Thursday, March 29, 2007
Giada De Laurentiis
The God of Animals
Aryn Kyle graduated from the University of Montana writing program. In 2004 her short story Foaling Season, now the first chapter of this novel, won a National Magazine Award for Fiction for The Atlantic Monthly. Kyle spent most of her childhood in Grand Junction, Colorado, and now lives in Missoula, Montana. (www.ereader.com)
From the Publisher
When her older sister runs away to marry a rodeo cowboy, Alice Winston is left to bear the brunt of her family's troubles -- a depressed, bedridden mother; a reticent, overworked father; and a run-down horse ranch. As the hottest summer in fifteen years unfolds and bills pile up, Alice is torn between dreams of escaping the loneliness of her duty-filled life and a longing to help her father mend their family and the ranch.
taken from: http://www.barnesandnoble.com
an excerpt from: http://www.ereader.com/
"My father was being kind when he said I didn't have the temperament for showing, because what he meant was that I didn't have the talent. I couldn't remember to smile and keep my heels down and my toes in and my elbows tight and my back straight all at the same time. When I focused on smiling, I dropped my reins, and when I thought about sitting up straight, my feet slipped out of the stirrups. My father said that he needed me more outside the ring anyway, but I saw how it was. We had a reputation to maintain and a livelihood to earn. In the end, I wasn't good for business."
Bargain Books
The Road
About The Road
A LIFE IN BOOKS
Talk About The Road
Read an Excerpt
Reading Questions
Print Your Bookmark
*above links and excerpt taken from: http://www2.oprah.com/obc_classic/featbook/road/obc_featbook_road_main.jhtml
The Blind Assassin
Tuesday, March 27, 2007
Newest Book Club Selection
Yesterday, my book club selected our next book to read and here it is. If you have read this and have a comment I would love to hear from you.
Check out the review below from Amazon.com:
Monday, March 26, 2007
Week Twelve, Book Thirteen
Review: This was by far one of the biggest let downs of the past few months for me. I thought that I had stumbled upon a novel that would be 1. a fast read and 2. a side splitting funny story about love. Instead, I was stuck with a 272 page tome about "nothing", "nothing" you say, yes, "nothing". I could not connect to any of the characters, let alone did I even care about any of them. The only reason I picked up this book in the first place, the fact that the author is actually Lemony Snicket, writer of a sequence of children's novels collectively entitled A Series of Unfortunate Events. I do not know, maybe I missed the boat on this one, but I did not enjoy this novel at all and I only finished it because I thought that it was going to get better as I read and low and behold, I was wrong. Okay, so here is "the light at the end of the tunnel"... he mentions in a chapter entitled "barely" a great album, Sandinista! by The Clash. If you do not know this double CD, then you have to check it out. This has got to be one of the most underrated records of all time. As for me ever picking up another Daniel Handler book, I doubt it! I have to stick to his Lemony Snicket books, they are definitely worth the read. The movie Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events by Jim Carrey, Liam Aiken, Emily Browning, and Kara Hoffman is actually even a better choice.
Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack by Thomas Newman
The Tragic Treasury: Songs from a Series of Unfortunate Events by Gothic Archies, Stephin Merritt, and Lemony Snicket
(taken from: http://www.powells.com/)
Can you describe the pleasures you find in writing novels for children and adults, and how, composition-wise, these endeavors differ for you?
"I don't find any difference — whatever I'm writing, I engage in the usual sporadic research, the wiggy, baggy first draft and then heaps of rewriting. But it seems worth noting that Adverbs focuses on love — the emotional terrain that's more or less absent from the Snicket books."
by Lemony Snicket
Sunday, March 25, 2007
The Moth StorySlam
Saturday, March 24, 2007
Reading Catalan Poetry
Downtown luminaries Laurie Anderson, Lou Reed, and Patti Smith bring to the American spotlight some of Catalonia's greatest poetry of the 20th century.
All performances begin at 8:30pm.
Admission is free.Reservations are required. Seating is limited.
Phone Ticket Central Box Office at 212-279-4200.
On-line: http://www.ticketcentral.com/
The Baryshnikov Dance Foundation presents Made in CataluNYa, Catalan Culture in New York, a festival organized by the Barcelona-based Institut Ramon Llull and featuring some of today's most innovative and celebrated Catalan artists in dance, theater, music and poetry.
*all above information taken from:
http://www.baryshnikovdancefoundation.org/
Friday, March 23, 2007
Michael Chabon
Location: Lexington Avenue at 92nd Street
Venue: Kaufmann Center Hall
Price: $18.00 / $10.00 Age 35 and Under
other books by/with Chabon:
The Yiddish Policemen's Union: A Novel
The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay
D'Aulaires' Book of Norse Myths
The Best American Short Stories 2005 (The Best American Series)
Mysteries of Pittsburgh: A Novel (P.S.)
