Cannonball Read - Book 50

I read this book with my ears. I don't usually do books on tape (or mp3, as the case may be), but the hubs and I started this one on a long car trip a couple weeks ago and just finished it up last night. The reader, David Aaron Baker, was awesome, and the book itself was really compelling (more on that later), but most nights as we lay listening, I fell asleep, so I feel like I "read" about two-thirds of the book - the part we heard in the car - but skimmed the last third, the part we listened to before bed each night. It got to the point where I had to leave the lights and my glasses on, to at least preserve the illusion that I was reading.

About the book: Sudhir Venkatesh, a sociology doctoral student at the University of Chicago, wanted to investigate life in the projects among the black and poor. He intended to start his research with a standard questionnaire, but as he approached the Robert Taylor homes, he was sort of taken hostage by a gang, the Black Kings. J,T., the gang leader, told Sudhir that he'd never learn anything by asking questions from a questionnaire, that the only way he'd learn what it was like to be black and poor in the projects was to "hang out." So Sudhir did. For SEVEN YEARS. And the shit he saw was intense: drugs, hustling, drive-by shootings, crazy ladies screaming at convenience store clerks, and so, so much more. He lived it - but not entirely, because at the end of the day, he went back to his nice apartment near the university and took notes on his experience. Ultimately, J.T. let Sudhir be gang leader for a day (hence the title). And if you think that you could be a gang leader, because all they do is drive around in fancy cars and glad-hand other gang leaders, you would be sorely mistaken. Like I said, intense.

This was really, really good. I can't say if I would have loved it if I'd read it, but listening to it was great. David Aaron Baker did an excellent job, although for some reason they had Sudhir red the last chapter. It definitely broke up the continuity.

Gang Leader for a Day - B+

Cannonball Read - Book 49

Here's what the book jacket has to say about Coffee and Kung Fu by Karen Brichoux:

Twenty-six-year-old Nicci Bradford doesn't exactly love her job fixing the grammar in company brochures, or living in Boston, or going on awkward fix-ups with men she barely knows. What she does love is Kung Fu movies...especially the ones starring Jackie Chan. Their timeless and inspired wisdom offers her a philosophy of life. The problem is she doesn't have much of a life to philosophize about. But Jackie Chan is also a pretty good action hero. And when opportunity-and risk-present themselves in unexpected ways, it's up to Nicci to follow her hero's example, focus on her goal, and strike...

See, here's the problem with this description: it basically tells you nothing about the book! There are lots of characters, and little sub-plots, and quite a bit of romance (including a couple racy scenes - hubba, hubba). Nicci is a complex character - well, as complex as a character in what's basically chick-lit can be - with a solid backstory, but you hardly get any of that in the book description. Which is unfortunate, because this is a pretty fun little book. It's got some poignant moments, and some grrrl power kick-ass moments, and overall it's a solid but quick read. I'm afraid that no one will know that, though, just based on this description.

So here's MY description: A sassy yet sad-sack heroine with a dead-end job and pathetic love life, Nicci seeks to discover her inner kung fu movie - enlightenment and fulfillment, not to mention a few ass-kicking moves. And when she meets Grinning Boy, it seems as if life could take a turn for the better. But even the kung fu train can jump the tracks, and Rob just might prove to be the antagonist to Nicci's hero. Can one little lady find love AND a fulfilling career, and never drop her chopsticks?

Or something like that.

Coffee and Kung Fu - B+

Cannonball Read - Book 48

I do not like Bill Bryson.

OK, that's not fair. I just don't like too much Bill Bryson. I found A Walk in the Woods quite entertaining, and certain passages of I'm A Stranger Here Myself were enjoyable. But The Lost Continent was just too much. Bryson's a sassier Garrison Keillor - he's folksy and homespun, but he likes to use the f-word. And while I fully condone the f-word, I am starting to feel that I can't abide by folksy and homespun. It boils down to this: I didn't grow up in a kinder, gentler time in a kinder, gentler place. I am not searching for small town America. In fact, I kinda think that small town America is boring. And I don't like baseball (apple pie is delicious, though). So Bryson's books don't really speak to me. 297 pages of folksy, homespun, small town America were about 287 pages too much.

