Stepped up my reading game this month by reading shorter books. Go me!

Just Read:

The Help- Kathryn Stockett

I haven't read a book this fast since I read The Lovely Bones in one night a few years back. A pretty easy read but still had plenty of depth. Looking forward to seeing how they screwed up the movie version.

The Leftovers- Tom Perrotta

Interesting premise (life after a Rapture-type event) that was pretty well done. Made me think about my reaction if something like that were to happen.

A Wild Sheep Chase- Haruki Murakami

Really enjoyed this one, wished it had been longer though. I like sheep.

We Are All Weird- Seth Godin

I thought the basic concept behind this book was interesting- the rise of niche markets, but the book was boring. I was hoping for more stories about the niche groups and their growth, but instead I just felt like the same point was being repeated over and over.

The Leopard- Jo Nesbo

The Leopard really picks up where The Snowman left off. It's an interesting mystery and Harry Hole is still a deeply flawed character. I'm really getting into foreign mysteries. I think it's the foreign names and places.

I Want My MTV- Craig Marks & Rob Tannenbaum

This book was awesome. I think it gave a pretty in depth oral history of MTV from all the important perspectives: MTV execs, record label execs, artists, video directors, etc. You can see how great MTV's impact was on the music industry and the beginnings of the industry's collapse. I'd be interested to read a book about MTV's second decade just to see how it's turned into the joke of a network it is today.

Currently Reading:

Daniel Deronda- George Eliot (I'm going to finish it finally)

Up Next (probably):

Double Dexter- Jeff Lindsay

Fewer finished books this month since I've taken to reading things that are at least 500 pages.

Just Read:

The Corrections- Jonathan Franzen

Had a hard time getting into this one because the characters weren't all that likeable at first, but by the end I understood them more. If you liked Six Feet Under, you'd probably like this.

The Snowman- Jo Nesbo

This is the first of the Harry Hole series I've read. I decided not to read them in order because this one sounded interesting and I didn't want to read 4 books before I got to it. I think it was worth it.

1Q84- Haruki Murakami

Enjoyed this one, reminded me of those movies that you don't fully understand the depth and complexity of until you watch them a second time.

Currently Reading:

I Want My MTV- Craig Marks & Rob Tannenbaum


Up Next (probably):

The Leopard- Jo Nesbo

It’s been awhile since I’ve done an end of year book list, but with getting a Kindle and a library card this year, I’ve been doing a lot of reading. I've split the list in 2 parts, one for books released this year and the other for other books I read for the first time this year.

2011 Favorites:

1. The Art of Fielding- Chad Harbach
2. Poke the Box- Seth Godin
3. 1Q84- Haruki Murakami
4. The Marriage Plot- Jeffery Eugenides
5. Headhunters- Jo Nesbo

Other Favorites:

1. The Likeness- Tana French
2. The Girl Who Kicked The Hornet's Nest- Stieg Larsson
3. After Dark- Haruki Murakami
4. In the Woods- Tana French
5. Middlemarch- George Eliot

Been spending a lot of my time reading in the last month, partially because I can't get motivated to do much else at the moment. Luckily there are always books to read.

Just Read:

Faithful Place- Tana French

I enjoyed this one, although not as much as her first 2 books. Definitely looking forward to the next book.

The Art of Fielding- Chad Harbach

I've seen this book everywhere for the last few months. Finally decided to read it and it was definitely worth it, one of the best books I've read this year.

After Dark- Haruki Murakami

I really enjoyed this one. Liked it more than Norweigan Wood.

Currently Reading:

1Q84- Haruki Murakami


Up Next (probably):

The Snowman- Jo Nesbo

The Corrections- Jonathan Franzen

With all the books I'm reading right now, I've decided to do a monthly book update. I'll keep things spoiler free.

Just read:

The Likeness- Tana French

Loved this book, going back and forth in my head as to whether I liked it more or less than In The Woods. Was definitely one of those books that sticks with you even after you finish it.

The Visible Man- Chuck Klosterman

As someone who has studied psychology, parts of this book drove me nuts. Like yelling at the book nuts. And yet that didn't take away from enjoying it.

The Marriage Plot- Jeffery Eugenides

Been looking forward to this book for months. I enjoyed it but I think I'll have to read it again to fully appreciate it.

Are We Not New Wave?- Theo Cateforis

Recommended if you're a fan of late 70s/early 80s music.

Headhunters- Jo Nesbo

If you liked Stieg Larsson's books, you'll probably enjoy this.

