July 2009
237 posts
Why do we tell stories?
Herb and Dorothy →
herbanddorothy.com
Tagline: The incrdible true story of a postal worker and a librarian who built a world-class art collection.
Synopsis: HERB & DOROTHY tells the extraordinary story of Herbert Vogel, a postal clerk, and Dorothy Vogel, a librarian, who managed to build one of the most important contemporary art collections in history with very modest means. In the early 1960s, when very little attention was paid to Minimalist and Conceptual Art, Herb and Dorothy Vogel quietly began purchasing the works of unknown artists. Devoting all of Herb’s salary to purchase art they liked, and living on Dorothy’s paycheck alone, they continued collecting artworks guided by two rules: the piece had to be affordable, and it had to be small enough to fit in their one-bedroom Manhattan apartment. Within these limitations, they proved themselves curatorial visionaries; most of those they supported and befriended went on to become world-renowned artists including Sol LeWitt, Christo and Jeanne-Claude, Richard Tuttle, Chuck Close, Robert Mangold, Sylvia Plimack Mangold, Lynda Benglis, Pat Steir, Robert Barry, Lucio Pozzi, and Lawrence Weiner.
Word of the Day: "missive"
\MIS-iv\ , noun:
1. A written message; a letter.
Origin:
Missive comes from the Medieval French lettre missive, literally, letter intended to be sent; it ultimately derives from Latin missus, past participle of mittere, to send.
— Previous Words of the Day
** 10 points to everyone who reblogs and uses it in a sentence.
sanamivera: 30 pts
girloffscript: 30 pts
Western Aristocracy: 20 pts
stillrandom: 20 pts
whatkatie-said: 10 pts
thepriest: 10 pts
bleed inklings: 10 pts
elethoniel: 10 pts
mrthespork: 10 pts
lemonadediary: 10 pts
Book Review: The Glass Castle
This was a book I picked up completely by accident in at the bookstore. I’m incredibly glad I did.
The book is a detailed, beautifully written and moving memoir that elicits automatic sympathy, and yet Walls writes without self-pity. She seems to stay true to the story and include as much of the background as we need to picture. And indeed, she makes it very easy for the reader to be able to see through their mind’s eye everything she’s talking about. The book also highlights, to me at least, that while we are all born to different advantages and situations, children are, at the core, similar. They fight and laugh and are more resilient than most people give them credit for. It follows Walls from the age of three, when she accidentally sets herself on fire cooking hot dogs, up till the years just before publishing the memoir.
Jeannette Walls’ story is inspirational, without trying to be. I didn’t even think I was going to use that word in this review, but it is. A stark contrast to the other biography I read this summer - John Grogan’s The Longest Trip Home - which I did not enjoy at all. This book, whether a biography or not, is an enthralling read. 4/5 stars.
I think this was on that Top 100 of 2008 list I just reblogged. Hmm, I suppose I’ll have to go read it now …
Book Review: Animal Farm
“The flag was green, Snowball explained, to represent the green fields of England, while the hoof and horn signified the future Republic of the Animals which would arise when the human race had been finally overthrown.” - Animal Farm, George Orwell
The first time I read Animal Farm, I was ten. Needless to say, it was a long time ago and although I’ve been a relatively astute reader since I was 8, I didn’t know the history relevant to understand why Animal Farm is such an important, intelligent novel.
I decided that since I barely remember reading it the first time, it deserved another read, with more knowledge under my belt. For those who aren’t aware of the story, it’s about a farm in which the animals revolt, and take over, running their owner out. Orwell uses the animals and Animal Farm as a metaphor for communists and the Soviet Union. The novel is interesting, the parallels obvious, and the language simple. The impact is enormous. Witnessing the hypocrisy and corruption that inevitably take place makes the reader question government propaganda, amongst other things.
Not much more to say about this novel. Nothing I say will add to its merit. It’s a classic.
