Stuff I've Been Reading 12
Wednesday, December 10, 2008 : 4:24 PM : 0 comments
BOOKS READ:
So I've been keeping this column for a year now. It's proven to be useful in remembering what I've been reading but beyond that I'm not sure it's served much purpose. I do enjoy writing it though and it's been fun to go looking through what I've read in the past month. In the long run it makes more sense to do this over at Goodreads since most of my reading friends are on there. I'm sure it'll be easier to compile and update too. So I'm thinking this may be my last "Stuff I've Been Reading."Evil Genius - Catherine Jinks Top of the World: 2008 Boston Celtics - Peter May 24 Girls in 7 Days - Alex Bradley Sex and the Single Girl - Helen Gurley Brown A Step From Heaven - An Na Good Omens - Terry Pratchett & Neil Gaiman Shenzhen: A Travelogue From China - Guy Delisle Speak - Laurie Halse Anderson
With that in mind, I wanted to do some statistical analysis on exactly what sorts of things I've spent my time on. A month or two ago, one of my friends asked me for my Top 50 fiction books. I didn't think I'd read that many good books period, much less fiction. But I'm a sucker for lists so I gave it my best shot. I petered out around forty books I'd generally recommend. It seemed depressing. Like all this time spent reading, a literal lifetime, and I couldn't compile fifty great books to recommend. I finished my list but only by really stretching the bounds of "great." I had to resort to using "classic," which really means nothing. I had to even dig deep into middle school and high school books. "Where the Red Fern Grows" anyone?
Roughly speaking, I've read 75 books this year. That doesn't sound too bad, considering it's an average of a book every five days. But that's taking into account books that aren't really books. Light fluffy page turners, non-fiction topical things, and YA novels that are high in excitement but really only take a few hours to breeze through. Plus, compiling the list from my Stuff I've Been Reading 1-12 is a bit misleading because there's some books I've reread and some books I didn't fully finish. There was only one month I read nothing, March, which coincided with having to turn in one of the major drafts of Exclusively Chloe.
The general breakdown goes like this: 75 total books read. 22 fiction, 30 non-fiction, 18 young adult, and 5 on how to write or writing related. Of those thirty non-fiction books, eight dealt with the Celtics, basketball, or chess. I don't mean to separate out YA but they are generally shorter and easy to breeze through and often were read for research purposes. Of the fiction books, three were short story compilations, five or six were part of a sci-fi/fantasy series, and only three or four were heavy and serious book-like. Oh and one was a graphic novel.
Overall, for my year of reading, I'd be able to say that I'd recommend seven books that were definitely really great. My top ten looks like this, with the bottom three being a bit of a stretch.
That's kind of, well, sad. It means that approximately for every ten books I read, only one is truly memorable and worth recommending. Then again, that's probably a similar ratio with movies.
- The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay - Michael Chabon
- Love is a Mix Tape - Rob Sheffield
- How To Be Alone - Jonathan Franzen
- Speak - Laurie Halse Anderson
- Watchmen - Alan Moore & Dave Gibbons
- The Princess Bride - William Goldman
- Good Omens - Terry Pratchett & Neil Gaiman
- Soon I Will Be Invincible - Austin Grossman
- Lullaby - Chuck Palahniuk
- Personal Days - Ed Park
I made three large Amazon orders this year, each time for about a dozen books. I rediscovered the wonders of the library, tried to resist buying things in brick and mortar establishments, and received lots of free YA books provided to me. Total cost of buying books (which I can write off!) is probably $600. A small price to pay for edification and knowledge right? Then again, I question what I really remember from most of these books. My long term memory is shot and even though I was fascinated by books about Google, McDonald's, Wal-Mart, The Fifties, biological civilization, Wall Street, I'm not sure what I could recall too many interesting facts or stories.
All in all, it's probably a sign that I should divide up my reading time better. Read some books that have heft (and smaller print), try to read and process, and more importantly, remember what might be striking about each piece. Maybe it's time to start a book journal to jot down thoughts, great lines, and interesting themes that need to be explored.
