BOOKS!!!
First of all, I've got to recommend the Kindle 2! Now, I'm just as obsessed with a new book as the next person--the inky yet crisp smell of the pages, the weight of it in your hands, the potential for doggy-earing, highlighting, and marginalia. I'm all about the tangibility of a book, and yet my heart has opened itself to include "the techy-book," too...the Kindle 2. I was adamantly against the digital book idea when I first heard about it, but I have been won over. There is no fidgeting with how to hold it (no straining of fingers to hold open the pages), no too-bright-ness when reading in the sunlight, no losing your place because the bookmark fell out, and no lugging some 1000 page book around in your purse all day. The Kindle is totally user friendly--lightweight, a matte screen so you can read in any light, you can hold it AND turn the page with the same hand, and you can wirelessly download a crap-ton of titles from the amazon.com website onto your Kindle in less than a minute! (Most titles are around 10 apiece, too! Affordable? I'd say so!)
Though I just recommened the Kindle, "Our Dumb World" is more of a coffee table book that got recommended to me by David Sedaris himself. Yes, at his reading here in Denver not too long ago, he read excerpts of this encyclopedia/atlas outloud. I tell you, it was uproarous. It was published by The Onion newspaper, so you can imagine its ridiculousness--impolitically correct--basing the truth on stereotypes, (for the conservative humorist) kind of offensive, and (for the darker humorists) raging hilarious. You. Have. Got. To. Buy. This. Book. If an excerpt is what'll sell ya, here you go: "Mexico--Now hiring 2.4 million busboys. General Sam Houston and his Texas Army defeat the Mexicans at the Battle of San Jacinto, led by Houston's famous war cry, 'Remember the...shit, you know-the...ummmm...it's like that big fort thing in San Antonio! Remember?! That place where we had that battle a couple of weeks back! Motherfucker, what's it called?! Lots of us died there and everything! The Alfanlo? Isn't that it?! Fuck!' " I mean...right?!?!?
How about a book to kick off the new year?! My recommendation is Deepak Chopra's "Reinventing the Body, Resurrecting the Soul: How to Create a New You." I mentioned this book a few months back, but I'll refresh you. Chopra was a practicing MD when he realized that doctors were missing something in the healing process. He discusses "the body's infinite capacity for change and renewal," but how change can only happen when the body accesses the soul. For, "only by going to the level of the soul will you access your full potential, bringing more intelligence, creativity, and awareness into every aspect of your life." Chopra offers 10 steps to to help us develop: "a deeper awareness, focus on relationships instead of consumption, embrace every day as a new world, and transcend the obstacles that afflict body and mind." (more in depth article/review at http://www.random%20house.com/). Honestly, reading any part of this book makes you feel like a better person.
Not because he's my favorite author (though he is), but because these books are 2 of my all-time favorites, I have to recommend John Steinbeck's "East of Eden" and "The Winter of Our Discontent." Though "East of Eden" is kind of a hefty book, don't let that keep you from reading it. So many reasons to put in the time. Like most of my favorite books, EoE weaves together numerous plot-lines and spans multiple generations. The novel is set in California's Salinas Valley and is a sort of recreation of the Bible's Cain and Abel story, with brotherly conflict as the main theme. "Above all, it is the characters you will long remember from this riveting saga. Cathy, the whore with a heart of stone, has to be one of the most evil characters in all literature. She kills her parents, beds her husband's brother on her wedding night, shoots her husband and deserts her infant sons. And, all this before she turns really bad! Truly a character to be analyzed for decades to come. On the other hand there are the wonderful characters of Samuel and Lee, men you will long remember for their wisdom, caring, and sheer goodness. And there is Adam, a zombie of a man until his great re-birth and spectacular failure finds him caught in a web of good and evil that he will long struggle with" (from Antoinette Klein). Antoinette's not kidding, either. I still remember the characters from this book as if they were good friends of mine. This story--in all its hurt and betrayal--stays with you.
