Books – Page 29 – commonplacebook.com

Weekend Update 2004-01-26

Post author:HFM
Post published:January 26, 2004
Post category:Books Books I've Read House and Home Journal Television

I finished sanding the edges of the floor in the living room, and did the full-scale cleanup of sawdust required. I hoped that I’d have enough time to start staining the floors, but that was overly ambitious. The edger sander was really hard to control — I was exhausted when I finished Saturday, and today I have stiff sore muscles all over my body. But the floor looks great. I’m hoping to put a coat of stain on the floor tonight. If I can come up with a strategy for keeping the cats out of the room while it’s drying.

Other than that, I didn’t do much. I’ve been trying to read the Ramayana, but I haven’t got very far. It’s not boring, but it’s very complex with lots of characters, places, geography that all sound somewhat alike, so you have to pay attention or you get lost easily. It’s a book that requires an uninterrupted Saturday, not one that you can pick up for an hour or two and put down again. And lately the only free time I’ve had to read is an hour or two at a time snatched from here and there around the other things I’ve been doing. It’s frustrating, because I miss being able to sit down and get completely mesmerized by a book.

I caught an interesting show on BBC America called “Life Laundry.” It’s a home improvement type show similar to HGTV’s “Clean Sweep” where they tackle helping people with severe clutter problems get organized. What’s better about the BBC show is that they take everything out of the house and put it on the lawn. Then the homeowners go through every scrap of paper, every object, and try to justify why they need to take it back in the house. Everything discarded goes in the “car boot” (garage) sale, or gets donated to charity. Or if it’s just trash, it goes into a giant green mechanical bin called “The Crusher” that smashes everything to bits. Which is fun. I wish I had one.

The interesting part of the show is watching the homeowners going through their stuff — because in almost every episode they nearly have a nervous breakdown at the idea of parting with their things. And the host holds their hand and counsels them on why the object has such importance to them. In most cases, whatever caused the breakdown was an object that had some attachment to an emotional event in their lives; like one woman who had never gotten over her divorce 7 years before. When she finally let go of stuff from her marriage — boy did she have a ball throwing stuff out.

Then when they take back the items that they really need back into the house, the show redoes their interior to make the rooms organized and beautiful. I like this show a lot. It made me mentally go through all my stuff and ask myself why I keep some of the things I do.

Northanger Abbey, not Mansfield Park

Post author:HFM
Post published:January 22, 2004
Post category:Books

I’m confusing my Austen novels. It was Catherine and Henry that had the conversation about hyacinths, not Fanny and Edmund. Sad when that happens. Now I have to go back and read them again.
“But now you love a hyacinth. So much the better. You have gained a new source of enjoyment, and it is well to have as many holds upon happiness as possible. Besides, a taste for flowers is always desirable in your sex, as a means of getting you out of doors, and tempting you to more frequent exercise than you would otherwise take. And though the love of a hyacinth may be rather domestic, who can tell, the sentiment once raised, but you may in time come to love a rose?”
I love Jane.

Weekend Update 2004-01-06

Post author:HFM
Post published:January 6, 2004
Post category:Books Books I've Read House and Home Journal Movies

Over the long New Years weekend, my friend Cate, who was in from Germany, came over and we went to Dan and Doug’s New Years party (photos soon!) along with Kathy and had a good time. Cate and I went to the Catholic supply store downtown and got religious medals (I know, I know, I was just saying below that I’m not a fan of the Catholic church. I still like the saints, though. They never did anything to me.) and went to the 62nd Street antique mall. It was great to see Cate again, and I hope it’s not two years before I see her again. I’m hoping to visit my sister in England, though, and if so, maybe Cate and I can hang out in London.

I went to see House of Sand and Fog with Melissa. Deeply depressing. If you see this, do it on a bright sunny day, not a dark gloomy one like we did.
And I did more painting in my living room. I also read ALOT. I finished Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides, and read Angels and Demons, by Dan Brown, the guy who wrote the DaVinci Code.

Middlesex was excellent. Angels and Demons was good, but not off the charts good. If you liked the DaVinci Code, you’ll enjoy this. I had it figured out well before the end, though, and it basically followed the same formula the other: Langdon as hero, girl as intrepid side-kick, a race against time to solve a puzzle, with an anonymous, unknown bad guy who turns out to be someone familiar to you in a wild twist at the end of the book. The appeal for me is the idea of clues to mysteries hidden in plain sight, amongst objects you see every day, with a scavenger hunt like puzzle attached. And I love the idea of secret societies, unusual iconography, etc.

