Reading Prospectus 2012

After the best reads of 2011, I have a list of most anticipated books in 2012, including my Christmas haul: We Had It So Good Linda Grant The Forgotten Waltz Anne Enright The Stranger’s Child Alan Hollinghurst The Sense of an Ending Julian Barnes Stoner John Williams Sitting on my shelf waiting is Freedom by [...]

The Year in Reading: Best Literature 2011

76 books, over 20,000 pages read. The year of 2011 has been a rewarding year for reading. Several of the newly discovered authors have become instant favorites. Books that are overdue to be read I have finally conquered. A great year of reading means I have to wreck my brain to choose the best ones. [...]

The Year in Film

I don’t watch films as fanatically as I read books. Several films do make a deep impression on me this year. 1. Attack the Block (Joe Cornish, UK/France) Never thought I’ll enjoy a sci-fi film. A teen gang in South London defend their block from an alien invasion. It’s just subversive, prophetic, and totally addictive. [...]

[426] The Postmistress – Sarah Blake

” She watched it all. And she never said a word. The whole thing depended on her silence. She was aware that no one else in the town might think of her in this way. It beggared belief that an unmarried woman her age would be convulsed by a desire to poke about in other [...]

Stocking Filler

This week’s musing asks: Did you get any books for Christmas? If so, what were they? Friends have learned from experience not to give me books because I’m the one person for whom buying gifts of books is most difficult. This truth has been acquiesced over the years. That I have refused to participate any [...]

Lotus 蓮

Las Vegas Rundown: 1.愛上一個不回家的人/2. 夜太黑/3. 心野夜/4. 埃及玫瑰/5. 沒結果之後/6. 灰色/7. 燒/8. 柿子/9. 為你我受冷風吹/10. 聽說愛情回來過/11. “Love, Sandy” Medley (影子情人 / 知難不退 /這些那些 / 傷痕)/12. 當愛已成往事/13. 好人–側田/14. 三十日–側田/15. 男人KTV–側田/16.傾斜17. 講多錯多/18. 醒醒/19. 一分鐘都市一分鐘戀愛/20. 推搪/21. 逃離鋼筋森林/22. 瘋了/Encore: 23. 鏗鏘玫瑰/24. Have Yourself A Marry Little Christmas/25. 至少還有你 (Pictures taken at the MGM Grand, Las Vegas, on Dec 24, 2011) I’m seeing [...]

End-of-Year Book Survey

I have yet to think about my favorite books of 2011 because the year is not over. But this wonderful book survey from Dolce Bellezza helps me think in retrospection. It’s an end of 2011 survey to reflect on this year’s best and worst reads. 1. Best Book(s) You Read in 2011? (Do I want [...]

[425] The Translation of the Bones – Francesca Kay

” His fear was great; of nothing but an infinity of empty space, of endless miles of blackness broken only by the light of dead stars reaching down to earth to drown in its implacable, indifferent seas. Is it madness then? he asked. Am I as mad as Mary-Margaret and the girls who swore that [...]

The Unofficial Christmas Reading List

(Picture taken at Union Square, San Francisco 12/19/11.) This post is inspired by my overhearing of a customer who asked for Christmas books at the indie. “Unofficial” because I don’t seek out books on and/or about Christmas. These are books I read in the past that happen to have a Christmas theme. But—you’ll never know, [...]

Reading Francesca Kay

With the holiday seasons and spirit, people incline to believe in miracles or something more romantic. Francesca Kay delivers. Her latest book, The Translation of the Bones, scheduled to publish in January 2012, begins with a miracle in the church. The idea is tacky and had it not for my friend’s recommendation, I would probably [...]