Book Club will now be held chez moi tomorrow, May 1st at 8:00 p.m.
Mendy
Wednesday, April 30, 2008
Monday, April 21, 2008
August Choices & Voting
Here are my picks for August.
Prince Caspian by C.S. Lewis
Peter, Susan, Edmund, and Lucy Pevensey, the heroes and heroines from The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe, return in this fourth installment of C.S. Lewis' Chronicles of Narnia series. The four children are transported from an English train station to an island in the world of Narnia. Though Narnia has been at peace since the children left, it is now under the control of Wicked King Mirax. The youngsters, along with Aslan the great lion, must help young Prince Caspian restore Narnia's glorious past.
Keys of the Kingdom: Mister Monday by Garth Nix
Mister Monday details the adventure of a schoolboy, Arthur Penhaligon, who, during an asthma attack, is entrusted with a key by one Mister Monday, on the supposition that he is about to die and the key will pass straight back to Monday, ensuring his ownership of it. However, he survives, in possession of both the key and a strange notebook known as the Compleat Atlas, and soon he is being hounded by Monday's henchmen, a.k.a Fetchers, who inadvertently bring a plague of some sort to Arthur's home town. He escapes quarantine and sets off into a mysterious house, which has appeared in the Atlas, in search of a solution to all these problems.
Here, There Be Dragons by James A. Owen
The unusual murder of an Oxford professor brings together three strangers in World War I London: John, a soldier and the professor's correspondence student; Jack, a young Oxford student; and Charles, an editor at the Oxford University Press. One rainy night they meet a curious man called Bert who tells them that they are the caretakers of the Imaginarium Geographica, an atlas of imaginary lands. Forced to flee in Bert's ship, the group sails to the Archipelago of Dreams, where a battle over Arthur Pendragon's throne threatens to place the evil Winter King in charge.
Prince Caspian by C.S. Lewis
Peter, Susan, Edmund, and Lucy Pevensey, the heroes and heroines from The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe, return in this fourth installment of C.S. Lewis' Chronicles of Narnia series. The four children are transported from an English train station to an island in the world of Narnia. Though Narnia has been at peace since the children left, it is now under the control of Wicked King Mirax. The youngsters, along with Aslan the great lion, must help young Prince Caspian restore Narnia's glorious past.
Keys of the Kingdom: Mister Monday by Garth Nix
Mister Monday details the adventure of a schoolboy, Arthur Penhaligon, who, during an asthma attack, is entrusted with a key by one Mister Monday, on the supposition that he is about to die and the key will pass straight back to Monday, ensuring his ownership of it. However, he survives, in possession of both the key and a strange notebook known as the Compleat Atlas, and soon he is being hounded by Monday's henchmen, a.k.a Fetchers, who inadvertently bring a plague of some sort to Arthur's home town. He escapes quarantine and sets off into a mysterious house, which has appeared in the Atlas, in search of a solution to all these problems.
Here, There Be Dragons by James A. Owen
The unusual murder of an Oxford professor brings together three strangers in World War I London: John, a soldier and the professor's correspondence student; Jack, a young Oxford student; and Charles, an editor at the Oxford University Press. One rainy night they meet a curious man called Bert who tells them that they are the caretakers of the Imaginarium Geographica, an atlas of imaginary lands. Forced to flee in Bert's ship, the group sails to the Archipelago of Dreams, where a battle over Arthur Pendragon's throne threatens to place the evil Winter King in charge.
September Book Choices by Kathy
Book 1: A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini -
This novel is the second book by the author of The Kite Runner. It was picked by Amazon.com editors as the Best Book of 2007. Amazon.com Customers ranked the book #2 of 2007 only behind Harry Potter... and perhaps the highest recommendation - Steve's grandmother, usually a reader of mystery books, loved it. (The following description is from Publishers Weekly)The story covers three decades of anti-Soviet jihad, civil war and Taliban tyranny through the lives of two women. Mariam is the scorned illegitimate daughter of a wealthy businessman, forced at age 15 into marrying the 40-year-old Rasheed, who grows increasingly brutal as she fails to produce a child. Eighteen later, Rasheed takes another wife, 14-year-old Laila, a smart and spirited girl whose only other options, after her parents are killed by rocket fire, are prostitution or starvation. Against a backdrop of unending war, Mariam and Laila become allies in an asymmetrical battle with Rasheed, whose violent misogyny is endorsed by custom and law. Hosseini gives a forceful but nuanced portrait of a patriarchal despotism where women are agonizingly dependent on fathers, husbands and especially sons, the bearing of male children being their sole path to social status. His tale is a powerful, harrowing depiction of Afghanistan, but also a lyrical evocation of the lives and enduring hopes of its resilient characters.
