"Reading Is Fundamental" Literacy Program in Danger
If you're about my age (39, that is) the commercials and reading programs for the nonprofit program RIF - Reading is Fundamental - are probably as vivid a childhood memory for you as they are for me. Not only were they played during Sesame Street and the Electric Company, but they were part of the reading films we saw in...
Books
[76 entries.]
Books I Got for Christmas 2007
Part of the awesome loot I got this holiday season from my family. The Daring Book for Girls by Andrea J. Buchanan and Miriam Peskowitz The Best of MAKE Magazine by Mark Frauenfelder and Gareth Branwyn Guerrilla Gardening: A Manualfesto by David Tracey Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season Eight, Volume 1: The Long Way Home by Joss Whedon Readymades: American...
Books, Books, Books
This past weekend, Stephanie and I went to my company's warehouse employee book sale. This is where they lay out all the returned stock from bookstores and let us purchase it at a steep discount, which means that it doesn't need to get recycled or trashed. It's one of the great perks of my job for book lovers like us,...
J.K. Rowling: Dumbledore was gay.
According to the Sydney Morning Herald: Harry Potter fans, the rumours are true: Albus Dumbledore, master wizard and Headmaster of Hogwarts, is gay. JK Rowling, author of the mega-selling fantasy series, outed the beloved character today while appearing before a full house at Carnegie Hall in New York. After reading briefly from the final book, Harry Potter and the Deathly...
kerouac
Louis Menand in the New Yorker, on kerouac... Kerouac credited the inspiration for the scroll to Cassady--specifically, to a long letter, supposedly around thirteen thousand words, that Cassady wrote over several days (he was on speed) in December, 1950. This is known as the "Joan letter," because its ostensible subject is a girlfriend of Cassady's named Joan Anderson. But the...
What To Read, What To Read
So, I'm trying to pick out what books to take on our cruise next week. Because of course that's the most important thing to pack; clothes can just be plucked from the basket and chucked into the suitcase willy nilly the day before we leave, but reading requires some actual planning. (Now if this sounds like I have my priorities...
Also, some great Harry Potter fan fiction
Please for to read this, is Vry Funny....
Pandagon's Harry Potter Thread
The Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows discussion over on Pandagon - The Life and Loves of Severus Snape - is a thing to be hold, weighing in a something like 892 comments so far (including mine, added below the fold here). Including some excellent dissection of the book, the series, the author, and an interesting discussion of its place...
the college professor in modern literature and film
After reading Zadie Smith's "On Beauty" for bookclub, I found this article from the American Scholar on the college professor as portrayed in modern literature and film interesting: The absentminded professor, that kindly old figure, is long gone. A new image has taken his place, one that bespeaks not only our culture’s hostility to the mind, but also its desperate...
Rejected Openings for Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows
From theonering.net One morning, when Harry Potter woke from troubled dreams, he found himself transformed in his bed into a horrible vermin. It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single wizard in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wand. The sky above Privet Drive was the color of television, tuned to a dead channel....
David Sedaris Exaggerates!
The New Republic comes out with a world-rocking revelation: David Sedaris embellishes his humorous non-fiction memoirs. Um, no shit, Sherlock. You needed to write an article to tell us this? He's a humor writer. I sort of figured out he was gilding the lily on my own, thanks. As if any one person has that much funny shit just happen...
The Secret, Oprah, and the idea of "magical thinking"
Somewaterytart at Shakespeare's Sister tackles the subject of the new DVD/Book "The Secret" that Oprah's been touting. I'm inclined to agree with much of what she says. I first heard about the book from my mom, who works for Barnes and Noble, where the book is apparently flying off the shelves, so I resisted blurting out "That sounds nuts!" but...
Song of Ice and Fire to be HBO Mini-Series
According to George R.R. Martin's blog, and according to Variety: HBO turns 'Fire' into fantasy series HBO has acquired the rights to turn George R.R. Martin's bestselling fantasy series "A Song of Fire & Ice" into a dramatic series to be written and exec produced by David Benioff and D.B. Weiss. "Fire" is the first TV project for Benioff ("Troy")...
David Foster Wallace
All the hipsters were reading him, so I actually talked my book group into reading one of his early works - Broom of the System -- or as I call it "Broom of the Fucking System." I actually read the whole thing thinking that sooner or later there actually had to be a plot there, or something. Yeah, right. Talk...
