Hey,
Well I hope that you all had a fine Christmas yesterday. That you were all able to spend time with your families, and consider what matters most: gross commercialism. Nah I'm just kidding. Actually this holiday weekend I listened to two wonderful versions of one of my favorite holiday writings-O'Henry's Gift of the Magi. Nothing like a little literary irony to stoke those heart fires. Here's a link where you can hear a reading which charmed me. I also enjoy Dylan Thomas's A Child's Christmas In Wales, The Grinch Who Stole Christmas, and Joyce's "The Dead". To me these are must-reads. Why would you settle for less? (One might add Truman Capote's "A Christmas Memory" but that story gives me the creeps. I'm still scarred by the television movie version that featured Capote as narrator. His voice still haunts me.)
I can thank my mom for a wonderful nerdy gift. My brother and I were gifted framed original movie posters from Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom and Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. Wonderful since my brother and I are huge Indiana Jones fans.
Another highlight was watching my luddite brother trying to figure out his new Ipad. Regardless of his avoidance of technology in general, he was very pleased. My mom and I had to explain that he'll have to sign up for an Itunes account to get the full use out of the tablet. He was still hesitant. My brother and I are strangely dissimiliar in some matters and completely alike in others. On one side he's not a big reader and plays video games. He loves Hulu and Youtube. He refuses to get a library card. Yet he loves history as I do, and shares a love of nerdy science fiction like Star Trek. Full of contradictions that kid.
This year the literary haul was thankfully light. I think folks are getting the notion that more books is not what I need. I've got plenty, I assure you. Many folks are psyched to utilize their new Nooks and Kindles this year, but again, I'll stick to the physical thing. Although I hope that you all get enjoy your digital devices nonetheless.
All and all I had a wonderful holiday, I hope that you all did as well. Book Slave.
Showing posts with label holidays. Show all posts
Showing posts with label holidays. Show all posts
2010-12-26
2010-12-24
A Little Puppini...
Hello All,
A merry christmas to you, Constant Reader. Here's a treat for you all. Enjoy.
Happy Holidays. Book Slave.
A merry christmas to you, Constant Reader. Here's a treat for you all. Enjoy.
Happy Holidays. Book Slave.
2008-12-25
Christmas trees are magic.
Hey folks,
Merry Christmas! Happy Chrismukkah! I hope you all are having a great holiday. I enjoyed mine immensely. I gave out a lot of books. Hopefully the folks I gifted them to will enjoy them as much as I do. I actually received everything but books, which was actually good. I think the folks who know me realize that I have a massive TBR pile. I do a pretty good job adding onto the pile myself, without needing help from others. Anyway I was very lucky this year and am humbled by it. I hope you all were able to have a wonderful holiday. Enclosed are some pictures to enjoy.
Here's a picture of our family tree this morning. Isn't it cute. BTW that's my brother in the right corner. He was sick as a dog, poor guy.
And here is a picture of my own tree. It's adorned with some beautiful ornaments thanks to my mom. Also a few years ago we were able to track down some bubble lights which are magical. It's a cute tree. I believe in keeping it up till around New Years and then it's gotta come down.
Have a great holiday! Enjoy, Book Slave.
Merry Christmas! Happy Chrismukkah! I hope you all are having a great holiday. I enjoyed mine immensely. I gave out a lot of books. Hopefully the folks I gifted them to will enjoy them as much as I do. I actually received everything but books, which was actually good. I think the folks who know me realize that I have a massive TBR pile. I do a pretty good job adding onto the pile myself, without needing help from others. Anyway I was very lucky this year and am humbled by it. I hope you all were able to have a wonderful holiday. Enclosed are some pictures to enjoy.
Here's a picture of our family tree this morning. Isn't it cute. BTW that's my brother in the right corner. He was sick as a dog, poor guy.
And here is a picture of my own tree. It's adorned with some beautiful ornaments thanks to my mom. Also a few years ago we were able to track down some bubble lights which are magical. It's a cute tree. I believe in keeping it up till around New Years and then it's gotta come down.
Have a great holiday! Enjoy, Book Slave.
2008-12-23
Review me!
