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Feb. 17th, 2005 10:09 amIf you live in Vancouver and want to go see Stars and Feist at the Commodore on March 31st, please post here or email me.
Feb. 17th, 2005
What I've been reading lately
Feb. 17th, 2005 10:10 am1. "The other side of the story" by Marian Keyes- Good, substantial chick lit. For some reason, I really like Marian Keyes and get completely absorbed in her books. They are quite light, but not overly. I need to find other writers that write like her.
2. "The Fabulous Girl's guide to decorum" by Kim Izzo and Cheri March- This etiquette book was written by two writers who also write about etiquette for the Globe and Mail. It's part chick-lit, part etiquette guide. Some parts were quite good as it explained how to network, proper manners for dinner parties and invites, and some basic rules of how to conduct oneself. There was an overemphasis on shopping. Also, do people really socialize with friends 3 times a week? That seems like a lot to me, but I'm sort of a hermit. I also really liked their advice on "ex-sex". If you sleep with your ex 3 times in a short period, you're back together, or one of you is wondering whether or not you're back together.
3. "Some great thing" by Colin McAdam- I saw Colin McAdam read at the Vancouver International Writers Festival, and he was quite funny. This is his first book, and it's been nominated for a bunch of awards including the Governor General (I think), the Giller (I think.) Anyway, I decided to pick it up. If you are familiar with Ottawa (as I am since I lived there for about 3 months during internships), you'll appreciate this book. One of the overarching themes is the story of the construction of Ottawa in the 1970s. This book is the story of two men and their involvement in the construction. One man is named Jerry McGuinty and his is the more interesting voice. The other is named Simon Struthers, and he is a civil servant and in no way as interesting. Jerry's story tells about his relationship with his wife and son, while Simon's is about his obsession with a young woman. This is a very visceral and guttural book. It's about men who build things and drink and call each other fuckers and cunts. It's very masculine. However, some of the writing is incredibly beautiful and I liked it a lot.
I read about 275 pages of Che- A revolutionary life before I had to quit. I just don't have the attention span to concentrate on this right now. I'm not good with long books. I tend to prefer books of about 200-300 pages. The text in Che is so dense that I need to own my own copy and read it in small chunks. It's a fascinating book and it's full of info about Latin American politics and lives of famous people including Che (of course) and Castro.
2. "The Fabulous Girl's guide to decorum" by Kim Izzo and Cheri March- This etiquette book was written by two writers who also write about etiquette for the Globe and Mail. It's part chick-lit, part etiquette guide. Some parts were quite good as it explained how to network, proper manners for dinner parties and invites, and some basic rules of how to conduct oneself. There was an overemphasis on shopping. Also, do people really socialize with friends 3 times a week? That seems like a lot to me, but I'm sort of a hermit. I also really liked their advice on "ex-sex". If you sleep with your ex 3 times in a short period, you're back together, or one of you is wondering whether or not you're back together.
3. "Some great thing" by Colin McAdam- I saw Colin McAdam read at the Vancouver International Writers Festival, and he was quite funny. This is his first book, and it's been nominated for a bunch of awards including the Governor General (I think), the Giller (I think.) Anyway, I decided to pick it up. If you are familiar with Ottawa (as I am since I lived there for about 3 months during internships), you'll appreciate this book. One of the overarching themes is the story of the construction of Ottawa in the 1970s. This book is the story of two men and their involvement in the construction. One man is named Jerry McGuinty and his is the more interesting voice. The other is named Simon Struthers, and he is a civil servant and in no way as interesting. Jerry's story tells about his relationship with his wife and son, while Simon's is about his obsession with a young woman. This is a very visceral and guttural book. It's about men who build things and drink and call each other fuckers and cunts. It's very masculine. However, some of the writing is incredibly beautiful and I liked it a lot.
I read about 275 pages of Che- A revolutionary life before I had to quit. I just don't have the attention span to concentrate on this right now. I'm not good with long books. I tend to prefer books of about 200-300 pages. The text in Che is so dense that I need to own my own copy and read it in small chunks. It's a fascinating book and it's full of info about Latin American politics and lives of famous people including Che (of course) and Castro.