litwanks main
biographies
The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down, Anne Fadiman  Algernon, Charlie, and I - Daniel Keyes  Without Vodka, Aleksander Topolski  Appetite for Life, Noel Riley Fitch  On Writing, Stephen King  The Last Madam, Christine Wiltz  Valencia, Michele Tea  The Kid, Dan Savage 

children & young adult books
The Second Summer of the Sisterhood, Ann Brashares  Summerland, Michael Chabon  Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, J.K. Rowling  The Giver, Lois Lowry  Gathering Blue, Lois Lowry  Holes, Louis Sachar  War for the Oaks, Emma Bull  The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants, Ann Brashares  I Was A Rat!, Philip Pullman  The Wide Window, Lemony Snicket  The Reptile Room, Lemony Snicket  Coraline, Neil Gaiman  The Tiger in the Well, Philip Pullman  The Shadow in the North, Philip Pullman  Mixed Magics, Diana Wynne Jones  Empress of the World, Sara Ryan  Violet and Claire, Francesca Lia Block  I Was a Teenage Fairy, Francesca Lia Block  Sophie's Masterpiece, Eileen Spinelli, Jane Dyer  Q is for Quark - A Science Alphabet Book, David M. Schwartz  Clockwork: Or All Wound Up, Philip Pullman  Red Ranger Came Calling - A Guaranteed True Christmas Story, Berkely Breathed  The Bad Beginning, Lemony Snicket  The Amber Spyglass, Philip Pullman  Roverandom, J.R.R. Tolkien  Bud, not Buddy, Christopher Paul Curtis  The Ruby in the Smoke, Philip Pullman  The Subtle Knife, Philip Pullman  Sector 7, David Wiesner  The Golden Compass, Phillip Pullman  Return to Gone-Away, Elizabeth Enright  Harry Potter & the Goblet of Fire, JK Rowling  Gone Away Lake, Elizabeth Enright  The Number Devil: A Mathematical Adventure, Hans Magnus Enzensberger  Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (Book III), JK Rowling  Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (Book II), JK Rowling  Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone (Book I), JK Rowling 

comfort reading & trashy novels
The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon, Stephen King  California Roll - Roger L. Simon  Bone in the Throat, Anthony Bourdain  Gone Bamboo, Anthony Bourdain  The Helium Murder, Camille Minichino. 

comics
Finder: Sin Eater, Carla Speed McNeil  Harlequin Valentine, Neil Gaiman  Pedro and Me, Judd Winick  The Quotable Sandman, Neil Gaiman  Bone - Ghost Circles, Jeff Smith  Bone: Old Man's Cave, Jeff Smith  Bone: Rock Jaw, Jeff Smith  Signal to Noise, Eric S. Nylund  Bone - The Dragon Slayer, Jeff Smith  Bone - Eyes of the Storm, Jeff Smith  Bone - The Great Cow Race, Jeff Smith  Dreamtoons, Jesse Reklaw  Bone, Jeff Smith  Midnight Days, Neil Gaiman 

cookbooks & food writing
Cooking for Mr. Latte, Amanda Hesser  The Zuni Cafe Cookbook, Judy Rodgers  Let Us Eat Cake, Sharon Boorstin  Best Food Writing 2002, Holly Hughes  The Best American Recipes 1999, Fran McCullogh, Suzanne Hamlin  The Fourth Star, Leslie Brenner  Chez Panisse Fruit - Alice Waters  Stuffed - Adventures of a Restaurant Family, Patricia Volk  Think Like a Chef, Tom Colicchio  The Last Course - The Desserts of Gramercy Tavern, Claudia Fleming  A Cook's Tour, Anthony Bourdain  The Cook and The Gardener, Amanda Hesser  Kitchen Suppers: Good Food to Share with Good Friends, Alison Becker Hurt  Fast Food Nation, Eric Schlosser  The Northwest Essantials, Greg Atkinson  The Cafe Cookbook: Italian Recipes for London's River Cafe, Ruth Rogers, Rose Gray  Flavours, Donna Hay  Cocktail-O-Matic, Suzanne Matczuk  The Millennium Cookbook, Eric Tucker, John Westerdahl, and Sascha Weiss  Staff Meals from Chanterelle, David Waltuck, Melicia