We all know and love James (Ready When You Are, C.B.) and for this reason alone, I must support him. He has thrown down the ultimate challenge in the form of a dare: to only read from our TBR stack. For one day, one week, or through the entire first three months of 2011.
Now generally, I am off challenges in 2011. I began to feel irritated towards the end of this year because I just wanted to read STUFF, and not worry about the challenges I needed to finish. But this one I can get behind 100%. No new books for three months baby.
Funny though, because as soon as I decided I was going to take James' dare, I started buying up books...real ones, from a bookstore, and ones on my Kindle. I am such a mess.
One disclaimer. I don't buy audiobooks, I rent them from the library. So those don't count!
Are you ready to take the dare? Let's prove we can do it!
As the year winds up, I find myself trudging like a sad sack towards my reading challenge goals. Some are going to crash and burn, and some may yet be saved. I found one particular challenge, The Twenty Ten Challenge, amusing. You must read twenty books, two from each category, such as Young Adult, Older Than You, or New in 2010, for example. I had two books left to read to complete my mission...books from charity shops. Obviously I'm not all that charitable in my literary purchases. Anyway, I decided to put on a burst of speed in the last stretch and make this happen.
For some reason, I grabbed this book. I was turned onto this author by Uncle Stevie, who touted Little as capable of providing a good scare (note the blurb at the top of the cover). And in the scare department, who wouldn't trust the master?
Synopsis: Bill Davis is a regular guy, with a wife and two daughters and a good job, who lives in a regular small town in northern Arizona. Life is hunky dorey. Until a large corporation called The Store moves into town, plows over a scenic meadow, and builds a large structure intending to sell everything one would need at a low, low price. Their promise of jobs gains them a supportive city council, tax breaks, and the unspoken license to control anything and everything in town. Family-owned businesses fail. While many townspeople have blindly bought into The Store and what it offers, Bill Davis is not happy.
There is something more sinister going on here, however, that goes beyond the ruination of a small town. When Bill's daughters apply for jobs at The Store, we are given a peek at the humiliating and almost cultish hiring process. Once a monopoly has been achieved, The Store begins to sell items that pander to it's customers darker desires. Then there are the Night Managers, who stay in the basement until The Store closes. What purpose do they serve?
My thoughts: I am not sure what I expected when I turned the first page of this book, but it wasn't this. I will grant you that there were parts of the plot, especially in the beginning, that seemed really corny. A pathetic attempt at foreshadowing I suppose. The Store was built faster than an ordinary structure, and that gave Bill a bad feeling. There were no windows in the structure, and that gave Bill a bad feeling. They decimated a pretty meadow, and that gave him a bad feeling. Please! I'm not a 10 year old sitting around a campfire.
But as the story got rolling, it seriously began to chill my blood, because it all sounded so familiar. A multi-billion dollar corporation that sells tires, groceries, clothing, eyeglasses, sushi? At prices that put everyone else out of business? And subjects their employees to questionable business practices? A company not only after our business, but a town's jugular or it's soul? We're already there folks. Little pushes the envelope to a slightly drastic scenario (dystopia maybe?), and incorporates a dash of the demonic supernatural to get his point across. But it left me wanting to step back and cast a discriminating eye on who the hell is behind the wheel of this bus.
I did some poking around about Little as a person, and it was no surprise to find that he is a disciple of King, distrusts and dislikes large corporations, and refuses to operate an official website. You have to appreciate the man for sticking by his principles.
4 out of 5 stars
After having reviewed "Me Talk Pretty One Day" and "When You Are Engulfed in Flames", I'm not sure how much more I can say about Sedaris, his wit, and his narration skillz. Not everyone loves his brand of humor, but I do, and I will keep coming back for more as long as my library continues to carry his audios. (I am number two in line for "Squirrel Seeks Chipmunk", his latest.)
First of all, the best way - the ONLY way - to experience his humor is through audio. As the narrator, Sedaris delivers his schtick as it was originally intended...dry, slightly whiny, sarcastic, and self-deprecating. And interesting mix, but one that works.
He focuses primarily on various experiences with his quirky family in this installment. Not all the bits are funny. Some are poignant or sad, some just fall flat, but a majority of them make me giggle, and a few extracted big, ugly belly-laughs.
Of course, I want to tell you about the belly-laugh parts, but I know something will get lost in translation. Anyway. Sedaris tells us about the weirdos that lived next door to his family when he was young. In true form, they come trick-or-treating the DAY AFTER Halloween when the Sedaris candy bowl has been depleted. Mother Sedaris asks David to give them some of his candy stash, so he promptly goes to his room and starts stuffing the best goodies into his mouth, nearly choking, but determined to prevent it from falling into undeserving hands. I can almost envision the scene!
He also recalls a conversation he had with someone from the Netherlands about their version of Santa Claus, and begins to compare our folk tales with theirs. It is always fun to stand back and analyze the nonsensical nature of the stories in literal translation:
"A Dutch parent has a decidedly hairier story to relate, telling his children, 'Listen, you might want to pack a few of your things together before going to bed. The former bishop of Turkey will be coming tonight along with six to eight black men. They might put some candy in your shoes, they might stuff you into a sack and take you to Spain, or they might just pretend to kick you. We don't know for sure, but we want you to be prepared.'"
