Amazingly Pretty and Somewhat Literary

Voting Wednesday, Jan 26

2011-01-26T23:03:00.000+02:00

Voting Wednesday

We're hosting weekly thing (I hate the word meme) called "Voting Wednesday" where we make a voting ballot for each Wednesday and invite y'all to voice your opinion on whatever book related (or unrelated, we're not making any promises) issue we happen to pick.

So, here's the rules:

You form an opinion taking sides in the issue voted upon.

You voice that opinion on the comments, either as a short reply or by a link to your blog where you can make a stand.

Easy, eh?

So, the question of this week is:

Do you sneak a peak?

That is, do you take a clandestine look into the end of the book or some pages ahead to see if things turn out the way you wish? Or do you wish to keep it a surprise and wait until you do get there?

Teaser Tuesday, Jan 25

2011-01-25T10:25:00.002+02:00

Teaser Tuesdays are a weekly book-themed meme, hosted by MizB at Should Be Reading. The rules are as follows:

Grab your current read.
Open to a random page.
Share two (2) "teaser" sentences from somewhere on that page.
Be careful of spoilers! Don't ruin the book to others by revealing important plot developments. (So the last words of a dying central character are probably not okay...)
Share the title and the author of the book as well, so that other Teaser Tuesday participants can look up the book and add it to their TBR list.

Here's our teaser for this week:

She jung about my neck, and kiss on kiss
She vied so fast, protesting oath on oath,
That in a twink she won me to her love.
O, you are novices!

The Taming of the Shrew by William Shakespeare, p. 97

Voting Wednesday, Jan 19

2011-01-19T10:14:00.000+02:00

Voting Wednesday

So, here's the rules:

You form an opinion taking sides in the issue voted upon.

You voice that opinion on the comments, either as a short reply or by a link to your blog where you can make a stand.

Easy, eh?

So, the question of this week is:

Do you have more books on your shelves you've read or not read?

Take a quick stock of your books. Have you read most of them or not? Do you keep books you've read and only buy new ones when you wish to read them? Or do you bounce on a good offer and a new interesting find and accidentally on purpose end up with loads of books you haven't quite gotten around to, yet?

Teaser Tuesday, Jan 11

2011-01-11T08:00:00.000+02:00

Teaser Tuesdays are a weekly book-themed meme, hosted by MizB at Should Be Reading. The rules are as follows:

Grab your current read.
Open to a random page.
Share two (2) "teaser" sentences from somewhere on that page.
Be careful of spoilers! Don't ruin the book to others by revealing important plot developments. (So the last words of a dying central character are probably not okay...)
Share the title and the author of the book as well, so that other Teaser Tuesday participants can look up the book and add it to their TBR list.

Here's our teaser for this week:

O, beware, my lord, of jealousy!
It is the green-eyed monster, which doth mock
The meat it feeds on.

Othello by William Shakespeare, p. 64

Voting Wednesday, Jan 5

2011-01-05T11:43:00.003+02:00

Voting Wednesday

So, here's the rules:

You form an opinion taking sides in the issue voted upon.

You voice that opinion on the comments, either as a short reply or by a link to your blog where you can make a stand.

Easy, eh?

So, the question of this week is:

What are you most looking forward to this year?

Are you excited about reading a particular book, dying to take part in some challenge, amending your reading habits or something else altogether?

Teaser Tuesday, Jan 4

2011-01-04T17:49:00.000+02:00

Teaser Tuesdays are a weekly book-themed meme, hosted by MizB at Should Be Reading. The rules are as follows:

Grab your current read.
Open to a random page.
Share two (2) "teaser" sentences from somewhere on that page.
Be careful of spoilers! Don't ruin the book to others by revealing important plot developments. (So the last words of a dying central character are probably not okay...)
Share the title and the author of the book as well, so that other Teaser Tuesday participants can look up the book and add it to their TBR list.

Here's our teaser for this week:

'If he wants to take you off into the woods and have you, you're to say no,' she whispered. 'Try to remember that you're a Howard girl. You're not a complete slut.'

The Other Boleyn Girl by Philippa Gregory, p. 63

A lesson for us all, I imagine... Haha

Voting Wednesday, Dec 29

2010-12-29T08:35:00.001+02:00

Voting Wednesday

So, here's the rules:

You form an opinion taking sides in the issue voted upon.

You voice that opinion on the comments, either as a short reply or by a link to your blog where you can make a stand.

Easy, eh?

So, the question of this week is:

How was the 2010 for you, reading-wise?

Happy New Year Everyone!! Welcome back in there next year!

Teaser Tuesday, Dec 28

2010-12-28T08:00:00.001+02:00

Teaser Tuesdays are a weekly book-themed meme, hosted by MizB at Should Be Reading. The rules are as follows:

Grab your current read.
Open to a random page.
Share two (2) "teaser" sentences from somewhere on that page.
Be careful of spoilers! Don't ruin the book to others by revealing important plot developments. (So the last words of a dying central character are probably not okay...)
Share the title and the author of the book as well, so that other Teaser Tuesday participants can look up the book and add it to their TBR list.

Here's our teaser for this week:

My hands were shaking, but my voice was steady. I thanked God that I had recently given up wearing a corset... and then smiled to think what an odd thing that was to thank God for!

Arcadia Falls by Carol Goodman, p. 123

Voting Wednesday, Dec 22

2010-12-22T08:32:00.000+02:00

Voting Wednesday

So, here's the rules:

You form an opinion taking sides in the issue voted upon.

You voice that opinion on the comments, either as a short reply or by a link to your blog where you can make a stand.

Easy, eh?

So, the question of this week is:

Did you wish for books from Santa?

Did you make a Christmas wish list at Amazon.com, or leave a suggestion of titles and the map to the nearest Barnes & Noble on the refrigerator door? And what was on your list?

Teaser Tuesday, Dec 21

2010-12-21T08:57:00.001+02:00

Teaser Tuesdays are a weekly book-themed meme, hosted by MizB at Should Be Reading. The rules are as follows:

Grab your current read.
Open to a random page.
Share two (2) "teaser" sentences from somewhere on that page.
Be careful of spoilers! Don't ruin the book to others by revealing important plot developments. (So the last words of a dying central character are probably not okay...)
Share the title and the author of the book as well, so that other Teaser Tuesday participants can look up the book and add it to their TBR list.

Here's our teaser for this week:

He missed Marijke terribly, but he did not miss her reproving glares, her loud sighing, the way she rolled her eyes when he asked her to leave a room and come in again because she'd entered with the wrong foot first. Marijke wasn't there to frown when he ordered five thousand pairs of latex surgical gloves from a dodgy outfit on the Internet.

Her Fearful Symmetry by Audrey Niffenegger, p. 58

Virgin Suicides by Jeffrey Eugenides

2010-12-16T11:19:00.000+02:00

M:

The book starts off by telling what will happen; all the Lisbon girls will end up taking their own lives. (The opening sentences of the book are shared as our last Teaser Tuesday.) I know some people who hate this type of story telling and refuse to read anything that "spoils" the suspense of not knowing right off the bat. I found this approach to work extremely well and couldn't imagine it any other way.

I loved the sad and ethereal atmosphere and how the girls struggled to live life, be normal and find some love in their lives. The book never spelled out why they thought suicide was the only way out and why their lives were so unbearable to begin with. I often get annoyed by not knowing the reasons behind the actions of the characters but in this case if the motives were explained it would've spoiled the tone of the book.

The only thing were I found a little bit left for criticism was the neighbourhood boys, the ones telling the story, doesn't their iterest in the girls seem just a tad bit unnatural?? It doesn't seem too healthy that they'd go around rummaging their trash and storing up their stuff for decades... Anyway, I loved the book, how about you ii?

ii:
Now this is how you do a painful, deeply disturbing and haunting book! Not with the pajamas. Seriously, I adored this! Yes, you knew all along where the book was going, and the only thing that happened was really just that, the girls killing themselves (and you even knew how from the very start) but the one thing you needed to find out, the one thing you yearned to figure out and having told... well, you weren't. There was no reason given. Or more to the point, there were speculations. But while the book was all. about. the. girls. it was never from their point of view.

So all you could do was fill in the blanks. Or try to do so.

I also liked the boys, the "we" of the story. I liked it as a point of view, as a narrator, because we weren't restricted to a personal observation and opinion. And the boys started their fascination when they were little, when it was more normal to go exploring the way they did. Of course, once they were hooked... So were we. The setting of a typical suburb fed this thirst to understand by all means available the lives of the Lisbon girls who were so different from them and their lives. They just wanted to understand.

M:

I agree, the book wouldn't have been nearly as striking if the story was told from the Lisbon girls' point of view. Then we would've known why and the whole point of the book is that we never learn why. The way the boys collect bits and pieces and try to piece together what happened and more importantly why it happened is what all of us want to know. We want there to be a good reason, we want to know there really was no other way out. The sad part is, there never is a "good" explanation as to why a child or a teenager loses their life, no matter which way it happened.

I can't think of any adjectives that would describe well enough how much I loved this one, I'm sure it'll be one of those books I'll read time and again. Oh, and I demand we'll watch the movie version (with young Josh Hartnett as Trip) of this during our next movie night!

ii:

I don't know about the movie, to be honest. Maybe after I'm no longer quite this entralled by this...

Oh, there's so much still left to discuss about this book. And I'm sure we'll keep refering to this book over and over again, returning to the topics and themes. The reasons behind the we-narrator (I've blissfully forgotten all the fancy literary terms I learned in high school!), the significance of the party thrown by the girls, the importance and role of the elm trees, the mother... Oh, the mother! There could be papers written on the mother!

But the thing is, if we did go through all that, none of you'd be any smarter, and you'd be bored out of your twisted little minds. Because the thing about books such as The Virgin Suicides is that you have to read it yourself. And then you can beging to grasp just how much you don't understand.

Voting Wednesday, Dec 15

2010-12-15T20:32:00.001+02:00

Voting Wednesday

So, here's the rules:

You form an opinion taking sides in the issue voted upon.

You voice that opinion on the comments, either as a short reply or by a link to your blog where you can make a stand.

Easy, eh?

So, the question of this week is:

Do you set reading targets?

Do you set targets for your reading, such as a given number of books or a list of titles you must complete in the next year or so? Do you even keep track of your progress, in terms of number of books read or titles off your TBR pile?

Teaser Tuesday, Dec 14

2010-12-14T10:07:00.002+02:00

Teaser Tuesdays are a weekly book-themed meme, hosted by MizB at Should Be Reading. The rules are as follows:

Grab your current read.
Open to a random page.
Share two (2) "teaser" sentences from somewhere on that page.
Be careful of spoilers! Don't ruin the book to others by revealing important plot developments. (So the last words of a dying central character are probably not okay...)
Share the title and the author of the book as well, so that other Teaser Tuesday participants can look up the book and add it to their TBR list.

Here's our teaser for this week:

On the morning the last Lisbon daughter took her turn at suicide - it was Mary this time, and sleeping pills, like Therese - the two paramedics arrived at the house knowing exactly where the knife drawer was, and the gas oven, and the beam in the basement from which it was possible to tie a rope. They got out of the EMS truck, as usual moving much too slowly in our opinion, and the fat one said under his breath, "This ain't TV, folks, this is how fast we go."

The Virgin Suicides by Jeffrey Eugenides, p. 3

STCPC is up!

2010-12-14T09:53:00.000+02:00

The Special Topics in Calamity Physics Challenge now has its own sign-up page explaining the rules of the Challenge, as well as an Update Page were the points will be gathered.

Any questions? No? Good! now go off and join our challenge. It's the first we've ever hosted and if no one joins we'll be very sad and might possibly cry a little. Not much, 'cause that would ruin our makeup and make us all puffy, but a little.

Oh, and if you want one of those fancy banners or whatever, ask Mads. I don't know how to do those. I had enough trouble with the linky-thingy for sign-up. ;)

The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas by John Boyne

2010-12-09T10:15:00.000+02:00

ii:

Ah, the mystery book. The book without a blurb (or really, a blurb that says "we can't give you a blurb because that would spoil the surprise". Well guess what? I guessed the surprise! Pretty darn early too!

The book tells the story of Bruno, a nine-year-old whose family moves from their home in Berlin to a new place, a place with no one to play with and only a fence. Behind the fence there are people, many people, all wearing striped pyjamas all day long. Bruno's dad is a soldier, a high-ranking officer, and in secret Bruno makes friends with a boy of his age wearing striped pyjamas.

Boyne takes us inside Bruno's thoughts as he struggles to make sense to it all. Doing so, he exposes the ridiculousness of it all, if only it weren't true.

I don't know... I didn't hate the book, but it wasn't such an experience people were making it sound like. It wasn't bad, but it really wasn't much to write home either. I liked how the point of view was that of a child, how we followed Bruno as he tried to make sense of the world around him but the story was, in effect, rather bland.

The only character I had any feeling towards was the mother, it was somehow really captivating to fill in the blanks in her life.

M:

I already knew the ending before I started, a friend of mine told me about the movie version a while ago. So there was no surprise in it for me either. I actually did like the book. I liked the naivite of the text and the fact that it was very different from your regular WW II novel since it was written from a child's point of view.

