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Now We Are Five
David Sedaris wrote a touching article in The New Yorker about his first family vacation after his youngest sister committed suicide last spring. I’ve still only read one of his books, but the few columns I’ve read of his have convinced me that I need to read more. “Why do you think she did it?” I asked as we stepped back into the sunlight. For that’s all any of us were thinking, had been thinking since we got the news. Mustn’t Tiffany have hoped that whatever pills she’d taken wouldn’t be strong enough, and that her failed attempt would lead her back into our fold? How could anyone purposefully leave…
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Gulp: Adventures on the Alimentary Canal
Gulp: Adventures on the Alimentary Canal by Mary Roach Published: 2013 Narrated by: Emily Woo Zeller I loved Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers when I read it last year, so I was quite excited to pick this up. It’s all to do with the digestive system and the research that goes into understanding it and treating its problems. It’s a topic that must have a lot of bizarre stories, which is what Mary Roach likes to dig up. As someone with Crohn’s disease, I figured this would be right up my alley. They even mentioned it in the blurb! I wanted to love this, but I found a…
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In Memoriam
My father passed away a week and a half ago. I don’t normally go into anything too personal here, but in a way he’s very relevant to this weblog. I’ve never met someone who read as much as he did. It was what he loved to do, more than anything else. He would always have a book or an e-reader with him. I like to think I read quite a bit, especially when I’m really enjoying a novel, but he kept up the pace constantly for his entire life. He’s the only person I’ve ever seen read in a casino. He could read fast too. He’d often recommend a series…
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Old Man’s War
Old Man’s War by John Scalzi Published: 2005 Oh, right! I have a weblog… Sorry for my absence. Life’s been a bit much lately, and I’ve mainly been hiding under my bed, but I’d like to get back into this now. I read Old Man’s War nearly a month and a half ago, and I can’t believe it’s taken me this long to get to it. I’m a naughty blogger. My dad hounded me for ages to read this, but it just wasn’t high on my priorities. I read Redshirts last year, and it didn’t leave me wanting more of his writing, but I’m glad I decided to give him…
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The Book Thief Trailer
I didn’t even know they were making a movie based on The Book Thief, which I read this time last year, but this was released a few days ago: I was really digging the trailer until the 90s voiceover started, but it does really look promising. It seems they’ve dropped Death as the narrator, which is a shame as that really added a lot to the story in my opinion, but I can see that being tricky to film. And who knows, maybe he there but just wasn’t featured in the trailer. Geoffrey Rush as Hans is a terrific choice, I think.
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Mother Night
Mother Night by Kurt Vonnegut Published: 1961 My fourth Vonnegut, and I’m more in love with his writing with each one. This is the fictional autobiography of Howard W. Campbell, who is being held in an Israeli jail for crimes against humanity. He was born in America and moved to Germany as a adolescent. As Hitler began gaining power, he stayed in the country and worked as a playwright, but as the war drew near he was approached by an American spy to work undercover for them. He worked on the radio, sending coded messages out under the cover of Nazi propaganda. Unfortunately, he was maybe too good at his…
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The Ocean at the End of the Lane
The Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman Published: 2013 Narrated by: Neil Gaiman A man returns to his childhood home after attending a funeral and finds himself drawn to the neighbouring home of a little girl he once knew but had forgotten. Memories start flooding back, and he remembers himself as a young boy stumbling across a tragic scene, one that allowed the unworldly access to our world. I don’t think I was in the right frame of mind for this novel. I love Neil Gaiman and have read everything by him, except for most of his comics (and his Duran Duran biography obviously), but something…
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Housekeeping vs. The Dirt
Housekeeping vs. the Dirt by Nick Hornby Published: 2006 Nick Hornby’s thoughts on his monthly reading and book buying habits continue with this second collection of his Believer column. I still wasn’t entirely sure what the Believer was, so I just hopped over to their website and had a quick look. I’m very pleased to announce that it’s not a Christian magazine, as I had briefly suspected. They describe the magazine as follows: The Believer is a monthly magazine where length is no object. There are book reviews that are not necessarily timely, and that are very often very long. There are interviews that are also very long. We will…
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The Unwritten, Vol. 5: On to Genesis
The Unwritten, Vol. 5: On to Genesis by Mike Carey Illustrated By: Peter Gross Published: 2012 Publisher: Vertigo Collects: issues #25 – #30 Finally got around to the next trade of my favourite comic – The Unwritten. For those who are unfamiliar, here’s my standard introduction: Imagine if J.K. Rowling based Harry Potter after her son of the same name and then disappeared before the last book had been finished, and her son then grew into his 20s as a bitter Harry Potter Con regular living off his fame as a muse. That’s essentially how this series began – Wilson Tayler based his incredibly popular series on his son Tom…
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Terra Trailer
I don’t really like the recent trend of book trailers. I’m not against them, but they just don’t do anything for me. Mitch Benn has released a trailer for his upcoming debut novel Terra, but instead of a blurb and a dull animation, he’s had several comedians, actors, and writers read the first chapter. What a great way of publicising your novel and getting people to actually listen. This is the sort of trailer I could get behind. I’ll be keeping an eye out for the novel, as well. [via]