spent the last month almost (eek!) trying to find the aspects of two authors that make them similar enough to be clear - and at times I feel I'm grasping at straws. The most similar aspect of the two authors is their biography, but I'm writing about their literature. I've looked at themes, which may be stronger in one author or the other, and I'm left with the feeling that I'm trying to fake my way through the weaker one; I've looked at the development of their writing over the decades, but that turns into something that completely misses the mark; I've tried to put them in direct conversation with each other, since they were contemporaries and have dedicated / addressed each other at various times. But it seems like I've been trying to force a closer relationship than they feel comfortable with. Which doesn't mean I have to start over; it just means that I have to adjust my vision.

I think I've been taking the wrong approach. One wrote primarily memoir / autobiography / historical truth - as a Holocaust survivor, he found himself overwrought with the imperative to tell the truth for those who did not survive, knowing that his story would contradict the majority of Holocaust stories by the virtue of his survival. The other wrote fiction of all kinds: starting with neorealist fiction, he moved into the fantastical, the postmodern and the world of metafiction. The farther he went from reality, the more his critical eye became apparent. It is, I hope, through these two completely different approaches that I will be able to find a symbiotic relationship; even better, I would like to find the harmony between these two very different melodies.

The key may very well be the following statement:

The best way to read fiction is through history, and the best way to read history is through fiction.

Are the apple and the orange mutually exclusive?

Can they be both at once?

The Girl Who Played With Fire (#12)

2010-02-04T06:30:00.000-08:00

Larsson's second novel in the trilogy (I'm really anxious to see how the trilogy finishes) picks up almost right where the first novel leaves off. I would definitely say that to get a full understanding of the relationships between the characters, as well as the full picture of the individual characters themselves, the first book is a must (and excellent). The characters flow seamlessly from the first to the second book, and I really liked that this book gave the reader the opportunity to get a better handle on Lisbeth, one of the book's main characters.

The story is full of twists and turns, but Larsson makes all of the revelations throughout the book completely believable. The key to the believability of the book is the strong characters. They are more neither stock characters nor are they so far from the realm of possibility that it is a stretch to believe they could pull off various moments in the book.

As was true in the first book, this one took me about fifty or so pages to get into. The stories are not overly complex, but there is a lot happening in the books simultaneously, or else the setting up of the sequence of events needs enough story behind it that it seems almost unrelated to the plot. However, it leads to a better understanding of the characters, their situations, and their relationship with each other.

I'm interested to see if Lisbeth's sister will play a more prominent role in the last book: she seems to be an integral part to the story, but in ways that are still unclear. Mikael's sister also seems to be relatively important, and I really liked the relationship they shared in the second book, so I would like to see more of her. Finally, I'm curious to see how Berger's storyline plays out - her story was not concluded at the end of the book, and I'm betting that she ends up being an important player as the next book unfolds, even though she is not my favorite character.

Weekly Geeks: Winter Reading

2010-02-01T09:38:00.000-08:00

For this week's Weekly Geeks, share with us the books which call out to you during the cold, wintry months. Are there genres which appeal to you most? Why do you think you are drawn to these types of books during winter? Do you have some book recommendations for other readers who are looking for some escape from the blustery weather? Give us some of your favorites and tell us why you recommend them.

As "extra credit" why not share some photos of what the weather looks like outside your home...or where you curl up to read when 'the weather outside is frightening.'

As a rule, I always end up reading more during the winter months, something that made perfect sense when my winters looked like this:

(that's my husband last winter - on a very balmy day in the teens)

Now we live in California and our winters are not so wintery - when it rains, it pours, but for the most part it's sunny and in the 60's, so it's quite pleasant and I'm not stuck inside by virtue of the weather. However, I also have a dissertation proposal to write, and I'm researching from home most days, so I've been doing a lot of reading, both academic and for pleasure. Because reading for fun when I'm supposed to be reading for school still keeps me on the same track, which is good.

Thinking back on what I've read over the years during winters, I noticed that I tend to read series (mostly intended for YA or children) of books: a few years ago I spent a week reading all the Harry Potter books, and I just read the entire Percy Jackson series in a week as well.

I tend to go for books that are either very light, or else I am attracted to mysteries. I'm currently reading the Stieg Larsson books (I read Girl With a Dragon Tattoo in two days), and I read the Tana French books earlier this winter - though I preferred The Likeness to In The Woods.

Part of the reason that I read YA series in winter, and I read them so quickly, is that I usually have a very limited amount of time to read for pleasure before the semester gets back into full swing. However, since I'm not taking classes for the first time in my life, so I've been reading a lot more - and these tend to be the books that have been out for a while and I've been meaning to read, or the books that I received for Christmas.

Mary Poppins: the musical

2010-01-31T11:30:00.000-08:00

For my birthday, my mother-in-law took me to see Mary Poppins and to dinner in Los Angeles. I love musical theater, and I love it when the tour cast includes people from the original Broadway cast (both Mary Poppins and Bert were played by the same actors from Broadway - though the show originated in London).

We started the evening at Engine Co #28, a restaurant on Figueroa that was originally a firehouse. The restaurant features pretty traditional, upscale American food. It was good - I had a pork chop, Patti had pasta, and we split a Caesar salad. The service was lackluster, and the next time I'm having a pre-show dinner in downtown Los Angeles, I will probably not return there - you know, it was good but not amazing.

We walked from the restaurant to the theater (we had plenty of time to kill and it was not particularly cold), but we were able to take a shuttle from the theater back to the restaurant for the valet parking, which was a very nice touch.

When we got to the Music Center, I was surprised at how many children were at the Saturday night show, which didn't end until 11:00, well past most children's bedtimes. But, I remember my love of Mary Poppins as a child, so I can understand why they would want to see it. We had amazingly good seats, which is always a plus, and a lot of the little girls seemed really excited to bring their much-loved iconic film nanny to life.

Disney's Mary Poppins this is not. On the surface, she's very similar to the Julie Andrews character. But she was much more vain and serious at times. Much of the music was different from the movie - either adapted or original songs made up the majority of the performances. And Mary Poppins leaves when the children continue to be bratty. Which is obviously different. She returns, of course, but overall I got the feeling that the play was based more on the books than on the movie.

Many of the characters from the play originated in the books, and they were some of the more interesting and energetic characters. The play made the parents into more three-dimensional characters, which was also a very pleasant surprise. These differences could even leave a place for a remake of the movie, which beyond the main characters wouldn't really even resemble the original.

Highlights of the show were "Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious" and "Step in Time," both of which were extremely well-choreographed and entertaining. Overall, the musical seemed to be very old-school, which is appropriate for the material but explains the mixed reception that the play received on Broadway.

I was glad that I got to see Mary Poppins before the wind changed and she blew out of town (the show closes in LA this Sunday), and I was really impressed by the performances of the children in the cast, who are in almost every scene of the musical. I would give Mary Poppins a "likes it" and 3.5-star rating. It's not the best musical I've seen lately, but it was fun and some of the numbers were awesome!

The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo (#11)

2010-01-30T09:00:00.000-08:00

My 28th birthday was pretty uneventful. Dinner with the fam, the in-laws, some family friends, my best friend and her husband. That's the main event of the day. Other than that, everyone was working, so I had a pretty "typical" day. A typical day for me is doing research, reading articles, and trying to make some headway on my dissertation proposal.

Except the day was not typical at all, because I decided that "Hey! It's my birthday! I'm not going to do work! I'm going to read a book!" And so, I did.

I've been meaning to read The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo for ages. Seriously. Everyone I know who has read it has been telling me to read it. And I've been wanting to read it. But I've had so much else going on with moving, getting married, finishing exams and classes that I hadn't gotten the chance to read it. Until now.

Larsson's book was excellent, even though I did struggle through the first few chapters. I thought that the characters were well-written, and the story was intriguing. I started my birthday on about page 100 and finished it by 5:00. I don't just read any book in one day. Like Blomkvist and Salander, I felt that I had to know the outcome of the crime, and once I got to a certain point in the book I couldn't stop reading it for the life of me. The various subplots all fit together really well, and I thought the outcome of the investigation was well-orchestrated and seemed appropriate to the intrigue of the story.

I was a little disappointed in the ending, because I don't know if it was supposed to be a hanging moment to spur the reader to immediately pick up the next book (which I did), or if it is supposed to have its own moment of finality. If it's option A, then job well done. But if it's option B, it leaves a little something to be desired.

