Surfing Saturday 3.14.09

Welcome to Surfing Saturdays! Each Saturday morning, I'll list any links of interest I came across during the past week of surfing and give an update on my reading progress. Play along with me! Leave your own links, or a link to your own post, in the comments!

So, where have I been this week? Check it out (only the best for you my readers):


Links:

• Feeling a little Twilight withdrawal coming on? The New York Public Library offers a list of books to read while waiting for the next tome to be published. Oh, and speaking of YA lit, check out Random Buzz, by Random House, for ARCs and other info.
• Books from Finland, a literary journal about--I'm assuming--books from Finland, launched online. There's not much content up yet, but it might be worth keeping in mind for all those international reading challenges.
• The 2009 Indie Choice Book Awards finals list is out. I know there's a few on there that I've read and several more I've been wanting to get to.
  
• What rules or guidelines do you follow when writing a book review? John Updike gave 5, and I think it's a good list.
• On a completely unrelated note--I'm loving these March wallpapers, which incorporate a calendar. Now if there were only enough days left to use them all...
  

Currently Reading:

• Perfume: The Story of a Murderer by Patrick Suskind (I have no idea where the plot is going--there doesn't seem to be one at this point in the book--but the writing is SO good!)
• Tender Graces by Kathryn Magendie
• A Dirty Job by Christopher Moore
• Hearts and Minds by Rosy Thornton
  

I was on Spring Break this week and home from university, so I got a lot more reading in than I normally have time for, although still not as much as I had planned. Still, I published 10 posts in the last 9 days, which is quite an accomplishment for me! I think I prefer the pace of 2-3 posts a week better for the long haul though--I have a limited number of original thoughts to share, and would like to make them last as long as possible.

So where have you been this week? What are your reading? Let me know, leave me a comment!

Can you beat 25?

I saw this at Debbie's World the other day and decided to copy her idea. I thought about using the Guardian list before, but 1,000 books seemed a little extensive (and unfair to anyone who reads this in a feed), so we're going with the College Board's 101 Books College Bound Students Should Read. (I remember the nightmares about this list as graduation approached senior year--I was under the impression that everyone else I went to university with would have read the entire list. After a few English classes on campus, I felt better. I go to a "highly selective" school--but I've not met anyone yet who's run the list.)

The books I've read are highlighted red. If I just highlight the author, that means I've read something else by them, just not the book listed (That counts for something, right?):

Author	Title
–	Beowulf
Achebe, Chinua	Things Fall Apart
Agee, James	A Death in the Family
Austen, Jane	Pride and Prejudice
Baldwin, James	Go Tell It on the Mountain
Beckett, Samuel	Waiting for Godot
Bellow, Saul	The Adventures of Augie March
Bronte, Charlotte	Jane Eyre
Bronte, Emily	Wuthering Heights
Camus, Albert	The Stranger
Cather, Willa	Death Comes for the Archbishop
Cervantes, Miguel de	Don Quixote
Chaucer, Geoffrey	The Canterbury Tales
Chekhov, Anton	The Cherry Orchard
Chopin, Kate	The Awakening
Conrad, Joseph	Heart of Darkness
Cooper, James Fenimore	The Last of the Mohicans
Crane, Stephen	The Red Badge of Courage
Dante	Inferno
Defoe, Daniel	Robinson Crusoe
Dickens, Charles	A Tale of Two Cities
Dostoyevsky, Fyodor	Crime and Punishment
Douglass, Frederick	Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass
Dreiser, Theodore	An American Tragedy
Dumas, Alexandre	The Three Musketeers
Eliot, George	The Mill on the Floss
Ellison, Ralph	Invisible Man
Emerson, Ralph Waldo	Selected Essays
Faulkner, William	As I Lay Dying
Faulkner, William	The Sound and the Fury
Fielding, Henry	Tom Jones
Fitzgerald, F. Scott	The Great Gatsby
Flaubert, Gustave	Madame Bovary
Ford, Ford Madox	The Good Soldier
Goethe, Johann Wolfgang von	Faust
Golding, William	Lord of the Flies
Hardy, Thomas	Tess of the d’Urbervilles
Hawthorne, Nathaniel	The Scarlet Letter
Heller, Joseph	Catch 22
Hemingway, Ernest	A Farewell to Arms
Homer	The Iliad
Homer	The Odyssey
Hugo, Victor	The Hunchback of Notre Dame
Hurston, Zora Neale	Their Eyes Were Watching God
Huxley, Aldous	Brave New World
Ibsen, Henrik	A Doll’s House
James, Henry	The Portrait of a Lady
James, Henry	The Turn of the Screw
Joyce, James	A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man
Kafka, Franz	The Metamorphosis
Kingston, Maxine Hong	The Woman Warrior
Lee, Harper	To Kill a Mockingbird
Lewis, Sinclair	Babbitt
London, Jack	The Call of the Wild
Mann, Thomas	The Magic Mountain
Marquez, Gabriel Garcia	One Hundred Years of Solitude
Melville, Herman	Bartleby the Scrivener
Melville, Herman	Moby Dick
Miller, Arthur	The Crucible
Morrison, Toni	Beloved
O’Connor, Flannery	A Good Man is Hard to Find
O’Neill, Eugene	Long Day’s Journey into Night
Orwell, George	Animal Farm
Pasternak, Boris	Doctor Zhivago
Plath, Sylvia	The Bell Jar
Poe, Edgar Allen	Selected Tales
Proust, Marcel	Swann’s Way
Pynchon, Thomas	The Crying of Lot 49
Remarque, Erich Maria	All Quiet on the Western Front
Rostand, Edmond	Cyrano de Bergerac
Roth, Henry	Call It Sleep
Salinger, J.D.	The Catcher in the Rye
Shakespeare, William	Hamlet
Shakespeare, William	Macbeth
Shakespeare, William	A Midsummer Night’s Dream
Shakespeare, William	Romeo and Juliet
Shaw, George Bernard	Pygmalion
Shelley, Mary	Frankenstein
Silko, Leslie Marmon	Ceremony
Solzhenitsyn, Alexander	One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich
Sophocles	Antigone
Sophocles	Oedipus Rex
Steinbeck, John	The Grapes of Wrath
Stevenson, Robert Louis	Treasure Island
Stowe, Harriet Beecher	Uncle Tom’s Cabin
Swift, Jonathan	Gulliver’s Travels
Thackeray, William	Vanity Fair
Thoreau, Henry David	Walden
Tolstoy, Leo	War and Peace
Turgenev, Ivan	Fathers and Sons
Twain, Mark	The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
Voltaire	Candide
Vonnegut, Kurt Jr.	Slaughterhouse-Five
Walker, Alice	The Color Purple
Wharton, Edith	The House of Mirth
Welty, Eudora	Collected Stories
Whitman, Walt	Leaves of Grass
Wilde, Oscar	The Picture of Dorian Gray
Williams, Tennessee	The Glass Menagerie
Woolf, Virginia	To the Lighthouse
Wright, Richard	Native Son

