This book was also a quick read this weekend.
I loved this book, not loved loved, but loved. I would read it again.
I heard Bret Easton Ellis was writing a sequel to this book and I knew that in order to read the second I had to read the original.
At first I didn't get it. The story seemed to be going nowhere, but not all stories are supposed to go anywhere. I loved the way it was written... like it really was written by an 18 year old. It was all over the place, mostly dry and just observations, but every once in while a little gem of a sentence would pop up and make all the rest worthwhile.
I was a little surprised at the end at how graphic the lives of these kids were shown. I had no idea things were going to be that bad. These rich kids were living the lives of street children only surrounded by all that money had to offer. It was a very strange juxtaposition.
I would put this on my shelf to read again someday and I'll definitely be reading the 25 years later book. I would be surprised if any of these kids were still alive besides Clay. I'm Netflixing the movie for tomorrow starring Andrew McCarthy. It should be interesting. I wonder how graphic it will be.
Monday, June 21, 2010
The Short Second Life of Bree Tanner
Now, I like the Twilight novels. I like Stephenie Meyer, but I am not a die hard Twihard. I fall somewhere in between reading all the books and seeing all the movies and being a fanatic. I love a series and I always see the movies of books that I read.
That being said I did pick up this book last week. I did not wait in line, read it online or pre-order it. I just happened to be strolling past the book aisles at Sam's Club and threw it into my cart. Somehow it moved up in line in my to-be-read pile and I picked it up Saturday afternoon.
It was good. I finished in a couple of hours, but it wasn't astounding. The only Twilight book that was astounding was Twilight of course. It was very readable and entertaining, but not one I feel I will ever need to go back and re-read for the fabulous story or great writing. It was simply a sidetrack to the original novels. That is what it was intented to be and it satisfied that need to see what was going on in the background.
If you've never read Edward's version of the first time he saw/smelled Bella that is also an excellent flip side of the original story.
Overall a good read and of course if you are a collector like me it must be on the shelves next to all the other Twilight books.
That being said I did pick up this book last week. I did not wait in line, read it online or pre-order it. I just happened to be strolling past the book aisles at Sam's Club and threw it into my cart. Somehow it moved up in line in my to-be-read pile and I picked it up Saturday afternoon.
It was good. I finished in a couple of hours, but it wasn't astounding. The only Twilight book that was astounding was Twilight of course. It was very readable and entertaining, but not one I feel I will ever need to go back and re-read for the fabulous story or great writing. It was simply a sidetrack to the original novels. That is what it was intented to be and it satisfied that need to see what was going on in the background.
If you've never read Edward's version of the first time he saw/smelled Bella that is also an excellent flip side of the original story.
Overall a good read and of course if you are a collector like me it must be on the shelves next to all the other Twilight books.
Wednesday, June 16, 2010
June 16 Acquisitions
1. Anne Rice - Pandora, Blackwood Farm, Taltos, Belinda - I 'm not going to stop until I have all the books she's written.
2. Debt Cures - Kevin Trudeau - I have a thing for any book about credit and how to pull one over on the credit bureaus. I hate banks. I shall read this, absorb any new tips, and add it to my collection.
3. Nicholas Nickelby - Charles Dickens - Since A Tale of Two Cities was so good, I'm also going to try and read all of Charles Dickens. It's a lofty ambition, but I think I can do it over the next 30-40 years.
4. Haunted City: An Unauthorized Guide to the Magical, Magnificent New Orleans of Anne Rice - Joy Dickinson - Of course I had to buy this to complete my new obsession with Anne Rice.
5. The Majesty of the Garden District - Lee Malone - This is the first of three that will go in my architecture library.
6. New Orleans Architecture: Volume 1 The Lower Garden District - Pelican Press
7. Plantations and Historic Homes of New Orleans - Jan Arrigo
I'm going to try and not buy any books next week. Yeah, right.