I read the book in a plane on my way to meet a friend. The trip didn't go exactly smoothly and I was really tired and stressed out once I finally made my last connection. So I sat down to my seat and read the book. The business man next to me was looking quite uncomfortable since even though I didn't burst in to tears I was looking like I might just do that any given moment. The look on his face was so hilarious though that it helped me get over it. ;)

I liked the fact that Bruno was not a hero of the story. He was just a child who lived during the war and who happened to have a dad very high up in the nazi command. The way he would try to take some food for Schmuel and got a little peckish on the way and ended up eating it himself was just a thing a child would do. From our point of view that know from history what it meant to be living at the camps of Auschwitz it's both funny and sad to read a text from a child's point of view who doesn't get it and is jealous because the other boy has so many friends and he has none.

ii:

Well, I just found it hard to believe that a) Bruno really wouldn't get it during the year they talked with Schmuel, and b) that his dad (and everyone else) didn't try to brainwash him into the Nazi way of thinking, especially after his sister got interested in the war.

It was a fairytale-like simplification of a story.

But forgetting the historical inaccuracies the story was still rather blah for me. I didn't connect to Bruno in any ways, I didn't find him endearing. Mostly just silly. But I guess most nine-year-olds seem silly to us, if we really think about it.

It was well written, I'll give Boyne that, but while all stories about WWII are depressing to read and you know the ending, I can't help but feel that this was more a book for kids than for adults. Why the hype?

M:

I think this is one of those books that we just get differently. I didn't find Bruno endearing, but I didn't feel like I had to either. I think I've been hanging around kids more than you lately and therefore get the child's way of thinking that I find was really well portrayed in this book. The whole exploring thing actually reminded me of my own childhood when me and my next door neighbour did the same thing.

The reason why I liked the book was exactly the same why you don't; the simplification, the naivite, the childishness. I just could picture it all, so to me it felt real.

So our dear readers, it looks like we do not agree on the book. What did you think?

Afterthought by ii:
Good discussion questions, background of the author and some not-so-loving reviews (which I agreed with!) at LitLovers.

Voting Wednesday, Dec 8

2010-12-08T05:07:00.000+02:00

Voting Wednesday

So, here's the rules:

You form an opinion taking sides in the issue voted upon.

You voice that opinion on the comments, either as a short reply or by a link to your blog where you can make a stand.

Easy, eh?

So, the question of this week is:

Do you read seasonally?

Do you read books themed with the season; with Christmas books near the Holidays, books taking place in the summer during the summer months and so on and so forth? Or do you just... crab-'n'-go?

Teaser Tuesday, Dec 7

2010-12-07T12:28:00.002+02:00

Teaser Tuesdays are a weekly book-themed meme, hosted by MizB at Should Be Reading. The rules are as follows:

Grab your current read.
Open to a random page.
Share two (2) "teaser" sentences from somewhere on that page.
Be careful of spoilers! Don't ruin the book to others by revealing important plot developments. (So the last words of a dying central character are probably not okay...)
Share the title and the author of the book as well, so that other Teaser Tuesday participants can look up the book and add it to their TBR list.

Here's our teaser for this week:

He pushed his two feet together and shot his right arm into the air before clicking his two heels together and saying in as deep and clear a voice as possible - as much like Father's as he could manage - the words he said every time he left a soldier's presence.

'Heil Hitler,' he said, which, he presumed, was another way of saying, 'Well, goodbye for now, have a pleasant afternoon.'

The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas by John Boyne, p. 53-54

School Blues* by Daniel Pennac

2010-11-26T09:02:00.000+02:00

Every now and then you come across a book that'll make you do things, read things, and most of all live better. Special Topics in Calamity Topics made us want to read more books simply by putting up a list of reading. (I like lists, probably too much. Lists are inspiring, logical, effective and sexy. But that's for a whole other therapy session.) Pennac's book made me want to cross my t's and dot my i's when it comes to grammar. And not just in French, although it did inspire me to improve my French (thus the pile of books such as Essential French Grammar and The Concise Oxford French Dictionary on my desk now), but also my English and Finnish.

Because Pennac loves words and language and grammar.

School Blues is about school and the bad student in the back of the class, the one who "didn't get it". It's about the state of French education the mistakes that have been made by politicians and education board and whonot who's been in charge for the past ten or twenty years.

And it's about the teachers. Pennac digs into his own experiences as a student and as a teacher, and shares his experiences with us. And it is through these experiences, the discussions with his no-hope students and his inspiring teachers, his letter to his mother asking her to send him off to the military because school is not his thing, and the thoughts and experiences of the youth he comes across both as a teacher and as a visiting author, that we get to see that there is hope for these kids and they do want to get involved.

Getting involved is the big point Pennac is making. We need to be present. In the classroom as students and teachers, and in life. Right here, right now. Stop hiding and start living. And fix your grammar 'cause it is through language we get to experience everything.

It was a weird experience to read School Blues, 'cause it didn't feel like reading non-fiction. And yet, that's essentially what the book was (though sold at fiction section). It wasn't weighed down by too many facts and dates and references, it was a solid opinion from a very educated point of view. That of a bad student who did well.

School Blues is a very inspiring book without being sugary, over-the-top cheerleaderly or even a inspirational book in the first place. Anyone who is, has ever been or will ever be a student, parent or a teacher should read this book.

* Original title, Chagrin d'école.

p.s. Don't trust me? Want to know more? Guardian weighed in on the book, too.

Poaching blogs

2010-11-25T13:48:00.007+02:00

I couldn't resist ripping off Hannah' s post about the BBC book list. I've also seen this thing go around in the Facebook and I have no idea if the list was actually released by the BBC, but anyways, the claim is that most people have only read six of these books. That seems a little low. However, I'm rather curious; is there some people in the book blogging world who have read ALL these titles?

The bolded titles are books Mads has completed, and ii's are in italics.

The list:
1. Pride and Prejudice – Jane Austen
2. The Lord of the Rings – JRR Tolkien
3. Jane Eyre - Charlotte Bronte
4. Harry Potter series – JK Rowling
5. To Kill a Mockingbird – Harper Lee
6. The Bible
7. Wuthering Heights – Emily Bronte
8. Nineteen Eighty Four – George Orwell
9. His Dark Materials – Philip Pullman
10. Great Expectations – Charles Dickens
11. Little Women – Louisa M. Alcott
12. Tess of the D'Urbervilles – Thomas Hardy
13. Catch 22 – Joseph Heller
14. Complete Works of Shakespeare
15. Rebecca – Daphne Du Maurier
16. The Hobbit – JRR Tolkien
17. Birdsong – Sebastian Faulk
18. Catcher in the Rye – JD Salinger
19. The Time Traveler’s Wife – Audrey Niffenegger
20. Middlemarch – George Eliot
21. Gone With The Wind – Margaret Mitchell
22. The Great Gatsby – F Scott Fitzgerald
23. Bleak House – Charles Dickens
24. War and Peace – Leo Tolstoy
25. The Hitch Hiker’s Guide to the Galaxy – Douglas Adams
26. Brideshead Revisited – Evelyn Waugh
27. Crime and Punishment – Fyodor Dostoyevsky
28. Grapes of Wrath – John Steinbeck
29. Alice in Wonderland – Lewis Carroll
30. The Wind in the Willows – Kenneth Grahame
31. Anna Karenina – Leo Tolstoy
32. David Copperfield – Charles Dickens
33. Chronicles of Narnia – CS Lewis
34. Emma -Jane Austen
35. Persuasion – Jane Austen
36. The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe – CS Lewis
37. The Kite Runner - Khaled Hosseini
38. Captain Corelli’s Mandolin – Louis De Bernieres
39. Memoirs of a Geisha – Arthur Golden
40. Winnie the Pooh – A.A. Milne
41. Animal Farm – George Orwell
42. The Da Vinci Code - Dan Brown
43. One Hundred Years of Solitude – Gabriel Garcia Marquez
44. A Prayer for Owen Meaney – John Irving
45. The Woman in White – Wilkie Collins
46. Anne of Green Gables – LM Montgomery
47. Far From The Madding Crowd – Thomas Hardy
48. The Handmaid’s Tale – Margaret Atwood
49. Lord of the Flies – William Golding
50. Atonement – Ian McEwan
51. Life of Pi – Yann Martel
52. Dune – Frank Herbert
53. Cold Comfort Farm – Stella Gibbons
54. Sense and Sensibility – Jane Austen
55. A Suitable Boy – Vikram Seth
56. The Shadow of the Wind – Carlos Ruiz Zafon
57. A Tale Of Two Cities – Charles Dickens
58. Brave New World – Aldous Huxley
59. The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time – Mark Haddon
60. Love In The Time Of Cholera – Gabriel Garcia Marquez
61. Of Mice and Men – John Steinbeck
62. Lolita – Vladimir Nabokov
63. The Secret History – Donna Tartt
64. The Lovely Bones – Alice Sebold
65. Count of Monte Cristo – Alexandre Dumas
66. On the Road – Jack Kerouac
67. Jude the Obscure – Thomas Hardy
68. Bridget Jones’s Diary – Helen Fielding
69. Midnight’s Children – Salman Rushdie
70. Moby Dick – Herman Melville
71. Oliver Twist – Charles Dickens
72. Dracula – Bram Stoker
73. The Secret Garden – Frances Hodgson Burnett
74. Notes From A Small Island – Bill Bryson
75. Ulysses – James Joyce
76. The Inferno – Dante
77. Swallows and Amazons – Arthur Ransome
78. Germinal – Emile Zola
79. Vanity Fair – William Makepeace Thackeray
80. Possession – AS Byatt
81. A Christmas Carol – Charles Dickens
82. Cloud Atlas – David Mitchell
83. The Color Purple – Alice Walker
84. The Remains of the Day – Kazuo Ishiguro
85. Madame Bovary – Gustave Flaubert
86. A Fine Balance – Rohinton Mistry
87. Charlotte's Web – E.B. White
88. The Five People You Meet In Heaven – Mitch Albom
89. Adventures of Sherlock Holmes – Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
90. The Faraway Tree Collection – Enid Blyton
91. Heart of Darkness – Joseph Conrad
92. The Little Prince – Antoine De Saint-Exupery
93. The Wasp Factory – Iain Banks
94. Watership Down – Richard Adams
95. A Confederacy of Dunces – John Kennedy Toole
96. A Town Like Alice – Nevil Shute
97. The Three Musketeers – Alexandre Dumas
98. Hamlet – William Shakespeare
99. Charlie and the Chocolate Factory – Roald Dahl
100. Les Miserables – Victor Hugo

M: So my total is 37. The die is cast ii, shall you beat my score?

ii: I actually got the same. (I haven't read the last Harry Potter.) But I refuse to take with even an sliver of seriousness a list that gives you equal credit for "complete works of Shakespeare" and Bridget Jones. I mean, seriously?!? Besides, there's books in there I haven't even heard of! This list is bull.

M: I couldn't agree more. Good thing that we've got our own, way better, list!

Voting Wednesday, Nov 24

2010-11-24T14:38:00.001+02:00

Voting Wednesday

So, here's the rules:

You form an opinion taking sides in the issue voted upon.

You voice that opinion on the comments, either as a short reply or by a link to your blog where you can make a stand.

Easy, eh?

So, the question of this week is:

Do you like to eat or drink while reading?

And if so, what?

Teaser Tuesday, Nov 23

2010-11-23T09:38:00.001+02:00

Teaser Tuesdays are a weekly book-themed meme, hosted by MizB at Should Be Reading. The rules are as follows:

Grab your current read.
Open to a random page.
Share two (2) "teaser" sentences from somewhere on that page.
Be careful of spoilers! Don't ruin the book to others by revealing important plot developments. (So the last words of a dying central character are probably not okay...)
Share the title and the author of the book as well, so that other Teaser Tuesday participants can look up the book and add it to their TBR list.

Here's our teaser for this week:

Whether it's the menace of having such desperately low chances of marriage that it's time to invest in antiterrorist gear, or the promise of Fabulous-Crazy-Blissful that has all reasonably married people wondering what's wrong with them for not feeling Fabulous-Crazy-Blissful, both predicaments raise the bar to such untenable heights that finding a man or staying with one in sustained ecstasy seems as laborious as having sex while skydiving.