I read this for the first time a couple weeks ago and really just had no idea what to say about it. Thanks for putting my thoughts into words, Laala. =P
The top 100 titles of 2008
Updated 1/14/2009 9:49 PM
Compiled from the USA TODAY Best-Selling Books list:
1 Twilight Stephenie Meyer
2 New Moon Stephenie Meyer
3 Breaking Dawn Stephenie Meyer
4 Eclipse Stephenie Meyer
5 A New Earth Eckhart Tolle
6 The Shack William P. Young
7 The Last Lecture Randy Pausch, Jeffrey Zaslow
8 The Tales of Beedle the Bard J.K. Rowling
9 Brisingr Christopher Paolini
10 The Appeal John Grisham
11 Eat, Pray, Love Elizabeth Gilbert
12 Three Cups of Tea Greg Mortenson, David Oliver Relin
13 The Audacity of Hope Barack Obama
14 The Host Stephenie Meyer
15 The Secret Rhonda Byrne
16 Marley & Me John Grogan
17 Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Rodrick Rules Jeff Kinney
18 The Story of Edgar Sawtelle: A Novel David Wroblewski
19 Eat This, Not That! David Zinczenko, Matt Goulding
20 Dreams From My Father Barack Obama
21 Diary of a Wimpy Kid Jeff Kinney
22 Skinny Bitch Rory Freedman, Kim Barnouin
23 The Lucky One Nicholas Sparks
24 The Friday Night Knitting Club Kate Jacobs
25Water for Elephants Sara Gruen
26 Nights in Rodanthe Nicholas Sparks
27 The Kite Runner Khaled Hosseini
28 The Pillars of the Earth Ken Follett
29 The Power of Now Eckhart Tolle
30 The Hollow Nora Roberts
31 The Christmas Sweater Glenn Beck
32 90 Minutes in Heaven: A True Story of Death and Life Don Piper, Cecil Murphey
33 Dewey: The Small-Town Library Cat Who Touched the World Vicki Myron, Brett Witter
34 Nineteen Minutes: A Novel Jodi Picoult
35 Playing for Pizza John Grisham
36 The Other Boleyn Girl Philippa Gregory
37 When You Are Engulfed in Flames David Sedaris
38 Cross Country James Patterson
39 The Road Cormac McCarthy
40 Atonement Ian McEwan
41 The Pagan Stone Nora Roberts
42 A Thousand Splendid Suns Khaled Hosseini
43 The Secret Life of Bees Sue Monk Kidd
44 Fearless Fourteen Janet Evanovich
45 Duma Key: A Novel Stephen King
46 Percy Jackson and the Olympians, Book 4: The Battle of the Labyrinth Rick Riordan
47 StrengthsFinder 2.0 Tom Rath
48 Audition Barbara Walters
49 Outliers: The Story of Success Malcolm Gladwell
50 The Alchemist Paulo Coelho
51 The Innocent Man: Murder and Injustice in a Small Town John Grisham
52 To Kill a Mockingbird Harper Lee
53 What to Expect When You’re Expecting Heidi Murkoff, Sharon Mazel
54 The Tale of Despereaux Kate DiCamillo
55 The Memory Keeper’s Daughter Kim Edwards
56 Into the Wild Jon Krakauer
57 Double Cross James Patterson
58 A Bold Fresh Piece of Humanity Bill O’Reilly
59 Are You There, Vodka? It’s Me, Chelsea Chelsea Handler
60 Watchmen Alan Moore, Dave Gibbons
61 World Without End Ken Follett
62 The Purpose of Christmas Rick Warren
63 Sail James Patterson, Howard Roughan
64 Hot, Flat, and Crowded Thomas Friedman
65 Scarpetta Patricia Cornwell
66 The 6th Target James Patterson, Maxine Paetro
67 Change of Heart Jodi Picoult
68 The Calorie King Calorie, Fat & Carbohydrate Counter 2008 Edition Allan Borushek
69 Just After Sunset: Stories Stephen King
70 Percy Jackson and the Olympians, Book 1: The Lightning Thief Rick Riordan
71 The Good Guy Dean Koontz
72 I Hope They Serve Beerin Hell Tucker Max
73 Twilight: The Complete Illustrated Movie Companion Mark Cotta Vaz
74 American Lion: Andrew Jackson in the White House Jon Meacham
75 My Sister’s Keeper Jodi Picoult