Damned- Chuck Palanhuik

Enjoyed this one. Thought it was better than Tell-All.

Currently reading:

Faithful Place- Tana French

Up next (probably):

Cloud Atlas- David Mitchell

1Q84- Haruki Murakami

Right now I'm reading Are We Not New Wave?, which is all about new wave in the late 70s to mid 80s. It's a pretty interesting read for someone like me who is a big fan of music from that time. The author goes pretty in depth in analyzing certain songs, which creates a sort of playlist to go along with the book. Some of the songs covered:

• Just What I Needed- The Cars
• Rock Lobster- The B-52s (a song I really hate)
• Planet Claire- The B-52s
• Uncontrollable Urge- Devo
• Cars- Gary Numan

Since I'm basically chain reading right now, here's a book update.

Last 5 books read:

1. In the Woods- Tana French
2. Black Swan Green- David Mitchell (reread)
3. Tell-All- Chuck Palahnuik
4. A Visit From the Goon Squad- Jennifer Egan
5. Before I Go To Sleep- S.J. Watson

And I'm still slowly making my way through Daniel Deronda.

Next 5 books...I think:

1. The Likeness- Tana French (currently reading)
2. Faithful Place- Tana French
3. The Marriage Plot- Jeffery Eugenides
4. Double Dexter- Jeff Lindsay
5. The Visible Man- Chuck Klosterman

On a bit of a book binge right now. Yesterday I finally got a library card and now I can check books out on my Kindle, I'm totally happy (well, until I saw all the new fancy Kindles that were announced today, so now I want a new one). It's been so long since I've been to a library, I forgot how much I like them. When I was a kid, my mom and I would go all the time and I'd check out huge piles of books. I owned the summer reading programs (I'm a notoriously fast reader).



So I picked up a couple of books, and then checked one out for my Kindle- Black Swan Green by David Mitchell, which I actually own but is packed away.

I'm also in the planning stages for the birthday contest prize piece and the next Phat Quarter swap (theme: somebody told me). I've got ideas for both, but they are completely different, so my brain is all over the place. I bought a notebook specifically to use for my stitch ideas before the food swap, and it is definitely coming in handy right now.

The next 5 books on my reading list (in no particular order):

1. A Visit From the Goon Squad- Jennifer Egan
2. The Marriage Plot- Jeffery Eugenides (really excited for this one)
3. In The Woods- Tana French
4. Before I Go To Sleep- S.J. Watson
5. Double Dexter- Jeff Lindsay

I have so many books that I haven't read yet and there's at least 3 coming out in October that I've been waiting for, so I think I'll be doing a lot of reading this fall.

The latest Phat Quarter swap theme was books and my partner's favorite author was Haruki Murakami. I did some research and decided to read his book Norwegian Wood and create something based on that.



I wanted to do something to capture the mood of the book. There were a number of forest/outdoor scenes so I used that as the basis for the piece. I wanted to keep the detail simple and just added a single green butterfly, to represent the 2 main female characters, Kaoko and Midori.



The quote is from a conversation between Toru and Midori:

Toru: "Nobody likes being alone that much. I don't go out of my way to make friends, that's all. It just leads to disappointment"

Midori: "Nobody likes being alone. I just hate to be disappointed." You can use that line if you ever write your autobiography.

The piece is on light blue 28 ct fabric. It's the first time I've worked on 28 ct which took some time to get used to. At times the stitches seemed way too small to be right. But everything turned out pretty nicely, other than the butterfly, which looked great in the pattern but looks like a blob stitched.

Right now I'm working on some new patterns. There's a geek one, a music one, and a subversive/naughty one, and possibly something for my mom.

After stitching almost every day for 3 months, it feels weird not to be working on anything. However, I was finally able to read The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo, which was really really good. Now I've started on Her Fearful Symmetry, which is good so far.

To keep with the updates, I'm going to (try to) post pictures of my ongoing projects once a week.

This week, it's the 3rd in the "series" I'm working on for a friend. It'll make sense once they're all done.




Also, after 3 months, I FINALLY finished The Tipping Point. It was really bugging me that it was taking so long for me to finish when I could easily read a book that size in a couple days. So I really made a point to find time to finish it. Which basically meant reading on the way to work. I enjoyed the book, although I think Outliers was better.

Now I'm about halfway through Juliet, Naked (which is twice as long as The Tipping Point) after a couple of days. So far it's really good.

