Monthly Archives: December 2010
2010 Wrap-up
It’s time to start wrapping up the year, now that I’ve made it to the very last day. Every year I like to write up my reading stats for the year, so here they are, first the total number and … Continue reading
Filed under Books
Miss Pym Disposes
One more review before I write some wrap-up posts about the year. I’ve owned a copy of Josephine Tey’s book Miss Pym Disposes for quite a while and finally got around to pulling it off the shelves. I very much … Continue reading
The Lost Art of Reading
I happened upon David Ulin’s book The Lost Art of Reading in the library last week and checked it out on a whim. It turns out that Stefanie has been reading the book as well, and she decided she liked … Continue reading
Filed under Books, Nonfiction
The Old Religion
I recently finished David Mamet’s novel The Old Religion, published in 1997. As you might expect if you know Mamet’s films, the novel is dark. It is a reimagining of the true story of Leo Frank, a factory owner who … Continue reading
Christmas books
I hope everyone is having a great weekend, whether you celebrate Christmas or not. I’ve had a wonderful time lazing around, reading, eating, and watching The Thin Man (lots of fun, and After the Thin Man is up next). I … Continue reading
Full Dark, No Stars
After seeing Stephen King a few weeks ago, Hobgoblin suggested that I read one of his books. This thought hadn’t occurred to me because horror is not my genre at all, but Hobgoblin and other people have assured me that … Continue reading
The TBR Challenge
Well, congrats to me on (mostly) finishing Emily’s TBR Challenge! The challenge was to read or attempt to read 20 books from your TBR pile and to post on each one. There was something about not buying new books in … Continue reading
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The Essay
One of the things I liked about Emily Fox Gordon’s Book of Days is simply that I feel that I’m a lot like her. I recognized myself in a lot of what she had to say. I liked Gordon’s passages … Continue reading
Book of Days
I happened upon Emily Fox Gordon’s Book of Days by chance at the library, and when I saw it contained a collection of personal essays, that it was introduced by Phillip Lopate, and that several of the essays were about … Continue reading
Filed under Books, Essays, Nonfiction
The Thin Man
My book group met today to discuss Dashiell Hammett’s The Thin Man. I just counted, and this is the twenty-fourth book we have discussed. I’m happy to say that our discussion was as much fun as they always are, and … Continue reading
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Finishing Gravity’s Rainbow
I’m not planning on writing a review of Thomas Pynchon’s Gravity’s Rainbow, which might drive me insane, but I did want to write a bit on the experience of reading it. I have two main responses to the book, one … Continue reading
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Skippy Dies
Lately I’ve been in a mood to read more contemporary fiction than I usually do (a mood that’s probably fleeting and influenced by people raving about new books on Twitter), and so I picked up Paul Murray’s Skippy Dies. I’m … Continue reading
Seeing Stephen King
There has been no end to the bookish expeditions around here lately. Our latest one was a big one: a trip to Portsmouth, New Hampshire, to see Stephen King. I heard about the one and only book signing he agreed … Continue reading
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