Once again, it's time for the book blog hop, hosted by Crazy-for-Books. This is really a great way to find other bloggers so if you have time to take part, you should check it out!
This week's question is: "When you write reviews, do you write them as you are reading or wait until you have read the entire book?"
I usually post a couple entries about a book as I'm reading it. I want the blog to be more like a literary conversation than just straight reviews and I tend to write general overall impressions while focusing on certain elements in the different posts.
What about you?
Thursday, September 23, 2010
Wednesday, September 22, 2010
Favorite Shakespeare Quotes
Yesterday, as part of the Top Ten Tuesday, The Broke and The Bookish asked people to name their top 10 favorite literary quotes. I loved this topic and I was impressed by how many people keep track of their favorite quotes. I do not do this, though I wish I did. I know I won't start though. I'm never reading near a notebook or something where I can stop and write down quotes. And I don't like writing in my books, so I won't have the option to go back later. Hell, as it stands for this blog I just have to try to remember the quote I want to use for the title of a post, or else just happen to be near a computer at the time. So because I'm not nearly as organized as so many of you (and partially because I'm jealous of your organizational skills) I did not partake. I know any quotes I come up with will just be ones I was able to find at that moment and because I wouldn't even be near my bookshelf, it would mostly be me trying to find posts online.
I was disappointed but then I realized something: I'm a bit of a Shakespeare nerd and I can probably remember lots of Shakespeare quotes. Hell, had I thought of this when I was near it, I own an entire book of just Shakespeare quotes. So I know I'm late but here are my top 10 favorite Shakespeare quotes in no particular order, other than the order I remembered them in
1. To-morrow, and to-morrow, and to-morrow
Creeps in this petty place from day to day,
To the last syllable of recorded time;
And all our yesterdays have lighted fools
The way to dusty death. Out, out brief candle!
Life's but a walking shadow, a poor player
Who struts and frets his hour upon the stage,
And then is heard no more. It is a tale
Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury,
Signifying nothing.
Macbeth V.v.19-28
2. What a piece of work is man, how noble in reason, how infinite in faculties, in form and moving how express and admirable, in action how like an angel, in apprehension how like a god! the beauty of the world, the paragon of animals -- and yet, to me, what is this quintessence of dust? Man delights not me
Hamlet II.ii.303-312
3. Demetrius: Villain, what hast thou done?
Aaron: That which thou canst not undo.
Demetrius: Thou hast undone our mother.
Aaron: Villain, I have done they mother.
Titus Andronicus IV.ii
(Right after this line I just hear "Oh snap!")
4. The course of true love never did run smooth.
A Midsummer Night's Dream I.i.134
5. Let me not to the marriage of true minds
Admit impediment. Love is not love
Which alters when it alteration finds,
Sonnet 116
6. Reason and love keep little company together now-a-days
A Midsummer Night's Dream. III.i
7. Put money in thy purse
Othello. I.iii.338, 339-340, 341
(I'm presenting most of these without explanation since for the most part I don't think they require it. This is a fairly vague quote and, if you aren't familiar with the play, you may not recognize it or understand the situation surrounding it. Iago is one of my favorite characters and I love his powers of manipulation.)
8. Some are born great, some achieve greatness, and some have greatness thrust upon 'em
Twelfth Night. II.iv.145-146
9. If music be the food of love, play on
Twelfth Night. I.i.1
10. To thine own self be true
Hamlet I.i.78
So I know that reads a bit like Bartlet's famous quotes (which is actually the book I own, though it's somewhere in Long Island at this moment) but really the well known quotes are well known because they're so great. Besides I don't want to go all hipster and start listing out more obscure quotes to make myself seem pretentious. "Oh you hadn't heard that quote before? Yeah, it's still pretty underground. You gotta be really tuned in to get it."
1. To-morrow, and to-morrow, and to-morrow
Creeps in this petty place from day to day,
To the last syllable of recorded time;
And all our yesterdays have lighted fools
The way to dusty death. Out, out brief candle!
Life's but a walking shadow, a poor player
Who struts and frets his hour upon the stage,
And then is heard no more. It is a tale
Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury,
Signifying nothing.