2. Debt Cures - Kevin Trudeau - I have a thing for any book about credit and how to pull one over on the credit bureaus. I hate banks. I shall read this, absorb any new tips, and add it to my collection.
3. Nicholas Nickelby - Charles Dickens - Since A Tale of Two Cities was so good, I'm also going to try and read all of Charles Dickens. It's a lofty ambition, but I think I can do it over the next 30-40 years.
4. Haunted City: An Unauthorized Guide to the Magical, Magnificent New Orleans of Anne Rice - Joy Dickinson - Of course I had to buy this to complete my new obsession with Anne Rice.
5. The Majesty of the Garden District - Lee Malone - This is the first of three that will go in my architecture library.
6. New Orleans Architecture: Volume 1 The Lower Garden District - Pelican Press
7. Plantations and Historic Homes of New Orleans - Jan Arrigo
I'm going to try and not buy any books next week. Yeah, right.
Tuesday, June 15, 2010
Ramblings
I'm still reading Anthropology of an American Girl and it has not disappointed me yet. It is enveloping. I want to finish it and yet it's one of those books where you don't want to leave the world that the author has created, or in this case I don't want to leave Eveline's mind.
I was thinking in the shower this morning about how easy it is for me to come here and talk about books. I just wish someone would join me here. I was marvelling at the fact that my chosen profession is architecture and yet when I started an architecture blog I was hard pressed to find something to talk about and the blog floundered. This is not my profession by education, but if I could go back I still think I would have chosen architecture, but I would have minored in English Lit. It would give me more credibility in talking about books, but as it stands I'm more well read than most people I know and I think that makes me qualified.
This is a rambling post, but I blame it fully on the ramblings in Anthropology.
I was thinking in the shower this morning about how easy it is for me to come here and talk about books. I just wish someone would join me here. I was marvelling at the fact that my chosen profession is architecture and yet when I started an architecture blog I was hard pressed to find something to talk about and the blog floundered. This is not my profession by education, but if I could go back I still think I would have chosen architecture, but I would have minored in English Lit. It would give me more credibility in talking about books, but as it stands I'm more well read than most people I know and I think that makes me qualified.
This is a rambling post, but I blame it fully on the ramblings in Anthropology.
Friday, June 11, 2010
Acquisitions
New books bought on June 10th, 2010.
To Kill A Mockingbird - Harper Lee - Strangely enough I have never read this and I think it's about time I did.
Cemetery Dance - Preston and Child - I saw this on the bargain paperback aisle at Target and since I loved The Cabinet of Curiosities so much, I thought I'd give this newer one a try.
Anthropology of An American Girl - Hilary Thayer Hamann - I already wrote a tirade on this new edited version. I will keep this copy, but I also found an original version on Amazon for $40. It is currently on the way to my house now.
The Last Madam: A life in the New Orleans Underworld - Christine Wiltz - This was a birthday present from my husband that he picked out of my Amazon shopping cart. I am continuing my research on New Orleans.
Nine Lives: Mystery, Magic, Death, and Life in New Orleans - Dan Baum - See above.
To Kill A Mockingbird - Harper Lee - Strangely enough I have never read this and I think it's about time I did.
Cemetery Dance - Preston and Child - I saw this on the bargain paperback aisle at Target and since I loved The Cabinet of Curiosities so much, I thought I'd give this newer one a try.
Anthropology of An American Girl - Hilary Thayer Hamann - I already wrote a tirade on this new edited version. I will keep this copy, but I also found an original version on Amazon for $40. It is currently on the way to my house now.
The Last Madam: A life in the New Orleans Underworld - Christine Wiltz - This was a birthday present from my husband that he picked out of my Amazon shopping cart. I am continuing my research on New Orleans.
Nine Lives: Mystery, Magic, Death, and Life in New Orleans - Dan Baum - See above.
Thursday, June 10, 2010
More on The Anthropology
OMFG!
I am horrified by the "edited" version of The Anthropology of An American Girl.
