Monthly Archives: September 2007

Celebrate Banned Books!

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Banned Books Week is September 29 through October 6, and since I’m going to be on vacation this weekend I’m going to post about my favorite banned books a few days early!

The ALA (American Library Association) has a list of the 100 Most Frequently Challenged Books from 1990-2000
Here are my very favorite books from the list:

Harry Potter (Series) by J.K. Rowling
Forever by Judy Blume
Alice (Series) by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor
The Giver by Lois Lowry
A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L’Engle
In the Night Kitchen by Maurice Sendak
Anastasia Krupnik (Series) by Lois Lowry
To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
Deenie by Judy Blume
Are You There, God? It’s Me, Margaret by Judy Blume
Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut
The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain

What are your favorite banned books? Did anyone try to stop you from reading certain books when you were younger?

ALA Banned Books Button 2007
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52nd Book of the Year – The Blind Assassin

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The Blind Assassin: A Novel
Margaret Atwood

I finished my 2007 New Year’s Resolution last week – reading 52 books this year. The 52nd book was The Blind Assassin by Margaret Atwood.

From what I’ve heard, people either love Margaret Atwood or hate her after reading one of her books. I haven’t heard of many people in the middle ground, but maybe they’re just not as vocal.

As I mentioned before, this is my second Atwood novel. I loved The Edible Woman, after reading it for a college class. I loved The Blind Assassin more.

The best thing about The Blind Assassin is the three different ways shes uses to tell the story of the Chase family and their downfall. You read their story through the actual novel narrated by one of the main characters, and a novel within the novel (the complete novel “The Blind Assassin” that one of the story’s fictional characters wrote and which has become a classic inside the plot). You read a few chapters of the “real” novel, and then a few from the “fake” classic novel. Both stories are supplemented throughout with news articles from the characters’ lives. It sounds confusing, and it does take a few chapters to get used to, but it works very well and makes the entire work tremendously unique.

I’m always impressed when a writer creates an complex, wonderful narrator who is old.  It’s amazing when they can put the reader directly inside the thoughts and feelings of an elderly person, in a very believable way. Most of us (if we’re lucky) are going to grow to be quite old, and old age is not something most of us want to think about. We don’t want to think about the time when our bodies will start working against us, no longer seeming to be on our team. The time when most of the population views you as worthless, redundant, or a burden. But this happens and it seems best that we read and think about it now. It also seems that so few books have elderly narrators. It impresses me because anyone can write about youth… we’ve all been through it. True old age is something even writers in their 50s and 6os haven’t experienced personally yet. Another wonderful book that has a narrator who is very old is Water For Elephants by Sara Gruen.

Back to the point: The Blind Assassin is a novel about family, consequences, control, love, and forgiveness. And it’s great.

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Sex and the City Movie

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I don’t have the energy for much of a post tonight, but I had to post this. My incredible luck lately has continued – we randomly walked by/into the filming of the Sex and the City movie!

I was a wreck, giddy and manic and I kept snapping pictures and walking around (they told us we had to keep moving because we were in the background). I kept putting my camera completely away and then changing my mind rapidly and having to dig around in my purse for it.

Between this and the Late Show with David Letterman taping, it will be hard to top this birthday.

Goodnight!

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September Birthdays

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Amazon beat me to my post. I’ve been waiting to post about all the magnificent authors who celebrate their birthday at the end of September. But here they go posting about it first!

Actually, Jane Smiley beat all of us, because she wrote about it in the introduction of her book 13 Ways of Looking at the Novel. (Smiley’s own birthday is September 26th.)

But anyway, I love the date of my birthday mainly because September is the most gorgeous month in the most gorgeous season. I also love sharing my birthday with F. Scott Fitzgerald (my favorite classic is The Great Gatsby, no contest). It’s also Jim Henson’s birthday. :)

Anyway, here’s the list of famous authors born at the end of September: (Amazon forgot Miguel and Shel, so I added them.)

September 20 – Upton Sinclair
September 21 – H. G. Wells; Stephen King
September 24 – F. Scott Fitzgerald
September 25 – William Faulkner; Shel Silverstein
September 26 – T. S. Eliot
September 29 – Miguel de Cervantes
September 30 – Truman Capote

And, here’s a picture of my extremely awesome birthday cake that Ryan made for me a day early, due to tomorrow’s busy schedule:

We love Mario Party, if you can’t tell.

