KCRW’s Bookworm: John Barth.

I think Ginger told me about these Bookworm podcasts a long, long time ago… I actually can’t remember whether or not I’ve ever actually read “The Sot-Weed Factor” although I’m positive I own it. Barth is pretty humble for a guy who’s been around such a long time. Used to have a lot of fame as an environmentalist although I’m not sure many people know that anymore. This podcast was about his latest “Where Three Roads Meet” but I had to run by the bookstore and pick up “The Book of Ten Nights and a Night” as the podcast ended. Look, Betsy, short stories! 🙂

DVD: The Constant Gardener

Rachel Weisz is luminous. And the beginning makeout scene, where they are just surrounded by white (a technique often used in portraits, you put them in front of white paper reaching to all sides, it’s like they’re floating), is really awesome. Very, very, very sad movie. And sadly – very REAL as well. There’s no doubt this stuff is happening. I highly recommend this paired with “Acts of Faith” by Philip Caputo (a book). Very intense.

Netflix: To Kill a Mockingbird

My dad had never read this book b/c he had seen the movie first and loved it so much. I see what he’s talking about it. It is GOOD, altho…it is not the book. It’s of necessity somewhat condensed and I was so blown away by the book that this doesn’t quite live up. But compared to, you know, other movies rather than compared to the book, it’s really good. Gregory Peck is great in it. Dill has been said to be based on Truman Capote and that is really brought to life in the movie version.

What She Said!

Great blog post by Gina Frangello (found through Bookslut): Old men can grow enormous wings. She read in Chicago recently but because I was lame and tired and had some important things to do at home (where are my priorities) and didn’t feel like trekking up to Andersonville…yeah well I missed it.

And now I am sorely regretting that.

$4.23 Trip to the Bookstore.

Finally spent the gift certificate my boss gave me for Christmas.

  • She Got Up off the Couch, by Haven Kimmel. She’s an automatic “buy in hardcover” for me now, after reading all 3 of her previous books. She’s a magician.
  • The Thin Place, by Kathryn Davis. I hear nothing but raves, Raves, RAVES about this one. Hopefully going to hear her read on the 16th, depending on work schedule. Can’t wait to read this. (Have also heard great things about a previous book “Girl Who Trod on a Loaf”.)
  • The Accidental Tourist, by Ali Smith. If it’s going to win every award known to man, I will want to have read it. Won’t you?
  • Man Walks into a Room, by Nicole Krauss. Because “History of Love” was one of the two best books I read last year. Magical. Potent. Heartbreaking. I expect nothing less of this one.
  • 13 Ways of Looking at the Novel, by Jane Smiley. Randomly read a few pages, here and there, of this on a few different trips to the bookstore. Think it will give me an even longer (if that’s possible) list of “SHOULD have read long ago, must get to now” books.

All in all, a nice afternoon. Other than the studying, and class, and workshop, and studying. New episode of Grey’s tonight. Yea!

Books Read in 2005

(In descending order this time around!)