Werewolves in Their Youth: Stories
The Final Solution: A Story of Detection (P.S.)
Wonder Boys
Summerland
A Model World and Other Stories
McSweeney's Mammoth Treasury of Thrilling Tales
Michael Chabon Presents. . .The Amazing Adventures of the Escapist, Volume 1
McSweeney's Enchanted Chamber of Astonishing Stories
Julius Knipl, Real Estate Photographer: Stories
My California: Journeys By Great Writers
The Mysteries Of Pittsburgh
Casting the Runes: And Other Ghost Stories (Oxford World's Classics)
Thursday, March 22, 2007
Daniel Alarcon
Suggestion:
I am adding Alacon to the list of people I need to check out. Look below at the About the Author and the readings website, he may be doing a reading near you.
About the Author:
taken from: http://www.danielalarcon.com/index.html
Daniel Alarcón’s fiction and nonfiction have been published in The New Yorker, Harper's, Virginia Quarterly Review, Salon, Eyeshot and elsewhere. He is Associate Editor of Etiqueta Negra, an award-winning monthly magazine based in his native Lima, Peru. His story collection, War by Candlelight, was a finalist for the 2006 PEN/Hemingway Foundation Award, and the British journal Granta recently named him one of the Best Young American Novelists. A former Fulbright Scholar to Peru and the recipient of a Whiting Award for 2004, he lives in Oakland, California, where he is the Distinguished Visiting Writer at Mills College. His first novel Lost City Radio was published in February 2007.
readings: http://www.danielalarcon.com/english/readings/
Granta: http://www.bestyoungnovelists.com/Daniel-Alarcon
Dancing to "Almendra"
On the same day Umberto Anastasia was killed in New York, a hippopotamus escaped from the zoo in Havana. I can explain the connection. No one else, only me, and the individual who looked after the lions. His name was Juan Bulgado, but he preferred to be called Johnny: Johnny Angel or Johnny Lamb, depending on his mood. In addition to feeding the animals, he was in charge of the slaughter pen, that foul-smelling corner where they killed the beasts that were fed to the carnivores. A long chain of blood. That’s what the zoo is. And, very often, life.
Suggestion: I do not know what is with me lately, but I have been recently intrigued by authors who are also newspaper columnists. I have read a few bios about the Cuban-born Montero and feel the need to check her out pronto! So if you have read anything by her, please shoot me a comment with feedback. Thanks.
About the Author
Mayra Montero is the author of a collection of short stories and of eight novels, including, most recently, Captain of the Sleepers (FSG, 2005). She was born in Cuba and lives in Puerto Rico, where she writes a weekly column in El Nuevo Dia newspaper. taken from: http://www.amazon.com/
Wednesday, March 21, 2007
Kenneth Koch
March 27 @ 6:30
The Drawing Center Main Gallery
$5 general public, free for Academy and Drawing Center members. Tickets will be available for purchase at the door.
books:
Wishes, Lies, and Dreams: Teaching Children to Write Poetry by Kenneth Koch and Ron Padgett
Rose, Where Did You Get That Red? by Kenneth Koch
MAKING YOUR OWN DAYS: THE PLEASURES OF READING AND WRITING POETRY by Kenneth Koch
Sleeping on the wing: An anthology of modern poetry, with essays on reading and writing by Kenneth Koch
How I wrote certain of my books by Raymond Roussel, Trevor Winkfield, John Ashbery, and Kenneth Koch
Tuesday, March 20, 2007
August Wilson's Radio Golf
Set in 1997 in Pittsburgh’s Hill District, Harmond Wilks (Lennix), a charming and powerful African-American politician, is running for the highest office of his career, with the loving support of his savvy wife, Mame (Pinkins). As Harmond steps into political prominence, the past is just a few steps behind him … and gaining fast.
taken from: http://www.radiogolfonbroadway.com
The final piece of August Wilson's ten-play cycle, set in the last decade of the twentieth century, makes its Broadway debut. A few years ago I went to see two August Wilson plays and was not disappointed. If you have a chance you should check out http://www.broadwayoffers.com/ for discounted tickets.
The show runs April 20- May 6th:
Cort Theatre
138 West 48th Street
New York, NY 10036
an interesting site: http://www.augustwilson.net/
Coram Boy
taken from: http://www.coramboyonbroadway.com/
where: Imperial Theatre
Monday, March 19, 2007
Drink And Draw Volume 1
Drink and Draw Social Club Volume 1 contains the scribblings and scratchings of a large group of artists done strictly at pubs and taverns across the country. The pints and pencil shavings make for some "good times" as they do their best to "keep it real!" Dave Johnson, Dan Panosian and Jeff Johnson have spread to over 1,600 members with splinter groups popping up everywhere. Just recently they were filmed as part of the upcoming MySpace film documentary.