Anyhow, thanks Nick Hornby for the inspiration! It's been fun.
Stuff I've Been Reading 11
Wednesday, November 5, 2008 : 12:13 AM : 1 comments
BOOKS READ:
I can't really report that I finished my stated goal of reading a dozen YA books. Goal, unaccomplished. However, starting and finishing are two altogether different things and in that respect, I probably did shoot through about ten YA books on hand and kind of got my fill and got all inspired -- which was the point. Now that I feel like I'm a semi-accredited YA author, I take interest in the debate about "What is a young adult novel?" Some people feel like a young adult novel would basically be dumbed down versions of adult books. Like cartoons versus live action shows. Obviously this is a broad, and very faulty, stereotype. Cartoons are real too, just like YA novels.Chuck Klosterman IV - Chuck Klosterman Sex, Drugs, and Cocoa Puffs - Chuck Klosterman No one belongs here more than you - Miranda July Love is a Mix Tape - Rob Sheffield Geek Magnet - Kieran Scott Model Spy (The Specialists) - Shannon Greenland Westminster Abby (S.A.S.S.) - Micol Ostow Cindy Ella - - Robin Palmer Plus many other YA books flipped through
But there is a difference between the two, so what is it? Well, it's hard to say. It's not the language, that's for sure. Teens probably have a better vocabularies than most adults so you don't have to shy away from using big words or anything. So that's certainly not the difference. I do like this quote, which attributes some of the difference between young adult and adult books to a matter of perspective.
"The protagonist in YA fiction is almost always a young person, from a teenager to late teens to early twenties. Yes, adult fiction has characters of this age, but generally adult fiction looks in on the young person's life, whereas YA fiction lives out the young person's life. This is perhaps the biggest difference between the Young Adult titles and adult titles. YA titles will tend to be told from the point of view of the young person."To be honest, I was confused and not entirely sure of the definition myself until I really started doing YA research. In the beginning, I wondered if YA books were the equivalent of PG-13 movies. No nudity, less swearing, drinking and drugs only as a morality lesson, and not too much on-screen violence. I wondered if you could touch upon themes that were dark or serious. Well, now I know. You can do anything you want. A good book is a good book and the young adult classification isn't there to put some sort of gauzy happy filter over everything.
-Ian Bone, Playing with the Big Kids-
The best example of a book that's always in the YA section nowadays is "The Outsiders," which everyone read in school. I don't think I would have associated it with YA until I kept seeing it shelved there and realized that the fact it's about teenagers, told from a teenager's perspective, and S.E. Hinton was fourteen when she wrote it makes it the prototypical YA book. But The Outsiders has violence, death, cursing, murder, alcohol, drugs, and all sorts of bad things in it. And it's a timeless classic.
"The language can be chaste or peppered with all sorts of choice profanities. Such a story could deal with vaguely sexualized 'crushes' without there being graphic portrayals of sex; another such story could deal with the confusion that revolves around the unfolding of one's sexuality. There is nothing inherently 'fluffy' or 'light' in such stories, even if the emotions expressed might seem puerile to those of us who are older and more cynical about matters of the heart and loins.I've never experienced this -- and I can't wait to! -- but YA authors are often looked down upon in the literary world. There's a NY Times editorial from an author who comes to terms (sort of) with her book being bought by a YA imprint. Like it's not "real" that she's a YA author. It all sounds like the snobby stereotyping that comic books, cartoons, board games, and other childish pursuits have to fight against; that they're not as serious or important as other types of art. This is definitely a fight I would gladly suit up for.
I have found that the best-written YA lit (defined here as being stories that focus on common adolescent themes and worries, often with a teen protagonist) is very frank and honest with its audience, even if the said audience is as disparate and divided as the stereotypical school lunchroom seating arrangement."
-OF Blog of the Fallen-
And don't look now but YA novels are huge money makers. The YA market attracts all sorts of "real" authors and more than ever, shows and movies are based on fare aimed at young adults. Hello Twilight, I can't wait to watch you soon!