76 The Choice Nicholas Sparks
77 Guinness: World Records 2009 Guinness World Records
78 The Darkest Evening of the Year Dean Koontz
79 High Noon Nora Roberts
80 The Official SAT Study Guide College Board
81 The Glass Castle: A Memoir Jeannette Walls
82 7th Heaven James Patterson, Maxine Paetro
83 Barefoot Contessa Back to Basics Ina Garten
84 Goodnight Moon Board Book Margaret Wise Brown, art by Clement Hurd
85 Wicked Gregory Maguire
86 Bratfest at Tiffany’s: The Clique #9 Lisi Harrison
87 Oh, the Places You’ll Go! Dr. Seuss
88 Sundays at Tiffany’s James Patterson, Gabrielle Charbonnet
89 Green Eggs and Ham Dr. Seuss
90 You’ve Been Warned James Patterson, Howard Roughan
91 Book of the Dead Patricia Cornwell
92 Artemis Fowl: The Time Paradox Eoin Colfer
93 Love the One You’re With Emily Giffin
94 Dead Until Dark Charlaine Harris
95 The Catcher in the Rye J.D. Salinger
96 The Love Dare Stephen Kendrick, Alex Kendrick
97 The Book Thief Markus Zusak
98 The Five Love Languages Gary Chapman
99 Marked P.C. Cast, Kristin Cast
100 Step on a Crack James Patterson, Michael Ledwidge
I have read only the bolded titles…I need to read more current titles!
I have read: Twilight; New Moon; Eclipse; Breaking Dawn (first half anyway); The Last Lecture; Tales of Beedle the Bard; Eat, Pray, Love; The Secret (mostly); Skinny Bitch (parts of); The Kite Runner; Pillars of the Earth; The Alchemist; To Kill a Mocking Bird; The Memory Keeper’s Daughter; Watchmen; World Without End; The Official SAT Study Guide (does this one count?); Wicked; Oh, the Places You’ll Go!; Sunday’s at Tiffany’s; Green Eggs and Ham; The Catcher in the Rye
I wonder how many of these were actually published in 2008.
Word of the Day: "polyglot"
\POL-ee-glot\ , adjective:
1. Containing or made up of several languages.
2. Writing, speaking, or versed in many languages.
noun:
1.One who speaks several languages.
Origin:
Polyglot derives from Greek polyglottos, from poly-, “many” + glotta, “tongue, language.”
— Previous Words of the Day
** 10 points to everyone who reblogs and uses it in a sentence.
sanamivera: 30 pts
Western Aristocracy: 20 pts
girloffscript: 20 pts
stillrandom: 20 pts
whatkatie-said: 10 pts
thepriest: 10 pts
bleed inklings: 10 pts
elethoniel: 10 pts
mrthespork: 10 pts
So a man wearing a plastic lei just walked into the library. It must be hard when your outfit says “Party all the time,” but your location says, “Quiet, please.”
Nice. Though libraries around here have stopped with the “quiet please” motto/regulations.
Excuses, Excuses: An Excerpt from "Teacher Man" →
neatorama.com
Excerpt from Angela’s Ashes author Frank McCourt’s memoir Teacher Man
Excerpt of excerpt (click link for full excerpt):
Isn’t it remarkable, I thought, how the students whined and said it was hard putting 200 words together on any subject? But when they forged excuse notes, they were brilliant. The notes I had could be turned into an anthology of Great American Excuses. They were samples of talent never mentioned in song, story or study. [… .]
How could I have ignored this treasure trove, these gems of fiction and fantasy? Here was American high school writing at its best—raw, real, urgent, lucid, brief, and lying.
“This is the first class to study the art of the excuse note—the first class, ever, to practice writing them. You’re so lucky to have a teacher like me who has taken your best writing and turned it into a subject worthy of study.”
