Netflix for books Monday, Jun 25 2007

I just signed up with this thing called booksfree.com, which advertises itself as “netflix for books.” Now, their inventory seems fine and I would appreciate a resolution to the twin problems of not being able to fit any more books in myself and not being able to get it together to visit the library during library hours. But their recommendations are very supermarket novel-rific, so I would love any advice as to what to put on my queue. Here’s what I have so far, in no special order:

• Bleak House by Chas. Dickens. We have this already, but it is so old and dusty that I have an allergy attack every time I open it.
• Wifey by Judy Blume. I read one of her other novels for adults, which was all about hot-tub divorcees in 1980s Colorado, and found it vaguely mortifying. Still, I have high hopes for this since it is from the apex of her distinguished career and has such an awesome name.
• Memories of My Melancholy Whores by Gabriel Garcia Marquez. This was universally panned by book reviewers when it came out, and I suspect it is a reworking of short stories I’ve already read, but I am sure it is at least competitive with the Judy Blume.
• The Diary of Samuel Pepys, 1660. There were funny excerpts from this in the very excellent “84 Charing Cross Road,” a book (like “Taking Care of Terrific!”) that I really enjoyed as a young lady. I bought a copy once that turned out to be abridged in this horrible way so that I could never figure out what was happening in his life.
• Persuasion by Jane Austen. I didn’t like Jane Austen in college, but figure I should give it another chance since I have developed such a taste for boring-ness in the past few years.
• The Road by Cormac McCarthy. I don’t know, Oprah says it’s good.
• The Beautiful and the Damned by F. Scott Fitzgerald. I don’t see how I could’ve possibly missed this excellently-titled tome in my flapper and debauchery-obsessed younger years, but I don’t recall reading it.
• Madame de Pompadour by Nancy Mitford. Another wonderful title! I binged on the Mitford sisters earlier this year; I highly recommend Nancy’s “The Pursuit of Love” and “Love in a Cold Climate” and the book of Jessica’s letters that came out earlier this year. I have high hopes for this book, which is apparently a biography of some French aristocrat.

OK, are these going to be any good? What else should I put on the list? Please advise.

2 Responses »

 

July Glamour! Thursday, Jun 21 2007

The only thing you need to know from July’s issue of Glamour is this tidbit from one of the girl-on-the-street sidebars: Always put sunscreen on your upper lip! This girl’s mom didn’t and got hyperpigmentation that looked like a mustache! The horror!! One more thing to worry about, but now you know. I am sure this will be forever seared in your memory as it is mine.

Leave a Response »

 

Taking Care of Terrific Thursday, Jun 21 2007

Hello everyone, I am back with my report on Taking Care of Terrific. I hope you are all keeping up with the reading now that there are 2 of us and we have been reading so much lately. TCoT is an easy one to knock off but incredibly rewarding as I will explain.

It is great to read a book that so completely reflects one’s world view, but it is also hard to say if you in the audience will enjoy it as much. It is like the best, smartest students I’ve ever had–are they really the best and the smartest or are they simply on my wavelength? Deep down I think they are the best and the smartest and they are just like me (ha-ha!) and that is what I think about this book too. The other question is, since I read this book before at a somewhat impressionable age, did TCoT form my whole personality? In any case, Enid/Cynthia says many things that I still say many times per day such as scathing/funny snap judgments of typical parents and sticking up for bums in the park.

I don’t want to give the story away even to other people who read it before because it is full of little bits you will have forgotten. But I will just say that it is a good book if any of the below apply:

-you had or longed for a rad babysitter when you were little

-you were or longed to be a rad babysittter

-your parents kind of sucked while trying to do their best

-you were able to or longed to roam around a big city by yourself when you were younger

-you like touristy things, big city parks, or community organizing

-if you liked the end of Lost in Translation.

I know the last one is weird but what they have in common is cross-generational, extra-familial friendship, which I think is very important and underrated.

