books

[beegee]

I don't even know where Chelsea Handler came from.

It's like I woke up one day last week and she was famous.

[No spoken words]

I've never heard of her. Does that take her fame down a notch? Maybe two notches? Pwned.

[beegee]

Seriously.

People shouldn't just be allowed to get famous without at least one of us knowing who they are.

[corianderstem]

I hadn't heard of her until recently, either. She was apparently a stand-up comic I'd never heard of, doing guest appearances on a bunch of shows I don't watch, and now has a show on E! called "Chelsea Lately."



She's not not funny, the book was just a little more vulgar than I like my funny memoirs.

[No spoken words]

Originally Posted by corianderstem I hadn't heard of her until recently, either. She was apparently a stand-up comic I'd never heard of, doing guest appearances on a bunch of shows I don't watch, and now has a show on E! called "Chelsea Lately." She's not not funny, the book was just a little more vulgar than I like my funny memoirs.

You're very particular about your funny memoirs, and, really, can you be blamed?

Anyway, my not having heard of this Chelsea person means her Q rating just took it on the chin. Enjoy your 15 minutes of fame, lady.

[corianderstem]

Originally Posted by No spoken words and, really, can you be blamed?

Well, yes. And for a multitude of things.

[BonoIsMyMuse]

Originally Posted by Zihua The God of Small Things, by Arundhati Roy Brilliant but very tragic and sad. Somehow I never got around to reading this before now, but I'm glad that I finally have. After taking in its almost relentlessly cynical observations of human nature though I think I'll need some time out with a few light happy stories or something. Even the happier/funnier moments were tinged with sadness, knowing the tragedies that were to follow. I guess that's no accident, with the way the story swings back & forth in time like a pendulum until it finishes with the central unforgivable act that marks the beginning of the end.. Well worth reading though. I loved catching the little back & forth references thrown in everywhere, and I especially loved Arundhati Roy's ability to channel the crazy little thought processes of children. She's well and truly in touch with her inner child, woe be to the little bugger that ever tries to put one over her. Can't wait 'til she releases the second book, be damned if I'll wait as long to get around to reading it.

This is one of my very favorite books. It's sad but stunningly beautiful at the same time, and I really loved her style. For a long time, Roy said she was never going to write another novel because she was still so overwhelmed by the sadness she felt about the characters in this one, but I think I heard more recently that she is writing fiction again.

I promise before I get famous, I'll be sure to put a note here to let you all know

[corianderstem]

#40 Dispatches From the Edge by Anderson Cooper

Good stuff, often very moving. I can't believe he got his start as a foreign correspondent because he pretty much just decided he was going to do it. Made a fake press pass and took off to Thailand, where he met up with some Burmese refugees who wanted to overthrow their country's dictatorship.

I mean ... wow.

[BonoIsMyMuse]

I read that a few months ago and really loved it. I'm thinking that might've been the book that put me on my nonfiction kick this year.

[beegee]

Non-fiction is my favorite.

[Pearl]

Originally Posted by Zihua The God of Small Things, by Arundhati Roy Brilliant but very tragic and sad. Somehow I never got around to reading this before now, but I'm glad that I finally have. After taking in its almost relentlessly cynical observations of human nature though I think I'll need some time out with a few light happy stories or something. Even the happier/funnier moments were tinged with sadness, knowing the tragedies that were to follow. I guess that's no accident, with the way the story swings back & forth in time like a pendulum until it finishes with the central unforgivable act that marks the beginning of the end.. Well worth reading though. I loved catching the little back & forth references thrown in everywhere, and I especially loved Arundhati Roy's ability to channel the crazy little thought processes of children. She's well and truly in touch with her inner child, woe be to the little bugger that ever tries to put one over her. Can't wait 'til she releases the second book, be damned if I'll wait as long to get around to reading it.

One of my all-time favorite books. I adore Roy's style of writing. I read the book when I was in high school, and I would write my essays in a similar way to Roy's style! It is a sad and tragic story, but the writing is spectacular.

[corianderstem]

I've had The God of Small Things on my bookshelves since ... um ... I think since I lived in Wisconsin, which was before 2000.

I have no idea why I've never gotten around to reading it - I've loved the other Indian-focused literature I've read in the last few years. Maybe I'll finally give it a go this summer.

[BonoIsMyMuse]

Read it!



I should actually reread it this summer. I wrote an essay about it a few years ago in a class, and the professor encouraged me to revise it and send it to a scholarly journal, but I was either too busy or too lazy (or both), and now I can't revise it without rereading it first.

[Carek1230]

I just finished My Scottish Summer and enjoyed it. It was a good quick read.

[corianderstem]

#41 Memoirs Of An Ex-Prom Queen by Alix Kates Shulman

The title makes it sound like a big, fluffy chicklit tale, but it's actually a coming-of-age-and-then-some tale about a woman in 1950s America. I enjoyed it a lot more than I was expecting to, even though sometimes the narrator drove me batty.