Everyone smiled as I went on, “You didn’t settle for the old alarm clock story. You used your imaginations. One day you might be writing excuses for your own children when they’re late or absent or up to some devilment. So try it now. Imagine you have a 15-year-old who needs an excuse for falling behind in English. Let it rip.”
————
My father used to write me the best absence notes when I was in high school. My favorite ever was one that began with “Please excuse my daughter’s absence. She did not attend class due to (choose one):” followed by eight or ten possible explanations ranging from the mundane—“she was ill”—to the absurd—“the fascist regime of the administration.” I can’t imagine how much fun a project like the one described in Teacher Man would be, but I so look forward to the day that I’ll be writing excuse notes for my own children. =)
“Finish each day and be done with it. You have done what you could. Some blunders and absurdities no doubt crept in; forget them as soon as you can. Tomorrow is a new day; begin it well and serenely and with too high a spirit to be cumbered with your old nonsense.”
—
Ralph Waldo Emerson (via wasim) (via quote-book) (via johnnylegends)
Every day of my 8th grade year, we were required to stand as a class and recite this quote for my history teacher. Also, isn’t it supposed to be “encumbered with your old nonsense?”
“I only care about the words that flutter from your mind. They are the only thing you truly own. The only thing I will remember you by. I will not fall in love with your bones and skin. I will not fall in love with the places you have been. I will not fall in love with anything but the words that flutter from your extraordinary mind.”
—Andre Jordan (Stolen from elethoniel)
azaztheunabridged
First. I am now following you because Phantom Tollbooth is my favorite book, therefore I can tell right away from your tumblr name that you must be a totally awesome and amazing person, truly worth following. (Try not to let me down. =P )
Second. My sister’s name is Kristina. I don’t think it’s upstart-y at all. =( But I do understand why you wouldn’t want to have to change the spelling of your name after years and years of going by Christina.
I have a proposition, and it goes as follows:
I propose that we expel the letter ‘c’ from the English language. Kome on, think about it. It serves almost no purpose exsept to konfuse and irritate. Whenever the word in question requires a hard ‘c’ sound, simply replase the obnoxious little letter with a ‘k.’ And when a soft ‘c’ is expekted, replace with an ‘s.’ Really not that diffikult. Imagine how much easier it would be to teach children the proper pronunsiation of such words as ‘sirkle.’ Much, much easier, no?
Oh, wait. But what about the ‘ch’ sound. Well, that is a kunundrum. Hmm, how about this?—We simple replace ‘ch’ with some other karakter. I know! The tilde (no one uses that one anyway.) So now that pesky ‘ch’-ridden sentence in my first paragraph would be written: “Imagine how mu~ easier it would be to tea~ ~ildren the proper pronunsiation of su~ words as ‘sirkli.’” Ah, yes … mu~, mu~ better.
Who’s with me?
“i suppose a cry does us all good at times—clears the air as other rain does.”
—bram stoker, dracula. (via paperbackgirl)
Word of the Day: "rusticate"
\RUHS-tih-kayt\ , intransitive verb:
1. To go into or reside in the country; to pursue a rustic life.
transitive verb:
1. To require or compel to reside in the country; to banish or send away temporarily.
2. (Chiefly British). To suspend from school or college.
3. To build with usually rough-surfaced masonry blocks having beveled or rebated edges producing pronounced joints.
4. To lend a rustic character to; to cause to become rustic.
Origin:
Rusticate comes from the past participle of Latin rusticari, “to live in the country,” from rusticus, “rural, rustic,” from rus, “the country.”
— Previous Words of the Day
** 10 points to everyone who reblogs and uses it in a sentence.
Western Aristocracy: 20 pts
sanamivera: 20 pts
whatkatie-said: 10 pts
girloffscript: 10 pts
thepriest: 10 pts
bleed inklings: 10 pts
stillrandom: 10 pts
What/who is your favorite band, group, singer?
Not book related, but I need to broaden my music awareness. Thanks.
heymikewaskom
I just wanted to say “hey,” Mike Waskom.