The number 8 rabbit
The white rabbit with the number eight on it from Lost is in Stephen King's book "On Writing." I haven't read a whole lot of Stephen King, so I don't know if it's a plot point in one of his fiction novels also....
More Gatsby
“Self-control!” Repeated Tom incredulously. “I suppose the latest thing is to sit back and let Mr. Nobody from Nowhere make love to your wife. Well, if that’s the idea you can count me out. . . . Nowadays people begin by sneering at family life and family institutions, and next they’ll throw everything overboard and have intermarriage between black...
National Novel Writing Month
National Novel Writing Month is November 1st, and the sign-up for it begins this Friday October 1st (I managed to skip the entire month of September in my head). One of my friends participated in the past and is going to again this year. Here's the scoop: National Novel Writing Month is a fun, seat-of-your-pants approach to novel writing. Participants...
English "Non-Errors" Examined
I blogged a link yesterday to a site of "Non-Errors" in English -- discussion of some language rules that the site argues are not really valid rules of language today. The link is making the rounds of popular blog sites, which is how I picked up on it. I sent it to Stephanie, who is my definitive source for all...
Social Networking for Bookworms
The Wall Street Journal writes about a new social networking site called LibraryThing.com -- for people to create catalogs of their books. Similar to software like Booxter or Delicious Library, you record all of your books in a cataloging data set. But in this case the database is stored online, and is shared with other users. The software is free...
Books that caught my eye
Stephanie and I went to the bookstore last night so she could use a gift certificate she received, and I wrote down a bunch of interesting books that I intend to either buy, check out from the library, or investigate further at some point in the future. Let me know if you've read any of them and if they're worth...
Interesting Book: "Not Buying It: My Year Without Shopping"
This is a book I'll be picking up a copy of, eventually: Not Buying It : My Year Without Shopping, by Judith Levine. Levine takes the plunge and attempts to not purchase anything for a year, documenting her endeavor in the process. I believe she made an exception for food and "necessities" but defining what was a necessary was...
Stakeout on Millennium Drive
I hate throwing in the towel on books. I feel guilty if I can't get through one, and I will struggle to the end of even the most difficult stuff. And I wanted to like Stakeout on Millennium Drive; I really did. It is, after all, a book set in Indianapolis, by a native writer, Ian Woollen. We just don't...
Photoshop Hacks: Choose Your Own Adventure Novels
My brother Todd had a ton of the Choose Your Own Adventure novels (the early version of video games). Check out Something Awful's photoshop contest for "Rejected CYOA Books." My favorites are "Don't Bother, You Die In Most of the Endings Anyway" and "Everyone Wants to Touch My Giant Snake and Jewels." Also: "Shrödinger's Cat. Choose from 2 possible endings."...
"The Kiterunner" does not contain "pornography"
Some (idiot moron) parents in Lawrence Township schools are objecting to the book "The Kiterunner" being assigned in class, because they claim there is a scene that is "pornographic" in it. The Kiterunner is a story of children living in contemporary Afghanistan, and is a wonderful, amazing book. It is, unfortunately, fairly true to life, and there is violence and...
Quad Cities Censorship
This is an interesting article in the Quad City Times, about a book called "The Misfits" that was banned at the elementary school level in the Quad Cities. “I knew I had all of those signs of being gay, and I couldn’t make sense of it,” said Howe, who wrote “The Misfits,” a book about four kids and their battle...
Literary Terms I Like
From Benet's Readers Encyclopedia
2006 Library Booksale Schedule
Courtesy my friend Melissa, here's the schedule for the library sales in 2006. Not that I need any more books than I already have. That has to be one of my New Years Resolutions: no buying books other than for Book Club. Holy crap! They have an online zShop at Amazon.com, too....
New Yorker Article on P. L. Travers
New Yorker article discusses how much author P. L. Travers dislike the movie version of her Mary Poppins book, even though it made her rich. In examining some details about Travers' life, it become evident that the movie seems to have an opposite message from the one she may have intended....
Penguin Books is Podcasting "A Christmas Carol"
Penguin is podcasting Dicken's A Christmas Carol in serial form, beginning today. You can download the mp3, link to the files via RSS, or get them from iTunes. I tried the direct download, but I'm having trouble getting it to start. Looks like they have a lot of traffic....