Books I Read in 2003 (34 Titles)

Post author:HFM
Post published:December 31, 2003
Post category:Books I've Read

Fiction

American Gods
Author: Neil Gaiman

Between Girlfriends
Author: Elizabeth Dean

Charity Girl
Author: Georgette Heyer

The DaVinci Code
Author: Dan Brown

The Friendly Persuasion
Author: Jessamyn West

Jeeves In the Morning
Author: P.G. Wodehouse

Johnny Tremain
Author: Esther Forbes

Just Like Beauty
Author: Lisa Lerner

Life of Pi: A Novel
Yann Martel; Hardcover

McSweeney’s Mammoth Treasury of Thrilling Tales
Author: Edited by Michael Chabon

Neverwhere
Author: Neil Gaiman

Postern of Fate
Author: Agatha Christie

Revolutionary Girl Utena: To Plant
Author: Chiho Saito, Be-Papas

The Secret Life of Bees
Author: Sue Monk Kidd

Summerland
Author: Michael Chabon

Non – Fiction

100 Simple Secrets of Great Relationships
Author: David Niven, Ph.D.

ASPCA’s Complete Guide to Cats
Author: James R. Richards

Cascading Style Sheets: The Definitive Guide
Author: Eric A. Meyer

The Complete Guide to Personal and Home Safety
Author: Captain Robert L. Snow

Dear Friends: American Portraits of Men Together, 1840-1918
Author: David Dietcher

Designing with Web Standards
Author: Jeffrey Zeldman

The Dollhouse Murders: A Forensic Expert Investigates 6 Little Crimes
Author: Thomas Mauriello

Dr. Atkins’ New Diet Revolution
Author: Dr. Atkins

Ghosts In The Bedroom: A Guide for Partners of Incest Survivors
Author: Ken Graber

The Great Big Book of Tomorrow
Author: tom tomorrow

Indiana Curiosities: Quirky Characters, Roadside Oddities, and Other Offbeat Stuff
by Dick Wolfsie

Lies and the Lying Liars Who Tell Them: A Fair and Balanced Look At The Right
Author: Al Franken

Living History
Author: Hillary Clinton

Living Rooms
Author: Diane Dorrans Saeks

Outgrowing the Pain: A Book For and About Adults Abused As Children
Author: Eliana Gil

Portrait of a Killer: Jack the Ripper Case Closed
Author: Patricia Cornwell

Slayer Slang: A Buffy The Vampire Slayer Lexicon
Author: Michael Adams, Jane Espenson

They Went Whistling: Women Wayfarers, Warriors, Runaways, and Renegades
Author: Barbara Holland

What Liberal Media? The Truth About Bias and the News
Author: Eric Alterman

Village Voice: Our 25 Favorite Books of 2003

Post author:HFM
Post published:December 28, 2003
Post category:Reading Lists

The Village Voice

Actress in the House

By Joseph McElroy

OVER

OK, 432 PP., $26.95

Buy this book

It begins with a stage-slap, witnessed by a man named Daley, then spirals into cul-de-sacs of memory, ruminations on love and aging, ever returning to the linear narrative–the coupling of the actress and the man–before setting out again. Imbued with the peripatetic rhythms of consciousness, Actress‘s dazzling syntax configures language as the tension between repression and discovery, coaxed forward by McElroy’s tantalizingly patient hand.

Newbery Medal Winners

Post author:HFM
Post published:December 28, 2003
Post category:Reading Lists

The Newbery Medal was named for eighteenth-century British bookseller John Newbery. It is awarded annually by the Association for Library Service to Children, a division of the American Library Association, to the author of the most distinguished contribution to American literature for children.

2005 — Kira-Kira by Cynthia Kadohata

2004 — The Tale of Despereaux: Being the Story of a Mouse, a Princess, Some Soup, and a Spool of Thread by Kate DiCamillo, illustrated by Timothy Basil Ering.

2003 — Crispin: The Cross of Lead by Avi
Hardcover

2002 — A Single Shard by Linda Sue Park
Hardcover |
Paperback |
Large Print |
Audio Cassette

2001 — A Year Down Yonder by Richard Peck
Hardcover |
Paperback |
Large Print |
Audio Cassette

2000 — Bud, Not Buddy by Christopher Paul Curtis
Hardcover |
Paperback |
Large Print |
Audio Cassette |
Microsoft e-book

1999 — Holes by Louis Sachar
Hardcover |
Paperback |
Large Print |
Audio Cassette |
Audio CD

1998 — Out of the Dust by Karen Hesse
Hardcover |
Paperback |
Audio Cassette

1997 — The View from Saturday by E. L. Konigsburg
Hardcover |
Paperback |
Audio Cassette

1996 — The Midwife’s Apprentice by Karen Cushman
Hardcover |
Paperback |
Audio Cassette

1995 — Walk Two Moons by Sharon Creech
Hardcover |
Paperback |
Large Print |
Audio Cassette

1994 — The Giver by Lois Lowry
Hardcover |
Paperback |
Audio Cassette |
Audio CD

1993 — Missing May by Cynthia Rylant
Hardcover |
Paperback |
Audio Cassette

1992 — Shilohby Phyllis Reynolds Naylor
Hardcover |
Paperback |
Large Print |
DVD |
VHS

