Monthly Archives: April 2008

The Mysterious Benedict Society and the Perilous Journey

Posted on by

This weekend I finished The Mysterious Benedict Society and the Perilous Journey, the sequel to The Mysterious Benedict Society that came out last year.

Perilous Journey is much more action packed than the first book. I guess that’s what happens after your enemies know you. You get chased while you’re trying to do the chasing. Very intense. I had to read a few pages of a different book before going to bed because I was afraid I would have crazy dreams.

But it’s the good kind of intense. It’s exciting, and the puzzles and clues keep you on your toes. The four children are learning more about their own gifts. As in the first book, it’s amusing to see how each problem is solved with a combination of their extraordinary gifts. Constance is my favorite of the four in this book.

I recommend this duo, for young adult readers and for adults. Definitely start with the first one.

The Mysterious Benedict Society also has a great website.

(This post was brought over from emilyw.vox.com. Click here for the original post and comments.)

Spring in New York

Posted on by

I’m so delighted that we’re actually having a spring this year! Last year it went from 50 degrees to 90 degrees seemingly overnight.

Ryan and I (and basically the entire office) have been heading to the closest park, Madison Square Park, during lunch every day. It’s gorgeous. Here are some photos I took on Wednesday:

The Shake Shack in Madison Square Park
(This post was brought over from emilyw.vox.com. Click here for the original post and comments.)

Better late than never: Memes!

Posted on by

I was tagged by a couple people for the Eight Random Things meme. I was also tagged forever ago by Slow Learner for a book blog. I will post both of them now. (And apologies to Slow Learner for the delay!)

Eight Random Things

The rules:

  1. Each player starts with 8 random facts/habits about themselves.
  2. People who are tagged, write a blog post about their own 8 random things, and post these rules.
  3. At the end of your post you need to tag 8 people and include their names.
  4. Don’t forget to leave them a comment on their blog and tell them they’ve been tagged, and to come back and read your blog for the whole story.

My Eight Things:

1. Many people know this (especially the book club girls, and also especially my mom and dad), but for those who don’t: I have a little brother who is 7 years old. His name is Benjamin and he is the cutest, smartest kid in the world.

2. When I was a senior in high school I was on a weekend retreat and went tubing down a hill onto a frozen pond. I went down on a tube with a girl named Rose, and we hit a bump about 20 feet from the bottom of the hill. I flew from the tube down to the ice below and landed on my back, smacking my head on the ice. I was taken to the emergency room and came back with 17 staples holding together two large cuts on the back of my head.

3. I am unable to keep up with the media that I wish to consume. I have too many interests, it seems. Despite how much I read/listen/watch, I still have: a million unread google reader items; two large stacks of magazines that need to be read/flipped through; a DVR that’s full of Conan Dave, Jon, and Stephen; a long Netflix queue; and an ungodly number of unread books on my shelves.

4. I’ve recently discovered a love of baking. It’s a very fun hobby; I love making everything from scratch. Recently I’ve found wonderful recipes for brownies, chocolate chip cookies, cream biscuits, and cupcakes and frosting. (A post about the cupcakes will be forthcoming.)

5. Today Ryan and I are going to buy Mario Kart Wii and I’m super excited.

6. I am allergic to lettuce.

7. My favorite holiday is Christmas.

8. My favorite food is mashed potatoes.

123 Book Meme

  1. Pick up the nearest book (of at least 123 pages).
  2. Open the book to page 123.
  3. Find the fifth sentence.
  4. Post the next three sentences.
  5. Tag five people.

The book is Random Family: Love, Drugs, Trouble, and Coming of Age in the Bronx by Adrian Nicole LeBlanc.

When he returned to his mother’s, after a summer at Rikers, Serena had gone to Robert’s, and her welfare benefits had gone with her. Lourdes hadn’t paid the rent in months. She was using more than ever and had been spotted hanging out in the abandoned building on Mount Hope.

(This post was brought over from emilyw.vox.com. Click here for the original post and comments.)

No Barack :(

Posted on by

Barack’s plane was delayed in Pittsburgh and he couldn’t make it to the show. :(

Jon still interviewed him via satellite, but I wish we could have seen him in person.

It was still very fun though. Seeing Jon Stewart is awesome on its own. And we got free doughnuts, and VIP tickets to Paul Mecurio’s show on Saturday.

I have a lot of pictures from this weekend, Emma and I walked all over the city and went to what is probably a world record number of bookstores in a two day period.

I’ll update with pictures from our adventures, pictures of cupcakes, overdue memes, and more as soon as I’m not completely pooped, and have two seconds to put together.

(This post was brought over from emilyw.vox.com. Click here for the original post and comments.)

The Daily Show tomorrow!

Posted on by

I am so so so excited!

My friend Emma is visiting right now for her spring break, and back in February we reserved tickets to the Daily Show for tomorrow, while she would be here.

Today I just found out who tomorrow’s guest is.

BARACK OBAMA!!

(This post was brought over from emilyw.vox.com. Click here for the original post and comments.)

In Bloom

Posted on by

On the way home from the library yesterday, I stopped in Church Square Park to snap a few pictures since the trees were so lovely. It’s been a gorgeous spring so far, and I hope it lasts a while before the 90 degree heat settles in for the summer.

(This post was brought over from emilyw.vox.com. Click here for the original post and comments.)

A Wolf at the Table by Augusten Burroughs

Posted on by

A Wolf at the Table is Augusten Burroughs’s fifth autobiographical book.  Five memoirs does seems like a lot, but he’s had a pretty eventful life. For anyone not familiar with his work, Running With Scissors is about his crazy experiences as a child who was adopted by his mother’s shrink. Dry is a memoir of his alcoholism as an adult. Magical Thinking and Possible Side Effects are both collections of short pieces, that jump around through time and tell us more about Augusten, his parter Dennis, and their awesome dogs.