Hey folks,
Merry Christmas to you all! I hope you are all having a great holiday season. I am enjoying my time immensely. Having a few days off has been great! My gift to you folks is a massive helping of reviews. Onwards!
Reviews
Local
I have been waiting for this series to finish so I could read it altogether. It was worth the wait. This collection is gorgeous. Local, written by Brian Wood, follows a woman named Megan over the course of 13 years. Each issue follows her in a different city from Portland to Chicago to Halifax. Megan is a great human character who makes mistakes, goes through horrible situations, and tries to find her own identity. The main theme of identity is striking as we see her age from 17 to 30. Ryan Kelly does an amazing job in subtly showing her change and grow throughout the series. Also Kelly is great at portraying the details of each location. I particularly enjoyed the details in the Portland segment which is a city I find interesting. NPR named this collection their best graphic novel of 2008 and it deserves every bit of praise.
Other Reviews
PopMatters|PDX Comic Geek|NPR Top Book of 2008
In Search of the Far Side
I have always enjoyed the absurdism of The Far Side by Gary Larson. In fact it's one of very few comic strips that I read. Larson sees the world in a smart crazy way. In Search of the Far Side is his third collection and I think that here is where Larson really starts to hit his stride. I am always impressed with how he is able to convey so much in one panel. My favorite in particle shows four dogs playing on a front lawn. In the background in a house window one dog looks forlornly with a violin in hand. All in one image he captures absurdism (dog playing a violin!) and poignancy (dog is sad he can't play with the others). I miss The Far Side.
Other Links: The Far Side
Re-Gifters
This was a cute tale that is aimed directly at teenage girls. The main character is a Korean girl named Jen Dixson who is mainly interested in martial arts and boys. Specifically a boy named Adam who is ridiculously uninteresting. I always have problems with these kindof stories because the boy that the main character has a crush on is so unworthy of her. Jen is an interesting person without being boy-crazy. Her desperation to be liked by Adam drives her to do silly things. Hijinks ensue. I was much more interested in the segments about her family and the martial arts tournament. Now that was cool. There was also some interesting commentary on the Korean community in LA and how they were effected by the Rodney King riots. Carey does a great job of layering these elements into the story without getting preachy. This is a good reccomendation for teenage girls.
Other Reviews
Blogcritics|Comics Worth Reading
|Girls Read Comics
Three Shadows
I picked this up on the reccomendation of a co-worker but it's taken me awhile to pick it up. It's too bad I took so long, because this was a good book. It focuses on a family that lives in the country that is menaced by three shadows. Ultimately the father decides to take his son away to his old homeland in an effort to keep him safe. It was this middle section that I got caught up in. Pedrosa paints a harrowing, difficult portrait of their boat passage. This is clearly meant to comment on the immigrant experience. I was also impressed with the relationship of this family. The mother and father are willing to do anything to keep their son safe. In the end I became emotionally connected to this family. So I found myself a bit torn when the story moved away from them to other supernatural elements. The Deux Ex Machina that Pedrosa introduces in the end is a bit cheap. However I found this story worked and had some great characterizations.
Other Reviews
Comic Mix|School Library Journal|moonshine
Kin
I just want to start with this: I'm not big on fairies. I'm not against them, it's just not my thing. So I picked this up solely based on the reccomendation of a co-worker (shout out to Alex!). I found this tale interesting, however I'm still not big on fairies. With that in mind I thought this tale was interesting but I won't be continuing. While I did get caught up in the mystery aspect I was underwhelmed by the art. Sometimes the faces were a bit too vague. I think the majority of the human characters were gender ambiguous. An interesting choice by the artist but it through me off. Also the Deux Ex Machina ending was a bit too easy.
Other Reviews
Book Reviews and More|nineseveneight|Oops wrong cookie
The Reading List
Books
Motel Life
What I Saw and How I Lied
Magazine
Newsweek
Comic
Batman and the Outsiders #14
Check Out Count: Much Improved.
Comic Pull List: Batman #683, Daredevil #114, New Avengers #48, Runaways 3 #5, Trinity #30, Umbrella Academy Dallas #2, Wonder Woman #27
And in the end folks, Have a great Holiday! Enjoy the madness and prepare for a bright new year. Book Slave.
