All Consuming : goddessparkle

A story about "Garlic and Sapphires: The Secret Life of a Critic in Disguise"

nobody@allconsuming.net (goddessparkle) — Mon, 23 Jun 2008 23:10:33 GMT

Garlic and Sapphires: The Secret Life of a Critic in Disguise

by Ruth Reichl

I loved this book. I can’t decide what I enjoyed more; Ruth’s descriptions of her disguises and their personas, or her food-talk. I could have done without the recipes, and the reprints of her reviews necessarily repeated ideas she’d already written about in the main text, but those were small prices to pay for a fabulous story told in a wonderful voice.

A story about "I Capture the Castle"

nobody@allconsuming.net (goddessparkle) — Mon, 23 Jun 2008 23:08:32 GMT

I Capture the Castle

by Dodie Smith

A fun little soap opera.

A story about "The Botany of Desire: A Plant's-Eye View of the World"

nobody@allconsuming.net (goddessparkle) — Sun, 01 Jun 2008 21:21:22 GMT

The Botany of Desire: A Plant's-Eye View of the World

by Michael Pollan

Even more my kind of book than The Omnivore’s Dilemma; Pollan tends to repeat himself a little bit, and he needs to be edited a little more tightly in general, but his ideas are wonderful, and wonderfully expressed. Lovely.

A story about "The New Kings of Nonfiction"

nobody@allconsuming.net (goddessparkle) — Sun, 01 Jun 2008 21:20:05 GMT

The New Kings of Nonfiction

by Ira Glass

Only two or three duds in the book.

A story about "No Country For Old Men"

nobody@allconsuming.net (goddessparkle) — Sun, 01 Jun 2008 21:19:21 GMT

No Country For Old Men

I really wish I’d read this before I watched the film, because it was such a beautifully faithful interpretation of the book that reading the book caused the movie to play, quite unstoppably, in my mind the entire time.

Oh well.

Brilliant stuff.

A story about "Popular Music from Vittula"

nobody@allconsuming.net (goddessparkle) — Mon, 12 May 2008 18:08:25 GMT

Popular Music from Vittula

by Mikael Niemi

Hard to top that first scene on top of the mountain with the pee, but he totally does.

A story about "Paris Is Burning"

nobody@allconsuming.net (goddessparkle) — Sat, 05 Apr 2008 00:20:46 GMT

Paris Is Burning

by Jennie Livingston

Oddly uplifting. Queens are so philosophical.

A story about "Encyclopedia of an Ordinary Life"

nobody@allconsuming.net (goddessparkle) — Sun, 30 Mar 2008 03:32:29 GMT

Encyclopedia of an Ordinary Life

by Amy Krouse Rosenthal

I’m liking it okay so far; it’s a bit patchy and occasionally a bit forced, but how could it not be, honestly. It’s making fun gym reading for me on the elliptical.

A story about "Running with Scissors: A Memoir"

nobody@allconsuming.net (goddessparkle) — Fri, 28 Mar 2008 20:14:23 GMT

Running with Scissors: A Memoir

by Augusten Burroughs

It’s weird reading Augusten Burroughs at last after having listened to David Sedaris for so long; their voices are very similar. There’s a very slightly odd back and forth in the tone between being totally mordant and sardonic and being self-pitying, but he must have been very young indeed when he wrote it so I’m probably asking too much.

A story about "Withnail and I"

nobody@allconsuming.net (goddessparkle) — Sat, 23 Feb 2008 21:59:10 GMT

Withnail and I

by Bruce Robinson

Grin.

A story about "This Book Will Save Your Life"

nobody@allconsuming.net (goddessparkle) — Sat, 23 Feb 2008 21:57:47 GMT

This Book Will Save Your Life

by A. M. Homes

Wow.

I had the oddest experience reading this book; I didn’t realize until I was almost a quarter of the way through how bad it is and how much it is not a book I would ever like. I don’t think that’s ever happened to me before.

A story about "The Devil and Daniel Johnston"

nobody@allconsuming.net (goddessparkle) — Sun, 27 Jan 2008 17:33:10 GMT

The Devil and Daniel Johnston

by Jeff Feuerzeig

A trifle overlong, but very visually appealing and definitely compelling. It’s very interesting that Daniel himself (Daniel of today, anyway) appears in the film so little, considering that the filmmakers had a lot of access to him (his parents are interviewed a lot, and he lives with them—there are two or three short clips of Dan talking, but mostly he only manifests through old tapes, videos, and other people’s stories. I’m not sure whether that’s because his interviews were incoherent or boring, or because the directors wanted him to exist in a kind of frozen state, lost in the past.