  • An Unfinished Season, by Ward Just
  • Author, Author, by David Lodge
  • The True and Outstanding Adventures of the Hunt Sisters, by Elisabeth Robinson
  • Quicksilver, by Neal Stephenson
  • She Is Me, by Cathleen Schine
  • The World According to Mimi Smartypants
  • Neighboring Lives, by Thomas Disch and Charles Naylor
  • The Shape of Water, by Andrea Camilleri
  • Home Land, by Sam Lipsyte
  • Behind the Scenes at the Museum, by Kate Atkinson
  • The Devil’s Tour, by Mary Karr (poetry)
  • Criminals, by Margot Livesey
  • Samaritan, by Richard Price
  • A Changed Man, by Francine Prose
  • Cloud Atlas, by David Mitchell
  • Dreamer, by Charles Johnson
  • Camp Concentration, by Thomas Disch
  • The Translator, by Ward Just
  • Blue Hour, by Carolyn Forche (poetry)
  • Paradise, by A.L.Kennedy
  • Sixpence House, by Paul Collins
  • Saturday, by Ian McEwan
  • A Girl Named Zippy, by Haven Kimmel
  • The Glass Castle, by Jeannette Walls
  • Oracle Night, by Paul Auster
  • The Lives of the Muses, by Francine Prose
  • Hamlet, by Shakespeare (reread)
  • The Preservationist, by David Maine
  • Monkeewrench, by P.J. Tracy
  • Live Bait, by P.J. Tracy
  • The Company of Strangers, by Robert Wilson
  • Dead Run, by P.J. Tracy
  • The James Joyce Murders, by Amanda Cross
  • The History of Love, by Nicole Krauss
  • Wine & War, The French, the Nazis and the Battle for France’s Greatest Treasure, by Don & Petie Kladstrup
  • Housekeeping, by Marilynne Robinson
  • Rhapsody, by Elizabeth Haydon
  • Prophecy, by Elizabeth Haydon
  • Destiny, by Elizabeth Haydon
  • Across the Nightingale Floor, by Lian Hearn
  • The Falls, by Ian Rankin
  • Nam-A-Rama, by Phillip Jennings
  • Sidetracked, by Henning Mankell
  • Bankok 8, by John Burdett
  • Foreign Babes in Beijing, by Rachel DeWoskin
  • Travels with a Tangerine, by Tim MacKintosh-Smith
  • The Closed Circle, by Jonathan Coe
  • Wish You Were Here, by Stewart O’Nan
  • The Wonder Spot, by Melissa Bank
  • Dragon’s Winter, by Elizabeth A. Lynn (re-read)
  • Dragon’s Treasure, by Elizabeth A. Lynn
  • Doctor Zhivago, by Boris Pasternak
  • Why Are We at War?, by Norman Mailer
  • Sleep With Me, by Joanna Briscoe
  • The Ha-Ha, by Dave King
  • Specimen Days, by Michael Cunningham
  • Echo House, by Ward Just
  • Gilead, by Marilynne Robinson
  • Crossing California, by Adam Langer
  • The Dreams, by Naguib Mahfouz
  • The Blackbird Papers, by Ian Smith
  • Here is Where We Meet, by John Berger
  • Never Let Me Go, by Kazuo Ishiguro
  • Birds of a Feather, (Maisie Dobbs #2) by Jaqueline Winspear
  • Indelible Acts, by A.L. Kennedy
  • Maisie Dobbs, by Jacqueline Winspear
  • On Beauty, by Zadie Smith
  • A Gentleman’s Game, by Greg Rucka
  • Nobody’s Warriors, by Maurice Shadbolt
  • Mothers & Other Monsters, by Maureen F. McHugh
  • Knife of Dreams (Wheel of Time Book 11), by Robert Jordan
  • Digital Fortress, by Dan Brown (blech. Airport reading. ’nuff said.)
  • (half of) Henderson the Rain King, by Saul Bellow
  • Willful Creatures, by Aimee Bender
  • The House of Sleep, by Jonathan Coe
  • Silent Bob Speaks, the Collected Writings of Kevin Smith
  • Burr, by Gore Vidal
  • To Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee
  • Birthmarks, by Sarah Dunant
  • The Way by Swann’s, by Marcel Proust
  • In a Sunburned Country, by Bill Bryson
  • The Whore’s Child (and Other Stories) , by Richard Russo
  • The Universe and the Teacup: The Mathematics of Truth and Beauty, by K.C. Cole
  • Cherry Ames, Student Nurse, by Helen Wells (reread)
  • Cherry Ames, Senior Nurse, by Helen Wells (reread)
  • The Philosopher’s Demise, Learning to Speak French, by Richard Watson
  • Cherry Ames, Army Nurse, by Helen Wells (reread)
  • Cherry Ames, Chief Nurse, by Helen Wells (reread)
  • The Magician’s Nephew, by C.S. Lewis (reread)
  • The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, by C.S. Lewis (reread)
  • Thank You for Not Smoking, by Christopher Buckley
  • Old School, by Tobias Wolff
  • The Woman in White, by Wilkie Collins
  • Siren Song (Royal Dynasty, Bk 1), by Roberta Gellis (reread)
  • To the Castle, by Joan Wolf
  • The Diamond King, by Patricia Potter

Books Read in 2004

(In opposite order, last read up top)