What French Women Know by Debra Olliver, p. 102

Special Topics in Calamity Physics Challenge

2010-11-22T14:28:00.000+02:00

It has been a little quiet over here lately, but that is only because we have been making plans and cooking up something fun for y'all. Since we had so much fun with the T4MC, we decided that it was time for us to host a challenge of our own! We both adored Special Topics in Calamity Physics that we read and reviewed in September so our challenge is very much inspired by this very book. The chapters of the book or the "required reading" are in the form of other books, and this is the list we'll be reading from and invite y'all to read with us too. The list with the points you'll gain from each title is as follows:

50 points:
Othello - William Shakespeare

A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man - James Joyce

Wuthering Heights - Emily Brontë

The House of the Seven Gables - Nathaniel Hawthorne

The Woman in White - Wilkie Collins

40 points:

Brave New World - Aldous Huxley

Les Liaisons Dangereuses - Pierre Chordelos de Laclos

Madame Bovary - Gustave Flaubert

Pygmalion - George Bernard Shaw

The Mysterious Affair at Styles - Agatha Christie

30 points:

Moby-Dick - Herman Melville

A Moveable Feast - Ernest Hemingway

Women in Love - D. H. Lawrence

"The Housebreaker of Shady Hill" - John Cheever

Sweet Bird of Youth - Tennessee Williams

20 points:

Laughter in the Dark - Vladimir Nabokov

The Sleeping Beauty and Other Fairy Tales - Sir Arthur Quiller-Couch

A Room With a View - E. M. Forster

Howl and Other Poems - Allen Ginsberg

The Taming of The Shrew - William Shakespeare

15 points:

Deliverance - James Dickey

Heart of Darkness - Joseph Conrad

One Flew Over the Cockoo's Nest - Ken Kesey

One Hundred Years of Solitude - Gabriel García Márquez

Bleak House - Charles Dickens

10 points:

The Big Sleep - Raymond Chandler

Justine - Marquis de Sade

Quer Pasticciaccio Brutto de Via Merulana - Carlo Emilio Gadda

Things Fall Apart - Chinua Achebe

The Nocturnal Conspiracy - Smoke Wyannoch Harvey

5 points:

Che Guevara Talks To Young People - Ernesto Guevara de la Serna

"Good Country People" - Flannery O'Connor

The Trial - Franz Kafka

The Secret Garden - Frances Hodgson Burnett

Metamorphoses - Ovid

100 points:
Paradise Lost - John Milton

And since getting somewhere is always a great way to motivate, we came up with these different levels you can aim for, keeping with the school-ish theme of the original book, of course.

Freshman 0-200 points
Sophomore 201-400 points
Senior 401-600 points
Undergraduate 601-800 points
Graduate 801-900 points
PhD 901-950 points

The challenge begins right after New Year's celebrations when everyone will be good and ready to reform their ways and give up the party life in favor of reading. So from 1.1.2010 until 31.3.2010 we'll be reading from Blue's list and hopefully earn some kind of degree in the process ;)

You're welcome to sign up by commenting to this post, but no sweat, this is just the first warning, frequent reminders of the challenge (read: constant nagging) shall follow and you can sign up also after the challenge has been kicked off!

ii's parting note: While I'm all for acronyms, I have to say, the one we gave this challenge (STCPC) is rather impossible to say. At least in any lady-like manner that doesn't involve cookie crumbs flying all over... Just saying...

Voting Wednesday, Nov 17

2010-11-17T10:10:00.001+02:00

Voting Wednesday

So, here's the rules:

You form an opinion taking sides in the issue voted upon.

You voice that opinion on the comments, either as a short reply or by a link to your blog where you can make a stand.

Easy, eh?

So, the question of this week is:

Online or in-store shopping?

When you buy books, do you prefer to shop online or go to a actual book store?

Teaser Tuesday, Nov 16

2010-11-16T09:37:00.000+02:00

Teaser Tuesdays are a weekly book-themed meme, hosted by MizB at Should Be Reading. The rules are as follows:

Grab your current read.
Open to a random page.
Share two (2) "teaser" sentences from somewhere on that page.
Be careful of spoilers! Don't ruin the book to others by revealing important plot developments. (So the last words of a dying central character are probably not okay...)
Share the title and the author of the book as well, so that other Teaser Tuesday participants can look up the book and add it to their TBR list.

Here's our teaser for this week:

"One day, I asked you what you were meant to be doing with a fraction you were staring at. 'I've got to find the common denominator,' was your knee-jerk reply. There was only one fraction, so only one denominator, but you stuck to your guns: 'I've got to find the common denominator.' I pressed you further: 'Think about it, Daniel, there's only one fraction, so there's only one denominator.' You lost your temper: 'But that's what the teacher said: Always reduce fractions to their common denominator!'"

School Blues by Daniel Pennac, p. 9-10

What Should I Read Next?

2010-11-11T11:29:00.007+02:00

I was whining and complaining to ii that I've got nothing to read, since all the books I own that I haven't read yet are books from our list. And since I'm already ahead of ii on the list I have to pace myself in order to not finish the whole list two years before her. So, what I need is more books. Perfectly logical, no?

So to help a gal out, ii informed me about this book finding thingy she'd read about in InStyle, "What Should I Read Next?". You're supposed to type in an author or a book title and the finder will then suggest books for you (apparently based on what you typed in the search engine). I'm sure this will be helpful to someone looking for new reads but, I wouldn't be me without giving you my unsencored opinion on it.

So off I went. First I tried Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen, since that's a book I'll never get tired off. First suggestion was Stephenie Meyer: The host. Do I need to say that I thought this thing is full of crap already at this point?? So no, I'm not a big fan of vampire stories, unless it involves shirtless Alexander Skarsgård or Ian Somerhalder. (And after googling this I now know that The Host doesn't involve vampires but aliens that call themselves the Souls. Oh well, tomato tomahto, doesn't sound any better than the Twilight crap...) Other hits included titles that made sense but unfortunately I'd already read or are on the list; other titles by Austen, titles by Gaskell, Alcott, L.M. Montgomery, Hawthorne, Shakespeare, Bronte...

And then there was the weird and weirder titles. Here's few of the gems offered to me. Ellen Schreiber: Vampire Kisses 2 - Kissing Coffins, because I just love vampire stories and of course it makes absolutely sense to begin with the second book of the series. Dr. Seuss, Theodore Geisel: Fox in Socks (Beginner Books), of course, beginner books is the next step after Austen. Carrie Vaughn: Kitty and the Dead Man's Hand (Kitty Norville, Book 5), again, what's with the sequels, why would anyone begin with book 5? (I'm not even gonna start with the title, it sounds too disturbing.) Kerrelyn Sparks: Vamps and the City (Love at Stake Series, Book 2), please don't tell me this is some vampire fiction inspired by the Sex and the City??? And of course, Sharon Osbourne: Sharon Osbourne Extreme: My Autobiography, goes right in there as well, she's British too you know, so makes sense!

I'm not discouraged this easily, so I tried again with Life of Pi by Yann Martel. And what were the results? Dr. Seuss, Theodore Geisel: Fox in Socks (Beginner Books), Sharon Osbourne: Sharon Osbourne Extreme: My Autobiography, Stephenie Meyer: The host and Austen AGAIN. There were some new gems in the bunch too, such as Meg Cabot: The Princess Diaries: Give Me Five (The Princess Diaries S.) and Gordon Neufeld, Gabor Md Mate: Hold On to Your Kids: Why Parents Need to Matter More Than Peers.

I was feeling a little discouraged after my second attempt but third time's the charm so with my third attempt I typed in Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger, a book I absolutely adored. The first two suggestions were Stephenie Meyer: The host and Sharon Osbourne: Sharon Osbourne Extreme: My Autobiography.

I'm thinking I'm done now with this experiment so please, pretty please, all you humans out there, suggest good books to me that involve no vampires or aliens. Thankyoueverso.

The Legend of Sleepy Hollow by Washington Irving

2010-11-11T10:05:00.000+02:00

ii:*

Spooky. Not. Okay, the story as such wasn't really that spooky (and you're getting this from a girl who gets nightmares from Agatha Christie!) but the "afterword", which I'm not sure was an actual part of the story made it spooky.

It's a folks tale, for heavens sake! It's 65 pages of meadows and trees and pies and three pages of "ooh! Scary headless guy on a horse!" Really, not that impressive, and I'm glad it was so short.

Or maybe I'm just numbed by the modern culture and all the violence I see on the TV, especially during the news. And Generation Kill. I like Generation Kill.

*Disclaimer: It's mere 20 minutes since I got up and I'm still in the middle of my first cup of coffee. Expecting me to make sense and be all intellectual would be, well, stupid.

M:

Pretty much right there with you ii! I didn't find anything spooky in the book. Not even in the afterword. That part might've made the story spooky if it was told around the campfire in the middle of the night in the woods. But, reading it in my livingroom, meh.

And I might add that the main character, Ichabod Crane, was very far from the character in the movie Sleepy Hollow, played by the devine Johnny Depp. The book in general didn't have anything to do with the movie. I guess it was rather that the movie was inspired by the book. Oh, and to those who commented on our teaser about the movie being scary; yep, it is but there really is nothing scary in the book.

Yes, it is a folk tale and I guess we shouldn't expect anything more out of it. As I said in the beginning: a nice story to tell around campfire but that's about it.

ii:

Well, I did finish it around midnight with the forest opening up behind my bedroom window, so it did get a little spooky. Haha But some old articles from Elle on French fashion style and such took care of that.

All in all, I don't see the point of this book. I mean, why the hype? There's nothing amazingly brilliant about this. All rather blah, if you ask me. I'd much rather had spent the time watching Alexander Skarsgård being politically incorrect in marine gear. But maybe that's just me?

M:

Hmm...It's old? I don't know, I thought that the story was rather boring, I tried getting into it but it was no use. Or rather, there wasn't much of a story. I guess I'm a little disappointed. At least the movie had Johnny Depp in it. Can you think of anything redeeming about the book, ii?

ii:

It was mere 70 pages?

Voting Wednesday, Nov 10

2010-11-10T14:00:00.002+02:00

Voting Wednesday

So, here's the rules:

You form an opinion taking sides in the issue voted upon.

You voice that opinion on the comments, either as a short reply or by a link to your blog where you can make a stand.

Easy, eh?

So, the question of this week is:

Do you plan your reading?

Do you have a list you work through or do you just go with whatever strikes your fancy?

Teaser Tuesday, Nov 9

2010-11-09T11:52:00.001+02:00

Teaser Tuesdays are a weekly book-themed meme, hosted by MizB at Should Be Reading. The rules are as follows:

Grab your current read.
Open to a random page.
Share two (2) "teaser" sentences from somewhere on that page.
Be careful of spoilers! Don't ruin the book to others by revealing important plot developments. (So the last words of a dying central character are probably not okay...)
Share the title and the author of the book as well, so that other Teaser Tuesday participants can look up the book and add it to their TBR list.

Here's our teaser for this week:

All these, however, were mere terrors of the night, phantoms of the mind that walk in darkness, and though he had seen many specters in his time, and been more than once beset by Satan in diverse shapes, in his lonely perambulations, yet daylight put an end to all these evils; and he would have passed a pleasant life of it, in despite of the devil and all his works, if his path had not been crossed by a being that causes more perplexity to mortal man than ghosts, goblins, and the whole race of witches put together, and that was - a woman.

The Legend of Sleepy Hollow by Washington Irving, p. 17-18

Voting Wednesday, Nov 3

2010-11-03T08:50:00.000+02:00

Voting Wednesday

So, here's the rules:

You form an opinion taking sides in the issue voted upon.

You voice that opinion on the comments, either as a short reply or by a link to your blog where you can make a stand.

Easy, eh?

So, the question of this week is:

Do you give up on a book and abandon it without finishing or do you struggle through no matter how bad?

Is it okay to toss the book without finishing? Do you read it to the very end in the hopes that it'll improve? When do you put down a book and say "well, I tried..."

The Four Month Challenge: Recap

2010-11-02T20:00:00.001+02:00

Four (or just abouts there) months ago we announced that we'll be taking part in a challenge called The Four Month Challenge (those of you who are surprised by the name, leave now. Yes, right now. You're too stupid to read this blog.) hosted by Martina at She Read a Book. The challenge had a time frame of four months (really!! Quelle surprise, non?!?) and consisted of reading as much as you could, according to certain preset criteria. The different criteria awarded you points and in the end you tallied them all up.

Mads and I decided that we'll be doing this together. So that we'd only get the points if we both read the book. Same book. Fitting the same criteria. And here's what we read:

For "Read a book that's been made into a movie" we read Revolutionary Road by Richard Yates.
Starting off with a solid, albeit hardly impressive 5 points.

Second up was Midsummer Night's Dream by William Shakespeare for the criteria "read any book but read it outdoors". Loved the book, hated the outdoors, got a whooping 15 points so it was worth the bugs.

Ol' Bill was followed by reading "a book by an author you've never read before", which in our case was Barack Obama and his The Audacity of Hope. This set us in good speed by giving us another 15 points.

We both adored The Special Topics in Calamity Physics by Marisha Pessl, the book we read for "Read a book by an author born in July, August, September or October". We also loved the 20 points it got us!

While we're all for France, our book for "Read a book set in France" did divide our opinions. Les Liaisons Dangereuses by Chordelos de Laclos did not receive any exclamations of love and eternal adoration especially from yours truly. But we received 10 points. That's better than perishing over a broken heart in any century!

Slightly more likely, and definitely more liked, was The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, for "Read a book from The Modern Library Top 100". Gaining 20 points hasn't been this easy since elementary math exams!

The next 15 points were fairly accidental, as I fell in love with The Elegance of Hedgehog by Muriel Barbery and arm-twisted Madeline to read it too. Good thing we still had "Read any book and then post a review" left...

Back when we started this, we wrote

250 is the maximum available, surely we can get to 100, right?

Well, mes petites, we did. According to my ever-accurate and wine-drenched math, we have 100 points!
A 100 frigging points!!
Not bad for first-timers, right? Especially as we do have a life and all...

What's the next challenge? And should we come up with our own? What do you say, sounds definitely crazy and potentially dangerous?

Teaser Tuesday, Nov 2

2010-11-02T08:06:00.000+02:00

Teaser Tuesdays are a weekly book-themed meme, hosted by MizB at Should Be Reading. The rules are as follows:

Grab your current read.
Open to a random page.
Share two (2) "teaser" sentences from somewhere on that page.
Be careful of spoilers! Don't ruin the book to others by revealing important plot developments. (So the last words of a dying central character are probably not okay...)
Share the title and the author of the book as well, so that other Teaser Tuesday participants can look up the book and add it to their TBR list.

