tales of an unreal city (original) (raw)

Happy New Year, all! It's 2011 now, but of course I am still drowning in business from 2010. Can I catch up by the end of January? Place your bets now!

( 71. Funny Boy — Shyam Selvadurai Collapse ) This was a perfectly decent book, but I found it fairly flat, and it never rose above decent for me.

( 72. Less Than Zero — Bret Easton Ellis Collapse ) now I have and we never have to talk about it again. Yay.

**( 73. A Reliable Wife — Robert Goolrick Collapse )**Such things happened, apparently!

( 74. Prime Baby — Gene Luen Yang Collapse ) it’s a good way to whet the appetite until the next meal comes along.

**( 75. Liar — Justine Larbalestier Collapse )**I wish my reaction could have been different, but this is how I felt, no lie.

**( 76. How Did You Get This Number — Sloane Crosley Collapse )**There’s something to be proud of, at least!

( 77. The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms — N.K. Jemisin Collapse ) It’s definitely a place that I would like to explore further.

( 78. Hapworth 16, 1924 — J.D. Salinger Collapse ) Stop tormenting me from beyond the grave, J.D. It’s just petty.

( 79. Book Girl and the Suicidal Mime — Mizuki Nomura Collapse ) Mallory had less luck with Everest, as I recall.

( 80. The Literary Conference — Cesar Aira Collapse ) I need to go lie down now.

Total Reviews: 80/229

That was a tough batch to get through! Wish me luck, you guys!

Current Mood: tired
Current Music:Arcade Fire, "We Used to Wait"

I swear someone is standing outside my window with a hose, because there is no way it can or should be raining this much in Los Angeles.

**( 61. Our Hero — Tom De Haven Collapse )**this book is a joy to read: a thoughtful investigation into why stories and characters are so important, into how an alien from Krypton can help us think about what makes us human.

( 62. Alone With You — Marisa Silver Collapse ) We all already know that I never learn.

( 63. The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest — Stieg Larsson Collapse ) If characters like Lisbeth—if women in central, heroic roles—can seep into the collective subconscious the way Han Solo and hundreds of years of male heroes sunk into mine, then maybe the next girl (or boy) growing up won’t have to have some big revelation about how she can write women in her stories. She’ll already know.

**( 64. The Improbable Adventures of Sherlock Holmes — Ed. by John Joseph Adams Collapse )**I would like to see “Commonplaces” collected in other books, because then this one would truly be completely unnecessary.

( 65. Hotel Iris — Yoko Ogawa Collapse ) I really don’t recommend that people unfamiliar with Ogawa start here; build up a tolerance and then see if you are strong and brave enough. I am not.

( 66. The Thief — Megan Whalen Turner Collapse ) is there any reason for me to continue?

( 67. & 200. Blackout & All Clear — Connie Willis Collapse ) Oh, Max, Max: we need to invent time travel for you.

( 68. Trickster — Ed. by Matt Dembicki Collapse ) this is a genre of storytelling that never ceases to delight and entrance me.

( 69. Catching Fire — Suzanne Collins Collapse ) I actually did the “Man, there aren’t a lot of pages left here; how is she going to wrap this..._wait a minute!_” thing.

( 70. Rock and Roll Will Save Your Life — Steve Almond Collapse ) Is Scott-Heron’s three-minute, thirty-four-second song more powerful than Almond’s whole book? Possibly, but that just proves Almond’s point.

Total Reviews: 70/210

Current Mood: damp
Current Music:U2, "Original of the Species"

Faced with the choice between writing some booklog and doing dishes, I chose booklog.

( 51. An Angel For Emily — Jude Deveraux Collapse ) From now on, it will simply be known as The Book I Threw at a Wall.

( 52. The Devil and Sherlock Holmes — David Grann Collapse ) If you’re obsessed with obsession (as I am), you will easily become enthralled by this book.

( 53. The Talisman Ring — Georgette Heyer Collapse ) it will probably be a while before I reach for another one of her books.

( 54. Diary of a Wimpy Kid — Jeff Kinney Collapse ) what’s the point of fiction—especially children’s fiction—if we can’t aspire to something better?

( 55. Written Lives — Javier Marías Collapse ) all these angsty writers were right: life is hard.