"'I see now that dismissing YA books because you're not a young adult is a little bit like refusing to watch thrillers on the grounds that you're not a policeman or a dangerous criminal, and as a consequence, I've discovered a previously ignored room at the back of the bookstore that's filled with masterpieces I've never heard of.'"
-Nick Hornby-
Stuff I've Been Reading 10
Monday, October 6, 2008 : 2:31 AM : 0 comments
BOOKS READ:
My personal goal while being back in San Diego and settling down again is to read a dozen YA novels in the next month. What I've discovered while working on this goal is that I can't read YA stuff along with other things. Usually I have a few books I flip around in but when I'm trying to get into the head space or tone of a YA novel, I can't read really read anything else or I lose my train of thought, as it were. Or maybe I just like these YA novels so much that I'm getting sucked in and don't want to stop.Girls For Breakfast - David Yoo Watchmen - Alan Moore & Dave Gibbons Personal Days - Ed Park Sweep - Cate Tiernan How to Write A Damn Good Novel - James N. Frey Simon Bloom, The Gravity Keeper - Michael Reisman
Other things I'm hoping to fit into this schedule are books about reading and writing. One of them is titled "How to Read a Book." It's advertised as "the classic guide to intelligent reading" and comes highly recommended. I kind of love it, even if it's slow going. Seeing as I've never really taken a literature or writing class, I feel like I need to self educate myself, and fast. I was talking with a friend the other day and she said that I could probably remedially just learn some proper grammar by working through the right books. That would involve discipline and self motivation of course, but it's something I should challenge myself to do because it's my livelihood!
I mean, when I was playing with Lulu Titlescorer, a fun little app that tells you the chances your book will be a bestseller based on the title, I got lost on the little drop-down boxes about the words in my title. I mean, do I really fully understand what a "proper noun used as adjective/modifier" or "preposition/article" are? Um, maybe not.
I took my best swing at it and my chances of producing a bestseller with my next book is 69%. Not bad right? Roll the dice and cue the champagne!
Stuff I've Been Reading 9
Saturday, September 13, 2008 : 1:21 PM : 2 comments
BOOKS READ:
- Fortress of Solitude - Jonathan Lethem
- The Big Three - Peter May
- King's Gambit - Paul Hoffman
I remember whipping through tons of books when I lived in New York (Jersey City) because I'd be able to read all the time while waiting for subways. I loved it. I could remain in my little zone and read, read, read, without the fear of falling asleep, which is always a possibility when reading at home. Commuter reading is totally the best.
While in New York, I had a chance to visit my publisher's office and they took me to the "book room." Imagine a super large closet filled with piles of books everywhere. I couldn't have been more excited and they further enhanced my childish glee by literally handing me tons of books to take with me. I couldn't get enough and was only restricted by how much I might be able to carry. It was a dream come true! And then my editor was kind enough to say "Oh if there's anything around you see published by us, tell me and we'll send you a copy."
Um, seriously?
The last book I managed to start this month was Hoffman's chess book. The first half of it is one of the better chess books I've read. Hoffman writes about chess in this really exciting way and illuminates many of the players and characters in chess. While "Searching for Bobby Fischer" is hard to beat for an emotional chess story, I have to say that Hoffman's book is quickly climbing my list of must-reads for chess enthusiasts. Next up, I want to read "Chess Bitch" by Jennifer Shahade, which I can't believe I've never picked up yet, even though I see it all the time.
Fred Waitzkin, the author of Searching for Bobby Fischer, has another chess book about Garry Kasparov called Mortal Games, which is sadly out of print but totally worth tracking down. I love chess books that tell a story of chess, whether it be personal or historical. If only I had the ability to actually play chess to the level where strategy books could become decipherable. Sadly, I'm not even a patzer. But I'm starting to think I should turn my attentions to becoming a better chess player since my physical pursuits are clearly slipping.