Despite the fact that I didn't love the ending, I still loved the book. I would definitely recommend it for people who enjoy psychological thrillers - and the twist! I didn't even see it coming! Of course, it's already in talks to be made into an American movie (and has already been adapted in Sweden), and I can only hope that they stick to the story, because the story is what made this book so fascinating. The characters are interesting, and I'm excited to see how they develop, but it was the story that made this book one of those I-can't-put-it-down must-reads.

For Rachael on her birthday

2010-01-28T08:00:00.000-08:00

To celebrate Rachael's birthday (and mine, we're only a day apart), I have prepared a very small photo montage to show off some of our shenanigans. Of course, this is a very small sampling of our pictures.

Rachael and I have been friends since my second year of grad school (and her first).

Three years off ridiculousness, SBCs, secret missions and funnest times ever later,

I want to wish her the happiest of birthdays (even though we can't spend our birthdays together).

Rachael, thank you for being the best friend a girl could ask for.

You're the best, and I can't wait to see you again soon!

Well done, Steve.

2010-01-28T07:15:00.000-08:00

Since everyone is reviewing the iPad, I thought I might add to the white noise. For the first time yesterday, I sat at home and followed along on a techie blog while Steve Jobs and co revealed their new baby, the iPad.

My first thought, "why didn't they run this name by a woman first? Open the doors to the iTampon jokes." Incidentally, I've since seen the MadTV sketch about the iPad, in that exact circumstance, and I'm sure it will have a resurgence on the internet.

But once I got past the name, I tried to follow the various features and see their real-world applications.

Giant games? Okay, I don't do much gaming on my phone and none on my computer, so this doesn't really interest me.
Paintbrushes? It's cool, sure, but I'm not sure I would use it that much. But it's definitely a different kind of application and would be cool until the novelty wore off.
So what was cool?
Giant NYTimes? Definitely digging this application. I think this is one I would use without question.
iBooks? The books seemed a bit cheaper than kindle/sony/nook, and I really like the interface of the iBookstore. This might give the other e-readers a run for their money.

I'm still on the fence about iWork. I've been a mac user for 3 years now, and I've still not made the switch to iWork as my primary platform, because it's not very functional outside the mac world.

The price, of course, is awesome, but there are plenty if hidden costs. $130 extra for 3G? If I'm going to make the investment in a tablet, I'm going to get 3G, and how big are the files for the ebooks?it has a battery life of 10 hours, but I can read for 10 hours with no problem. And movies are 1.5-2 gb each, so the 16gb iPad may still fill up quickly. So then you have to basically go for the 32/64, which is more still. Plus $30/month for the wireless? They should have a way that if multiple people in one household have the iPad, they can get a discounted rate on the Internet. Or if they already use AT&T for their internet.

Overall, I'm pretty impressed by apple's new creation. Of course, I won't be getting it in the first generation (probably not in the 2nd either). I'll wait until you can add Word (because, regardless of what steve & co say, it's still really hard to use other platforms in academia), you can type on a flat surface, and 3G is standard.

I tip my cap to you, steve. Can't wait to see what you think up next.

Her Fearful Symmetry (#2)

2010-01-27T06:30:00.000-08:00

I'm reviewing this book out of order, because I forgot I hadn't reviewed it yet. I hadn't forgotten about reading it, of course.

I really enjoy Niffenegger, and I had been anticipating her follow-up novel for a while. Her Fearful Symmetry was nothing like Tine Traveler's Wife. Which was a good thing, though I loved TTW and everything. I was just glad to see that Niffenegger was not a one-trick pony.

The characters were all well-written, but the pairs of twin sisters all seemed a little incomplete without the other. I realize this may have been a purposeful technique, but not being a twin it seemed a little codependent at times. I also felt like the supporting cast struggled at times, because it seemed like Niffenegger couldn't decide whether she wanted to make them central characters or keep them on the periphery.

Despite these two criticisms, I still thought it was a really enjoyable book. I wouldn't call it flawless, of course, but it was worth picking up to lose yourself in Niffenegger's fiction.

The Last Olympian (Percy Jackson and the Olympians, Book 5), Rick Riordan (#10)

2010-01-26T06:30:00.000-08:00

Oh, Percy Jackson, I have grown so attached to you, your friends and your crazy extended family, the gods of yore. I've loved every minute of the brief time we spent together, and I'm sad to say that I'm done with the series. It was only a week, but it was super-fun. At least you're going to have this movie, which I hope does your book justice.

Big thumbs-up to Rick Riordan, who brought this smartly written, well-planned and extremely enjoyable series to life. I could read many more books of Percy's hijinks, but I'm intrigued by your note at the end of the book (the first Half-Blood series? Is there something else in the works?) and can't wait to see what else you have up your sleeve. I appreciated that his story had a sense of closure, but also leaves him open for the future.

As for The Last Olympian specifically, I really thought that the series ended very well. The book took the themes that had been building throughout the series and brings them all to a great few culminating episodes. The characters are all allowed to have their specific moment-in-the-sun, and are all necessary in order to save humanity. Riordan brings the gods to life in ways that are clever and apropos to the story at hand.

One of the greatest aspects of this book is that Percy can't do it alone. In other sagas, it seems to all come down to the hero as an individual character, but in the Percy Jackson series, Percy relies on his peers and friends to help him overcome all obstacles, which is a really good message for the 5th-7th grade target audience. Percy also never loses sight of what is really important in the world, and he does not compromise himself in order to accomplish what is necessary.

I won't give any synopsis of the book, because I think that this series is something that everyone can enjoy, and I don't want to spoil the twists and surprises at the end of the book.

100+ Books...

2010-01-25T12:46:00.000-08:00

I recently signed up on this "100+ Books in 2010" challenge. The challenge, essentially, is to read one hundred books in a year. So far, I'm off to a good start. I'll keep my list in this post and update it as often as I remember, but the books I read I also review (for the most part) in the blog, so...

January
1. The Likeness
2. Her Fearful Symmetry
3. In ricerca delle radici (re-read)
4. Lezioni americane
5. The Lightning Thief
6. The Sea of Monsters
7. The Titan's Curse
8. The Battle of the Labyrinth
9. Heat Wave
10. The Last Olympian
11. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

February
12. The Girl Who Played with Fire
13. Hunger Games
14. Catching Fire
15. Castello dei destini incrociati (re-read)
16. The Book Thief
17. Il sistema periodico (re-read)
18. I sommersi e i salvati (re-read)
19. Shiver
20. The Language of Sand
21. Man Without a Country
22. Se questo è un uomo (re-read)
23. Maus I (re-read)

March
24. Ireland: a novel

Heat Wave (#9)

2010-01-25T07:30:00.000-08:00

Heat Wave was published to coincide with the same event happening on the TV show Castle. I watch the show, so my husband thought it would be a good gift for me. Isn't that funny?

I enjoyed the book. I wasn't expecting too much out of it, even though Rick Castle is supposed to be a Pulitzer-Prize winning author on the show. Heat Wave was entertaining and a relatively quick read. The characters weren't too developed, probably because they are characterizations of the characters on the show, who are developed and if you watch the show then you're going to think about these characters and all of their characteristics while you read the book. At least, I know that I did.

Jameson Rook and Nikki Heat are almost identical to Castle and Beckett (though Rook doesn't have a teenage daughter and his mother living with him - at least, it isn't explicitly mentioned). But here, in the pages of Castle's fantasy, he and "Nikki" get the opportunity to act upon the sexual tension that the show depicts so well. It makes it seem like it would almost work on the show, but what would be the fun in that?

I give this book 3.5 stars, because it was entertaining and fun; I could've used a bit more meat in the book, but I was still happy with it because I still get that substance from the tv show.

The Battle of the Labyrinth (Percy Jackson and the Olympians, Book 4), Rick Riordan (#8)

2010-01-25T06:30:00.000-08:00

The same thing happened when I read Harry Potter. I got sucked into a series and I'm can't put them down. When I get through the next book, I'll be really sad, but at least I won't have to wait for another book to come out. I didn't start reading HP (or Twilight, for that matter) until the last book had been released, so I haven't had to go through the waiting for the next book feeling. Instant gratification.

So far, this has probably been my favorite book of the series, because all of the things that I've loved about the previous books, but also because of the great detail of the labyrinth. The insertion of the new mythological characters, and the great effects of all the characters on the others, really makes this book an enjoyable one, and the final book is certain to be a great ending to the series.

