The books of March 2011

This month has completely flown by! I think my reading list is fairly decent. But in case anyone out there thinks I should be reading more, I did some other stuff (and watched a lot of TV). It had been a while, but I made it back to the movie theater...not once, but twice! Woohoo! I went to see Red Riding Hood. I understand that this has gotten horrible reviews and I do not care. It was some mindless fun and just what I needed to see. I was exhausted and couldn't focus on anything but the pretty faces. Not a bad way to spend the afternoon. Last weekend I went to see Sucker Punch. My friends' reactions were fairly universal. About a quarter of them liked it...that means 3/4 did not. Which I think is unfortunate. It was fun, explodey, violent, and completely void of critical thinking skills. The perfect remedy for a really long horrible week.

I also did another Iron Craft challenge, this time for the Easy Bein' Green week. I had PLENTY of green fabric...most of it fleece.

It's easy being green when you're so darn cute and huggable.

I volunteered to participate in our local design organization's annual event. With a typography theme, there was plenty to choose from, but I waffled a little too long before I finally asked the organizer some questions and signed up...I got the caret (^). Here's what I made:

Get it? Peas and carets? Get it? Oh well. At least I crack myself up!

For yet another month, I didn't buy many books. I gave up buying books for Lent (no, I'm not Catholic, I just feel like it's not a bad practice to give something up for a while once a year...and it proves something to yourself...and it also proves that I should never be in public if I ever think about giving up coffee again), so I squeezed in a few purchases the weekend before Lent: The Dead-Tossed Waves by Carrie Ryan (sequel to the one I bought last month...and started reading last night) and The Geography of Bliss by Eric Weiner.

As stated previously, this month I read a decent amount of books. I finished up Italy, A Love Story: Women Write about the Italian Experience edited by Camille Cusumano, Gomorrah by Roberto Saviano, The New York Mormon Singles Halloween Dance: A Memoir by Elna Baker, Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater, Confessions of a Prairie Bitch: How I Survived Nellie Oleson and Learned to Love Being Hated by Alison Arngrim, Neon Angel: A Memoir of a Runaway by Cherie Currie, and When I Grow Up by Juliana Hatfield. Like I said above, I started reading The Forest of Hands and Teeth by Carrie Ryan last night, but as I truly enjoy sleeping, I did not get close to finishing it.

After going through the rest of the essays in Italy, A Love Story, my favorite is still the one about the girl who fell more in love with the guy's grandfather than the guy himself. The rest of it was enjoyable, but not overly memorable.

Gomorrah is a title I noted from Time Out Rome Shortlist 2011. It's about one man's experience growing up in Naples and around it and all the mob ties to fashion, drugs, and everything else in the surrounding area. I had no idea things were as bad as he wrote...I mean, I enjoy watching mob movies, but this was more personal and gruesome. But really well-written...and interesting.

The New York Mormon book...what can I say? I was so upset after reading the "biography" about Cleopatra, that I knew I had to get back on the reading horse or lose my favorite genre forever (totally not an option). This book was great! Elna Baker told her story so well that I feel like I know her...I could hang out with her and it would be like hanging out with an old friend I've not seen in a while, but never forgot about. She's witty, charming, and fun. I really hope she writes another book about her adventures.

Shiver is a different take on the werewolf teen angst drama (not to be confused with Teen Wolf...Michael J Fox might be a little old for this particular role, despite his boyish charm). It starts with a little girl being attacked by wolves...except for one...one wolf protects her and gets the others to stop biting her. Then she's a teen, being attacked by hormones in high school. She always watches the woods behind her house for that one wolf that protected her and she's sure she knows him from the others. A boy from her school gets attacked by wolves and killed. She tries to stop people from hunting the wolves, but she's too late. She hears the shot...and finds a handsome boy bleeding on her back doorstep. The story of the wolves and this girl and others at her high school is really engrossing. The chapters are the names of the characters and their current temperatures as that plays into this particular werewolf lore.I will buy the next book, Linger, as soon as it's out in paperback...or after Lent if it comes out before then.

I've wanted to read Confessions of a Prairie Bitch since I saw it on the table at Borders. I was very stoked when I saw it on the shelf at the library. Nellie was an awful little girl on the show, but it turns out that character was the best thing that could've happened to Alison Arngrim. I didn't know anything about her other than she played Nellie...and I was quite the Little House fan...books and TV show. I still love the books and occasionally reread them. Anyway, Alison's life was far from perfect...which really seems to be the way with most child actors. Her mom was the voice of several beloved cartoon characters and very well known. Her dad was an agent...and also a gay man (her mom was in on it from the beginning, so there was never really a huge problem there)...and her brother, also an actor, well, clearly he was a disturbed super-jerk who should never have been left alone with her. That aside, her real life and her TV life mesh together well in this book. I loved learning about all of it because she peppered everything with what was going on in her TV life too. Highly enjoyable.