What would be the title of the book about your life?
Litrags
Not sure to whom your comment on distantheartbeats‘ On the Road review was directed, but I would love to read your short story. You can e-mail me at atwistofgoodness@gmail.com if you’d like. I hope you will.
- Bri
Book Review: On the Road
” ‘Let me tell you more,’ I said, ‘and only as a parenthesis within what you’re saying and to conclude my last thought.’ ” - On the Road, Jack Kerouac
I think I loved that line more than anything else, I would’ve read the entire book, even if it was horrible, just to read a line like that.
Just finished reading On the Road. It actually took me a while to get through, because I kept dipping out and reading other books. I finished three books while I was reading this. I’m glad I finally got round to reading it, and I must stress that every reader must at some point.
I won’t gush too much, but I will say it was a nice, refreshing read, and that even all these years after it was published, no one writes like Kerouac. I felt an affinity with Sal that I didn’t get with Dean, I couldn’t fully understand why Sal would rush after him and admire him so much. I liked the language and the bustle, the repetitions with words, for instance the word ‘sweat’, which may have been used more than conjunctions (I exaggerate, of course). As I got to Part Three, I did feel like the book went a bit long, but I did genuinely enjoy it and it did make me want to rush to my computer and finish all the poems and short stories and novels I was working on. 4/5 stars, I reckon. Maybe 4.5?
My father has been trying to get me to read this book since I was about 12. One day his wish that I read it will be fulfilled.
Word of the Day: "denouement"
\day-noo-MAWN\ , noun:
1. The final resolution of the main complication of a literary or dramatic work.
2. The outcome of a complex sequence of events.
Origin:
Denouement is from French, from Old French denoer, “to untie,” from Latin de- + nodare, “to tie in a knot,” from nodus, “a knot.”
— Previous Words of the Day
** 10 points to everyone who reblogs and uses it in a sentence.
Western Aristocracy: 20 pts
sanamivera: 10 pts
whatkatie-said: 10 pts
Anyone good with skins/themes or whatever?
That would be willing to rework my current tumblr theme (Penguin Theme) so that I can have a side box with a section where I can add some links and include a search box? If not, anyone care to recommend a theme that has these two capabilities but that might also be book/library related?
“He was an American; he wanted to be supreme but ordinary, a tycoon and a regular guy, an author and a reader.”
—Suspects by David Thomson (found at Ninja Chipmunks United)
Turn your favorite Wikipedia articles into a real, tangible book. →
techcrunch.com
Finally! Now I can take my favorite Wikipedia articles with me wherever I go:
NYT Article: "Target Can Make Sleepy Titles Into Best Sellers " →
tumblr.com
Note to self: When publishing first book, make deal with Target.
“Death must be so beautiful. To lie in the soft brown earth, with the grasses waving above one’s head, and listen to silence. To have no yesterday, and no to-morrow. To forget time, to forgive life, to be at peace.”
—Oscar Wilde (via anthonymichaelrojas)
“What is the use of a book, without pictures or conversations?”
—Alice; Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carrol
book →
stumbleupon.com
“For thirty-six weeks, a sketchbook was sent in random order between four artists: two in Brooklyn, two in Belfast.
Every Wednesday, one participant would recieve book. The following Monday it was sent out, giving each artist five days to complete a spread in response to the one that proceeded it.
A small portion of each entry extends on to the following page. Beyond this, there was no communication between the artists concerning the content of book during its making.
book’s first trip aross the Atlantic was on 2 June 2003. Its final trip was on 2 February 2004. By the time it was completed, book had traveled over sixty thousand miles.”
booksshouldbefree.com →
booksshouldbefree.com
Free audio books as downloadable mp3s
Alternate endings of the Harry Potter series →
windypundit.com
A short description of alternate endings for the Harry Potter series had they been written by such storytellers as George Lucas, Dean Koontz, Joss Whedon, and more.
“Books are not made for furniture, but there is nothing else that so beautifully furnishes a house.”
—Henry Ward Beecher
