Mel
Reading: The Book of Mormon Girl: Stories from an American Faith by Joanna Brooks.
Watching: With my son in the hospital, I needed something to take my mind off my worries and turned to my new addiction, Breaking Bad. I am also deeply engrossed in Top Chef and Project Runway Allstars, though I must say the season is not nearly as fun without Heidi Klum and Tim Gunn.
Listening: My running playlist as I train for a Ragnar race. Also attended The Givers with friends last month and dreamed of being a rocker who can jam on drums like she did.
Eating: After nearly a month of hospital cafeteria food, I am enjoying the fruits of a Key West vacation, including Sloppy Joe’s and Cuban fare.
Browsing: Talking Points Memo – a presidential election is my version of romance novel porn.
Heidi
Reading: To Be Sung Underwater by Tom McNeal. I was recently thinking about that perennial short story anthology favorite “The Jilting of Granny Weatherall” by Katherine Anne Porter, which led to Katherine Anne: A Life by Joan Givner. Givner is not the most vivid or insightful biographist, but Porter’s life was fascinating all by itself. Letters in the Mail, my first letter arrived yesterday.
Watching: Caryl Churchill’s feminist, socialist and Anti-Thatcherite play Top Girls. Still digesting. Hardly any television, but I did catch the first episode of the fourth season of True Blood the other night. It’s just as far-fetched, funny and deliciously trashy as ever. The mysterious, beautiful, gentle and funny Thai film Syndromes and a Century.
Listening: To Wild Flag! Still. After a month. Miles Davis’ Kind of Blue, early Ryan Adams’ records, Los Lobos (h/t Erin) and Phantogram.
Eating: I made some Parsnip and Ginger soup today, Fox Ginger Crinkle Creams and homemade bread with Victoria Plum Jam and butter.
Browsing: Honestly, I’m a creature of habit and probably visiting the same places I said I was last time — my beloved Hairpin, Flavorwire, the NYT’s and The Guardian. I’ve also been watching YouTube hair tutorials because I am rubbish at doing hair. And lazy. So chances are pretty low that I’ll actually attempt anything I’ve watched.
Ed
Reading: Just finished reading Cutting for Stone by Abraham Verghese. Written very well, with great characters, but the plotting seems forced towards the end, too tight. Like a suit jacket and pants, you need to leave some room inside a novel for natural movement and proper draping. Otherwise, some of the characters have to just stand there, looking good, but they are unable to sit down.
Heather
Reading: In December I read the whole Hunger Games trilogy by Suzanne Collins. I had read the first two when they came out, but never finished the last one, so I re-read all of them. Loved them all, although I liked the first one the best. My kids are SO excited about the movie, they are already losing sleep-and it doesn’t come out until March 23 (my Marin’s 12th birthday!). I also read Also read The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot. This was flat out one of the most amazing books I’ve ever read. So many layers of meaning and controversy and heartache-racism, medical ethics, unequal access to health care, etc. And a shout-out to my Mo-sister, Joanna Brooks and her Book of Mormon Girl. I read it on the Kindle-my first Kindle read-and loved it. I laughed, I smiled, I cried. Read it!
Watching: Haven’t watched anything worth noting except for a few hilarious John Stewart clips about the presidential election.
Listening: I actually brought my ipod to Costa Rica (where I spent two weeks in January), but didn’t listen to it even for one minute. A couple times I thought about listening to it, but didn’t because I didn’t want to miss anything I was seeing or hearing. I wanted to take it all in!
Now that I’m back, I’m most looking forward to listening to a recent Mormon Matters podcast re: effecting change in the church. It’s Episode 72.
Eating: Because I spent half of January in Costa Rica, I ate beans and rice, beans and rice, beans and rice. They call it different things, though. In the morning, they call it gallo pinto. For dinner, they call it casado. I also ate as many of these most delicious things called patacones that are fried plantains. I love them so much, I want to marry them. I also ate this most delicious rum and raisin ice cream in a little mountain town. And the scoop only cost me about a dollar, which was a pleasant surprise. Now that I’m home, I just seem to be eating everything, pretty much indiscriminately.