Now that my birthday has passed and I've gotten even more books to read, I can make a proper reading list that I probably won't get through. The one thing I miss about grad school is that it gave me plenty of opportunities to catch up on my reading. So this is what I'll be trying to tackle, with some additions likely...

Brideshead Revisited- Evelyn Waugh
Pygmy- Chuck Palaniuk
Sex, Drugs, and Coco Puffs- Chuck Klosterman
The TIpping Point- Malcolm Gladwell
Strokes of Genius- Jon Wertheim
Cane River- Lalita Tademy
The Innocence of the Devil- Nawal El Saadawi
Let The Right One In- John Ajvide Lindqvist
Her Fearful Symmetry- Audrey Niffenegger
Dexter By Design- Jeff Lindsay
Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters- Ben Winters/Jane Austen

Reading: Pride and Prejudice and Zombies by Jane Austen and Seth Grahame-Smith, which is basically what it sounds like...the zombie apocalypse in 19th century England. Normally I'm not interested in the bastardization of my favorite book, but most of the original text (thus the plot) is intact, so it was an interesting reimagining of the story. I can't wait until they turn it into a movie.

Listening to: Pearl Jam (who I've come to like in my old age), Live, Soundgarden, Sonic Youth (who I need to spend more time with cause they're pretty awesome), The National (Alligator, which I definitely enjoy more than Boxer).

Watching: Slowly making my way through the Best Picture nominees, so far I've seen Slumdog Millionaire and Frost/Nixon. Also watched Rachel Getting Married, which is like Margot at the Wedding but FAR better.

TV shows...Castle and The Unusuals which are both growing on me and will probably be cancelled. Dollhouse, which is seriously being held back by Eliza Dushku's total inability to be versatile. And of course Lost.

Making: I hurt my hand which has prevented me stitching as much, but I'll post a picture of what I'm currently working on tomorrow.

• Still working on Atonement, last week I took a break and re-read The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time, which I've really enjoyed both times I've read it. It's a mystery told from the perspective of a 15 yr old with Asperger's syndrome (or high functioning autism)

• No work today, so I was able to watch quite a bit of Wimbledon finally. Of course they didn't actually show Federer's match, But i got to see both Williams sisters' matches even though I already knew the outcome. One of them has to win, I can't imagine anyone else winning. I find it amusing that the top women's seeds have all lost. I think it just proves how inconsistent they all are. I think there will be lots of different top ranked players for awhile. Oh, and I've been impressed by Andy Murray. He totally crushed Tommy Haas the other day. It was like watching Federer play Roddick (or Hewitt). Total domination. I haven't seen him play all that much cause he normally loses early on, but it seems that he might have gotten his shit together. I hope he beats Nadal. preferably like the way he beat Haas.

• Got Wii Fit yesterday, I suck at everything except hula hoop. Go figure.

• Watched the first season of Californication. There are alot of boobs in that show. But David Duchovny is funny. Also saw Be Kind Rewind, pretty good, definitely better than The Science of Sleep.

• Before i get to this month's albums, a quick recap of June's picks (Something About Airplanes- Death Cab for Cutie & Songs For Polar Bears- Snow Patrol). It was nice to listen to both albums after such a long time. It actually took me a listen to remember all the songs again. Took me another 3 or 4 listens to stop wondering what the hell happened to Death Cab. But now I want to listen to We Have the Facts & We're Voting Yes. Snow Patrol was a little different because they went "downhill" quicker, so I wasn't as into them. So I just enjoyed hearing the songs again. But moving on to this month's albums...

July is Canadian month apparently, fitting that July 1st is Canada day. Both of these albums are mortal locks to be on my personal classics list that I am sloooooowly compling for my own music nerd purposes. I'm also looking forward to new albums from both these artists this year.

Public- Emm Gryner
Back in the summer of 99, I had to stop listening to this album for a week because I was absolutely killing it. That being said, it's probably been a couple years since I've listened to it. someone I hardly knew gave this album to me back in 98 because they thought I would like it. I listened to it once, thought there was something weird about emm's voice and didn't touch it again for months. Inexplicably I pulled it back out around the end of my senior year of hs and fell in love with it. So that's what the album reminds me of.  It's still my favorite Emm album,  really because it was the first I heard and it has a bunch of nostalgia attached to it because I listened to it so much.

