Wednesday, March 26, 2003
Last Friday's Five was sort of literary, so I am posting it here:
1. If you had the chance to meet someone you've never met, from the past or present, who would it be?
Mark Twain and his cats
2. If you had to live in a different century, past or future, which would it be?
19th century
3. If you had to move anywhere else on Earth, where would it be?
Britain
4. If you had to be a fictional character, who would it be?
Tom Sawyer
5. If you had to live with having someone else's face as your own for the rest of your life, whose would it be?
Wouldn't want anyone else's face
1. If you had the chance to meet someone you've never met, from the past or present, who would it be?
Mark Twain and his cats
2. If you had to live in a different century, past or future, which would it be?
19th century
3. If you had to move anywhere else on Earth, where would it be?
Britain
4. If you had to be a fictional character, who would it be?
Tom Sawyer
5. If you had to live with having someone else's face as your own for the rest of your life, whose would it be?
Wouldn't want anyone else's face
Got these links from the Southern Scribe describing Southern writers and Southerners who read Southern writing:
Authors cover peculiarities of the South
Novelist delves into mystery of writing
Authors read from memoirs
Authors take on shopping, marketing
Author finds humor in writing
Author misses funny, familiar speech
Authors inspired by fears, Bible
Authors cover peculiarities of the South
Novelist delves into mystery of writing
Authors read from memoirs
Authors take on shopping, marketing
Author finds humor in writing
Author misses funny, familiar speech
Authors inspired by fears, Bible
Sunday, March 23, 2003
Saturday, March 22, 2003
The latest issue of January is now online.
One book that looks interesting is Ace in the Hole by Annie Proulx.
With such names as Tambourine Bapp, Ribeye Clute, and Global Pork Rind, it sounds very interesting and obscure.
Went to Half Price Book Store today. I bought 6 mysteries for Dave and two for myself: What We Keep by Elizabeth Berg and Winter Range by Claire Davis.
One book that looks interesting is Ace in the Hole by Annie Proulx.
With such names as Tambourine Bapp, Ribeye Clute, and Global Pork Rind, it sounds very interesting and obscure.
Went to Half Price Book Store today. I bought 6 mysteries for Dave and two for myself: What We Keep by Elizabeth Berg and Winter Range by Claire Davis.
Tuesday, March 18, 2003
Obscure Victorian Literature (a little pre-Victorian) - One of my favorites:
Michael Dirda is beginning a new monthly series at The Washington Post. He will read a book of 19th century British or Irish literature that he has never read before, but has been meaning to. This month's book is Pelham by Edward Bulwer-Lytton.
. . . the first-person account of its seemingly effete, even epicene hero, as he makes his way through life, paying court to society ladies, hobnobbing with aristocrats, gamblers and thieves, entering politics and eventually solving the mystery behind the odd behavior of his friend Reginald Glanville.
Should be very interesting.
Michael Dirda is beginning a new monthly series at The Washington Post. He will read a book of 19th century British or Irish literature that he has never read before, but has been meaning to. This month's book is Pelham by Edward Bulwer-Lytton.
. . . the first-person account of its seemingly effete, even epicene hero, as he makes his way through life, paying court to society ladies, hobnobbing with aristocrats, gamblers and thieves, entering politics and eventually solving the mystery behind the odd behavior of his friend Reginald Glanville.
Should be very interesting.
Second Chance by James Patterson
I never thought James Patterson could write in a woman's voice, but he done so with Second Chance and succeeded. Second Chance is the second book in his series, Women's Murder Club. There is a big difference between this series and the Alex Cross series. But with Patterson's mastery of writing entitiles it to be another great series in its right.
Lindsay Boxer is back, albeit somewhat bitter and disillusioned, but with the onset of what looks to be a new serial murder spree, she is ready, along with the rest of her cohorts, to find out who is murdering African Americans with contacts to her own police department.
The chapters are short but pithy, each leaving you with a desire to read the next, and the next, and so on.
It is a great book for Mr. Patterson, and I am looking forward to the next one in this series.
I never thought James Patterson could write in a woman's voice, but he done so with Second Chance and succeeded. Second Chance is the second book in his series, Women's Murder Club. There is a big difference between this series and the Alex Cross series. But with Patterson's mastery of writing entitiles it to be another great series in its right.
Lindsay Boxer is back, albeit somewhat bitter and disillusioned, but with the onset of what looks to be a new serial murder spree, she is ready, along with the rest of her cohorts, to find out who is murdering African Americans with contacts to her own police department.
The chapters are short but pithy, each leaving you with a desire to read the next, and the next, and so on.
It is a great book for Mr. Patterson, and I am looking forward to the next one in this series.
I think I will avoid this book:
Flak Magazine: The Worst Book Ever, 11-16-00
Purple prose at its finest(?):
Standing there, erect, masculine, masterful in his black war wizard outfit, he looked as if he could be posing for a statue of who he was: the Seeker of Truth, rightfully named by Zeddicus Zu'l Zorander, the First Wizard himself — and Richard's grandfather. It had nearly broken Zedd's heart to do so, because Seekers so often died young and violently.
