Vox

WOWIO

I haven't been checking Cox & Forkum lately, since they have basically shut down the blog. Fortunately, I still have them in my RSS reader. I didn't find this right away - but I am glad I didn't miss it completely.

They are giving away their books for FREE!

Bonus, once you sign up for WOWIO, you have access to a very large catalog of other free books for download.

Wow, indeed.

R.I.P. - Kurt Vonnegut

Kurt Vonnegut, Jr passed away Wednesday at the age of 84.

Vonnegut is one of the first authors I have a clear recollection of reading. That point where you seek out additional works by one writer, rather than just continuing in a genre. I found him through my brother, usually referenced here as TCHOTP (The Coolest Human On The Planet) - basically, anything he read or listened to or thought was cool in any way, I had to experience, as well. If it was in his record collection, I was listening to it. If it was on his bookshelf, I was reading it. Rush, Devo, E.L.O., Asimov, Sturgeon...

And Vonnegut.

His Welcome to the Monkey House collection introduced me to several ideas that still ring true. I remember clearly the message I perceived from Harrison Bergeron, about a society that tries to ensure complete equality by handicapping in some way those who are stronger and/or brighter. I remember the sweetness of the patient romance in Who Am I This Time? The silliness of Tom Edison's Shaggy Dog....

And who can forget him as Kurt Vonnegut in Back to School? ;-)

UPDATE: From the New York Times obit, a quote from "God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater"

Hello, babies. Welcome to Earth. It’s hot in the summer and cold in the winter. It’s round and wet and crowded. At the outside, babies, you’ve got about a hundred years here. There’s only one rule that I know of, babies — ‘God damn it, you’ve got to be kind.’

Shopgirl

I recently saw the film Shopgirl and have been intending to review it over at my Word Of Mouth Blog. I figured, though, that I would review the book at the same time. Realizing how long it has been since I read it (at least 5 years) I decided to read it again to give the most thorough review. I LOVE the way Steve Martin writes, the way he presents his characters, the way he caresses their emotions.......


Anyway, I am not doing the review yet, but simply posting a paragraph that has stuck with me for the last week:

He continues his quest elsewhere for a single appropriate love with occasional dates, road trips, and flirtations, but he continues to care about Mirabelle in a way he cannot explain. His love for her is not the crazy love he expects to feel, the swinging delirious rhapsody that he has promised himself. This love is of a different kind, and he searches his mind for definition. Meanwhile, he maintains a belief that their relationship can go on undisturbed until the absolute right woman comes along, and then he will calmly tell Mirabelle and she will see clearly how well he has handled everything, and wish him well, and congratulate him on his reasonable thinking.

That hits soooo close to home, as I know (or have known) many men (and a couple of women) who feel this way. It doesn't matter how good of a relationship they are in, they are always sure they are missing something better. Often these are the same people who don't look for a better situation in any other part of their life; work, home, finances. In those areas they are perfectly content to settle in where they are, but in relationships they are never satisfied, thus ensuring that the relationships fail, and causing undeserved pain and damage to their (in)significant other along the way.

Is This Ironic?

Oprah's last book club pick, touted as a wholly factual autobiography, was A Million Little Pieces. She apparently doesn't have a problem with the fact that it was in fact a big work of fiction (and had it been presented as such, I would have no problem, either).

Now she has picked Elie Wiesel's autobiographical novel 'Night', though careful to note that it is a novelized account of his experiences. Wiesel, I believe, never presented the book as anything else, but many others have since it's publication.

So, she follows up a book presented as fact that turned out to be fiction, with a book generally accepted as fact, though widely known to be fiction (or at least fictionalized - probably more facts than Frey's book).

Rainbows

I stopped by Barnes & Noble today to pick up a book. Yeah, that'll happen. So I ended up with several, one of which is Feynman's Rainbow: A Search For Beauty in Physics and in Life. I am looking forward to reading this one - and it is all my brother's fault. He turned me into a Feynman fan early in life by introducing me to this book, Surely You're Joking, Mr Feynman, a book I think everyone should read, not just those interested in science. The way he embraced life and learning was is beyond inspirational. I used to dream about meeting him just so I could shake his hand....

Also worth reading (OK, all his books are worth reading) is What Do You Care What Other People Think?. I'll let you know how this new book I got stands up as it is only about Feynman, not by him.

I also got a book of quotations, which I certainly don't need - I have shelves of quotation books and can find just about anything I need online. But it was on the clearance rack...so it was cheap.. and there might be something new there, some hidden gem....

And two computer books, one of which I went in for. And a design book, another of which I don't need. And I have so much time for reading........

 
UPDATE: I typed in quite a bit from the Feynman book because I found it "wondrous and magical" and wanted to share it. In the first chapter the author, Leonard Mlodinow, captures what it is that captured me about Feynman specifically - and physics generally. Unfortunately, a pop-up ate IE and I lost it. I am in no mood to retype it at this time. You will either have to trust me or get the book and read it for yourself. It starts on page 10, about halfway down.

Entertainment Reviews

Recent movies we watched...

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban:
I liked this one, for all the reasons I enjoy the Harry Potter stories. Unfortunately, having read the book, this movie fell short - not just for what they left out but for the whole feeling of the flick. Though still quite an amusing film it suffers in comparison to the first two - just not up to par.
Still; it's a Harry Potter movie, the young stars are great, the story is intriguing. If I was not familiar with the original story, or the first two films, it would be getting a higher rating.

Shrek 2: A movie that survives as a sequel. Loved all the references to other films, love Mike Meyers and Eddie Murphy, love John Cleese and Julie Andrews. Don't get why they needed Cameron Diaz in the part, let alone paying her $20 million to do it - she doesn't bring anything extra to the role. We laughed straight through, I would definitely watch this one again. And again.