Stuff I've Been Reading 8
Friday, August 8, 2008 : 5:20 PM : 1 comments
BOOKS READ:
- Red Prophet - Orson Scott Card
- After the Quake - Haruki Murakami
- Skellig - David Almond
- Charmed Thirds - Megan McCafferty
- Teen Girlfriends - Julia DeVillers
- Wonder Boys - Michael Chabon
- Mary Jane - Judith O'Brien
Out of this month's books, many of them were friend recommendations of one sort or another. I started Card's Alvin Maker series last month and I even have all seven books on hand but I just can't get into it. I love the Ender's series (actually, I mailed a copy to Shelley and she liked it so I felt great) so by extension I like Card. I received solid recommendations for Alvin Maker from both Jennifer and Janice and even with all that, the first two books just didn't work for me. Like I probably enjoyed twenty percent of what I was reading. I slogged through five hundred pages like it was a chore. And I did it for friendship! I decided to let that go and come back around to it in a few years or something. Friendship is worth one book apiece, not seven total.
"Murakami" has been the word of the month. Jennifer gave James and Bassemah different Murakami's to read (Wind Up Bird Chronicle and Kafka on the Shore, respectively). They were both well received and much appreciated. I happened to start the Murakami short story collection one day at her house and ended up reading most of it. I feel like having "Murakami" flow effortlessly off your tongue can only do good things for your literary game. Japanese names just sound so authentically smart. Then again, if you confuse designer Takashi Murakami with author Haruki Murakami, you'll just look uncultured. Or racist. Or both.
Nick Hornby, best selling author and not a personal friend of mine by any stretch of the imagination, recommended Skellig in one of his columns. He gave it a hearty two thumbs up and the subject matter and potential audience (YA) seemed pertinent to my life right now. Instead I found the story a bit weak and boring. I don't know if I can trust Nick anymore. Just one small disagreement with a gushy review of his and I'm already questioning our imaginary book friendship. It's so hard you know?
One of my favorite book recommenders, Christina, really likes Megan McCafferty's Sloppy Firsts and the Jessica Darling books that followed. Of course, the library didn't carry anything except the third one and I pretty much just shot her recommendation through the foot by diving into the series backwards, from worst to best. Also, I took out Don DeLillo's White Noise for the second time but didn't even start it. Everyone tells me I'll love Don but I just can't seem to motivate to give him a fair shake.
If someone told me that a best friend could be made by just stepping outside for a quick coffee date, I would go right? So why can't I just start the DeLillo? Am I afraid it'll ruin the credibility of book recommenders I care about if I hate it? Maybe... I'm just afraid of disappointment alright? What does it say that everyone absolutely agrees I'll like DeLillo and then I don't like him? Do my friends know me less than I think they do or am I just too dumb to recognize quality work? See the potential problems here? "It's complicated" isn't just a relationship status, it applies to absolutely everything.
I think if I'm going to recommend something, I have to get over the idea that if they hate it, it'll reflect poorly on me. Reading is such a personal experience that you can't really judge exactly what a person will like versus what they'll hate. Even if the writing style, the genre, the everything matches up, you can still end up with a busted book blind date. So the way to keep plugging along pushing books on other people is to just blame them when they don't like something. It takes all the guilt out of the process I think. Once again, self-delusionment and non-responsibility seems to be the answer. I'm sensing a theme here.
Stuff I've Been Reading 7
Tuesday, July 1, 2008 : 7:24 AM : 0 comments
BOOKS READ:
- Seventh Son - Orson Scott Card
- Despite Everything - Aaron Cometbus
- Reading Like a Writer - Francine Prose
- Unfinished Business - Jack McCallum
- Bird by Bird - Anne Lamott
That's just a poor excuse though. Readers read, period. But so much of my time is spent in front of the computer I guess I'm skimming articles and blogs more than actually reading. So what separates me from the masses of "non-readers" who only consume short pieces and articles in magazines and online? Not much I guess.
And I quote "non-readers" because people who don't read books are considered capable of reading but not really readers. There's a few simple categories of readers. While I'm here, I'll just make a quick ranking.