Calamity Jane: She was a good woman only she drinked
I read the McMurtry fiction about Calamity Jane earlier this year. Salon reviews a new biography that debunks much of the myth....
Time's 100 Best Novels 1923-present
Bil asked the question: how many of Time's list of 100 Best Novels have you read? 41 of them. Most of them in high school or college English classes. When I read the list I was disappointed at what was missing and some of the crap they included. These people can't tell me they actually read Infinite Jest. I don't...
Phillip Pullman can kick C.S. Lewis's ass
Reading a BBC News story on Phillip Pullman's (author of the His Dark Materials series) critique of the coming C. S. Lewis movie and the subject matter of the books in general. I loved the Narnia series as a kid, but they don't hold up entirely from a discerning adult point of view, for exactly the reasons Pullman notes; they...
commonplace books
Years and years ago, (1998) I was sitting around reading my copy of Benet's Readers Encyclopedia, which is a somewhat obscure reference book. I came across a passage about "commonplace books" which described them as a type of journal from the 1800s where people would collect scraps of poetry, ideas and their own writing along a common theme. It differed...
Banned Books Week
Oops, I forgot to mention at the beginning of the week that this is Banned Books Week. Go check out a challenged or banned book from your local library and celebrate freedom from censorship. Also be sure to stand up against book banning. The American Library Association has a list of other great things you can do this week....
Dumbledore is Not Dead
Some good news: Dumbledore is not dead, according to this site. Read their analysis of the clues hidden in the books to find out why they believe this. It's been my belief all along, mainly because of Fawkes, the Phoenix, but I didn't reason it out the way these guys did. Their explanations make a lot of sense....
The Long Tail
[Navigated to by way of Steven Johnson's Blog. Johnson is the author of Everything Bad Is Good for You: How Today's Popular Culture Is Actually Making Us Smarter which I read recently.] Quoting from Wikipedia: The phrase The Long Tail, as a proper noun, was first coined by Chris Anderson. Beginning in a series of speeches in early 2004 and...
My Library
I'm started cataloging my library using Booxter software, by Deep Prose. Since 1997, I've kept lists of all the books I've read, but I've never been good at keeping track of the books I actually own and haven't yet read, or books that I want to purchase. And for insurance reasons, I should have an accurate record of what I...
Secret Societies
I'm in the middle of reading: Secret Societies Handbook by Michael Bradley A History of Secret Societies by Arkon Daraul And I'm fascinated, especially by the Handbook, because it lists the Bilderberg Group, the Club of Rome and the Council on Foreign Relations; all are real groups that seem to have major influence on world events. Which makes me glad...
Mini review: The Radioactive Boy Scout
The Radioactive Boy Scout: The Frightening True Story of a Whiz Kid and His Homemade Nuclear Reactor by Ken Silverstein In 1997, teenage Boy Scout David Hahn, who had been engaging in home-brewed science experiments for years in his parent's backyard in Detroit, Michigan, built himself a functioning model nuclear reactor in his mother's garden shed. He obtained his...
Mini Reviews
I've been meaning to write reviews for all these things for a while, but I've been so busy I haven't had time. So here are my mini reviews, because I can't seem to keep up with everything. All the President's Men I watched this movie for the first time this past weekend, and it was excellent. I knew the basics...
Harry Potter book covers from different countries
The New York Times has a slideshow of the release of Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince around the world, and when you view it, it becomes apparent that different countries have quite different book covers for the book. The Australian cover is the one we found online the other day at a rumor site that had a leaked...
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
I finished reading the new Harry Potter book last night. Throughout the book I had a notion in my head of the answers to two of the mysteries; who the half-blood prince is, and who dies in the book (don't yell at me about spoilers; the death is commonly known!).
Stranger Things Happen
I've had the Kelly Link short story collection "Stranger Things Happen" on my to-buy list for quite some time, and for one reason or another have never gotten around to purchasing it. Now she's written another short story collection (Magic for Beginners), and to help promote it, has made the previous book available for free download under the Creative Commons...
Tagged: About books
Scott tagged me with this book meme that's going around, and now I have to tag others. 1. Estimate the total number of books you've owned in your life. I *think* I have about 3,000 books in my current library. Probably double that for what I've owned over my lifetime. I took a picture of my wall-to-wall bookcase in my...