Macbeth V.v.19-28
2. What a piece of work is man, how noble in reason, how infinite in faculties, in form and moving how express and admirable, in action how like an angel, in apprehension how like a god! the beauty of the world, the paragon of animals -- and yet, to me, what is this quintessence of dust? Man delights not me
Hamlet II.ii.303-312
3. Demetrius: Villain, what hast thou done?
Aaron: That which thou canst not undo.
Demetrius: Thou hast undone our mother.
Aaron: Villain, I have done they mother.
Titus Andronicus IV.ii
(Right after this line I just hear "Oh snap!")
4. The course of true love never did run smooth.
A Midsummer Night's Dream I.i.134
5. Let me not to the marriage of true minds
Admit impediment. Love is not love
Which alters when it alteration finds,
Sonnet 116
6. Reason and love keep little company together now-a-days
A Midsummer Night's Dream. III.i
7. Put money in thy purse
Othello. I.iii.338, 339-340, 341
(I'm presenting most of these without explanation since for the most part I don't think they require it. This is a fairly vague quote and, if you aren't familiar with the play, you may not recognize it or understand the situation surrounding it. Iago is one of my favorite characters and I love his powers of manipulation.)
8. Some are born great, some achieve greatness, and some have greatness thrust upon 'em
Twelfth Night. II.iv.145-146
9. If music be the food of love, play on
Twelfth Night. I.i.1
10. To thine own self be true
Hamlet I.i.78
So I know that reads a bit like Bartlet's famous quotes (which is actually the book I own, though it's somewhere in Long Island at this moment) but really the well known quotes are well known because they're so great. Besides I don't want to go all hipster and start listing out more obscure quotes to make myself seem pretentious. "Oh you hadn't heard that quote before? Yeah, it's still pretty underground. You gotta be really tuned in to get it."
Monday, September 20, 2010
But it was a fine and exciting Ladies' Mile, doped-up baby or not
As soon as I read that quote I wrote it down for this post. And I like it best without context so if you'd like to know what he's talking about you'll just need to read the book.
I've finished up Finney's Time and Again and the book was still a good time my second read through. I mentioned in my previous post that I've read this before so you can be sure I do enjoy this book. It has a great mystery of a letter referencing "the Destruction by Fire of the entire World" (317) and what some odd tombstone markings mean. Even though I have read the book I couldn't remember the details so it was fun to try to solve the mystery a second time around. Finney manages to tell a convincing story of what life was like in 1880s New York and the book includes pictures and sketches from the time to help give the reader a good idea of the styles of the time.
I've found with most of my reviews I write about the things I loved about the book, which makes sense since I like all of the books I've read since beginning this blog but it gets a bit redundant to keep repeating gushing reviews. Keeping this in mind, I wanted to point out a couple problems I had with the novel.
The book feels uneven. Part of the time the book reads like a travelogue, with Simon just describing 1882 NYC from a 1970s point of view. Then there's some of the sci fi aspect, with a government agency funding a program to just see if people can go back in time by, well, thinking really hard that they can and then a pretty simple story of Simon observing a letter being delivered. These 2 parts are a little odd but do work together somewhat, but then suddenly the story takes this dramatic turn to an action and thriller tale. It just happens suddenly and goes on for so long that it feels like it's actually part of a different book.
Simon isn't a very sympathetic character, in my mind anyway and the problem is I think he's supposed to be. He's not the anti-hero that's so popular now so I think Finney just didn't create a great main character. The supporting characters, Rube, Julia, Pickering, are all fantastic. And Pickering certainly isn't likable but he's at least fun to watch. Simon is arrogant and a bit sexist but it's like Finney didn't realize he'd made him that way.
Here's one other small problem I have with the book, though really I suppose it's a problem with the author. Finney has Simon bemoan how awful the world is nowadays (well the 1970s) and how wonderful and amazing it was in the 1880s. I hate this Golden Days nostalgia, the idea that everything was so much better, simpler, happier, blah blah blah back way back when. The selective memory that leaves out the negative aspects of the past or that forgets the awesome things about today just annoy me. Eventually Simon does realize that the people of 1882 did have a very hard time and things weren't all sleigh rides and singing around the piano, but he stills sees 1882 as a much better time: "Life [in 1882 New York] still had meaning and purpose in people's minds; the great emptiness hadn't begun" (379).
Overall this isn't my favorite book and I don't know that I'll be checking out much more of Finney's work, but I did like this book enough to read it twice. Overall the good outweighs the bad, but the bad is still noticeable.