Apparently length matters. Readers are people who can curl up with a book and commit to something longer than ten pages. Non-readers basically consume things in little bite sized pieces.Zero (0)
Can't/won't read at all. Like anything more complex than a menu would be taxing. Paragraphs are soooo long.
Favorite book: The funny pages
See Spot Run (1)
Reads a magazine on a flight or a newspaper during breakfast. Books with pictures and articles with bullet points are super awesome. Light internet browsing.
Favorite book: Who Moved My Cheese?
Blue Fish, Red Fish (2)
People who like to read but often only in niche categories. Subject matter is the most important quality when looking for something. Thinks self-help books qualify as reading. Medium internet browsing.
Favorite book: Tuesdays with Morrie
Gladwell's Code (3)
Light and fluffy fiction top sellers with a mix of the occasional hot non-fiction of the season. Knows where the tipping point is, why economics freak people out, and has a sizable collection of buy two get one free selections. "I totally read that in eighth grade!" Possible heavy internet browsing.
Favorite book: Harry Potter
Years of Solitude (4)
Seasoned reader. Scoffs at low brow drivel. Familiarity with the classics and devotes time to serious works. Not confined to genres because a book is a book is a book. Wouldn't be lost looking at a list of the 100 best novels. "I really enjoyed her earlier work but her new stuff sucks."
Favorite book: Something foreign
Rushdie's Rainbow (5)
Consumes literature, can talk about the works of so-and-so, isn't afraid of diving into something experimental. Words and ideas are fuel for life. One of their goals in life is to have a room for a personal library. The library card is always maxed out.
Favorite book: Gravity's Rainbow
Anyway, since the beginning of summer has been such a bust in the reading department, I think I'm going to make a list of books for summer reading and make sure to finish them all by say, September.
Lilly was talking about a great idea the other day: starting a summer read-a-thon just like when we were kids. Remember those? You raced to read as many books as you could and then when you returned to school you got prizes like medals and trophies and pieces of paper to hang on the fridge. Of course, people have jobs now so an adult read-a-thon might be hard but it's a worthy goal. I'm going to start making my list now.
Oh, I consider myself a 3.5 reader. Somewhere in-between the things you find at the front of the bookstore and the stuff I can't pronounce without mumbling.
Stuff I've Been Reading 6
Monday, May 19, 2008 : 3:07 AM : 0 comments
BOOKS READ:
- Down & Out in the Magic Kingdom - Cory Doctorow
- Lullaby - Chuck Palahniuk
- Writing Down the Bones - Natalie Goldberg
- How To Be Alone - Jonathan Franzen
- The Fifties - David Halberstam
- Self-Editing for Fiction Writers - Browne/King
- The Modern Jewish Girl's Guide to Guilt - ed. Ruth Andrew Ellenson
Let's say it takes me six hours to finish a normal sized book. That's three movies, half a night of sleep, and an afternoon of sitting around. Sure, I could learn some really interesting information (the Halberstam book this month is great) or I could feel like I've read something totally spectacular (Lullaby was like that) but at the end of the day -- or life -- what application does either of them have? I can feel a bit smarter, a bit wiser, a bit more knowlegeable, and possibly content but most books just come and go without a lasting effect. That kind of sucks doesn't it?
The only way I can come to grips with this problem is to think about books in the context of other entertainment. Do I enjoy it over most movies, television, and other media? Most certainly. I couldn't live without books. Then again, I couldn't live without movies and television either. There's a huge letdown to know that even if you can read twenty books a month, you'd hardly be making any dent into the huge sum of human knowledge.
For example, if we could someday just download every single book straight into our brain, would we? That would perhaps suck the romance and fun out of reading but it would quickly and effectively give us more free time to... watch more TV or something. I think I would probably opt for that option if it were available actually. So I guess the final answer is that I read for entertainment and hope for edification to justify the expense.
I, like, feel sad about that.