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QotD: Fall Films

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This will actually be a really good place to make a list, for reference. Here’s my list, and whether I think I’ll see it in the theatre or Netflix it.

This list is also roughly in the order of how much I’m looking forward to them, from highest to lowest.

Sweeney Todd – Theatre
The Darjeeling Limited – Theatre
Dan in Real Life – Theatre
Mr. Magorium’s Wonder Emporium – Theatre
Margot at the Wedding – Theatre
The Jane Austen Book Club – Netflix
Grace is Gone – Probably Netflix?
Lars and the Real Girl – Netflix
Leatherheads – Theater
August Rush – Depends on reviews
Lust, Caution – Probably Theatre
Bee Movie – Netflix
Starting Out in the Evening – Netflix?
December Boys – Netflix

Jury’s still out on: PS I Love You; National Treasure: Book of Secrets; Persepolis; Walk Hard; Atonement; Juno

Some of these are being released in December, which to me is winter, but they were in the Fall Movie Preview that Entertainment Weekly sent me.

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Breaking News: I'm headed for the Ed Sullivan Theatre!

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Today something I have been waiting for ever since I moved to New York happened. The Late Show with David Letterman called me.

Would I like tickets for Monday, September 24?

Would I like tickets for my favorite talk show ever?

Would I finally like tickets to the show I have been trying every week to get tickets to since I moved to New York over a year ago?

Would I like to go to the show on the very day of my birthday?

Yes.

Yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes!

Thank goodness that when Ryan and I bought my birthday present (tickets to Avenue Q) we decided to go Sunday night instead of Monday night.

File under S for Super Awesome.

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Garrison Keillor in Union Square

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Saturday’s Mo Willems event kicked off an incredible line up of fall book readings/signings all over the city.

Yesterday I went to see Garrison Keillor at the Union Square Barnes and Noble, for his new novel Pontoon. It made me pleasantly nostalgic because the first book signing I went to after moving to New York was a Garrison Keillor book signing, for the script of A Prairie Home Companion. That was a little over a year ago.

Here’s a secret: I don’t really like book readings. Might sound strange for someone who goes to so many, but I often get a little bored if an author is just reading a piece of their work. I’d usually rather read it myself. There are exceptions. Garrison Keillor is an exception, because his voice is more soothing than butter. Chuck Palahniuk is another example, because he’s a great reader and his stories lend well to vocal performances. But most of the time, I really enjoy hearing the writer talk about the book, writing, and other things, rather than read aloud. And Garrison did just that yesterday. He entertained us with many great ideas, including how he’s decided that now, having reached age 65, it’s time for cheerfulness.

He read a small (1 or 2 pages) excerpt from the book, but mainly just talked to us and answered questions. That’s just the way I like it. It was also fun to get to talk to him for a minute while he was signing my book; after I told him I lived in Hoboken he was interested in hearing all about the Hoboken Ferry.

I’ve started to notice something about large book signings, especially the ones for authors who are quite famous. In any large group of author fans, there is one person who feels compelled to stand up during the Q&A and pronounce a fact or a personal opinion, rather than ask a question. Often times the person wants to state an opinion about the book or tell how they related to a certain part or character. Then, at the end of their own speech, they somehow work in a pointless question that loosely relates to the opinion they wanted to share. Last night, it was a man who enthusiastically stood up to ask his “question” and said that he first met Garrison Keillor at the corner of 57th and 5th and that he (the “question” asker) asked Garrison if he could yell out “Garrison Keillor!!” and point at him. He then repeated what Garrison said to him at the time, which was “It would be good if you didn’t.” Glad we all gathered there to hear that. Fortunately, we all moved on from that and all the other questions were intelligent, and Garrison’s answers were graceful and witty.

The entire event was filmed and is going to be featured on www.bn.com in October. Garrison was at his best and I highly recommend it to any other GK admirers. I wonder if they’ll cut out the part with the 57th and 5th man.