So that makes 25, plus 5 authors I've read, but not the specific works listed. I wish it was a little higher, since I graduate college next year, but I'm actually satisfied with 25%. The Three Musketeers and Things Fall Apart are two of my most recent reads, within the last few months, and Beowulf is actually in my pile of books to read. I really enjoy classic lit when I have the time to sit down and savor it. What on the list have I really been missing out on? How many have you read?

If you do a post on this, let me know and I'll add your link here!

Check out Kitten's list, she puts me to shame with 44!


Correction: I originally had 26, but realized in looking over the list that I had Catch 22, which I have not read, confused with Fahrenheit 451, which I have. That lowers my total from 26 to 25.

By its cover

I saw this cover illustration and instantly wanted to read the book. It's so simple and elegant--now I'm going to have to go scrounge up a copy to read, or to frame...

Burnt Shadows by Kamila Shamsie

From amazon.com:

Sweeping in scope and mesmerizing in its evocation of time and place, Burnt Shadows is an epic narrative of disasters elided and confronted, loyalties offered and repaid, and loves rewarded and betrayed.

August 9, 1945, Nagasaki. Hiroko Tanaka steps out onto her veranda, taking in the view of the terraced slopes leading up to the sky. Wrapped in a kimono with three black cranes swooping across the back, she is twenty-one, in love with the man she is to marry, Konrad Weiss.

In a split second, the world turns white. In the next, it explodes with the sound of fire and the horror of realization. In the numbing aftermath of a bomb that obliterates everything she has known, all that remains are the bird-shaped burns on her back, an indelible reminder of the world she has lost.

In search of new beginnings, Hiroko travels to Delhi two years later. There she walks into the lives of Konrad’s half-sister, Elizabeth, her husband, James Burton, and their employee, Sajjad Ashraf, from whom she starts to learn Urdu. As the years unravel, new homes replace those left behind and old wars are seamlessly usurped by new conflicts. But the shadows of history - personal, political - are cast over the entwined worlds of the Burtons, Ashrafs, and Tanakas as they are transported from Pakistan to New York, and in the novel’s astonishing climax, to Afghanistan in the immediate wake of 9/11. The ties that have bound them together over decades and generations are tested to the extreme, with unforeseeable consequences.

If anyone's handing out review copies of this book, please send one my way! :)

Happy Reading!

Surfing Saturday 3.7.09

Welcome to Surfing Saturdays! Each Saturday morning, I'll list any links of interest I came across during the past week of surfing and give an update on my reading progress. Play along with me! Leave your own links, or a link to your own post, in the comments!

