very simple

Ok so…this book was stupid. I think the author was trying to be Elizabeth Kostova (The Historian) with all of the background, but it’s like she forgot that there was current action, and was told to finish the damn think in 20 minutes.  The middle “part” of the book was incredibly tedious “history”, with a level of detail that bordered on compulsive.  But when we get to the last section, where all of the “action” is, it’s rushed, confusing, and people are jumping to conclusions and changing their motives every five minutes, in completely irrational ways, except to the extent that such jumps move the action forward.

Click here for my library entry on Angelology.

Since I got my nook, I’ve read quite a few books (for me at least). I found a widget for the blog that lets me keep what I’m reading updated in the sidebar, and also maintains a library of everything I’ve catalogued. Note that the list is ONLY books that I’ve read since I got the nook. And also doesn’t count the mountain of periodicals I read.

(also note – you can borrow ebooks for free from the New York Public Library, but only if you’ve got a nook or a Sony reader device – amazon is so locked down that the kindle doesn’t read the format that library books are available in. This has turned out to be the best feature, by far, of owning the nook. I’ve saved a ridiculous amount of money).

But I was thinking that I should really go back to posting about them as well, since…well…I need something to post about.

So here are the books I’ve read to date:

The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo: Everyone’s favorite biker-punk feminist pixie gets her start here. I did get engrossed by this first book (enjoyed would be an inappropriate word to use given the subject matter), but a lot of the threads didn’t make sense until the second and third books arrived. And Larssen’s obsession with technical detail was a bit annoying – Yes she’s a hacker. No, the audience doesn’t care how much RAM her ibook contains.

The Book of the Dead: I became a bit engrossed with Patricia Cornwell’s books when I was living in Italy, and they were available in abundance in the english language section of the bookstores I visited. This, and the next few, just continue the series.

Scarpetta: See above.

The Lost Symbol: This was the first book I successfully figured out how to borrow from the library. So it was a triumph in that sense. Otherwise, it was as enjoyable as his other works. Take of that what you will.

The Girl Who Played With Fire: This time we learn about Lisbeth. And it’s not pretty, but it is entirely engrossing. Again.

Dead Until Dark: I love the TV series, so I thought I’d give the books a try. At least the first one, which was available from the NYPL. But having seen the TV show, it actually got a bit confusing because the show diverges quite a bit from the books. Not bad, basically candy for your brain.

The Hour I First Believed: I’ve loved everything that Wally Lamb has written, and this was no exception. I heartily agree with my friend who, when I asked her how she liked it, said something along the lines of “I cried when it ended because I wasn’t going to get to spend any more time with these characters.” A really, really, beautiful book.

When Will There Be Good News?: The third in the Jackson Brodie mystery novels that read more like character studies. Can’t wait for the fourth.

The Help: I enjoyed it, but not as much as I think other people did. I was a little disturbed by the “young white woman on a mission to save the poor black women” narrative, even though well-intentioned.

Game Change: A fantastic breakdown of the 2008 election, and every wrong (and right) move that the major candidates made. There was a very brief section of the book that actually made me feel bad for Sarah Palin (I got over that right quick), but the rise of Obama, and how everyone else underestimated him, is utterly fascinating.

Going in Circles: This book had me googling local roller derby clubs by the end of it. Then I regained my sanity.

The Scarpetta Factor: The most recent of the Scarpetta books. Same formula, but interesting every time.

The Bridge: I was a little burnt out on election reading after Game Change, but the parts of the book dealing with Obama’s parents and his childhood were really great.

The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest: A bit predictable in certain places, and, as a lawyer, a bit confusing in the courtroom, given the vast differences between Swedish courtroom tactics and American ones, but still a really nice ending to the trilogy.

A Reliable Wife: Not sure what to make of this one. One part romance novel, one part grifter, one part mystery. eh.

The Passage: (from my review page) Excellent read, even if a bit derivative of other works. I couldn’t help thinking, through large parts of the book, about the recent film adaptation of ‘I Am Legend’ – that this was the story (at least for a good chunk of the book) of the people we encounter in the walled city at the end of that movie. But it was still incredibly engrossing. I don’t want to spoil the ending, but I will say that I was genuinely shocked. Definitely worth the read, and worthy of its place as one of the recommended summer reads of 2010.

Storm Front: (from my review page) Enjoyable read for the genre. I’ll probably pick up the next one in the series when I’m bored.

The Tourist: A somewhat conventional spy drama…former spy gets pulled back in, framed for murder, etc., but written well with good characters filling out the story.

The Death of American Virtue: I wasn’t sure I was going to be able to get through this, but it was pretty engrossing, and pretty evenhanded to all parties. Including interviews with ALL of the major players in the drama, it’s a pretty good exploration of how even those with (allegedly) the best of intentions can get wrapped up in a witch hunt and experience extreme tunnel vision.

while this is both the oldest and least pleasant Barnes & Noble location in the city, It has the best signs.

Again, a bulk post to catch up on the last week of photos:

133:365 (library card)

In the 6th grade, I checked out a library book that promptly fell behind my dresser, and not wanting to admit this, I never returned it. My fear of getting in trouble turned into me not getting another library card for over 20 years. At which point I realized that (a) they probably don’t keep records that long, (b) even if they did, replacing the book would cost, like, $20 (c) it was a biography of John James Audubon, so who the hell would even miss it and (d) I don’t even live in that town anymore.

So…new library card!