Orson Scott Card
Aw, man. I suspected when we were reading Ender's Game for my book club that mormon Orson Scott Card was a conservative nutjob. Turns out he is indeed: he actually writes an article attempting to rehabilitate the Sith and the dark side, claiming that the Jedis are the force of evil, not Darth Vader. That sucks majorly. Check out more...
Children's cartoon book of Hindu gods
I thought this was really cute; a picture book of Hindu gods. They even have Hanuman. Yea!...
Favorite Literary Characters
The Independent put together a list of well-known literati's picks for their favorite literary characters. I'm sure I'll think of more later, but here are mine, off the top of my head: 1. Anne Elliot, from Jane Austen's Persuasion. 2. Rosalind, from Shakespeare's As You Like It. 3. Auntie Mame, from Patrick Dennis' Auntie Mame : An Irreverent Escapade. 4....
Speaking of Big Things: Giant Book
I came across this link on Amazon.com today... a giant 5x7 foot book about the country of Bhutan, published by Friendly Planet, a not-for-profit organization. The giant photographic book is according to Guinness World Records the largest published book in the world. This edition is limited to 500 published copies, and each copy is built expressly for the recipient, is...
Best of 2004
Kottke.org's Best Links of 2004 Roger Ebert's Best Films of 2004 MSNBC's Year in Pictures 2004 The Washington Post's best photos of 2004 The NY Times Year in Pictures 2004 Discover chooses the top 100 stories in science for 2004 Amazon's Best Books of 2004 Amazon's Best DVDs of 2004 Salon Magazine's The top 10 books of the year Salon...
One Book, One City
One Book, One City is an annual city-wide book discussion program organized by the Indianapolis-Marion County Public Library and the City of Indianapolis. The goal is to promote a city zeitgeist of reading and discussion by picking an annual book selection from a long list of titles suggested by Indianapolis residents. In 2004, the program's third year, residents were asked...
How to Kill A Mockingbird: A Book Report
A super cool Flash book report on the book How To Kill A Mockingbird. I didn't remember so many pirates or sharks or explosions in the book though. I'll have to read it again. Those are some skilled pirates -- flinging bears from the backs of flaming sharks....
Stuff I need to read, but keep getting diverted from:
Things that have been sitting on my bookshelf forever that I'm dying to get to, but I keep getting diverted by one or the other book clubs I'm in. I think I may have to let one of them go, much as I hate the idea. I might have to be the women's book club, since they seem to be...
women's book club book
Second Glance is the book our women's book club chose for August. My co-worker's book club is still deciding on what book to read for July going to read In Cold Blood by Truman Capote....
Gratuitous Wonder Woman linkage
For no real reason, except that I happened to click on it on someone elses site, a link to a really nice photo of Lynda Carter as Wonder Woman. Which is coming out on DVD on June 29th, BTW. You'll want to pre-order that right away. I did....
Weekend Update
So I spent the whole weekend moving at a leisurely pace, which was very refreshing after months of whirlwind activity. Friday night was Girl's Game Night at Vic's/Outword Bound, which is always very fun. I bought The Truth About Jane and Tipping the Velvet on DVD from Outword Bound, which now has an online store, by the way. Check it...
Reading, TV....
I finished The Eyre Affair on Sunday, and last night wrapped up The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time, which I'm reading for one of my book clubs. Both are highly recommended....
Granta and the New York Times Review of Books
Granta and the New York Review of Books are two publications that I've always wanted to subscribe to, but could never quite find the money for in my budget. Now they're free as a bonus with my subscription to Salon Magazine. That's so cool. I love Salon and read it everyday anyway... all the bonuses are icing on the very...
Naomi Wolf and sexual harrassment
I've read a great deal from others about Naomi Wolf and her revelation that while at school she had been sexually harrassed by famed professor Harold Bloom, but I had not, until today, read the story in her own words....
Weekend Update
I finished sanding the edges of the floor in the living room, and did the full-scale cleanup of sawdust required. I hoped that I'd have enough time to start staining the floors, but that was overly ambitious. The edger sander was really hard to control -- I was exhausted when I finished Saturday, and today I have stiff sore muscles...
Northanger Abbey, not Mansfield Park
I'm confusing my Austen novels. It was Catherine and Henry that had the conversation about hyacinths, not Fanny and Edmund. Sad when that happens. Now I have to go back and read them again. "But now you love a hyacinth. So much the better. You have gained a new source of enjoyment, and it is well to have as many...