So, where have I been this week? Check it out (only the best for you my readers):


Links:

• Are you a free book fan? Check out Suvudu's Free Book Library, where you can download the first book in many of their popular series.
• Anxious to read those Kindle books on your iPhone? Amazon released the application earlier this week, although I for one don't understand how reading on that little screen could be very much fun. This reviewer agrees that a small glowing screen isn't her preferred reading method at the end of the day. (On a side note, I got to play with a Kindle for the first time this week, and not I've got the Kindlelust bad!)
• I saw this in the NYT this week, but here's the online version--in a great irony, google's plan to digitize all the world's libraries has hit a snag, and google must print ads in newspapers around the world (70 languages!) letting authors know that their books will be online unless they raise their hands and opt out of the program.
• Library Thing's early reviewers March list is up. If haven't tried this "get free books" tactic, give it a shot!
• If you haven't seen The "Blog" of "Unnecessary" Quotation Marks yet, you should visit. I know I'm not the only one with punctuation pet peeves, but the sarcastic captions are what make me laugh every time a new post shows up in my google reader! See a few of my favorites below:
  

Currently Reading:

• Zig-zagging by Tom Wilson (I've got about 50 pages left, but you'll have to wait till the book tour for a review!)
• Perfume: The Story of a Murderer by Patrick Suskind (I have no idea where the plot is going--there doesn't seem to be one at this point in the book--but the writing is SO good!)
• Tender Graces by Kathryn Magendie
  
• Girls in Trucks by Kaite Crouch
  
• Gilgamesh translated by Stephen Mitchell (This is on the back burner, but one of these days, I'm going to finish it)

I'm on Spring Break this week! I plan to read and send out more internship applications. (If you or anyone you know is looking for an intern to read the slush pile or fetch coffee, please send me an e-mail!) I will be doing absolutely NO HOMEWORK, once I finish writing the last 10 pages for my Non-fiction writing class, due on Monday. So, I guess that means almost no homework.

So where have you been this week? What are your reading? Let me know, leave me a comment!

How addicted to blogging are you?

62%How Addicted to Blogging Are You?
I'm not sure whether this is a good thing or a bad thing. I wish I had more time to blog, but school and work have been keeping me pretty busy. I head to Minneapolis this weekend for a journalism conference and the following weekend I interview with the media board for editor of Detours (our campus magazine).

I have a few books read that I haven't had a chance to talk about yet, and honestly I'm a little stumped for good ideas. So here's my list, and if you'd like to know anything about any one of the books, just let me know and I'll see if I can work it into my review!















Slow Hands by Leslie Kelly -- romance/erotica
Changing Places by David Lodge -- humor, British style
The Marriage of Heaven and Hell by William Blake -- classic philosophical text

TV Meme!

So, this is obviously a little off the topic of books... but I saw this at Amy's blog and couldn't resist playing along!

1. Name a TV show series in which you have seen every episode at least twice: Friends, the early seasons of Grey's Anatomy
2. Name a show you can’t miss: Gossip Girl
3. Name an actor that would make you more inclined to watch a show: Ed Westwick (of Gossip Girl -- he's just so utterly one-of-a-kind evil)
4. Name an actor who would make you less likely to watch a show: I can't think of anyone in particular...
5. Name a show you can, and do, quote from: Friends
6. Name a show you like that no one else enjoys: Kyle XY on ABC Family -- my roommate makes fun of me, but I can't help watching!
7. Name a TV show which you’ve been known to sing the theme song: Friends, Gilligan's Island, Zorro, 7th Heaven, Psych, Gilmore Girls, Smallville (I'm a sing-along kind of gal, but a lot of shows don't have theme songs anymore)
8. Name a show you would recommend everyone to watch: Mad Men, Numb3rs, Psych, Friends
9. Name a TV series you own: Friends... anyone else sensing a pattern in my answers?
10. Name an actor who launched his/her entertainment career in another medium, but has surprised you with his/her acting choices in television: Umm... I don't think I understand the question.
11. What is your favorite episode of your favorite series? "The One Where Ross Finds Out"--Friends
12. Name a show you keep meaning to watch, but you just haven’t gotten around to yet: Not really...although I just started watching Bones
13. Ever quit watching a show because it was so bad? I'm a sucker for continuing to watch shows after they've past their prime
14. Name a show that’s made you cry multiple times: I'm don't really cry at TV shows
15. What do you eat when you watch TV? Dinner or chips
16. How often do you watch TV? I never watch anything live anymore--thank God for streaming internet video, so it depends on how busy my schedule is
17. What’s the last TV show you watched? Grey's Anatomy, I just went back and watched a ton of episodes from the first and second seasons, to remind myself why I liked this show in the first place.
18. What’s your favourite/preferred genre of TV? Drama
19. What was the first TV show you were obsessed with? Maybe Sabrina the Teenage Witch? It was on the TGIF lineup for a long time, along with Boy Meets World.
20. What TV show do you wish you never watched? Private Practice
21. What’s the weirdest show you enjoyed? Kyle XY
22. What TV show scared you the most? I don't do scary TV, or scary movies, or scary books for that matter.
23. What is the funniest TV show you have ever watched? Friends, of course!


Want to play along? Just answer these questions on your blog and leave me a comment so I can come check out your answers!

Surfing Saturdays 02.14.09

Welcome to Surfing Saturdays! Each Saturday morning, I'll list any links of interest I came across during the past week of surfing and give an update on my reading progress. Play along with me! Leave your own links, or a link to your own post, in the comments!