I just got the new copy from Amazon and it is totally messed up. The paragraphs have all been rearranged to try and make all the distinct thoughts into distinct paragraphs. Conversations are created out of thoughts and recollections of conversations, song lyrics are completely removed, and some of her most subtle and ,to an editor, unnecessary, metaphors have been REMOVED! Oh the horror!
What has an editor done to this book? Would Tropic Of Cancer have been anywhere near the masterpiece it is if is had been 'fixed' by a modern-day editor?
I am going to have to keep the library book so that I can read the book the way it was intended to be read by the author when she self-published it. I mean I understand she's looking for a wider audience for her book and she definitely deserves it, but I much prefer the OG version.
I am freaking going to have to steal this one from the Flagstaff Public Library or else pony up the $150 for the real version of the book.
I am going to also have to look up and see what Ms. Hilary Thayer Hamann has to say about this new version of her book. How could she have agreed to the rewrite?
I am horrified by the "edited" version of The Anthropology of An American Girl.
I just got the new copy from Amazon and it is totally messed up. The paragraphs have all been rearranged to try and make all the distinct thoughts into distinct paragraphs. Conversations are created out of thoughts and recollections of conversations, song lyrics are completely removed, and some of her most subtle and ,to an editor, unnecessary, metaphors have been REMOVED! Oh the horror!
What has an editor done to this book? Would Tropic Of Cancer have been anywhere near the masterpiece it is if is had been 'fixed' by a modern-day editor?
I am going to have to keep the library book so that I can read the book the way it was intended to be read by the author when she self-published it. I mean I understand she's looking for a wider audience for her book and she definitely deserves it, but I much prefer the OG version.
I am freaking going to have to steal this one from the Flagstaff Public Library or else pony up the $150 for the real version of the book.
I am going to also have to look up and see what Ms. Hilary Thayer Hamann has to say about this new version of her book. How could she have agreed to the rewrite?
Anthropology of An American Girl
This book kicks ass. It was a little slippery to start with, but once I got into the flow of how the author writes the book really started to hit home. This is not a final review since I am only on page 100, but I cannot even imagine putting the book down.
Now I just read Youth in Revolt last month, which is like a teenage boy's take on high school and misfit divorced parents. While this book is pretty much the same story, it is told from the view of a very introspective girl. I absolutely love it. The story flits back and forth between current events and stories and event of the recent past. It's a very stream of consciousness story, but with a clean path towards some kind of story.
I guess I relate to it just because this is how I wrote when I was seventeen. The writing seems familiar and comfortable.
I first got this book from the library, not the version you see above, but the original one from 2003. I went online to try and find the original and was surprised to see that it is selling for upwards of $150 on AbeBooks. I was astonished. Apparently Hilary Hamann self-published it in 2003 and now has re-released it as a hard cover again this year. I much prefer the smaller more compact version from 2003 that is now apparently a "rare" edition over the newer mass market standard size and type re release.
I'll keep you posted if the book takes a turn for the worse, but for now this book is going to be one of those books that while originally checked out from the library, had to be purchased for posterity.
Now I just read Youth in Revolt last month, which is like a teenage boy's take on high school and misfit divorced parents. While this book is pretty much the same story, it is told from the view of a very introspective girl. I absolutely love it. The story flits back and forth between current events and stories and event of the recent past. It's a very stream of consciousness story, but with a clean path towards some kind of story.
I guess I relate to it just because this is how I wrote when I was seventeen. The writing seems familiar and comfortable.
I first got this book from the library, not the version you see above, but the original one from 2003. I went online to try and find the original and was surprised to see that it is selling for upwards of $150 on AbeBooks. I was astonished. Apparently Hilary Hamann self-published it in 2003 and now has re-released it as a hard cover again this year. I much prefer the smaller more compact version from 2003 that is now apparently a "rare" edition over the newer mass market standard size and type re release.
I'll keep you posted if the book takes a turn for the worse, but for now this book is going to be one of those books that while originally checked out from the library, had to be purchased for posterity.
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