1991 — Maniac Magee by Jerry Spinelli
Hardcover |
Paperback |
Audio Cassette

1990 — Number the Stars by Lois Lowry
Hardcover |
Paperback |
Large Print

1989 — Joyful Noise: Poems for Two Voices by Paul Fleischman
Hardcover |
Paperback

1988 — Lincoln: A Photobiography by Russell Freedman
Hardcover |
Paperback

1987 — The Whipping Boy by Sid Fleischman
Hardcover |
Paperback

1985 — The Hero and the Crown by Robin McKinley
Hardcover |
Paperback

1984 — Dear Mr. Henshaw by Beverly Cleary
Hardcover |
Paperback

1982 — A Visit to William Blake’s Inn: Poems for Innocent and Experienced Travelers by Nancy Willard
Hardcover |
Paperback

1981 — Jacob Have I Loved by Katherine Paterson
Hardcover |
Paperback |
Audio Cassette |
Lesson Plans on CD

1980 — A Gathering of Days: A New England Girl’s Journal, 1830-1832 by Joan W. Blos
Hardcover |
Paperback

1979 — The Westing Game by Ellen Raskin
Hardcover |
Paperback

1978 — Bridge to Terabithia by Katherine Paterson
Hardcover |
Paperback |
Audio Cassette |
Lesson Plans on CD

1977 — Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry by Mildred D. Taylor
Hardcover |
Paperback |
Audio Cassette |
Lesson Plans on CD

1976 — The Grey King by Susan Cooper
Hardcover |
Paperback |
Audio Cassette |
Microsoft e-book |
Adobe e-book

1975 — M. C. Higgins, the Great by Virginia Hamilton
Hardcover |
Paperback |
Microsoft e-book |
Adobe e-book

1974 — The Slave Dancer by Paula Fox
Hardcover |
Paperback |
Audio Cassette |
Lesson Plans on CD |
Study Guides

1973 — Julie of the Wolves by Jean Craighead George

1972 — Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of Nimh by Robert C. O’Brien

1971 — Summer of the Swans by Betsy Byars

1970 — Sounder by William H. Armstrong

1969 — The High King by Lloyd Alexander

1968 — From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler by E. L. Konigsburg
Hardcover |
Paperback |
Audio Cassette

1967 — Up a Road Slowly by Irene Hunt
Out of Print

1966 — I, Juan de Pareja by Elizabeth Borton de Trevino
Hardcover |
Paperback |
Audio Cassette

1965 — Shadow of a Bull by Maia Wojciechowska
Hardcover |
Paperback |
Audio Cassette

1964 — It’s Like This, Cat by Emily Neville
Hardcover |
Paperback |
Audio Cassette

1963 — A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L’Engle
Hardcover |
Paperback

1962 — The Bronze Bow by Elizabeth George Speare
Hardcover |
Paperback |
Audio Cassette

1961 — Island of the Blue Dolphins by Scott O’Dell
Hardcover |
Paperback |
Audio Cassette

1960 — Onion John by Joseph Krumgold
Hardcover |
Paperback |
Audio Cassette

1959 — The Witch of Blackbird Pond by Elizabeth George Speare
Hardcover |
Paperback |
Audio Cassette

1958 — Rifles for Watie by Harold Keith
Hardcover |
Paperback

1957 — Miracles on Maple Hill by Virginia Sorenson
Hardcover |
Paperback |
Audio Cassette

1956 — Carry On, Mr. Bowditch by Jean Lee Latham
Hardcover |
Paperback

1955 — The Wheel on The School by Meindert DeJong
Hardcover |
Paperback; illustrated by Maurice Sendak

1954 — And Now Miguel by Joseph Krumgold
Hardcover |
Paperback

1953 — Secret of the Andes by Ann Nolan Clark
Hardcover |
Paperback

1952 — Ginger Pye by Eleanor Estes
Hardcover |
Paperback

1951 — Amos Fortune, Free Man by Elizabeth Yates
Hardcover |
Paperback

1950 — The Door in the Wall by Marguerite de Angeli
Hardcover |
Paperback |
Audio Cassette

1949 — King of the Wind by Marguerite Henry
Hardcover |
Paperback |
Audio Cassette

1948 — The Twenty-One Balloons by William Pène du Bois
Hardcover |
Paperback

1947 — Miss Hickory by Carolyn Sherwin Bailey
Hardcover |
Paperback

1946 — Strawberry Girl by Lois Lenski
Hardcover |
Paperback

1945 — Rabbit Hill by Robert Lawson
Hardcover |
Paperback

1944 — Johnny Tremain by Esther Forbes
Hardcover |
Paperback |
Audio Cassette |
Audio CD

