Subversia - Book Review

Subversia by D.R. Haney

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


I was lucky enough to meet Duke Haney once at a party at a mutual friend's house in L.A. I remember immediately liking him and after reading this book of his personal essays I now understand why. How could you not like someone who can write about their own life with such honesty and humor and depth? There is no pretension in Duke's stories even though the life he's led would allow for some. Reading this was like talking to Duke at that party. He's just a cool guy, a nice guy, telling you a bit about himself until suddenly you find yourself completely drawn in and fascinated and you want to just let him keep talking, keep entertaining you. As I read this collection, each story I finished became my favorite story. They all feel very immediate even though some take place over twenty years ago. But if I had to choose my favorites I think they would be Cutty Sarked for it's hilarious honesty, That's What I've Been Trying to Tell You for it's tragedy, beautifully expressed and The Right Profile because I myself once had an obsession with Montgomery Clift.

So, thanks Duke. Keep telling your stories. I'll keep reading them.



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Just Kids - Book Review

Just Kids by Patti Smith

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


Patti Smith's Just Kids is the best book I read in 2010. It's possibly the best book I've read in the last five years. In telling the story of her relationship with artist Robert Mapplethorpe, Patti illuminates for the world what it means to be an artist, a friend, a lover, and a musician. Not what it means in general, but what it means TO HER. In doing so she tells fascinating, magical, poetic, passionate, charming, heartbreaking, ecstatic, romantic, whimsical, and unbelievable stories of New York City and its eclectic inhabitants, its cherished neighborhoods, and its institutions like Max's Kansas City and the Chelsea Hotel. I can't even begin to say how much I loved this book. I never wanted it to end. I want everyone in the world to read it. And I hope Patti Smith goes on to write more books because I know she has more stories to tell.



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Freedom - Book Review

Freedom by Jonathan Franzen

My rating: 2 of 5 stars


I'm still not entirely sure how I feel about this book. This is the first book I've ever read by Franzen and although, for the most part, I enjoyed his prose, I absolutely HATED his characters. They were all miserable people doing miserable things to one another. Occassionally I would find myself becoming sympathetic towards a character only to then have them do something so awful that I would find myself loathing them again. Call me old fashioned, but I have a hard time enjoying a book when I can't care about or root for at least one character. I will admit that Franzen turns it around a bit in the end. The last 80 pages or so I was finally compelled to FEEL for some of the characters and that was my favorite part of the book! If some of those good feelings could have been sprinkled throughout the other 500 pages of this tome I think I would have enjoyed it more. But overall this was a trying read for me. Some friends of mine have read this and absolutely loved it and they loved it for the exact same reason that I didn't. Maybe I'm just too positive and sunny of a person to allow myself to wallow in the miserableness for 500+ pages. Not that I'm trying to call my friends negative...oh geez, all this is just coming out wrong now...

Here's the gist:

- I enjoyed Franzen's evocative and painterly writing.
- I enjoyed the pop culture references which helped me feel like this story was truly of today's world, that these characters could actually be real.
- I didn't quite understand the passages that were supposed to be written as autobiography by the Patty character. Patty's autobiographical voice didn't seem any different from Franzen's voice, so that device didn't work for me.
- I wish the characters had been a bit more sympathetic throughout the story. It was hard for me sometimes to push on through because they were all so miserable that I didn't even care what happened to them.
- I'm not sure I would ever read anything else by Mr. Franzen.

Middlesex - Book Review

Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides

My rating: 2 of 5 stars


I loved Eugenides' first book The Virgin Suicides. It had a dreamy nostalgia to it that appealed to me and I could really FEEL his setting and his characters.

I don't know why it took me so long to pick up his second, Pulitzer Prize winning novel, Middlesex, but now that I've read it I must say I'm quite disappointed. As sprawling family sagas go, it had compelling characters and a very unique story to tell, but for me it meandered too much, got lost on its tangents and continually dropped focus on the most interesting character of all: narrator Cal Stephanides. It frustrated me when Eugenides would give a little snippet of Cal's story that would excite me and then veer off again and tell another involved story about a side character that I never cared for as much as I cared about Cal. If Eugenides had edited about 200 pages out of this story it would have received five stars from me. As is, it was a bit of a chore to read and it didn't compel my full page turning attention until the last 150 pages or so. Once he finally let the family history go and focused directly on Cal's self discovery I loved the book. I'm just sorry I couldn't love the entire book as much as I loved the last part of it.



