Current Reads

No, it's by Hannah Kent. It's her first novel, I believe, and is based on a true story (I think?) about a woman sentenced to death for murder in the 1800s.

whatthedeuce wrote:Overall, I liked Lexicon and thought it moved along very quickly, but the made up words used to break through people's defenses were so stupid and ridiculous that they kept naking me roll my eyes, and in the end, the story felt more cliched than I expected. I'm interested to see what you'll think of it, MaddyCat.

I ended up really enjoying Lexicon. I can see how the word thing would be annoying, but I bought into it based on the psychology segment explanation (and because I am hugely gullible, perhaps). I got surprised by a few of the twists and ultimately liked it because it stayed with me. I kept thinking about everything after it ended. So it all worked for me.

Now I'm reading The Language of Flowers about an 18 year old just out of the foster care system who's such an outsider that her only connection to the world is flowers and their meanings. So far it's amazing! I love the main character though it's awful how broken she is inside.

Today I finished My Year of Flops by Nathan Rabin. It's a collection of essays looking again at various flop movies to see if maybe they've been unfairly maligned and what works and what doesn't in each movie. It's a fun read, especially since I've developed a sort of fondness for crappy movies from years of MST3K watching.

I read From Scratch, the story of the Food Network (the first channel I always flip to when I turn my TV on), from cover to cover in three days. Though I sometimes felt a bit overwhelmed in the first half with all the cable TV business details, I found the story endlessly captivating. It also made me miss Sara Moulton a lot. Her Cooking Live was a big fave of mine when I first started watching that channel, and it saddened me that she was never seen as being marketable in the way Giada or Bobby or Mario were and still are. Bobby Flay has annoyed me for years because I kinda get a smug vibe from him, but reading about what a shrewd and solid team player he is has made me view him in a new light.

Were there stories of Sandra Lee, or was it only early history? I've heard some, and they are not flattering. I haven't watched the Food Network in years, though it used to be my favorite channel. I loved the show Two Fat Ladies. They were hilarious.

The book pretty much mentions how all the major stars of the network, past and present, got their own shows and touches on the controversies swirling around many of them, including stuff about Lee and a disastrous Kwanzaa cake featured on her show and a blooper reel of her swearing that confirmed for some people that she's really a fake and not as sunny as she seems. I watched that video myself cuz I was so intrigued and actually thought she came off quite hilarious and good-natured in it. It looked like she was totally joking around instead of taking herself too seriously.

Has anyone read Wolf Hall? I'm sort of in the mood for a nice fat historical novel and I think I'm going to get it out today.

Instant Monkeys wrote:Has anyone read Wolf Hall? I'm sort of in the mood for a nice fat historical novel and I think I'm going to get it out today.

I can lend it to you if you want to borrow it without a time limit. It's good, but the narration was a bit confusing, since everyone is Henry and Thomas and "he," and I wasn't always sure to whom she was referring.

I enjoyed both Wolf Hall and the second book in the planned trilogy, Bring Up the Bodies. I thought Mantel did a good job of making Cromwell sympathetic. The only trouble is, you know the story is going to end very badly.

I liked Wolf Hall, but found it a tough slog because there are no quotation marks around any of the dialogue. So sometimes it can be difficult to discern what is thought and what is spoken. I still haven't been able to tackle Bring Up the Bodies because of that.

mokey75 wrote:

Instant Monkeys wrote:Has anyone read Wolf Hall? I'm sort of in the mood for a nice fat historical novel and I think I'm going to get it out today.

I can lend it to you if you want to borrow it without a time limit. It's good, but the narration was a bit confusing, since everyone is Henry and Thomas and "he," and I wasn't always sure to whom she was referring.  

That would be great, actually, if you wouldn't mind!

I downloaded the Kindle sample and read it at lunch. I like it so far, although I'm still having to concentrate to figure out what's going on.

And there are quotes around the dialogue in the Kindle version at least...so far anyway. That's not my favorite device either, although in theory I think it's sometimes interesting (the difference in mood between quoted dialogue and dialogue that doesn't have quotes around it is interesting to me...The Road with quotation marks wouldn't be The Road, it would be...a different The Road, but I can't articulate how exactly), but for an entire (long) novel, I imagine it can get very tiring.

whatthedeuce wrote:The book pretty much mentions how all the major stars of the network, past and present, got their own shows and touches on the controversies swirling around many of them, including stuff about Lee and a disastrous Kwanzaa cake featured on her show and a blooper reel of her swearing that confirmed for some people that she's really a fake and not as sunny as she seems. I watched that video myself cuz I was so intrigued and actually thought she came off quite hilarious and good-natured in it. It looked like she was totally joking around instead of taking herself too seriously.

Sandra Lee likes to vacation in my home town and she has never been anything but really nice. I like current Sandra Lee who has given up cooking in favor of drinking a lot more.