So, where have I been this week? Check it out (only the best for you my readers):


Links:

• Banned books in Miami -- an appellate court upheld the banning of a book with a positive view of Castro-ruled Cuba. Should the case go to the Supreme Court?
• Not a poet? Not a problem, pay someone to be creative for you!
  
• Everyone has heard by now about Kindle 2, so I won't link you to another announcement post. But if you want to read a smart discussion of where the digital book industry is going and how the amazon/google debate will play out. (Think HD DVD and BluRay.)
• If you like book covers, check out this list of 30 books worth buying for the cover alone from Abebooks.
  

Currently Reading:

• Gilgamesh translated by Stephen Mitchell (Need to get back to this one)
  
• Changing Places by David Lodge (Also enjoying)
  
• Writing True by Sondra Perl and Mimi Schwartz (class text)
• Zig-zagging by Tom Wilson (this is for a book tour at the end of March, but I couldn't resist starting it.)

So where have you been this week? What are your reading? Let me know, leave me a comment!

Surfing Saturdays 02.07.09

Welcome to Surfing Saturdays! Each Saturday morning, I'll list any links of interest I came across during the past week of surfing and give an update on my reading progress. Play along with me! Leave your own links, or a link to your own post, in the comments!

So, where have I been this week? Check it out (only the best for you my readers):


Links:

• Are you a stickler when it comes to grammar? If so, I'd avoid this article about Britain's egregious violation of punctuation rules. And here's a defense of editorial standards to balance out the discussion.
  
• A mash-up version of the bestsellers' list with more info on the books--very handy for lazy people like me.
  
• This one had me rolling on the floor laughing--President Obama with a potty mouth! (It's from his the audio version of his book, and, in his defense, it's an impression of his friend, Ray) And if you're not up for the cursing, but still want a laugh, check out this clean, but still hilarious clip entitled Blam!
  

Currently Reading:

• Signed, Mata Hari by Yannick Murphy (I'm loving this)
  
• Gilgamesh translated by Stephen Mitchell (Need to get back to this one)
  
• Changing Places by David Lodge (Also enjoying)
  
• One Writer's Beginnings by Eudora Welty (class text)
  
• Writing True by Sondra Perl and Mimi Schwartz (class text)

So where have you been this week? What are your reading? Let me know, leave me a comment!

Surfing Saturdays 1.31.09

Welcome to Surfing Saturdays! Each Saturday morning, I'll list any links of interest I came across during the past week of surfing and give an update on my reading progress. Play along with me! Leave your own links, or a link to your own post, in the comments!

So, where have I been this week? Check it out (only the best for you my readers):


Links:

• Need a good belly laugh? Check out this paperback. Published in 2003, the author was SO WRONG that it looks like the book has become a collector's item--when I visited the site, the lowest price for a used copy was over $100. The title? The Bush Boom: How a Misunderestimated President Fixed a Broken Economy by Jerry Bowyer.
• So if that last one didn't do it for you, check out this news article from Japan: The toilet thinktank plans to post poems in public restrooms under the phrase "Give love to the toilet," to reduce the amount of toilet paper people use.
  
• Libraries can be exciting places, full of romance and adventure. Of course, normally the excitement is contained within the covers of a book. This Denver woman must have missed Library Use and Purposes 101.
  
  

Currently Reading:

• Signed, Mata Hari by Yannick Murphy (I'm loving this)
  
• Gilgamesh translated by Stephen Mitchell (Need to get back to this one)
  
• Changing Places by David Lodge (Also enjoying)
  
• One Writer's Beginnings by Eudora Welty (class text)
  
• Writing True by Sondra Perl and Mimi Schwartz (class text)

I haven't had much time for reading this week, or really much at all since I've come back to school. It's been an eventful few weeks at the paper with a we've got a looming budget crisis--oops, just kidding--oops, no we weren't sort of back and forth from the state and the University.

I think I've got too much on my plate, with classes, and the new assistant news editor job, plus trying to keep up with my other jobs at the station and Detours (magazine). They're all part-time get-experience sort of jobs, but the hours really add up. Deadlines for internship applications are also creeping up on me--and I desperately need to get these right. It's my junior year, which means this summer is the last one I have before I graduate and I have to find a real job. Scary.

So where have you been this week? What are your reading? Let me know, leave me a comment!

A Meme and a Few More Awards...

I've been tagged by Rebecca, at Lost in Books!

Here are the rules:
Link to the person who has tagged you.
Write down six things that make you happy.
Post the rules, tag six others and let them know you did it.
Then tell the person when your entry is complete!





My 6 things (in no particular order):

1. Classic old movies: An Affair to Remember, Fiddler on the Roof, Breakfast at Tiffany's, When Harry Met Sally, Gone with the Wind...
2. Front page bylines at the Index, despite the fact that that often means headache-inducing tutorials on state budget cuts, scholarship allotments, and fee vs. tuition increases...
3. Fresh-brewed coffee, chocolate-dipped biscotti, a good book, and a commitment-free afternoon...
   