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West of Here - Book Review

West of Here by Jonathan Evison

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


I was lucky enough to score an ARC of Jonathan Evison’s West of Here and I have to admit that it surprised me. I knew the man could write, his first novel All About Lulu was a lovely coming of age story told with a unique voice that I liked a lot. But Lulu in no way prepared me for the staggering scope of West of Here.

Set in the fictional town of Port Bonita, Washington, the book follows two timelines. The first timeline begins in 1889 and focuses on Port Bonita's founding and the damming of the Elwha River which gave the town its identity and life. This timeline is filled with men and women of vision and purpose, the world wide open to them if only they can make the right decisions. The second timeline is in the modern year 2006 and follows the descendants of those original founders. But for them, Port Bonita is no longer thriving, the dam no longer their salvation but their downfall. These men and women would like to have the same sense of purpose their ancestors did, but first they must somehow reconcile their past with their future. It might be time for Port Bonita and its inhabitants to make a change.

Jonathan Evison writes colorfully with a lot of humor and genuine affection for his many characters – not one written with anything less than absolute vibrancy and depth. The Washington wilderness itself is a character and his descriptions of it are so effortless and beautiful, you trust that he KNOWS this landscape. He makes you feel it.

The story itself is propulsive. At the beginning you will slowly begin to know the characters and follow them on their paths, learning more and more about them as you turn the pages, then the plot will start to take a strong hold and pretty soon you will be unable to put the book down until you find out what everyone’s destinies will be, until you are finished with the book and sad that it’s over.

I am intrigued by the amount of research that went into the writing of this novel. What is factual and what is imagination? I want to look into the history of the area myself and learn everything I can about it. It’s that pioneer spirit and sense of adventure that captures my attention and imbues in me a childlike sense of wonder at the vastness of things.

So, thanks to Jonathan Evison for writing such a spectacular book. I think this novel is going to be big for him. I’ll definitely be buying at least one copy when it is officially released and I encourage you to do so too.

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Water for Elephants - Book Review

Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


Water For Elephants was just what I wanted in a book right now: an easy read, fun, romantic, with a unique setting. Sara Gruen's research into the life of long forgotten train circuses and America in the 1930s was obviously extensive and the way she used her knowledge in the writing of the book was loving and playful and made me want to learn more about it. There were a few things that I looked up, curious to know if they were the author's invention or actual historical facts that she incorporated into her story. For example, I had never heard of "Jake Leg" before and commend her for revealing in the context of her book parts of American history that most people must be unfamiliar with. The characters were well drawn and the fictional Circus she created was completely believable. I loved the photographs that accompanied each chapter which added to the believablity of her story. I would recommend this book to anyone looking to immerse themselves in a good old fashioned yarn filled with romance and even a little danger.

Northanger Abbey - Book Review

Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


I'm not sure why this novel is considered the "lesser" of the Austen novels. It's brilliantly funny and contains wonderful satire of the gothic romance novels popular at the time and the silly games that suitors play with one another. Through the character of Isabella Thorpe, Austen reveals the damages that can come from a deceptively manipulative friendship. It is only when our heroine Catherine Morland becomes independent from Isabella's influence that she can realize that she wasn't a true friend at all.

I have great affection for Catherine Morland. It is true that she's the least intelligent of Austen's heroine's but that's because this is a true coming of age story. We get to see her journey from naive young girl, to an independent young women, through her profound life experiences. And Henry Tilney is a great hero because even when he is amused and befuddled by Catherine, he does everything he can spare her feelings and to lead her in the sensible direction. Plus he's really funny.

It has been years since I'd read this book and I forgot how many of Austen's best quotes come from it! Here are just a few:

"But when a young lady is to be a heroine, the perverseness of forty surrounding families cannot prevent her. Something must and will happen to throw a hero in her way."

