Wholly unrelated to book reading - FOOD & DRINK!

Just a quick update - if you head by our other blogs(those little circular images on the right hand side) you can see where we ate and what I (L isn't drink adventurous) drank during our anniversary. We live in an area that doesn't have great food. =( In fact, we drove 30 miles yesterday just to get to a Chili's restaurant! That's how "meh" the Desert is when it comes to food.

Enjoy!

-D

The Legend of Sleepy Hollow

We'll start with the good news. I'm back to more normal work hours and that's something to consider as a good thing with the way the economy has been lately. The bad news? It's cuts into my reading hours. Fortunately, there are a few classics that are pretty darn short. The Legend Of Sleepy Hollow by Washington Irving happened to be one of them. I picked up this book on the nook and was able to read it using my phone. Pretty nifty when I have a couple minutes and don't have a real book to browse through. So over the last few work lunches I've been able to catch up a little on my book pace.

The Legend of Sleepy Hollow ended up being quite brief and maybe not my type of book. It falls more into an old wives tale than a hashed out story worthy of doing a movie after. It's a very brief story that involves unrequited love and a possible ghost. Perhaps part of the appeal of this short story is the idea that you don't truly know what happened to the main character. Was there or wasn't there a ghost? Was he or wasn't he killed by the ghost and, either way, what happened to him?

If you're looking for a short quip or need something to read during lunch it's a worthy little tale. If you're looking for more gumption time then head over to one of the other classic authors.... James Fenimore Cooper will certainly put you to slee.... well, it's longer. ;-)

-D

Rating: 4 CBs 

Something Changed

Hey Fellow Readers,

I finally got to changing the website. We'll maybe work in to having the books in background. I like the added flair but the wife isn't too fond and since we weren't making a decision I never followed through with adding the buttons to our other blogs on this website. Over on your left you'll find Seldom Made and The Reliquiarium. We started those separately and have now meshed them together... sorta. The Seldom Made is my wife's cooking blog where she'll regale you with stories of all the food adventures we have had since getting married. The Reliquiarium started off as a repository for my "too long for facebook" rants. It's since become a catch-all for travel, food, music, and movies...... and some rants.

I wanted to get the new look and the buttons up for our next few posts. We went out of town for our anniversary and we have something to share on all three blogs! I'm sure that the book bloggers might enjoy food and a good drink every once in a while so we'll link over there for their respective posts. We also have at least two new posts about some great bookstores that we saw on our vacation. Uber-exciting! I'm also hoping to get around to doing our Q&A on The Road movie to tie-in with reading the book. But, for the time being thanks for being patient while we've been lazy(500 pages into The Way of Kings (The Stormlight Archive), 400 pages into The Stand, and one finished The Legend Of Sleepy Hollow that will soon be reviewed) and out of town.

Let us know if you have any constructive criticism on the layout of the website. I'm not completely sold on the font or it's positioning on the header. I'm also thinking that I'll redo L's button for Seldom Made and use a picture of her food instead of a stock photo I found. Make it more personal.

Thanks again!
-D

Giant

"In Texas the truth is often too strange for fiction." - Edna Ferber

Full disclosure here: I am a proud Texan.  I have been all my life and continue to be, despite being displaced some eleven years ago.  My love for Texas runs deep in my blood, as my family can be traced back for well over 100 years to the diverse geographical expanse known as The Lone Star State.  But, that does not mean I can't be objective about Texas.  I realize Texans are a prideful people, they revel in the bigness that is Texas, they are fiercely independent; and though loyal to the United States, in most Texan hearts, Texas comes first. 

I picked up the novel Giant a couple months back and bought it solely because it (the movie incarnation, at least) is featured in my favorite song about Texas ("The Front Porch Song" - This old porch is a palace walk in on a main street in Texas. It ain't seen or heard the days of G and Rs and Xs and that '62 poster that's almost faded down and a screen without a picture since Giant came to town.).  The fact that Ferber won the Pulitzer led a little credence to the whole purchase as well. 