Book 2: Persepolis: The Story of a Childhood by Marjane Satrapi -
The story gained attention at the Oscars this year (I think) after it was transformed into an animated black & white cartoon. I don't read comic books and never had (besides a Far Side and Calvin & Hobbes here and there), but the reviews made me interested in checking out this book. (Here is a review from Amazon) - Satrapi's autobiography is a timely and timeless story of a young girl's life under the Islamic Revolution. Descended from the last Emperor of Iran, Satrapi is nine when fundamentalist rebels overthrow the Shah. While Satrapi's radical parents and their community initially welcome the ouster, they soon learn a new brand of totalitarianism is taking over. Satrapi's art is minimal and stark yet often charming and humorous as it depicts the madness around her. She idolizes those who were imprisoned by the Shah, fascinated by their tales of torture, and bonds with her Uncle Anoosh, only to see the new regime imprison and eventually kill him... Satrapi's parents, who once lived in luxury despite their politics, struggle to educate their daughter. Her father briefly considers fleeing to America, only to realize the price would be too great. "I can become a taxi driver and you a cleaning lady?" he asks his wife. Iron Maiden, Nikes and Michael Jackson become precious symbols of freedom, and eventually Satrapi's rebellious streak puts her in danger, as even educated women are threatened with beatings for improper attire. Despite the grimness, Satrapi never lapses into sensationalism or sentimentality. Skillfully presenting a child's view of war and her own shifting ideals, she also shows quotidian life in Tehran and her family's pride and love for their country despite the tumultuous times. Powerfully understated, this work joins other memoirs-Spiegelman's Maus and Sacco's Safe Area Goradze-that use comics to make the unthinkable familiar.
Book 3 - Then We Came to the End: A Novel by Joshua Ferris
This book just sounded funny to me - the description reminded me a little of some of the stupider (but somewhat humorous) things that happen in office culture. Two reviews:
* Office ennui gets a wickedly funny spin in Joshua Ferris' debut novel, Then We Came to the End: A Novel. A New York Times top five fiction book of the year, it captures office politics and relationships with surgical precision as an unnamed Chicago advertising agency enters a period of down-sizing.
* Amazon Best of the Month Spotlight Title, April 2007: It's 2001. The dot-com bubble has burst and rolling layoffs have hit an unnamed Chicago advertising firm sending employees into an escalating siege mentality as their numbers dwindle. As a parade of employees depart, bankers boxes filled with their personal effects, those left behind raid their fallen comrades' offices, sifting through the detritus for the errant desk lamp or Aeron chair. Written with confidence in the tricky-to-pull-off first-person plural, the collective fishbowl perspective of the "we" voice nails the dynamics of cubicle culture--the deadlines, the gossip, the elaborate pranks to break the boredom, the joy of discovering free food in the breakroom. Arch, achingly funny, and surprisingly heartfelt, it's a view of how your work becomes a symbiotic part of your life. A dysfunctional family of misfits forced together and fondly remembered as it falls apart. Praised as "the Catch-22 of the business world" and "The Office meets Kafka," I'm happy to report that Joshua Ferris's brilliant debut lives up to every ounce of pre-publication hype and instantly became one of my favorite books of the year. --Brad Thomas Parsons
I'll put on a poll pretty soon for voting!
