All Consuming : iamos

A story about "Great Expectations: Library Edition"

nobody@allconsuming.net (iamos) — Fri, 16 Mar 2007 17:44:07 GMT

by Charles Dickens

I have always disliked Dickens and I am really hating this reader (Frederick Davidson), but I made a deal with a friend that if she read Michael Ondaatje, I would read a Dickens book. I thought it would be less painful in audiobook form, but the narrator’s delivery is so over-the-top. He makes all the characters even flatter and less human than Dickens did. Hate, hate, hate. And something like ten more hours to go!

A story about "Real Life Entertaining: Easy Recipes and Unconventional Wisdom"

nobody@allconsuming.net (iamos) — Wed, 17 May 2006 06:42:11 GMT

Real Life Entertaining: Easy Recipes and Unconventional Wisdom

by Jennifer Rubell

I work in publishing and receive a fair amount of swag, most of which is crap—chick lit, thrillers, stuff I won’t ever read. But today I got an unusually heavy envelope from HarperCollins, and in it was this cookbook. Wow! For once, something free that I might actually have been interested in paying money for!

On the subway ride home, I put stickies on all the recipes I wanted to try, and there were many. Then I started reading the nonrecipe portions of the book, and I’m attracted by Rubell’s approach. The premise is that breaking bread with friends is more important than blowing them away with your entertaining prowess, so the recipes are all for simple dishes that taste good but don’t keep you chained to the stove. She encourages you to be casual—ask guests to help set up and clean up, serve foods in the dishes they were prepared in, use paper towels for napkins, and don’t worry about matching dishes.

My only complaint is that the menus are rather meat-centric, which doesn’t really work for my set of friends. Most are omnivores, but the few vegetarians and vegans are not to be iignored. A lot of the side dishes sound good, though—and look it. The photography is copious and handsome. I also like the typography, though the overall design is a bit cluttered. (It’s designed by Vertigo, a firm in NYC that doesn’t seem to have a Web site.)

Anyway, I’m thinking maybe I will try to make something from the book for tomorrow’s family dinner.

A review of "The Epic of New York City: A Narrative History"

nobody@allconsuming.net (iamos) — Sat, 22 Apr 2006 17:28:33 GMT

The Epic of New York City: A Narrative History

by Edward Robb Ellis

It’s an entertaining book, and I learned a lot about my native city. Note that it was written in the late sixties, however, and the author’s tone when mentioning race is not always what we would consider respectful now. A few passages made me cringe and hope that nobody was reading over my shoulder on the subway. But it’s definitely worth a few winces, if you’re curious about how New York City came to be the way it is.

A story about "The Scarlet Pimpernel Boxed Set"

nobody@allconsuming.net (iamos) — Thu, 30 Mar 2006 03:50:44 GMT

The Scarlet Pimpernel Boxed Set

by Patrick Lau

I’ve watched one of three episodes so far. I was disappointed and meant to take the other disks off my Netflix queue, but I didn’t get around to it, and so the second disk arrived. Since it’s here, I guess I’ll give it another chance.

I like Richard E. Grant, and the sets and costumes and casting are all good. But it’s just not as amusing and interesting as the Anthony Andrews version I saw as a kid (and watched again recently). Grant’s Sir Percy is a good swashbuckler, but he isn’t a convincing fop, so it’s like half the story is missing. He couldn’t fool the bad guys for even twenty minutes; where’s the fun in that?

A story about "Counterpunch: Making Type in the 16th Century, Designing Typefaces Now"

nobody@allconsuming.net (iamos) — Tue, 31 Jan 2006 04:34:26 GMT

Counterpunch: Making Type in the 16th Century, Designing Typefaces Now

by Fred Smeijers

I’m about halfway through this. I’m enjoying the physical object of the book-~~the illustrations, the use of color, the superdeep French flaps~~-but the typography, of all things . . . well, let’s just say that I wouldn’t have put my name on it, if I’d made up these pages. Bad breaks all over the place, and yes, they are distracting.

