Showing posts with label selections. Show all posts
Showing posts with label selections. Show all posts
3.08.2016
11.06.2015
4.30.2015
3.03.2015
1.02.2015
Selection for Jan/Feb 2015
Dylan Thomas: Selected Poems
O, kingdom of neighbors, finned
Felled and quilted, flash to my patch
Work ark and the moonshine
Drinking Noah of the bay
---
My ark sings in the sun
At God speeded summer's end
And the flood flowers now.
10.02.2014
8.01.2014
6.02.2014
4.01.2014
1.30.2014
Selection for Feb/March 2014
Leaving the Sea by Ben Marcus
We tried "Sea of Hooks" and it didn't work out. So now we'll try "Leaving the Sea" by Ben Marcus. Marcus is my hero and this is his new book of stories. "Sea of Hooks" was bad, so now we're "Leaving the Sea"...get it??
11.29.2013
8.29.2013
Selection for September/October
Mason & Dixon by Thomas Pynchon
Thomas Pynchon wrote some of the most influential novels of the century. Hyper-smart (His IQ is allegedly 190, one of the highest ever recorded), intensely private (There are only 4 or 5 pictures that exist online and 2 of them don't show his face. One is just his hand and two others show him in his twenties..he's 76 now) and funny (he's been on the Simpsons with a paper bag over his head). All of his books are brilliant and hilarious.
I've read most of his books - V, The Crying of Lot 49, Slow Learner, Gravity's Rainbow, Vineland, Against the Day, Inherent Vice. But I skipped one, Mason & Dixon from 1997. It's very long.
Pynchon is known for his paranoid, big-brother, conspiracy theory stuff. But Mason & Dixon really is the story of Mason & Dixon, the guys that drew the Line. It's fictionalized and massively weird, but it doesn't seem typically Pynchonian.
It's been sitting on my shelf for 5 years so I'm just going to read it now. It's the longest book we've done on the blog. But summer is over and it's time to get real. Plus, Pynchon has a new book coming out next month and I don't want to be two books behind.
Lots of people have tried tracking down Thomas Pynchon and it has led to some great pieces of writing:
http://nymag.com/arts/books/features/48268/index1.html
http://www.vulture.com/2013/08/thomas-pynchon-bleeding-edge.html
http://www.theatlanticwire.com/entertainment/2013/06/thomas-pynchon-back-new-york/66140/
7.01.2013
4.27.2013
Selection for May & April
My Beloved Brontosaurus by Brian Switek
T-Rex had feathers? Brontosaurus never existed??
Maybe I shouldn't read this...
2.27.2013
Selection for March & April
First off, apologies for my lazy posting on the Lepore book. It's been busy here at the Library! Have you seen the new website? -- winpublib.org -- Lots of work, but now we'll move on to a different book and maybe I'll be better with the blog. I'll be better, probably!
So, I thought Story of America was pretty good and I learned a lot of interesting things. It definitely just felt like reading a bunch of New Yorker articles but that's exactly what it is.
ANYWAY
Goodbye Jill Lepore, hello Roland Huntford. This time we are visiting my all-time favorite genre which is "Heroic Accounts of South Pole Exploration." If you're going to know one author in the "Heroic Accounts of South Pole Exploration" genre it should probably be Roland Huntford. The man has written the standard biographies of all the great polar explorers from the early 1900s: Shackleton, Scott, Amundsen, and Nansen. He is the authority. And he looks so nice:
I've read a bunch of these polar explorer books -- See list here -- but I haven't read this one yet. It's called "Race for the South Pole: The Expedition Diaries of Scott and Amundsen." It is the epic story of 2 men who raced to be the first to stand at the south pole. Both made it out, but one didn't make it back. The book puts their diaries side by side.
So, I thought Story of America was pretty good and I learned a lot of interesting things. It definitely just felt like reading a bunch of New Yorker articles but that's exactly what it is.
ANYWAY
Goodbye Jill Lepore, hello Roland Huntford. This time we are visiting my all-time favorite genre which is "Heroic Accounts of South Pole Exploration." If you're going to know one author in the "Heroic Accounts of South Pole Exploration" genre it should probably be Roland Huntford. The man has written the standard biographies of all the great polar explorers from the early 1900s: Shackleton, Scott, Amundsen, and Nansen. He is the authority. And he looks so nice:
I've read a bunch of these polar explorer books -- See list here -- but I haven't read this one yet. It's called "Race for the South Pole: The Expedition Diaries of Scott and Amundsen." It is the epic story of 2 men who raced to be the first to stand at the south pole. Both made it out, but one didn't make it back. The book puts their diaries side by side.