Ferber was lambasted for her portrayal of Texas within the confines of the state, but lauded for her realist depiction of the "new rich" of Texas in the rest of the 47 states.  I think Texans just needed a little perspective.  Though some of the scenarios and statements hit a little too close to home, it is an incredibly accurate portrait of the people of Texas (not just the rich).  But, I have the objectivity that comes with letting a book breathe for about 50 years. 

Overall, Ferber told an amazing story of the decline of the ranch life of Texas as the discovery of abundant resources of oil turned Texas from the cattle king to the oil oligarch.  She tells the story of the end of an era with less of a "good riddance" but more of a hopeful "here we go."  The closing line of dialogue of the book tells the reader, Ferber had kind intentions in her satire.  That said the satire is played up nicely by the over-the-top vocabulary she uses in the telling.  For the first 100 hundred pages, I strongly recommend having a dictionary by your side.  The words she puts into her character's mouths are often so esoteric, they strain believability.  I think it must be her way of pointing out the difference between the Texan and the rest of the country.  She overtly states later in the book that Texas was less than desirable on the education front.  Other gripes: racism, classism, ostentatious lifestyles, bull-headedness; the list goes on.  

The story is well told and the characters, though some would call them caricatures, are engaging.  I recommend this book, but I am Texan, so that might be because I "get it" more than others.   Ferber's inconsistent use of commas was a little maddening, as well as some errors in the text (come on this book is 50 years old, the manuscript should be edited by now!), but not enough to put the book down.

Rating: 5 out of 7

-L

Surprise Mail? AWESOMENESS!

I'm going to publicly thank my wife for signing up and getting awarded an advance copy of The Way of Kings (Stormlight Archive, The) by Brandon Sanderson! He's the author that took over the Wheel of Time after Robert Jordan's passing. I wasn't expecting to see an advanced copy of anything, so that's very cool! This does mean that I'm putting The Stand again.... I'm 400 pages into that so maybe a mini-review is in order.

Thank you!

-D

The Sadness, In Particular

Since we started the book blog, we have a lot of suggestions for books to read from friends and acquaintances.  Rarely, someone will actually bring a book to me and say, please read this and let me know what you think.  Since this is so rare, I often take up the person on the offer.  It seems rude to do otherwise. 

I think I might start to be rude!  Here's the story:

I am into cooking.  I am currently taking a professional baking course at a local cooking class.  One of my classmates asked me if I had read The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake.  I told her I had heard of it but I have not read it.  The next week, she brought the book and asked me to read and let her know what I thought of it.  Since the class is winding down, I put it on the top of my to read list. 

So, now that you have background on the reason for the read, here's what I think:

I didn't like it!  I thought the beginning was compelling enough, but then it just died on the vine.  It was all idea and no substance.  The premise suits foodies well enough (I guess): a girl who can taste a person's feelings by eating the food they prepare.  Yeah, imagine what that would be like, think about it for a good 4 minutes.  Now you can skip reading this book.  Apparently, that is how long Aimee Bender thought through the plot lines of this book. 

I kept comparing it to "Heroes" (without the really interesting superpowers) and The Lovely Bones (without all the murder and stuff).  I can't tell you very much else about the plot of this book, because, although, things happen, they happen without direction.  The story just meanders on, without any resolution, without any real point.  Does she use her superpower for good or for evil, or is it just a burden she lives with forever?  You will never know because the author really didn't care enough to tell you. 

I would skip this one.  I think Ms. Bender should have thought of a direction for the protagonist and then shortened the novel to a short story.  It would have made for a much more exciting 20 pages. 

Rating: 2 out of 7

-L

Does the blog need a change?

*UPDATE* - Added a plain white background, and a colorized version. The color is just conceptual and doesn't include the new blog picture links or the final color. The white gives me the added width but not the background. Maybe we'll rotate? =P

We both happen to like a lot of simplicity for the blog, but I'm wondering about spicing it up a bit. The wife doesn't want to change anything, and I'd like to add a background image and a little modification to the blog template we're using.

I like it that way.. gives a little more width. Are the books too busy? L thinks the books should be gone. Opinions greatly appreciated.. even if you don't agree with me.

-D