4. 4-day weeks: I currently have classes Monday through Thursday, but have yet to take advantage of that fact and sleep in. But just knowing that at some point in the future, when the summer edition of the magazine is at the printer's and I've sent in all my internship applications, and there's no news events to cover, I can sleep in and then spend the afternoon with my coffee and biscotti, makes me feel warm and fuzzy inside...
5. Blogging, especially when I get comments that say, "Yes, exactly" after I've struggled over how to explain the style or tone of a book, and of course when I win free books!
   
6. A hot shower after that tough workout at the gym...aah!

Rebecca also named me for these three awards:

This one was also given to me by Carrie at Books and Movies.

Thanks for all the beautiful awards, but I think I'm going to lay off on tagging this time--I hate picking! As far as the meme goes, if you want to do it, just leave me a comment and I'll add you to this post!

Happy reading everyone!

Surfing Saturdays 1.24.09

Welcome to Surfing Saturdays! Each Saturday morning, I'll list any links of interest I came across during the past week of surfing and give an update on my reading progress. Play along with me! Leave your own links, or a link to your own post, in the comments!

So, where have I been this week? Check it out (only the best for you my readers):


Links:

• If you watched the Inauguration, on Tuesday, you might have noticed that Obama and Roberts didn't get the oath quite right. Here's why it (apparently) matters.
  
• And while we're talking about the inauguration, what did you think of that poem? I'm no expert, so I'll let someone else call it history's worst. I'll simply say... not my cup of tea. Of course, Amazon sales figures indicate that not everyone agrees with me.
  
• Looking for a book? Check out Open Library. I used it this week to finish The Three Musketeers when I couldn't find a copy at the University library. The book was actually scanned in to a neat little application so that it was like looking at a book and turning pages, which I liked. (Look for a review of Dumas' classic this weekend!)
  
• If you haven't yet, enter my giveaways, I'll draw winners next week! And be on the lookout for my next giveaway. I'm really excited about this one!
  

Currently Reading:

• Signed, Mata Hari by Yannick Murphy
• Gilgamesh translated by Stephen Mitchell
  
• Changing Places by David Lodge
• One Writer's Beginnings by Eudora Welty

Quit Reading:

• Shadow of the Silk Road by Colin Thubron

Finished Reading:

• The Three Musketeers by Alexandre Dumas
  

So where have you been this week? What are your reading? Let me know, leave me a comment!

Library Loot 1.21.09

Here's the Library Loot I've got checked out this week:

I've heard such good things about Sara Gruen's Water for Elephants and I can't wait to read it.

I started Yannick Murphy's Signed, Mata Hari during dinner one night and the writing is already pulling me in. If we finish putting the paper together before 1 AM tonight (it's not looking good right now), I'm sitting down and getting at least halfway through this one.

This is actually a collection of three David Lodge books, the first of which is Changing Places. I picked up this book and started reading it while waiting for a reserve text I needed to do my homework to be returned at the University Library. I don't know that I'll get through all three, but at the least the first book in the collection I plan on reading. He has a mild British-style humor that's entertaining without being overwhelming.



Speaking of University these are books I've managed to check out instead of buy for my classes this semester:

I love Pride and Prejudice as much as the next English major with a Brit Lit concentration, but honestly, everyone's read it, why are we studying it again?

Writing True is the core text for my Nonfiction Writing class and the little bit I've glanced at it, it seems like a resource I may end up buying in the end.

Another text for my Nonfiction writing class, this memoir by Eudora Welty is interesting, if slow, reading.


And a few actual textbooks that came on loan for other libraries (I love being a student!):

For Media Law, in case you didn't know the difference between civil and criminal cases; apparently the don't expect us to have had any government classes.

This one and the one below are for my Geography class, something I sorely needed to take. I embarrased myself royally the first day when I had to ask whether Puerto Rico was part of the Carribean or not, and then placed Nova Scotia off the coast of Australia on the "what do you already know?" exam (I really did know that one!)

So that's my haul. Check other lists here and here.

Happy reading!

Surfing Saturdays 1.17.09

Welcome to Surfing Saturdays! Each Saturday morning, I'll list any links of interest I came across during the past week of surfing and give an update on my reading progress. Play along with me! You can add your own post to Mr. Linky or simply list your finds in the comment section!

So, where have I been this week? Check it out (only the best for you my readers):


Links:

• The Linguists, a film about two professors racing around the globe to record languages that are quickly becoming extinct, was shown at the Sundance Film Festival last year and will be premiering on PBS in late February, according to Language Log.
  
• Check out the longlist for Best Translated Book of 2008. The shortlist will be announced in just over a week, on January 27, and a winner will be selected in February.
  
• If you haven't yet, don't forget to enter my giveaways for the Time Traveler's Wife and Sundays at Tiffany's!
  

Currently Reading:

• The White Tiger by Aravind Adiga
• Shadow of the Silk Road by Colin Thubron
• Gilgamesh translated by Stephen Mitchell
• One Writer's Beginnings by Eudora Welty (class text)
  
• Writing True by Sondra Perl and Mimi Schwartz (class text)
  
• The Three Musketeers by Alexandre Dumas (audiobook)
  

This week, I started back at university, and haven't had as much time to read my books as I did when I was languishing about my parent's house over Winter Break, but as soon as I figure out my schedule between school and work and free time, I'll be back to reading blogs and writing reviews!