Stuff I've Been Reading 5
Friday, April 11, 2008 : 4:59 AM : 0 comments
BOOKS READ:
- The A-List - Zoey Dean
- Hollywood Car Wash - Lori Culwell
- The Wal-Mart Effect - Charles Fishman
- Confessions of an Economic Hit Man - John Perkins
- The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay - Michael Chabon
- Best American Non-Required Reading 2002 - ed. David Eggers
I'd always known the name "Michael Chabon" because he's unavoidable once you read Eggers and McSweeney's and he's prolific and ubiquitous once you're aware of him, but I hadn't ever read any of his works. Why is beyond me. Amazing Adventures is not only brilliant but also highly entertaining and poetic. I hate that it's been out for eight years and I only discovered it now. The next author I really need to explore is Dom DeLillo because he's been recommended more than once and I don't want to pass him up anymore, just like I did Chabon.
"I was afraid that the book, on its surface, would be off-putting to women readers. It's about comic books, and in my greatly enlarged recent experience it's become clear that women have a very negative attitude toward comic books. They didn't grow up reading them, for the most part.There's really no denying it, comic books and super heroes are cool again. Which means, Soon I Will Be Cool (err, Invincible). Okay, fine, maybe not, but geeks have inherited the planet and I'm ready for my time in the sun. Mainly because I'm pale as a sheet from never being awake during daylight hours. I need summer, and beach time, like right now.
I was surprised that my wife thought it was a good idea, then again with my agent, another woman, then my editor, another woman - in spite of the fact that all three of them reacted positively I still have this fear. It probably reaches deep down into my childhood history as a geek, being interested in comic books and getting nowhere with girls. Those two things going hand-in-hand. But the response has been very positive; women readers are finding lots to enjoy."
-Interview with M.Chabon, Powell's-
While waiting around for my roast beef sandwich at a deli where long waits are par for the course, I saw that the counter girl was reading Card's Speaker for the Dead. While Ender's Game is quite a popular (relatively) sci-fi book among the normal girl set, I was very impressed that she was onto the sequel and seemed to not be able to tear her attention away -- she was almost done -- to accept my cash at the register. That's awesome.
Stuff I've Been Reading 4
Wednesday, March 12, 2008 : 7:21 AM : 0 comments
BOOKS READ:
I haven't read a single book in the past month. Which would be alarming except it's been by design. I kind of started "Eat, Pray, Love" but came nowhere close to finishing it. Book club had Zadie Smith's "On Beauty" up on deck, which is something I really want to read, but I skipped it. Mainly I've been consumed with writing, thinking, writing, thinking. I'm in the middle of revising another draft of the book and there's a lot of work to be done.none
Rome wasn't built in a day and writing a book isn't either. I wonder if anyone is capable of whipping out a near perfect first draft. Did you know Good Will Hunting was originally supposed to be much more action orientated? Car chases, government intrigue, the works. Instead, after a few re-conceptions and rewrites, we got the touchy feely version with no action whatsoever. Obviously, the latter proved to be much more effective and endearing.
The thing I keep trying to remember as I look at all the great and amazing things around me is that it takes multiple tries to perfect something. It gives hope to the common man doesn't it?
Stuff I've Been Reading 3
Wednesday, February 13, 2008 : 12:40 AM : 0 comments
BOOKS BOUGHT:
BOOKS READ:I'm letting this section go. I discovered the library and really, I don't buy that many books anyway
Here's a big problem for me. As I try to write this semi-monthly column about the books I've read (or tried to read at least), it's becoming increasingly hard to fit the titles into the space at the top of each post. Every book title now has a long description about itself after the ":" mark. It's useful for marketing and selling purposes I'm sure, but it's killing my blog.Adverbs - Daniel Handler Seven Seconds or Less - Jack McCallum Friday Night Lights - HG Bissinger The Sword and the Chain - Joel Rosenberg The Heir Apparent - Joel Rosenberg The Black Swan - Nassim Nicholas Taleb McDonald's - John F. Love The Search - John Battelle The Chess Artist - J.C. Hallman Out of Control - Kevin Kelly Cultural Intelligence - Thomas/Inkson Soon I Will Be Invincible - Austin Grossman
I mean, Jack McCallum's "Seven Seconds or Less" is actually supposed to be "Seven Seconds or Less: My Season on the Bench with the Running' and Gunnin' Phoenix Suns." I had to check that twice over just to make sure I got the wording and punctuation right. Try fitting all of that on one line.