Merry Christmas to you all! I hope you are all having a great holiday season. I am enjoying my time immensely. Having a few days off has been great! My gift to you folks is a massive helping of reviews. Onwards!
Reviews
Local
I have been waiting for this series to finish so I could read it altogether. It was worth the wait. This collection is gorgeous. Local, written by Brian Wood, follows a woman named Megan over the course of 13 years. Each issue follows her in a different city from Portland to Chicago to Halifax. Megan is a great human character who makes mistakes, goes through horrible situations, and tries to find her own identity. The main theme of identity is striking as we see her age from 17 to 30. Ryan Kelly does an amazing job in subtly showing her change and grow throughout the series. Also Kelly is great at portraying the details of each location. I particularly enjoyed the details in the Portland segment which is a city I find interesting. NPR named this collection their best graphic novel of 2008 and it deserves every bit of praise.
Other Reviews
PopMatters|PDX Comic Geek|NPR Top Book of 2008
In Search of the Far Side
I have always enjoyed the absurdism of The Far Side by Gary Larson. In fact it's one of very few comic strips that I read. Larson sees the world in a smart crazy way. In Search of the Far Side is his third collection and I think that here is where Larson really starts to hit his stride. I am always impressed with how he is able to convey so much in one panel. My favorite in particle shows four dogs playing on a front lawn. In the background in a house window one dog looks forlornly with a violin in hand. All in one image he captures absurdism (dog playing a violin!) and poignancy (dog is sad he can't play with the others). I miss The Far Side.
Other Links: The Far Side
Re-Gifters
This was a cute tale that is aimed directly at teenage girls. The main character is a Korean girl named Jen Dixson who is mainly interested in martial arts and boys. Specifically a boy named Adam who is ridiculously uninteresting. I always have problems with these kindof stories because the boy that the main character has a crush on is so unworthy of her. Jen is an interesting person without being boy-crazy. Her desperation to be liked by Adam drives her to do silly things. Hijinks ensue. I was much more interested in the segments about her family and the martial arts tournament. Now that was cool. There was also some interesting commentary on the Korean community in LA and how they were effected by the Rodney King riots. Carey does a great job of layering these elements into the story without getting preachy. This is a good reccomendation for teenage girls.
Other Reviews
Blogcritics|Comics Worth Reading
|Girls Read Comics
Three Shadows
I picked this up on the reccomendation of a co-worker but it's taken me awhile to pick it up. It's too bad I took so long, because this was a good book. It focuses on a family that lives in the country that is menaced by three shadows. Ultimately the father decides to take his son away to his old homeland in an effort to keep him safe. It was this middle section that I got caught up in. Pedrosa paints a harrowing, difficult portrait of their boat passage. This is clearly meant to comment on the immigrant experience. I was also impressed with the relationship of this family. The mother and father are willing to do anything to keep their son safe. In the end I became emotionally connected to this family. So I found myself a bit torn when the story moved away from them to other supernatural elements. The Deux Ex Machina that Pedrosa introduces in the end is a bit cheap. However I found this story worked and had some great characterizations.
Other Reviews
Comic Mix|School Library Journal|moonshine
Kin
I just want to start with this: I'm not big on fairies. I'm not against them, it's just not my thing. So I picked this up solely based on the reccomendation of a co-worker (shout out to Alex!). I found this tale interesting, however I'm still not big on fairies. With that in mind I thought this tale was interesting but I won't be continuing. While I did get caught up in the mystery aspect I was underwhelmed by the art. Sometimes the faces were a bit too vague. I think the majority of the human characters were gender ambiguous. An interesting choice by the artist but it through me off. Also the Deux Ex Machina ending was a bit too easy.
Other Reviews
Book Reviews and More|nineseveneight|Oops wrong cookie
The Reading List
Books
Motel Life
What I Saw and How I Lied
Magazine
Newsweek
Comic
Batman and the Outsiders #14
Check Out Count: Much Improved.
Comic Pull List: Batman #683, Daredevil #114, New Avengers #48, Runaways 3 #5, Trinity #30, Umbrella Academy Dallas #2, Wonder Woman #27
And in the end folks, Have a great Holiday! Enjoy the madness and prepare for a bright new year. Book Slave.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)