Category Archives: Uncategorized

Subscribe

I don’t know why I subscribe to magazines. There’s one magazine in particular that I couldn’t keep up with even when it was my only subscription. I’ve got stacks of magazines. I go through them periodically and clip the pages I want to keep. I’ve got a big box of magazine clippings that I go through maybe twice a year.

Here’s the thing: I love magazines. They’re easy to carry, some of them are full of useful tips, and they’re perfectly crafted for someone with my short attention span. I almost don’t want to reveal what magazines I subscribe to. I think the subscriptions people have say a lot about them.

My current subscriptions:

  • The Week
  • Wired
  • Real Simple
  • Spin (I got this one for free somehow)

Previous subscriptions:

  • Q (oh how I miss having a subscription to this!)
  • InStyle
  • Time Out Chicago
  • Interview
  • Paste
  • Entertainment Weekly
  • I’m sure I forgot some.

What’s interesting is that, now that I have them listed like this, it doesn’t seem like I subscribe to a lot. Trust me, though. I really only look at the cover of Wired. I skim Real Simple and note some of the tips they offer, but it’s hardly a subscription I need. I only read Spin in the bathroom. The Week is the magazine I try to keep up with, so I can feel like I know what’s going on in the world.

This whole thing makes me wonder if people actually read magazines cover to cover. It’s no surprise that print publications are going out of style. I’m kind of okay with that, at least when it comes to magazines. But there’s still something nice and appealing about having a magazine in hand. There’s something nice about being able to save the articles you want. (They also come in handy for art projects.)

The Spellman Files by Lisa Lutz

I finished a second book this weekend, The Spellman Files by Lisa Lutz. The book centers around Isabel “Izzy” Spellman, who is a private investigator in a family of private investigators. This family is totally crazy – they’re all completely paranoid, spy on each other, and lie to one another and to everyone else. A lot of the reviews I read prior to reading the book compared Isabel Spellman to Veronica Mars – a sacrilege to someone who loves Veronica Mars as much as I do. But it’s a justified comparison, and Isabel and the characters who surround her, are people that I found myself rooting for. The chapters are short, the characters are great, the cases and other mysteries in Isabel’s life are well crafted in a way that doesn’t underestimate the audience’s intelligence but aren’t completely unpredictable or outrageous – they’re believable. And the best part for me is that book delves into Izzy’s dating life without getting all romancey.

I’m excited that this book is the beginning of a series of Spellman novels by Lutz. The Curse of the Spellmans was released in March of this year (I think), and I’m ready to run out to the bookstore to get it.

The Westing Game

I’ll admit it: The Westing Game by Ellen Raskin went straight over my head when I read it in grade school. I knew it was a great story, but I honesty didn’t get it. I have finally reread the book, and it is absolutely outstanding! It’s witty, filled with great characters, and is a great mystery. It’s a quick read. I highly recommend it – read it and then loan it to your favorite pre-teen.

Little City Foundation Used Book Sale

This past week, the Little City Foundation had a used book sale at Old Orchard. My cousin and I hit it up last weekend. For those of you who care, here are the books I bought:

  1. Catch-22 – Joseph Heller
  2. The Liar’s Club – Mary Karr
  3. Peace Like a River – Leif Enger
  4. Indecision – Benjamin Kunkel
  5. Speak – Laurie Halse Anderson
  6. The Jane Austen Book Club – Karen Joy Fowler
  7. Nine Stories – J.D. Salinger
  8. Veronika Decides to Die – Paulo Coelho
  9. Look Closely – Laura Caldwell
  10. The Bonfire of the Vanities – Tom Wolfe
  11. Julie and Romeo – Jeanne Ray
  12. Tourist Season – Carl Hiaasen
  13. Lucky You – Carl Hiaasen
  14. Skinny Dip – Carl Hiaasen
  15. The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime – Mark Haddon
  16. The Know-it-All – A.J. Jacobs
  17. The Portable Beat Reader – edited by Ann Charters
  18. Fade – Robert Cormier
  19. Teacher Man – Frank McCourt
  20. Holidays on Ice – David Sedaris
  21. Blowing My Cover: My Life as a CIA Spy – Lindsay Moran
  22. The Assistants – Robin Lynn Williams
  23. Mad and Boy – Tony Parsons
  24. Swimming – Joanna Hershon
  25. The Wisdom of Mark Twain
  26. Crossing California – Adam Langer
  27. Less Than Zero – Bret Easton Ellis
  28. My Life in Heavy Metal – Steve Almond
  29. Velocity – Dean Koontz
  30. Sophie’s World – Jostein Gaarder
  31. Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim – David Sedaris
  32. Lost in Place – Mark Salzman
  33. Angela’s Ashes – Frank McCourt
  34. Sick Puppy – Carl Hiaasen
  35. Good Faith – Jane Smiley