The Lost Continent - C

Cannonball Read - Book 47

I was really, really looking forward to reading The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger. Not only did Pajiba rank it as the #3 book of our generation (or something like that, maybe #3 of all books ever read by Pajiba readers?), my librarian friend told me it was excellent, and a whole bunch of other people, too. So I thought I would love it - people whose opinions I value said it was really, really good.

And it was - but it didn't live up to the hype. I was expecting it to be SPECTACUALAR, and while it was very good, it wasn't amazingly wonderful. I liked the characters, I like the story, I liked the sci-fi aspect... but it just wasn't AWESOME.

I don't know what else to say.

The Time Traveler's Wife - B

Cannonball Read - Book 46

Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert has been recommended to me lots of times over the past few years, and for some reason I always bypassed it, but once my friend Shannon came through for me in the long-distance book swap and sent it my way. Thanks, Shannon - keep on sending them, and I won't have to renew my library card!

Eat, Pray Love is the story of Gilbert's travels through Italy, India and Indonesia in search of enlightenment, pleasure, balance and all sorts of metaphysical extraterrestrial stuff. And at times, the book was quite lovely. Gilbert has a great voice as a writer, and her descriptions of places, events, people and especially food were wonderful. But overall, I found it a little hard to swallow. I do not begrudge Gilbert the book advance that paid for her travels - she is clearly a talented writer, and good for her that her publisher paid her to travel around the world. Nor do I think that a spiritual journey with a goal of balance and enlightenment is a fruitless journey. I think we could all do with a more balanced life, more fun, more pleasure, more meditation, and a lightening of the spirit. But goodness gracious, do we have to read all about it? I got so bogged down in the details of Gilbert's time at the ashram in India, in her moments of epiphany on bathrooms floors... I liked it, I really did, but damn, Liz. Maybe some things should be kept to yourself - does the soul need to be laid so bare?

Eat, Pray, Love - B

Cannonball Read - Book 45

This is probably not a book I would have chosen for myself, but my friend Shannon sent it to me (thanks, boo) in part of our ongoing cross-country book exchange... and who am I to not read something that turns up on my doorstep?

I spent the last fifteen minutes trying to sum up The Undomestic Goddess in one paragraph, but you know what? You already know exactly what this book is about. British Lawyer Girl falls apart but ultimately finds her way... with a hot gardener. Well, duh. What else could this book be about? And do you really want to know the intricacies of British Lawyer Girl faking her way through cooking and cleaning, or the way she rallies back in the end? No, you don't. Because you can filll in the gaps yourself. In fact, you probably could have written this book... or could still write it, right now, with that general framework: British lawyer girl, hot gardener, life falling apart, life coming back together. If you know enough to throw in some comedy, you've got it made.

Did you know that they call vacuuming "hoovering" in England? How awesome is that?

So Shannon, friend of the book exchange, keep on sending books... but no more Sophie Kinsella.

The Undomestic Goddess - C-

Cannonball Read - Book 44

This one's courtesy of my sci-fi-lovin' husband. Anne McCaffrey is a sci-fi superstar, and Nate picked it up for me at the used bookstore before our big trip to California. And the overwhelming feeling I had while reading Crystal Singer was, I guess I've read a lot of fantasy that's I've been calling sci-fi, 'cause MAN, this book has a lot of "sci" in it. I didn't realize the science part of science-fiction could be so... scientific. I'm pretty sure I actually learned something while I was reading this, something about refraction or weather or speed. The sci was surprising - not unenjoyable, but I definitely prefer fantasy. If I have to fully suspend my reality, I don't want to think while I'm doing it.

But it was good!

