Jul 5
It’s rerun week at 101 Books! Today’s post originally appeared on March 21, 2011. 101 Books will return live on Monday July 9.
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Get your pitchforks ready. Find a stake you can set fire to. Get ready to riot and burn an effigy of me.
Because I’m about to be honest: I didn’t like Mrs. Dalloway. There, I said it. I’ve probably committed some kind of literary heresy by admitting this, but I’ve got to keep it real, as the kids say.
It’s rerun week at 101 Books! Today’s post originally appeared on August 1, 2011. 101 Books will return live on Monday July 9.
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Here’s the situation: You’ve got a book with a questionable cover—nothing dirty. You’re just a little self-conscious about this book’s cover when you carry it in public.
Maybe you’re a guy who likes Danielle Steel novels. Or maybe you’re a girl who enjoys the occasional foray into Fabio-inspired grocery store romance novels. Hey, whatever floats your boat, right?
But if you want to take the book out on your lunch break, you might be a little leery of letting fellow diners know about your Fabio obsession.
If you’ll remember from earlier this year, I encountered this whole carrying an “embarrassing”-book-in-public issue while reading a Judy Blume book. Now, I’m facing it to a slighter degree with The French Lieutenant’s Woman.
So, using The French Lieutenant’s Woman as an example, I’ve come up with a few book carrying techniques that may or may not help you work around this problem.
The Confident Carry
With this approach, you are taking on the world. You’re saying, “I know you see the barechested woman with flowing hair on this cover, and I don’t care.” If you’re bold enough and confident enough in your reading selections to use this technique, then pat yourself on the back. You’ll go far in life.
Over the last few months, I’ve been fortunate to guest post on some really cool blogs, including Michael Hyatt, Jane Friedman, and Jon Acuff.
Last Thursday, I was honored to write a guest post for Jeff Goins. Jeff is also a writer in Nashville, and he has one of the best writing blogs on the planet. He cranks out great stuff everyday, so I highly recommend following him on his blog or Twitter.
My post on was about how reading fiction is a must for writers. I’ll put an opening excerpt for you to read here, but please check out the rest of the post on his blog if you’re interested.
This week, I’m revisiting some of my favorite posts from 2011 while I take a one-week break from writing and simply focus on reading and spending time with my family. This post was originally published on April 4, 2011. 101 Books will return live on Monday January 2. See you then!
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Unspeakable things happen in a labor and delivery room. I’ve been there. I’ve seen it. With my eyes.
June 16, 2010 was the day my wife and I welcomed our first child into the world, a little boy. On that day, I was certain, absolutely certain, that I would never again–or at least until we have a second child–experience what it means to be a woman like that. Lights. Voices. Blood. Fluids. Apparatuses. God only knows what else.
This whole giving birth thing is pretty intense, I thought. I could never do that. Thank God for women.
So I thought I had pretty much experienced the essence of womanhood. But, oh no. Dear Lord, no. Thanks to Judy Blume’s epic tale, Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret, I learned that there’s much more to being a woman than childbirth.
This week, I’m revisiting some of my favorite posts from 2011 while I take a one-week break from writing and simply focus on reading and spending time with my family. This post was originally published on May 11, 2011. 101 Books will return live on Monday January 2. See you then!
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What just happened?
That’s the first question I asked myself after reading the final word of Infinite Jest. And while that might seem like a bad question to be asking oneself at the end of a 1,000 page book, it wasn’t unexpected.
I’m not sure I could count how many times I asked myself “What just happened?” while reading David Foster Wallace’s masterpiece over the last six weeks. It happened, like, a bunch of times–enough to be qualified as a recurring theme in my head.
It happened enough for me to say Infinite Jest is supremely frustrating at times–the loose, non-linear plot, the $10 words, the pure effort that the book takes to read.
But is that the point? Is that what David Foster Wallace was after? Did he want to make you work your butt off to read this book?
This week, I’m revisiting some of my favorite posts from 2011 while I take a one-week break from writing and simply focus on reading and spending time with my family. This post was originally published on April 14, 2011. 101 Books will return live on Monday January 2, 2012. See you then!
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You know the person. He or she professes to have read everything you ever mention. Everything. Even the obscure out-of-print German romance novel from the 1960s–you know, the one with the protagonist named Bjorn.
This week, I’m revisiting some of my favorite posts from 2011 while I take a one-week break from writing and simply focus on reading and spending time with my family. This post was originally published on April 13, 2011. 101 Books will return live on Monday January 2, 2012. See you then!
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Since I started 101 Books, I recall tearing up only once while reading–that was during one dreadfully depressing passage in Rabbit, Run.
Several weeks ago, the social media world, or the country, or someone out there, celebrated “Banned Books Week.” Essentially, reading and promoting books that have been banned by schools and libraries in the past.
I’m not into starting political arguments on this blog, so I won’t throw out the censorship card. But I will say I’m all for a parent having the right to determine what his or her child reads. I know when my boy gets a little older, I’ll keep an eye on that.
But if you judge the American Library Association’s list of most challenged books from 2000-2009, it’s easy to see that some parents, school administrators, and librarians have lost their collective mind. Here are just a few books that made the ALA’s top 100 list of most challenged books.
Right away, I’ve got a problem with this novel.
The title. That title sounds like a cheesy lyric from a Britney Spears song. Or maybe Enrique Iglesias. Or maybe the name of a Lifetime movie. Either way, the title doesn’t jump out and say, “Please read me!”
That aside, I don’t have much to say about Never Let Me Go, other than the fact that it’s an extremely popular book that’s received a lot of recognition. You guys also seemed to like it a lot, since it was one of the five novels you voted for me to read next. So I’m taking your word.
Here are a few quick facts:
I could probably have a much more entertaining review if I let my one-year-old son review Animal Farm.
Me: “What’s the cow say?” Him: ”Moo!” Me: ”What’s the pig say?” Him: ”Oink! Oink!” Me: ”What’s the doggy say?” Him: ”Woof! Woof!”
Outside of animal noises, though, I’m not sure how much insight he could give you. And, really, he’s so fond of pigs right now I don’t want to burst his bubble and reveal Napoleon’s dastardly deeds. That just might break his heart.
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