And my most recent book read...

The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold: How do you make a beautiful story out of the rape and murder of a 14 year old girl? You let Alice Sebold write it. I bought this book a while back but hadn't had the guts to dig in - just couldn't wrap my mind around the premise. I needn't have worried. Though there are a couple of missteps, or rather "unnecessary detours" which I will discuss in more since they are spoilers, all in all it is a wonderful ride. I have not yet decided whether to recommend this to my sister, as the Heaven presented here is not the one she believes in. But the way it follows the characters and their different grieving processes is remarkable. Those type of questions cost it on the word of mouth scale, which you may remember is based not on how good the product is but on how likely I am to recommend it to my family & friends.

SPOILERS FOR THE LOVELY BONES

Why did Susie's mom have to hook up with Fenerman? Especially where/when she did - didn't add to the story at all.

Why did Ruth & Susie have to switch? or Accepting that, why would Susie, who was killed at 14 and tells us she never grows up as she sees her sister doing, want nothing more than to have sex with Ray? What in her heavenly existence would lead her to that?

Wizards and Muggles and Creatures, Oh My!

Now that Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix is available in paperback I will be reading it (never really got into hard cover books...) I picked up my copy today. That is one big a** book.

I'll let you know how it goes, if I can find the time to read it

Humbert Humbert

Lori started a bloggers book club this summer aimed at getting back to the classics. Last month they read The Sun Also Rises and, not being much in the frame of mind for Hemingway, I passed.

This month, however, the selection is Lolita and I can't resist. As Lori says, we are a bunch of dirty bloggers. I have never read this book, never seen either of the movies, so I am a blank slate. If you are interested in joining us, head on over to DownTown Chick Chat for the guidelines.

I went to Barnes & Noble to pick up my copy (dangerous place for me) and decided on the annotated version because, frankly, I don't know French. I like the idea of just jumping to the back and having the translation. But is it cheating? We'll see what the group says. Of course, if I was smart and fiscally responsible I would have followed her lead and gone to the library.

While at Barnes & Noble I checked out their 50% off clearance table where I got a beautiful hardcover copy of The Federalist for only $4.50 ~ woo-hoo. Problem, need to read my book club book and I am very excited to read "the famous papers on the principles of American government" ... I'll have to hide it from myself.

Christmas List

Yes, I am a book lover.

No, I don't want this.

Unbelievable

Germaine Greer, the anti-woman, has outdone herself with a book that is a pedophile's dream.

Read about it at Right Thinking

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Liberty

This may be a bit overstated, but it may explain why these books appeal to me - and so many others.

(Hat tip to Slightly Off Center)

Hrrmmph....

Done with Goblet of Fire.

Yes, it was a very good book. Yes, I look forward to Order of the Phoenix. But...

One of my pet peeves (yes, another one) is complex story lines that get sorted out by having one of the characters suddenly confess [as in this book] or remember [as in the movie Conspiracy Theory]. It seems sloppy, or perhaps lazy, to me - as if the author was unable to unravel their storyline.

So, we have hints dropped throughout the story but she isn't quite able to fit them all together on their own. I thought it was a strong enough story to stand on it's own - if she could have brought those plot points out in a more natural progression. Instead, our heroes use truth serum on the villian and he tells them everything. In this book she actually used several no-no's, or at least variants, from the Evil Overlord List (#6, 7, 10, 11, 18, 24, 34, 37, 47, 55, 62, 73, 75, 78, 91, 93)

All in all it was a great story. Other than that one chapter, it was pretty tightly written. The book is over 700 pages as it is - maybe she just wanted to wrap it up.

3 down...

Another Harry Potter book finished! Just got done with The Prisoner of Azkaban.

I didn't enjoy this one quite as much as the others, but considering how much I enjoyed the first two that leaves a lot of room. It was a very good book.

My complaints:

• More of this book was predictable to me. The first two left me wondering what was coming next, parts of this one just left me wondering how she would get to the next predictable plot point. I'd rather not know what's around the corner. There was still plenty here to hold my interest and now I am looking forward to The Goblet of Fire.
• The ending seemed a bit slow. It felt as though she wasn't sure how to wrap it all up.

I hope to rent Chamber of Secrets this week to see how it compares to the book.....

Bewitched

Well, another Harry Potter book down.

I finished up Chamber of Secrets today, now I can rent the movie.

Also rented Sorcerer's Stone to watch today, so I was reading the second story while I was watching the first. That sort of thing always throws the boyfriend ~ I find that men aren't much for multi-tasking.

Guess I'll try to find the third book this weekend. Light, quick reading - perfect for summer!

Enchanted

Having decided a while ago that I don't spend enough time reading fiction, I set out to change that. I do enjoy the biographies, text books and how-to's that I usually read, but that is not purely for pleasure. Something about getting lost in someone else's imagined story is just frivolous - and magnificent.

It took me a bit to choose, but I decided to go all out - light and complete fantasy. Having been told (by many of you) how wonderful the Harry Potter series is, I picked up The Sorcerer's Stone this week.

I had seen this movie so I assumed I wouldn't get caught up in the twists and turns. I know how this all turns out, after all. What a pleasant surprise to be pulled in enough to want to see it played out on the page! It was even fun wondering why the movie makers changed certain things and left out others. I must say it was a brilliant bit of fluff laced with some wonderful lessons - a good way to jump back on the fiction train.

Of course, now I have to finish the series. I will start on Chamber of Secrets right away. BTW: I haven't seen that movie.