Little Songs- David Usher
Since moving to California, one of the best things I've had the opportunity to do was to see David Usher live a couple of years ago. His albums aren't released here so he never plays in the US,  but he played one show in LA at a tiny little club which was awesome. One of the songs he played was "St. Lawrence River", which is one of my all time favorite songs (I'm a big believer in getting to hear your favorite songs live because it's always special), so that made the show perfect. I listen to this album fairly often, although it's probably been close to a year since I last heard it. This is my favorite David Usher album, and I think it's an example of how great and special debut albums can be. Great debut albums capture the rawness of the artist that can never be duplicated. Before there are any expectations, before songs get overproduced, before drugs and booze become legitimate problems, etc. Little Songs is one of those albums- acoustic, recorded in a kitchen, raw. not to say his other albums aren't good too, but there's definitely something special about this one.

• Finished Rant last night. I enjoyed it, although there was some pretty messed up stuff going on. But from what I know about Chuck Palahniuk that's par for the course. I'll be starting Atonement this week.

• The best part from the otherwise boring spelling bee

• Yet again, new month means new albums. I enjoyed listening to both Placebo and Spoon. I had some serious nostalgia going on while listening to A Series of Sneaks. That album reminds me of Austin so much. Without You I'm Nothing, even though I can remember when I bought the album, doesn't remind me of anything else. Nut listening to it for a month reaffirmed that it's not my favorite Placebo album. Since those albums have 2 of my favorite album covers, I thought i'd make a proper list..

In no particular order...

Joe Jackson- Look Sharp!


Placebo- Without You I'm Nothing


Keane- Under The Iron Sea


The Police- Ghost in the Machine


Spoon- A Series of Sneaks


This month's albums are similar because I used to really like these 2 bands and then they started to completely suck and sadly, I've abandoned them to the point that I don't even listen to their good albums anymore. So this month I'll be constantly wondering what went wrong and thinking how good these bands used to be. I've actually been looking forward to these albums.

Death Cab For Cutie- Something About Airplanes
    I'd guess it's been 6 or so years since I listened to this album. I gave up on death cab around the time Transatlanticism came out and Ben Gibbard did all that horrible electronic crap known as The Postal Service (which in my opinion is what ruined his ability to write good songs). But way back in 98, I was just hearing about Death Cab and for 3 albums they were really fucking good. So it's going to be hard to listen to this album without wanting to curse the music gods for turning Ben Gibbard into a complete toolbox. No doubt I will like it as much as I did back when it was new.

Snow Patrol- Songs For Polar Bears
    Um....I last listened to this album maybe 6 years ago as well. Unlike Death Cab, I think this is Snow Patrol's only good album. Their second album had some good songs on it, but overall kinda sucked. And then after that they decided they wanted to turn into Coldplay (who now wants to be U2, go figure), changed their sound and got successful. For the record, it's not the success that bothers me, it's the turning into Coldplay. Anyway, I think this first album is pretty good, and it's sad they've changed so much from what they used to be.

• Kobe won the mvp...yay!
  

• Much to my delight, Merge reissued A Series of Sneaks and Girls Can Tell on 180g vinyl. INXS may going on hiatus soon.

• Yesterday, one of my projects appeared on my favorite site, Apartment Therapy

• I should be finished with The Time Traveler's Wife next week. I'm limiting my reading to school hours only, otherwise I'd finish it this weekend. It's really really good.

I can't believe it's May already.

New month, new albums. but I did enjoy listening to Madonna and Bic Runga. I was surprised at how many of the Ray of Light songs I still like, especially considering how long it's been since I've heard them and how my musical taste has expanded since then. Granted, I still won't be in any rush to listen to the album again any time soon. But it was something different for a month, which is part of the point of this whole flashback thing. Listening to Drive again was nice as well, and I might listen to it again soon, I do really like the album.  But this month I'll be listening to...

Placebo- Without You I'm Nothing
    I believe it's been about 2 years since I listened to this album last, simply because it sounds crappy in my car. This is the album that got me into Placebo and has one of my favorite album covers. It's probably my 3rd favorite Placebo album (don't ask what the top 2 are). I remember the first time I listened to the album, I started to fall asleep and then the beginning of "Scared of Girls" woke me up and kinda scared the crap out of me. I've listened to Meds and Sleeping with Ghosts fairly often the last few years, so it'll be nice to listen to a different Placebo album for awhile.