Title quote from page 184
Finney, Jack. Time and Again. Scribner Paperback Fiction, New York. 1970.
I've finished up Finney's Time and Again and the book was still a good time my second read through. I mentioned in my previous post that I've read this before so you can be sure I do enjoy this book. It has a great mystery of a letter referencing "the Destruction by Fire of the entire World" (317) and what some odd tombstone markings mean. Even though I have read the book I couldn't remember the details so it was fun to try to solve the mystery a second time around. Finney manages to tell a convincing story of what life was like in 1880s New York and the book includes pictures and sketches from the time to help give the reader a good idea of the styles of the time.
I've found with most of my reviews I write about the things I loved about the book, which makes sense since I like all of the books I've read since beginning this blog but it gets a bit redundant to keep repeating gushing reviews. Keeping this in mind, I wanted to point out a couple problems I had with the novel.
The book feels uneven. Part of the time the book reads like a travelogue, with Simon just describing 1882 NYC from a 1970s point of view. Then there's some of the sci fi aspect, with a government agency funding a program to just see if people can go back in time by, well, thinking really hard that they can and then a pretty simple story of Simon observing a letter being delivered. These 2 parts are a little odd but do work together somewhat, but then suddenly the story takes this dramatic turn to an action and thriller tale. It just happens suddenly and goes on for so long that it feels like it's actually part of a different book.
Simon isn't a very sympathetic character, in my mind anyway and the problem is I think he's supposed to be. He's not the anti-hero that's so popular now so I think Finney just didn't create a great main character. The supporting characters, Rube, Julia, Pickering, are all fantastic. And Pickering certainly isn't likable but he's at least fun to watch. Simon is arrogant and a bit sexist but it's like Finney didn't realize he'd made him that way.
Here's one other small problem I have with the book, though really I suppose it's a problem with the author. Finney has Simon bemoan how awful the world is nowadays (well the 1970s) and how wonderful and amazing it was in the 1880s. I hate this Golden Days nostalgia, the idea that everything was so much better, simpler, happier, blah blah blah back way back when. The selective memory that leaves out the negative aspects of the past or that forgets the awesome things about today just annoy me. Eventually Simon does realize that the people of 1882 did have a very hard time and things weren't all sleigh rides and singing around the piano, but he stills sees 1882 as a much better time: "Life [in 1882 New York] still had meaning and purpose in people's minds; the great emptiness hadn't begun" (379).
Overall this isn't my favorite book and I don't know that I'll be checking out much more of Finney's work, but I did like this book enough to read it twice. Overall the good outweighs the bad, but the bad is still noticeable.
Title quote from page 184
Finney, Jack. Time and Again. Scribner Paperback Fiction, New York. 1970.
Friday, September 17, 2010
Book Blog Hop X
Once again it's Friday and time for the blog hope, hosted by Crazy-for-Books. I missed the hop last week due to lots of travel but I'm around this weekend and ready to find some new blogs. So this week's question is: In honor of Book Blogger Appreciation Week, let's take time this week to honor our favorite book bloggers and why we love them!
I actually started a post about this the other day so this hop seems like the perfect reason to post it. That and it means I've pretty much already answered it, so less work for me! Below are some blogs I love checking out, though this is far from an extensive list. I will get back into the habit of following up the Hop with a list of blogs I love to read but if you'd like to see my previous entries about other bloggers you should read check out my posts here, here and here. And now onto some other bloggers:
When I first started blogging I saw all of these book blogs getting these snazzy awards. Anytime I saw someone get it I would scan their list of blogs to see if I was one of them. When I finally was I did a little happy dance. I know that these awards are pretty much chain letters: you don't have to do anything special to win, other than to be awesome in one of your reader's eyes. I still get this little blogger high when I see an award but I have been failing in terms of thanking people on my blog. I want everyone to know how thankful I am for the awards so I wanted to do that here! This list will hopefully also give some of my other readers some other amazing blogs to check out.
A Thousand Books with Quotes - This is great collection of quotes from books. I love that this isn't the typical book review blog and I always enjoy checking it out. You find great quotes and new books to check out.
My Reader's Block - She participates in some fun memes (read: ones I actually enjoy reading instead of ones I sigh and skip over) and her reviews of mostly mystery books give me a whole new genre of books to look for!