That said, for such a geeky book, it’s pretty readable. A better editor would have made the thesis more clear from the beginning, but reading it as a mystery (e.g., What Is the Author’s Point?) works, as well.

A story about "Kung Fu Hustle (Widescreen Edition)"

nobody@allconsuming.net (iamos) — Tue, 17 Jan 2006 00:48:20 GMT

Kung Fu Hustle (Widescreen Edition)

Watched it through, watched the deleted scenes and other DVD extras, started the movie over and watched it again. I cringed a bit at the violence at first, but overall it’s beautiful to look at. Great costumes, interesting characters, not the standard Kung Fu movie plot.

Why I gave up consuming "Stitch 'N Bitch: The Knitter's Handbook"

nobody@allconsuming.net (iamos) — Tue, 17 Jan 2006 00:27:11 GMT

Stitch 'N Bitch: The Knitter's Handbook

by Debbie Stoller

I’m making Sonya Laska’s Sparkle Hat from this book. I’ve also got the Annie Modesitt’s Pinup Sweater on the needles still from last winter. It’s a surprisingly good general reference, and the patterns are hella cute, so I imagine I’ll keep consuming this for a long time.

A story about "Adam Bede (Penguin Classics)"

nobody@allconsuming.net (iamos) — Mon, 29 Aug 2005 05:05:01 GMT

Adam Bede (Penguin Classics)

by George Eliot

I’m not a huge George Eliot fan, but I[‘ve been plodding through them. So far, I’m liking this.

A story about "Sense and Sensibility"

nobody@allconsuming.net (iamos) — Tue, 26 Jul 2005 04:50:04 GMT

Sense and Sensibility

by Jane Austen

Nadia May is a good reader—you can usually tell which character is speaking without a “so-and-so said” cue, and she’s sensitive to pacing and tone.

Oh, and it’s an excellent book, of course.

A story about "Super"

nobody@allconsuming.net (iamos) — Tue, 26 Jul 2005 04:42:57 GMT

Super

by Mathieu Boogaerts

I fell in sweet with the song “Tu Es” from Boogaerts’s 2000 album while I was in France a few weeks ago. “What is this-~~the Shins in French?” I said the first time I heard it, but on subsequent listens I found it much more irresistible than the Shins. So when I got home I bought three of his albums~~-this one, 2000, and Michel. They’re just as lovely as I had hoped. Right now it seems to me the perfect summer music, but I can imagine also thinking it’s the perfect winter music, a few months from now.

A story about "paste magazine"

nobody@allconsuming.net (iamos) — Mon, 18 Jul 2005 04:29:56 GMT

paste magazine

I got two copies of this as a freebie from Salon.com, and so far, it’s been a very good investment: through the sampler CD, I discovered a musician I think I may really like, Andrew Bird. I’ve ordered some CDs, so I’ll review those as they come in.

A story about "Wuthering Heights"

nobody@allconsuming.net (iamos) — Tue, 05 Jul 2005 00:02:29 GMT

Wuthering Heights

by Peter Kosminsky

For days after I watched this, I kept remembering how silly it was.

I’ll concede that I never much liked the book, either, but this movie seemed to me to be a piece of abject trash. The casting was apparently based on looks alone, and Juliette Binoche’s unmistakable French accent-~~hard enough to suspecnd disbelief about in the mother-Cathy~~-becomes truly ludicrous in her daughter, who had never even heard her mother speak. Aren’t there dialect coaches to help actors avoid sounding silly? But then, the native English speakers all sound stupid, too, so maybe it’s not her fault. Some hardly even speak but make asses of themselves. The leading man’s part is mainly limited to stomping around, glaring at people. I guess if you’re totally crushed out on one or more of these actors, you might enjoy it. But as a story, it’s idiotic. It’s like a bad made-for-TV movie.