"Friendship is certainly the finest balm for the pangs of disappointed love."

"I cannot speak well enough to be unintelligible."

Catherine's thoughts on reading History:
"I read it a little as a duty, but it tells me nothing that does not either vex or weary me. The quarrels of popes and kings, with wars or pestilences, in every page; the men all so good for nothing, and hardly any women at all – it is very tiresome: and yet I often think it odd that it should be so dull, for a great deal of it must be invention. The speeches that are put into the heroes’ mouths, their thoughts and designs – the chief of all this must be invention, and invention is what delights me in other books."

And my all time favorite Austen quote, as spoke by the wonderful Henry Tilney:
"The person, be it gentleman or lady, who has not pleasure in a good novel must be intolerably stupid."

My Horizontal Life - Book Review

My Horizontal Life: A Collection of One-Night Stands by Chelsea Handler


My rating: 4 of 5 stars
I've become addicted to Chelsea Lately on the E! Channel, so when I saw this book on sale I picked it up. It was a fun read. Ms. Handler writes exactly how she talks so after watching her late night show for months now, it was easy to hear her perfectly in my head as I read about her sexual exploits. Her stories are brash, honest, sometimes dirty, often embarrassing, and laugh out loud funny. She obviously had no fear of what people might think about her after reading this book, and I admire her for that.

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The Elegance of the Hedgehog - Book Review

The Elegance of the Hedgehog by Muriel Barbery


My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Ultimately I really liked this book, but it wasn't immediately clear that I was going to feel that way about it. As it began I was leery of the many philosophical digressions that peppered its pages. I'm not well read in philosophy and I was worried it was all going to be over my head or make my eyes roll at such grand ideas. But eventually I got used to the ramblings, and even started to enjoy them. Besides, the ramblings lessened as the plot progressed and then I became more and more attached to the characters and eager to know how they would intersect and how everything was going to work out for them.

I was also very attracted to the pop culture references throughout the book and have taken notes on movies to rent and music to listen to and paintings to look at.

I read Anna Karenina last year and was thrilled when references to it were laced throughout The Elegance of the Hedgehog. But don't think that if you haven't read Anna Karenina that your enjoyment of this book would be diminished. I don't think you have to have read, or watched, or listened to, or looked at, every book, or movie, or song, or painting that is referenced in this story. But once you've finished reading this, you can go find these things (as I will) and therefore enhance your overal experience with this story and enhance your life as well.


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Vintage Irish Book Covers

I know. I should have linked to this on St. Patrick's Day, right? Oh well.  Click on the link below to see samples of these great book covers.

http://www.hitone.ie/blog/

Totally Killer - Book Review

Totally Killer: A Novel by Greg Olear


My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I'm a sucker for pop culture. Insane amounts of inane pop culture trivia swirls continuously through my brain. It's only natural then, that I would adore anything filled with a plethora of pop culture references for me to cry, "Yes! Hey, I get that reference!" I miss TV's The Gilmore Girls.

Greg Olear's Totally Killer satisfied my pop culture proclivities in abundance. It takes place in 1991, the year I turned 15, so although I'm a bit younger than the main characters in the novel, I still related to it. Any book that can reference Parliament Lights (which was my brand of choice back when I was still a smoker), Alec Baldwin in The Marrying Man, Sassy magazine (oh how I miss it!), as well as the amazing music of that time possesses the key to my heart.

Aside from all that, this book is a darkly comic look at Baby Boomers vs. Generation X, written as a noirish mystery featuring well drawn characters with imagery that perfectly evokes NYC in 1991 (even for those like me that have never been there). It's easy and fun to read, with a great plot twist that I truly didn't see coming. I love a novel that surprises me.

I'd recommend this to everyone. Especially anyone who came of age in the 90s.

Atonement - Book Review

Atonement by Ian McEwan


My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I read Atonement because I hated the film, but a friend of mine adored the book and I was hoping that by reading it maybe I would find the connection to the characters that I missed when watching the film.