Sarah Reads Too Much - Sarah reviews some books I wouldn't normally pick up but her descriptions make the book sound like something I would enjoy. I've added The Nanny Diaries to my unofficial TBR list.
The Far Too Important Blog - Geophrie's blog covers a little bit of everything. At least a little bit of everything that I like to read about. The book reviews are fun and I love the Project Runway recaps and the post about how bachelorette parties need to get out of the gay bars. Wonderful funny stuff!
The Book Stop - CurleyGeek mentioned me as part of the Blogger Appreciation week and I was so flattered I sent Boyfriend to read the post so he could see people do seem to like my ramblings. (Not that he didn't believe me but he made me blog so he wanted some credit.) Her reviews are very thought provoking and she opens up intelligent conversation. It's always a treat when I see she has a new post.
I actually started a post about this the other day so this hop seems like the perfect reason to post it. That and it means I've pretty much already answered it, so less work for me! Below are some blogs I love checking out, though this is far from an extensive list. I will get back into the habit of following up the Hop with a list of blogs I love to read but if you'd like to see my previous entries about other bloggers you should read check out my posts here, here and here. And now onto some other bloggers:
When I first started blogging I saw all of these book blogs getting these snazzy awards. Anytime I saw someone get it I would scan their list of blogs to see if I was one of them. When I finally was I did a little happy dance. I know that these awards are pretty much chain letters: you don't have to do anything special to win, other than to be awesome in one of your reader's eyes. I still get this little blogger high when I see an award but I have been failing in terms of thanking people on my blog. I want everyone to know how thankful I am for the awards so I wanted to do that here! This list will hopefully also give some of my other readers some other amazing blogs to check out.
A Thousand Books with Quotes - This is great collection of quotes from books. I love that this isn't the typical book review blog and I always enjoy checking it out. You find great quotes and new books to check out.
My Reader's Block - She participates in some fun memes (read: ones I actually enjoy reading instead of ones I sigh and skip over) and her reviews of mostly mystery books give me a whole new genre of books to look for!
Sarah Reads Too Much - Sarah reviews some books I wouldn't normally pick up but her descriptions make the book sound like something I would enjoy. I've added The Nanny Diaries to my unofficial TBR list.
The Far Too Important Blog - Geophrie's blog covers a little bit of everything. At least a little bit of everything that I like to read about. The book reviews are fun and I love the Project Runway recaps and the post about how bachelorette parties need to get out of the gay bars. Wonderful funny stuff!
The Book Stop - CurleyGeek mentioned me as part of the Blogger Appreciation week and I was so flattered I sent Boyfriend to read the post so he could see people do seem to like my ramblings. (Not that he didn't believe me but he made me blog so he wanted some credit.) Her reviews are very thought provoking and she opens up intelligent conversation. It's always a treat when I see she has a new post.
Wednesday, September 15, 2010
The only possible way you can do this is to just go ahead and do it.
So if any of my readers currently live in the Dakota and are thinking "I could use a change of scene but I want to keep paying for this place" then I have a deal for you. I will live in your awesome apartment for you! I know, I'm a saint. All you have to do is continue to pay the rent/mortgage/property taxes because there is no way I can afford any of this. Park facing preferred, serious inquiries only, kthxbai.
Boyfriend and I have been torturing ourselves watching the Selling New York show because we're slightly masochistic. They haven't done an episode at the Dakota (yet!) but the gorgeous apartments did make me think of Jack Finney's Time and Again. Boyfriend made me read this originally. I made a comment about going to the bookstore because I needed a new book to read and he apparently took this as a threat and started digging through his things to find a book that would keep me from adding to our growing library. I was suspicious of his selection, but I gave it a try. Every once in awhile Boyfriend apparently knows what he's talking about and I enjoyed the book. I even enjoyed it enough to read it a second time. Granted this is partly motivated by a lack of new books and the fact that moving is expensive so I'm trying to save my funds. (I can't afford new books and I want to live in the Dakota. Come on lotto!)
Time and Again is a secret science fiction book. I didn't know what to expect when I picked it up, but time travel was out of left field. Boyfriend isn't really a scifi fan and the cover of the book doesn't suggest anything other than a period piece. But I like the unexpected showing up in my books and that certainly happened here. Or maybe the time travel is all in Si's head and he's really just a crazy person stumbling around NYC thinking it's 1882. I don't actually remember the details of the book all that well, which is nice because that means I'm enjoying knowing the book without actually remembering how things turn out. I already know I like it, even if I can't remember why.