The gods are, at times, portrayed as elusive, overwhelming characters who exist in a realm beyond that of the lives of those on Earth below them, but most of the time they appear as remarkably humanlike, with many of the characteristics you would expect any mortal to have. These gods offer much to the kids as they make their way through the labyrinth, but they oftentimes have their own agendas, just like mere mortals. One of the reasons that the mythological gods are so intriguing is this, their mortal qualities, and the stake that they have in our lives and our humanity.

The Red Thread

2010-01-22T08:23:00.000-08:00

I'm having trouble finding what Italians call the filo rosso - the read thread. The thing that connects your thoughts together in a coherent manner; that goes from one page, one author, one century to the next. I embarked on my proposal journey with the intentions of, initially, writing one chapter each on four authors; then I found myself in the weeds, considering writing on only one author, but I felt really uncomfortable doing that; now, I've decided to write on two different authors, four aspects or relationships of their writing that can be shared to a certain extent.

But that red thread...continues to elude me. Well, not entirely. I feel like I have the thread in my hand, and I'm just having a hard time threading the needle. It looks like I've perfectly lined up the end of the thread with the eye of the needle, but I keep losing it right at the moment that I should make contact.

The Titan's Curse (Percy Jackson and the Olympians, Book 3), Rick Riordan (#7)

2010-01-22T06:30:00.000-08:00

The Titan's Curse picks up where The Sea of Monsters left off: Percy Jackson and his friends Annabeth, Grover and Tyson (plus some others) are trying to stop Kronos from rising and wreaking havoc on Humanity. New book, new quest, and for Percy and his friends there are plenty of moments that they have to rely on their belief in themselves, use their various gifts and trust each other to get out of sticky situations. I've liked all the books in this series, and I'm continuing to learn more about the Greek myths through my foray into the world of the Half-Bloods.

If this review seems really short, that's because it is. I think that Riordan does a great job at keeping people invested in his characters, his storylines, and the development of the overall experience of reading these books. Every character is memorable, from Blackjack to Percy's mom, and every character gives Percy something he needs in order to succeed.

The Sea of Monsters (Percy Jackson and the Olympians, Book 2), Rick Riordan (#6)

2010-01-21T06:30:00.000-08:00

The second book in the series makes me believe that the series of books could potentially rival other series (HP, ahem) in its ability to stand the test of time. The books are shorter than HP, and they incorporate the mythological stories that we grow up sort-of learning about, but aren't forced to really remember how they are connected or remember them. The series brings a whole new light to this, and it is just a pleasure to read.

The Sea of Monsters finds Percy and his friends on a new quest, which leads them into the Sea of Monsters (not to be redundant). I don't want to give anything away, so I'm going to just leave it at that. One aspect I really enjoy about this series is that Percy's mom is really supportive of him, and from his mother he learned the value of love, friends and family. It's a really positive message, and the books seem to be full of them.

This book was equally enjoyable, quick-paced, easy-to-read, and overall just continued the good thing that Riordan started with his first book.

Happy first week of classes!

2010-01-20T10:30:00.000-08:00

For the first time in my life, I am not taking classes. The semester started on Tuesday, and I remember the anticipation I would have at the beginning of each semester – which classes would be interesting, predictable, or surprising. But now, as a dissertator, I have no classes to anticipate. The burden of learning has been thrust onto my shoulders, something that I think is going to really challenge me throughout the coming months. My days are going to be full of sitting in libraries, cafés and my home, searching for that moment when everything comes together – I feel like I’m in A Beautiful Mind, when the patterns jump off the blackboard, but my patterns jump out of books, and are much fewer and farther between.

Of course, this semester is different for more than just the fact that I’m not taking any classes. I’m also not teaching any classes, something new and different; nor am I on campus, since I’ve moved 2,000 miles away from my university (though I’m not that far from any university).

For those still taking classes, or teaching classes, or just spending time on campus, cheers. Enjoy your proximity to the fonts of knowledge, because it’s hard to find the discipline to carry on without all of you motivating me to keep on going.

The Lightning Thief (Percy Jackson and the Olympians, Book 1), Rick Riordan (#5)

2010-01-19T06:30:00.001-08:00

Disclosure: I read this book because I know I want to see the movie, which comes out soon. I don’t think I would’ve just picked up the book to read it. That being said, I’m really glad that I read it, because it could be the most fun series I’ve read since Harry Potter. Rick Riordan’s saga, about an adolescent boy who discovers he is a demigod fathered by Poseidon, has all the makings of a good series: a clear narrative voice, intriguing storylines, and an enjoyable supporting cast. What this book has that other series lack is a strong presence of teaching. Teaching the mythical stories and histories of various mythological characters, that is. I’m not trying to argue that Percy Jackson’s story is based on facts, but that Riordan finds a way to give the information of the myths without making it feel like you’re sitting in a classroom. I think this book is great for its intended audience in that way, because finding interesting ways for young people to learn is a serious challenge. But, if you’ve never taken a class on classical myth or anything like that, it’s still a really enjoyable book because you get the one line synopsis of the various characters, and the story flows so you don’t even realize you’re learning. Love the story, love Percy Jackson, and am really excited to read the next book in the series (which I immediately went out and bought).

Lezioni americane (Six memos for the next millennium), Calvino (#4)

2010-01-14T06:30:00.000-08:00

Calvino’s collection of essays, written as lectures and published posthumously and unfinished, examines different aspects of storytelling: Lightness, Quickness, Exactitude, Visibility and Multiplicity. The sixth one, which was actually supposed to be the eighth one, is entitled "Cominciare e finire" (Beginning and Ending). The collection was to be presented in New York, and Calvino's wife worked with his translator to bring these five essays to his English-speaking audience.

One interesting aspect of these essays is the fact that they also examine the opposite quality that each of these essays implies, and Calvino praises both equally. One of my favorite lines from Lightness (which I include in English since I think more people will understand it): "Above all I hope to have shown that there is such a thing as a lightness of thoughtfulness, just as we all know that there is a lightness of frivolity. In fact, thoughtful lightness can make frivolity seem dull and heavy." I have returned to these essays many times over the years, and they highlight Calvino's awareness of his legacy as an author, a person in the publishing world, and a critic.

Calvino says, in Quickness, that the function of literature "is to communicate between things that are different simply because they are different, not blunting but even sharpening the differences between them, following the true bent of written language." Well said.

In ricerca delle radici (In Search of Roots), Primo Levi (#3)

2010-01-13T06:30:00.000-08:00

Primo Levi, along with other various Italian authors of his time, was asked to compile and anthologize various writings that shaped him as a thinker, writer and man. He pairs classical and contemporary, scientific books with fictional ones, and somehow it all makes perfect sense. Levi was not solely a writer. He was a chemist first, but always a reader. It was his experiences during the Holocaust that made him become a writer.

The project was unfulfilled by the publishing house (and, incidentally, Primo Levi is one of the only writers to take the task to heart), but the book speaks volumes about how Levi creates himself. The passages from the books he chooses are not the most recognizable in all cases, but they are all very telling. Levi wrote that the project was not that diffcult for him, at least finding the passages, because they were the ones he had already marked up over and over.

The book is definitely helpful as I go into the dissertation, but it also made me think about the books that I would say have shaped me as a reader. I've been thinking about it, and when I have an idea I'll share it.

The Likeness (#1)

2010-01-06T06:30:00.000-08:00

The Likeness is Tana French's second novel, and it kind of takes Cassie Maddox, Rob Ryan's partner from In the Woods, and gives her a story of her own. The Likeness is much richer, both in characters and in story, than its predecessor. As in French's previous work, the protagonist is possibly too connected to the case she is trying to solve, but Cassie's story is almost more intriguing than Rob's was, because she is more willing to let us in to what happened to her than Rob was. Sure, there were still some minor hiccups in the story, but overall the book was a much better read.

Where In the Woods failed to give a collection of well-created, multi-dimensional characters aside from the two principals, The Likeness is full of them. Most of the characters manage to get under your skin and pull you into their narratives, even though we only get these narratives in bits and pieces.

Maybe part of the reason I enjoyed the book so much is that the core group of characters are all literature grad students, but I think that was just part of it. The ending was appropriate for the rest of the story, French never lost sight of the end game throughout the novel (one of her mistakes in the first book) and the unfolding of the mystery was also well thought out and well-written.

Where I was a bit hesitant to recommend French's previous book to friends, I have no reservations with this one. A good friend and fellow bibliophile/gradstudent/bookworm, who had recommended I read In the Woods, when she found out I was about to read The Likeness, said, "Let me know what you think of it. I need to talk about it with you." We both reached the same conclusion: the second book was just, at the end of the day, way better than the first.

