hodgman lives!

so this one will be of special interest to ray...and maybe someone else out there that reads my blog.

i got a hold of the upcoming penguin catalog, and found the following entry:

MORE INFORMATION THAN YOU REQUIRE
(October, Humor/Reference)

MORE INFORMATION THAN YOUR REQUIRE picks up exactly where John Hodgman’s previous book left off—down to the continuation of the page numbers—and consists of brief articles, overlong lists, frighteningly complex charts, and beguiling narratives on such new and familiar themes as the past, the future, cryptogeography, sword canes, and the mole men.

John Hodgman is the author of THE AREAS OF MY EXPERTISE. He has written for the New York Times Magazine and Men’s Journal. He is the “resident expert” on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart and has been seen in the nationally televised Mac ads as “PC”.

gods behaving badly

i found out about this book by marie phillips in one of the reviews in entertainment weekly. the cover caught my attention (i love it! the color is great) and then the brief synopsis drew me in. i knew i would be spending some of my xmas money on this hardcover (though i tend to be a paperback girl).

now, i've read a few not-so-favorable reviews of the book, mainly on amazon, that made me a little worried (that stuff always worries me, especially when i'll be spending a fair amount on a book). more than once i shelled out the cash for a title that, well how should i put it, should have only been library book material. those are always a disappointment, and usually end up on half.com.

but i digress. i enjoy phillips' story-telling technique, and it probably helps that i'm a big fan of mythology. her characters are clever, the story is engaging, and we have two mortals that are a nice blend of sweet and "normal." not gorgeous or popular or trendy. and that is awesome.

i highly suggest this book...though i have to say an early sex scene (well-written) was a little of a "whoa." not because i'm unfamiliar with sex scenes in the book...but because it's between a specific god and goddess, who are technically aunt and nephew. there's a little bit of an eww factor there but at the same time, anyone who has studied mythology knows that's how they rocked back then. in egyptian mythology osirus and isis are siblings and husband and wife. that's what happens when you don't have a lot of partners to choose from.

so, who can't love a book where aphrodite is a phone sex operator and dionysus is a night club owning dj? i've already suggested the book to my professor friend to teach in her classical literature class (she likes throwing in modern adaptations to shake up her students' trees from time to time).

so on a scale of 1-5, i give it a solid 4. good book, good fun.

october `08 will be a good month

so i was just looking through my catalog of knopf fall 2008 titles, and at the very end i saw something very exciting:

breakdown: portrait of the artist as a young %@&*! by art spigelman

all right, maybe it's really exciting for just me, but i really loved maus I and maus II.

while some people may find it very hard to read these graphic novels, i found it to be completely necessary for me (aside from the research i was doing for a graduate paper). were they tough to read and look at some times? yes. do i shun other people who don't want to have that experience? no.

having read them, i learned things about the holocaust i was not aware of, things that disgusted me, as well as things that opened my eyes. i highly recommend them to anyone interested.


but i digress...spigelman is a great artist and now he is putting out an autobiography via the confines of a graphic novel. this fascinates me.

it's here!

no, i'm not dead...i've just been *busy*. nevertheless, here is a video podcast from the talented mr. ray of tmabb fame. go to his site. read his webcomic. enjoy the humor.buy the book!

in other news...i have been reading up a storm and plan on posting some book reviews one of these decades...maybe 2020.

until then.

cool book. seriously

pissed off

read this: jane dies

umm...so when were they going to tell me? i mean, maybe i need to go back read the letter from the editor, but i've received nothing in the mail about this...and i'm still due some issues.

the thing that really pisses me off is that i really enjoy the magazine. i like the mix of content, and its overall style. hell, i wanted to work there.



this makes me sad.

shamless plug...because i can

go out and support my illustrating boyfriend galore. maybe if enough support is rallied, i'll actually get back to blogging about books.



in other notes, i just laid the foundation of a shelfari page for my company...it's not hard work getting the books in there, but adding content/rating the books/joining discussions will take some time and dedication. dear publishing god, send me a little intern to sculpt and warp as my own.

what else what else? i can't think of much...it'll be nice once i'm settled into my new apartment, because that means i can unearth all those ARCs i scored from the BEA and start reading. FINALLY!

the journey has come to an end

***do not read this if you have not finished the seventh harry potter book. if you are foolish enough to read this post despite this disclaimer, and you find out things you didn't want to know, then it's your own goddamn fault.***


i have finished harry potter and the deathly hallows.


i am also sobbing.


i already know that there are some that will read my second sentence and their upper lip will curl in a sneer...who cries over a kids' book?


i do. i cry for the end of a long journey...for a story of love and family, courage and honor. i cry in relief that j.k. rowling realized that she had to let good triumph over evil.

but it was not an easy thing...characters i have liked, and even loved, were casualties. flaws were exposed. trials and tribulations were wrought.


but it all made for a great story...in book 7, as well as the preceeding books 1-6.


but i cry for another reason. an unexpected story turned children's lit legacy has come to an end. harry, ron, hermione, fred and george, luna, and the rest of rowling's cast of characters can be thanked for increasing reading amongst children and young adults, as well as a number of other quality books. but who will bear the torch now? what other talented writers will provide children with stories, stories that will teach the love of reading, growing it into a life-long love affair.

for me, those books were the chronicles of narnia, which my mother read to me when i was 5. yet again, another magical journey, where good versus evil drove the plot line. i don't care that c.s lewis was a hardcore christian, or that christian allegory can be found throughout the chronicles. they are good stories that have stood the test of time, and i can point to them as the seedling of my reading habit.

for children today, it will be harry potter. but what about children 10 years down the road? or 20?



i digress...



it has come to an end. i now know what happened to harry, and that at least is uplifting. a bit different from what my mother suggested, but nonetheless. his character has served us well, and perhaps it is a good thing that the books found their closure. in fact, it is a good thing.



i am not ashamed of my tears. it is the sign of a good story if it moves you to great emotion.

brillance

some days i seriously feel like flinging off the 40-hour work week chock full of stress and do this...

from page to screen

so last friday, the ominous 13th, i saw harry potter and the order of the phoenix on the IMAX at KoP. it was entertaining, despite the concern of sitting behind 19 children and their parents, but once the movie started they hushed.

the IMAX experience was interesting (i haven't seen anything on an IMAX in years), but the 3D battle in the ministry of magic was well...all right. like, seeing it on a regular screen would have been perfectly fine by me. plus the main complaint in my group of friends was that the glasses fit funny and the whole experience was a little distracting.

but no biggie. we'll just see it again and make emma watson and daniel radcliffe a little richer (ha, who am i kidding? i meant we'll see it again and make warner bros a little richer!).

so. the movie. i was a little bummed about what they left out (don't worry, i won't spoil it for anyone who hasn't seen it yet), but then i had to remind myself this: the book is over 800 pages long. the movie is just over 2 hours, and it's the shortest movie of them all (whereas the book is the longest). was stuff left out? yes. were some details changed, most likely to make things more affordable for the production of the film? yes. however the most important question is this: does the movie still tell a good story?


yes.


my initial problem was that i had finished reading the book for a second time a day before we went to see it, so things were very fresh in my mind. that, and i'm a purist. the class i took in grad school on film adaptations of literature nearly killed me, in the sense that i would get all huffy when stuff was drastically changed or left out. i'm getting better though.

so all in all, it was a fun way to spend a friday night after work. but...i can tell you one thing: you are going to find the complete harry potter book series on my shelf before you find the complete dvd series...not just because the last book comes out this saturday, but because in the end, the books are the stories that i really enjoy.