I've never read McEwan before and I enjoyed some of his quick, seemingly throwaway ideas that later took on more meaning when you look at the entire story as a whole. I'm specifically thinking about this passage written about the young Briony:

"She raised one hand and flexed its fingers and wondered, as she had sometimes before, how this thing, this machine for gripping, this fleshy spider on the end of her arm, came to be hers, entirely at her command. Or did it have some little life of its own? She bent her finger and straightened it. The mystery was in the instance before it moved, the dividing moment between not moving and moving, when her intention took effect. It was like a wave breaking. If she could only find herself at the crest, she thought, she might find the secret of herself, that part of her that was really in charge. She brought her forefinger closer to her face and stared at it, urging it to move. It remained still because she was pretending, she was not entirely serious, and because willing it to move, or being about to move it, was not the same as actually moving it. And when she did crook it finally, the action seemed to start in the finger itself, not in some part of her mind. When did it know to move, when did she know to move it?"

That is such a universal thought! Who hasn't thought that before? Who didn't as a child or even as an adult had those moments where your body seems a mystery of science and mechanics? And this idea presents itself again later within Robbie Turner while he is trekking his way to Dunkirk. . .

It's a rather lovely connection.

Reading the book made me want to re-evaluate the movie. The distance from the characters I felt during the film was also present during my reading of the book which has let me see that it wasn't a flaw of the film - it was intended. There are definitely some things, especially internal dialogue of the characters, in the book that could not be translated to the film which is a detriment, but it's to be expected in a transition from page to screen. That's why reading the book was a good thing because it filled in those holes. I will watch the film again with a new understanding and think I will ultimately enjoy it more than I did the first time around.

I think I would also like to read more McEwan. Any recommendations?

Jane Eyre - Book Review

Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë


My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I recently reread Jane Eyre. This is the second time I've read it and the first time I read it I think I was in my late teens/early 20s. On this second reading it has lost a star in my review. I really liked it, but it's not five star worthy.

**Spoiler Alert** There were inconsistencies in the character of Jane that bothered me this time round. When she was with Rochester she was so capable, had him wrapped around her little finger, controlling his every move, all while making him think that HE was controlling everything. I don't think I realized that when I read this book as a young woman. Jane is strong enough to hold to her beliefs and leave Rochester when necessary and make it through trials of destitution. But then she loses her strength and assertiveness when it comes to St. John Rivers. She does everything he tells her to do because she wants to please him and live up to his morals. I don't really get as a character why she would go to these extremes for him. She had no love for him. Why would she feel so compelled to obey him? It didn't feel right to me. The Rivers family portion of the book dragged for me. I don't like Jane with them. I just want her to get back to Rochester!

Luckily overall, the gothic mystery and the passion of the story make for a great read.

I do love reading a book at different times of life and coming away with different views.

Maybe I'll read it again when I'm fifty and see how it affects me then.

Revolutionary Road - Book Review

Revolutionary Road by Richard Yates


My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Well, wowza. This is one hell of a novel. Written with elegant precision - every character in it, major or minor, is incredibly well drawn. My sympathies shifted from character to character and back again. You love these characters, you hate these characters, you KNOW these characters. The novel is laced with humor but it never made me laugh. It was all so desolate and sad which is not at all the kind of mood I am ever in (I'm sickeningly, perennially cheerful), yet it was compulsively readable. I found myself every night staying up way past my bedtime because I had to read just a bit further!

This book transcends the age in which it was written. Although written in 1961 and taking place in 1955 the ideas and feelings in it could easily be placed in any decade. I would recommend that anyone in a relationship read this book. It could be good or bad for you, but there are things to glean from April and Frank Wheeler that just may make a difference in your own life.

Tennessee Williams said about Revolutionary Road, "Here is more than fine writing; here is what, added to fine writing, makes a book come immediately, intensely and brilliantly alive. If more is needed to make a masterpiece in modern American fiction, I am sure I don't know what it is."

I feel that way too. This is a classic American novel, one that deserves to be studied in school alongside The Great Gatsby and The Catcher in the Rye.