Crystal Singer - B+

Cannonball Read - Book 43

I read Love is a Mix Tape by Rob Sheffield about three weeks ago, while I was on vacation in California. And I read it really fast, because it didn't belong to the people I was borrowing it from and I didn't want to take it home with me. So I can't write a decent review because it didn't stick with me too much, and I didn't savor it, and it's been a while since I read it. So here goes: it was good, and it was sad, and I'm struck by how much just a couple years' difference in age makes when considering cultural references, particularly in regards to college radio. I hadn't heard of a lot of the bands Sheffield loved, which removed me a little from the story. But man, I got the sad parts. Rob, I hope you're doing OK.

Love is a Mix Tape - B

Cannonball Read - Book 42

When the hubs ventured to our favorite used bookstore a couple days before our vacation, I asked him to pick up a Jodi Picoult book. I read My Sister's Keeper about a thousand years ago and remembered liking it OK, and thought I'd give her another shot.

Here's the back-of-the-book description:
"Fourteen-year-old Trixie Stone is in love for the first time. She's also the light of her father, Daniel's life - a straight-A student; a pretty, popular freshman in high school; a girl who's always seen her father as a hero. That is, until her world is turned upside down with a single act of violence. Suddenly everything Trixie has believed about family - and herself - seems to be a lie. Could the boyfriend who once made Trixie wild with happiness have been the one to end her childhood forver? She says that he is, and that is all it takes to make Daniel, a seemingly mild-mannered comic book artist with a secret tumultuous past he has hidden even from his family, venture to hell and back to protect his daughter."

Having read My Sister's Keeper and just having a feeling that Picoult is somewhat formulaic, I got pretty much what I was expecting in terms of character, plot, and significant event that changes the course of action near the end of the book. But I also got two things I wasn't expecting, one good, one bad. The nice surprise was the excerpts from Daniel's graphic novel (or was it a straight-up comic?) that closed most chapters. Yes, the father in the book is a comic book artist, but I didn't expect to actually see his drawings. It was kind of cool. I have to give major credit to Dustin Weaver, the artist who drew "Daniel's" drawings. Nice job, Dustin. I also wasn't expecting to get hammered over the head with symbolism of hell and references to Dante's Inferno. Please, Jodi, give me some credit as a reader.

The Tenth Circle - B-

Cannonball Read - Book 41

I've been reading a lot, right? And I've been reading quite a few things that people have heard of - not every selection, but a lot of them. I look over the list so far and I see things that I'd heard about a long time ago and hadn't gotten around to reading, or things that someone else recommended to me that I thought I should take a look at.

But every now and then, I read a book that even I haven't heard of - and Walking in Circles Before Lying Down is one of those books. I found this on the shelf at my boss' house when we were having an off-site meeting, and the description on the back of the book made it seem like something I'd like:

"Dawn Tarnauer's life isn't exactly a success story. Already twice divorced, the young Californian is too busy job-hopping to start a career, her Life Coach sister provides perpetual interference, and her eccentric parents need parenting. Dawn's only source of comfort, it seems, is Chuck, a pit-bull mix from the pound. So when her boyfriend announces that he's leaving her for another woman, a despairing Dawn turns to Chuck for solace.
"'I should have said something sooner,' she hears Chuck say, consoling her. 'Couldn't you smell her on his pants?'
"Dawn is stunned. Suddenly she can hear not just Chuck talking, but all dogs - and man's best friend has a lot to say. Doubtful of her own sanity, Dawn nevertheless considers that in the ways of life and love, it might be better to trust Chuck's doggie instincts instead of her own." Talking dogs and parents that need parenting? Sign me up!

Unfortunately, WICBLD didn't live up to my expectations. I've determined that talking dogs are tricky things. You don't want to make them sound too stupid, because there's definitely something going on in there, but you can't make them sound too smart, either. When I put words in my dog's mouth, he sounds like a precocious, foul-mouthed toddler. Wash says things like "Put me down," "I'm hungry," and "NO!," but he also says "Fuck off, that's my bone." He speaks in complete sentences, but I wouldn't say they're complex sentences. Chuck, the doggie hero of WICBLD, is WAY too loquacious. Here's a portion of one of Chuck's lengthier passages, after he's returned from being missing for a few days:

"I figured I'd be safe as long as I followed my instincts. But the problem with instincts is they only really work in the absence of opportunity."