Weekend Update
Over the long New Years weekend, my friend Cate, who was in from Germany, came over and we went to Dan and Doug's New Years party (photos soon!) along with Kathy and had a good time. Cate and I went to the Catholic supply store downtown and got religious medals (I know, I know, I was just saying below that...
Narnia
They're doing a film version of the Chronicles of Narnia. That's so cool. I can't wait. I love these books when I was a kid, and I bought the boxed set a few years back and re-read them. The film version is being done by Peter Jackson, the producer of the Lord of the Rings, and will use some of...
Neil Gaiman
I read my first Neil Gaiman book, Neverwhere, the other day, and I'm hopelessly addicted and can't believe I never read any of his work before. I was really delighted to discover a link on Wil Wheaton's blog, which I read every day, to Neil Gaiman's blog, which I will be reading every day as well. Clever man. Neverwhere is...
Mad Tea Party
From Alice in Wonderland: The Hatter opened his eyes very wide on hearing this; but all he said was, "Why is a raven like a writing-desk?" "Come, we shall have some fun now!" thought Alice. "I'm glad they've begun asking riddles.--I believe I can guess that," she added aloud. "Do you mean that you think you can find out the...
The Eyre Affair
Steph, look up this book on Amazon....
Selections from the Oprah Book Club or Episodes of Magnum P.I.?
1. Death of the Flowers 2. River, Cross My Heart 3. The Arrow That Is Not Aimed 4. Songs in Ordinary Time 5. Going Home 6. Stones from the River 7. Echoes Of The Mind 8. A Lesson Before Dying 9. Let Me Hear The Music 10. The Pilot's Wife 11. Did You See the Sunrise? 12. Drowning Ruth 13....
Tipping the Velvet
If you haven't read the book, you should. It's delicious.
Strange Sisters: Lesbian Pulp Fiction
Strange Sisters: Lesbian Pulp Fiction: I have a book of pulp fiction covers like this, but the site is also neat. Of course I grabbed all the cover images for my own use....
Read the book before the movie
Favorite thing that happened yesterday: I was watching Entertainment Tonight, where they were covering the premiere of Harry Potter in England, and they interviewed all the celebrities going to see the movie, including Cher. And they asked them "Are you excited about the premiere of the movie?" And every one of the had to admit they hadn't read the books....
Fake Amazon Book
And another Fake (or at least extremely funny) Amazon book: How to Good-Bye Depression : If You Constrict Anus 100 Times Everyday. Malarkey? or Effective Way?...
My Birthday
Dan and Doug took me out to dinner, and gave me North By Northwest and Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, and My sister gave me a fondue pot, ice crusher, and goth chick Barbie. So my birthday turned out pretty damned cool. Fake book on Amazon: American Foreign Policy by G. W. Bush Fake reviewers on Amazon: Henry Raddick and Andrew...
Writer's Paradise
Author Unknown A writer dies and due to a bureaucratic snafu in the the afterworld, she is allowed to choose her own fate: heaven or hell for all eternity. Being a very shrewd dead person, she asks St. Peter for a tour of both. The first stop is hell where she sees rows and rows of writers sitting chained to...
Jean-Paul Sartre's Cooking Diary
Author Unknown October 3 Spoke with Camus today about my cookbook. Though he has never actually eaten, he gave me much encouragement. I rushed home immediately to begin work. How excited I am! I have begun my formula for a Denver omelet. October 4 Still working on the omelet. There have been stumbling blocks. I keep creating omelets one after...
Dr. Seuss Books that Were Rejected by His Publisher
Author Unknown How the Grinch Stole Columbus Day Marvin K. Mooney, Get the F*ck Out! The Cat in the Microwave Herbert the Pervert Likes Sherbert Your Colon Can Moo-Can You?...
Very Short Books
Author Unknown A Guide to Arab Democracies A Journey through the Mind of Dennis Rodman Al Gore: The Wild Years Amelia Earhart's Guide to the Pacific Ocean America's Most Popular Lawyers...
Children's Books You'll Never See
These were from a Washington Post contest: "You Were an Accident" (Jean Sorensen, Herndon; Barry Blyveis, Columbia) "Strangers Have the Best Candy" (Stephen Dudzik, Silver Spring) "The Little Sissy Who Snitched" (Tom Witte, Gaithersburg) "Some Kittens Can Fly!" (David Genser, Arlington)...
Commonplacebook.com is the personal website of 