Flak Magazine: The Worst Book Ever, 11-16-00
Purple prose at its finest(?):
Standing there, erect, masculine, masterful in his black war wizard outfit, he looked as if he could be posing for a statue of who he was: the Seeker of Truth, rightfully named by Zeddicus Zu'l Zorander, the First Wizard himself — and Richard's grandfather. It had nearly broken Zedd's heart to do so, because Seekers so often died young and violently.
Monday, March 17, 2003
Top Paperback Books on the New York Times List
1 BODY OF LIES, by Iris Johansen. (Bantam, $7.50.) A United States senator summons the forensic sculptor Eve Duncan to Baton Rouge, La., for the purpose of identifying the remains of a murder victim.
2 DREAMCATCHER, by Stephen King. (Pocket Books, $7.99.) In the Maine woods, four hunters encounter a disoriented stranger and an otherworldly creature.
3 THE SUMMONS, by John Grisham. (Dell, $7.99.) A law professor who has been called home to Mississippi by his father, a dying judge, discovers more than $3 million in cash in the old man's study.
4 PORTRAIT IN DEATH, by J. D. Robb. (Berkley, $7.99.) Following a tip, Lt. Eve Dallas finds a body in a Dumpster on the Lower East Side.
5 THE COTTAGE, by Danielle Steel. (Dell, $7.99.) An aging, virtually penniless Hollywood star decides to rent out part of his house.
6 2ND CHANCE, by James Patterson with Andrew Gross. (Warner Vision, $7.99.) The members of the Women's Murder Club search for a killer.
7 CITY OF BONES, by Michael Connelly. (Warner Vision, $7.99.) The Los Angeles homicide detective Harry Bosch hunts for the killer of a 12-year-old boy.
8 THE HOURS, by Michael Cunningham. (Picador USA, $13.) The lives of two modern American women, coping with demands of family and friends, converge with the life and work of Virginia Woolf.
9 ATONEMENT, by Ian McEwan. (Anchor, $14.) A chronicle of the disintegration of an English family's idyllic life. First Chapter 2
10 THE SECRET LIFE OF BEES, by Sue Monk Kidd. (Penguin, $14.) In South Carolina in 1964, a teenage girl tries to discover the secret to her mother's past.
11 MRS. DALLOWAY, by Virginia Woolf. (Harvest/ Harcourt, $12.) The classic 1925 novel about a day in the life of Clarissa Dalloway.
12 ROBERT LUDLUM'S THE PARIS OPTION, by Robert Ludlum and Gayle Lynds. (St. Martin's, $7.99.) An American secret agent's investigation involves an explosion at the Pasteur Institute and a DNA computer.
13 TOM CLANCY'S NET FORCE: STATE OF WAR, created by Tom Clancy and Steve Pieczenik. Written by Steve Perry and Larry Segriff. (Berkley, $7.99.) In 2013, a dangerous mastermind threatens America.
14 SHOPAHOLIC TIES THE KNOT, by Sophie Kinsella. (Delta, $10.95.) A New York woman is torn between her mother's and her future mother-in-law's competing visions of what a wedding should be.
15 THE NO. 1 LADIES' DETECTIVE AGENCY, by Alexander McCall Smith. (Anchor, $11.95.) In Botswana, a woman looks for an 11-year-old boy who may have been kidnapped by witch doctors.
1 BODY OF LIES, by Iris Johansen. (Bantam, $7.50.) A United States senator summons the forensic sculptor Eve Duncan to Baton Rouge, La., for the purpose of identifying the remains of a murder victim.
2 DREAMCATCHER, by Stephen King. (Pocket Books, $7.99.) In the Maine woods, four hunters encounter a disoriented stranger and an otherworldly creature.
3 THE SUMMONS, by John Grisham. (Dell, $7.99.) A law professor who has been called home to Mississippi by his father, a dying judge, discovers more than $3 million in cash in the old man's study.
4 PORTRAIT IN DEATH, by J. D. Robb. (Berkley, $7.99.) Following a tip, Lt. Eve Dallas finds a body in a Dumpster on the Lower East Side.
5 THE COTTAGE, by Danielle Steel. (Dell, $7.99.) An aging, virtually penniless Hollywood star decides to rent out part of his house.
6 2ND CHANCE, by James Patterson with Andrew Gross. (Warner Vision, $7.99.) The members of the Women's Murder Club search for a killer.
7 CITY OF BONES, by Michael Connelly. (Warner Vision, $7.99.) The Los Angeles homicide detective Harry Bosch hunts for the killer of a 12-year-old boy.
8 THE HOURS, by Michael Cunningham. (Picador USA, $13.) The lives of two modern American women, coping with demands of family and friends, converge with the life and work of Virginia Woolf.