Here's our teaser for this week:

The media eagerly glommed on to this story, portraying crack dealing as one of the most profitable jobs in America. But if you were to have spent a little time around the housing projects where crack was so often sold, you might have noticed something strange: not only did most of the crack dealers still live in the projects, but most of them still lived at home with their moms.

Freakonomics by Steven D Levitt & Stephen J. Dubner, p. 83

Blogging around

2010-10-28T13:05:00.007+03:00

I know we've been (and by we, I of course mean ii) slacking off over here and producing very little anything interesting for ya'll to read. But, I'm happy to point out that's not the case with the rest of the book blogging world.

I can not get over how brilliant the new meme hosted by Alayne at The Crowded Leaf is! In "What Were They Thinking?" you're supposed to post a book that makes you ask the infamous, “What Were They Thinking?” and explain WHY you are so turned off by the book. It's hilarious! I'd join in right away if I wasn't such a slacker and always forgetting this meme takes place on Thursdays (make a note everyone!). Today's WWTT is all about Romeo and Juliet. And vampires. Indeed, what were they thinking?? I'm not even going to point out the obvious horridness of this piece, but as Alayne was saying, I'll just say the whole vampire thing is getting really old already.

For the Finnish speaking crowd out there, a few active bloggers have set up a virtual book club for your enjoyment. They are selecting one book each month and this book will be then discussed on the 10th of each month in the book club blog. The first book of the month is Doris Lessing's The Golden Notebook. We're already swamped with our list (and occasionaly we do have other life outside the list too..) so we might not be joining in on every read but will definitely jump in if they are picking something off of our list or something we just have to add to our reading schedule.

So, loads of fun things happening out there, go and join in ya'll!!

The Elegance of the Hedgehog by Muriel Barbery

2010-10-28T10:52:00.003+03:00

ii:

Ah... the book I've been waiting for! A book that challenges, charms and comforts all in one go. And in what a way! Such a beautiful and charming book by Barbery.

Seriously though, what started as a reading assignment turned into a love affair. I loved this book. Barbery managed to create before us characters so beautiful in all their flaws that you couldn't help feeling for them. Yes, some of them were rather clichéd but that too was done with a tongue-in-the-cheek way that made it possible to laugh at their silliness.

I should read this book again... Mads, please tell me you liked it too!

M:

I did. Maybe not as passionately as you, but that's just your fault for building it up so much... ;) I really liked the style, with two different narrators and short chapters. It gave the reader time to think, created natural pauses in the book so that the reader had time to process what had just been said. Also, the study on movement bits were often hilarious. The little stories about the absurdity of situations (e.g. the battle for panties) made me chuckle.

I must admit though that the ending killed me. I have been feeling really depressed lately (it's that time of the year when it's getting darker and colder by the minute) and this wasn't very uplifting. Realistic and somehow beautiful but sad.

ii:

Yes, the ending was terrible! But in a way, it again made sense. After all, it did echo the Anna Karenina by Tolstoy, the book Renée loved so much.

The observations of Paloma were hilarious. She had a sharp eye and wit, she was so knowledgeable about the world, yet she was just a child. A child, trying to make sense out of the world.

M:

Yes, well, I haven't read Anna Karenina (yet, I'll give it another go soon, first time I was done in by Levin and his field ploughing and planting and tossed the book...). See, one's again a very solid reason to keep on with this project; you can't understand the references unless you've read all the classics. Now I'm bummed. And feel a little stupid.

What I also liked about the book was the way the writer treated the characters. Even though the book was essentially about Paloma and Mme Michel, the reader got a very good idea about the other characters as well, even though they weren't really even discribed. Know what I mean?
(The picture on the right is Josiane Balasko as Renée, in the 2009 movie adaptation by Mona Achache.)

ii:

Ah, maybe that's why I liked the book. It made me feel smart 'cause I have read Tolstoy so I got the references. Haha No, but really, it made you think. It challenged you. And that's what I love in a book. It's all there, just not all in your face.

Yes, I do! The earlier book by Barbery, The Gourmet (the book of the morning coffee teaser I posted a while back) is about the food critic that dies in this book, so I guess Barbery had the characters all made up in her head already. But I hadn't, and I don't think you need to have, read The Gourmet before this book. This was a complete story.

Incidentally, by the way, also K [editors' note: we claim to protect the innocent around here, so no names] loved the book. "It's the best book I've read in a long long while" is the more-or-less direct quote.

So people, don't just take our word for it. The Elegance of Hedgehog is a great book!

M:

I dind't know that! Fascinating, it all makes sense now. Barbery knows all the characters, what they're like and what do they think about things and therefore it just comes through in her writing without saying much. I love it, it's so effortless! So, dear readers, the verdict's in, the jury has spoken and now ya'll have to go and read it too!

We earned another 15 points in The 4 Month Challenge in the category "Read any book and then post a review" from this one.

Incidently, if you wish to read more, here is the New York Times story about the book.

Voting Wednesday, Oct 27

2010-10-28T09:43:00.000+03:00

Voting Wednesday*

So, here's the rules:

You form an opinion taking sides in the issue voted upon.

You voice that opinion on the comments, either as a short reply or by a link to your blog where you can make a stand.

Easy, eh?

So, the question of this week is:

How do you arrange your books?

Do you have a shelf? Are they arranged by genre or alphabetically? By author or name?

* Don't you know that Thursday's the new Wednesday? I'm sorry, I had a gazillion other things yesterday, so this is a bit late. Sorry!

Teaser Tuesday, Oct. 26

2010-10-26T09:46:00.002+03:00

Teaser Tuesdays are a weekly book-themed meme, hosted by MizB at Should Be Reading. The rules are as follows:

Grab your current read.
Open to a random page.
Share two (2) "teaser" sentences from somewhere on that page.
Be careful of spoilers! Don't ruin the book to others by revealing important plot developments. (So the last words of a dying central character are probably not okay...)
Share the title and the author of the book as well, so that other Teaser Tuesday participants can look up the book and add it to their TBR list.

Here's our teaser for this week:

He hated it when you called him a moron. All morons hate it when you call them a moron.

The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger, p. 44

Voting Wednesday, Oct 20

2010-10-21T01:30:00.000+03:00

Voting Wednesday

So, here's the rules:

You form an opinion taking sides in the issue voted upon.

You voice that opinion on the comments, either as a short reply or by a link to your blog where you can make a stand.

Easy, eh?

So, the question of this week is:

Are you lured in by the cover?

In other words, do you find yourself drawn to some particular cover style? Do you have preferences as to the cover?

Teaser Tuesday, Oct 19

2010-10-19T10:04:00.000+03:00

Teaser Tuesdays are a weekly book-themed meme, hosted by MizB at Should Be Reading. The rules are as follows:

Grab your current read.
Open to a random page.
Share two (2) "teaser" sentences from somewhere on that page.
Be careful of spoilers! Don't ruin the book to others by revealing important plot developments. (So the last words of a dying central character are probably not okay...)
Share the title and the author of the book as well, so that other Teaser Tuesday participants can look up the book and add it to their TBR list.

Here's our teaser for this week:

Miz Rain say we almost finished for the day, say she wanna spend some time with each student in little office room to side before we go. Say she gonna call us out one by one in alphabetical order. I feel panicking panicking - I don't know alphabetical order - whas that!

Precious by Sapphire, p. 51

Voting Wednesday, Oct 13

2010-10-13T09:31:00.000+03:00

Voting Wednesday

So, here's the rules:

You form an opinion taking sides in the issue voted upon.

You voice that opinion on the comments, either as a short reply or by a link to your blog where you can make a stand.

Easy, eh?

So, the question of this week is:

One particular bookmark or just some random scrap of paper/bus pass/dollar bill?

In other words, what do you use for a bookmark? Or are you one of those who dare to fold the corner?? 'Fess up!

Teaser Tuesday, Oct 12

2010-10-12T08:49:00.004+03:00

Teaser Tuesdays are a weekly book-themed meme, hosted by MizB at Should Be Reading. The rules are as follows:

Grab your current read.
Open to a random page.
Share two (2) "teaser" sentences from somewhere on that page.
Be careful of spoilers! Don't ruin the book to others by revealing important plot developments. (So the last words of a dying central character are probably not okay...)
Share the title and the author of the book as well, so that other Teaser Tuesday participants can look up the book and add it to their TBR list.

Here's our teaser for this week:

But Pearl, who was a dauntless child, after frowning, stamping her foot, and shaking her little hand with a variety of threatening gestures, suddenly made a rush at the knot of her enemies, and put them all to flight. She resembled, in her fierce pursuit of them, an infant pestilence - the scarlet fever, or some such half-fledged angel of judgement - whose mission was to punish the sins of the rising generation.

The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne, p. 86

Been around the blogs...

2010-10-09T12:31:00.002+03:00

We're trying to think of new fun things for the blog. The books are advancing at a slower pace (mostly due to me, I admit that freely) than we though and lately it has seemed that all we post are Teaser Tuesday and Voting Wednesday posts. So I thought I'd try something else this time. If you have any ideas or preferences of what you'd wish to read or how we could improve the blog, please tell us! We're always looking for ways of improving.

There are a lot of book-related blogs we follow, and sometimes even comment. But I thought I'd share with you some of the thoughts I got while surfing through the blogs this morning. How's that for a new fun thing?

On the website of a Finnish TV channel MTV3 I stumbled upon a list of ten classics you should read, at the very least.
The list is as follows:

1. Don Quijote by Miguel Cervantes Saavedran (1605)

2. Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen (1813)

3. Madame Bovary by Gustave Flaubert (1857)

4. Les Misérables by Victor Hugo (1862)

5. Crime and Punishment by F.M.Dostojevski (1866)

6. Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoi (1875–1877)

7. The Master and Margarita by Mihail Bulgakov (1940)

8. 1984 by George Orwell (1949)

9. The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway (1952)

10. One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez (1967)

Now, I've read some of them (2, 6, 10), dropped in the middle of the book some (3, 4, 9) though more due to time than lack of interest, at least 7 is on our list and there are few we've discussed. Should we update, Madeline?

Matt at A Guy's Moleskine Notebook raised an interesting question of self-censoring. Do you care about the image and vibe you give out to the world by your book choices? Do you only mention to people the "smart" books you read and not the fluffy trash ones?

Allie at A Literary Odyssey blogged about her strategy for the 24-hour read-a-thon. I think I'm having a small crush on her husband now. What a darling he is!

Kylie posted about a project and website that immediately caught my interest: the PostSecret. It's an "ongoing community art project where people mail in their secrets anonymously on one side of a postcard." Check it out, it's touching, hilarious and a little bit scary at the same time.

While reading a post about Jude Deveraux's The Duchess at The Lit Connection my mind wondered off on a tangent (that's very common, believe me. That's how Madeline and I manage to carry on five different conversations at once. We do the same tangents.) on lines. T.Y. wrote that "Trevelyn was THE MAN by which I measured all fictional men" and I started thinking of The Line, and the one piece of writing that I have that I compare everything to: The letter from Captain Wentworth to Anne Elliot in Jane Austen's Persuasion. That letter, especially the beginning, and the line "You pierce my soul." has been my measuring stick to everything romantic and beautiful and heart wrenching. If you don't like it, or get the beauty of it, I don't want to be your friend.

The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald

2010-10-07T09:23:00.000+03:00

ii:

Okay, a classic. A quick to read classic. I like those! All joking aside, I positively adored this book! It gave such a beautiful description of an age long gone, yet it could have been about today. Isn't the hedonism and disregard to consequences similar to the ones in the book what people on all major discussion forums and newspaper readers' sections are complaining about?

I loved how Fitzgerald was able to say so much in so little. After all, the book gives a very clear, comprehensive view into the emptiness of these peoples lives, yet it's really simple and short, there's rarely any embellishment. The simplicity of the text is a nice contrast with the objects it describes, actually. I guess that helped to get the feel of emptiness and lack of substance in the people and their activities. It all looked very glitzy and glamorous on the outside, but beneath the surface there really wasn't anything there.

M:

I'm quite torn about this one. I did get the character of Gatsby with all his parties and glamour and the way it all played out in the end. I did understand Daisy and her reasons and reactions. I liked the way Fitzgerald told it from the point of view of Nick and I loved the way Nick considered Gatsby; his thoughst about Gatsby were pretty much the same as mine.

Still, the book left me a little cold. I didn't really feel much. And that kinda sucks. I wasn't immersed in their world and even though I enjoyed reading it, I was left with feeling a bit "whatever". Maybe it's just the fall creeping in and bumming me out, I'll give this one another go later. And I did just finish reading the book, maybe the feelings towards it will develop over time and it'll grow into being a long and happy relationship. It can't be love at first sight everytime, right?

ii:

No, it can't, as proved by me feelings towards the Liaisons. But you have to admit ol' Fitzy did an awesome job on describing the air-headed society and all the glitz and glamor of the Golden Age.

I didn't really feel anything towards Daisy. I was kind of disappointed at that, as I was expecting her to be something special (and no, not the "special" kind of special!) after all the references made to her. Daisy didn't come across, to me at least, as this tragic beauty worthy of undying love and devotion. You know?