Phillips  Between Two Fires: Intimate Writings on Love, Life, Food & Flavor, Laura Esquivel  My Kitchen Wars, Betty Fussell  The Potted Herb, Abbie Zabar  Terra, Hiro Sone, Lissa Doumani  The Best Thing I Ever Tasted: The Secret of Food, Sally Tilsdale  The Northern California Best Places Cookbook, Cynthia C. Nims, Carolyn Dille  San Francisco Seafood, Michele Anne Jordan  The Naked Chef, Jamie Oliver  Monday Night at Narsai's, Narsai David  The Best Food Writing 2000, Holly Hughes  The French Laundry Cookbook, Thomas Keller  Alligator Dreams: The Story of Greenwood Ridge Vineyards, Richard Paul Hinkle  Simple French Food, Richard Olney  Off the Eaten Path, Bob Blumer  Waiting: The True Confessions of a Waitress, Debra Ginsberg  The Soul of a Chef, Michael Ruhlman  A Year in Provence, Peter Mayle  Under the Tuscan Sun, Frances Mayes  Cookwise: The Hows and Whys of Successful Cooking, Shirly A. Corrihur.  Kitchen Confidential, Anthony Bourdain  Cook's Illustrated 1999 Almanac  Chez Panisse Desserts, Lindsay Shere  The Measure of Her Powers; an MFK Fisher Reader  Noodle, Terry Durak  Taste, David Rosengarten  A Celebration of Women Chefs, Julie Stillman & Alice Waters 

lit-ra-ture
Wonder When You'll Miss Me, Amanda Davis  The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay, Michael Chabon  Jenny and the Jaws of Life, Jincy Willett  Dead Air, Iain Banks  Lullaby, Chuck Palahniuk  The Book of Illusions, Paul Auster  Whit, Iain Banks  Canal Dreams, Iain Banks  Boonville, Robert Mailer Anderson  White Oleander, Janet Fitch  Girl with a Pearl Earring, Tracy Chevalier  Ella Minnow Pea, Mark Dunn  The Hours, Michael Cunningham  The Mistress of Spices, Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni  FingerSmith, Sarah Waters  The Book Borrower, Alice Mattison  The House of Fog and Sand, Andre Dubus III  The Girl's Guide to Hunting and Fishing, Melissa Bank  The Bridegroom, Ha Jin  A Widow for One Year, John Irving  The Blind Assassin, Margaret Atwood  The Crow Road, Iain Banks  Espedair Street, Iain Banks  The Path of Minor Planets, Andrew Sean Greer  Invisible Monsters, Chuck Palahniuk  Shanghai Baby, Wei Hui  Bachelor Brother's Bed and Breakfast, Bill Richardson  The Glass Bead Game, Hermann Hesse  The Wasp Factory, Iain Banks  Girlfriend in a Coma, Douglas Coupland  Frisco Pigeon Mambo, C.D. Payne  Choke, Chuck Palahniuk  The Player of Games, Iain M. Banks  Tipping the Velvet, Sarah Waters  Dating Big Bird, Laura Zigman  Shopgirl, Steve Martin  Hopeful Monsters, Nicholas Mosley  Waiting, Ha Jin  The Liar, Stephen Fry  Prodigal Summer, Barbara Kingsolver  The Night Listener, Armistead Maupin  Norwegian Wood, Haruki Murakami  The Saskiad, Brian Hall  Me Talk Pretty One Day, David Sedaris  Timbuktu, Paul Auster  To Kill A Mockingbird, Harper Lee  The Cider House Rules, John Irving  A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius, Dave Eggers  Ghost of Chance, William S. Burroughs  How it Was for Me, Sean Andrew Greer  Motherless Brooklyn, Jonathan Lethem  The Berlin Noir Trilogy, Phillip Kerr  The Tasmanian Babes Fiasco, John Birmingham.  Beyond the Curve, Kobo Abe  He Died with a Felafel in His Hand, John Birmingham  Marley in Hell; James Oleson 

non-fiction
The Bitch in the House, Cathi Hanauer  Time Out Tokyo  Victoria and Vancouver Island: A Personal Tour of an Almost Perfect Eden, Kathleen Thompson Hill, Gerald N. Hill  Cunt: A Declaration of Independance, Inga Muscio  Into Thin Air, Jon Krakauer  Congregations in Conflict - The Battle over Homosexuality, Keith Hartman  Bi Any Other Name,Bisexual People Speak Out, Loraine Hutchins, editor and Lani Kaahumanu, editor  Class, Paul Fussell 