I Capture The Castle - Book Review

I Capture the Castle by Dodie Smith


My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I had seen the film version of this on cable several years back and remembered enjoying it. The first line of this novel, "I write this sitting in the kitchen sink" often comes up on various book trivia lists. So my interest was already piqued when I picked up a remainder copy of the movie tie-in edition at Elliot Bay Books in Seattle. I was interested to discover that it was out of print for many many years and was triumphantly celebrated by the critical media upon its return to publication.

17 year old Cassandra Mortmain is a charming and entertaining narrator. She is writing in a journal, but as it is practice for being an actual writer she tries to write her entries as she would a novel, with all dialogue recorded and true honesty when it comes to all the characters in her story, herself included.

She attempts to "capture" the story of her family as they live in poverty in an old ramshackle castle in the English countryside during the 1930s. There is love, and bohemia, and mystery, and adventure and confusion and hilarity and a little sadness too. I really felt for these characters and was dreading the end of the story when I would have to leave them.

I adored this book. I know I will reread it. I recommend it to everyone.

American on Purpose - Book Review

I just finished reading Craig Ferguson’s memoir American on Purpose: The Improbable Adventures of an Unlikely Patriot. It was truly fantastic.

I’ve loved Craig for years. His Late Late Show is the only late night talk show that I watch on a regular basis. What I love about his talk show is that he doesn’t do a standard monologue of lame jokes. He just stands in front of the camera and talks with honesty and warmth about anything and everything or sometimes nothing. Sure he has writers and they obviously do write some jokes, but you can tell that it’s completely spontaneous as to whether Craig actually tells the jokes or not. He can go off on crazy tangents, but he’s so good off the cuff that you’ll find yourself cracking up at next to nothing. He’s just naturally funny.

What I loved about his memoir was that he writes exactly how he talks: with humor, with honesty, and with warmth. Craig has lived a hell of a life, growing up in one of the worst cities in Scotland, being tormented by teachers and fellow students, swept up by the punk movement, drumming in different punk bands leading to drugs and alcoholism, eventually sobering up, finding a career in comedy, marrying three very different women and finally achieving his lifelong dream of becoming an American. He writes very openly about all of this, admitting when he was a sh*t, apologizing to those he hurt along the way, giving a big f*ck you to those that screwed him over, thankful for those who stuck by him, while being very funny and affectionate throughout.

The book is also short and sweet. There is no filler, no over dramatic bullsh*t, no long windedness. He knew what he wanted to say and he said it. I appreciate that. It’s a touching, funny, honest, warm, and compelling memoir. Oh and make sure that you read it with a Scottish accent.

This is so tragic.

R.I.P. Reading Rainbow
from NPR.org:

Reading Rainbow comes to the end of its 26-year run on Friday; it has won more than two-dozen Emmys, and is the third longest-running children's show in PBS history — outlasted only by Sesame Street and Mister Rogers.
The show, which started in 1983, was hosted by actor LeVar Burton (If you don't know Burton from Reading Rainbow, he's also famous for his role as Kunta Kinte in Roots, or as the chrome-visored Geordi La Forge on Star Trek: The Next Generation).
Each episode of Reading Rainbow had the same basic elements: There was a featured children's book that inspired an adventure with Burton. Then, at the end of every show, kids gave their own book reviews, always prefaced by Burton's trademark line: "But you don't have to take my word for it ..."
"The series resonates with so many people," says John Grant, who is in charge of content at WNED Buffalo, Reading Rainbow's home station.

The show's run is ending, Grant explains, because no one — not the station, not PBS, not the Corporation for Public Broadcasting — will put up the several hundred thousand dollars needed to renew the show's broadcast rights.
Grant says the funding crunch is partially to blame, but the decision to end Reading Rainbow can also be traced to a shift in the philosophy of educational television programming. The change started with the Department of Education under the Bush administration, he explains, which wanted to see a much heavier focus on the basic tools of reading — like phonics and spelling.
Grant says that PBS, CPB and the Department of Education put significant funding toward programming that would teach kids how to read — but that's not what Reading Rainbow was trying to do.