I read somewhere that Gatsby's yarning for Daisy is a metaphor for the American Dream. But if that's the case, what's the poor couple then? Reality?

M:

Erm... Well you're feelings towards the Liaisons was more like 'kill me now and don't force me to read this any further'... I actually think there's promise in this one, I'm just a little disappointed at the lack of feeling it provoked in me. Or rather didn't. I didn't dislike it, far from it, I just was hoping for love and instead I only liked it.

I know! That's exactly what I thought Daisy was going to be too! Although I sort of liked this way better, she wasn't something fabulous and celestial, just plain, insecure and unsure of herself. It was more real this way you know?

I think this assesment of Gatsby is very true. Daisy was the embodiment of the higher class, expensive houses and easy living to Gatsby. He pursued it all his life and after getting the money he still needed to get Daisy to complete the picture he had created in his mind of the good living. The Wilsons in my mind showed very nicely the way Mr. Wilson was quite content to live a modest life, opposed to his wife who was not happy with her lot and wanted something more out of life.

ii:

I only hated it while reading it. Now I'm fairly happy you're such a book nazi and forced me to finish it, I'm liking the book as an afterthought. You know? It's better in hindsight, only tedious as an activity.

So... basically Daisy could be anyone? I kind of like that thought. I mean, we're well above all that but that means there's hope for everybody else, too! Haha

But Wilson was the downfall of Gatsby, so is it to say that reality and contentment are the death of dreams and ambitions? I'll have to think this over more...

M:

Exactly! It was just Gatsby's idolisation of her lifestyle and fortune that put her above of everyone else.

I think Gatsby's idea of the American Dream was slightly skewed. Gatsby got too fixed on the goal and lost his integrity and got mixed up in all sorts of shady business. He was trying to reach the Dream desperately by any means only to realize he had lost it all in the end. Even Daisy wasn't the grand prize he had imagined but just an ordinary girl who's in love with someone else, the all conquering love he had idolised and imagined his whole life just wasn't real. So maybe in the end it was his (wrong) methods of pursuing the happiness that destroyed the good man (Wilson)? Not being happy with what you got destroying the things you already have achieved? Or that getting brought face to face with reality will make you realize the true nature and reality of your dreams?

ii:

But it was Daisy who destroyed Wilson, it was her driving, after all, making Gatsby in the end just collateral damage. So maybe the commonplace and the glitzy dream couldn't co-exist? The innocent got the sticky end of the deal in this one. So in the end Gatsby got done in by his Dream (due to what Daisy did). That's some un-poetic justice right there. And I think this discussion proves why this book is still read, decades after it was written.

M:

Aah, but why was Daisy driving? Maybe because Gatsby was unable to deny anything from her and therefore it was his fault in the end? Yes, it is very clear that this book provokes a lot of thought and discussion and is also an enjoyable read. Some books really deserve their status as classics!

With this one we increased our score by 20 points in The 4 Month Challenge in the category "Read a book from The Modern Library Top 100".

Voting Wednesday, Oct 6

2010-10-06T08:51:00.001+03:00

Voting Wednesday

So, here's the rules:

You form an opinion taking sides in the issue voted upon.

You voice that opinion on the comments, either as a short reply or by a link to your blog where you can make a stand.

Easy, eh?

So, the question of this week is:

Electronic readers, yes or no?

Have you tried? Are you interested? Can you see yourself going all high-tech on books? Elaborate at will. Debate if you can.

Teaser Tuesday, Oct 5

2010-10-05T09:08:00.001+03:00

Teaser Tuesdays are a weekly book-themed meme, hosted by MizB at Should Be Reading. The rules are as follows:

Grab your current read.
Open to a random page.
Share two (2) "teaser" sentences from somewhere on that page.
Be careful of spoilers! Don't ruin the book to others by revealing important plot developments. (So the last words of a dying central character are probably not okay...)
Share the title and the author of the book as well, so that other Teaser Tuesday participants can look up the book and add it to their TBR list.

Here's our teaser for this week:

It's a delightful feeling to be not yet quite awake, taking a few silent moments to enjoy the fact of not being subject to the laws of work, rubbing your eyes in a display of sympathy for yourself and, when the palpable aroma of hot coffee rises, you finally sit down before your steaming bowl and give a friendly squeeze to the brioche as you tear it apart; then you slowly dip a piece in the bowl of caster sugar in the middle of the table and with your eyes half closed you acknowledge - and no need to tell yourself as much - the bittersweet quality of happiness.

The Gourmet by Muriel Barbery, p. 84

[Editors note: I opted to go with only one sentence today, because, and I'm sure you agree, it's rather enough by itself.]

Voting Wednesday, Sept 29

2010-09-29T13:02:00.003+03:00

Voting Wednesday

So, here's the rules:

You form an opinion taking sides in the issue voted upon.

You voice that opinion on the comments, either as a short reply or by a link to your blog where you can make a stand.

Easy, eh?

So, the question of this week is:

Buy or borrow?

In other words, do you prefer to buy the books you read, borrow from a friend or trust the selection at your local library? Do you buy books that you think or know you will be reading again later or do you just buy whatever you fancy at the moment? Please elaborate at will.

Teaser Tuesday, Sept 28

2010-09-28T10:01:00.001+03:00

Teaser Tuesdays are a weekly book-themed meme, hosted by MizB at Should Be Reading. The rules are as follows:

Grab your current read.
Open to a random page.
Share two (2) "teaser" sentences from somewhere on that page.
Be careful of spoilers! Don't ruin the book to others by revealing important plot developments. (So the last words of a dying central character are probably not okay...)
Share the title and the author of the book as well, so that other Teaser Tuesday participants can look up the book and add it to their TBR list.

Here's our teaser for this week:

That is why I've made up my mind: at the end of the school year, on the day I turn thirteen, the sixteenth of June, I will commit suicide. Careful now, I have no intention of making a big deal out of it, as if it were an act of bravery or defiance.

The Elegance of the Hedgehog by Muriel Barbery, p. 21

Voting Wednesday, Sept 22

2010-09-22T09:15:00.000+03:00

Voting Wednesday

So, here's the rules:

You form an opinion taking sides in the issue voted upon.

You voice that opinion on the comments, either as a short reply or by a link to your blog where you can make a stand.

Easy, eh?

So, the question of this week is:

Do you pick your books based on recommendations or by what suits your fancy at the store?

In other words, what makes you pick up a book and read it? Besides Madeline telling you to do so.

Teaser Tuesday, Sept 21

2010-09-21T09:51:00.002+03:00

Teaser Tuesdays are a weekly book-themed meme, hosted by MizB at Should Be Reading. The rules are as follows:

Grab your current read.
Open to a random page.
Share two (2) "teaser" sentences from somewhere on that page.
Be careful of spoilers! Don't ruin the book to others by revealing important plot developments. (So the last words of a dying central character are probably not okay...)
Share the title and the author of the book as well, so that other Teaser Tuesday participants can look up the book and add it to their TBR list.

Here's our teaser for this week:

"In a typical election period that includes campaigns for the presidency, the Senate, and the House of Representatives, about $1 billion is spent per year - which sounds like a lot of money, unless you care to measure it against something seemingly less important than democratic elections.

It is the same amount, for instance, that Americans spend every year on chewing gum."

Freakonomics - A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything, Steven D. Levitt & Stephen J. Dubner, page 12

Voting Wednesday, Sept 15

2010-09-15T10:43:00.001+03:00

Voting Wednesday

So, here's the rules:

You form an opinion taking sides in the issue voted upon.

You voice that opinion on the comments, either as a short reply or by a link to your blog where you can make a stand.

Easy, eh?

So, the question of this week is:

Regarding paperbacks; creased spine and signs of reading and loving, or pristine condition?

In other words, how much of a book-condition nazi are you?

Teaser Tuesday, Sept 14

2010-09-14T07:40:00.000+03:00

Teaser Tuesdays are a weekly book-themed meme, hosted by MizB at Should Be Reading. The rules are as follows:

Grab your current read.
Open to a random page.
Share two (2) "teaser" sentences from somewhere on that page.
Be careful of spoilers! Don't ruin the book to others by revealing important plot developments. (So the last words of a dying central character are probably not okay...)
Share the title and the author of the book as well, so that other Teaser Tuesday participants can look up the book and add it to their TBR list.

Here's our teaser for this week:

In my younger and more vulnerable years my father gave me some advice that I've been turning over in my mind ever since.

" Whenever you feel like criticising anyone," he told me, "just remember that all the people in this world haven't had the advantages that you've had."

The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald, page 7

Les Liaisons dangereuses by Choderlos de Laclos

2010-09-13T15:33:00.001+03:00

M:

Who knew that a novel written in the 18th century could be this intriguing? At first, when I saw that the novel was written in the form of a series of letters I was certain that boredom and inanimate plot was to follow. But, once again I was wrong, and quite happily so. The format (of letters) proved actually to be very effective way to carry on the plot quite speedily and interestingly. All the letters not contributing to the storyline behind them were "left out" (I also enjoyed the little remarks byt the "editor", they were a nice touch) and the story didn' t drag or focus on descriptions as it sometimes tends to do in historic novels.

I got carried away with the scheming of Valmont and Merteuil so much that I ended up wolfing down almost the entire thing in one afternoon. In my opinion it is quite rare to find classics that are this easy to read and was not expecting this at all so I was very pleasantly surprised by this piece. I did sometimes find the characters a bit, shall we say, over the top (I for one find it very hard to accept that someone would actually die of a broken heart...). I did however like the way they were presented; most of their attributes were not spelled out but the reader got a sense of what they're like through their style of writing and the nature of the character could be read in between the lines of the letters written by them.

All in all I found this to be a very enjoyable read, one that I might even be tempted to pick up again at some point. But then again I know ii would say: "D'uh, what did you expect?? Intrigue, seduction, evil plotting... this one's write up your alley!" And of course she would be absolutely right. *evil grin*

ii:

Okay, seriously? Death by broken heart? Seriously? And like can be interpreted with very little effort from my comments on the movie, I did not like the book. Or "not like" is really the wrong term. Let's say I did not enjoy it. That's better. The characters... I couldn't relate to any of them. I found them sleazy (Valmont), boring (Tourvel), annoyingly stupid (Cécile) or just annoying (Danceny). The only characters I had any positive feelings towards were Merteuil for her spunk and evilry (it's a word, trust me), and Madame de Rosemonde for her realism and c'est la vie attitude. She was cool.

But while I did find this a tedious book to read, especially the letters of the bag-of-hot-air Valmont, I have to applaud Laclos for creating very distinct voices for them all. It's a testament to his skill (if we're not buying this whole "these are actual letters" story) that I was able to hate the characters so much. Had they all been the same old same old, I would have been more "this book sucks" instead of "these characters are insipid and annoying".

I did enjoy Merteuil's scheming. She did it the classy way. Valmont's use of violence totally turned me against him, and I could not approve his behavior like I did Merteuil's. Merteuil played by some rules, she just outsmarted others. Valmont used violence against a weaker and defenseless opponent: the women. Merteuil said it herself very well in her letter (although in reply to something totally different): It's not to my taste and it's not my style. (Letter 159) I liked that quote.

In the end the pace picked up again, and while I was wondering why this was, I realized it was because the letters by Valmont were missing. Haha. This is one of those books that are tedious to read but kinda good when you look back on them. Weird, that...

From this one we gained 10 points for The 4 months challenge in category "Read a book set in France".

Moviethon: Les Liaisons Dangereuses

2010-09-12T16:47:00.000+03:00

One more was left on our list. The review of the book isn't up yet (blame ii, everyone always does anyways) but we watched the movie nontheless. So...
*scene: Madeline's livingroom, facial masks on and coffee on the way*

ii: Oh, so I'm starting again? Okay. Well, for one, I found the Valmont in the movie more violent and cruel (Note that I didn't use my favourite word evil, Valmont does not deserve evil.) than in the book. While his violence is mentioned in the book, the overall wibe, for me at least, was that of a sleazebag.

M: I think the movie to me was relatively the same as the book. Everyone were pretty much the way I imagined. It was an ok movie, probably I won't be watching it again but ok nonetheless. Pretty bland I guess 'cause I really don't have much to say...

ii: I have to say, I prefer the movie to the book. That's probably because with the movie I didn't have to suffer through so much of boring blabbering from the Volanges girl and the pious self-flaggelation from Tourvel, not to mention the insipid ramblings of Danceny. If it wasn't for the disturbingly excellent job by Malkovich I would watch the movie again. Merteuil was brilliant in both versions, however.

M: Glenn Close is always excellent (she does evil marvelously). I kinda have to say I liked the book more. Not that I would read the book again any time soon but for this type of piece I thought the book is better format. The houses and costumes were pretty spectacular though.

ii: Yeah, I'm totally inspired to redecorate now. I kid! So... we agree to disagree? Can we go eat now?

Okay, kids, the moviethon is over. I hope you had fun, we sure did. Did we learn something? Do we now have some sort of great summary and wise words to share? Probably not.

Moviethon: Atonement

2010-09-11T22:54:00.001+03:00

*scene: Madeline's livingroom (who's surprised?!), food: delicious lasagna by Mads and green salad, wine: Italian, sorry, Sicilian red.

ii: Okay, so Atonement. The book both of us hated because of the ending. The book with 150 pages of foreshadowing. Well... I liked the movie! I don't know if it was because I had read the book and knew the backstory or because the movie was well made, but I really thought the movie told the story well. It didn't drag on too much, and it made the important points. And it made them beautifully.