You have to check out these sites:
http://www.myspace.com/meltdowncomics
http://www.meltcomics.com/
http://drsketchydetroit.blogspot.com/
http://comicpants.com/?p=1228
Longfellow Debuts at Mega-Event
http://www.asdaonline.com/index.php?id=1
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow: Poems and Other Writings (Library of America) by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow and J. D. McClatchy
Longfellow: A Rediscovered Life by Charles C. Calhoun
The Complete Poetical Works of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
Poetry for Young People: Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (Poetry For Young People) by Frances Schoonmaker and Chad Wallace
The Song Of Hiawatha by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
Sunday, March 18, 2007
Week Eleven, Book Twelve
I read this book in three sittings and really felt inspired to hit the Internet and read as many political blogs that my tired eyes could take. I was very surprised at the amount that exist and just how passionate some people really are when it comes to chatting about politics. I guess I just really relied on TV and print media for my political education, but now have a new source that I will be tapping. For obvious reasons I think that this book is well written like all of O'Reilly's books and a quick read nonetheless. I especially loved the chapter on "The Battle for Christmas". Since I used to teach in a Catholic School and now teach in a Public School, it really hit a nerve. No matter what your political beliefs are, you are still able to take something away from this book. Since, we are in the midst of "war" and an upcoming "election" I plan on reading more political books and reviewing them in this forum. So, if you have any recommendations, shoot me a comment.
"Culture Warrior" - Free
"For a variety of reasons that I will explain, I have chosen to jump into the fray and become a warrior in the vicious culture war that is currently under way in the United States of America. And war is exactly the right term. On one side of the battlefield are the armies of the traditionalists like me, people who believe the United States was well founded and has done enormous good for the world. On the other side are the committed forces of the secular-progressive movement that want to change America dramatically: mold it in the image of Western Europe. Notice I did not say anything about “conservatives against liberals.” This is not the real culture fight, as I’ll make clear. The talk-radio mantra of the left versus the right doesn’t even come close to defining the culture war in America–it is much more complicated than that." * excerpt from the book
funny video: http://www.jimmyr.com/blog/Colbert_on_Oreilly_Factor_18_2007.php
Saturday, March 17, 2007
Heroes and Villains
Okay, last night we were in the middle of what some might say was "the craziest snowstorm of the year" and I relentlessly trekked into NYC to see Pete Yorn at the Roseland Ballroom on West 52nd St. This was my fourth time seeing Pete and I knew that he was worth the trip. He had two openers:Minibar and MOSES MAYFIELD, both very different in sound and style, but rocked nonetheless. So, here I am enjoying the show and Pete (as always chats between songs) begins to give props to one of my favorite bands of all-time The Beach Boys. He insists that the audience pick up a copy of Heroes and Villains: The True Story of the Beach Boys and then breaks into Surfer Girl. This is the second time in a month that I have been not so privately told by an artist to read this book. So, here I am today at the library finding myself drawn to the recommendation and I check out an old copy of the book with a 1986 copyright date. I promise to post a review in the future, so stay tuned! In the meantime, here are the lyrics to Surfer Girl, Pete Yorn's setlist from the show and a synopsis from Powell's (my favorite bookstore in the whole wide world).
setlist:
Through candid interviews with close friends, family, and the Beach Boys themselves, this biography portrays and evaluates all those who propelled the California myth, and the group who sang about it, into world-wide prominence. With dozens of photos, this book recounts the bitter saga of the American dream realized and distorted, and the music that survived. 66 photos.
Ellie Picks Nominated
Upstairs at the Square
Thursday, March 15, 2007
Chef Book Signing
Mall at Short Hills
1200 Morris Turnpike
Short Hills, NJ 07078
973-467-3641
Sunday, March 25, 2007 1:00 - 3:00pm
Here is a great recipe from the TLC website: (http://tlc.discovery.com/)
Marinated Artichokes with Homemade Arugula Pesto Serves 4
Ingredients:
1 lightly packed cup/30 g fresh baby arugula leaves, stems removed
½ cup/65 g freshly grated Parmesan cheese
1/3 cup/50 g pine nuts, toasted
2 garlic cloves
½ cup/100 ml extra virgin olive oil
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
16 quartered marinated artichoke hearts, drained
Additional fresh baby arugula leaves, for garnish Cherry tomatoes, halved, for garnish
Method:
To make the pesto:Place 1 lightly packed cup/30 g of arugula, and the Parmesan, pine nuts and garlic in a blender. With the machine running, slowly add the olive oil and blend until smooth. Season the pesto to taste with salt and pepper.
To serve:
Arrange the artichokes on a platter and drizzle some of the pesto over the artichokes. Garnish with the additional arugula leaves and tomatoes. Serve and smile. Cover and reserve any remaining pesto in the refrigerator for another use.