The Likeness, Tana French (2008)
Writing: 9.5
Story: 9.5
Overall: 9.5

New Year, new location...

2010-01-04T10:18:00.000-08:00

Someone once said, "You can't go home again." And someone responded with, "Home is the place where they always have to take you back." So, who was right?

My husband and I recently moved across the country. Since I'm not taking classes anymore, and he received a job offer that was exponentially more lucrative than the dried beans they pay in graduate school, we packed up everything and moved. He moved before I did, as I was teaching and taking classes and needed to be in the Midwest long enough to experience the first snow day in university since I've been there (and much before, as well, actually). When he moved, he moved in with my parents for a number of reasons: because they live closer to his new jobs than his parents; I didn't want him to rent an apartment without me there; I thought that saving that first month's worth of paychecks would be a good idea, since I didn't know what my job situation would be when I moved out west.

We spent a day last week looking at apartments, and found one that we really liked, that was in our price range and was even closer to his work and therefore wouldn't involve living with my parents any longer than necessary. We were thinking about moving in late January / early February. Two days later he springs on me the idea to just save up money and live with my parents. A lot of people are doing this these days. One of the people showing us apartments was doing this, even, with his wife and infant.

I'm trying to make it as different from the last time I lived here (10 years ago) as possible, but it is really challenging, because there is so much past in this place. I'm trying to make space for the present - writing, researching, being not-just-your-daughter-anymore - but I can't seem to get through to the other side. I'm attempting to make something that resembles a workspace, but am finding that every place I sit to work makes me feel like a teenager again.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not trying to sound ungrateful. I'm very lucky that my parents have the space for us, that they are willing to let us live here and are enthusiastic about letting us make as many changes as is necessary for it to work for us. But I think that the dueling quotes about home are only accurate when they are taken together. You can return to your home, to the place where you grew up, and be welcomed back with open arms. At the same time, however, you can't expect to be able to completely break from the past. Nothing has changed, really, except for me. And it's changed a lot.

In the Woods

2009-12-23T06:30:00.000-08:00

Tana French's debut novel is well-written and grabs the reader, but the storyline leaves something to be desired. The story of Rob Ryan is intriguing, but ultimately left me feeling a little unsatisfied with the ending. His relationship with his partner, Cassie Maddox, runs a different course than expected and starts to take the principal narrative spot. As the narrative unfolds, the crime becomes more engrossing but French does not allow the reader to be sucked into the crime the way the protagonists are; rather, she insists that the reader focus also on the relationship between Ryan and Maddox.
In the end, neither the arc of their relationship nor the outcome of the case end well, and the book leaves the reader questioning both.

I don't know if I would go out of my way to recommend this book to a friend, but I would tell them that I enjoyed reading it, for sure. It was an easy read, I read the majority of it in one day of cross-country travel, and the story is quick-paced enough to keep the reader engaged in the story throughout.

In The Woods, Tana French (2007)
Writing: 9
Story: 8
Overall: 8.5

An Echo in the Bone

2009-12-21T06:30:00.000-08:00

Honestly, I don't even know where to start in this review. Diana Gabaldon is one of my all-time favorite authors, and her Outlander series is one of my favorite book series of all time, if not my favorite. I could read her books again and again, and the sheer volume of the books is not a deterrent.

An Echo in the Bone is the seventh book in the series. The saga of Claire and Jamie, as well as Bree and Roger, really grabs the reader and brings you into their story, which by now is in the middle of the Revolutionary War. Gabaldon clearly does her homework, as is evident by the fact that there usually elapses about three years between each book and also by the number of historically accurate nuances throughout it. She is a researcher, after all.

Clocking in at over 800 pages means that the plot is too involved to discuss, and I wouldn't want to give anything away. But, as I was finishing the last hundred or so pages while my students were taking a final exam, I found myself about to cry more than once, and had to remind myself that I was in public.

The book ends on a note that basically ensures there will be another book in the series. Even if I have to wait for three years, I'm happy to do it with characters like these ones and a story that is completely brilliant, unique, and well-developed.

An Echo In the Bone, Diana Gabaldon (2009)
Writing: 10
Story: 10

where i hope technology fails...

2009-10-16T13:51:00.001-07:00

That sounds like a really negative post title, doesn't it? Well, I don't hope that technology fails, completely. I think that technology is amazing. In fact, yesterday I got an iphone (it was a wedding gift) and I kind of, sort of love it. I don't completely love it, yet, but I think that's because I don't completely know how to use it, you know? I was just figuring out how to get the most out of my blackberry, and then I suddenly have to change technologies, and carriers, all for a family plan... just kidding. I'm sure it will be worth it. I've been coveting them for quite a while.

But where I (not-so) secretly hope that technology fails us is in the Kindle. I wasn't so opposed to the success of any other forms of technology. But something about the Kindle just, well, sucks. One of the best things about reading is the activity behind it.

Going to the bookshelf. Thumbing through all your books to see which one asks you to read it. Holding the weight of the book in your hand. Turning the pages, physically. Feeling like arriving at page 300 is a serious accomplishment, because you gauge how far you've come on this journey with these characters. Being able to, if the mood strikes (or you're reading for serious purposes and not for unabashed enjoyment), underline something. Or make a (sometimes not-so) witty comment, in pencil, that you can erase when you've gotten past your joke. Writing your name inside the book when you're finished. Finding its home again, next to the rest of these books, all of which you have shared similar experiences with.

Something about the Kindle really irks me, though. The tablet. The pages that "mimic" turning, the way that the digital cameras make the "click" sound that is just to try to make people feel more involved. The difference, however, is that most people didn't develop their own pictures, or physically imprint the image onto the negative. They enjoyed them afterwards, and sharing photos between people was exponentially better with digital cameras.

With digital music, you can still share it really easily with friends. Can you share kindle books?

I can tell you the physical difference between holding something epic like Ulysses or War and Peace and something like A Christmas Carol (which I love, but I'm just trying to explain the difference in size, so...). Reaching that last page can really feel like an accomplishment. What would I do with a kindle? Set it back on the shelf where I got it? Upload another book? Also, what about crack screens? Or reading a kindle near the beach? If water splashes on a book, the page gets all warped, but does an electronic even survive?

And what about first editions, that have been loved and cherished and used as investments over a long period of time? Is there a "first edition" e-book? I mean, I can see reading a kindle for newspapers, since they use so much paper and they are relatively obsolete the next day. And even for magazines, for the same reason. But books? Come on, people.

Library Crisis 2009

2009-10-12T14:41:00.001-07:00

So, we're moving from Madison to Orange County at the end of the year, because my husband (which still feels really weird to day, since we've been married less than a month) got a job, which in this economy is nothing to shake a stick at and, theoretically, at least, I can dissertate from anywhere. And since my department currently can't offer job security, and even if they could I still exist below the poverty line. So, he took the job offer, which puts him on the career path, and that's great.

But I've been having a lot of anxiety about the move. I think that most of it stems from my fears about leaving the liberal, academic bubble (having gone from Berkeley to Madison has really kept me in that world), and not having a world completely structured around those things that I do.

Especially the fact that I can't get to a library. I like to think that is my biggest problem, because getting a book from another library could be my demise. So I was talking to my advisor about it, and she reassured me that my anxiety was a productive one and gave me a whole list of things to do to inquire about getting borrowing privileges elsewhere. And it made me feel a bit better.

The good, even great news? I went to my campus library's main circulation office and they let me know that since I'll be paying dissertator fees and doing independent study, I'll still be a student and therefore I can use "distance services," something that is FREE and will deliver any book to my house, including a pre-paid return envelope, for free. AND I can request article delivery electronically. And they said that, as far as ILL (inter-library loans) services, our library let's anyone who lives in the area pay like $30 to use the services, so I should be able to find something comparable at the university libraries in the area, at the very least.

And so it made me feel a lot better. Even though I know I'll have to be a lot more disciplined, but I am just relieved to know my options.

- Blogging from BlogPress on my iphone.

so many engines...