M: I know!! I was sold after five minutes when by then the movie had managed to tell the first 100 pages of the story! The book dragged the story on and on way too long, the movie succeeded in telling the story much more decidedly. And very beautifully I might add. The last scene with Robbie and Cecilia on the goregeous beach, happy and the music playing... what a beautiful way to end the movie! I still didn't like Briony's holy attitude of making it all better by writing a stupid story, but in the movie this part was not highlighted as much as in the book.

ii: That's so true. And the movie was very beautiful visually. But I agree abuot Briony's role. The whole problem of rewriting history through a story being sufficient act of atonement was missing in the movie. In the book Briony seemed more certain and set that her atonement was enough. In the movie, on the other hand, it was more along the lines of "this is the best I can do, and I hope it's at least something" instead of some miraculous salvation for her sins.

M: Exactly!! So hands down, the movie wins this match in the battle of books vs. movies. I do think they could've made the movie even more impressive by cutting some parts, like the part where the soldiers reached the beach, I do get why they kept the scenes taking place at the beach, but I think the movie could've done with out them as well.

ii: I think it was there to foreshadow, the big thing of the book, the destiny of Robbie. It made it easier to buy his death later on. So I guess it served a point, like everything else in the movie. I do love it when that happens. So yes, the movie wins hands down. And that's even before we consider The Dress. Of course, it could just be me being overly emotional because of the good food and the wine... It feels almost wrong to go dancing after what happened to Cecilia and Robbie, doesn't it?

M: Oh well, Briony made it all better with her story, right?! (I'm so not bitter about the ending...) So of course we can (and should) go dancing! So, no more tear provoking or boring movies today, we'll be back tomorrow with some more cutting edge analysis with Dangerous liaisons.

Moviethon: Midsummer Night's Dream

2010-09-11T19:52:00.000+03:00

*scene: Mad's livingroom, still. Cheddar popcorn and facial masks. No wine, but we'll get to work on that.
For Midsummer Night's Dream we watched the 1999 version with Michelle Pfeiffer, Kevin Kline, Rupert Everett and others.

ii: Oh, gosh! They elaborated and ruined the whole thing! You don't elaborate on Shakespeare! Why? Why?!?
Other than that, well, it was a silly little comedy, so what do you expect? But they made it boring.

M: If it wasn't apparent from my constant crys of "when is this going to end??" and "I'm soooo bored!!", I thought the movie was incredbly boring. They should've shaved off 30-45 minutes, than it might've been tolerable. Kevin Kline was marvelous as Bottom/Ass though (tell me Shakespeare did that with the names on purpose?!).

ii: What? You weren't completely captivated by it? I never would have guessed! Seriously, though, I'm not too sure I liked Kline's take on Bottom (now that sounded dirty!). I didn't picture him quite so ... well, odious. I also didn't like Christian Bale, despite his rather shag-worthy physique. There's just something fundamentally wrong in the combination of Christian Bale and Shakesperean language. It's like ... me quoting the Stepford Wives Code of Conduct, and not in the mocking kind of way.

M: I thought Kevin was hilarious. The players were one of the highlights, but they managed to drag that thing on way too long as well, so they kinda spoiled that too. Oh well, there's one thing this movie is good for; it'll come in handy if you have to read the play but can't be bothered to, the movie is very true to the original play. Apart from the bicycles. I have no clue what the bicycles were doing there?! They served no purpose what so ever.

ii: The players were okay, I guess. I also liked the four lovers stuck in the wood all night. It's just that Shakespeare kind of wrote that complete, there was nothing left for interpretation or explanation (assuming you got the language) so none of the elaborations of the movie were needed. And I certainly didn't get the bicycles either! I think that based on our conclusive take on Shakespeare-in-movies (grand total of 1) we can say that Shakespeare is meant to be read, not watched. No?

M: Hear hear sisterfriend!! I vote for the book in this one! The movies are not doing too well in comparison... It'll be very interesting to see how are we going to like the next one since we both disliked the book! (Can you guess what it'll be??)

ii: Ah, yes. Does it count against the movie or the book if I dislike the movie for having a similar end to the book and thus ending in a completely crapola way?

Moviethon: Time Traveler's Wife

2010-09-11T12:22:00.000+03:00

*scene: Madeline's livingroom, outfit: nighwear, beverage: coffee.*
Okay, so movie two is over. While Time Traveler's Wife wasn't on The List, it's something we've both read, and Madeline even wrote about it on the blog. So it totally qualifies.

M: Totally! And I really liked this one too. The movie had many beautiful scenes, the meadow in the sunlight, the first snow.. Very good interpretation of the book, but I have to still hand this one for the original, so this round goes for the books. ii?

ii: Well, for starters, I liked the book alright, but I thought the ending in the book felt like a cop-out. The author took the easy way out of the story of Henry and Claire, and the end half was just waiting for that ending. In the movie, however, you didn't get that feeling. It was more balanced in a way. I'm also positively surprised how cohesive they made the time-travel bits, you actually could follow the story.

M: Yes, it was really well thought out movie and some of the changes they had made actually fit the story really well, some even better than the original versions in the book. But I still have to say I preferred the book, to me, it was just so much more real, the movie was a little too fairy tale and everything's gonna be alright for my taste.

ii: Yeah, it was a tad glossed-over-happy-Hollywood. So I guess I prefered the book for the actual story, the movie for the pace and the movie for... well, hello! Eric Bana! *drool*

M: Haha, I knew there'd be something we can agree on, let it be Eric Bana's abs then! (You can't go wrong with that choice....mmm...ok, focus Mads, focus!) I think there's no better way to end this discussion then agreeing on Eric Bana's hotness.

ii: ooh... Eric Bana...
Next movie is... we don't know yet, we'll see. It'll be a surprise for us all. Isn't that fun??

Moviethon: Revolutionary Road

2010-09-11T00:37:00.001+03:00

Scene: Madeleine's livingroom, one bottle of red wine and several pounds of cheese later we have succesfully managed to watch one movie!

ii: Hmm... movie no. 1, Revolutionary Road. Maybe not the best one to start with after the slightly crappy day Madeline had, but oh well. Logic, the old fashioned way, has never been a strong suit of ours. And I for one I'm glad we started with this, I liked it!

M: Well, it was very true to the book, except I liked that they had made April's part bigger. We have debated this time and again but I just didn't get her point of view at all from the book (apart from the very ending). So, I'm going to be so bold to say that movies 1 - books 0! *horrified gasps*

ii: *gets wine down the wrong pipe* What?? No! It was a good mmovie and I liked it and all, but really? Better than the book? No no no. The movie showed the emptines April and Frank felt very well, but it just didn't have the feeling of desperation the book had. You didn't get the intensity of the book. Of course, I admit, that could be because watching the movie we knew how it was going to end all along. When reading the book there was still hope for the Wheelers. You know?

M: Well d'uh, I didn't like the book... Didn't take much for the movie to win... Anyways, I suggest we're just gonna agree to disagree on this one and focus on the wine. At least we agreed on that, the wine is (...was...) excellent!!

ii: Well, the wine better be good, with how long it took me to pick it! Do you know, I'm afraid I'm getting snobish about my wine... odd that. But yes, the wine was good, and so was the movie. And of course, Kate is always amazing. Love her.

M: Yes, Kate was lovely, swell I might even say. And Leo didn't suck either, even though it is hard to imagine him as an adult who would actually have kids.

ii: True. As much as I liked Departed, I spent that movie drooling over Matt Damon. So for me, Leo is still that baby-faced teen idol from Titanic. It was odd seing him all grown up. But he is a spectacular actor. Are we ready for the next one now? Next movie, that is, not the next wine...

M: Oh, I'm more than ready for the next wine. What?? Movie? Ok I guess... So next up Time Traveler's Wife. And some more wine.

ii: I though we agreed to postpone the movie till tomorrow morning. We can't start drinking before noon! It's the rule!

M: *pouts* Ok, fine. But I demand we go out tomorrow and buy some sparkling wine.

ii: Oh, like that's a sacrifice! Can we also be mean to people?

M: We are always mean to people. It's the rule! Hmm.. it looks like we might've strayed from the actual point, oh ever so slightly, so I think it's about time we dig in to that apple pie waiting on the counter and let all the nice people keep the rest of their sanity and not force them to read any more of our ramblings.

ii: Us? Off topic? Never! Ooh... apple pie! Bye!

Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger

2010-09-08T14:20:00.002+03:00

A while back (ok, so it was already in July...) I posted a teaser from the Time traveler's wife by Audrey Niffenegger. I had then just started the book. Many of you loved the book, other's just couldn't really get into it. I can see why it might not be everyone's cup of tea but this girl sure loved her cup and ordered seconds.

For some odd reason for which I have no explanation what so ever, I had managed to get the impression that the book is something similar to the Hitchhiker's guide to the galaxy. I have absolutely no idea why on earth did I get that impression. But I really thought I was going to be reading something lighthearted and comic where the character's might end up in some embarrasing situations but would be saved in the nick of time. Well, as all of you who have already read the book know, the book actually is quite dark in many places and time traveling is not all fun and games (as I wrongly expected). Due to the misconception the book's true character took me a bit by surprise and made me like it more than I would've if I'd actually bothered reading the blurb and a few reviews before I got started. I do think that book's that surprise you are often the best ones.

ii had commented that she preferred the first part over the second. I have to say that even though the second part was a lot darker and sadder it was the second part that made me really love the book. (Confession: I cried through the last pages.) The horrible weight Henry had to bear of knowing how and when the end will come was heart breaking. And Clare's struggle to get pregnant, dreading the moment when it would all fail again. It was just so gut wrenchingly sad and tragic. I guess the book suited my foul fall mood quite perfectly...

I did like the approach that time traveling was considered as a disease instead of something fun and science fictiony (what I expected from the book). It was something potentially very dangerous and at the least inconvenient, that Henry had to learn to live with. Like a terminal illness, the bad parts of it grew and grew as he became older and he had to learn to accept that it would all come to an end at some point. To me, this way of looking at it was far more interesting than making it into something funny and enviable. Many people think that it would be nice to visit some of the moments in your past or know what's going to happen in the future. In this book the good parts were there, but it also showed the other side of the winning lottery ticket. All the hours Clare would wait for Henry to return, the awkward moments of appearing somewhere not knowing where and when you are, getting beat up, freezing in the cold, seeing your loved ones die over and over again, the burden of knowing and not being able to do anything about it. Made me think how lucky we are in not knowing.

So if you're in a mood for something not too heavy, yet somewhat sad but beautiful, this one's for you. No y'all go ahead and let me know what you thought of the book!

Voting Wednesday, Sept 8

2010-09-08T10:04:00.001+03:00

Voting Wednesday

So, here's the rules:

You form an opinion taking sides in the issue voted upon.

You voice that opinion on the comments, either as a short reply or by a link to your blog where you can make a stand.

Easy, eh?

So, the question of this week is related to the Moviethon of the upcoming weekend:

Do you like watching movies based on books you've read?

Is it movie or book first? And does it matter if you liked the book or not? Please elaborate at will.

Teaser Tuesday, Sept 7

2010-09-07T08:01:00.001+03:00

Teaser Tuesdays are a weekly book-themed meme, hosted by MizB at Should Be Reading. The rules are as follows:

Grab your current read.
Open to a random page.
Share two (2) "teaser" sentences from somewhere on that page.
Be careful of spoilers! Don't ruin the book to others by revealing important plot developments. (So the last words of a dying central character are probably not okay...)
Share the title and the author of the book as well, so that other Teaser Tuesday participants can look up the book and add it to their TBR list.

Here's our teaser for this week:

"Part of me wished swift vengeance, wanted my father to turn into the man he could never have been - a man violent in rage. That's what you see in movies, that's what happens in the book people read. An everyman takes a gun or a knife and stalk the murderer of his family; he does a Bronson on them and everyone cheers."

The Lovely Bones by Alice Seabold, p. 65

Moviethon heads up!

2010-09-07T07:56:00.001+03:00

Just to remind y'all, The First-Ever Annual Amazingly Pretty and Somewhat Literary Moviethon is nearing.

September 10-12th is the scheduled time, and the idea is to watch as many movies based on books you've read as possible.

Madeline and ii will be watching Revolutionary Road, Atonement and Time Travelers Wife, for starters. And writing reviews here on the blog. And drinking champagne and red wine. And writing some more reviews. So join in the fun! Bring your own wine, though, we ain't shipping.

Special Topics in Calamity Physics by Marisha Pessl

2010-09-06T10:37:00.001+03:00

M:

This is one of those books that people will wither love or hate. The book is full of book references (actual references like it was a thesis ) and it's very wordy (I counted one sentence that was 11 lines long). So most likely it's not everyone's cup of tea. I for one happened to love it.

I didn't know anything about the book, I didn't even read the back cover, so I had no idea if it was going to be a romance, detective story, comedy or something else. To be honest, after finishing it I'm still not sure, I guess a mixture of all of the above? I don't even really care. Exactly because I couldn't guess at all where the story was going to go, I was sucked into it and couldn't put the book down.