OK. If Wash ran off, the words in his head would be "Smells! News smells! I smell poop! There's some trash! Uhhh... where's Mom? Where the fuck am I?" None of this "absence of opportunity" business.

Long story short: you wanna see a good talking dog? Watch Up. WICBLD had a great concept, but tried too hard and ended up falling short.

Walking in Circles Before Lying Down - C

Vacay, Part One

I am back from part one of my two-part vacation, and I would like to share the highlights with you.

1 - I (via my SIL, Senora Fuerte, participated in Worldwide Knit In Public Day! And we kicked some ass in bar trivia, and I drank some big beers... which, to be frank, ended in Tears and Shame in Public Day, followed by Laundry in Private Day. I'll let you deduce what happened, and you'll probably be right. That's enough about that.

2 - I had a delicious cupcake from Sprinkles, the world's first cupcake bakery. Yum. Read more about that here.












3 - I had a couple bites of this muffin. I know, right? He's a total dreamboat.

4 - I read three books, bringing my Cannonball Read total up to 43. Reviews coming soon!

Good times, good food (particularly the beans-and-rice at Beach Mex), good family. And vacay's not even over yet! Keep tuning in for regular updates part two - fewer babies, more evening gowns.

vacay - A+

Cannonball Read - Book 40

Let me start by saying: finally. SO happy to have finished another book.

The Corrections by Jonathan Franzen was making the rounds as the It Book several years ago - isn't this the one that Oprah wanted to endorse but he said no, to uphold the book's integrity? I think it was a good choice - I think lots of excellent books have been exposed to the masses via Oprah, and I'm glad that more books are getting read, but maybe some things shouldn't belong to the masses.

I digress. The Corrections is yet another tale of a dysfunctional family from the Midwest, parents growing older, siblings growing apart, and one last family holiday. And it's intense, no doubt about it, but it was very hard to get into. Once it grabbed me, it grabbed tight, but it didn't have a good grip for at least the first fifty pages. But now that I think about it, maybe it's beacuse the characters are so unlikeable - I grew to care about what was happening to them, even as they stayed unlikeable, but it took a while to get there.

One other thing: a lot of stuff that happened seemed far-fetched (of course, I won't tell you what that stuff is, because you should read it for yourself and I don't want to ruin it for you), and I have a problem with that. But the problem comes from the mundane parts. The plot points that were so real were outstanding, but the ones that were extreme left me wanting more of the mundane, more of the "real" that pulls families together and pulls them apart.

The Corrections - B

Cuppies

There's a new blog in town, and it's going to knock your socks off - Cupcakes Are So Hot Right Now. Me and my buddies JJack and Big Bri will post commentary on our favorite cupcake flavors as we embark on a six-week taste test of all the offerings at Cupcake Station, just down the street from our place of employment. See, we discovered that they have this promotion every Wednesday, where it's buy two, get one free. AMAZING! So we're gonna take turns buying the cuppies, and try to work our way through the flavors... perhaps with an ultimate winner? Also, even though the name of the blog won't change, we may also right about other culinary delights that pass through the doors of our esteemed business establishment. Yee-hah!

Click here to read more.

Cupcakes Are So Hot Right Now - B+ (points off for being the new kid)

Tony Award Predictions

UPDATE: I kicked the Tonys' ass! Out of 27 categories, I got 21 totally right, and one half-right (who was expecting a tie in the Orchestrations category? not me!). So, with 21.5 out of 27, that's 79.6 percent - better than I've ever done at the Oscars. And my co-worker only got 35.2% (sorry, Brian, I can't give y ou credit for choosing Matthew Warchus, since you didn't pick which play you wanted him to win for... loopholes), so free lunch for me!