A Wolf at the Table is Augusten’s also his darkest memoir yet. Which seems unlikely, since Dry covered drug addiction, alcoholism, and a friend who died of AIDs. But Dry was full of humor despite its subject matter, whereas it quickly becomes apparent that Augusten’s troubled relationship with his father probably had a deeper impact on him than his other childhood drama (Running With Scissors) and his substance abuse problems as an adult (Dry).

Despite it being less humorous than the previous four, A Wolf at the Table is still classic Augusten, and everything is described to the reader with Augusten’s pleasant description and spot-on comparisons. It is also his most affecting memoir. I want to talk more about how heartbreaking certain parts are, but I really don’t want to spoil it for anyone.

I like what the amazon review says about it best: “It is profoundly sad, remarkably tender, and fueled by a sense of love and reverence that only a child knows.”

If you’re interested, head to http://www.augusten.com/ for lots of neat content about A Wolf at the Table. A free chapter is posted there, as well as a sample from the audio book (sort of scary) and really cool photos of Augusten as a child and his family.

A Wolf at the Table will be out on 4/29.

(This post was brought over from emilyw.vox.com. Click here for the original post and comments.)

Initial thoughts on The Gathering

Posted on by

I’m reading The Gathering right now.

I’m enjoying it, even though it’s incredibly dark. I wasn’t exactly in the mood for a dark novel when I started, but it’s working for me now. How much I enjoy the book overall will be largely dependent on what happens in the second half. For now I’m impressed with Anne Enright’s style. Her writing is very sharp and unique. It feels like it’s getting into my bones and messing with me.

Here are some passages that struck me as so vivid and honest that I’ve marked my paperback all up with circles and lines:

“And what amazes me as I hit the motorway is not the fact that everyone loses someone, but that everyone loves someone. It seems like such a massive waste of energy – and we all do it, all the people beetling along between the white lines, merging, converging, overtaking. We each love someone, even though they will die. And we keep loving them, even when they are not there to love any more. And there is no logic or use to any of this, that I can see.” page 28

“But it is not just the sex, or remembered sex, that makes me think I love Michael Weiss from Brooklyn, now, seventeen years too late. It is the way he refused to own me, no matter how much I tried to be owned. It was the way he would not take me, he would only meet me, and that only ever halfway.
I think I am ready for that now. I think I am ready to be met.” page 82

“He handed it to Ada and pressed her forearm, like they had lived too much, each of them, to have anything left to say.” page 86

“‘Oh, he treated her like a queen,’ as they would say over the funeral cooked meats. They had a story, Ada and Charlie, that is for sure, in which they each played the most important roles, and when she walked across the room to him, you could tell how fated they felt, as if their love was a great burden to them as well as a joy.” page 103

(This post was brought over from emilyw.vox.com. Click here for the original post and comments.)

Checking in on my 2008 reading goals

Posted on by

At the beginning of this year, I wrote a post recapping my 2007 books purchased and read. At the bottom, I came up with a list of goals for 2008.

Since the year is about 1/4 in, it’s time for me to take stock of how I’m doing.

  • Read at least 71 books (one more than last year seems like a reasonable goal)

So far I’ve read 24 books.

  • Read David Copperfield

This is the goal I’m most unlikely to complete.

  • Read 3 Vonnegut books

I’ve read two so far, one new and one re-read: Armageddon in Retrospect and Slaughterhouse Five. I’d like             my next one to be Player Piano or Wampeters, Foma & Granfalloons

.

  • Visit 10 bookstores in the city that I haven’t been to yet

I’ve visited these bookstores for the first time this year:

1. Argosy Bookstore
2. McNally Robinson
3. Bookberries
4. Corner Bookstore
5. Crawford Doyle Booksellers
6. Oscar Wide Books
7. Left Bank Books
8. Book Off
9. Kinokuniya

The 10th will probably be Bank Street Books.

  • Attend at least 20 book events

I’ve attended 5 book events so far this year:

1. Geraldine Brooks
2. Jeffrey Eugenides and George Saunders
3. Vendela Vida
4. Lisa See
5. Ben Karlin

I should have been to 7 events so far, but I won’t go into that now because the missing of event 6 was heartbreaking and the missing of 7 was heartbreaking and maddening. But alas, by the end of April I should be able to go to at least 3 more, if all goes well.

In February, I added a new goal. I decided to re-read Pride and Prejudice, and read all five of Jane Austen’s other novels this year. I’ve read Sense and Sensibility and Persuasion so far. I’m not sure which one I’ll read next, but I’ll probably save re-reading Pride and Prejudice for last.

So I’m doing better than I expected. I’ll take another look at this halfway through the year.

This month I’ve already bought an ungodly amount of books. I’m currently reading The Gathering for a new book group I joined. I’ve never been in a real book group, and I’m excited.

(This post was brought over from emilyw.vox.com. Click here for the original post and comments.)

I Was Told There'd Be Cake

Posted on by

I bought and read I Was Told There’d Be Cake by Sloane Crosley over the weekend. I’m a sucker for a good collection of essays, and this one was completely charming.

My favorite essay is Fever Faker, which is about health problems. Hypochondriac-me read it in delight and easily related to the entire ordeal.

From Publisher’s Weekly:
“This debut essay collection is full of sardonic wit and charm, and Crosley effortlessly transforms what could have been stereotypical tales of mid-20s life into a breezy series of vignettes with uproariously unpredictable outcomes….Fans of Sarah Vowell’s razor-sharp tongue will love this original new voice.”
—Publishers Weekly (starred review)

http://www.sloanecrosley.com/

(This post was brought over from emilyw.vox.com. Click here for the original post and comments.)