"The Winter of Our Discontent" is set in a small coastal city on the East Coast. The main character Ethan Hawley is stuck in a rut. With only $6500 in savings, he manages a shop he doesn't own and tries to appease his family who's envious of others and wants more. This story follows Ethan on his mission to change his family's life and luck by launching a new career. And though this has little to do with the plot, I enjoyed this novel even MORE because of the petnames and sweet talk between Ethan and his wife. Adorable in that respect and completely self-questioning and insightful in another. Just talking about this book makes me want to read it again...
Any and every audio book of David Sedaris'. I actually read "Me Talk Pretty One Day" and enjoyed every minute of it, but I really appreciate Sedaris' AUDIO books. He's got a fantastic reading voice--one that's accessible and yet one that carries nuances and particularities that, somehow, make his stuff helplessly funny. I find myself smiling or laughing at ev.er.y.thing. I listen to him in the car on roadtrips and, I tell you what, I find myself smiling the whole way. His books are classified as creative nonfiction, meaning they're mostly biographical, and are broken up in to smaller anecdotes, which allows you to open to any page (or listen to any track), and be able to follow. He's honestly and simply funny and yet he's also genuine and endearing. Though you may laugh for 15 minutes straight, the story ends and you find yourself thinking about, pondering, and wondering at the world he depicts for you. Perfect for those lonely and long stretches of road...
Ted Kooser's poetry! I know I just used the word accessible to describe David Sedaris' voice, but I can't think of a better word to describe Kooser's poetry (who was the US Poet Laureate a few years back). His poems aren't complex--they're not overly symbolic or metaphorical or referential. You don't finish a poem and go, "Whaaaa?" They're pleasant to read because they're written simply--everyday language and contemporary subjects. Kooser can be funny, too. For example, his poem "Selecting a Reader"--
First, I would have her be beautiful,
and walking carefully up on my poetry
at the loneliest moment of an afternoon,
her hair still damp at the neck
from washing it. She should be wearing
a raincoat, an old one, dirty
from not having money enough for the cleaners.
She will take out her glasses, and there
in the bookstore, she will thumb
over my poems, then put the book back
up on its shelf. She will say to herself,
"For that kind of money, I can get
my raincoat cleaned." And she will.
or one of my all-time favorites, "Pocket Poem"--
If this comes creased and creased again and soiled
as if I’d opened it a thousand times
to see if what I’d written here was right,
it’s all because I looked too long for you
to put in your pocket. Midnight says
the little gifts of loneliness come wrapped
by nervous fingers. What I wanted this
to say was that I want to be so close
that when you find it, it is warm from me.
I think it's about time you bought this book and found that poetry is for you, too.
Movin' on from books, though you know I'll be back :)...
NON-BOOKS!
The Online Pottery Barn Catalog! I'm thinking twice about recommending this website, cause honestly, it's deadly for me. I never used to like Pottery Barn, and actually, I still don't fancy the store. But the catalog?! Whole different ballgame. Me and the Pottery Barn catalog are trouble. Clearly, considering I'm recommending it to more potential addicts. But the catalog has so many more things than the store (and way cooler things, if you ask me). The catalog has got more than just couches and pillows and picture frames. For example, I bought this set of 10 typewriter prints from there and, boy oh boy, do they look cute in my office! (Wouldn't you agree, Mary?)
http://www.potterybarn.com/pages/pottery-barn-catalog-winter-d1-10.html?bnrid=3301211&cm_ven=Email&cm_cat=OnlineCatalog&cm_pla=PBAll&cm_ite=header%20banner%20introducing&cm_em=erinleemathews@gmail.com
Okay, I'm done recommending now. Or am I? Hehe ;) Here are some other blogs I think you fetching folks might like (I read the updated entries on these sites ev.er.y.day because they make me think, make me happy, make me laugh and/or all of the above):
http://www.givesmehope.com/
http://www.hannahmiet.com/
http://www.natthefatrat.com/
http://sleeptalkinman.blogspot.com/
http://www.yesandyes.org/
http://youareremarkable.wordpress.com/
http://theonticbluestocking.blogspot.com/
I hope you found something here you like! You know what else I like? YOU.
*image from http://mimulus.files.wordpress.com/
okay, i should be in cleaning the bathroom, but nooooo, i just had to see what's up on your blog. i was not disappointed. heck, i may even get some of the books you recommended! c u tonight, m'dear.
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