what i've read/seen/heard: GOT edition

I have been amiss in not writing a read/seen/heard post about the best books I read in 2011: The Song of Ice and Fire series by George R. R. Martin, AKA the Game of Thrones books.


Holy cow are these books amazing. I devoured the first two while on vacation in Florida, the third over Thanksgiving, the fourth during finals week and the fifth this past week on my Kindle. I couldn't wait to pick up a hardback copy of it. I won't lie- these books are full of violence, treachery and tragedy. But they are also addictive- many a night I was up past midnight reading, telling myself, "Just one more chapter!" The first four books are in paperback, the fifth book is in hardcover right now. The only downside is that the author takes forever to release each book. I'm not sure how I will wait six years to find out what happens to Arya, Jon Snow and Tyrion.

I've also been catching up on White Collar on Netflix streaming. It's a lot like USA's other shows in that each episode is very formulaic, while there is a greater "Big Bad" storyline each season, much like Psych or Burn Notice. Still a fun show!

And if you haven't already watched Downton Abbey: Season One, I highly recommend you do so soon because Season 2 comes out on PBS in just one week! Season one is free on Amazon Prime right now, and I believe also on Netflix. Season 2 has been out in the UK for several months now, but it premieres here on PBS January 8. Set your DVRs!

what i've read/seen/heard

An update for posterity, more than for anything else:

Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children
I think I got this rec off Jennsyvania's blog, and it was pretty good. I had reserved it at the library, and let it languish on the shelf for almost three weeks (now it's languishing, overdue, in the front seat of my car. Sigh). A rainy Sunday meant no flag football, but it did mean time to read this! It was a very quick read- I had anticipating it lasting all day, so I could stay curled on my couch under a blanket, but I think I finished it in two or three hours. Quick. It has some grotesque freaky pictures, which I believe are the basis for the story, but overall it was interesting and I would recommend it.

The Glass Passenger
I actually downloaded this off iTunes a few years ago (after seeing him on John Stewart) but I lost it when my Mac crashed. I just re-ordered the CD, spurred on because I saw Jack's Mannequin last month opening for Guster, and I remembered how much I love love love their music. Highly recommend it.

Pilot
I think I love New Girl! This is an Amazon link (full disclosure!) but it's available FREEEEE which is amazing if you didn't DVR it like me. What is not to love about New Girl? Zooey Deschanel is probably the cutest person on the planet, and she's 110% awkward in this show, and yet the guys still like her. It's just like real life! Except not at all.

And the guys: David Krumholz-Lite (IMDB tells me his real name is Jake, but it also tells me he lucked out landing a ZDC (Zooey Deschanel) show), The Actor Previously Played By Damon Wayans Jr. But His Other Show Got Picked Up So He Has Been Recast, and the one and only Officer Leo from Veronica Mars! As if you needed three (okay, like 1.5) more reasons to watch this show.

I DVR'd but haven't watched any other new shows except 2 Broke Girls, which I want to like because I like Kat Dennings, but the multi-camera laughtrackness of it makes me not want to like it. I caught the first three minutes of Whitney, and the fake laughtrack was SO fake and horrible I couldn't turn it off quickly enough. That show is Not. Funny.

So that's what I've read/seen/heard so far this week. If I remember, maybe I'll post another sometime before November.

what i'm reading: a little book on the prairie

I have one source for all of my summer reading needs: Jennsylvania. If you haven't read Bitter Is The New Black, or visited Jen Lancaster's hi-larious blog, then take a minute, right click on those links, and open up a new tab. Finish reading this and then head on over there.

Every summer, Jen Lancaster writes a post or two on the best books for summer reading. After seeing the list, I put every single book on hold at the library and read them for the rest of the summer. Jen (can I call her Jen? Are we on a first name basis?) put out two lists this year, and I'm working my way through the first. And by "working my way," I mean, "I put two of the books on hold." I read through The First Husband, although I wasn't entirely enamored with it. Then I picked up A Wilder Life by Wendy McClure.



I have been a huge Little House fan all my life. I started reading Little House in the Big Woods in kindergarten. My mom bought me all of the books from a local bookstore, and I read them all throughout elementary school (before my equal love of Anne of Green Gables won out- you can see some of my Anne books in the picture of all my well-loved Little House books).


So of course when Jen Lancaster recommended a book about a woman who had an even more obsessive love for all things Laura Ingalls, I had to check it out.

At first, I thought The Wilder Life would be truly in the vein of Julie & Julia or Eat Pray Love: a woman takes a year off to follow her passion and live as Laura Ingalls did 150 years ago (I also call these books "It must be nice" books, as in, "It must be nice to not have to work for a living" books.). The Wilder Life is not that kind of book, which kind of makes it better. Wendy McClure tries a few "prairie" type activities, like churning butter or baking vanity cakes, but she also takes several trips to visit the homesteads and towns featured in the books. She also discusses the very real differences and discrepancies in the Little House world- the Little House on the Prairie TV show, the Little House books, and real life. She's clearly searching for something, but it's fun to read about her trip to De Smet, South Dakota, without actually having to drive twelve hours to get there yourself.