Browsing: Scenes from a semiMormon Life.
Erin
Reading: The Neediest Cases series in the New York Times New York section, profiles of people who have benefitted from assistance from seven different charitable agencies who provide services in the Big Apple. These daily articles (from November – February, the length of the fundraising campaign) inspire and humble me. Also, Us: Americans Talk About Love, edited by John Bowe.
Watching: Just got Netflix streaming, thus joining the decade 2011 kicked off! The Wilco documentary, I Am Trying to Break Your Heart makes me love that band even more than I already do.
Listening: Any and everything via Spotify Premium. (Yes, after going without cable or anything like unto it for nearly four years, I’m springing for TWO pop culture delivery services this month.) New favorite band? Youth Lagoon. New favorite band that isn’t a new band? Eels.
Eating: Girl Scout cookies, especially Tag-alongs and Samoas. Also enjoying lots of pears, blackberries and raspberries, but unfortunately, not as much as the cookies.
Browsing: Dipping my toes in the waters of Pinterest somewhat warily … I’m also enjoying various iPad apps (VidRhythm, Vintage Camera), but searching for more roundish buttons to download that will make my life amazing!
Laurie
Listening: Kino MacGregor Ashtanga Yoga Awareness Podcasts Adyashanti Downloaded Teachings.
Eating: Kicking Horse Coffee — (Kick Ass Dark, whole bean) — bought for my husband for Christmas, stolen by me and made with plenty of creamy hot milk and chocolate — it’s making my whole world go ’round. I think I’ll forget about nutrition for the rest of this month and just carry around my little mug of liquid joy.
Browsing: Colorful Homes — doesn’t everyone need more color in their life? On the Way to Critter Farm — exploring an alter ego of mine. Goths up Trees C’mon… it’s GOTHS, in TREES! Hilarious. Lesbian Dad — I go for the photography. So good.
Ha! That is the perfect description of why the book doesn’t quite work, I felt exactly the same.
In addition to plotting missteps, I also regretted that the full-bodied characterization of Thomas from the early narrative was lost at the end, resulting in an unembodied voice more so than a character.
And, the empathy I felt for Marion building throughout the novel evaporated when he took advantage of Genet while she lay ill next to him in his bed. Is there something I missed that’s supposed to keep me from believing Marion is … a date rapist of sorts? The goriest descriptions of disease and surgeries in the book were no match for Marion’s grisly articulation of his motivations during sex with her. Whether his contraction of hepatitus was sufficient to atone for that, I don’t know. Heidi, am I too reactive here? If so, what did I overlook?
Having said all that, I still liked the book quite a bit–I generally won’t invest this much time discussing the faults of a novel unless I DO like it.
No, Ed, not too reactive. I think you came to the only reasonable conclusion. The novel was so beautifully written and promising and the ending left me hugely disappointed. It’s a book that comes up now and again and I’m never sure whether I should recommend it.
Heidi, tell us more about the letter receiving thing. That’s weird/interesting. How was the first letter?
Ed, did you read the book The Invention of Hugo Cabret? We read it and my youngest two LOVED it. When we saw it in the theater, they really liked it, but their cousins (who hadn’t read it) thought it draaaaagged.
Hmm … the letter thing is weird/cool. I’m not giving up on it, but the first one was a bit like Ralphie when he gets his Little Orphan Annie decoder ring — my expectations were probably too high. That said, the first letter was by a graphic artist who does a lot of stuff on The Rumpus that I always find meh — I’ll reserve my judgment for after I see what other writers do.
Heather, I’ve seen the book in B&N, flipped through it, but didn’t read it. Maybe I should?
I wouldn’t read it unless I had a kid to read it with. ;)
Heather, I’m glad I know somebody who has read The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks! I’m a science book nerd, so as soon as I heard about this book, I bought it. And yeah, loved it. Related and more in depth, I read The Emperor of All Maladies after I read Skloot’s book. It’s a fascinating biography of cancer that will probably depress the crap out of you – but still, loved it.