I don’t remember reading a lot over the past couple weeks, but I guess I did, because when I thought about it I’d read all those books you see pictured above. I tend to do things in  cycles and I guess I’ve been on a reading cycle lately, there hasn’t been much else going on creatively speaking. So here are my one (or two) paragraph reviews:

Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close by Jonathan Safran Foer: I quite enjoyed this book, and will probably read his others. This is the story of Oskar, a young boy who lost his father on September 11th, and finds a key amongst his belongings that doesn’t open any locks in his home. He decides to find the lock that belongs to the key. He also invents things, my favorite invention was a duct system flowing from everyone’s pillows in New York to a pond in Central Park that would fill with everyone’s tears. He proposes that there could then be regular reports of the water levels so people would know if there was a particularly sad day ahead. The passage was much more eloquent then that, so you’ll just have to read it for yourself.

There are some interesting illustrations and typographic techniques throughout, which I am not sure I like, such as a passage in which the type becomes progressively tighter and tighter until it overlaps itself completely and becomes illegible. Is it now necessary for authors to throw in little tricks like that to make their books different and therefore better than the competition? Is good writing no longer enough to sell books? I suppose if it’s carefully done, it can enhance the story, but if it’s becoming the trendy thing to do, I don’t like it. For the most part, such typographical tricks were well used here, but if there had been any more it would have become tiresome. The diagrams and such in Mark Haddon’s The Mysterious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime were definitely well done as well, as they illustrated the way the narrator, a boy with profound autism, saw the world with his damaged brain.

Speaking of, I also read Mark Haddon’s latest book, A Spot of Bother. Again he tackles the subject of a damaged brain, although this time it’s a recently retired man who finds himself slowly, quietly going crazy while his family members all deal with their own problems. There were some quite funny bits, which because of the subject matter are sort of bittersweet. I do like his very straightforward narration style, and while the characters are not really lovable at first, I eventually developed a real affection for them individually and for the family as a whole. It was a quick read, and very entertaining.

After finishing Cloud Atlas, I decided to read David Mitchell’s first book, Ghostwritten. He uses the same technique he used in Cloud Atlas, in that the book is actually a series of short stories, each linked to the previous. The structure isn’t as complex in Ghostwritten, but still interesting. It reminded my of a chain the way one story was linked to the next. What I like about his writing, which I mentioned when talking about Cloud Atlas, is his ability to write in many different voices so effectively.

River Secrets is the third Bayern book by Shannon Hale. I guess her books are technically considered Young Adult Literature, but I don’t care, I’ve loved them all. She can tell a story that will keep you completely enthralled and her characters are wonderfully human, flawed and yet still immensely likeable, like your best friend. I would recommend reading The Goose Girl and Enna Burning before reading River Secrets, as everything will make much more sense.

I’ve also been listening to some new music lately. With a brother who’s a musician and another brother who has a talent for finding the newest, coolest indy artists, I’m always finding good stuff to listen to. Cary introduced me to the music of Vienna Teng. I think he opened for her last year some time. Vienna is a piannist, singer, songwriter, musician extraordinnaire, and her music doesn’t fit easily into any particular genre. There’s a little jazz, a little folk, a little pop and a little something different in her sound.  I love her smooth as silk voice, which is high and sweet but never cloyingly so. If you’re looking for something soothing but not sappy, interesting and energizing, then I’d suggest giving her a listen. I’ve got all three of her albums, but I haven’t decided if there’s one I like better than the others, although Harbor on Warm Strangers is one of those songs I just loved the very first minute I heard it.

I’m not a very good reviewer, sometimes I just like what I like because, well, I like it, but maybe someone will find these little reviews interesting :o)

I went ahead with the scarf gift, and was knitting feverishly until late last night and then again for an hour this morning before work:

Luckily the recipient is a very small person, so I stopped once I knitted about 46 inches. I used the pattern for Misty Garden from the Scarf Style book. The yarn is Trendsetter Muse, a mohair/acrylic blend which is super soft and fluffy, just like a cloud. The pattern is a really easy 4 row repeat, so it was good, mindless knitting. I think it was well received, and the yarn has lots of subtle color in it, so it will go with just about anything. I like it better than a $20 gift card :o)