The pains of being a teenager were mixed with the "whodunnit" parts very smoothly. The protagonist, Blue, lived through the heartbreak, awkwardness and the rebelliousness that goes with being a teenager, all the while being also mature enough to not being annoying (as, let's face it, most teenagers are). Her relationship with the Bluebloods, especially what happened after the camping trip, was described very well. It was realistic, this is the way teenagers act, the group mentality takes over and there'll always be someone left out. The book also had a lot of dry and evil humour, exactly the kind that I appreciate. So, even though maybe the "whodunnit" parts were not that easy to accept, the novel as a whole was a very good read. And the ending didn't let me down. In these types of books where the tension builds up during the story, the ending usually falls flat and leaves a sour taste in ones mouth. Luckily, not in this one.

I loved the ending. Dad didn't make a final appearance watching on a remote hill top his daughter's graduation, which I was half expecting to happen and it was very cleverly pointed out by the author that she knew everyone would expect it. Even though the storyline is quite out there in parts, in the ending there was a healthy dose of realism. All the loose ends were tied in a way that felt realistic. There was no grand finales, no teary farewells, no grand gestures or sudden declarations of love. There really wasn't even an ending, it was pretty much left for the reader to decide what really happened. Usually I hate those types of endings, I want to know "the facts", what "really" happened, who was right and wrong. But in this case, as in life, you don't know, it's left for you to decide who and what to believe in and in this case it was the right choice.

So ii, which category do you belong? The lovers or the haters?

ii:
I liked this one. For a moment there, towards the end, I got skeptical. But the very ending saved it. So I guess I'll join in the loving bandwagon.

I liked how you summed up the book, Madeline. I, probably also because I literally put the book down 15 seconds ago, can't really get a cohesive sentence to describe it. I liked the references, and I liked how, once Blue started experiencing life herself, she stopped using other peoples words and started using her own. You saw the references becomes fewer and further in between. Then, once life got to be almost too much for her, the references were back, she fell back on what she had read instead of what she felt.

Of course, the list maniac in me went over the "Core Curriculum" with a fictitious pencil and ticked off the books I've read, and making note of the ones I haven't yet. Based on the ones I had read, the titles did fit the chapters they were assigned to. And the final exam was a beauty. That's really how it is in real life: sooner or later we have to take stock and measure what we have learned about any particular aspect of our life. We just don't normally put them in writing. But they're true-or-false, multiple questions alright. And like in life, the answer to the essay is in the question.

So yeah, I liked this. Mads, you want to add something?

M:

I think that's about it. The verdict is in and we have deemed this book worthy of reading so of you go, happy reading everyone! ;)

For additional info, see the book's website.
A plot summary and a book review, together with author interview and book club discussion questions, can be found here.

We gained a whopping 20 points for The 4 Months challenge by counting this for the category "Read a book by an author born in July, August, September or October".

One night stand with Dan Brown: The Lost Symbol

2010-09-04T10:44:00.004+03:00

While I'm fully aware that we're lagging behind because of my lazy reading, I opted to take a moment off Les liaisons dangereuses and read one of the books I picked up last weeks Friday at The Night of the Book: The Lost Symbol by Dan Brown.

We're all allowed a one night stand then and now, right?

And really, that's what the book was. A fluffy, unhealthy episode of dwelling in your dark side and shallow desires. Kinda like an afternoon with a steamily hot Uruguayan footballer in a hotel room before returning to the real world. Only nowhere near so satisfying.

The Lost Symbol continued in the Robert Langdon series. And followed the formula of The Da Vinci Code and Angels and Demons. Only, this time in Washington D.C. And the D.C. references, the history and the city itself was the best bit, the whole Masonic secret slash archaic wisdom slash supernatural rationality (oxymoron much??) was just so over the top that it was really difficult to read anything beyond bla bla bla into those bits.

I don't want to give the book away, especially since Madeline is borrowing my copy next week. But I'll tell you this: I, at the same time, didn't like the book and couldn't put it down. It was just so been-there-done-that from Brown, so similar to the previous books with Robert Langdon. (I quite liked Brown's Digital Fortress, after all, but that's because I'm weird and like math.) I guess we should take it as a sign of Brown maturing, that there was no hot young female in this book. The token hot chick was in her 50's or so, this time.

Shoe-wise, this was the tacky Jessica Simpson stiletto heel sandal you quite can't help liking, despite your better judgement. But, if you're looking for an entertaining fluffy one night stand, go ahead, go with Dan Brown!

'Suite Francaise,' by Irène Némirovsky in NYT

2010-09-01T22:59:00.001+03:00

I stumbled upon a story about the Irène Némirovsky book, "Suite Francaise", we read here at the blog earlier. I found it interesting, so I thought I'd share it with y'all.

'Suite Francaise,' by Irène Némirovsky - The New York Times Book Review - NYTimes.com

'Cause I'm that sweet.

Voting Wednesday

2010-09-01T09:56:00.002+03:00

Voting Wednesday

We're starting a new weekly thing (I hate the word meme) called "Voting Wednesday". In short, we're making a voting ballot for each Wednesday and invite y'all to voice your opinion on whatever book related (or unrelated, we're not making any promises) issue we happen to pick.

So, here's the rules:

You form an opinion taking sides in the issue voted upon.

You voice that opinion on the comments, either as a short reply or by a link to your blog where you can make a stand.

Easy, eh?

So, the question of this week is very fundamental for book lovers:

Paperback or Hardcover?

Which do you prefer? Please elaborate at will.

Teaser Tuesday

2010-08-31T08:30:00.006+03:00

Teaser Tuesdays are a weekly book-themed meme, hosted by MizB at Should Be Reading. The rules are as follows:

Grab your current read.
Open to a random page.
Share two (2) "teaser" sentences from somewhere on that page.
Be careful of spoilers! Don't ruin the book to others by revealing important plot developments. (So the last words of a dying central character are probably not okay...)
Share the title and the author of the book as well, so that other Teaser Tuesday participants can look up the book and add it to their TBR list.

Here's our teaser for this week:

"It's always best to do the humane thing, sir; that's been my experience."

And the trader leaned back in his chair, and folded his arm, with an air of virtuous decision, apparently considering himself a second Wilberforce.

Uncle Tom's Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe, p. 14

Moviethon!

2010-08-24T17:01:00.001+03:00

In case you've been paying attention, we've read a lot of books lately that have been made into movies. And while we usually don't want to see a book we've enjoyed to be twisted into a Hollywoodish image of fluff with liposuctions and designer outfits, we've decided that to hell with it, we want to see how they managed this time.

So, we're hosting a moviethon!

Second weekend in September, we're planning to, and inviting y'all to do so also, watch as much of the movies based on books we've read so far as humanly possible.

The list of books (the final list of movies depends on good luck and the stock of our local movie rental place) includes titles such as...

Revolutionary Road (Kate!! *swoon*)

Atonement (The Dress!)

Midsummer Night's Dream (There's a version with Calista Flockhart, I know.)

Maybe we'll throw in The Time Travelers Wife, although that's not on our book list. But we've both read it. Mads, you've read it, right?

Anyhoo, mes petites, the point is to join us on the second weekend in September, and watch as many movies based on books you've read as possible.

And Harry Potter movies don't count. (There's no reason for that, I just like making up random rules. It's my moviethon. Well, fine, ours.)

And who knows, maybe we'll branch out into movies.

Teaser Tuesday

2010-08-24T16:23:00.000+03:00

Teaser Tuesdays are a weekly book-themed meme, hosted by MizB at Should Be Reading. The rules are as follows:

Grab your current read.
Open to a random page.
Share two (2) "teaser" sentences from somewhere on that page.
Be careful of spoilers! Don't ruin the book to others by revealing important plot developments. (So the last words of a dying central character are probably not okay...)
Share the title and the author of the book as well, so that other Teaser Tuesday participants can look up the book and add it to their TBR list.

Here's our teaser for this week:

"Marx has completely changed the way I view the world," declared the Pallières boy this morning, although ordinarily he says nary a word to me.

Antoine Pallières, prosperous heir to an old industrial dynasty, is the son of one of my eight employers. There he stood, the most recent eructation of the ruling corporate elite - a class that reproduces itself solely by means of virtuous and proper hiccups - beaming at his discovery, sharing it with me without thinking or ever dreaming for a moment that I might actually understand what he was was referring to.

The Elegance of the Hedgehog by Muriel Barbery, p. 13

Further testing needed?

2010-08-19T20:02:00.003+03:00

Because I did something I shouldn't have (check this blog somewhere were I wasn't exactly allowed to) I noticed that the blog came off really blue. As in, bright blue background. Headache blue.

Was it just the age-old programs at that particular computer, or are y'all getting it really too bright as well?

Teaser Tuesday

2010-08-17T20:21:00.000+03:00

Teaser Tuesdays are a weekly book-themed meme, hosted by MizB at Should Be Reading. The rules are as follows:

Grab your current read.
Open to a random page.
Share two (2) "teaser" sentences from somewhere on that page.
Be careful of spoilers! Don't ruin the book to others by revealing important plot developments. (So the last words of a dying central character are probably not okay...)
Share the title and the author of the book as well, so that other Teaser Tuesday participants can look up the book and add it to their TBR list.

Here's our teaser for this week:

"Nothing's wrong," said Boq.

"Tell me to mind my own business, tell me to go fuck myself, to piss off, go on, say it, but don't tell me nothing's wrong. For you're not that food a liar, and I'm not that stupid."

Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West by Gregory Maguire, p. 94

Teaser Tuesday

2010-08-11T22:59:00.001+03:00

Sorry!!

I know, I know, the moment Madeline turns her back I let this place go all haywire.

But better late than never, eh?
So...

Teaser Tuesdays are a weekly book-themed meme, hosted by MizB at Should Be Reading. The rules are as follows:

Grab your current read.
Open to a random page.
Share two (2) "teaser" sentences from somewhere on that page.
Be careful of spoilers! Don't ruin the book to others by revealing important plot developments. (So the last words of a dying central character are probably not okay...)
Share the title and the author of the book as well, so that other Teaser Tuesday participants can look up the book and add it to their TBR list.

Here's our teaser for this week:

"But how does He manage to do what you pray for if He doesn't get time to talk to the secretary before it's too late?"

Grandmother pretended to be asleep, but she knew she wasn't fooling anyone, and so finally she said that He'd made it so nothing bad could happen between the moment you prayed and the moment He found out what you prayed for. And then Sophia wanted to know what happened if you prayed while you were falling out of a tree and you were halfway down.

The Summer Book by Tove Jansson, p. 49

Teaser Tuesday

2010-08-03T22:07:00.000+03:00

Teaser Tuesdays are a weekly book-themed meme, hosted by MizB at Should Be Reading. The rules are as follows:

Grab your current read.
Open to a random page.
Share two (2) "teaser" sentences from somewhere on that page.
Be careful of spoilers! Don't ruin the book to others by revealing important plot developments. (So the last words of a dying central character are probably not okay...)
Share the title and the author of the book as well, so that other Teaser Tuesday participants can look up the book and add it to their TBR list.

Here's our teaser for this week:

However, being able to attract a mate is not just about providing the magic 'I am choosy, and I have chosen you' impression. Instead, research into the psychology of dating has uncovered a number of equally quick but effective ways of making your attraction to someone a mutual affair. All you need is a simple touch, an afternoon at a theme park and the confidence to ask people about their favourite pizza topping.

59 seconds by Professor Richard Wiseman , page 149-150

The Audacity of Hope by Barack Obama

2010-07-30T09:50:00.000+03:00

M:

I'm always very sceptical when it comes to politicians. As a rule I don't trust any of them. The higher up and more known they are, the more I tend to distrust them. Therefore I was also very sceptical about this book too, after all, it was written by a man who's very much involved in politics and has a long way down from his post.

I was pleasantly surprised by the narrative of this book and must admit that Obama is a very good writer. I especially enjoyed the little captions from his own personal life that tied the political themes to real events and made them much more approachable and understandable for the reader. He also gave his own opinions on the matters he was discussing, not just listing the things that are wrong in the socitety. I didn't always agree with him (e.g. I don't think that merit pay is the way to go with school teachers) but I did appreciate that he gave some solutions for the problems.

I did find the book a little preachy in places and a little more 'campaign speech' like than a novel. Also his habit of making a point by asking questions got a little old towards the end: Is the cheap oil worth the costs of war? Will our military intervention lead to a permanent political settlement or an indefinite commitment of U.S. forces? Can our dispute with a country be settled diplomatically or through a coordinated series of sanctions? Will I ever stop asking questions and actually give my opinion on the matter?

The book was written by a man whose sitting pretty high up (not as high as he is now though) and I tend to think that he's probably playing it a little safe, not saying it like it is but so that no one can misunderstand and be offended. Nonetheless, I thought that the book had some interesting ideas, it was well written and easy to read. It was thought provoking and that's always a good sign in my opinion.

So, ii, what's your take on this one? Do you agree with me that this is a book worth reading?

ii:

I too liked this book. Like you said, Obama is a talented writer, but unlike you I liked the questions. That's most probably because I do that too, develop ideas through asking questions. So that didn't bother me at all. And from the very beginning I wondered, could this book have been written by anyone but American, in any society other that the USA? I don't think so.