1943 — Adam of the Road by Elizabeth Janet Gray
Hardcover |
Paperback

1942 — The Matchlock Gun by Walter Edmonds
Hardcover |
Paperback

1941 — Call It Courage by Armstrong Sperry
Hardcover |
Paperback |
Audio Cassette

1940 — Daniel Boone by James Daugherty
Out of Print

1939 — Thimble Summer by Elizabeth Enright
Hardcover |
Paperback |
Audio Cassette

1938 — The White Stag by Kate Seredy
Paperback

1937 — Roller Skates by Ruth Sawyer
Hardcover |
Paperback

1936 — Caddie Woodlawn by Carol Ryrie Brink
Hardcover |
Paperback

1935 — Dobry by Monica Shannon
Out of Print

1934 — Invincible Louisa: The Story of the Author of Little Women by Cornelia Meigs
Hardcover |
Paperback

1933 — Young Fu of the Upper Yangtze by Elizabeth Lewis
Hardcover |
Paperback

1932 — Waterless Mountain by Laura Adams Armer
Out of Print

1931 — The Cat Who Went to Heaven by Elizabeth Coatsworth
Hardcover |
Paperback

1930 — Hitty, Her First Hundred Years by Rachel Field
Hardcover |
Paperback

1929 — The Trumpeter of Krakow by Eric P. Kelly
Hardcover |
Paperback

1928 — Gay Neck, the Story of a Pigeon by Dhan Gopal Mukerji
Hardcover

1927 — Smoky, the Cowhorse by Will James
Hardcover |
Paperback

1926 — Shen of the Sea by Arthur Bowie Chrisman
Hardcover

1925 — Tales from Silver Lands by Charles Finger
Out of Print

1924 — The Dark Frigate by Charles Hawes
Hardcover |
Paperback |
Audio Cassette

1922 — The Story of Mankind by Hendrik Willem van Loon
Hardcover |
Paperback

New Favorite Quote

Post author:HFM
Post published:December 10, 2003
Post category:Favorite Quotes Television

Again from the Television Without Pity recap of Carnivale, this time from the season finale:

“Libby crosses the carnival to find Sofie hanging out by a tent, and they both kick off their date by lighting cigarettes. Flick…ahh. Then they stare deep into each other’s eyes and kiss. I think it’s kind of sad that I’m watching this on TV, and it’s still the best date I’ve ever been on.”

Narnia Movie

Post author:HFM
Post published:December 3, 2003
Post category:Books Books I've Read Movies

Narnia Unicorn They’re doing a film version of the Chronicles of Narnia.

That’s so cool. I loved these books when I was a kid, and I bought the boxed set a few years back and re-read them. The film version is being done by Peter Jackson, the producer of the Lord of the Rings, and will use some of the same production and design people, which is so fitting, because Narnia’s creator, C. S. Lewis was a lifelong friend of J. R. R. Tolkien.

2022-03-13 Update:
I saw this movie later and wasn’t especially impressed by it. It seemed to hit hard on the Christian themes, which ruined it for me.

Neil Gaiman

Post author:HFM
Post published:November 5, 2003
Post category:Books

I read my first Neil Gaiman book, Neverwhere, the other day, and I’m hopelessly addicted and can’t believe I never read any of his work before. I was really delighted to discover a link on Wil Wheaton’s blog, which I read every day, to Neil Gaiman’s blog, which I will be reading every day as well. Clever man.
Neverwhere is a science fiction book about London and has as part of it’s setting the London Tube… which is why Neil links on his site to a map of the tube stations illustrating stops that are close to one another.

Mad Tea Party

Post author:HFM
Post published:October 30, 2003
Post category:Books

From Alice in Wonderland:

The Hatter opened his eyes very wide on hearing this; but all he said was, “Why is a raven like a writing-desk?”
“Come, we shall have some fun now!” thought Alice. “I’m glad they’ve begun asking riddles.–I believe I can guess that,” she added aloud.
“Do you mean that you think you can find out the answer to it?” said the March Hare.
“Exactly so,” said Alice.
“Then you should say what you mean,” the March Hare went on.
“I do,” Alice hastily replied; “at least–at least I mean what I say–that’s the same thing, you know.”
“Not the same thing a bit!” said the Hatter. “You might just as well say that ‘I see what I eat’ is the same thing as ‘I eat what I see’!”
“You might just as well say,” added the March Hare, “that ‘I like what I get’ is the same thing as ‘I get what I like’!”
“You might just as well say,” added the Dormouse, who seemed to be talking in his sleep, “that ‘I breathe when I sleep” is the same thing as ‘I sleep when I breathe’!”
“It is the same thing with you,” said the Hatter, and here the conversation dropped, and the party sat silent for a minute, while Alice thought over all she could remember about ravens and writing-desks, which wasn’t much.