For aesthetic reasons, I refuse to let a book/author pairing go over their allotted space. If I wasn't so anal, here's what this month's list would look like:
Ridiculous right? It's like trying to run the 100-yard dash with a huge wedding train flaring out behind you. Actually, I even cheated a little because the copy that I have of "Out of Control" is actually sub-titled "Out of Control: The New Biology of Machines, Social Systems, & the Economic World." Which is, to be sure, much more explanatory than "Out of Control: The Rise of Neo-Biological Civilization." But which one sounds cooler?Adverbs: A Novel - Daniel Handler Seven Seconds or Less: My Season on the Bench with the Running' and Gunnin' Phoenix Suns - Jack McCallum Friday Night Lights: A Town, A Team, and a Dream - HG Bissinger The Sword and the Chain - Joel Rosenberg The Heir Apparent - Joel Rosenberg The Black Swan: The Impact of the Highly Improbable - Nassim Nicholas Taleb McDonald's: Behind the Arches - John F. Love The Search: How Google and Its Rivals Rewrote the Rules of Business and Transformed Our Culture - John Battelle The Chess Artist: Genius, Obsession, and the World's Oldest Game - J.C. Hallman Out of Control: The Rise of Neo-Biological Civilization - Kevin Kelly Cultural Intelligence: People Skills for Global Business - Thomas/Inkson Soon I Will Be Invincible - Austin Grossman
While this long title problem is more prevalent in the non-fiction world -- where the abstract titles sometimes do need a bit of an explanation and a hook -- take a look at "Adverbs: A Novel." I'm not sure why that's there; the book is fiction and clearly adding "A Novel" doesn't help explain anything. I mean, Daniel Handler (aka Lemony Snicket) is a wonderful writer but I'm trying to figure out if it was his idea to add the appendage or if it was something tacked on by mistake. Check out the cover for Alice Sebold's "The Lovely Bones." It clearly has "A novel" printed on it, which is semi-helpful I guess, but it's not part of its official name.
Perhaps my book should have been "The Rough Guide to Blogging: A Guide about Blogging." Or maybe with my next book I can incorporate " : A Book" into it somehow to create "My Brand New Book: A Pretty Decent Book (if you don't mind me saying)."
Anyway, what I've decided to do in the interest of beautiful blog posts is to shorten any title that is way too long, leaving only the essential bits for your consumption -- or just little ditties I make up. I figure if you're really interested in one of these books, you're only a few clicks away from Googling it. Also, that's my rationale for not listing full names of multiple authors and editors. So here's what my list this month should look like:
Adverbs - Daniel Handler Seven Seconds or Less: The 2005 Phoenix Suns - Jack McCallum Friday Night Lights - HG Bissinger The Sword and the Chain - Joel Rosenberg The Heir Apparent - Joel Rosenberg The Black Swan - Nassim Nicholas Taleb McDonald's: Behind the Arches - John F. Love The Search: How Google... - John Battelle The Chess Artist - J.C. Hallman Out of Control: The Rise of Neo-Biological Civilization - Kevin Kelly Cultural Intelligence: People Skills for Global Business - Thomas/Inkson Soon I Will Be Invincible - Austin Grossman
Stuff I've Been Reading 2
Sunday, January 20, 2008 : 11:11 PM : 0 comments
BOOKS BOUGHT:
- A whole bunch of stuff on Amazon; too many to list here
- Kitchen Confidential - Anthony Bourdain
- This Is Not Chick Lit: Original Stories by America's Best Women Writers - Elizabeth Merrick
- Liar's Poker: Rising Through the Wreckage on Wall Street - Michael Lewis
- King Dork - Frank Portman
- How Sassy Changed My Life - Kara Jesella & Marisa Meltzer
- Skin Deep - Karol Griffin
- The Princess Bride - William Goldman
I've figured that out after many book club meetings, where invariably, the best meetings (meaning the most animated and free flowing discussions) are during the non-fiction months. It's just hard to explain why you loved certain parts of a book without referring to the source material constantly. And people are here to talk, not to be read at.