  • The Genocides by Thomas M. Disch
  • The Weather in Berlin, by Ward Just
  • Pagan Babies, by Elmore Leonard
  • (sections of) Boys & Girls Forever: Children’s Classics from Cinderella to Harry Potter, by Alison Lurie
  • (sections of) Don’t Tell the Grown-ups: Subversive Children’s Literature, by Alison Lurie
  • The Daughter in Law, by Diana Diamond
  • California Girl, by T. Jefferson Parker
  • The New York Trilogy (City of Glass, Ghosts, The Locked Room), by Paul Auster
  • Witch Hunt, by Ian Rankin
  • Mrs. Satoris, by Elke Schmitter
  • The Final Solution, by Michael Chabon
  • The Polysyllabic Spree, by Nick Hornby
  • Lucky Girls, by Nell Freudenberger
  • Shadow Baby, by Alison McGhee
  • The Girl Who Played Go, by Shan Sa
  • Never Mind the Pollacks, by Neal Pollack
  • Don’t Think of an Elephant, by George Lakoff
  • The Line of Beauty, by Alan Hollinghurst
  • Stars and Bars, by William Boyd
  • How to Get into Law School, by Susan Estrich
  • The Rotters Club, by Jonathan Coe
  • The Armies of the Night, by Norman Mailer
  • The Evening of the Holiday, by Shirley Hazzard
  • Persepolis, by Marjane Satrapi
  • The Adventures of Flash Jackson, by William Kowalski
  • Marriage: A Duet, by Anne Taylor Fleming
  • The Plot Against America, by Philip Roth
  • Twice Shy, by Dick Francis
  • The Gunslinger, Dark Tower Part I, by Stephen King
  • Macbeth, by Shakespeare (reread)
  • Men in the Off Hours, by Anne Carson
  • Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell, by Susanna Clarke
  • The Dogs of Riga, by Henning Mankell
  • Blood of Victory, by Alan Furst
  • Eva Moves the Furniture, by Margot Livesey
  • Rainlight, by Alison McGhee
  • The Other Boleyn Girl, by Philippa Gregory
  • Something Rotten, by Jasper Fforde
  • The Time Traveler’s Wife, by Audrey Niffenegger (reread)
  • Light of the Moon, by Elizabeth Buchan
  • Chasing Shakespeare, by Sarah Smith
  • The Great Fire, by Shirley Hazzard
  • Ghostwritten, by David Mitchell
  • Daughter of God, by Lewis Perdue
  • Flashman, by George Macdonald Fraser
  • French Lessons, by Alice Kaplan
  • The Perks of Being a Wallflower, by Stephen Chbosky
  • Gallows View, by Peter Robinson
  • The Houdini Girl, by Martyn Bedford
  • Uniform Justice, by Donna Leon
  • The Jane Austen Book Club, by Karen Joy Fowler
  • The Photograph, by Penelope Lively
  • The Game, by Laurie R. King
  • The Big Love, by Sarah Dunn
  • Truth & Beauty, by Ann Patchett
  • The Winshaw Legacy, by Jonathan Coe
  • The Black Book, by Ian Rankin
  • Hopscotch, by Julio Cortazar
  • Something Rising (Light and Swift), by Haven Kimmel
  • Hearing Birds Fly, by Louisa Waugh
  • The Long Firm, by Jake Arnott
  • Dead Souls, by Ian Rankin
  • Olivia Joules and the Overactive Imagination, by Helen Fielding
  • Faceless Killers, by Henning Mankell
  • Decider, by Dick Francis
  • Rat Race, by Dick Francis
  • Driving Force, by Dick Francis
  • To the Hilt, by Dick Francis
  • Abandon, by Pico Iyer
  • Don’t Let’s Go to the Dogs Tonight, by Alexandra Fuller
  • The Epicure’s Lament, by Kate Christensen
  • Let It Bleed, by Ian Rankin
  • Fox River, by Emilie Richards
  • New Spring: The Novel, by Robert Jordan
  • Strip Jack, by Ian Rankin
  • Mortal Causes, by Ian Rankin
  • Angelica, by Sharon Shinn
  • Mrs. Kimble, by Jennifer Haigh
  • The Fall, by Simon Mawer
  • Tooth and Nail, by Ian Rankin
  • The Last Report on the Miracles at Little No Horse, by Louise Erdrich
  • Final Target, by Iris Johansen
  • The Patron Saint of Liars, by Ann Patchett
  • A Time to Dance, No Time to Weep, by Rumer Godden
  • What I loved, by Siri Hustvedt
  • The Solace of Leaving Early, by Haven Kimmel
  • Little Children, by Tom Perrotta
  • Wild Horses, by Dick Francis
  • Wedding Season, by Darcy Cosper
  • Bringing Down the House, the Inside Story of Six M.I.T. Students Who Took Vegas for Millions, by Ben Mezrich
  • A Fistful of Rain, by Greg Rucka
  • The Last Detective, by Robert Crais
  • Hide and Seek, by Ian Rankin
  • Trial Run, by Dick Francis
  • The New Confessions, by William Boyd
  • Straight, by Dick Francis
  • Dead Aim, by Iris Johansen
  • Isn’t It Romantic, by Ron Hansen
  • The Dog of the South, by Charles Portis
  • Remember Me, by Trezza Azzopardi
  • Knots and Crosses, by Ian Rankin
  • On Love, by Alain de Botton
  • I Wish Someone Were There Waiting for Me, by Anna Gavalda
  • Untangling my Chopsticks: A Culinary Sojourn in Kyoto by Victoria Abbott Riccardi
  • The Well of Lost Plots, [Thursday Next book 3] by Jasper Fforde
  • Any Human Heart, by William Boyd
  • Blood Brothers, by Richard Price
  • Picture Palace, by Paul Theroux
  • Giving Up the Ghost, a Memoir, by Hilary Mantel
  • The Good Doctor, by Damon Galgut
  • Perfume, by Patrick Susskind
  • Nothing Remains the Same; Rereading and Remembering, by Wendy Lesser
  • Eats, Shoots & Leaves, by Lynne Truss
  • Lies and the Lying Liars Who Tell Them, by Al Franken