9 ATONEMENT, by Ian McEwan. (Anchor, $14.) A chronicle of the disintegration of an English family's idyllic life. First Chapter 2
10 THE SECRET LIFE OF BEES, by Sue Monk Kidd. (Penguin, $14.) In South Carolina in 1964, a teenage girl tries to discover the secret to her mother's past.
11 MRS. DALLOWAY, by Virginia Woolf. (Harvest/ Harcourt, $12.) The classic 1925 novel about a day in the life of Clarissa Dalloway.
12 ROBERT LUDLUM'S THE PARIS OPTION, by Robert Ludlum and Gayle Lynds. (St. Martin's, $7.99.) An American secret agent's investigation involves an explosion at the Pasteur Institute and a DNA computer.
13 TOM CLANCY'S NET FORCE: STATE OF WAR, created by Tom Clancy and Steve Pieczenik. Written by Steve Perry and Larry Segriff. (Berkley, $7.99.) In 2013, a dangerous mastermind threatens America.
14 SHOPAHOLIC TIES THE KNOT, by Sophie Kinsella. (Delta, $10.95.) A New York woman is torn between her mother's and her future mother-in-law's competing visions of what a wedding should be.
15 THE NO. 1 LADIES' DETECTIVE AGENCY, by Alexander McCall Smith. (Anchor, $11.95.) In Botswana, a woman looks for an 11-year-old boy who may have been kidnapped by witch doctors.
Thursday, March 13, 2003
What kind of poem are you?
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Wednesday, March 12, 2003
Friday, March 07, 2003
From the Associated Press:
NEW YORK, Feb. 27 -- Oprah's Book Club is back, and this time she's sticking to the classics. Winfrey revealed Wednesday night that she was bringing back her club after a 10-month hiatus. She said she had been reading works by William Shakespeare, William Faulkner and Ernest Hemingway and wanted to celebrate these and other writers from the past.
This will be very interesting - will her choices be like her choices from her former book club - the weepers?
NEW YORK, Feb. 27 -- Oprah's Book Club is back, and this time she's sticking to the classics. Winfrey revealed Wednesday night that she was bringing back her club after a 10-month hiatus. She said she had been reading works by William Shakespeare, William Faulkner and Ernest Hemingway and wanted to celebrate these and other writers from the past.
This will be very interesting - will her choices be like her choices from her former book club - the weepers?
One of Ed's favorite writers writes at a fast pace - has to - to keep up with Ed:
James Patterson Spins Tales at a Page-Turning Pace
By JILL BARTON
Keep em' coming -
James Patterson Spins Tales at a Page-Turning Pace
By JILL BARTON
Keep em' coming -
Yeah, right.
you are The Sound and The Fury by William Faulkner.
comfusing, complicated, but interesting after
you've been deciphered.
What Famous literary Work Are You?
brought to you by Quizilla
you are The Sound and The Fury by William Faulkner.
comfusing, complicated, but interesting after
you've been deciphered.
What Famous literary Work Are You?
brought to you by Quizilla
Tuesday, March 04, 2003
My Best Books of 2002 (a little late)
From the Book Group
Book Title | Book Synopsis |
The Magnificent Ambersonsby Booth Tarkington 
Paperback: 288 pages Publisher: Modern Library; ISBN: 0375752501 |
The Magnificent Ambersons chronicles the changing fortunes of three generations of an American dynasty. The protagonist of Booth Tarkington's great historical drama is George Amberson Minafer, the spoiled and arrogant grandson of the founder of the family's magnificence. Eclipsed by a new breed of developers, financiers, and manufacturers, this pampered scion begins his gradual descent from the midwestern aristocracy to the working class. |
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The Lord of the Ringsby J. R. R. Tolkien 
Hardcover: 1216 pages Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Co; ISBN: 0618260587 |
Saga of a group heroes who set forth to save their world from evil. A brotherhood of 'hobbits,' elves, dwarves, and people is formed to combat evil forces. Tolkien drew on his extensive knowledge of folklore and the classics to create the worlds and creatures described in the trilogy, which includes The Fellowship of the Ring, The Two Towers, and The Return of the King. |
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My Dog Skipby Willie Morris 
Paperback: 118 pages Publisher: Vintage Books; ISBN: 0679767223 |
The author offers an account of growing up in the rural South of the 1940s, sharing anecdotes about his extraordinary dog, Skip, and reflecting on the relationship between a young boy and his beloved pet. |
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Will Warburton: A Romance of Real Lifeby George Gissing Hardcover Publisher: AMS Press; ISBN: 0404028179 |
No synopsis. |
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A Dog's Lifeby Peter Mayle, Edward Koren (Illustrator) 
Paperback Publisher: Vintage Books; ISBN: 0679762671 |
The best-selling author of A Year in Provence chronicles the exploits of Boy, his clever canine companion, from the dog's perspective, from his humble beginnings to joining the Mayle household to his adventures throughout France. |
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From the Book Group
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