There's one chapter in the book about her trip to a working Illinois homestead that has stuck with me over the past week. I won't spoil it for you, as it is pretty hilarious (I have now used that word twice in this post. I need new words), but it brings to light a worldview of the Laura books that I never even knew existed.

To sum up, if you are a Laura fan, you should go check out The Wilder Life. And if you're a fan of reading, check out Jen Lancaster's books and book lists. I'll leave you with a 100% embarassing picture of me from seventh grade, to show that I was, indeed, a huge Laura Ingalls Wilder fan. Please note this was for a school project, although I can't exactly remember what. Probably some sort of biography demonstration? But yes, my mom made me a red prairie dress. With a sunbonnet.




Related: My previous summer reading list

what I'm reading

What I have finished reading over the past two and a half weeks:

Idiot Girls Action Adventure Club, by Laurie Notaro. I'm pretty sure I finished this one. It's actually four days overdue, so I should really get it back to the library. It's a lot like Notaro's other book, Spooky Little Girl. This was was also recommend by Jen of Jennsylvania, as were the next three below. This pretty much wraps up my tour of her summer reading specials. All in all, a solid reading list, if a bit heavy on the quirky female protagonist with poor job prospects and a lackluster love life. Sounds familiar...


The one that I want: a novel, by Allison Winn Scotch.  I did finish this one, and it is a lot like her other book, The Department of Lost & Found.  Still pretty good, though.  It'd be a cute movie.


Marcus of Umbria: what an Italian dog taught an American girl about love, by Justine Van der Leun.  It's basically Eat, Pray, Love with a dog, and only in Italy. And the girl's about 24, so the precociousness is extra annoying. Yet I still totally cried.


Julie and Julia, by Julie Powell. Yes, I am the last person on the planet to have read this book, and I haven't even seen the movie yet. I am totally late to the party, and at this point I'm not even fashionably late. But I totally dug this book. I couldn't put it down last night. Granted, it was 105 outside so it's not like I was going to leave my air conditioned cave of a living room or had anything better to do, but still. I wish I were a witty enough writer with a clever project so that I, too, might land a book deal and be able to leave my lame job. But at least I didn't have to eat calf brains. Yuck.

What I'm reading now: 1984, George Orwell. I know, how have I never read this book? It escaped me, is all I can say. It's a "classic" (of course!) so it counts towards an item on my 101 Things list. Sweet!

What I'm watching: Still True Blood, Season 3. Team Alcide! or Team Eric! Team Alcide AND Eric!  Other than that, not Mad Men because I gave up cable. Soon, maybe soon I can catch up on Don Draper's charming antics.

what I've read seen and heard this week

My goal in May is to post every day on this blog. It will be quite a challenge but I think I can make it work. It'll just take more planning- not my best trait.

I kind of missed spring in my garden. I was traveling for work for a bit, so I didn't get seeds started. My garden is already full of weeds. And even though I put down the dandelion/crab grass killer (bad for the environment, I know, but good for my neighborhood street-cred), I still have dandelions growing like, well, weeds.

But I did fit in some time to read some books while I was in Florida, and watch a few movies too.  This is based on one of my favorite blogs, PopCandy, in which she lists what she watched on TV or listened to in the past week.

Read:
I read three books in Florida:

Up In the Air by Walter Kirn. I'm sure we've all seen the movie. The book was good, but different. Very different. I read it on the plane down- how meta!
(I'm using Amazon Affiliates with Blogger for these pics/links. Not that anyone will ever buy through here but b/c I'm lazy and it seemed like a good way to do what I was planning on doing anyway. How fortuitous!)



O Pioneers! by Willa Cather. I read My Antonia the last time I was in Florida, last February, and loved the prairie stories. My favorite books growing up were all about life on the hard scrabble prairie. I began reading the Little House books when I was in kindergarten. I had the same first and middle names as Laura Ingalls Wilder, which of course to me meant we were kindred spirits (an Anne Shirley reference. Dropping knowledge all over this blog post!). I really enjoyed both of Cather's books, and I look forward to reading more.


The Last Boleyn: A Novel by Karen Harper. Okay, so I read The Other Boleyn Girl like everyone else a few years ago, and I read all of the other books in the "series" about Henry VIII's wives. This book seemed like a retread of those books and the TV series The Tudors, although if I read the introduction right, this book was written in the early eighties. It just came into my life at a been there- read that time. It was interesting, as it portrays the Mary Boleyn story, but let's be honest: the Other Boleyn book was way trashier, and thus, I believe, better.

Watched:
Besides getting caught up on Community, The Office and 30 Rock, I watched Fantastic Mr. Fox and just finished An Education on DVD.

Fantastic Mr. Fox was pretty good, although it dragged a bit in the middle and I'm glad I didn't watch it in the theater (even if it was only an hour and a half). An Education was also pretty good, also dragged a bit as I wondered what the conflict would be. But the clothes! And the music! I know I heard some Duffy in there. Oh thank goodness, Amazon informs me there is a soundtrack available. Must. Have. Now!