2009-10-03T17:18:00.000-07:00

As the internet tries to be more all-encompassing, it forces people to make decisions and selectively include themselves in some networks while simultaneously excluding themselves from others.

for social networks, it started with friendster, myspace, facebook and linkedin. i avoided friendster, then joined the next two and have since all-but-abandoned myspace in favor of facebook. finally, a friend recommended using linkedin as a more professional network, but since i'm not quite into the professional realm yet my profile just sits there, waiting to get hired.

and then cam twitter. which, along with facebook, kind of took over the socially networked internet. then facebook started to change its interface to resemble that of twitter, which i didn't really understand but it's still fine.

now, i've just been on blogger for a while. but there is also wordpress, which is similar but different. and then there is tumblr, which I just discovered and is sort of like a cross between blogger and twitter.

so, in an effort to stay up-to-speed with technology i've joined that as well.
i think i prefer blogger, because it's more of a blogging site, with actual entries and everything like that. but tumblr could also be fun. and they have awesome layouts.

(un)luckily, graduate school really begs for me to procrastinate as often as i can, so i do my best to hold up my end of the bargain.

Best investment - ever! (and I got married!)

2009-10-01T10:38:00.000-07:00

So, I got married over the weekend. Which is one of the «many» reasons that I haven't had anything to say about any books lately. And it was a glorious weekend.

We made the bouquets ourselves

Brett and I are most likely wrapping the bouquets in wire at this point. Rachael, Brett and I headed to the Farmer's Market early in the morning, bought many flowers and then assembled the bouquets in the hotel room. They lasted through the pictures, and some through the reception. Which is what they're supposed to do, right?

We got married by our friend, Monica

Of course, she also brought wine to the hotel room for the "getting ready" portion of the day. Monica did a fantastic job, and I'm so lucky that she was willing to get ordained for this day. There were spices of humor in the form of asking me to repeat, "I Nicole, take you Sean, to be my wife" - hilarious! And it was super meaningful, because she's great.
Thanks, Monica!

And there was much more. BUT the Best Investment of the wedding was BY FAR the photo-booth.

It was the only real "splurge" of the wedding, because we were trying to keep it pretty low-key and affordable because, at the end of the day, it's a day. It's a party. I wouldn't go bankrupt over a party, I wouldn't ask my parents to do so, either.

Like I said, we made our own bouquets (and boutonnieres). We printed (though printable press designed) our own invitations. I designed and constructed (with the help of friends, particularly Rachael) the programs, place cards, centerpieces (thanks for the help on that one, mom), and favors (our kitchen turned into a bakery the week of the wedding - and then there was the Great Macaroon Incident of 2009). And I think that, overall, it made the experience really personal, and I hope that people knew the personal touches were so that we made them feel connected to us, and we felt connected to the day, because it really helped keep everything in perspective when I thought about it from the point of view of, "well, do I want ___ enough to do it myself?"

And, honestly, I couldn't have been more pleased with the way the wedding went.

So, the photobooth. Amazing. It let everyone show their own personal style. Do what they wanted to do. Be silly. Memorialize themselves in their best and worst moments at the same time. And it was a huge success. I would DEFINITELY recommend using the traveling photobooth for any event, not even just a wedding. We got a Guest Book out of it: each trip into the booth produced two strips - one for the person to take home as a souvenir, and one was stuck into the guest book, where they could write a message and make it something personal. And the day after, it was SO MUCH FUN to look through all the pictures and have a laugh at the faces, and enjoy the words of wisdom. Which sometimes are just inside jokes, but still amazing.

I've always wanted a photobooth in my house. This really solidified that for me. I'll try to update with some more photos of the details, and when they arrive, the pictures from the wedding. But for now, I guess it's back to business as usual.

Review: The Good Thief

2009-09-29T18:09:00.002-07:00

Hannah Tinti's writing style in her first novel has been compared by many to Charles Dickens, but what really struck me was the cover. I was in the airport and I was completely taken by the cover. Even though was mid-book and had another with me in the airport, I couldn't resist and just bought it. And I started reading it as soon as I got home.

The premise of this book makes it seem like something that might be somewhat scary, and the style would fare well being read aloud. However, overall the book left me underwhelmed. I liked the story, but the characters were not particularly likable. Some of the episodes were enjoyable, but did not lead to me feeling connected or interested in the characters in the novel.

As the book ended, I wasn't sad or disappointed that I would be leaving Ren and the rest of the characters; I wasn't happy about it, either, but I could have taken or left the story. Tinti's writing, however, was really good and I really enjoyed her writing style. I think she just fell into some first-novel hiccups, and I look forward to her next effort.

To sum up, I would not recommend this book to a friend who was looking for an excellent book, but I would probably recommend it for a teen reader or someone who wants an easy read.

Boycott, anyone?

2009-09-29T15:46:00.003-07:00

Does anyone remember back a couple of years ago when the media -- and by "media" I mean gossipy media that starts to even creep into the regular media -- offered people an option to boycott Heidi & Spencer because they were EVERYWHERE and no one really liked them or understood why... and SO MANY people voted to have a "Speidi-free" online media area for a couple of weeks that their stranglehold on my ears was finally lessened? It was glorious!

So, I really wish they would do that with Jon and Kate Gosselin. Who cares about them? I mean, obviously their families care about them, and I think it is really sad that they are going through this awful divorce and everything, but can you just please step out of the media already? I just read that TLC announced they're changing the show to "Kate plus 8" and it had a survey that asked if we would watch the show. The choices were, "Yes, go Kate!" and "No, Jon needs to be part of the show." Where is the option that says, "No, they should not have a show at all?" I just can't handle them and their petty divorce; I even think they are worse than the Hills clan, because at least it's relatively obvious that the Hills is not reality, and they are all consenting adults who just want to find fame. I try to ignore Jon and Kate. I refuse to watch anything they are being mentioned/interviewed on, I won't read any articles about them, I won't buy a magazine with them featured on the cover. But it doesn't seem to be enough, because they are everywhere. So, let's just all agree to not discuss them and treat them like the child throwing a tantrum: ignore them and let them work it out on their own, get it out of their system.

Is anyone with me?

After modern.

2009-08-18T08:47:00.003-07:00

NOT to be confused with postmodern, which is a bit different.

I took my modern exam yesterday, and I was really surprised with the exam.

First of all, they changed the format of the exam, something that I wasn't expecting them to do and something that they hadn't done for at least 7 years, from what I can tell from old exams.

In preparing for exams, I prepared myself to answer in the fashioned that I described below: 4 short answers comprising about 1 hour total, betwen 1/2 to 3/4 of a page each, followed up with 2 long answers, each being about 1 hour.

So, they pulled a fast one on me, getting me to read that whole entire huge list because I was really nervous for the short questions (the long questions too, but especially the short questions for some reason), and they got rid of the short questions!

I was left with answering 3 long questions, the first being a pair of two questions and choosing one, and then choosing two out of a group of four.

The choices were, basically (I won't write out the whole questions because I don't think that anyone actually reads this blog and even if they do, I don't want to completely bore you):

A. women or partisan's in Calvino's Sentiero dei nidi di ragno

B. Discuss the malessere of Zeno and his triumphs and/or defeats.

A. Pirandello's use of the play-within-a-play in Sei personaggi...

B. Discuss Ungaretti's L'allegria as "lirica nuova".

C. Discuss Visconti's Ossessione as an anticipation of neorealism.

D. Compare and contrast Croce's idealism to Gramsci's marxism.

The first choices surprised me because I thought that Calvino wouldn't come up on this exam since I'm writing my special topic exam on him (tomorrow--ugh) and we just completed a class on Calvino. And Zeno is such a huge milestone on the list, I thought that it would at least be one of his other works. Needless to say, I was happy to choose option B, because I love Svevo and his malessere for all it is!

The second four choices honestly surprised me even more, because I couldn't believe that Pirandello's Sei personaggi actually came up. I mean, I'm thrilled it did because, well, it's awesome, well-known, and there's plenty to say about it. And Ossessione? Really? Again, plenty to say about it. So those were the two questions I answered, but not just because I had plenty to say, but when you look at the other two options, HELLO! Ungaretti? Poetry? My biggest fear--skip! Croce and Gramsci? The other part of my worst nightmare? Theory? No brainer! Skip!

If my professors are reading this blog, I promise I'm working really hard on finishing up my preparations for Prelim #2 this week, and I'm really looking forward to starting my dissertation even more. I'm pretty sure they aren't reading it, since I'm pretty sure that no one is. But still.

But for now, Thank you. Thank you for throwing all of us a bone.

judgement day, part 1.

2009-08-17T06:14:00.002-07:00

so this is it. the day i've been preparing for all summer, all winter, and all spring. not in that order, obviously. but still.

the exam is structured così:

6 ID questions, worth 1 hour. answer 4 of the 6 briefly but pertinently.

2 pairs of long-answer questions, 1 hour each. answer 1 of 2 for each pair.