science fiction & fantasty
Sleeping in Flame, Jonathan Carroll  Vitals, Greg Bear  Chasm City, Alastair Reynolds  Holy Fire, Bruce Sterling  Lost: A Novel, Gregory Maguire  Cosmonaut Keep, Ken Macleod  The Return of the King, J.R.R. Tolkien  The Two Towers, J.R.R. Tolkien  Psychlone, Greg Bear  The Land of Laughs, Jonathan Carroll  The Wooden Sea, Jonathan Carroll  Lust, Geoff Ryman  Zeitgeist, Bruce Sterling  Passage, Connie Willis  The Scar, China Mieville  Revelation Space, Alastair Reynolds  King Rat, China Mieville  Emergence, David R. Palmer  Gumshoe Gorilla, Keith Hartman  Perdido Street Station, China Mieville  The Two Towers, J.R.R. Tolkien  The Fellowship of The Ring, J.R.R. Tolkien  Ship of Fools, Richard Paul Russo  Sky Coyote, Kage Baker  Consider Phlebas, Iain M. Banks  The Goblin Companion, Brian Froud and Terry Jones  Calculating God, Robert J. Sawyer  Look to Windward, Iain M. Banks  The Sky Road, Ken MacLeod  1968, Joe Haldeman  Marooned In Realtime, Vernor Vinge  The Peace War, Vernor Vinge  The Cassini Division, Ken MacLeod  The Stone Canal, Ken MacLeod  American Gods, Neil Gaiman  Inversions, Iain M. Banks  Robots of Dawn, Isaac Asimov  The Lust Lizard of Melancholy Cove, Christopher Moore  The Moon is a Harsh Mistress, Robert A. Heinlien  All Tomorrow's Parties, William Gibson  The Big U, Neal Stephenson  Was, Geoff Ryman  Russian Spring, Norman Spinrad  Dreaming in Smoke, Tricia Sullivan  The Best of Times, the Worst of Times: A Dickens of a Christmas Carol, James Oleson  One for the Morning Glory, John Barnes  The Business, Iain Banks  Tea from an Empty Cup, Pat Cadigan  The Child Garden, Geoff Ryman  Forever Free, Joe Haldeman  The Marriage of Sticks, Jonathan Carroll  Distraction: A Novel, Bruce Sterling  Walking on Glass, Iain M. Banks  Expendable, James Alan Gardner  Promised Land, Connie Willis & Cynthia Felice  A Hunger in the Soul, Mike Resnick  Excession, Iain M. Banks  The Ophiuchi Hotline, John Varley  Frameshift, Robert Sawyer  The Use of Weapons, Iain M. Banks  The Gumshoe, the Witch, and the Virtual Corpse, Keith Hartman  The Lord of Emperors, Guy Gavriel Kay  The Gift, Patrick O'Leary  The Golden Globe, John Varley  Antarctica, Kim Stanley Robinson  Titan, John Varley  Tales of an Ugly Stepsister, Gregory McGuire  Behind Door Number Three, Patrick O'Leary  Millennium, John Varley  Wicked - The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West, Gregory Maguire  Queen City Jazz, Kathleen Ann Goonan  In the Garden of Iden,Kage Baker  Miracle and Other Christmas Stories, Connie Willis  Sailing to Sarantium. Guy Gavriel Kay  The Eternal Footman, James A. Morrow 

scientific curiosity
Arrowsmith, Sinclair Lewis  Time, Love, Memory Jonathan Weiner  Genome, The Autobiography of a Species in 23 Chapters, Matt Ridley 

Wonder When You'll Miss Me, Amanda Davis
Wow. I devoured this book in a day, while waiting for Beca to give birth. I'd heard good things about it; Heidi had declared it the best book she'd read this year. And yet somehow I was unprepared for how compelling the story was; how it grabbed me and held on. The protaganist is a 16-year-old girl who is sometimes years older than her age, and sometimes years younger. She battles personal demons, and yes, runs away with the circus. There's vivid imagery - I can see so many scenes in my mind. And somehow, Amanda Davis manages to keep the book from turning into a cliché. Add me to the list of people who regret Ms. Davis' death last year. I wonder what she could have done with more time.... Highly recommended.