I find Sedaris endearing. He can be a real horse's ass sometimes (and I'm sure his family finds his use of "material" infuriating), and other times oddly vulnerable. His admission of drug addiction, his struggle to come out of the closet and his family's struggle to accept, his obsessive/compulsive urges (like the need to touch people's heads), and his innocence in trying, but failing, to help a disturbed neighbor girl...it all speaks to his humanity.
I don't think this is his best collection, but I still enjoyed it. Or am I just getting used to his style? The stories do seem to all blend together from book to book. My biggest issue at this point is convincing our library to carry some of his other works on audio, because I refuse to read them in print!
3.5 out of 5 stars
Covered bridge at Turkey Run State Park, IN. For more Wordless Wednesdays, click here.
Now you know I would never hold a gun to your heads and force you to buy books. (None of us need that anyway, do we?) But if you happen to be considering a purchase from Barnes and Noble tomorrow, December 9th though the 14th, please consider killing two birds with one stone and supporting my kids' school library as well. One hundred percent of our library budget is derived from book fairs, such as this one, so it is very important to us!
So if you make a purchase in any Barnes and Noble store tomorrow the 9th, just provide the code #10183903 and we will receive a percentage of the proceeds. If you purchase anything online through the 14th, use that same code and we will get credit for that as well.
That's all you have to do. Share the love from 3,000 miles away! If you've got all your book shopping done, no worries. I figure it doesn't hurt to ask, just in case. What are the odds that one or two of you were going to do a quick fly-by today? Pretty good ones, if you are anything like me!
When I get our final results of the fair, I'll let you know. Thanks in advance for any help you can throw our way!
*sigh* Sometimes you stumble onto a masterpiece, and it takes you completely by surprise. In this case, I had lunch with a friend I made over at the Adult Literacy League, who is also an aspiring author with a book in progress. Somewhere in the middle of our long meal where we realized we have about everything in common, she told me I had to read this book. Oh, Sandy, you like graphic novels and you think you might write a book someday before you die? Try this. You won't be sorry. OK, so I ordered it from the library. It arrived. It was big, like a coffee table book. It was over 200 pages long. And it was FULL of STUFF that made my brain buzz. I mean, look at that cover! What. the. hell. was. this?
Synopsis: OK, well, I'm going to try. Let's say this book is part biography. Lynda Barry recounts her life with a mother that is neglectful, violent, and negative. She has always longed to draw pictures and to be good at it. She fights off feelings of inadequacy, fears of embarrassing herself, and of failing. It is heart-breaking, but at the same time, what kid doesn't feel this way?.jpg)
The book is part shrink. It asks questions that make you think. Questions that are aimed at making you dig deep and find inspiration. When did you first notice you were bad at something? And then what happened? Kids like making marks that make shapes that make stories. Why? What is a monster? Why are monsters in so many old stories? To follow a wandering mind means having to get lost. Can you stand being lost? What are toys? Did you ever have a toy that knew you? Do memories have mass? Do they have motion? Do they have inertia?
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People, this is only the tip of the iceberg. The story is also a visual feast. Take a look at the pictures I have shared above. They look like a scrapbook of a deranged (but creative) mind. I just sat for hours, staring at what appeared to be illustrations of childhood monsters, pieces of material, pictures, clips of handwriting from old letters. Just a mass of stuff.
All of this slightly insane but thought-provoking material leads up to a sort of writing toolkit. She gives you advice...relax, get alot of lined paper and a good pen, a timer. She tells you that "thinking up stories is hard. Getting them to come to you is easier." She gives you exercises. Make a list of other people's mothers. Choose one and answer a list of questions. Maybe this is all elementary writing 101 material, but after having just rolled around in a land of Dali-esque collages, it seems like genius.
Of course, I didn't perform these exercises. I had a football game to attend and I needed to sleep. But I was moved. And I thought of all of my on-line friends out there that participated in NaNo last month. Of my friends that are working towards their first published novel. My friends that dig the visual delight of graphic novels.
My thoughts: Read it or miss out on something completely wonderful and unique and unexpected. If for no other reason that for the fun of it. That is all the thoughts I have.
5 out of 5 stars
The movie industry has been crying in its beer over the last few years, claiming that people just aren't leaving their homes to see movies these days. The powers seem to believe that if they make better movies, the paying public will come. We know the real reason though, don't we? It is expensive. It cost the Nawrots over 80 bucks to see Toy Story 3 3D Imax, with snacks. Insane! It is a 3 hour commitment. It is a hassle, especially when Netflix comes right to your door. Then there are the undesirables that sit behind you and talk the entire time. The Bumbles want to know what our biggest pet peeves are. My husband decided to weigh in on the subject as well. Now you would think we would be complaining about the talkers, but not so. Here are the things that spoil our good time:
Husband's Pet Peeve - Food Residuals. Old food smells. Sticky floors. Greasy armrests. It makes his skin crawl. In the new, fancy schmancy theaters, this isn't always an issue. But in a dollar theater? Eeeewwww. My movie-addicted daughter won't even go.
Sandy's Pet Peeve - Technical difficulties. It doesn't happen often, but when it happens, I want to fly into a rage. For all of you that have seen Memento, imagine having the film STOP right in the middle. The theater gave us passes to come back another night. This did not make me happy. Or how about not having audio for 10 minutes in the middle of The Blind Side? We only got free drinks from that one. Maddening. And there are many irritations that are endured without compensation...crackly audio, jumpy video, too loud, too soft.
So now is the time for you to vent. What drives you crazy at the movies?
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