The thing about books like this is, that they make me want to read more "smart" stuff. Like... history, or economics or politics. And I don't even like politics! The very point Obama highlighted in this book, that there's no easy to apply solutions and right and wrong answers to these issues, is something my patience isn't enough. I want to solve the problem, and I want to do it right now! haha

I did struggle with the chapter on religion, mostly because I don't subscribe to any religion. It annoys me a bit, that whenever we talk of issues of faith and religion and how we need to remember to respect everyones freedom of faith, we're forgetting that not all of us belong to a religion. That too should be respected, the freedom to not have faith. But given the background, that this is a book written by a Christian Democratic politician, he did address the issue in a good way.

Ah yes, the Democratic slant. The "we're responsible for everyone" attitude. It was there, at parts really strong, but then again, he did say so in the beginning. It would be interesting, though, to have a similar (in scope) book written by a Republican. My favorite Marine said once, that there's no longer "fact facts", there's only spin. Meaning that everything in the media is slanted to one way or another. Obama mentioned the same, when he said there's no longer Walter Cronkite or Edward R. Murrow. So why should we expect anything but from an active politician, already planning to rerun (or running for some other office) at the time of writing the book? (See, Madsie, I ask the annoying questions too! Hahaha)

I liked the last few chapters less that the beginning of the book. The chapter on US foreign policy was just too stock full of "American Arrogance". The only notion he gave to international institutions that could take the role of policing the world, such as UN, was when he suggested America should lead them and use them for getting international support to their actions by gaining credibility and the cloak of acceptability through UN approval. That the US should play by the rules not because they're good rules, but because it would be hypocritical for them to ask others to follow them if they're not doing so themselves. Now isn't that just saying "you following these rules benefits us, so we're willing to do what it takes, even follow them ourselves, to make sure you do so"? How about inserting a little humility and respect for others into your foreign policy? How about giving some of that respect you talk of, respect you should have for yourselves the Americans, to the rest of the world? How about admitting that just because Europe needed the help of Americans after WWII to rebuild our economies, we're doing pretty darn good now? (Need I remind you, the current economic crisis was caused by American screw-ups?)

As for the last chapter, the one on family, now that was just pure populism. Vote-fishing at its finest. Or maybe I was just still pissed off after the foreign policy chapter. Of course Obama, like any working parent, struggles with balancing work and family. And the sad fact is that we don't want to hear people who "have it all" (good job, happy family, wealth etc.) complain. But that chapter was just way too sugary. Why couldn't he point out his own experiences on these issues when he talked of social policy and the need for quality teaching for kids and daycares and a minimum wage of parents so that they can actually afford to go to work? When he focused on abortion and problems of unemployment and one-parent households? Then it wouldn't have sounded so much... well, you know the show Extreme Makeover Home Edition? Where they build a house to a needy family? Where you're supposed to go all "aww" at them and cry and feel for them? I call that social porn. And the last chapter, much to my disappointed was more like social porn than affirmative of Obama's dedication to family values and his thanks to his lucky stars for getting a smart wife and pretty kids.

The last two chapters left a... not exactly sour taste in my mouth, but a bit disappointing feeling. I liked most of this book a lot. Not because I subscribe to the liberal ideals of Democrats (I'm more a libertarian myself) but because it made me think, it made me form my own opinions and evaluate (or at times reevaluate) my beliefs of what is right and good and just. And I like reading books like that.

Mads?

M:

Yep, pretty much right with you there, liked it but didn't agree with all of it.

I too had hard time stomaching everything in the Faith -chapter. Like, I sure didn't know that more americans believe in angels than in evolution. And you know I come from a family with very strong sciency background so evolution to me has always been a fact not something you can choose not to believe... I also found the Family chapter was a bit not believable. In public he's all smiles and happy families so to complain about his family situation makes me think he either is untruthful in the book or untruthful in his public appearances with the wife and kids...

This book had loads of interesting thoughts and I'm glad we added this to the list. That said I think I'll give american politics a rest for a while now. Makes me a bit angry, reading ii's thoughts on the foreign policy parts made me remember it all over again and I'm pissed of again, so happy books next please.

We also gained 15 points for The 4 Months Challenge from this one in the category "read a book by an author you've never read before".

Teaser Tuesday

2010-07-27T10:14:00.000+03:00

Teaser Tuesdays are a weekly book-themed meme, hosted by MizB at Should Be Reading. The rules are as follows:

Grab your current read.
Open to a random page.
Share two (2) "teaser" sentences from somewhere on that page.
Be careful of spoilers! Don't ruin the book to others by revealing important plot developments. (So the last words of a dying central character are probably not okay...)
Share the title and the author of the book as well, so that other Teaser Tuesday participants can look up the book and add it to their TBR list.

Here's our teaser for this week:

As I stand in the elevator, dazed, I realize that a massive winning lottery ticket chunk of my future has somehow found me here in the present, and I start to laugh. I cross the lobby, and as I run down the stairs to the street I see Claire running across Washington Square, jumping and whooping, and I am near tears and I don't know why.

The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger, page 10

Behold, for I have conquered!

2010-07-23T07:37:00.000+03:00

I decided long before we started with this list that I need to read more, there's just too many books I haven't read but feel like I should've. So, a couple of years back I trotted down to my local library and checked out some classics. Including Great Expectations by Charles Dickens. I managed to finish the book before it was due back but reading it was more a chore than fun; the book was just plain boring. After this I went on quite happily reading other stuff. About a year ago I was browsing through the classics section at a book store and came across David Copperfield by Dickens for a very low price. I thought to myself, what the hell, might as well give it a go. Man, I sure did not know what I had gotten myself into!

First the book sat on my shelf for quite some time, after all I had some other reading to do before that one. Then, last fall I started with it and last night I finally managed to finish it. I have been struggling through the 745 pages of utter boredom. It was just a battle all the way through: I would read a couple of pages, feel like I wanted to claw my eyes out and switched books, then wait a few days (/weeks depending on how horridly uneventful the read passage was) and tried again. I have to say there has never ever been a book that took more time to finish then this one!

Dare I say it? I hate Dickens! And especially his "masterpiece" David Copperfield. I couldn't have cared less about the characters who were plenty and most of them completely useless. How can it take so many pages to write this story when the main happenings are: my mother died, run away from stepfather, struggled to succeed in life, got married, wife died, got married again and lived happily everafter. I just don't get it. Could someone please explain to me why on earth should I appreciate the works of this guy??

I shall now revel in the fact that I finished the stupid thing and I will never have to pick it up again (no, I have no plans for a reread anytime soon). Then I will dress in black and sit on the couch and mourn the hours and days of my life that I'll never get back and were wasted on reading this.

Teaser Tuesday

2010-07-20T21:31:00.000+03:00

Teaser Tuesdays are a weekly book-themed meme, hosted by MizB at Should Be Reading. The rules are as follows:

Grab your current read.
Open to a random page.
Share two (2) "teaser" sentences from somewhere on that page.
Be careful of spoilers! Don't ruin the book to others by revealing important plot developments. (So the last words of a dying central character are probably not okay...)
Share the title and the author of the book as well, so that other Teaser Tuesday participants can look up the book and add it to their TBR list.

Here's our teaser for this week:

I waited until two o'clock in the morning and then, as arranged, made my way, carrying a candle, to the said room, pretending that I'd rung for him several times without result. My accomplice, who acts his parts superbly, put on a little scene of surprise, dismay, and penitence which I cut short by pretending to need some hot water and sent him off to heat it up. Meanwhile, the scrupulous maid was all the more embarrassed because the rogue had improved on my scenario by getting her to strip off to a state of undress perfectly appropriate to the season but hardly justified by the weather alone.

Les Liaisons dangereuses by Choderlos de Laclos, page 87

Book snobs?

2010-07-20T14:22:00.000+03:00

ii:
Okay, something's been nagging away in my brain for a while now. Am I a book snob? I have difficulties considering someone who reads detective novels and vampire books as a Reader. As in, a serious reader. okay, you may read a lot, and as such are indeed a reader, but an intellectual reader? Noup. I do believe that to be a Reader, you must have read, if only for curiosity's sake, some of the classics, you must know the difference between Russian and French literature, you must recognize the Asian from the American.

Is that snobbish of me?

M:
Here here sisterfriend!! I don't get it either. I do occasionally read detective novels (like Agatha Christie and such) and every once in a while I need some chick lit to clear my head from all thought but I really don't have the need to go around advertising the fact. And I'm not the kind of person who judges a book by it's cover: I have even read the Twilight series. And no, I didn't think much of it, the last book was downright ridicilous. I must admit that the books were slightly better than the movies though. I think there's nothing good looking about Robert Pattinson and Taylor Lautner looks like a girl with muscles. (I'm waiting for the insults now, go for it: I haven't even started with the "actress" Kirsten Stewart...)

I wanted to start blogging to have incentive to read more classics or books that have an important message or at least a bit more enduring value than your latest Cosmopolitan-recommended-it-next-to-a-Veet-ad stuff. I want to have intelligent discussions about books with people who are well read and actually have thoughts about the stuff they read. I don't need to talk about Confessions of a Shopaholic, it was ok but that's about it, no lasting impression or emotional turmoil.

Is there anyone out there who prefers a classic over the latest craze in books?

ii:
I suffered some emotional turmoil over the fact that there is a fairly successful book series about a character who never exhibits any growth or development whatsoever! (yes, the Shopaholic series.) Granted, I do read the chick-lit on occasion. We all need a detox after all. We all need an occasional break of sorts. It's like eating junk food or fat-assing it on the sofa. Although the latter probably isn't a good example, given the fact that as I accidentally came across my gym bag in my closet just now, it went "who the heck are you??" (But I do have a hola hoop, and it's pretty. And besides the point.)

But yes, we all need a break. It's what you do between those breaks that matters, in my mind. Right? Are you reading chick-lit amids Ha Jin and Némirovsky, or between Grisham and The Nanny Diaries (which I only finished because of the Harvard Hottie)?

M:
Exactly! I think I for sure needed to vent my feelings on this particular matter. I don't even care if people blog about their holiday fluff reading as long as it's done tongue in cheek. But what I don't like, is the fact that it looks like the fluff is taking over. Everyone seems to be reading just the same book over and over again and frankly, I'm getting seriously bored with this! Fingers crossed that this trend will blow over and I get to read reviews about something else besides the adventures of Sookie Stackhouse and Lauren Conrad. *sigh*

ii:
Who's Lauren Conrad?

A Midsummer Night's Dream by William Shakespeare

2010-07-14T19:56:00.000+03:00

ii:
Okay, so Shakespeare. Scary. Which is why we opted for a comedy, instead of troubled Danish princes or such. But still, I have to admit being somewhat cautious starting this, as the language is a bit intimidating.

As it turns out, once you got used to it, however, it's fairly okay. I mean, they talk and talk and talk, but there is a certain beauty in their eloquence. After all, it's Shakespeare.

As for the story, well... it's a flimsy comedy. I don't know if any great analysis can be drawn upon it, it's just for a laugh. My favorite bits? The comments Theseus et al did during the play put together by the craftsmen. Cracked me up!

My copy of the book had these fancy explanatory notes and little introductions in it as well. About how this play is of the "mysterious images of romantic desire". I don't know... can't we just take it such as it is? A funny little piece that kept us entertained for few hours? A late 1500's version of a Meg Ryan movie?

M:

I was pleasantly surprised about this one. I was not very excited to get started but ended up reading the whole thing in almost one sitting. And no, not really because it was so good but because it was quite short... Anyways, I did find the language beautiful, very old fashioned of course but I'm always been drawn to historic films and novels due to the eloquence and cordiality of speech.

The story itself. Well, I have to say there's more potential to even more comedy than Shakespeare got out if. Really, all the mix ups with identities and who loves who were righted before the characters really had time to mess up their lives. How boring. I would've thought that the bit when everyone's under the lovespell would've lasted a lot longer since it is the whole point of the play. Instead the random parts of the craftmens play took up most of it. But yea, the best comedic action were definitely the random comments!

In it's defence I have to say, it's old. It was written very long ago and the times have changed. It might not be that entertaining if put on the stage now as it is but I'm convinced that back then it was a funny play and did its bit in entertaining the masses. So well done Shakespeare, you're not as boring as I thought!

ii:

I wonder, though, if this has been made into a modern movie, like so many other Shakespeare comedies. You know, The Taming of the Shrew (The 10 Things I Hate About You with amazing Heath Ledger) or Twelfth Night (with sexy Channing Tatum as Duke Orsino in She's the Man). I mean, surely this one has potential for an update, no??

I feel like this almost counts for the 5 points in The 4 Months Challenge under category "read a chick lit book", but we're going to go with the 15 points for "read any book but read it outdoors" as that's what we did with this one.

Teaser Tuesday

2010-07-13T14:13:00.000+03:00

Teaser Tuesdays are a weekly book-themed meme, hosted by MizB at Should Be Reading. The rules are as follows:

Grab your current read.
Open to a random page.
Share two (2) "teaser" sentences from somewhere on that page.
Be careful of spoilers! Don't ruin the book to others by revealing important plot developments. (So the last words of a dying central character are probably not okay...)
Share the title and the author of the book as well, so that other Teaser Tuesday participants can look up the book and add it to their TBR list.

Here's our teaser for this week:

During my general election campaign for the U.S. Senate, for example, my Republican opponent assigned a young man to track all my public appearances with a handheld camera. This has become fairly routine operating procedure in many campaigns, but whether because the young man was overzealous or whether he had been instructed to try to provoke me, his tracking came to resemble stalking.

The Audacity of Hope by Barack Obama, page 64