Get stoked, y'all
1.03.2013
Selection for January / February 2013
The Story of America: Essays on Origins
by Jill Lepore
by Jill Lepore
"As smart, lively and assured as modern debunkery gets."
We are diving into some non-fiction here. Do you like revisionist history? Do you like snarky history professors? Are you brave enough to take a truly critical look at the legends, myths, lies, and misunderstandings that make up the foundations of American history and culture? Are you tired and hungry but you don't get out of work for 2 more hours? Here we go!
We are diving into some non-fiction here. Do you like revisionist history? Do you like snarky history professors? Are you brave enough to take a truly critical look at the legends, myths, lies, and misunderstandings that make up the foundations of American history and culture? Are you tired and hungry but you don't get out of work for 2 more hours? Here we go!
10.31.2012
Selection for November & December
Happy Halloween! Tomorrow is November 1st and so we'll be starting a new book. Goodbye American Gods (goodbye goodbye) and hello The Age of Wire and String by Ben Marcus.
It's time for you all to be brave. Come on let's try it.
From Wikipedia: The Age of Wire and String is Ben Marcus's first book, published in 1995. The book is composed of 8 sections, divided into 41 short experimental fictions (ed. note: uh oh), which combine technical language with lyrical imagery to form a sort of Postmodern catalog by turns surreal, fantastic, and self-referential.
From Kirkus: A rare, genius-struck achievement intended to warn readers into looking at the truth anew; not easy, but filled always with great beauties, high themes, enormous sorrows. By turns futuristic (``after the second appearance of 1983''), mock- historic (``One system of dating places their arrival...as early as the wakeful period of 1979''), surrealistic (``often each leg was clothed in a contrasting food style''), lyrically pathetic (``Your man can run, walk, sleep, drink, eat, and, of course, weep and die''), and simultaneously philosophic (``Certain weather is not recognized by the land it is practiced on'') and satiric (``Every year a day was set aside for discussion'').
I've read 2 other Marcus books - Notable American Women and The Flame Alphabet and both were great. Both of those books grew out of his earlier work in The Age of Wire and String so I'm excited to read it.
It's time for you all to be brave. Come on let's try it.
From Wikipedia: The Age of Wire and String is Ben Marcus's first book, published in 1995. The book is composed of 8 sections, divided into 41 short experimental fictions (ed. note: uh oh), which combine technical language with lyrical imagery to form a sort of Postmodern catalog by turns surreal, fantastic, and self-referential.
From Kirkus: A rare, genius-struck achievement intended to warn readers into looking at the truth anew; not easy, but filled always with great beauties, high themes, enormous sorrows. By turns futuristic (``after the second appearance of 1983''), mock- historic (``One system of dating places their arrival...as early as the wakeful period of 1979''), surrealistic (``often each leg was clothed in a contrasting food style''), lyrically pathetic (``Your man can run, walk, sleep, drink, eat, and, of course, weep and die''), and simultaneously philosophic (``Certain weather is not recognized by the land it is practiced on'') and satiric (``Every year a day was set aside for discussion'').
I've read 2 other Marcus books - Notable American Women and The Flame Alphabet and both were great. Both of those books grew out of his earlier work in The Age of Wire and String so I'm excited to read it.
9.04.2012
Selection for September/October
American Gods
by Neil Gaiman
"I," she told him, "can believe anything.
You have no idea what I can believe."
5.01.2012
Day 1 - The Third Policeman
...and so today we say goodbye to Mr. Bradbury. We're all done with The Martian Chronicles. It was great! Thanks for the memories!
We're starting The Third Policeman today. This is a book I read a few years ago and I've been looking for an excuse (and some time) to read it again. It's a trip.
Just a note - This is a real weird book but the beginning can be a little slow. Please stick with it through the first chapter. All of your dreams will come true, etc.
We're starting The Third Policeman today. This is a book I read a few years ago and I've been looking for an excuse (and some time) to read it again. It's a trip.
Just a note - This is a real weird book but the beginning can be a little slow. Please stick with it through the first chapter. All of your dreams will come true, etc.
4.25.2012
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