| TrackBack (400) | link me | July 2004
The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay, Michael Chabon
I think the easiest way to tell you how much i liked this book is to point out that with only a few hundred pages left, i carted it to Seattle and around and about - and we stayed on foot the whole time. (My copy is in hardcover. Heavy. And yet, I just couldn't leave it behind for 4 days.) What an amazing piece of writing - a great story about two boys coming of age; about the birth of the comics industry; about New York during a period of great change. Chabon is a master storyteller with a sense for assiduous wordsmithing. If you haven't read this yet, it's definitely worth picking up. But maybe you want it in paperback, so when you cart it around, unable to let go of it, it doesn't hurt your back so much?
| Comments (15) | TrackBack (441) | link me | June 2003
Jenny and the Jaws of Life, Jincy Willett
Yes, yes. We bought this because David Sedaris told us to. We read it because David Sedaris told us to. But i enjoyed it because the stories were good, not because David Sedaris told us to! Cynical little downbeat/upbeat stories. Somewhat hit and miss, but some complete jewels. Go for it.
| Comments (0) | TrackBack (38) | link me | April 2003
Dead Air, Iain Banks
The wickedly cynical and funny story of a London morning-show DJ and his friends & lovers. Very good, very Banks, very recommended.
| Comments (1) | TrackBack (267) | link me | January 2003
Lullaby, Chuck Palahniuk
I quite enjoyed this book - the concept of linking a 'culling song' to SIDS was clever; it tickled the parts of me that link mythology and science. The characters were definitely characitures of themselves; this amused rather than annoyed me. Russell and i spent a BART ride discussing it; R was quite annoyed by the book on a number of levels. We wound up agreeing to disagree on the matter. Weird - i just went looking for Palahniuk's website on Lullaby - he tells the story of why he wrote it, and his dad's murder. It's gone - i guess Random House took it down in the meantime. Nonethless, i would recommend Lullaby to you.
| Comments (1) | TrackBack (100) | link me | October 2002
The Book of Illusions, Paul Auster
I now understand why James sent me a note saying "...but grab the Auster book and dig in as quickly as you can." This gift was a fascinating read - many-layered and thoughtfully woven from ideas that i recognize as some of James' favorite themes: a broken professor (in this case, from the loss of his wife and two children) who finds some redemption in intense study (in this case, of a particular actor in silent films), and a mysterious woman who helps save him from himself. Auster skillfully avoids playing these oft-repeated themes in a tiresome way, instead sliding things around, melding them together, and playing the tragedies repeated through the novel into a final sense of hope - not for anything specific or in response to any one event, but instead an overall feeling of hope. I think Auster's prose steadily improves. Recommended.