So where have you been this week? What are your reading?

WHEN POSTING WITH MR LINKY, LINK DIRECTLY TO THE PAGE WHERE YOU LIST YOUR LINKS, NOT YOUR HOMEPAGE! THIS WILL MAKE IT EASIER ON EVERYONE WHO WANTS TO READ THEM!

Addendum: it looks as though Mr Linky is down, so post your links in the comments this week!

Surfing Saturdays 1.10.09

Welcome to Surfing Saturdays! Each Saturday morning, I'll list any links of interest I came across during the past week of surfing and give an update on my reading progress. Play along with me! You can add your own post to Mr. Linky or simply list your finds in the comment section!

So, where have I been this week? Check it out:

• The wonderful people over at The Millions have organized a year's worth of New Yorker fiction into a single post with short summaries and links to the full text. I don't even want to think about how long that took!
• Spiderman comes to Obama's rescue in an upcoming comic book release.
• The American Dialect Society voted for bailout as 2008's Word of the Year. Big surprise there.
  
• If you haven't yet, don't forget to enter my giveaways for The Time Traveler's Wife and Sundays at Tiffany's. Winners will be chosen January 31.
  

I don't have quite as many books as I would like at my disposal right now because I'm preparing to drive back to school on Sunday and had to return the books I had checked out--but no worries, I already have books (including my textbooks, believe it or not) on reserve and waiting for me at the University Library when I get there tomorrow!

Currently Reading:

• Gilgamesh by Stephen Mitchell (my own copy, a Christmas present)
  
• Shadow of the Silk Road by Colin Thubron (I returned the local library's copy, but luckily the university library has a copy waiting for me)
  

Finished Reading:

• American Wife by Curtis Sittenfeld -- look for a review today or tomorrow!
  

So where have you been this week? What are your reading? Anyone else on their way back to school or work this weekend?

WHEN USING MR LINKY, BE SURE TO LINK DIRECTLY TO YOUR POST, AND NOT TO YOUR MAIN PAGE!

My First Butterfly Award!

Jo-Jo gave me a Butterfly Award, my first award here in the blogosphere! (very exciting!) And since this is a meme award, I get to pass it on, which I am even more excited about because it gives me the perfect opportunity to fawn over a few of the blogs that I have come to enjoy so much!

I'm sure many of you, if not all of you, have received this award from other bloggers, (your blogs are all so awesome, I would be surprised if you hadn't) but since this award has been going around and I don't remember who all has received it, I will be fawning indiscriminately!


I hereby crown as Butterfly Awardees:

• Becky at A Book A Week -- I stumbled upon Becky's blog while trying to figure out what was going on at the end of Amy Bloom's Away (the phrasing, in my mind, was somewhat ambiguous). I enjoyed her reviews so much that I was inspired to try writing one myself, and so Literary Menagerie was born. Becky, if it were not for you, I would have sent out resumes this December, instead learning about the wonderful world of blogging!
• Trish at Hey Lady! Whatcha Readin'? -- Hilarious posts, great reviews, helpful advice, and a cute blog to boot! Trish's blog is always at the top of my reading list.
  
• J. Kaye at J. Kaye's Book Blog -- I have a sneaking suspicion that J. Kaye is Superwoman, or at the very least, doesn't actually sleep! On top of writing wonderful book reviews, she's hosting at least twice as many challenges as I'm participating in!
• Alessandra at Out of the Blue -- I love Alessandra's reviews because they not only give you a good feeling for the book, but are also easy to read and entertaining. The fact that Italian is her native language only makes this fact so much more impressive! (And the fact that after 5 years of Spanish classes I can barely communicate pleasantries, very depressing in comparison!)
• C.B. at Ready When You Are, C.B. -- His dog Dakota picks the giveaway winners! How can you compete with that?
• Serena at Savy Verse & Wit -- Wonderful reviews, great giveaways, beautiful site--my blog would have been so jealous of your blog in high school!
• Teresa and Jenny at Shelf Love -- I'm almost afraid to visit Shelf Love anymore, every time I go my TBR list gets longer! They choose books to read that I've never heard of and make 1100 page tomes sound like must reads. Shelf Love has the best taste I've come across so far.

I have enjoyed so many blogs, but these are the ones that have impressed me the most, and sucked up the majority of my time, over the last month or so I've been blogging--you guys are amazing! If you haven't already shared the love, pass it along, and as always, Happy Reading!

Here are the rules:
1. Put the logo on your blog.
2. Add a link to the person who awarded it to you.
3. Award up to ten other blogs.
4. Add links to the blogs you award onto your blog.
5. Leave a message for your awardees on their blogs.

UPDATE: The mission of Weekly Geeks this week was to point out our favorite blogs, so instead of creating a new post, this is now also a Weekly Geeks post. Go ahead, admire my resourcefulness.

I Know You're There!

