oldies but goodies

lots of reading done today by commuters. A very mixed bag on my tram this morning, mainly well thumbed books

• Lord of the Rings
• Runaway Jury
• Gone with the Wind
• The girl who kicked the hornets nest

I am reading The Big Sleep by Raymond Chandler. Lovely little Penguin clssics edition, fits perfectly in my bag. I am really enjoying the writing , so crisp and assured. can’t believe it’s taken me this long to get around to it!

an eclectic tram

Quite a few more people travelling yesterday, so more books out and about. Unfortunately many were impossible to spy on, clutched tightly by their owners.

A few spotted were:

• Truman Capote’s Summer Crossing, which I have never read, in fact it’s not ever been on my radar
• Kim Edwards, The Memory Keepers Daughter, this looked to be  a real page turner judging by the fast pace kept up by its reader.
• The beautiful A heart so White by Javier Marias

A good eclectic mix .oh, and there was a man poring over the melways….the only non fiction spotted.

Danger, Sherlock Holmes and falafel

Home for a few days break

Spotted on the tram on the way home  Thursday though: I died with a falafel in my hand, read by a fresh faced teenager who laughed a lot so I guess it’s a good read.

More Lovely Bones out and about, spotted in  a café in N Fitzroy as well as at a tram stop on Friday.

Still no Stephanie Meyer or Dan Brown…where are all these books?

I have made quite a lot of progress on my own reading. Finished Kalinda Ashton’s debut novel ,  The Danger Game. Compelling and disturbing.  Interesting look at dislocation, poverty, unions, state education and how these affect individuals. Ultimately tragic. One voice in particular is memorable.

Also read Maurice Gee’s Access Road. I have been meaning to read him for a while:  a NZ friend highly recommends him and I loved the film of In my Fathers Den. I was not disappointed. A small story in some ways about three siblings with a dark secret carried by one. Some beautiful writing and taut pacing make this a good holiday read.

Saw Guy Richie’s Sherlock Holmes: definitely a case of the books and the film being quite different propositions. Loved Robert Downey Junior ( as always) though found the kung fu/boxing prowess a little hard to reconcile with my more bookish image of Holmes!

beer in heaven

spotted this morning

I hope they have Beer in heaven by Tucker Max and the Lovely Bones ( again) by Alice Sebold.

where are you all?

christmas additions

Not much out and about over last few days. Lots of  cooking, eating, reading and walking the dog .

Lots of new books arrived in our house though:

• Andrew McGahn’s latest: Wonder in a Godless World
• Kalinda Ashton, The Danger game
• Lorrie Moore, A Gate at the Stars
• John Banville, The Infinities
• Raymond Chandler ,The big sleep ( which I have to admit to never reading before..)
• and my son used a book voucher to get the Complete Sherlock Holmes

I have finished Philip Hensher’s The Northern Clemency so am free to read through these new ones. Looking forward to John Banville in particular, anyone read it yet?

Whilst cooking and eating I have been listening to Radio National a bit and caught an interesting Book Show today about Marcus Clarke’s His Natural Life. Part of a series looking at 5 classic Australian novels ( an interesting choice… http://www.abc.net.au/rn/bookshow/)

BTW, has anyone seen the latest Cohen Brothers film, A Serious Man? if so please explain it to me.

dogs in lifts

Spotted in a lift today, Malcolm Gladwell’s “What the dog saw”. I have not read it but did enjoy “Blink” which was quite a compelling piece about how intuition is actually derived from deep knowledge, and how tiny slices of observation can deliver as much information as prolonged analysis.

Has anyone read this latest?

This is what it says about it on Gladwell.com

WHAT THE DOG SAW is organized thematically into three categories: Part One contains stories about what Gladwell calls “minor geniuses,” people like Ron Popeil, the pitchman who by himself conceived, created, and sold the Showtime rotisserie oven to millions on TV, breaking every rule of the modern economy.

Part Two demonstrates theories, or ways of organizing experience. For example, “Million-Dollar Murray” explores the problem of homelessness — how to solve it, and whether solving it for the most extreme and costly cases makes sense as policy. In this particular piece, Gladwell looks at a controversial program that gives the chronic homeless the keys to their own apartments and access to special services while keeping less extreme cases on the street to manage on their own.

In Part Three, Gladwell examines the predictions we make about people. “How do we know whether someone is bad, or smart, or capable of doing something really well?” he asks. He writes about how educators evaluate young teachers, how the FBI profiles criminals, how job interviewers form snap judgments. He is candid in his skepticism about these methods but fascinated by the various attempts to measure talent or personality.

bookcrossing: books ready for adventure

Following on from my plea to liberate books from bookshelves I thought I would share a great idea.

BookCrossing is earth-friendly, and gives you a way to share your books, clear your shelves, and conserve precious resources at the same time. Through their own unique method of recycling reads, BookCrossers give life to books.

Have a look, you never know when a released book might be your for the taking or you could give a new home to a loved, or not so loved book. Public transport seems a favourite place to release books so if you are a regular commuter your chances of spotting a book are quite high.

The website is lovely, with forums and news about books travelling around the world ( USA, Germany and Canada are big bookcrossers).

http://www.bookcrossing.com/

liberate the books!

Where are all the books? Safely at home on bookshelves or bedside tables it seems.

Spotted over the last few days a meagre collection:

• Harry McLean, In Broad Daylight
• Paul Jennings , Wicked
• Melina Marchetti, Looking for Alibrandi
• A few Melbourne Times, one Age and a couple of store catalogues.

If Twilight books are selling so well how come I don’t see any of them? In fact none of the bestsellers have made it to the 112 yet…

I am still accompanied by the Northern Clemency, starting to feel it is just  well written ( if a little plodding) soap with some political overtones. I will persist though, and wait for new books to arrive at Christmas.

rattling bones

Rattling on the 112 tram this morning was ‘Lovely Bones” by Alice Sebold, not a new release, it burst onto the literary scene in 2002 ( I think) . I remember it received a great deal of hype and was a bestseller at Readings and the like.

A disturbing book about a young girl, raped, murdered who watches over her family and friends as they deal with her death, their grief and ongoing lives.  I recall finding it well written and engaging but not a pleasant read.

Phillip Henshaw’s massive “The Northern Clemency “accompanied me on my journey today. I had originally chosen it to be my summer holiday read but it looks like no summer holiday so I thought I could bring the holiday spirit alive by reading the summer pick… alas, no success so far. Not sure about the book yet…anyone read it? Just googled and see the Guardian didn’t like it much. http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2008/mar/29/featuresreviews.guardianreview26

spotted today 15 December

Today I walked to work,  so little chance of snooping on other peope’s books.

Spotted at lunchtime whilst scurrying to a meeting, Vikram Seth’s “An Equal Music”. A book  I loved. Full of music and love and sadness. I’ve always wondered why it hasn’t been made into a film…

On the way home, slim pickings on the tram but I did manage to spot Nan Le’s “The Boat” : a worthy winner of several prizes. I found the writing quite beautiful and was impressed by the number of voices he managed to convey with authenticity.