By a surprise attack from Barnes & Noble. One I never saw coming. Here’s how it went down: After donating blood yesterday, I decided to reward myself with a new book and a caramel macchiato. It wasn’t exactly a snap decision. I debated against it vigorously, pointing out a number of things I need more … Continue reading : ambushed :
Category: books
Anything relating to books and literature.
: book titles are misleading :
Don’t believe everything you read is such a common caveat it’s achieved cliché status. People do, though. They fall for preposterous claims regularly. How else can you explain paid programming and psychic hotlines and conspiracy theories? We are suckers. And publishers, for one, have our number. They grab our attention and, yoink, pick our pockets clean. … Continue reading : book titles are misleading :
: does this happen to you? :
Do inert, lifeless things accost you in public? Those sons of guns buttonhole me all the goddamn time and I’m getting tired of it. Yesterday a book jumped out at me in the library, stopping me dead in my tracks. A woman barreling along with a stroller ran right into me. Hard. These constant shenanigans have … Continue reading : does this happen to you? :
: a review of the review :
Sundays are opportunities for adventure. The perfect excuse to do whatever whenever: stay in pajamas, go for brunch, hide out at the movies, haunt bookstores, all of the above, none of the above. Your choice. Last Sunday, I spent part of the morning wandering aimlessly on the Internet, with no purpose or destination in mind. … Continue reading : a review of the review :
: hot off the presses :
Hot and freaking ginormous. City on Fire, the much-ballyhooed novel by Garth Risk Hallberg, is 944-pages long. A thumping doorstop. It contains 94 chapters, plus a prologue and a postscript. And it’s set to hit shelves (fingers crossed they’re buttressed) on October 13th. Comparisons are being made to Bonfire of the Vanities and Dickens and … Continue reading : hot off the presses :
: the promiscuous reader :
Don’t judge. There’s nothing wrong with wanton, indiscriminate reading. It’s absolutely proper and should be encouraged. Libraries do, they’re huge advocates of gratuitous reading. In this pursuit, they will eagerly, if not enthusiastically, aid and abet. They’re brothels for the mind, you know, there to satisfy our curious lust for knowledge. Left to our own … Continue reading : the promiscuous reader :
: now they’re waterproof :
Books are lovely, don’t you think? Delightful treasures we keep forever or, on occasion, write heartfelt dedications in and give as gifts. Those gifts become someone else’s treasure and the cycle continues. Books are important. But we’ve no regard for their frangibility. They’re not indestructible, you know. Books are paper and ink, some glue; they’re … Continue reading : now they’re waterproof :
: is it gold digging or grave robbing? :
Both, really. Publishing's been repurposed. Consider the case of Harper Lee, the adamantly reticent author of To Kill a Mockingbird. She’s 88 and in an assisted-living facility, mostly blind and deaf and in frail health. For decades, she refused to entertain the possibility of writing a second book. Flat out dismissed the notion. Right up … Continue reading : is it gold digging or grave robbing? :
the whirly girl 