134:365 (on hold)

took this 1 hour and 4 minutes into being on hold with B&N digital support, because my nook was connecting to the internet just fine, but wouldn’t actually download any books. Took about 30 seconds to solve once I did get someone on the phone.

(please note that I have missed days 135 and 136 – the first ones ever, and I feel really bad about it, but I had a job interview and was totally distracted by that!)

137:365 (early morning)

Apparently the trick to getting a table at my local coffee shop is to get there really early in the morning.

138:365 (boats)

taken at the south street seaport

Finally got my nook today, and it was very exciting. until, of course, the latest software patch got uploaded automatically, and apparently killed my ability to access one of the features called “the Daily”. Luckily, this is the least essential feature because it only relates to B&N updates and magazine subscriptions, and since they haven’t actually offered most of the newspapers and magazines that I’d even want, it’s, at least right now, not very important to me. Doesn’t mean that I don’t want it to work forever though! Which is why I spent 2 hours this evening on hold to get through to a digital support person who, after listening to my issue and talking to his colleagues, informed me that I had stumped them (go me!). They’re going to try to replicate the problem, and if I haven’t heard back from them in 2 days, I need to call back and they’ll either have a solution or they’ll have to send me a new one.

But in the meantime, I can read books, and since I’m using calibre to side-load all the newspapers and magazines that I wouldn’t have access to because B&N isn’t actually offering them yet anyway, I’m not losing (much) functionality in the interim.

Product launches are fun!

I (or really my dad) preordered a nook for me with an expected ship date of December 11. Latest update is that they “hope” to get it to me by the 24th. In the meantime, I got my cover last week and it’s making a nice display case for the nook-sized piece of styrofoam that fits inside.

I think my favorite part, of course, is the fact that they’re obsessively insisting that they’ll get it to us by “christmas”. That’s cold comfort for those of us who, um, celebrate other holidays. other holidays that ended at sundown tonight.

finished another analog book today, A Death in Belmont by Sebastian Junger. It’s ultimately a pretty interesting meditation on the limits of our justice system to find out who is actually guilty of any particular crime, but the specifics are pretty amazing.  In 1963, a woman was strangled to death in Belmont.  An african-american man who had been working at her house was convicted of the crime.  Except…

Except, that down the street, at the author’s own home, some carpenters were working on the author’s mother’s new studio, and one of those workers was Albert DeSalvo, who later confessed to being the Boston Strangler.  I think the creepiest part of the whole book is the photo at the very beginning, of a baby Sebastian Junger sitting in his mother’s lap, with DeSalvo standing behind them.  DeSalvo never confessed to committing the particular crime in Belmont, but still…

In anticipation of the arrival of my nook, I’ve been trying to make my way through some of the backlog of hardcover books that I’ve got laying around. I used to have a habit of going into a bookstore and just buying whatever looked interesting, and then putting those books in a big “to do” pile to be read later. Of course, my buying habits far outpaced my actual reading habits, and things that looked interesting at first glance in the bookstore would often lose their allure once I started sifting through the pile looking for something to read.

So now, since I’m getting a nook for Chanukah (and also for helping my dad out a bunch with his startup company, unpaid), I’ve changed methods. I created a sub list in my iphone to do list application for books, and whenever I’m at the bookstore and a book catches my eye, instead of just buying it, I instead jot the title and author down on my list. If, when I get home, there is an ebook version available, I add that book to my ebook wish list on barnes and noble. when the nook arrives, I can start going through that list one at a time and only buy what I’m actually interested in reading at that moment. This way, my “pile” is now a virtual pile, and I won’t actually pay for a book until I’m ready to actually read it. Makes much more sense. Of course, this doesn’t eliminate the problem of getting bored by a book part of the way through, but it’s still a financial and living space improvement (and, unlike dead tree books, you can often read the first chapter of an ebook without buying, further reducing the risk of buying something that sucks).

In the meantime, i just finished another book off of my dead tree pile, The Yiddish Policemen’s Union, by Michael Chabon. I very much enjoyed it (although it took me a while to get past the first chapter). Alternative history, murder, and a whole lot of yiddish. Kavalier and Clay is still my favorite Chabon book, but this one held up pretty well through the uncertain end.

(haven’t done a book review in a while, but here goes)

With all of my free time, I thought that i’d get more reading done, but somehow…that hasn’t happened. But I always love a good Sarah Vowell book, so I picked up a copy of The Wordy Shipmates and read it in just a few days. I always love Vowell’s irreverent yet reverential take on american history, and this was no exception. A nice primer on the post-pilgrim puritans who settled around boston that we learned about back in elementary school (but of course, back then, there was no real substance), it makes me want to delve more deeply into our curious beginnings. It was particularly interesting to read about the segment of folks, like Roger Williams, who were supremely religious but wary of any church-state interaction. Williams may have thought someone like me was going to hell, but that had nothing to do with my ability to function as a member of civil society. Needless to say he got kicked out of the massachusetts bay colony and had to go found rhode island. It’s a shame a lot of this stuff is glossed over in american history classes. I found it fascinating.

So I finally (finally!) actually finished one of the myriad books that I’ve started this year.  Of course, the fact that it was in comic-book form helped.  If anything though, the drawings really helped to capture the mood of the entire piece.  Stark, bold, a little bit sad.  Growing up in the west, you just can’t even imagine living through 10 years of war, only to be shipped off, as a 14-year old, to a foreign country where you don’t speak the language, for your safety.  And to then be abandoned by the people who are entrusted to care for you.  A really, really, beautiful (both graphically and substantively) book.