In between my feverish knitting and making meatballs for our potluck at work today (recipe: 2 bags frozen party meatballs from Trader Joe’s, 1 bottle Soy Vay Island Teriyaki sauce, also from TJ’s, dump all (er, both) ingredients into a crock pot, turn it on under your desk when you arrive at work in the morning, thus torturing everyone sitting near you with that delicious aroma, and serve 3 hours later, when they’re all hot and bubbly), I’ve been doing some reading lately. I’m generally a pretty fast reader, but my latest book, Cloud Atlas, by David Mitchell has taken the better part of two weeks to read. It’s challenging, in a very good way. I’m not quite done, but I keep thinking about it. Here is my review so far:
 
Cloud Atlas is really 5 novellas, split into two sections each, surrounding a sixth novella in the middle of the book. What makes the book so amazing is that each story is told in a completely different voice and all are very different styles. Some of the reviews on Amazon compare it to a Russian Nesting Doll, which is sort of apt, but not completely. In one interview I read with the author, he described the structure as if holding up a mirror. One reason I’ve taken so long with this book is the abrupt changing of styles. Each story is so fascinating and well-written, and the first halves of each novella have ended with suspenseful, cliff-hanger scenes so that I keep wanting to skip ahead. It’s just all so clever, without being pretentious. I wish I could explain it better. It’s very original and I highly recommend it, if you’re up for something a little more challenging. I’ve already requested another of his books from my library, so it should be ready and waiting for me when I’m done.

Have you read anything lately that you highly recommend? I’m always looking for good books to read! I’ll have to list some of my other recommendations, if anyone is interested.

Oh, I almost forgot, someone bought my little snowman. I can’t even tell you how excited I get when I see those e-mails from etsy and paypal. It’s always just a little unbelievable to me that someone really will pay actual money to buy something I made. I’m off to do a happy dance now! :o)

I think my post office hates me. No sign of an embroidery kit yet. Once it took 5 days for me to get a Netflix movie, which was sent from Santa Ana. I think sometimes they hang out in the back at the post office, and when they get tired of stuffing the mail in our little boxes, or the clock says "5:00" they just quit.

So, I’ll have to talk about other things. I have some bento box catching up to do. Yesterday’s lunch was not pretty. In fact, it looks kind of gross, but it was very delicious.
It’s Beef Bourginan, a thick slice of bread, cherries and a little banana. Yes, I did buy baby bananas just because they are so cute and fit nicely in my lunchbox. My Beef Bourginan was a little tempermental. I decided it would really be better to eat hot, and, not wanting to risk throwing my bento box in the microwave I put it on a paper plate to heat it up. It exploded all over the microwave, so I had to clean up that mess. It got much runnier after I heated it up, and as I was carrying it back to my desk I dribbled it all over myself. It was still good, though. Just a little dangerous.

Today I can’t wait for lunch because I have this:

These are going to be lettuce bundles with grilled, shredded chicken, noodles with peanut sauce, scallions, carrots and peanuts. I thought I had a cucumber, but alas, there was no cucumber to be found in the vegetable drawer. I have extra peanut sauce and some strawberries too.

The other day my sister shared her stack of books next to her bed, so I thought I would do the same:

I’ve made it through a good bit of these the last few weeks, and several are actually part of our family book club. Yes, I am a little behind on mailing them on. Oops. I try to keep track of all the books I read in a little journal I have, but I often forget to jot them down in there, and then it disappears for awhile and I find it again and I try to catch up, but it doesn’t always work. I’m trying this out, to see if I remember to enter them there. It has all kinds of nifty little features, like a 5-star rating system and a place to write reviews. I didn’t realize that the reviews were made public, so I just wrote a few lines to remind myself what I liked and didn’t like about the books I’ve added. My reviews seem kind of lame compared to the others, I mean, they’re not really reviews at all. So don’t read them, okay? I think you can see my books here.

Anyway, I thought it would be fun to see other peoples bedside stacks, so spread the word, take a picture of your stack, and leave a link in the comments. Tell everyone you know! That doesn’t sound dirty, does it? Show us your stack!

When I fast-forward through commercials on my Tivo, I always hold my breath. Does anyone else do this? I have no idea why. I have to force myself to breathe when I hit that fast-forward button.