I bet not many of you are planning on watching the Tonys tonight. But, I'm in an office pool, and the loser buys lunch, so here it goes:
Best Play - God of Carnage
Best Musical - Billy Elliot
Book of a Musical - Billy Elliot
Score of a Musical - Billy Elliot
Play Revival - The Norman Conquests
Musical Revival - Hair
Special Theatrical Event - Liza's at the Palace
Actor (play) - Geoffrey Rush, Exit the King
Actress (play) - Marcia Gay Harden, God of Carnage
Actor (musical) - David Alvarez, Trent Kowalik and Kiril Kulish, Billy Elliot
Actress (musical) - Alice Ripley, Next to Normal
Featured Actor (play) - Roger Robinson, Joe Turner's Come and Gone
Featured Actress (play) - Angela Lansbury, Blithe Spirit
Featured Actor (musical) - Gregory Jbara, Billy Elliot
Featured Actress (musical) - Karen Olivo, West Side Story
Scenic Design (play) - Derek McLane, 33 Variations
Scenic Design (musical) - Ian McNeil, Billy Elliot
Costume Design (play) - Anthony Ward, Mary Stuart
Costume Design (musical) - Nicky Gillibrand, Billy Elliot
Lighting Design (play) - David Lander, 33 Variations
Lighting Design (musical) - Rick Fisher, Billy Elliot
Sound Design (play) - Russell Goldsmith, Exit the King
Sound Design (musical) - Paul Arditti, Billy Elliot
Direction (play) - Matthew Warchus, The Norman Conquests
Direction (musical) - Stephen Daldry, Billy Elliot
Choreography - Peter Darling, Billy Elliot
Orchestrations - Martin Koch, Billy Elliot

Thanks to Time Out New York for the help with my predictions. Stay tunes to see how I do.

Cannonball Read - Book 39

I'm quite behind in my reading. There's three big reasons for this: I am ridiculously busy at work; I'm trying to read The Corrections and I can't get into it; because I can't get into it, I've been re-reading the Anne of Green Gables books to pass the time. But I did manage to finish Amy and Isabelle by Elizabeth Strout. It's a mother-daughter tale, so you know it can't be good. Wait, that came out wrong. I mean that fictional mother-daughter tales usually involve heartache and strife, not that the book itself is bad (although sometimes that's true, too). Isabelle, the mother, has some secrets, and when Amy's (the daughter) sexuality causes some havoc, Isabelle's pain resurfaces and it's all downhill from there. And, it's set in a mill town - which also can't be good. Books set in mill towns are always bleak affairs.

Overall, a pretty solid read, with one absolutely tremendous scene. Good choice for the ladies.

Amy and Isabelle - B

It's Very Beautiful, And Very Cold...

and it's for sale!

Click here to see the listing.



buying Cameron's house - B+ (points off because it's DAMN expensive)

Let Me Tell You About My Band

One of my favorite things in this life is to hear a funny phrase and say "That's the name of our band." I don't know why, but I've loved doing this for YEARS. Sometimes, a person will just say a couple words that you don't hear next to each other very often, and it just makes me think of a band.

My very first band, formed my freshman year of college, was Pagan Racecar (I think some of my former bandmates read this blog - shout-out, homies!). I'm currently in a band called Styrofoam Twister - but my off-shoot solo project is One-Day Dirty. There were probably others.

Also, once I'm in a fake band, if another funny phrase comes up, I say "That's the name of our album."

Is this weird?

fake bands - A-

(photo disclaimer: this is my friend Kim and her fiance Justin, and one of their gorgeous engagement photos... but it also looks like an album cover... something bluegrass-y, with fiddles)

Tradition!

I laughed so hard I cried:



The bandana slays me.

Izzy the dancing dog - A

Good Times.

Exactly one year ago:

this happened.


Happy Anniversary to us - A+

Cannonball Read - Book 38

I mentioned this book briefly in my last post, but this makes it official.

Sleep Toward Heaven was quite good, actually. My friend Tim the Librarian says that stories with intersecting lives are "hot right now," and Sleep Toward Heaven tells the tale of three women: a convicted serial killer awaiting execution, a doctor in Manhattan running away from her life, and a librarian (not Tim) mourning the loss of her husband. How these three women connect and how their lives are changes by their interactions with each other form the backbone of the book, but each woman lives her own story (unlike this book, where each woman lives everybody else's story, and it falls flat). Quick and interesting.

Sleep Toward Heaven - B