It seems I've said a lot here without actually saying anything. The talents of a (former) English major. I'll have more about the actual book in another post, once I read some more of the actual book.
Title quote from page 13
Finney, Jack. Time and Again. Scribner Paperback Fiction, New York. 1970.
Monday, September 13, 2010
Foreign Alphabets
My brother is not much of a talker yet the conversations he and I have generally leave me laughing. He's a man of few words, but at least he doesn't waste his time on boring speech. (I on the other hand, as evidence by this blog, can ramble for days.) In a brief departure from all things literature I wanted to share a quick conversation Brother and I had*. It has to do with the alphabet so it's every-so-slightly book related. And it's my blog so whatever.
Brother: Alphabets are hard to learn.
Red: Like ABCD?
Brother: Like that, but in Japanese.
Red: I didn't realize they actually had an alphabet.
Brother: They have 2 alphabets in essence. One is used for inherent Japanese words, and one used for borrowed words. Both of which are longer than our standard alphabet, and that's not even getting into the Kanji.
Red: Why are you learning the Japanese alphabet?
Brother: Cause I'm taking Japanese
Red: orly?**
Brother: It's my elective.
Red: So you decided to pick a super hard elective on top of all your engineering stuff?
Brother: Well the alphabet will be the only real challenge.
Red: So you have to learn 3 alphabets?
Brother: Pretty much.
Red: You should have taken Italian: 1 alphabet that doesn't even have all of our letters. Screw J,K,W,X,Y.
Brother: They are the outcasts of the English alphabet anyway. I don't know how Z and Q squeeked by though.
Red: They needed "pizza". Q is suspect though. I think it hid behind R. They like to roll their R's so Q just hid behind it.
Brother: I think Q pulled something dirty to switch with K.
Red: Ah, totally! "Taqe that K!"
*The convo is edited a bit, not to add in any witty remarks that were thought of after the fact or to change the language, but to eliminate some of the back and forth that happened in between. I also added things like punctuation and capitalization. Brother and I are both lazy and leave these out of IM talk but it's easier to go back and re-read the stuff when it's there.
**I use stupid internet slang with certain people. Don't judge me. Also notice that in IMs I use internet slang like "orly" and Brother says things like "in essence" and "inherent Japanese words" in normal conversation. Even though I have the English degree I shouldn't be too surprised he's beating me in one of our Words Free games. I did manage to destroy him the first time but he's mounting a comeback.
Brother: Alphabets are hard to learn.
Red: Like ABCD?
Brother: Like that, but in Japanese.
Red: I didn't realize they actually had an alphabet.
Brother: They have 2 alphabets in essence. One is used for inherent Japanese words, and one used for borrowed words. Both of which are longer than our standard alphabet, and that's not even getting into the Kanji.
Red: Why are you learning the Japanese alphabet?
Brother: Cause I'm taking Japanese
Red: orly?**
Brother: It's my elective.
Red: So you decided to pick a super hard elective on top of all your engineering stuff?
Brother: Well the alphabet will be the only real challenge.
Red: So you have to learn 3 alphabets?
Brother: Pretty much.
Red: You should have taken Italian: 1 alphabet that doesn't even have all of our letters. Screw J,K,W,X,Y.
Brother: They are the outcasts of the English alphabet anyway. I don't know how Z and Q squeeked by though.
Red: They needed "pizza". Q is suspect though. I think it hid behind R. They like to roll their R's so Q just hid behind it.
Brother: I think Q pulled something dirty to switch with K.
Red: Ah, totally! "Taqe that K!"
*The convo is edited a bit, not to add in any witty remarks that were thought of after the fact or to change the language, but to eliminate some of the back and forth that happened in between. I also added things like punctuation and capitalization. Brother and I are both lazy and leave these out of IM talk but it's easier to go back and re-read the stuff when it's there.
**I use stupid internet slang with certain people. Don't judge me. Also notice that in IMs I use internet slang like "orly" and Brother says things like "in essence" and "inherent Japanese words" in normal conversation. Even though I have the English degree I shouldn't be too surprised he's beating me in one of our Words Free games. I did manage to destroy him the first time but he's mounting a comeback.
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