With that in mind, if I were to put together my ultimate one hour book club meeting, I'd format it something like this:
- Start with a quick vote of who liked it and who didn't so we know where everyone stands.
- Recap what happened in the book because chances are, half the people in attendance didn't finish the book.
- Have someone knowledgeable lead a quick run through of major themes, characters, points of interest. Like you would have in English class. I want someone to bring some literary heft to the table.
- People can bring up questions and points of interest, perhaps referring to a quote or part of the book that really struck them deeply.
- Discuss the author and the work as far as their style and historical placement. Or fun facts about the author that might lend some perspective to the novel.
- Plan to go see the film version; or discuss who should be cast as the main characters. Never skip this portion of the meeting, it's key.
- Have an email list (or blog) that allows a lead up to the actual physical meeting. Giving people a chance to communicate about the book beforehand is useful and some people are more comfortable articulating themselves online. Plus, it fosters more in-depth communication because people can take their time to read, reflect, and react.
- Everyone should bring in or discuss what they've been reading that month. After all, a book club isn't just about the book of the month, but connecting with people about reading in general. Show me your books!
Stuff I've Been Reading 1
Tuesday, November 20, 2007 : 10:43 PM : 0 comments
BOOKS BOUGHT:
- Playing for Keeps: Michael Jordan and the World He Made - David Halberstam
- Let Me Tell You a Story: A Lifetime in the Game - Feinstein/Auerbach
- The Princess Bride - William Goldman
- Bookmark Now: Writing in Unreaderly Times - Kevin Smokler
- Playing for Keeps
- Let Me Tell You a Story
- Firstborn (Dragonlance Elven Nations, Vol 1) - Thompson/Carter
- Children of the Mind - Orson Scott Card
- Black Hawk Down - Mark Bowden
- About a Boy - Nick Hornby
I would like to set my book budget at $200 a month but when I stop to look at that number, it's the same amount as a month's worth of insurance, bills, or car payments. Let's say I make two thousand dollars a month, that figure would then represent ten-percent of my income. If I flipped that into a Roth IRA, I could be a millionaire in forty years or something.
But it's so much fun to buy books isn't it? Sure the library is cheaper and semi-convenient but the selection is never what one would like. Although I've heard that some libraries have organized themselves bookstore style, which seems like it would be pretty awesome.
The point is, how much is buying new books worth to me? Ten percent of my paycheck per month? Should I look for other (stimulating) alternatives? Netflix provides unlimited movies for a mere $20 a month; Internet is around the same; after fixed costs, a videogame is the most economically efficient form of entertainment around. So again, how much is literature worth?
My number one criteria for buying books for their retail price (in a bookstore) is re-readability. Am I likely to read this book multiple times? Then I should buy it. Also, is it a book that should be in my collection ten years from now? Auto-buy. The last kind of book I'll purchase in-store is one I just happen to stumble upon and don't have the patience to wait for it post-Amazon. These are often the dumbest buys of all time because it's like committing to a girl after the five minute meet and greet; totally hit or miss. Sometimes you have to judge a book by its cover (or blurb or title) right?
Since the basketball season's starting, I was forced to buy the Halberstam and Feinstein book just to gear me up for the Celtics' championship run ahead. Princess Bride made the cut because I've been told it's a true classic. After purchasing Bookmark Now and opening it up, I realized that the editor, Kevin Smokler, was on Lilly's pitch panel for the Ann Arbor Book Festival we attended in May. The local bookstore and my book life is starting to collide! It must mean I'll soon be a real author. Yes!