Not too long ago, a couple of friends came over and we watched The Runaways - the movie with Kristen Stewart and Dakota Fanning playing Joan Jett and Cherie Currie respectively. The movie was good and made me want to read the book. The book is different. It's less focused on their friendship and more focused on Cherie Currie...most likely because it's her biography and she wrote it. I like some of their music and I like a lot of Joan Jett songs, but really knew nothing beyond what I'd seen in that movie, so this was eye-opening. She went through so much, self-inflicted and otherwise, that I'm actually surprised that she's turned it around and was able to write anything. And apparently, now she does sculpture with chainsaws! She is still very rock'n'roll cool.

Lastly, Juliana Hatfield's When I Grow Up. I have to admit something. I'm not really a huge fan of Juliana Hatfield. Even though I really like that one song. Even though I thought I knew some stuff about her. Even though a friend of mine got her autograph for me. I know, right? She seems like someone I would really like, but her stuff just never stuck with me beyond Spin the Bottle on the Reality Bites soundtrack. What did I learn? I like that song because it's a different kind of melody and have a different timing (in addition to the fun lyrics); she didn't really date Evan Dando from the Lemonheads; she did not have a good time playing at the Bottleneck in Lawrence, Kansas (I've generally always had a good time there...I guess if fans invaded my space it would be a different story...); she fought anorexia and won; she found that taking a break from music made the music so much better when she came back to it; and that I would probably never make it on a bus tour...sounds horrible. So, I don't know that I like her music any better because I've not listened to anything else as I only just finished it. But, I have a respect for her and her work ethic and stellar perseverance.

This morning, I read Amanda Palmer's latest blog post. If you don't know her, she's pretty fabulous. But if, like me, you love Duran Duran...and have for years...and don't plan to quit anytime soon...and aren't offended by cursing, please read her post. Thanks to my friend for sending it to me! It makes you mad, and then, MAGIC! She gets an experience that most of us have dreamed of for over 20 years! Yes, everyone else was horrid, but true fans know what to do. She's a true fan. I also know that John Taylor retweeted her post which made both her...and me...super excited :) Duran Duran RULES!

And just so you know, as I've typed this, I watched the Queen Latifah movie Just Wright. It was very cute. Now Clueless is on...and I totally turned the channel...AS IF! Not only am I watching it, but I seem to be quoting it verbatim along with my roommate. I'm audi!

"Fall back" time has almost passed

This coming weekend is when we set the clocks forward ("spring forward"). Allow me a moment to express my disgust at this: GIMME MY HOUR! I WANNA KEEP MY HOUR! It's not like I already feel short of time everyday. Frown.

In the last post, I noted that one way I spent time not reading was knitting. Here's one of the scarves I made while logging many hours of the Real Housewives of Many Cities (many of whom aren't married and are as far removed from real as I can imagine):

I hope you wanted a green scarf cause that's what you're gettin'.

One thing I wanted to do this year was join in the fun on Iron Craft. You'll notice that it is March and I stated that like I've not participated. Well, yes, we're three months in and the thing I thought I would do every week? Nope. My BFF's mom has entered a lot of them, my BFF a couple of them I think, and me, none. Zip. Zilch. This week though, I got motivated and made something Sunday evening while watching the new season of the OC Housewives. This week's challenge was what they're calling a "materials challenge" and we had to make something from a fat quarter in honor of it being Fat Tuesday. I started with a fat quarter and cut out pieces I needed to make an octopus. Turns out that was too hard...so I used about a quarter of the fat quarter to make an owl instead...an owl that looks like a cat...because you could only use the fat quarter and no other fabrics.

Who did a bad job with her fat quarter and her picture-takin' skillz? This girl!

Tonight I was happy there was a new episode of Glee...some of it good, some of it so far over the shark they're about to be back to the jumping point again. I did like a lot of the music this time though. And, as much as it pains me to type it (seriously, I'm sitting weird and one of my arms is starting to fall asleep), Gwyneth is really good on this show! I want her on there more...I think...

Now I'm watching The Last Legion. I've seen it before, but I like it, so I'm watching it again. It's not the best film on the topic, but I enjoy how they weave ancient Britain's mythology into a tale of Roman legions. And they do it way better than The Eagle. Or maybe I'd just prefer Colin Firth and John Hannah any day over Channing Tatum and Donald Sutherland...probably isn't a big mystery.

I'm going to finish this movie, do a little reading, and go to bed for the night. Later!