| Comments (0) | TrackBack (6) | link me | September 2002
Whit, Iain Banks
This may be one of my favorites of Banks' non-scifi genre. Whit is the story of a girl named Isis, who is the chosen successor to leadership in her father's cult religious colony. He examines her faith and questioning therein while she seeks out a wayward cousin in the 'outside' world. While the book is full of characatures and amusing plays for laughter, it also manages to strike a little further under the skin and show a strong female protaganist taking a critical look at her faith, and find strength in it. A nice balance of the two. Recommended.
| Comments (1) | TrackBack (22) | link me | June 2002
Canal Dreams, Iain Banks
Iain Banks is a masterful storyteller. I continue to be impressed with his range. Canal Dreams is the story of a Japanese cellist who is travelling through the Panama Canal and gets caught in the crossfire of revolution. The hallucinatory dream sequences tell you other stories from her life, and are spliced throughout the daily-unfolding story of the revolution. Gritty and sad, but still a good read. Reminded me a bit of Haruki Murakami's work, at times.
| Comments (1) | TrackBack (88) | link me | June 2002
Boonville, Robert Mailer Anderson
Wow. Anderson pulls no punches, and doesn't worry about offending anyone in this book. Additionally, you'll never think of squirrels in the same way, again. I'm not sure if i would have liked this book if it was about someplace in upstate New York - i think some of my enjoyment stemmed from knowing exactly who Anderson was talking about in any given chapter - even if i was one of the ones he was ripping into. ;) Mailer's prose was uneven - sometimes his pacing was dead-on, and sometimes it was a little laggy. Overall, quite a good turnout for a first novel - especially if you share a humor cell with James, Russell & me. I'll certainly be picking up his next work, and i think if you're not too thin-skinned, you should pick this one up, too.
| Comments (1) | TrackBack (150) | link me | June 2002
White Oleander, Janet Fitch
A quick, painful read. Fitch is articulate and her teenage protaganist Astrid runs through a series of cringe-worthy foster homes and situations.
| Comments (23) | TrackBack (228) | link me | May 2002
Girl with a Pearl Earring, Tracy Chevalier
A charming and sometimes painful story of a 16 year-old girl hired to work in Vermeer's household. Her tale is told cleanly, with plenty of interesting details about living in the Delft villiage in the 1660s. Especially successfull in her detailing colors and visual affects, Chevalier manages to keep you turning the pages and wondering where things will go next. Acquired from the Bornschlegel holiday book swap this year - worth a read.
| Comments (16) | TrackBack (187) | link me |
Ella Minnow Pea, Mark Dunn
An epistolary story, about the Island of Nollop off of the southern coast of the United States. The inhabitants are near-worship Nevin Nollop, author of the sentence 'The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog.' The sentence is immortalized in town square, and as the story progressess, letter tiles fall off of the monument, and also out of use on the island of Nollop (and thus, out of the novel, as it's a series of letters written there). A cautionary tale on freedom of speech, cleverly written with a great vocabulary. Recommended, for fun.
| Comments (4) | TrackBack (193) | link me | May 2002
The Hours, Michael Cunningham
Short and sweet - i read this book in about four or five hours. It cunningly weaves the stories of three women - Virginia Woolf, a young bookworm mother in the fifties in SoCal, and an aging lesbian in New York. Well written, with threads and imagery moving fluidly from tale to tale. Recommended
| Comments (19) | TrackBack (181) | link me | April 2002
The Mistress of Spices, Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni
A sweet fairy tale of a book, set in Indian spice shop in Oakland. Nice Indian mythology and writing; a pleasant read.
| Comments (0) | TrackBack (76) | link me | April 2002
FingerSmith, Sarah Waters
Beca loaned me Tipping the Velvet a while back, and i quite enjoyed it. I was prompted to pick this up recently, and tore through it quickly. Somehow about halfway in, i was as bit disappointed - Sarah blew her wad about a third of the way in, and never managed to pick back up again to full engagement. I waited for more that i never found through the second half of the book. Still, a fun and easy read.