"Reading Rainbow taught kids why to read," Grant says. "You know, the love of reading — [the show] encouraged kids to pick up a book and to read."
Linda Simensky, vice president for children's programming at PBS, says that when Reading Rainbow was developed in the early 1980s, it was an era when the question was: "How do we get kids to read books?"

Since then, she explains, research has shown that teaching the mechanics of reading should be the network's priority.

"We've been able to identify the earliest steps that we need to take," Simensky says. "Now we know what we need to do first. Even just from five years ago, I think we all know so much more about how to use television to teach."
Research has directed programming toward phonics and reading fundamentals as the front line of the literacy fight. Reading Rainbow occupied a more luxurious space — the show operated on the assumption that kids already had basic reading skills and instead focused on fostering a love of books.
Simensky calls Reading Rainbow's 26-year run miraculous — and says that its end is bittersweet.
Reading Rainbow's impending absence leaves many open questions about today's literacy challenges, and what television's role should be in addressing them.
"But" — as Burton would have told his young readers — "you don't have to take my word for it."



***I loved to watch Reading Rainbow as a kid and I would write down the book titles that kids reviewed at the end and look for them at my school or public library. I think it's tragic that this wonderful show can't find the funding it needs to continue to try to instill in children a love a reading rather then simply teaching them how to read. My three year old niece loves books and I'm sad she won't get to grow up watching this show.***

Neil Gaiman at the Vegas Valley Book Festival

Neil Gaiman was slated as the opening keynote speaker for the Vegas Valley Book Festival this year and this Las Vegan jumped for freaking joy over it! I’ve been reading Neil since discovering his Sandman comics when I was 15 and I have always loved the entire fantasy world he has created with his work for adults and children. I’ve also been reading his online blog for years which is a tricky thing because reading about his travels and life and work and thoughts and processes on a daily basis makes me feel as if I know him, like we are friends, and well. . .I don’t know him and we’re not friends. Could he live up to the expectations I have in my head? Will he be as cool as I think he is or will he be a prick? I’m so very pleased to report that he is the former.

I took the entire day off work on Thursday and at 1pm at the newly renovated, historic Fifth Street School downtown Neil was doing a book signing. It was added last minute so there was hardly any advertising. In fact I only learned about it because he posted a notice about it on his blog two days before. So thanks to the little to no adverts, there was hardly anyone there! Awesome for the 50 or so of us that did make it and awesome for Neil because he was able to spend real time with each person and chat and doodle in their books and all in all be a spectacular guy. You were only allowed to bring one book from home for him to sign and the rest you had to purchase on site from the stupid Barnes & Noble table. These were not his rules, but the venue’s rules and I get it, they need to make money in order to continue putting on this great festival, so ok. Luckily I hadn’t yet purchased Neil’s new YA novel, The Graveyard Book, so I knew I would just buy it there. But what from my own Gaiman collection would I bring? I was torn between my first edition copy of American Gods, my advanced reader’s copy of Stardust, and Absolute Sandman Vol. 1. I eventually decided on the American Gods because the Stardust is paperback and kind of beat up and the Absolute Sandman Vol. 1 is HUGE and weighs about 30 lbs and I didn’t want to lug it around.

I ended up buying more than The Graveyard Book at the signing because when I saw that they had copies of all his work I realized this would be a wonderful Christmas present buying opportunity. So I bought two copies of The Graveyard Book, one for me and one for my 13-year-old niece, Kylie, and then I bought two of his picture books for children: The Dangerous Alphabet and The Wolves in the Walls for my nearly 3-year-old niece, Hailey. Perfect!