( 56. Hex Hall — Rachel Hawkins Collapse ) Hawkins has that magic ingredient that so many of her fellow authors lack; because of this I will, for once, be waiting eagerly for the sequel.

( 57. I Know I Am, But What Are You? — Samantha Bee Collapse ) Bee costumes are only the beginning.

( 58. The Hole We're In — Gabrielle Zevin Collapse ) This book deserves more attention than it appears to be getting.

( 59. Tokyo Vice — Jake Adelstein Collapse ) This is both a solid, interesting true crime book, and a solid, interesting book about Japan.

( 60. Voyage Along the Horizon — Javier Marías Collapse ) Marías’ work tends to be more about the journey and less about the destination.

Total Reviews: 60/201

Current Music:Florence + The Machine, "Blinding"

I am revoltingly behind. Let's say no more about it.

**( 31. Resenting the Hero — Moira J. Moore Collapse )**if you can't make me care, well. I'm going to read something else.

( 32. Boom! — Mark Haddon Collapse ) fans of the Hitchhiker's Guide will enjoy reading it with their kids—and I'll enjoy recommending it to them, too.

( 33. Al Capone Does My Shirts — Gennifer Choldenko Collapse ), this is something I’m glad I read so I can recommend it to kids more than a book I personally relished.

( 34. The Innocence of Father Brown — G.K. Chesterton Collapse ) Father Brown is lost without his Boswell. And he can stay there, as far as I’m concerned.

( 35. Eternal — Cynthia Leitich Smith Collapse ) I have learned to take amusement.

( 36. The Piano Teacher — Janice Y.K. Lee Collapse ) it's got a lot to recommend it for a debut. I'll definitely be checking out her next one.

( 37. Achtung Baby — Stephen Catanzarite Collapse ) Catanzarite can keep his version of this album; mine’s a lot more fun.

( 38. Union Atlantic — Adam Haslett Collapse ) Worth reading, by only if you’re in a very serious “Oh, ain’t modern society awful” mood.

( 39. Angel Time — Anne Rice Collapse ) Hopefully, given time and the better angels of her nature, Anne herself will come around.

( 40. Spooky Little Girl — Laurie Notaro Collapse ) “Gosh, Notaro sure was trying for something interesting with this!”

Total Reviews: 40/197 omg dear lord fuck fuck fuckity sweet jesus christ

Er. I mean, that’s totally doable, right?

Current Mood: determined
Current Music:U2, "Until the End of the World"

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Okay, that is all.*

*Aside from miscellaneous noises of glee, fatigue, joy, exhaustion, and excessive pie and wine consumption.

Current Mood: accomplished

My dad's film to increase awareness about the American hikers detained in Iran, FREE SHANE AND JOSH, debuted today on The Huffington Post. This film would not have been possible without the amazing work all of you wonderful fannish people did at the transcribing stage. Thank you again, so much!

Everyone can help once again by watching the film and signing the petition. And please, please spread the word! The idea at this stage is to get lots and lots of signatures and create international pressure, which will hopefully lead to Shane and Josh being set free. They have currently been in detainment for 462 days.

ETA: Commenting on the HuffPo piece is good, too. Apparently it's already being trolled by people calling the hikers spies and other horrible (FALSE!) stuff. :\

A small side note for L.A. folks: my dad and Laura, Josh's mom, are going to be on the Fox 10 o'clock news tonight. The piece may be picked up nationally, I'm not sure of those details yet; but if you can, check it out! (This is the only time ever that I will encourage people to watch Fox News.)

Thank you again to everyone for all their hard work on this project so far. I hope you enjoy the film, and please do everything you can to get the word out about this. Beyond simple issues of right and wrong, working on this project has really helped me to see what amazing people Shane and Josh (and Sarah!) are, and I desperately want to do everything I can to help them have a happy ending. Thanks for your support.

WATCH THE FILM SIGN THE PETITION

Thank you so much to everyone who helped transcribe the interviews with Sarah Shourd for the documentary to help free Josh Fattal and Shane Bauer. All the work is completed, and it's 100% thanks to fandom being awesome. Thank you so much!

When the documentary is finished (the rough cut is being completed this weekend), I will be sure to post it or a link to it here so everyone can see!

Finally, if you were one of the amazing people who helped out and you DIDN'T get an email from me about crediting, please let me know. I think I got everybody but even the power of spreadsheets fails occasionally. :)