The Lost Symbol (2009)

While I was in my local library branch picking up other material, I noticed that a copy of Dan Brown's The Lost Symbol was actually sitting on the new book shelf. How could I resist? I didn't. I brought it home and am ashamed to say that I devoured it. Page turning thrillers get me every time and all the historical information about the Masons, Rosicrucians, and other mysterious organizations has always fascinated me (and lots of other people as well, apparently).

I had to put the book down several times because there is just a bit too much descriptive language about torture. That seems to be a theme in recent thrillers and I could do without it. Is that a sign of old age? I don't think so. As an adult, I watched the movie Jaws years ago from under my coat at the drive in. I often leave the room if something on television disturbs me.

Not a great book but certainly Dan Brown knows how to tell a good story. And his historical information creates a desire to check out the architecture of Washington, D.C.and 'google' mysteries he mentions to learn more. That can't be a bad thing.

Just Kids (2010)

Patti Smith promised her friend and muse Robert Mapplethorpe that she would tell their story - how they started out together as 'just kids', encouraged each other and became important artists influencing their worlds. Robert died at the age of 42 in 1989.

What captivated me about this book was these people were my age and growing up in surroundings which I knew. They were courageous for their art, whatever it might turn out to be. By moving to New York they came in contact with other artists who inspired them and allowed them to experiment.

Somehow by marrying and having children in my early twenties, I missed the whole 60s/70s scene and didn't even know who Patti Smith was until she emerged a couple of years ago with a new album. Her detailed sketches of events has all the flavor I imagined was going on in the world outside where I was then.

There are famous names and wonderful quotes throughout Just Kids. Experience the 60s with Patti and Robert. You will be amused, inspired and touched.

Skloot on CBS Sunday Morning

You can't look anywhere without seeing a mention of Henrietta Lacks these days. This is an interview with the author, journalist Rebecca Skloot, of  The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks that will give you an idea of why everybody is talking about this amazing woman and her gift to us all.

Skloot on CBS Sunday Morning

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Love Bookstores? Check this out!

Click here to see the most beautiful bookstore in the world.

The ECLIPSE Movie Trailer

The ECLIPSE Movie Trailer…

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Time Lapse of Book Cover Design at Boing Boing

In less than two minutes you can watch a book cover created by a talented designer. The video can serve as a promo for the book itself but is fascinating to watch for the work involved in such a creation. The video is on You Tube but I found it on Boing Boing and the comments there are interesting to read as well.

G.K. Chesterton on Literature

I wanted to share this quote that Wall Street Journal drama critic Terry Teachout posted on his blog About Last Night.

"The public does not like bad literature. The public likes a certain kind of literature and likes that kind of literature even when it is bad better than another kind of literature even when it is good. Nor is this unreasonable; for the line between different types of literature is as real as the line between tears and laughter; and to tell people who can only get bad comedy that you have some first-class tragedy is as irrational as to offer a man who is shivering over weak warm coffee a really superior sort of ice."
G.K. Chesterton, Charles Dickens (1906)

Oscar's Winning Books

If you are interested in finding the books that Oscar nominated films were based on like The Blind Side or Crazy Heart or other titles that are tie-ins like The Art of Avatar, EarlyWord  has information for you.

Oscar’s Winning Books

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Ignore Everybody (2009)

 I'm reading this very slim, quick reading book that is basically a compilation of the blog writing and artwork of Hugh MacLeod of gapingvoid.com. Naturally I read about it on someone else's blog. The entire title is Ignore Everybody and 39 Other Keys to Creativity.

There is significance in the business card on the cover. MacLeod's artwork and text appears on the back of business cards.

What's interesting is that I have found useful advice, biting sarcasm, and actual wisdom. Forty brief statements of MacLeod's creative life discoveries begin each brief section. All of them are worth contemplating.

No. 8 Keep Your Day Job explains that our creative lives are forever split no matter where we exist. There is what you want to do and what you have to do to support what you want to do. He calls it The Cash & Sex Theory and states that those who expect to wake up one morning and be famous or rich or happy just aren't going to make it. This probably isn't really news to anyone but MacLeod's way of stating his concepts is original and thought provoking.

There's still No.s 9 - 40 to read and assimilate. I'll keep you posted.