A story about "Post Captain: Library Edition (Aubrey-Maturin (Audio))"

nobody@allconsuming.net (iamos) — Mon, 04 Jul 2005 23:29:29 GMT

Post Captain: Library Edition (Aubrey-Maturin (Audio))

by Patrick O'Brian

I enjoyed listening to Patrick Tull’s reading of Master and Commander immensely, and now I’ve just started Post Captain. They’re wonderful. His reading is so skilled, his phrasing and feel for the material so excellent. I may have to listen to all twenty books in the series.

A story about "Mansfield Park (Oxford World's Classics)"

nobody@allconsuming.net (iamos) — Mon, 04 Jul 2005 23:25:42 GMT

Mansfield Park (Oxford World's Classics)

by Jane Austen

I’m one of the apparently few people who likes Mansfield Park, and I really wanted to listen to it as an audiobook—so badly that I downloaded it despite the horrible reviews of Flo Gibson’s reading on Audible.com. Believe the reviews. She is absolutely awful. Overacting, excruciating, annoying. Bleh.

A story about "Ivanhoe (Tor Classics)"

nobody@allconsuming.net (iamos) — Mon, 06 Jun 2005 11:56:16 GMT

Ivanhoe (Tor Classics)

by Sir Walter Scott

It’s a very strange story, most notable for its being not about Wilfred of Ivanhoe at all. The afterword or whatever to this edition argues that Rebecca is the real hero, and this is probably true. But what, then, was Scott thinking, calling it Ivanhoe?

Now I’m watching the miniseries, which is very well cast.

A story about "Jane Eyre (Oxford World's Classics)"

nobody@allconsuming.net (iamos) — Wed, 25 May 2005 03:20:03 GMT

Jane Eyre (Oxford World's Classics)

by Charlotte Bronte

Unabridged, narrated by Juliet Mills, from Audible.com. I’ve just finished listening to the first third-~~up to right after the fire in Mr. Rochester’s room~~-and am enjoying this recording very much. I’ve read the treeware version many times, of course, but not recently enough to remember anything beyond the broad plot. Hearing it read aloud brings new details to the fore.

A story about "The Wanderer; Or, Female Difficulties (Oxford World's Classics (Paperback))"

nobody@allconsuming.net (iamos) — Wed, 25 May 2005 03:06:45 GMT

The Wanderer; Or, Female Difficulties (Oxford World's Classics (Paperback))

by Frances Burney

A surprisingly quick read, considering that every time I brought this doorstop out in public, friends would gasp and ask if they could look at it. Never seen such a fat paperback before, I guess.

A story about "Pride and Prejudice (Bantam Classics)"

nobody@allconsuming.net (iamos) — Wed, 25 May 2005 03:06:44 GMT

Pride and Prejudice (Bantam Classics)

by Jane Austen

I reread this about once every eighteen months.

A story about "Brideshead Revisited (Everyman's Library (Cloth))"

nobody@allconsuming.net (iamos) — Wed, 25 May 2005 03:06:44 GMT

Brideshead Revisited (Everyman's Library (Cloth))

by Evelyn Waugh

Much sadder than I remembered, probably because I stopped watching the BBC series once Anthony Andrews started looking too sweaty and drunk all the time.

A story about "Before the Frost: A Linda Wallander Mystery"

nobody@allconsuming.net (iamos) — Wed, 25 May 2005 03:06:43 GMT

Before the Frost: A Linda Wallander Mystery

by Henning Mankell

Not the sort of thing I normally read, and definitely not the sort of thing I would ever read v-e-r-y s-l-o-w-l-y, three times, if I weren’t being paid for it, . . . but as it happens, I was being paid for it (proofreading). It’s okay, I guess, if you like mysteries. I didn’t always find the actions or italicized thoughts of the protagonista convincing-~~unless she’s just not terribly bright, which is certainly possible~~-but in general I’d say the story is plausible and realistic, and the writing is clear.

A story about "Villette (Bantam Classic)"

nobody@allconsuming.net (iamos) — Wed, 25 May 2005 03:06:43 GMT

Villette (Bantam Classic)

by CHARLOTTE BRONTE

A terrible edition of a pretty good book. This Bantam version is full of obvious typos and has no notes to gloss the numerous French passages.