Spoon- A Series of Sneaks
    It's been a few years since I've heard this album because it's not compatable with long drives (it's a short album). It's not the first Spoon album I heard but it has some of my favorite Spoon songs on it (The Guestlist/The Execution, Reservations, Car Radio, Metal Detektor) and has my favorite cover of all the Spoon albums. I must own it on vinyl so it can be framed and appropriately admired. Too bad it's hard to find and fucking expensive when you do. This album reminds me of the early days of my Spoon fandom and my time in Austin. before they became critical darlings and when they actually played these songs live all the time. So yeah, it's not going to remind me of 1998.

Also, since I'll be starting summer school next week, I get to catch up on my reading. So here's my reading list for the next 3 months...

(In relative order)

1. The Time Traveler's Wife- Audrey Niffenegger
2. Atonement- Ian McEwan
3. Rant- Chuck Palahniuk
4. No Country for Old Men- Cormac McCarthy
5. Girl With a Pearl Earring- Tracy Chevalier

I read a bunch of books this year and here are my favorites, in no particular order because rating books is even harder than rating albums. i tried to pick 6, but i just couldn't.

Black Swan Green- David Mitchell: This book appealed to me because it's by a British author and it's set in the 80s. A nice coming of age story.

Love is a Mix Tape: Life and Loss, One Song at a Time - Rob Sheffield:  Music based memoir by Rolling Stone writer Rob Sheffield about his life with his wife before her unexpected death. Even though you know the book is based around her death, it's still heartbreaking to read about his life immediately following it.

A Long Way Down- Nick Hornby: I like High Fidelity and About a Boy better, but this one was pretty good as well. Story about 4 people coming together after meeting while contemplating suicide. Nick Hornby needs to write more books though.

The Book of Joe- Jonathan Tropper:  This was hands down the best book I read this year. Books don't usually make me tear up, but this one did on a few occasions. Jonathan Tropper is very good a writing a believable screwed up character. I found myself thinking Joe was either an asshole, an idiot, or a lonely fucked up bastard throughout the book. This is one of my all time favorite books.

The Gun Seller- Hugh Laurie: I bought this book on a total whim, basically because I like Hugh Laurie and the premise didn't sound half bad. It turns about it was actually a pretty good book. There's a bit of a surprise at the end with is unexpected and interesting. Parts of it reminded me of the Jason Bourne books but with a less serious tone. I kept picturing House in the role of the main character though. Not sure if that's a good or bad thing.

How to Talk to a Widower- Jonathan Tropper: This is Jonathan Tropper's newest book. While I like The Book of Joe and Everything Changes better than this one, it was still really good. In some ways it's a fiction version of Love is a Mix Tape (which I read before this one). With the unexpected deaths and the ways both husbands grieved.


Almost done with my reading list...

I plan to read The Time Traveler's Wife next. The movie version is coming out next year sometime.

Girl With a Pearl Earring- Tracy Chevalier

A Dirty Job- Christopher Moore

Rant- Chuck Palahniuk

The Time Traveler's Wife- Audrey Niffenegger

Fluke- Christopher Moore

The Book of Joe- Jonathan Tropper

Dexter in the Dark- Jeff Lindsay

Love is a Mix Tape- Rob Sheffield

How to Talk to a Widower- Jonathan Tropper

Still in no particular order.....

Fluke- Christopher Moore

The Book of Joe- Jonathan Tropper

Dexter in the Dark- Jeff Lindsay

Love is a Mix Tape- Rob Sheffield

How to Talk to a Widower- Jonathan Tropper

Girl with a Pearl Earring- Tracy Chevalier

A Dirty Job- Christopher Moore

Rant- Chuck Palahniuk

The Time Traveler's Wife- Audrey Niffenegger

2 additions....

Me and Mr. Darcy- Alexandra Potter (just bought this one today cause I need something to do during class and I forgot the bookIi meant to bring)

The Gun Seller- Hugh Laurie (on a side note: I already like this season of House better than last)

I read Love is a Mix Tape in one day (it's pretty short), I really liked it. It was nice to see someone look back on 90s culture and say positive things. Just further reminded me how craptastic this decade has been in comparison.

Just finished The Book of Joe this morning. very very good book.

In no particular order.....

Fluke- Christopher Moore

The Book of Joe- Jonathan Tropper

Dexter in the Dark- Jeff Lindsay

Love is a Mix Tape- Rob Sheffield

How to Talk to a Widower- Jonathan Tropper

Girl with a Pearl Earring- Tracy Chevalier

A Dirty Job- Christopher Moore

Rant- Chuck Palahniuk

The Time Traveler's Wife- Audrey Niffenegger