Tuesday, March 13, 2007
Starbucks Support Program
"The first time that I was touched by war I was twelve. It was in January of 1993. I left home with Junior, my older brother, and our friend Talloi, both a year older than I, to go to the town of Mattru Jong, to participate in our friends’ talent show. Mohamed, my best friend, couldn’t come because he and his father were renovating their thatched-roof kitchen that day. The four of us had started a rap and dance group when I was eight. We were first introduced to rap music during one of our visits to Mobimbi, a quarter where the foreigners who worked for the same American company as my father lived. We often went to Mobimbi to swim in a pool and watch the huge color television and the white people who crowded the visitors’ recreational area. One evening a music video that consisted of a bunch of young black fellows talking really fast came on the television. The four of us sat there mesmerized by the song, trying to understand what the black fellows were saying."
When: View schedule
Where: Starbucks in 11 major cities
*Starbucks will donate $2 from its sale of this book to support UNICEF programs for children affected by armed conflict. (Minimum contribution $100,000).Find out more about the book, watch a video interview with the author and buy the book online today.
NPR : Ishmael Beah's 'Memoirs of a Boy Soldier'
NYC24 The New New Yorkers
Once a drugged child soldier, Beah reclaims his soul
Comedy Central - Media Player
War-torn childhood 'A Long Way Gone,' but not forgotten - USATODAY.com
A Political Choice
Mark Knoblauch
Copyright © American Library Association.
All rights reserved
other books by this author:
Arabia, 1979
Old Glory: A Voyage Down the Mississippi, 1981
Coasting: A Private Voyage, 1987
Foreign Land, 1988
God, Man and Mrs. Thatcher, 1989
For Love and Money: A Writing Life, 1969-1989, 1990
Soft City, 1991
Hunting Mister Heartbreak: A Discovery of America, 1991
The Oxford Book of the Sea, 1992
Bad Land: An American Romance, 1996
Passage to Juneau: A Sea and Its Meanings, 1999
Waxwings, 2003
odd site:
Connecting the Dots - Tracking Two Identified Terrorists, by Valdis Krebs www.orgnet.com/prevent.html
Monday, March 12, 2007
Top 10 Books
- Here They Come by Yannick Murphy
- Something in the Air: Radio, Rock, and the Revolution That Shaped a Generation by Marc Fisher
- Apex Hides the Hurt: A Novel by Colson Whitehead
- Everyday Matters by Danny Gregory
- Three Empires on the Nile: The Victorian Jihad, 1869-1899 by Dominic Green
- House of Meetings by Martin Amis
- The Boy Who Fell Out of the Sky: A True Story by Ken Dornstein
- The Invention of Hugo Cabret by Brian Selznick
- Born on a Blue Day: Inside the Extraordinary Mind of an Autistic Savant by Daniel Tammet
- Lover of Unreason: Assia Wevill, Sylvia Plath's Rival and Ted Hughes' Doomed Love by Yehuda Koren and Eilat Negev
Independent Magazine
Author Alert
Location: Lexington Avenue at 92nd Street
Price: $17.00 / $10.00 Student
Sunday, March 11, 2007
New Fiction, Balkan History & Russian Emigres
Sofka Zinovieff's grandmother was a White Russian aristocrat in flight from the political upheavals of the 20th century. Like many exiles for whom tomorrow is a hostile land, the eponymous Red Princess - also known as Sofka - lived life with the gusto of the desperado. Her biography, as a result, is a union of comedy and tragedy infused with the heady romance of a vanished Russia.
Historical Novel
A historical novel by the co founder of Spy magazine. I have read three reviews this past weekend and felt the need to post.
In the middle of the nineteenth century, modern life is being born: the mind-boggling marvels of photography, the telegraph, and railroads; a flood of show business spectacles and newspapers; rampant sex and drugs and drink (and moral crusades against all three); Wall Street awash with money; and giddy utopian visions everywhere. Then, during a single amazing month at the beginning of 1848, history lurches: America wins its war of manifest destiny against Mexico, gold is discovered in northern California, and revolutions sweep across Europe–sending one eager English gentleman off on an epic transatlantic adventure. . . .
synopsis taken from: http://www.powells.com/
books by/with Anderson:
Spy: The Funny Years
Turn of the Century
Pleasure: The Architecture and Design of Rockwell Group
by David Rockwell, Kurt Andersen, Paola Antonelli, and Arnold Aronson
Tools of Power
The Real Thing
Debut Novel
Saturday, March 10, 2007
Cool Site, Cool Magazine!
I know I am a little OCD with the music and reading connection, but I can't help myself. I some day will break down and have a music blog, but for now I can just chat up some in print music literature. You have to check out this website, a lot to offer for the "new" music lover! http://home.q4music.com/
Food Magazine
The Guide To Living With Style!
Premiere Issue
taken from: http://www.rocket-magazine.com/