Entries Tagged as '52 Books in 2008'
I love you, Denis Cooverman
When I read today that Larry Doyle’s book I Love You, Beth Cooper was being made into a movie I felt like the world had finally started to make some sense. Because if ever there was a book destined to moviedom, it’s this one. In fact, the whole thing reads more like a screenplay than [...]
Read moreThe Dead Fish Museum
One night at Grumpy’s Hispter Mom, Jags, Vodo, and I were talking about writing. This should come as no surprise because that’s all we ever talk about. Hipster Mom talked about how her stories are always about California and dark things. Jags writes about drugs or alcohol, I write about lonely women with bickering families [...]
Read moreBookclub Bitches 11: I am the Messenger and the message is, I suck at endings
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For the April edition of Bookclub Bitches, FFJ and I read I am the Messenger by Markus Zuzak. This is one of those books that I was pretty much enjoying in a kind of mindless way until the very end where it pissed me off so much that it made me totally pick [...]
The Stone Gods, hot human on robot action
I’ve never been a big fan of science-fiction or fantasy. I seem to have a problem with planets and aliens and unicorns. However, in the hands of Jeanette Winterson, one of my favorite authors, I can get on the alternate reality train.
In The Stone Gods Winterson offers up a tale of a post-apocalyptic world [...]
Things That Fall From the Sky
I really love Kevin Brockmeier’s writing. In fact, I’d probably go as far to say that his short story “The Ceiling” would make my list of the Ten Best Short Stories Ever. It’s a bold statement and I am prepared to back it up.
I recently read the Things That Fall From the Sky, a collection [...]
Things I learned reading ‘Things I Learned From the Women Who’ve Dumped Me’
That Wolfdogg will probably have his suggestion rights for Rock and Roll Bookclub revoked again. His rights were revoked sometime in June of 07 because he suggested A Boy Called Freebird, a book so heinous and unreadable that I didn’t make it past page 40.
Just because someone writes something funny for TV (Will Forte, Stephen [...]
Bookclub Bitches 10: Persepolis a book I want to make love to
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For the March edition of Bookclub Bitches FFJ and I read Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi. We actually read both Persepolis and Persepolis 2. I don’t see how one could read the first one and not want to read the second one immediately.
To say that I loved this graphic memoir is like damning [...]
The Learners, an unworthy sequel
As much as it pains me to say it, I was really disappointed in Chip Kidd’s The Learners, a follow-up to his phenomenal book Cheese Monkeys.
The Learners picks up with Happy, the main character from Cheese Monkeys all graduated from State and trying to get a job at Spear, Rakoff & Ware in New [...]
Why is corporate America looking for rock stars?
I’ve noticed an alarming trend in the want ads lately. It seems “rock star” is the adjective du jour when describing the employees that companies want to hire. Even Hell, Inc. is looking for “rock stars” now that they got rid of all of us mid-tempo balladeers.
It’s an interesting choice of words, and maybe [...]
Bang Crunch
The first two stories in Neil Smith’s short story collection Bang Crunch were so punch-in-the-gut good that it caused me a bit of anxiety. Could he keep up this stellar pace? What if he does? What if the entire collection is this good? Will my heart be able to take it?
The first story “Isolettes” about [...]
Instead of looking for a job I read this underwhelming short story collection, go me
First of all, I have to say, I got spanked today for spending most of my free time reading books when I should be looking for a job. And I’m more than a little pissed that the book I’ve spent all my time reading lately turned out to be completely underwhelming.
Before October, I’d never read [...]
Bookclub Bitches 9: The Screwtape Letters or, boy that sucked
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For February, FFJ and I read, or rather attempted to read C.S. Lewis’ The Screwtape Letters. It sucked. It sucked hard and it sucked long. It was really, very quite bad. But I suppose you’ll find that out of if you listen to the podcast. For March we promise to read something good.
Candy Girl makes my stomach hurt
For March, the Rock and Roll Bookclub picked Diablo Cody’s Candy Girl, a memoir about her year as a stripper/professional masturbator/phone sex operator.
You know how when you buy a bag of those little gold-foil wrapped Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups and the first one tastes so good that you eat about thirty-two more right in a [...]
A book that caters to my postal worker proclivities
I don’t know if it’s exactly a fetish, but I’ve long had thing for postal workers. It started eons ago when I developed a crush on the Postmaster back in Prior Lake. When I moved, I changed post offices and developed a crush on Mary. At least I think her name is Mary. We shall [...]
Read moreThe second book of 2008 to make me cry
Despite the way it appears, I don’t often cry while reading. In fact before I read Atonement, I could only think of two other books that made me cry. And now, here I am two months into 2008 and I’ve already cried twice while reading.
You might think it’s because I’ve gone soft. But you’d [...]
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