Anyway, it was worth watching. I forget why I put it on my Netflix list, but I’m glad it got there.

A story about "The King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters"

nobody@allconsuming.net (goddessparkle) — Sat, 26 Jan 2008 04:52:20 GMT

The King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters

by Seth Gordon

Um, hello. Hands down the mostest awesomest documentary I have seen in a long time. And I love documentaries.

Sarah, find this. Now.

A story about "Armchair Economist: Economics And Everyday Experience"

nobody@allconsuming.net (goddessparkle) — Fri, 25 Jan 2008 23:12:49 GMT

Armchair Economist: Economics And Everyday Experience

by Steven E. Landsburg

I enjoyed this, but Landsburg is oddly didactic and condescending - you get the feeling he thinks many people are unutterably stupid, which is a perfectly fine opinion to have, but not one you want your reader to feel you have about them. The final chapter in the book, entitled “Why I am Not an Environmentalist,” is particularly high-handed in its tone. It’s also interesting to be reading a popular economics book that’s 15 years old now; I’ve read a lot of similar, more recent books (and several economics textbooks) and some - certainly not all—of the analyses in Landsburg’s books seem almost simplistic to me in comparison. Clearly the field has deepened in sophistication a great deal since then.

A story about "Full House: The Spread of Excellence from Plato to Darwin"

nobody@allconsuming.net (goddessparkle) — Wed, 23 Jan 2008 16:04:19 GMT

Full House: The Spread of Excellence from Plato to Darwin

by Stephen Jay Gould

My first Gould; isn’t that terrible?

I love this book—statistics never made so much sense.

A story about "Inamorata"

nobody@allconsuming.net (goddessparkle) — Wed, 23 Jan 2008 16:03:35 GMT

Inamorata

by Joseph Gangemi

Slight, but pretty much up my alley.

A story about "The Island of the Colourblind"

nobody@allconsuming.net (goddessparkle) — Wed, 23 Jan 2008 16:02:56 GMT

The Island of the Colourblind

by Oliver Sacks

A bit frustrating, since the second half is all about an incredibly intriguing neurological disorder on a remote island that no one has been able to figure out and which is probably all but disappeared now, so we’ll never have the answer (the book was written in 1993 and the disease had stopped affecting anyone younger than 40 or 50).

Oh well.

A story about "The Miracle Life of Edgar Mint"

nobody@allconsuming.net (goddessparkle) — Thu, 03 Jan 2008 00:20:57 GMT

The Miracle Life of Edgar Mint

by Brady Udall

Bookmooch recommended this to me based on my wishlist, and I was pleasantly surprised—it’s not one of my favorite reads of the year, but its odd premise and rambling, episodic quality are rather my style. I thought the alternation between first-person and third-person references to Edgar was an unnecessary affectation, but c’est la vie.

A story about "Wicked"

nobody@allconsuming.net (goddessparkle) — Thu, 03 Jan 2008 00:18:45 GMT

Wicked

by Gregory Maguire

Another reread, which was much moodier than I remembered it. I also didn’t remember being quite so disappointed with the ending, which doesn’t feel organic and doesn’t quite live up to the epic promise of the rest of the book. Still and all, I can’t resist a good fairytale retelling, and Elphaba is a wonderful protagonist.

A story about "Naked"

nobody@allconsuming.net (goddessparkle) — Thu, 03 Jan 2008 00:16:57 GMT

Naked

by David Sedaris

This was a reread—I’d given it to my brother-in-law a couple of years ago and found it at the house when I was visiting and had run out of books. It’s funny how impossible it is to hear any other voice but Sedaris’s when you’re reading it.

A story about "Freakonomics [Revised and Expanded]: A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything"

nobody@allconsuming.net (goddessparkle) — Thu, 03 Jan 2008 00:15:05 GMT

Freakonomics [Revised and Expanded]: A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything

by Steven D. Levitt

Makes me (like everyone who reads it, I suspect) think I went into the wrong field.

Then again, it doesn’t take much to make me feel that way. ;-)