1 hour of revising. which can at times also be used to fill in the gaps where they were before.

i should be done with this first exam in about 4 hours, tops. well, i have to be done in 4 hours.

aaaaaaahhhhhhhhh!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DhrfhjLd9e4

this is my mantra.

it's going to be a long one.

2009-08-15T10:23:00.003-07:00

day, that is.

i'm less than 48 hours from starting the exam portion of my summer, and i couldn't feel more conflicted. I mean, i've been preparing for this all summer (okay, it's actually been a lot longer than that) and i feel relatively prepared. looking over past questions, i feel like i can answer most of them.

but there are some things on the reading list that i just can't answer to. please cross your fingers that i'm not given a choice between answering on le mosche del capitale and la chimera. because then i would cry. luckily, if that does happen, i have a room to myself for the exam, so no one else will have to witness the breakdown.

outside the gate.

2009-08-13T20:23:00.004-07:00

Okay, so I'm moving back to the west coast after five years of grad school in about four months, because I'm going to be a dissertator and I don't have a job guarantee and my soon-to-be-husband already has a job lined up (because accounting is something that happens regardless of the state of the economy and the enrollment of students in foreign language classes) and, well, I can write a dissertation from anywhere. Especially somewhere that below zero sounds like a make-believe temperature, right?

Except I'm really nervous. It's not a new place to live. I grew up in the same area where we'll be living, so it's not a matter of feeling out of place physically; maybe I would prefer that, though, because I felt out of place when I experienced my first real winter and realized I didn't actually know what a coat was. But there was an easy enough solution for that -- buy a coat where the weather is cold, because they'll sell something much more weather-ready.

So it's not that. It's just that, well, I've been in academia for a while and I'm nervous that I will feel completely out of my element, without people to make erudite academic jokes and to discuss research or dissertation woes...am I being ridiculous? I've got loads of time to worry about this, and I should be worrying about the 125 item list looming in the ever-nearing future.

Reading

2009-08-13T20:21:00.002-07:00

So, I really like reading, and if I could par-lay that into a full time (or part-time, let's not kid ourselves, I'm not going to be picky) job that would be amazing. I'm worried, of course, that my reading is too analytical, and that I don't leave my academia at the door quite as much as I need to. Which is good, for the academic world, but not so good for the nonacademic one.

4 Days to go!

2009-08-13T14:32:00.004-07:00

Well, technically, I won't be completely done with the exam process for two weeks, assuming everything goes well. I'm in the process of typing up my notes and, to be perfectly honest, it's probably better I haven't been posting them to the blog since they would most likely make little to no sense to anyone, since they are not in one consistent language, complete sentences or even complete thoughts, some of the time. However, I am GOING to weigh in on at least the personal highlights of the reading list for me, and I'm going to do it soon! Like, tonight, when I've typed up notes for at least 1/3 of the things on my list, but hopefully 1/2.

T minus 16 days.

2009-08-01T11:58:00.002-07:00

So I'm 16 days from the first of two written exams, and I've got plenty more than 16 things to read, plus I'm taking two graphics classes and have other non-academic commitments. But it's okay. I'm going to get through this. With a little help from coffee (which I hadn't been drinking at all this summer).

I'm getting closer to the end of the list, but there are other lists and other things to read right around the corner.

and no one reads this, anyway, right?

Re-reading

2009-07-15T08:25:00.003-07:00

Maybe it's because I'm currently re-reading a plethora of these books for my prelim. Maybe it's because I'm, at the heart of it, the biggest bookworm I know. Maybe I'm just procrastinating.

Okay, it's likely a combination of all of those factors, if I'm being perfectly honest with you (and with myself). But, in an effort to keep my wandering mind somewhat focused on the task at hand -- Gadda's Quer pasticciaccio in Via Merulana (That Awful Mess on the Via Merulana) -- I just read a really insightful article on Newsweek again, by David Gates, about the "Pleasures of Rereading."

You can read the article here.

There are some books I have read over and over, sometimes for enjoyment and sometimes because multiple classes assign the same books from semester to semester. But really, what is the harm in that? I learn something different each time I pick up Gadda (begrudgingly) or Svevo (happily); each class offers new insight, each professor offers a new point of reference for the book, and I'm learning to appreciate books more on the second time around. Besides, some books can only be re-read, like Ulysses. Which is amazing, the second time.

Review: Girl in a Blue Dress (Gaynor Arnold)

2009-07-15T07:08:00.004-07:00

I decided to just copy my LivingSocial review for this book, because I took more time to write it than I have right now to write another review. Let me just say, I really really enjoyed this book and I am really glad that I read it. And I think you should read it, too.

There seem to be a lot of books out right now about Charles Dickens: Drood and Lost both come to mind, but I think that Dickens, in general, is very in vogue in the fiction world. But this book looks at the Dickens story from an entirely different point of view, from that of his cast-off wife, Catherine, who in this book is Dorothea "Dodo" Gibson, the wife of Alfred Gibson (the fictionalized version of Charles Dickens).

Also, before I get into the review, I think that one of the most powerful aspects of this book, of the story in general, is the weight placed on written letters. Sure, we are able to communicate more efficiently and more quickly than ever before with the use of the Internet, but the experience of the tactile quality of letters is really special, and something that this book champions through the weight that Dodo places on the love letters she received as a young girl, that she continues to cling to even though everything around her is completely different.

Girl in a Blue Dress

   One of the best books I have read this year, I applaud the strong characters, the story that is simultaneously heartbreaking and endearing, and the well-crafted prose that make this book unforgettable. Gaynor Arnold does something that hasn't been done, giving a voice to a woman largely forgotten, who feared that she would be a mere footnote in the life of her husband, and gives her the chance to be her own person and tell her own story. All of the characters are believable, from the larger-than-life, charismatic Alfred Gibson (Charles Dickens) to his precocious children and his wife, who in her grief is both silent (publicly) and outspoken (privately).
   Arnold's fictionalized version of the story Charles Dickens and his wife Catherine seamlessly becomes the heart-breaking story Dorothea "Dodo" and Alfred Gibson. Written from the cast-off wife's perspective, Dodo draws the reader in from the very beginning of her story, one which is largely unrecognized by a Public that hangs on every word of her husband. Over the course of their lengthy and secretive courtship, Dodo kept every letter written to her by her future husband, and over the course of the ten years between her 'banishment' and Alfred's death, she continues to re-read the letters and relive the love as it was in the beginning. When Alfred dies, Dodo must cope with her deep loss yet again, as she is not welcome at the funeral; it is here that Arnold's narrative begins, immediately following Alfred's death.
   One of the most compelling aspects of the story is Arnold's strong characters. Dodo's hopeful love, her desperate attempts to keep her marriage alive, and the anguish she feels following the death of her one true love are all expressed in completely honest, believable and heartfelt. It is clear that Arnold spent much time painting the portrait of Dodo, but she did not neglect the important supporting characters, composed of her servant Mrs. Wilson, her loyal friend Mr. O'Rourke and her children, particularly her daughter Kitty. The mother-daughter relationship is as well-crafted as that between husband and wife, and much of the tension the between all the children and their mother expresses, from the first moment they interact, the underlying love that will ultimately cancel out all of the uncomfortability of the situation. Dodo's love, which persists even in the wake of scandal and heartbreak, champions the power of language and the ability to love someone unconditionally.

Newsweek's "50 Books for Our Times: What to Read Now and Why"

2009-07-14T07:47:00.000-07:00

I'm all for lists (see my first posts to this blog - what an extensive list those are). Best-of lists are particularly interesting, however, because they try to cut through all the excess for people who only want to know the best things to read, the most pertinent and important works that they will get the most benefit from reading. And I think, sometimes, that is problematic, because sometimes you have to read the not-so great or influential books in order to really appreciate a work of genius or importance when you read it. And just because something wasn't extremely influential does not mean that it is not extremely enjoyable, you know? So, take lists with a grain of salt, and remember that, ultimately, they are composed by people who sit in a room and make up lists of the best books. Those people probably also really enjoyed other books, but they did not consider them to be the most important books, so they fall by the wayside. And these lists have definite trends, so that must be considered as well.

But that's not the point. This list by Newsweek was actually very good. A web-exclusive, it lists a variety of books--modern, victorian, ficiton, nonfiction--and tries to stray away from the books that typically makes these lists.