It’ll take me a good amount of time to get through these.

Click here for more information on the Little City Foundation.

A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius

Yesterday, I finished A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius by Dave Eggers. I suppose it’s important to note that the copy I have is the Vintage paperback edition.

There are some books that allow you to enter into this small world that only exists in the book – when you’re done reading, the world is gone and you don’t have to think about it anymore. And then there are other books that are, like, this invitation to a world that really does exist. It’s a world that’s around you, a world that’s been waiting to be discovered by you. And that’s how I felt about this book. I don’t know if that makes any sense. Suffice to say that I spent an hour googling Mr. Eggers yesterday.

Anyway, I love this book. You’ll probably either love it or hate it. It’s best to just dive right into this book. Don’t try and find out any details about it. Just dive in.

Always Late to the Party

This week, I had the pleasure of reading The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky. What an amazing book! It was a breeze to read. I laughed, I cried, I was shocked…it was a really fun book to read! I don’t want to give anything away for anyone who hasn’t read it yet. It’s one of those books where the less you know about it, the more fun it is to experience.

I first saw this book maybe 4 or 5 years ago, and I couldn’t bring myself to buy it for some reason. But last month, I finally picked it up. I admit, it was an impulse buy during a lonely Target visit, but I am SO glad I bought it. I see myself rereading this book many times.

BUY IT and share with a friend!

Bookworm

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Thanks part to T.G., I’ve read more books in the past month and a half than I did all last year. In fact, I think the last Harry Potter was the only book I actually read the whole way through last year. Sad, but true. Blah blah…anyway, here’s what I’ve read:

Duplicate Keys by Jane Smiley: This was a nice read that uses a murder to explore relationships and the psyche of the main character, Alice. I started to hate Alice after awhile, but who says that you have to sympathize with the main character? A good story and a good mystery. Borrow it from your local library.

Funny in Farsi: A Memoir of Growing Up Iranian in America by Firoozeh Dumas: This book will make you laugh out loud. While the cultural stuff makes this book entertaining, I was mostly impressed by the life that Firoozeh Dumas has led overall. Buy this book and pass it on to a friend.

Love Is a Mix Tape: Life and Loss, One Song at a Time by Rob Sheffield: Another memoir. Music was and is a huge part of this guy’s life. It got me thinking about the songs that would be part of my own life’s soundtrack…West End Girls by The Pet Shop Boys…I Want it That Way by the Backstreet Boys…She Loves You by The Beatles…Rush, Rush by Paula Abdul…if I ever make a movie about my life, these songs, along with a hundred other ones, will be playing in the background. Buy this book if you care about music. Borrow it if you don’t love music, but appreciate a great love story and pop culture.

Currently reading I Want Candy by Kim Wong Keltner. So far…so funny. I’ll tell you how it is when I’m done. And don’t worry: I still devote plenty of time to TV.

Countdown to 2008: So Many Books…

…and I haven’t even read half of them! I used to LOVE reading. Lately, though, all I ever commit to reading are books from the Harry Potter series. I don’t think there’s anything wrong with that, but I should probably read the other titles that I have. To help myself, I’m going to make a list of the books that I have. That way, I have a way to keep track of how many books I have and how many books I’ve actually read. I think that being able to check off more titles as “read” will help me to be a more avid reader in 2008.

Deathly Hallows Update: 2007.07.23

Completed as of 10:19pm last night. J.K. Rowling is amazing. I’m a huge nerd and cried through half of the book (there were laughs, too). I’ll miss Harry Potter, but everything concluded so nicely that I think it may be a sacrilege to write anything new about these characters. Wow.