Books Reviewed in 2003

because I was a dork and didn’t actually keep track of everything I read!!
(In opposite order, last read up top)

  • The Time Traveler’s Wife, by Audrey Niffenegger
  • Learning to Bow, Inside the Heart of Japan, by Bruce Feiler
  • A Landing on the Sun, by Michael Frayn
  • Looking for Class, Days and Nights at Oxford and Cambridge, by Bruce Feiler
  • Instances of the Number 3, by Salley Vickers
  • And Now You Can Go, by Vendala Vida
  • Kingfishers Catch Fire, by Rumer Godden
  • Double Vision, by Pat Barker
  • Astonishing Splashes of Color, by Clare Morrall
  • Vernon God Little, by DBC Pierre
  • What Was She Thinking? [Notes on a Scandal], by Zoe Heller
  • No Angel, by Penny Vincenzi
  • China Court by Rumer Godden
  • In This House of Brede by Rumer Godden
  • Interpreter of Maladies by Jhumpa Lahiri
  • Brick Lane by Monica Ali
  • Scissors Paper Rock by Fenton Johnson
  • Red Ant Hill by Ann Cummins
  • Chasing the Dime by Michael Connelley
  • Kitchen Confidential by Anthony Bourdain
  • In Cuba I was a German Shepherd by Ana Menéndez
  • Life of Pi, by Yann Martel
  • Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold
  • The Ginger Man by J.P. Donleavy
  • Mortals by Norman Rush
  • Three Junes, by Julia Glass
  • A Storm of Swords, by George R.R. Martin
  • High Hearts, by Rita Mae Brown
  • Straight Man by Richard Russo
  • Everything Is Illuminated by Jonathan Safran Foer
  • The Crimson Petal and The White by Michael Faber
  • Skating to Antarctica by Jenny Diski
  • Shooting at Midnight by Greg Rucka
  • Critical Space by Greg Rucka
  • Shopgirl, by Steve Martin
  • The Early Arrival of Dreams: A Year in China by Rosemary Mahoney
  • Atonement, by Ian McEwan
  • The Shooting Party by Isabel Colegate
  • Lost in a Good Book by Jasper Fforde
  • Cryptonomicon by Neal Stephenson
  • A Virgin in the Garden by A.S. Byatt
  • The Blue Hour, by T. Jefferson Parker
  • The Master and Margarita, by Mikhail Bulgakov
  • A Whistling Woman, by A.S. Byatt
  • Keeper by Greg Rucka
  • Finder by Greg Rucka
  • Smoker, by Greg Rucka
  • A Cook’s Tour; Global Adventures in Extreme Cuisines, by Anthony Bourdain
  • Middlesex, by Jeffrey Eugenides
  • Prodigal Summer, by Barbara Kingsolver
  • Caramelo, by Sandra Cisneros
  • Outfoxed, by Rita Mae Brown
  • Empire Falls, by Richard Russo
  • Tipping the Velvet, by Sarah Waters
  • The Slynx, by Tatyana Tolstaya
  • Winter Journey by Isabel Colegate
  • Jane and the Unpleasantness at Scargrave Manor by Stephanie Barron
  • Miss Garnet’s Angel by Salley Vickers
  • Silent Joe by T. Jefferson Parker
  • Fire and Sword by Henry Sienkiewicz