You can read the whole article, and see the whole list (plus even a review by ME on the LivingSocial reviews for #37-Persepolis) here.

Neither Reading NOR Writing.

2009-07-12T17:47:00.003-07:00

I've been blog-browsing lately, trying to update the blogs I read regularly (they always provide a nice distraction), and I find myself continually wanting to be more graphically minded. I'm going to take a Photoshop workshop, and I would love to learn how to do something like these people, for instance, but I have a feeling I'm not quite artistic enough for it. We'll see what happens with it, of course, but I just wanted to point that out.

I think that when I see something that really intrigues me, my initial reaction is "I want to do that!" Does that happen to everyone? Sometimes the thought fades relatively quickly, and sometimes it stays for a while.

Two things

2009-06-25T19:23:00.003-07:00

1. Shelfari update: I haven't used it since I posted about it, so I guess it's not the most efficient of the network places. I use the "Visual Bookshelf" application on facebook really regularly, though. I've just completely forgotten about shelfari's existence since then, so. Not completely, since obviously I'm talking about it. But you know what I mean.

2. With all the time that I spend reading, I've spent very little time blogging about that reading, so I'm going to work on blogging about it more regularly. Both academic/required reading and the rest of reading.

That's it for now. I'm going to put off the blogs a bit longer.

Types of Reading

2009-04-25T11:56:00.004-07:00

I put the things I read into three categories.

1. School / research reading: this takes up about 90% of my reading. If it is assumed that I read 8 hours each day, more or less, then about 7:15 of those 8:00 are dedicated to the courses I'm taking and the lists below.

2. Bedside reading: this is, on the nights I don't pass out immediately, about 30 minutes of reading. Usually, this book is the one that takes me the longest to finish, since most nights I fall asleep in less than 5 minutes.

3. Morning reading: since I dry my hair upside down, I get extremely bored with my head hanging towards the floor looking at wood. So, I always keep a book handy. The best books for this type of reading are books without extremely intricate plots, since I spend about 10 minutes reading these books at a time. I finish these books much more quickly than bedside books, because I read every time I dry my hair.

Why don't I just read one book at a time and finish it more quickly? Well, I obviously don't read school books when I get in bed or when I dry my hair because I have to actually focus on these books. It only took me four years to realize that I would get a lot more out of a book for school if I read it diligently and closely. And, of course, I need a pencil (preferably, but a pen will work in a pinch) when I read for serious purposes. And I don't want to read either my bedside or my blowdry books too quickly, because I try not to stockpile more than 4 books at a time.

yet another social networking site... or is it?

2009-04-11T10:00:00.007-07:00

So, I was recently procrastinating, as I am wont to do with those large lists looming below and in front of me, and my fiancé recommended I look at the site shelfari.

Shelfari is basically a book-networking site, rather than a social networking site. Each member has a bookshelf holding all your books, and you label each one as "plan to read" or "reading now" or "I've already read". You can review books and everything as well.

Facebook has an application that is basically the same as it, under the social-living category called "virtual bookshelf". I think it's great for people to share their books and their opinions about recently read books, but the best part of the facebook feature is that it also tells you which of your friends have read the book in question -- I'm sure that Shelfari does this too, but since I just joined and I'd never heard of it before, I don't have a very large network of people to browse.

I'm willing to give shelfari a shot, because I think that any platform for getting out the word on books is a great platform. But I find myself wondering what the function of a site like this is. Its biggest draw is that there are "book groups," which basically function to give people a way to link up with one another based on a variety of topics, such as "Twilight movie and books," "1001 Books to Read before you die," and a variety geared towards high schoolers and younger readers to give them ideas of books to read.

If you're interested in trying out shelfari, the link is www.shelfari.com and it's a pretty easy platform to use. Maybe you already use it, and I just don't know about it.

SPECIAL TOPIC: Italo Calvino between the modern and the postmodern

2009-03-15T18:36:00.002-07:00

In addition to taking an exam on 20th century literature in August, I also take something called a "Special Topic" reading list. Formed in conjunction with my advisor, this list is supposed to theoretically help me prepare for writing a dissertation. Sometimes the exam list can go on to be a chapter or part of a chapter of the dissertation.

When I was thinking about what would be the most beneficial way to approach the exam, I decided that the best thing to do would be to kill as many birds as possible with the fewest number of stones. One of my courses this semester, which I love, is a seminar on Italo Calvino, one of the more internationally famous Italian writers. So, of course, he seemed like a good choice for a special topic.

Here is my reading list:

Primary books

Calvino, Italo. Sentiero dei nidi di ragno (1946) - Path to the spider's nest

Calvino, Italo. Ultimo viene il corvo (1949) -

Calvino, Italo. Il visconte dimezzato (1951) - The cloven viscount

Calvino, Italo. La formica argentina (1952) - The argentine ant

Calvino, Italo. Il barone rampante (1957) - The baron in the trees

Calvino, Italo. La speculazione edilizia (1957) - A plunge into real estate

Calvino, Italo. La nuvola di smog (1958) - Smog

Calvino, Italo. Il cavaliere inesistente (1959) - The nonexistent knight

Calvino, Italo. La giornata di uno scrutatore (1963) - The watcher

Calvino, Italo. Castello dei destini incrociati (1973) - Castle of crossed destinies

Calvino, Italo. Se una notte d'inverno un viaggiatore (1979) - If on winter's night a traveler...

On its own, this list actually is really doable. I've read most of the books, and I feel like I could definitely use some of them in a dissertation. But, wait for it. The secondary list is the theory, criticism and otherwise much more dense and difficult section.

Secondary sources

Benjamin, Walter. Illuminations

Bové, Paul A. Early postmodernism: Foundational essays

Calinescu, Matei. Five faces of modernity: modernism, avant-garde, decadence, kitsch, postmodernism

Cannon, Joann. Postmodern italian fiction

Hutcheon, Linda. selection from Poetics of the Postmodern

Jameson, Frederic. Postmodernism, or the cultural logic of late capitalism

Luperini, Romano. selections from Allegoria del Moderno

Markey, Constance. "Calvino and the existential dilemma"

Markey, Constance. Calvino: a journey toward the postmodern

McHale, Brian. Postmodernist fiction

Pacifici, Sergio. selection from From Verismo to Existentialism: essays on the modern italian novel

Robbe-Gillet, Alain. For a new novel--essays on fiction

Todorov, Tzvetan. The fantastic: a structural approach to literary genre

Vattimo, Gianni. The end of modernity: nihilism and hermenetics in postmodern culture

Wittgenstein, Ludwig. selection from Philosophical investigations

Honestly, I was relieved that the list was finally approved and has been filed away into my personal database of things that I need to learn between now and August. It felt really good to go in with a list that I felt would be useful and was also not too daunting and hear "You know, you have too much criticism. But I'm very pleased with this list." What a feeling!

