Shaken & Stirred: Personal Best

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August 30, 2007

Personal Best

Last night, one of my friendly neighborhood librarians informed me that I'd reached the maximum -- 35 books -- and would have to return something before I could check out anything more. And I wasn't even trying!

Back later with today's Radar post.

Posted at 05:26 AM in Books | Permalink

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And then I felt totally lame when I went in to pick up a reserve and found out I'm only at nine. But you should memeify this. These are the books I currently have checked out of the library--other people should post what they've got!

* The Seventy Great Journeys In History edited by Robin Hanbury-Tenison

* Wizards edited by Gardner Dozois and Jack Dann

* DaVinci's Kitchen: A Secret History of Italian Cuisine by Dave DeWitt

* Edgar Rice Burrough's Tarzan, the Joe Kubert Years, Vol. #3 written and illustrated by Joe Kubert

* Horse Lattitudes by Paul Muldoon

* La Perdida written and illustrated by Jessica ABel

* The Shakespeare Wars: Clashing Scholars, Public Fiascoes, Palace Coups by Ron Rosenbaum

* The Execution Channel by Ken MacLeod

* The Organic Lawn Care Manual: A Natural, Low-Maintenance System For a Beautiful Safe, Lawn by Paul Tukey

Posted by:Christopher | August 30, 2007 at 09:09 AM

Ooh, good idea. I'll do that tomorrow!

Posted by:Gwenda | August 30, 2007 at 09:49 AM

Surfiction : fiction now and tomorrow Charged 09/04/07
37244019634485 Sladek, John Thomas. The Muller-Fokker effect Charged 09/12/07
37244030625512 Barth, John. Letters : a novel Charged 09/12/07
37244034858127 Bukatman, Scott, 195 Terminal identity : the virtual subject in postm Charged 09/12/07
37244046175791 Mailer, Norman. Of a fire on the moon Charged 09/08/07
37244067345877 West, Nathanael, 190 Miss Lonelyhearts Charged 09/04/07
37244078219657 Heller, Joseph. We bombed in New Haven; a play Charged 09/04/07
37244080941868 Ishiguro, Kazuo, 195 The unconsoled Charged 09/12/07
37244080995088 Kelman, James, 1946 Not not while the Giro and other stories Charged 09/08/07
37244101533595 Dimock, Peter, 1950 A short rhetoric for leaving the family Charged 09/12/07
37244148169601 Pauli, Lori. Manufactured landscapes : the photographs of Edw Charged 09/01/07
37244156030729 Mitchell, Tim. There's something about Jonathan : Jonathan Rich Charged 09/04/07
37244164919145 Middles, Mick. The Fall Overdue 08/20/07
37244168258755 Chekhov, Anton Pavlo Stories Charged 09/04/07
37244173747305 Sorrentino, Gilbert. Mulligan stew : a novel Charged 09/04/07
37244175860510 Thomson, David, 1941 Nicole Kidman Charged 09/12/07
37244177752418 Larson, Signe. The complete idiot's guide to bringing up baby Overdue 08/28/07
37244179330197 McNay, Mark, 1965 Fresh : a novel Charged 09/04/07

Posted by:CBO | August 30, 2007 at 11:03 AM

Here's mine:

253 -- Geoff Ryman
The Culture of the Copy -- Hillel Schwartz
Women, Fire, and Dangerous Things -- George Lakoff
Ka -- Roberto Calasso
Under the Loving Care of the Fatherly Leader: North Korea and the Kim Dynasty -- Bradley K. Martin
The Book of Salt -- Monique Truong
Border Film Project: Photos by Migrants & Minutement on the US-Mexico Border -- Rudy Adler, Victoria Criado, Brett Huneycutt
The Merchant and the Alchemist's Gate -- Ted Chiang
The Collected Stories -- Amy Hempel

It is very bittersweet for me, because I have discovered that endless public libraries is one of the things I miss the most while being overseas, along with baths (even the nicest Mexican houses usually only have showers), listening to NPR in the car, thrift stores, yard sales, and Vietnamese food.

Then again, there will be lots of Vietnamese food where I'm going, so maybe I'll luck out librarywise too.

Posted by:Sunshine | September 08, 2007 at 07:40 PM

About

Appendices

Read Read

E. Lockhart: Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks, The
You might think the world doesn't need any more boarding school novels, but if you haven't read this one then you're wrong, wrong, wrong. E. Lockhart has surpassed herself with this fable of a girl coming into her own and challenging the boy's club at her prep school -- while falling in love with its members at the same time. Lockhart never simplifies or skirts gender issues and power dynamics, and lets Frankie be realistic instead of a treatise disguised as a character. The sly omniscient narrator tells the story perfectly, and leaves hope that maybe one girl can change the world. More novels as funny and true and perfect as this one, please.
Kathi Appelt: The Underneath
Appelt's first novel is a beautiful, magical fantasy for younger readers that will instantly become a classic. Seriously. I can imagine this book being in classrooms right alongside Charlotte's Web in a hundred years. The writing is poetic in the good way, and there's a lamia. Children are going to absolutely fall in love with Appelt's equally kind and brutal universe, where love conquers most, and it can take millenia to come to your senses.
Jincy Willett: The Writing Class
With her second novel, Willett matches the perfect pitch and execution of her brilliant short stories. Every writer will want to read this novel--very little wincing is involved, but expect a great deal of laughter. C and I found ourselves reading pieces aloud, after howling provoked the "what's so funny?" question. As with any good writing workshop or class, the characters become more appealing as you get to know them, and ultimately what she has pulled off is a satisfying mystery, and a satisfying exploration of humanity. Amy Gallup is a character to remember.
Karen Joy Fowler: Wit's End
A new novel by Karen Fowler really is something to be excited about, unlike many of the writers for whom such praise gets bandied about. (If you're smirking because you think you know something about her work from the title--not the book--The Jane Austen Book Club, please go sit in the corner and read any of her novels. You're welcome.) This is an unmystery-like mystery, concerned not so much with dead bodies--though there are plenty--as with the mysteries of healing and the heart, politics and people. How is it that a writer gets a lens on the present that's as revealing as the one she employs in historical fiction? Now that's a mystery. Highly recommended.
Steve Erickson: Zeroville
Steve Erickson novels are often like dreams, or revelations, or discovered artifacts, or written just for you. Zeroville's no different, although it is perhaps the most readily graspable example of his work to date. The Rosetta Stone is there; the secret decoder ring is a film projector. The dizzying Hollywood confidential stylings will make your inner film geek happy, but the uncovering of a truly mythic cinematic story--since cinema has existed forever--of sacrifice and redemption is even more memorable. See also: this review.
Ursula Dubosarsky: The Red Shoe (Neal Porter Books)
Set in Sydney during WWII, this wonderful novel travels between the view from inside each of three sisters. Dubosarsky perfectly captures the differences that come from being the younger, older, or middle child. Perfectly conjuring the period, and yet creating a completely accessible story, the narrative contrasts chapters focusing on the family with interstitials from the Sydney newspapers of the time, stories of polio, the H-bomb, and a defecting Russian spy (who happens to be in hiding next door). Nothing here is heavy-handed. Everything is perfectly balanced. It's a beautiful, beautiful novel. See my full take here.