| Comments (1) | TrackBack (168) | link me | April 2002
The Book Borrower, Alice Mattison
A slightly disconcerting story of a friendship, uneasily struck but deeply felt, between two women, and subsequently their families. Worth a borrow.
| Comments (1) | TrackBack (192) | link me | April 2002
The House of Fog and Sand, Andre Dubus III
This book was skillfully written, juxtaposing a Persian who has fled Iran to America and an American woman who is struggling to find her place and her peace in her father's old home. It takes places in Oakland, San Francisco, San Mateo, and on the coastline between Pacifica and Half Moon Bay; Dubus' skill in portraying places i have lived and love is exquisite. His characters are drawn clearly and played off of one another for full impact. At the risk of giving spoilers, Dubus also has the guts to not have a 'happily ever after' ending that is almost gruesome in its accuracy of the everyday macabre of a human downward spiral.
| Comments (0) | TrackBack (95) | link me | March 2002
The Girl's Guide to Hunting and Fishing, Melissa Bank
I'm not sure what i was expecting here, but it wasn't what i found... which was a charming set of stories chronicling a young woman from adolescence into old age. Enjoyable.
| Comments (0) | TrackBack (78) | link me | March 2002
The Bridegroom, Ha Jin
I loved Waiting ,and somehow didn't catch that this was a book of shorts when we bought it. I was game when i picked it up, and wasn't disappointed. Jin's writing still has the clarity and piercing insight i loved in Waiting, but these stories were much, much darker. The first several i were dark like a Jimsoney story, only told from a Chinese perspective. Recommended.
| Comments (0) | TrackBack (289) | link me | March 2002
A Widow for One Year, John Irving
This was a book of healing for me. Not because of the content of the book itself, but because it was long, engaging, and a great read at a time when i needed to chew through five or six hundred pages in 24 hours. I still think Irving is a good writer, and i especially found the last few lines of the book pleasing as a circle-through. I wonder if James has read this... it made me think of Grey Wings.
| Comments (0) | TrackBack (257) | link me | March 2002
The Blind Assassin, Margaret Atwood
A nice tale; i always enjoy reading Atwood. I liked this one better than the last few; the juxtaposition of the sf novel inside the book was especially well-done.
| Comments (0) | TrackBack (233) | link me | January 2002
The Crow Road, Iain Banks
A fantastic book. Iain Banks tells his story vividly and thoroughly.
| Comments (1) | TrackBack (102) | link me | December 2001
Espedair Street, Iain Banks
A great story about making it big in the late seventies as a rock star, and what might happen to your life after that. Definitely the least violent of the Banks books i've read thus far, it reminded me of several musicians in my life in turns. As always, Banks can write a passage that has me laughing hysterically and follow it by another that is completely sobering, and start the cycle again. Highly recommended.
| Comments (0) | TrackBack (112) | link me | November 2001
The Path of Minor Planets, Andrew Sean Greer
A thoroughly delightful book about scientists and their children. The 'catch' of the book is that you check in on these folks every six years, and perihelioon and aphelioon of a comet discovered by one of our central characters. The people are engaging, the conversation makes me recall my youth around scientists, but Andy's foremost strength lies in giving you the sensation of being *in* the scene. Highly recommended.
| Comments (0) | TrackBack (89) | link me | October 2001
Invisible Monsters, Chuck Palahniuk
Another book by the author of Fight Club. This book didn't work for me; it annoyed me -- and yet i kept reading. Go figure. Told very alinearly, the story centers around a twenty-something model who has just had her jaw shot off, and a drag queen who is trying to help her recreate herself. (That's the tame summary.)
| Comments (2) | TrackBack (78) | link me | October 2001
Shanghai Baby, Wei Hui
Cute. My husband gave this to me for a birthday present, and it was light bedtime reading. A bit like a cross between Murakami and Banana Yoshimoto. Certainly not worth buying in hardcover, but if you find it cheap and need an airplane book or light bedtime reading, it's enjoyable.