I have been informed that this week is National De-Lurking Week, so in the spirit of the celebration, I'm inviting you (yes, you!) to stop lurking and leave a comment! (And don't think that just because you're reading this on a feed I'm not talking to you!)

Just say hello, introduce yourself, recite a limerick, quote a celebrity, share a secret, or I suppose you could answer the prompt (although that's the more boring of your choices):

What are you currently reading and are you enjoying it? (Feel free to make something up--if you want to pretend you're reading Finnegan's Wake, that's fine, so long as you STOP THAT LURKING and join the conversation!)

Library Loot 1.08.09

Here's the Library Loot I've got checked out right now:

A Separate Peace by John Knowles--been meaning to read this one since high school, hopefully I'll get to it this time around.

American Wife by Curtis Sittenfeld--currently reading and enjoying

Shadow of the Silk Road by Colin Thubron -- currently reading, slowly. I like Thubron's writing style, but it's taking me some time to wade through it.

Sherlock Holmes was Wrong by Pierre Bayard -- A wonderful book, see my review.

The Keep by Jennifer Egan -- Very original, read my review.

A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini -- Another wonderful read, see my review.

Dispatches from the Edge by Anderson Cooper -- I didn't get very far into this one, but my mother picked it up and seems to be enjoying it.

Check out other library hauls at Out of the Blue and A Striped Armchair.

Happy Reading Everyone!

The Bookshelf Meme

Alessandra tagged me for this bookshelf meme, originally started by Eva at A Striped Armchair. Before I can start answering the questions, however, I have a possibly shocking revelation to make: I have no bookshelves! My parents moved last year and all my books ended up in boxes and closets. Some have yet to be found. So, I'll be stretching the definition of bookshelf more toward "book storage facility," if that's all right with you all.

Now on to the meme:

The Rules
1. Tag 3-5 people, so the fun keeps going!
2. Leave a comment at the original post at A Striped Armchair, so that Eva can collect everyone’s answers.
3. If you leave a comment and link back to Eva as the meme’s creator, she will enter you in a book giveaway contest! She has a whole shelf devoted to giveaway books that you’ll be able to choose from, or a bookmooch point if you prefer.
4. Remember that this is all about enjoying books as physical objects, so feel free to describe the exact book you’re talking about, down to that warping from being dropped in the bath water…
5. Make the meme more fun with visuals! Covers of the specific edition you’re talking about, photos of your bookshelves, etc.

And now tell me about...

The book that’s been on your shelves the longest:
A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court by Mark Twain-- the first "adult" book I read (I was 9, and it took me forever, but I was so proud when I finished). Anything older than that went to my sister or other homes long ago.

I actually rescued this one from a box in the basement and am taking it back to school to read again. It looks to be one of the books my mother picked up used in college. There's an inscription inside to someone I don't know and the latest copyright date listed on the publisher's page is 1917. If the book had a jacket once, it's long gone, and the book is coming out of its binding and frayed at the corners. I'm looking forward to reading it--there's something nostalgic, almost ethereal, about old, used books that a newer edition simply can't compete with.

a book that reminds you of something specific in your life (a person, a place, a time, etc.):
Mimesis: The Representation of Reality in Western Literature by Erich Auerbach, supposedly the pinnacle of modern Western criticism, it reminds me of the first time I felt really, really ignorant. Try reading it, and you'll see what I mean (Unless, of course, you write and read in several languages and have read everything of importance from the Bible and Homer on through the 1900s, in which case, I'm not sure I like you anymore.)

A book you acquired in some interesting way (gift, serendipity in a used bookstore, prize, etc.):
In all honesty, I don't have any interesting acquisitions to share. :(

A book that’s been with you to the most places:
My copy of Pride and Prejudice is one of the few books I keep hauling back and forth to school--I don't read it, but it's comforting knowing that it's there if I want to.

The most recent addition to your shelves:
Christmas presents!
I received The Time Traveler's Wife, Life of Pi, Gilgamesh, and Beowulf--oh the wonders of an amazon.com wishlist!

A bonus book that you want to talk about but doesn’t fit into the other questions:
I don't think I have an answer for this one either, sorry! :(

I apologize for not having a more interesting set of bookshelves; I don't buy many books (poor college student that I am) and, as I said, I would have no where to put them if I did!

Now on to the tagging! As always, feel free to ignore a tag if you have already done this meme (it's been around longer than I have), don't do memes, are behind on memes or in general etc. On the flip side, feel free to jump in!

I'll tag:
A Reader's Respite, because Michele posted recently about the difficulty in finding original content (well, it might not be original but it is content)
Book Spot, because they are my newest followers.

Oh, and in case this meme has reminded you how little shelf space you have left:




Happy Reading!

What's the Story Wishbone? -- Shakespeare Meme

C.B. tagged me to participate in this nifty Shakespeare meme, and I'm passing it along to:

J. Kaye at J. Kaye's Book Blog
Luanne at A Bookworm's World
Alyce at At Home With Books
Kaye at Pudgy Penguin Perusals
Trish at Hey Lady! Whatcha Readin'?