I was about the tenth person in line and when I approached Neil at his table and lay my five books down for him he greeted me with a lovely, “Hello, how are you?” and I stifled a giddy, girlish giggle and said "fine" and mentioned that I noticed he had blogged at 1am and I hoped he had gotten some sleep. He responded with a rather long story about flying and time changes and knowing people in Vegas that he has to greet upon arrival and some other things, but I was so dumbfounded that I was having a little chat with Neil Gaiman that it didn’t entirely register. It was also quite charming, but very disconcerting, that the entire time he was talking he was looking me directly in the eye!! He was very deliberately making a connection with me, his goofy, giddy fan, and I must say that I admire him so much for it! Then he went back to signing my books, but not only was he signing his name, he was doodling pictures in them! It was pretty amazing. Next he told me that great chunks of American Gods was written in a hotel room in Las Vegas and then started going on about how hotel rooms then could still be found fairly cheaply and he rarely writes at home, he likes to travel to random places and write and again, I am dumbstruck as Neil freaking Gaiman talks and talks to me! He then finished his doodling in my books, posed for a picture with me, cheerfully said “See you tonight at the talk!” and it was over. Uh-may-zing. Here’s what he said about the signing on his blog, “Just did a lovely signing - only about fifty people altogether, which meant that I got to talk to everyone and draw in their books, admire their tattoos and so forth. Really pleasant.”

There were many more people at the keynote address that night. The theater at the main branch of the Clark County Library only seats 399 people so they were handing out wristbands at 6pm for the 7pm talk. I got there about 4:45pm and was about the 40th person in line. My friend Cameron met me and we got seats right up close Neil came out and was funny and personable and eloquent and charming. He spoke about imagination and writing and how he stole all his great book ideas from his children. He read from chapter seven of The Graveyard Book, he read his poem The Day the Saucers Came and then he surprised us by reading two yet to be published children’s books, Crazy Hair, which was riotously hilarious, and Blueberry Girl which was written for Tori Amos’ (then) unborn daughter at Tori’s request and is touching and sweet. He spoke for over two hours but I can’t possibly relate all that he said because my memory is not that good and his humor wouldn’t come out right in my telling of it. I will try to retell one story because it was Vegas related and terribly funny. Here goes. When he was locked in that Vegas hotel room writing American Gods (which he had already mentioned to me earlier in the day, squeee ) he needed to quote something from Song of Solomon, and to his delight realized that he was in a hotel room and they may have a bible in the bedside drawer as hotel rooms are wont to do. He went to the bedside table and lo and behold there is a bible To his utter horror however he finds that the bible is defective. It’s pages are stuck together and it won’t open. So he does what any hotel patron does when something in their room is defective: he calls housekeeping to ask them to bring him a new one. When he opens the door minutes later to the housekeeping’s knock, he discovers four people standing staring at him, one housekeeper, and three others come to bear witness to the only man in human history to ask hotel staff for a replacement bible in their hotel room What kind of Holy man could this be? The housekeeper handed the bible to him gently, as anyone would hand a bible to a Holy man, and Neil graciously took it as Holyily as he could so as not to disappoint them. He sat down ready with his newly, not defective bible to look up the passage he needed for his novel only to discover, DRAT, that it was a newer version and he needed the King James’ version which the defective bible had been. But he didn’t have the heart to call again to housekeeping.

So that’s the story. I know it doesn’t read as funnily as it was told to the room by Gaiman himself, but I did my best.

And because I am an awful braggart and am still so happy from my Day of Gaiman, I’m including pictures from the day and of his wonderful doodle-icious signatures in my books:



Me and Neil:


Neil signing my books with his own special pen:


My copy of The Graveyard Book:


Kylie's copy for her birthday (which is today) that Neil inscribed for her especially:


The Dangerous Alphabet for Hailey:


The Wolves in the Walls with a special message for Hailey:


And my first edition American Gods:


Now here are some pictures from his talk, no flashes allowed in the theater, but I still got some good ones!









This one (a smile!) is my favorite:

A handful of reviews: books, movies, music

Recent Books that I have read:



All About Lulu by Jonathan Evison
Here is the review I posted on Amazon.com, "Everyone can relate to this wonderfully quirky debut novel from Jonathan Evison. The story speaks with honesty, wistfulness, humor, and sadness to anyone who ever felt like an outcast even within their own family, anyone who remembers the thrill of finding that one person who "gets" them, anyone who felt the flush of first love and the crushing blow of that love disappearing, and to anyone who spent years of anguish resisting change only to finally realize that change is the only constant in life. Mr. Evison found a unique and satisfying voice with which to tell a story filled with compelling characters that you genuinely miss once the story ends. The most surprising thing of all (to this reader anyway) was how All About Lulu turned out to be a bit of a mystery with perfect little clues sprinkled along the way leading to one hell of a wham bang, emotional finale. I highly recommend it." And I’m not saying all that just because Jonathan is my friend. Oh and you all should by his book CLICK HERE so he can pay his bills.