| Comments (0) | TrackBack (21) | link me | October 2001
Bachelor Brother's Bed and Breakfast, Bill Richardson
A charming book of stories about a B&B where folks go to read, run by twins on an island near Vancouver Island. We picked this up at Munro's on our honeymoon from the 'local writers' section. Sounds like a great place to visit. 8)
| Comments (0) | TrackBack (148) | link me | October 2001
The Glass Bead Game, Hermann Hesse
This is an amazing book. It's a little hard to start, and it's not good for 10-15 minute reading bouts, but it is perfect for a 'sit down and become engrossed'. Set in the far future, you'll follow Joseph Knecht through his eduction and indoctrination into a community for the intellectual elite, rise through the orginization, and ultimately leave. James recommended it to me ages ago, and i heartily pass on the advice to you.
| Comments (1) | TrackBack (68) | link me | September 2001
The Wasp Factory, Iain Banks
A creepy little book, though not quite as macabe as i was expecting, given all the hype. Well-written - but if you have problems with violence towards animals, this book will probably be hard for you to read.
| Comments (0) | TrackBack (89) | link me | September 2001
Girlfriend in a Coma, Douglas Coupland
A quick & easy read. Not quite as bitingly sarcastic as some of his other books, and i think the better for it.
| Comments (0) | TrackBack (94) | link me | August 2001
Frisco Pigeon Mambo, C.D. Payne
Heidi reviewed this on Astrarium, and i was sold. The book was indeed a goofy, fun read... and i too, recognized many of the characters.
| Comments (0) | TrackBack (203) | link me | August 2001
Choke, Chuck Palahniuk
Yep, the new book by the author of Fight Club. A good read, even if i couldn't get Ed Norton's voice out of my head for the narrator. The story of a med-school drop-out who is working in a American Colonial equivalent of Ren Faire, trying to deal with his dying mom and nutty friends. The common thread between the characters involves a 'sexaholics anonymous' group, so if graphic descriptions of sex and sexual deviance upset you, this probably isn't right for you.
| Comments (0) | TrackBack (25) | link me | July 2001
The Player of Games, Iain M. Banks

| Comments (0) | TrackBack (113) | link me | June 2001
Tipping the Velvet, Sarah Waters
Beca loaned this to me; it's an engaging read about a Victorian lesbian (or 'tom') and her life. Not usually a style i enjoy, but i had a hard time putting it down. Some good hot girlsex, some good descriptive sequences, and generally enjoyable.
| Comments (0) | TrackBack (337) | link me | April 2001
Dating Big Bird, Laura Zigman
A quick and easy read. Amusing and light, but definitely some current thoughts on motherhood and what it means in a contemporary setting. Picked it up because Andi knows the author; thought i'd give it a shot. If you're one of my friends jonesing for a baby right, now, watch out - this book will make it worse.
| Comments (0) | TrackBack (83) | link me | March 2001
Shopgirl, Steve Martin
An odd little tale; some of the passages were so well characterized they hurt. A good foray into the fiction world for Mr. Martin. Recommended.
| Comments (0) | TrackBack (203) | link me | February 2001
Hopeful Monsters, Nicholas Mosley
An amazing book. John recommended it with the statement 'It's like Possession, but about math and physics and WWII.' Beautifully written, enthralling story, engaging characters, good science. Highly recommended.
| Comments (0) | TrackBack (205) | link me | February 2001
Waiting, Ha Jin
This is destined to become one of those books read in high-school English class that the students actually like. About a Chinese military doctor who is caught between his country, old-fashioned wife and his more modern lover who is a nurse at the military hospital in the City. Jin paints a picture of a changing China that is rich enough to make you forget yourself and read until you get to the last page. His storytelling and prose are breathtaking.
| Comments (0) | TrackBack (99) | link me | February 2001
The Liar, Stephen Fry
I just couldn't finish this book. His writing is fine, good even... i just couldn't ever get into the story. A coworker loaned this when we were talking about Cambridge. Not recommended, but not condemned, either.