Feel free to ignore the tag if you have already done this meme, or don't do memes, or are behind on memes... On the flip side, if I didn't tag you and you want to participate go for it! When you post, leave a link back to your answers in the comments!

Now that that's taken care of, let's get on to the fun part...

1. What was your first introduction to William Shakespeare? Was it love or hate?

I don't know how many of you watched Wishbone on PBS, but I was a 90's kid and I grew up with the cute little terrier who thought he was Rip Van Winkle, Ivanhoe, Oliver Twist, and of course, Romeo. Wishbone got me started reading many of the classics and gave me my first taste of Shakespeare.

My first introduction to real Shakespeare (i.e. none of the characters were being played by a spotted dog) was in middle school. The Shenandoah Shakespeare company performed at a nearby university and I went with one of my classes to see Macbeth. They performed with minimal costumes and almost no set. They also didn't turn down the house lights, explaining that Shakespeare's plays were lit by the sun and the theater would never have been dark. Their motto was "We do it with the lights on" (and yes, we all bought the t-shirts). That was when I really began to enjoy Shakespeare and appreciate how beautifully written his works are.

For all those who missed out on the magic of Wishbone... and if you do know the song, feel free to sing along, I did!



2. Which Shakespeare plays have you been required to read?

• In middle school we read A Midsummer Night's Dream and acted out an abridged version of the Tempest.
• In high school I remember reading Romeo and Juliet, Hamlet and Macbeth. I also saw the drama group's production of As You Like It.
• In college I took a class on Shakespeare's comedies where we read The Taming of the Shrew, The Two Gentlemen of Verona, The Comedy of Errors, The Merchant of Venice, Twelfth Night, All's Well that Ends Well and The Winter's Tale

3. Do you think Shakespeare is important? Do you feel you are a “better” person for having read the bard?

I don't think I'm "better" for having read Shakespeare. I really don't like reading Shakespeare, and don't get much out of it. Now seeing Shakespeare is a different story. I think everyone should see at least one of the comedies and one of the tragedies performed by a good acting troupe.

4.Do you have a favorite Shakespeare play?

I have a hard time choosing between Hamlet and Macbeth, probably because I've seen good performances of both.

5. How do you feel about contemporary takes on Shakespeare? Adaptations of Shakespeare's works with a more modern feel? (For example, the new line of Manga Shakespeare graphic novels, or novels like Something Rotten, Something Wicked, Enter Three Witches, Ophelia, etc.) Do you have a favorite you'd recommend?

I recommend Wishbone's Rosie Oh! Rosie Oh! (Romeo and Juliet) If anyone finds a link to it please let me know! I also really enjoyed Shakespeare in Love (another Romeo and Juliet-esque story). You could even count the Lion King in the list, as it seems to be loosely based on Hamlet! I don't think Shakespeare is sacred, not by a long shot. If an adaptation means a new generation will enjoy Shakespeare's works, then have at it!

"Will Shakespeare is having a bad year..." (Shakespeare in Love trailer)



6. What's your favorite movie version of a Shakespeare play?

I really enjoyed Mel Gibson as Hamlet. Here, Hamlet meets his father's ghost, who tells Hamlet his uncle is a murder:



Sorry to include so many video links, but this sort of meme just naturally turns up so much good material! So what's your take on the famous bard? Leave a comment and let me know!
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Surfing Saturdays 1.3.09

I have decided to institute a weekly post for this blog: Surfing Saturdays. (If someone is already doing something like this, please let me know. I don't want anyone mad at me for inadvertently stealing their idea.) I'll simply list any links of interest I came across during the past week of surfing and give an update on my reading progress. Play along with me! Leave your own links, or a link to your own post, in the comments!

So, where have I been this week? Check it out (only the best for you my readers):

Links:

• A new study shows that too much thinking can make you fat.
• Check out this hot new releases calendar for 2009.
• Sexually confused? Plug your URL into the Gender Analyzer and find out whether your blog is written by a man or a woman or check out my stats.
• The plus side of the economic recession: libraries across the country are getting more patrons! On the down side libraries are looking at budget cuts just like everyone else. Read the excellent article from the San Francisco Chronicle or (CAUTION: SHAMELESS SELF-PROMOTION AHEAD) check out my less impressive article (I've been freelancing during my Winter Break).
• Can't get enough of my reviews? Don't have an indie bookstore to turn to for great recommendations? Check out the Indie Next List, where Indie booksellers offer their advice online, or see my original post about Independent Bookstores: Indies vs Amazon.
  
• If you haven't yet, don't forget to enter my giveaway for The Time Traveler's Wife.
  

Currently Reading:

• Shadow of the Silk Road by Colin Thubron--so far so good, this is my first attempt at travel literature
  
• Gilgamesh translated by Stephen Mitchell--actually, I just finished the introductory material. The actual poem doesn't start until pg 69
  

Quit Reading:

• Dispatches from the Edge by Anderson Cooper -- about 5 pages in I remember I don't really like memoirs. Although I did learn that Anderson's mother is none other than Gloria Vanderbilt! Well worth 5 pages of reading.
  

So where have you been this week? What are your reading?
Let me know, leave me a comment!
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