A Wild Haruki Chase: Reading Murakami Around the World

August 25, 2008 | 2 Comments

On BoingBoing today I saw a blurb about this incredible book:

It’s a collection of essays along with Murakami covers from all over the globe. It’s definitely worth a look, but I know this one’s going on my wishlist. I have a book-cover fetish anyway, so A Wild Haruki Chase: Reading Murakami Around the World […]

Aug

22

Ooh Bookmarks Galore!

August 22, 2008 | 3 Comments

I am a huge fan of bookmarks. I’d love to start a collection eventually. While looking around Etsy today, I came across some seriously rad bookmarks. Yeah, I had to pull out the r-word for these. These lovlies just may have to go on my birthday wishlist.
One of my favorites was this owl bookmark by […]

Aug

20

What if You Can’t Read?

August 20, 2008 | 2 Comments

Literacy is something I feel very strongly needs more attention across the globe. Knowledge is indeed power.

One of the best ways to gain that powerful knowledge is by reading, so what if you can’t read?
Well, Canada’s federal government is taking powerful step in the right direction.
According to UNESCO literacy rates in the US and Canada […]

Aug

19

A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier

August 19, 2008 | Leave a Comment

Up until recently I had never picked up a non-fiction book that wasn’t some form of required reading. The one book that got me on a temporary non-fiction roll was A Long Way Gone by Ishmael Beah. I had seen an interview with Ishmael Beah on the Daily Show with Jon Stewart and was moved […]

Aug

18

I’m in love with IndieBound

August 18, 2008 | Leave a Comment

Now and then I come across a website that I just fall in love with. I have to share this one. IndieBound is a website dedicated to creating a community of independent booksellers. Launched just this spring, IndieBound is a step beyond the ABA’s Book Sense program. It continues the goals of Book Sense and […]

Aug

16

Lucky - Alice Sebold

August 16, 2008 | Leave a Comment

In the early 1980s Alice Sebold attended Syracuse University. While a freshman at SU, she was brutally attacked and raped at night, by a stranger. That attack is where the memoir Lucky begins. Her description of the rape is a detailed, play by play that she worked to etch in her memory. The […]

Aug

16

Lovely Bones - Alice Sebold

August 16, 2008 | 2 Comments

I found it interesting, after reading an interview with Alice Sebold in the back of Lucky, that she wrote the begining of The Lovely Bones before starting Lucky. She said she didn’t want the narrator, Suzie Salmon’s story to be infused with her own, so she put it down. She wrote Lucky. Then she went […]

Aug

13

Listen to War and Peace

August 13, 2008 | 4 Comments

War and Peace is now available as an audio book. Narrated (for an unbelievably lengthy 48 compact discs) by Jason Neville, rings up about $210 from Amazon. The CDs can be ordered in sets Volume 1 and Volume 2, but still expect a crate of CDs to arrive at your doorstep. The sets are accompanied […]

Aug

9

Book Towns?!

August 9, 2008 | 1 Comment

Whenever I go out of town to visit someone, the first thing I look around for are small bookstores and second-hand bookshops. While I’m not a collector of antique books, I still absolutely love bookstores. Particularly small, mom-and-pop, dusty smelling bookstores. The fluorescent lit, department-store-smelling, prominent Oprah’s Book Club table, type of book-emporiums be dammed. […]

Aug

4

Teacher Seeks Pupil.

August 4, 2008 | 2 Comments

“TEACHER seeks pupil. Must have an earnest desire to save the world. Apply in person.”
Published in 1992, Ishmael (by Daniel Quinn) is a novel about discovery. It’s essentially a psychological twist on the tradition “journey” novel. However, it’s far from cliche. In fact, it’s unlike almost anything I’ve ever read.
Since many, many people […]