Garrison Keillor
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Mo Willems at Books of Wonder

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I love children’s literature. Most people forget about it after they grow up and move on to other things. But I was lucky enough, through my mom (studying to be a children’s librarian) and my best friend Emma (studying to be a teacher), to rediscover their magic and creativity. One of my favorite kid’s book authors and illustrators is Mo Willems. Today I went to his reading and signing at Books of Wonder. (Books of Wonder is awesome, by the way. It was the inspiration for the kid’s book store in You’ve Got Mail. Plus, there’s a cupcake cafe right inside it. Definitely worth checking out when in New York.)

This was the first book signing I’ve gone to for a Kid’s Lit author. It was awesome, I sat on the floor with all the kids and their parents and listened to him read aloud his two new books, Knuffle Bunny Too and I Am Invited To a Party.

Later this month I’m going home to visit my family in Michigan, and I’m going to be a guest reader in my brother Ben’s 1st grade class. I’ve decided to read Knuffle Bunny aloud to them. I’m ridiculously excited.

Here are a couple more pictures from the event:


And here are pictures of the books I got signed:

Signed Knuffle BunnySigned Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the BusSigned Leonardo the Terrible MonsterSigned Knuffle Bunny Too
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Attention Fans of The Office

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NBC just launched what looks to be the start of a really awesome fan site for The Office.

http://www.dundermifflininfinity.com/

“Dunder Mifflin Infinity is just getting started. On Sept. 27, we’ll be rolling out our very first task for you to participate in so you can start earning SchruteBucks in no time! Get ready for an interactive Office experience like you’ve never seen before.”

You can sign up on the site to be an employee of a Dunder Mifflin branch.

While signing up, you’re given the option of signing up as a regular employee, or a Regional Manager. I picked Regional Manager, because I thought it would work a little differently. I thought you could have your own branch automatically if you recruited 15 other people, and I know a lot of people who are fans so I thought it would be fun to all have our own branch. But apparently you are competing with other Regional Managers to recruit the most people. If you don’t win, you just become a member of that branch.

I doubt I can recruit the most people, but I decided to give it a shot anyway.

If you’re interesting in joining, and want to potentially be on my team, you can sign up at
http://www.dundermifflininfinity.com/

When asked, you need to select “NY-Binghamton” as the branch (it sounded fun) and the referral code:
79nf5k2xf6

That is all. See you at the site, if you choose to register!

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Books Update – Purchased, Read, Reading

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The Braindead Megaphone
George Saunders

Recently purchased: The Braindead Megaphone by George Saunders. I’ve heard many great things about this, and after flipping through the book myself in Barnes and Noble, confirmed them to be true. The essays look excellent, and I’m excited to read his tribute to Kurt Vonnegut, which is also included in the book. Also, there’s a fun self interview George Saunders did on this Amazon Blog Post.

Recently finished: The Reluctant Fundamentalist by Mohsin Hamid. I bought this last spring, when it was a Barnes and Noble Recommends selection. I’ve had good luck with their selections; I’ve never disliked any of them. And I’ve also discovered some of my very favorite books there – including The Thirteenth Tale and The Book Thief. Unfortunately, it sat on my shelves for several months because there’s always too much to read. I was inspired to start it this weekend after seeing that it made the shortlist for one of my favorite book awards – The Man Booker Prize. After finishing it I can definitely see why it made the shortlist – it’s amazing. It’s very short (no pun intended) and practically impossible to put down. It has a very unique point of view – the narrator is telling his story in first person to another person, who we never really meet. He pauses during the retelling of his history to interact with his listener, a man who he has recently met and is dining with. But we only know what the listener is doing through the narrator; the listener never speaks dialogue we can read. The tension builds as we listen in on his story of being a Pakistani who comes to America for college, and then starts a job in New York City, shortly before 9/11. It’s not really a 9/11 novel, but it’s fascinating to read about America and New York from the perspective of someone from the Middle East. The end is stunning and I still think about it, days after finishing.

Reading now: The Blind Assassin by Margaret Atwood. This has been on my reading list ever since I read my first Margaret Atwood book (The Edible Woman) and fell in love with her beautiful sentences. So I’m finally reading it, and as an added bonus I can add it to the list of Booker Prize winning novels that I’ve read. It’s great so far.

…
Apparently I’m in a “The (Adjective) (Noun)” book title phase.

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