Lists, in general

2009-03-08T17:08:00.004-07:00

I was listening to “To The Best Of Our Knowledge” today, and the topic was lists. Why do we have lists, 1001 Books to Read/Paintings to See/Places to Visit/Foods to Taste/Wines to Drink/Albums to Hear/Places to Visit Before You Die? What does the creation and publication of the 1001 Books to Read say about the rest of the books, and any books to come after it? What do they do for us?
Having lists creates a vocabulary. It creates a shared experience, or a point of reference that you can have in common with someone else. You’ve both seen the same films, read the same books? Great, you have something to talk about. That’s why you ask people what their favorite things are, so you can cross-list their information to your own and find a way to relate to them.
In daily life, having lists helps us gain control and take the reigns in a situation which might otherwise feel chaotic and without meaning. How great does it feel to cross something off that To-Do List? How accomplished do you feel when you’ve crossed everything off it (though that rarely happens)? How many times have you written something onto that list that you’ve already done just so you can cross it off? I know I have.
In graduate school, lists are simultaneously more and less tangible. They are more tangible because we enter school knowing the list of books we will have to read during our tenure in the program; they are the lists we will be examined on at the various steps in our process. We can see a list online, hold it in our hands, and see what is ahead of us. At the beginning of each semester, we see which books we have to purchase, read and understand throughout the course of the term. When we teach, it is the list of students for whom we are accountable, who we will instruct in the list of beginning grammar - articles, adverbs, present and past tense verbs, object pronouns, etc.
Lists are less tangible in grad school because they only give you half of the information. Your course outline does not tell you which books you should have read sometime in the past and committed to memory (because it seems like some people have, and they like to make it known). It does not tell you if the books will ever arrive from the Internet Book Shop. It does not tell you how many of the books you won’t ever get to, since you will likely always be behind in discussion and you’ll probably find at least one meeting cancelled throughout the course of the term.
Your class roster does not tell you anything about your students except their name and level of study. It does not tell you who will come to class on time, late or sporadically. It does not tell you who is inclined to your subject or who wants to be inclined to your subject but just isn’t. It does not tell you if you will have a successful dynamic during your fifty minutes, or if you will have to make them do the chicken dance to come out of their shells. Hopefully, it will click sooner rather than later.
The least tangible of all lists are the master lists: THE READING LISTS. Sure, you can hold it in your hand and say, “I have to read the following 100 books in the next year,” but it will not tell you that you won’t have time to read any of them during the semester. You can say, “I’m reading a modern list and taking at modern class--yes!,” but the list will not tell you that maybe two of the ten books you will read in that class will be on your list of one hundred. It will tell you which books you may be tested on, but will not tell you that some books appear almost every exam period while others have appeared once in the past fifteen years; what’s more is that it does not tell you that you will more likely be asked about those other, more rare books when you are not ready for it, such as in an oral exam when you’re already sweating bullets trying to remember what seem to be important details that no one cares about.
I decided to use this blog as a way to share what I’m reading, for my classes, for ‘fun’ (though they are fewer than the rest), and also for my reading lists. My last written exams are scheduled for August 17th (20th century) and 19th (Special Topic: Italo Calvino from the Modern to the Postmodern). Hopefully, that will all go well, and then I will get to share my experience as I transition from the reading phase of graduate school (the first 4 years) to the writing phase (the rest). Of course, I’m towards the end of the first phase, but it’s a big end, and it will be a big step.

Modern Reading List (20th century)

2009-03-01T19:00:00.001-08:00

In the Italian department, they divide the reading lists into sections: Medieval (1200s-1300s), Renaissance (1400s-1600s), Early Moden (1700s-1800s), Modern (1900s-present) and Linguistics. You pick 3 exams. You take 2 exams in the first round and 2 exams in the second round (the 2nd exam in this round is your "Special Topic", which is designed with your Advisor). I'm currently studying for my second round, in which I'll take the Modern Exam and my Special Topic (I took Early Modern and Linguistics in the first round back in January). If you're interested in what I'm reading, it's probably from this list. If there is an English translation to the title, I included it afterwards.

1. Pascoli, Myricae
2. Pascoli, I canti di Castelvecchio
3. D’Annunzio, Il trionfo della morte (Triumph of Death)
4. D’Annunzio. Alcyone
5. D’Annunzio, Il piacere (Child of Pleasure)
6. D’Annnzio, La figlia di Iorio (The Daughter of Jorio)
7. D’Annunzio, Poema paradisiaco:Alla nutrice.
8. Croce,Breviario di estetica (Breviary of Aesthetics)
9. Croce, La poesia (Poetry)
10-14. Pirandello, from Novelle: La giara; Ciaula; Tragedia di un personaggio; La cariola; Ieri, oggi, domani. (Jar, Ciaula, Tragedy of a character, Carriola, Yesterday, Today Tomorrow)
15. Pirandello, Il fu Mattia Pascal (The Late Mattia Pascal)
16. Pirandello, Sei personaggi in cerca d'autore (Six Characters in Search of an Author)
17. Pirandello, Cosí è, se vi pare (So it is, if you think so)
18. Pirandello, Enrico IV (Henry IV)
19. Aleramo, Una donna (A Woman)
20. Deledda, Canne al vento (Cane in the Wind)
21. Svevo, Senilità (A Man Grows Older)
22. Svevo, La coscienza di Zeno (Zeno’s Conscience)
23. Gozzano, Le poesie (Poetry)
24. Corrazzini, Poesie edite e inedite (Poetry edited and unedited)
25. Marinetti, selections from Teoria e invenzione futurista (Futurist Theory and Invention)
26. Marinetti, Manifesti del futurismo (Futurist manifestos)
27. Campana, Canti orfici (orphic cantos)
28. Saba, Il Canzoniere (Collection of Poems)
29. Ungaretti, L'Allegria (Happiness)
30. Ungaretti, Sentimento del tempo (Snetiment of Time)
31. Ungaretti, La terra promessa (The promised land)
32. Montale, Ossi di seppia (Cuttlefish bones)
33. Montale, Le occasioni (Occasions)
34. Montale, La bufera e altro (The storm and others)
35. Montale, Satura (Satura)
36. Montale, Diario del 71 e del 72 (Diary of ’71 and ’72)
37. Montale, Auto da fe
38. Tozzi, Il podere
39. Gramsci, Letteratura e vita nazionale (Literature and National Life)
40. Bernari, Tre operai (Three Workers)
41. Buzzati, Il deserto dei Tartari
42. Banti, Artemisia
43. Betti, Corruzione al palazzo di giustizia (Corruption at the Palace of Justice)
44. Gadda, Quer pasticciaccio brutto in via Merulana (That Awful Mess on Via Merulana)
45. Gadda, La cognizione del dolore (Cognition of Pain)
46. Moravia, Gli indifferenti (The Indifferent Ones)
47. Moravia, Agostino
48. Moravia, La noia (Boredom)
49. Vitorini, Conversazione in Sicilia (Conversations in Sicily)
50. Vittorini, Uomini o no (Men and Not Men)
51. Pavese, La casa in collina (The House on the Hill)
52. Pavese, La luna e i falò (Moon and the bonfires)
53. Morante, La Storia (History)
54. Pratolini, Metello
55. Quasimodo, Tutte le poesie (All the poems)
56-67. Dalla scelta di Mengaldo, Poeti italiani del Novecento: Palazzeschi, Gatto, Luzi, Penna, Sereni, Pasolini, Fortini, Zanzotto, Pagliarani, Sanguineti, Porta, Rosselli.
68. Ginzburg, Le voci della sera (Voices of the night)
69. Ginzburg, Lessico famigliare (Family Sayings)
70. Ortese, Il mare non bagna Napoli
71. Bassani, Cinque storie ferraresi (5 Stories of Ferrara)
72. Bassani, Il giardino dei Finzi-Contini (Garden of the Finzi-Continis)
73. Lampedusa, Il gattopardo (The Leopard)
74. Pasolini, Ragazzi di vita (Boys of Life)
75. Sciascia, A ciascuno il suo (To each his own)
76. Calvino, Il sentiero dei nidi di ragno (The path to the Spider’s nest)
77. Calvino, Le cosmicomiche (Cosmicomics)
78. Calvino, Se una notte d'inverno un viaggiatore (If on winter’s night a traveler)
79. Fo, Selections from Le commedie (the Comedies)
80. Malerba, Il serpente (The Serpent)
81. Manganelli, Nuovo commento (New comment)
82. Manganelli, Centuria (100 Ourbouric tales)
83. Consolo, Il sorriso dell'ignoto marinaio (The smile of the unknown mariner)
84. Celati, Le avventure di Guizzardi (Adventures of the Guizzardi)
85. Volponi, Le mosche del capitale (Flies from the capital)
86. Eco, Il nome della rosa (The name of the rose)
87. Tabucchi, Notturno indiano (Indian nights)
88. Tondelli, Camere separate (Separate bedrooms)
89. Del Giudice, Atlante occidentale (Western Atlas)
90. Maraini, La lunga vita di Marianna Ucria (The silent duchess)
91. Vassalli, La chimera (The chimera)
92. Capriolo, Il doppio regno (The double-reign)
93-120 Selections from M. Cucchi, S. Giovanardi (a cura di), Poeti italiani del secondo Novecento, 1945-1995, Milano: Mondadori Editore, 1996.: A. Bertolucci, M. Luzi, G. Carponi, V. Sereni, P. Pasolini, F. Fortini, R. Roversi, L. Erba, R. Scotellaro, M.L.Spaziani, A. Merini, A. Zanzotto, E. Pagliarani, E. Sanguineti, A. Giuliani, N. Balestrini, A. Porta, A. Rosselli, G.Giudici, G. Raboni, C. Viviani, P. Cavalli, V. Zeichen, M. Cucchi, M. De Angelis, G. Conte, V. Magrelli, Patrizia Valduga

Cinema
Visconti: Ossessione (Obsession)
Rossellini: Roma città aperta (Rome open city)
Pasolini: Accattone
Fellini: 8 1/2
Antonioni: L'avventura
Bertolucci: Il conformista