This novel is the second book by the author of The Kite Runner. It was picked by Amazon.com editors as the Best Book of 2007. Amazon.com Customers ranked the book #2 of 2007 only behind Harry Potter... and perhaps the highest recommendation - Steve's grandmother, usually a reader of mystery books, loved it. (The following description is from Publishers Weekly)The story covers three decades of anti-Soviet jihad, civil war and Taliban tyranny through the lives of two women. Mariam is the scorned illegitimate daughter of a wealthy businessman, forced at age 15 into marrying the 40-year-old Rasheed, who grows increasingly brutal as she fails to produce a child. Eighteen later, Rasheed takes another wife, 14-year-old Laila, a smart and spirited girl whose only other options, after her parents are killed by rocket fire, are prostitution or starvation. Against a backdrop of unending war, Mariam and Laila become allies in an asymmetrical battle with Rasheed, whose violent misogyny is endorsed by custom and law. Hosseini gives a forceful but nuanced portrait of a patriarchal despotism where women are agonizingly dependent on fathers, husbands and especially sons, the bearing of male children being their sole path to social status. His tale is a powerful, harrowing depiction of Afghanistan, but also a lyrical evocation of the lives and enduring hopes of its resilient characters.
Book 2: Persepolis: The Story of a Childhood by Marjane Satrapi -
The story gained attention at the Oscars this year (I think) after it was transformed into an animated black & white cartoon. I don't read comic books and never had (besides a Far Side and Calvin & Hobbes here and there), but the reviews made me interested in checking out this book. (Here is a review from Amazon) - Satrapi's autobiography is a timely and timeless story of a young girl's life under the Islamic Revolution. Descended from the last Emperor of Iran, Satrapi is nine when fundamentalist rebels overthrow the Shah. While Satrapi's radical parents and their community initially welcome the ouster, they soon learn a new brand of totalitarianism is taking over. Satrapi's art is minimal and stark yet often charming and humorous as it depicts the madness around her. She idolizes those who were imprisoned by the Shah, fascinated by their tales of torture, and bonds with her Uncle Anoosh, only to see the new regime imprison and eventually kill him... Satrapi's parents, who once lived in luxury despite their politics, struggle to educate their daughter. Her father briefly considers fleeing to America, only to realize the price would be too great. "I can become a taxi driver and you a cleaning lady?" he asks his wife. Iron Maiden, Nikes and Michael Jackson become precious symbols of freedom, and eventually Satrapi's rebellious streak puts her in danger, as even educated women are threatened with beatings for improper attire. Despite the grimness, Satrapi never lapses into sensationalism or sentimentality. Skillfully presenting a child's view of war and her own shifting ideals, she also shows quotidian life in Tehran and her family's pride and love for their country despite the tumultuous times. Powerfully understated, this work joins other memoirs-Spiegelman's Maus and Sacco's Safe Area Goradze-that use comics to make the unthinkable familiar.
Book 3 - Then We Came to the End: A Novel by Joshua Ferris
This book just sounded funny to me - the description reminded me a little of some of the stupider (but somewhat humorous) things that happen in office culture. Two reviews:
* Office ennui gets a wickedly funny spin in Joshua Ferris' debut novel, Then We Came to the End: A Novel. A New York Times top five fiction book of the year, it captures office politics and relationships with surgical precision as an unnamed Chicago advertising agency enters a period of down-sizing.
* Amazon Best of the Month Spotlight Title, April 2007: It's 2001. The dot-com bubble has burst and rolling layoffs have hit an unnamed Chicago advertising firm sending employees into an escalating siege mentality as their numbers dwindle. As a parade of employees depart, bankers boxes filled with their personal effects, those left behind raid their fallen comrades' offices, sifting through the detritus for the errant desk lamp or Aeron chair. Written with confidence in the tricky-to-pull-off first-person plural, the collective fishbowl perspective of the "we" voice nails the dynamics of cubicle culture--the deadlines, the gossip, the elaborate pranks to break the boredom, the joy of discovering free food in the breakroom. Arch, achingly funny, and surprisingly heartfelt, it's a view of how your work becomes a symbiotic part of your life. A dysfunctional family of misfits forced together and fondly remembered as it falls apart. Praised as "the Catch-22 of the business world" and "The Office meets Kafka," I'm happy to report that Joshua Ferris's brilliant debut lives up to every ounce of pre-publication hype and instantly became one of my favorite books of the year. --Brad Thomas Parsons
I'll put on a poll pretty soon for voting!
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