I always enjoyed her show though I understood people's criticism about the food being semi-homemade. She seems like a shrewd businesswoman and someone who worked hard to get to where she is. It's great to hear someone confirm that she seems nice in person. I'm curious about Ina Garten, who apparently made headlines for turning down a Make A Wish kid's repeated request to meet her. She's never seemed like the warmest person, but I was surprised to read about that in the book because I don't recall ever hearing about that situation.

Eh, Make A Wish pointed out that she has granted other wishes in the past, I found the kids mother completely passive aggressive and basically trying to public shame Ina into granting the wish. Yes, Make A Wish is a great charity but tons of first wishes don't get granted and celebrities, even one of Ina's level, get a lot of people asking them to do a lot of things for equally worthwhile causes and they can't do everything (and I doubt she even knew about the request specifically because it most likely went through her agent/people). The story was pretty big for like a day or two

I refuse to hear anything negative about Ina Garten since I basically want to be her someday.

I'm reading Fair and Tender Ladies for my office book club, about a young girl in turn-of-the-century Appalachian Virginia. It's an epistolary novel, and is written in full-on Appalachian dialect (much of which I'm familiar with so it's not too hard to understand) and is utterly charming. I'd never heard of the book before so I don't know how hard it is to find but I highly recommend checking it out.

...You want to marry a gay dude?

I kid. I kid.

I really enjoyed that book actually. Emeril Lagasse and his history with the network was in particular interesting.

I can't believe I never once heard of that story when it took place. I'm glad that it was really just blown out of proportion, and as the book points out, Ina really does shy away from most of the things that other Food Network stars do to heighten their profiles because she likes keeping her more low-key lifestyle. Or as you mentioned, maybe she wasn't even aware of the request or it being repeated.

Kiran, I'm laughing in a bathroom here at work because of you. I hope no one comes in, or they'll think I'm crazy. Also, my mom's friend totally looks like Ina, which makes her both cool and intimidating.

Veering way off-topic, but one of Ina's gay friends is now on a Cialis (or similar) commercial, playing a husband who is now able to get it up with his wife and it makes me laugh and laugh. (I love her too, obviously, which is why I always recognize that guy when I see him in ads.)

TR! He hasn't been on in awhile.

I finished reading Divergent last night and it wasn't half bad! For some reason, I'd gotten it into my head that it was tripe (way to make snap judgements there, missus) and got it out of the library just so I could say I'd read it. It didn't grip me enough for me to run out and buy the other two books but I'll wait and see if I can get them from the library too.

I'm reading White Crow by Marcus Sedgwick now and it's a bit creepy but a good read.

Instant Monkeys wrote:

mokey75 wrote:

Instant Monkeys wrote:Has anyone read Wolf Hall? I'm sort of in the mood for a nice fat historical novel and I think I'm going to get it out today.

I can lend it to you if you want to borrow it without a time limit. It's good, but the narration was a bit confusing, since everyone is Henry and Thomas and "he," and I wasn't always sure to whom she was referring.  

That would be great, actually, if you wouldn't mind!

I downloaded the Kindle sample and read it at lunch. I like it so far, although I'm still having to concentrate to figure out what's going on.

And there are quotes around the dialogue in the Kindle version at least...so far anyway. That's not my favorite device either, although in theory I think it's sometimes interesting (the difference in mood between quoted dialogue and dialogue that doesn't have quotes around it is interesting to me...The Road with quotation marks wouldn't be The Road, it would be...a different The Road, but I can't articulate how exactly), but for an entire (long) novel, I imagine it can get very tiring.

Wolf Hall and Bring Up the Bodies are truly brilliant. It take a while to get used to the rather idiosyncratic style, but once you do, they are completely gripping. I can reread the final third of BUtB, where Cromwell meticulously constructs the downfall of Anne Boleyn, over and over again. It's just superb writing.

I don't know if I have the patience required to get into the rhythm of those books. I've wanted to read them since marathoning The Tudors in July, but it may take awhile to get the nerve to delve into Wolf Hall.

I just read Curtsies and Conspiracies the second in Gail Carringer's Ettiquete School series, and I freaking loved it. It was so light and fluffy and silly, which is exactly what I need right now. It's delighfully steampunky and filled with characters with names like Lord Dingleproops.

I started reading Hyperbole and a half but it's so funny that I can't read it in public. The first time I tried people thought I was crying, when I ws in fact hysterically laughing. And when I tried again last night I laughed so hard I started choking. I'm like five pages in. I don't even know. Read it. Just maybe not in public.

rivki, sold! I need to get my hands on any book that causes crying from laughing!

rivki8699 wrote:
I started reading Hyperbole and a half but it's so funny that I can't read it in public. The first time I tried people thought I was crying, when I ws in fact hysterically laughing. And when I tried again last night I laughed so hard I started choking. I'm like five pages in. I don't even know. Read it. Just maybe not in public.

I completely lost it when she showed proof of the goose story.