Live Fast, Die Young: The Wild Ride of Making Rebel Without a Cause by Lawrence Frascella and Al Weisel.
This is an incredible behind the scenes book about the making of the Nicholas Ray directed, James Dean/Natalie Wood starring film. The authors had unprecedented access to Warner Brothers studio archives and interviewed nearly all surviving members of the cast and crew. They put together a truly illuminating, chronological timeline of the film that is part gossipy tabloid journalism, part social commentary on the 50s and part pure Hollywood history. I learned what scenes were improvised and which were scripted. I learned about the love triangle between Nick Ray, Natalie Wood, and Dennis Hopper. I learned about the great lengths Ray went for authenticity, even hiring Frank Mazzola, the leader of L.A. teen gang The Athenians as a cast member. The whole thing was a page turner from start to finish.



Recent films that I have seen:



Iron Man
I freaking loved it! Fun, funny, touching, believable, and Robert Downey Jr. has never been so sexy!



Sex & The City: The Movie
The first time I saw it I loved it, but I think I was just experiencing the afterglow of bonding with my best friend and seeing Carrie, Miranda, Samantha, and Charlotte again! I had really truly missed them! The second time I saw it I realized that it has some major flaws. For one, what has Michael Patrick King reduced the men to??? Seriously, Harry had like five lines and most of them were addressed to his daughter in a sing-song voice! Steve was portrayed as a miserable dog and Smith was relegated to the too busy, super cool TV star which causes Samantha to suffer. Big at least got some actual screen time which just went to show that it was Carrie's movie entirely. Too bad she was as insufferably self absorbed as ever. When she accuses Miranda of "ruining her marriage" I just about lost it!



The Other Boleyn Girl
Oh my, oh my (that is my eyes rolling.) I knew this was going to be soap operatic, but with the cast that it had I didn’t think it could possibly be that bad. I was wrong. It was awful. The dialogue was awful, Natalie Portman was awful, and the pacing was awful. I am surprised I made it through the entire film. Now, I am normally a big Natalie Portman fan but I don’t know what she was trying to go for here. Her portrayal of Anne was so campy it was making me laugh out loud! When the tides turn on her at the end of the film, Natalie's portrayal did nothing to garner any sympathy from me. I was even irritated when her sister Mary tried to help her out. What a disappointment. . .



The Brave One
Um, yeah, that's a big no. I really hated this movie. I'm not even going to go into reasons why.



Semi-Pro
I love me some Will Ferrell and Andre Benjamin is a hottie. This was funny but not up to par with my all time favorite Will movie, Anchorman. The best thing about it was Will Arnett and whoever that other guy was as the sports commentators.



Recent music that I have purchased:



Vampire Weekend, Self Titled
I’m totally in love with this band. I know that they are kind of the flavor of the month, but I'm hooked on their fun, bouncy sound and ivy-league lyrics. Some of it is very derivative of Paul Simon's world beat sound, but it’s catchy and even refreshing in its own way!



Bach: Goldberg Variations by Simone Dinnerstein
I bought this after hearing an interview with this pianist on NPR. She was very interesting and her take on the Goldberg Variations is very pretty and even lilting at times which are not two words that are usually associated with the Goldberg Variations. I know Glenn Gould's versions are known as the ultimate recordings but I kind of like these better. So sue me.



Keely Smith: The Essential Capitol Collection
Why doesn’t Keely's name come up more often when people speak about the greatest big band vocalists of all time? She is tremendous! Her voice is so commanding yet playful, confident yet sometimes filled with an aching vulnerability. I do love her duets with then husband and bandleader Louis Prima, but it is Keely on her own that really hits me hard. And at 76 she's still singing in clubs in LA! She is totally underrated. I’m telling everyone I know (this means you) to listen to her!