Although it is written for kids younger than 14 the writing is just fine and has lots of sophisticated things that 14 year olds these days probably wouldn’t get right off the bat but they would be able to learn about. For those of us that are now in a position to hire a babysitter while we go to harpsichord lessons, it is an excellent gut check to see if we have gone over to the dark side or not. Personally I would be thrilled to have Enid take my little angel to the park for a few hours a day.

One Response »

 

Looking down on us: The Potrero View delivers to SOMA Saturday, Jun 16 2007

When I lived in Potrero Hill, the Potrero View had these funny posters that said: “Don’t let Potrero Hill Become Another South Beach!” A noble sentiment, and on the whole I agree with them, but I think it is funny that now they are soliciting business in the neighborhood they so revile: I noticed newspaper boxes on King St. the other day, and now I am getting issues in the mail.

OK, so what’s going on with the old neighborhood? A new food and wine store run by a nice-seeming family opened on 23rd and De Haro. This would have rocked my world! Environmental racism, which has always been a big deal in the neighborhood because of PG&E, etc. People have been walking over the hill from the projects and breaking into cars (this happened to us at least twice that I can think of) and, my favorite, Carole Migden pens a column about all of the good things she has done while in office. Ms. Migden has been on the defensive ever since her little car accident. In general, I have always enjoyed the View’s propaganda columns by local politicians. They make me feel like an important constituent.

In sum, I like the View. Also, I am trying to write kickier titles for my posts, as per the chief’s marketing advice. How is that working out for me?

One Response »

 

Pre-review? Tuesday, Jun 12 2007

Taking Care of Terrific by Lois Lowry

I am hoping this book, which I just ordered off Amazon, is as good as I remember. The layers of nostalgia are legion. It’s about a girl who gets a job babysitting this little kid all summer and they spend all their time in the Boston Public Gardens. I have never been to Boston but there are these Swan Boats there, which I think are just pedal boats that look like swans. The girl and the little boy get involved/start? some kind of revolt with the homeless people and other park freaks to bring back root beer popsicles. I’m sure you can see where I am going with this. I am going to read it at Lake Merritt and probably cry. I’ll keep you posted when I actually read it.

One Response »

 

Three Books Sunday, Jun 10 2007

The Yacoubian Building by Alaa Al Aswany

This is one of those books with a big cast of characters of all social classes whose lives intersect in exciting ways, in this case all in one apartment building. It was very interesting and educational for me because it takes place in Cairo during the first Gulf War and I didn’t know anything about that. I think it would be even better if you did know something about Egypt, which must be true because the Egyptians liked it too–it was the best selling novel there for years, the biggest budgeted Egyptian movie ever, etc. Lots of money and sex because that’s what makes the world go round.

The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls

This is one of those true, miserable childhood books. My mom and some other lady from her book group read it in one sitting. I was able to pull myself away but it is a page-turner. Little Jeannette’s parents are nonconformist bohemians and they have some major issues. The dad is a terrible alcoholic, and the mom starts off just a little kooky but you can see that dealing with the dad just makes her so tired that she can’t deal with the rest of the family, which leads her to doing shit like eating a king-size Hershey bar by herself when the kids are seriously starving. The kids rise to the occasion and find ways to survive. One touching thing is that after the family moves to the father’s Appalachian childhood hometown, Jeannette ends up under the wing of her father’s old English teacher, after whom Jeannette is actually named.

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time by Mark Haddon

RC pointed out that everyone loves a book with a mentally handicapped protagonist and/or narrator. But in case you don’t, don’t write off this book right away. The narrator is a teenaged autistic kid who is very good at math and very aware of how he is different from other people but the main thing is he decides to write a mystery novel inspired by actual events on his street. The “special” effects (like the chapters are numbered only in prime numbers, and there are lots of funny diagrams) actually make it more like those Jonathan Safran Foer books in which the narrator also has some highly quirky style that is not necessarily the author’s.

Shout out to the suburban ladies–all these books were previous Mom’s book club selections, and they all rock! Way to pick ‘em! If all books were this good, I would read more books and less crap magazines. In case you are wondering, I would rank these #1–Yacoubian, #2–Dog, #3–Castle. Bonne lecture!

One Response »