| Comments (2) | TrackBack (614) | link me | February 2001
Prodigal Summer, Barbara Kingsolver
Recommended. More serious than the Turtle books, but a little lighter than The Poisonwood Bible. The tracking and biology didn't rope me in - nope, not me. Recommended reading.
| Comments (0) | TrackBack (232) | link me | January 2001
The Night Listener, Armistead Maupin
Thanks to Andi for the loan! A good story. Read it in a sitting one morning/afternoon. Recommended, but maybe you want to wait for paperback?
| Comments (0) | TrackBack (478) | link me | January 2001
Norwegian Wood, Haruki Murakami
Sweet and sad love story, written impeccably.
| Comments (0) | TrackBack (77) | link me | October 2000
The Saskiad, Brian Hall
Not the kind of book i often read, but a good story about two girls coming of age. Good craftmanship in the storytelling.
| Comments (0) | TrackBack (195) | link me | September 2000
Me Talk Pretty One Day, David Sedaris
This was funny, but not nearly as funny as Naked. Easy read, though.
| Comments (1) | TrackBack (219) | link me | July 2000
Timbuktu, Paul Auster
I like Paul Auster's stories; this is no exception. Short, sad, and i'm not even a hard-core dog person. Quite good.
| Comments (0) | TrackBack (253) | link me | June 2000
To Kill A Mockingbird, Harper Lee
Every bit as good now as it was 12 years ago. If you haven't read it yet, go do it. Now. The foreward in this edition is marvelous.
| Comments (0) | TrackBack (25) | link me | June 2000
The Cider House Rules, John Irving
Really great read. Better than the movie, but i'm still glad i saw the movie. Engaging characters, fascintating information about the mores and women's-physiology issues of the times; a very strong pro-choice abortionist and arguments. Strongly recommended. Even Russell liked it!
| Comments (14) | TrackBack (131) | link me | April 2000
A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius, Dave Eggers
As Andy had heard, this book is exactly what it claims to be in the introduction. It gets a bit wanky at times, but is generally well-written, engrossing, and even occasionally poignant.
| Comments (0) | TrackBack (177) | link me | April 2000
Ghost of Chance, William S. Burroughs
A giftie from James. Giant lemurs, drugs, and a foolish unleashing of a Pandora's Box of viruses and plagues.
| Comments (3) | TrackBack (99) | link me | April 2000
How it Was for Me, Sean Andrew Greer
Good stories. Both text and imagry were vivid in a particularly pleasing fashion. And i'm not just saying that because Andy lives upstairs and is a friend; so go read it!
| Comments (0) | TrackBack (112) | link me | April 2000
Motherless Brooklyn, Jonathan Lethem
Excellent book about a PI with Tourette's Syndrome. Lethem's an excellent writer, and this book is strong. I liked Gun with Occasional Music a little better, but this was still quite a good read.
| Comments (0) | TrackBack (74) | link me | March 2000
The Berlin Noir Trilogy, Phillip Kerr
Quite good. Three books about the same PI; one set in pre-WWII Berlin, one set in WWII Berlin, and the last just after the war. Just the right amount of grit - Kerr's sense for visceral description is right up there with the best.
| Comments (0) | TrackBack (145) | link me | March 2000
The Tasmanian Babes Fiasco, John Birmingham.
A loaner from jsam; the sequel to He Died with a Felafel...below. Also hysterical - but not yet available in the States.
| Comments (1) | TrackBack (63) | link me | March 2000
Beyond the Curve, Kobo Abe
(thank you, anne.)
| Comments (0) | TrackBack (155) | link me | February 2000
He Died with a Felafel in His Hand, John Birmingham
A giftie from jsam. Really funny stories about shared housing in Australia. About to be released in the States.
| Comments (0) | TrackBack (93) | link me | January 2000
Marley in Hell; James Oleson

| Comments (0) | TrackBack (81) | link me | January 2000