I’ve been thinking a lot about the connection between books, movies, and television this weekend.
I got started when I started watching the TV show Parenthood, which I just recently found on Netflix Instant. A couple of the early episodes of the first season have a small sub-plot connected to William Faulkner’s The Sound and the Fury — there’s a plagiarized essay about the story and a cute scene where one of the characters (Sarah, played by Lauren Graham [aka Lorelei Gilmore on Gilmore Girls]) starts dating an English teacher who also loves the book. I don’t normally have a desire to read Faulkner, but after the book played such a big role in the story I suddenly couldn’t wait to get my hands on it.
It’s more common (for me anyway) for the inspiration to go the other way — for a book to inspire me to look for more. After I finished Fifth Avenue, 5 A.M., a book about the making of the film Breakfast at Tiffany’s, I wanted to read Truman Capote’s original novella and see the movie again. I finally watched it this weekend and it was lovely, except for the absurdly distasteful portrayal of Mr. Yunioshi, Holly’s Asian upstairs neighbor, by Mickey Rooney in yellowface makeup.
I’ve got the movie version of Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil in my queue because of reading the book, and I also recently watched Holes because I loved the YA book by Louis Sachar. I can’t wait to both read Moneyball by Michael Lewis and then go see the movie (or probably wait to see the movie when it’s out on DVD). I’m also curious about The Big Year, which is out this weekend and based on a book by the same title by Mark Obmascik.
I have to think that the book/movie connection is often more common than the book/television connection, but maybe that’s just because I can’t think of any more examples from my own live. I’m curious what you all think: Have you ever picked up a book because it was mentioned on a tv show or in a movie? What show and what book?
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Off the Stacks is a weekly-ish feature where I highlight a nonfiction book I’m curious about but will probably run out of hours in the day to actually read. I’m hoping that by highlighting titles this way, I can encourage other people to give the book a try, and, if it’s great, consider nominating it later this year for the Indie Lit Awards. Consider these books stamped with the “Sophisticated Dorkiness Seal of Curious Approval.”
Title: A Thousand Lives: The Untold Story of Hope, Deception, and Survival at Jonestown
Author: Julia Scheeres
Publisher: Free Press, an imprint of Simon & Schuster
Nonfiction Type: Narrative History
Topics Covered: Jonestown, politics, 1960s
What It’s About: A Thousand Lives follows five members of Jim Jones’ Peoples Temple – “a middle-class English teacher from Colorado, an elderly African American woman raised in Jim Crow Alabama, a troubled young black man from Oakland, and a working-class father and his teenage son “ – who came to the community for different reasons but ended up fighting for their lives as Jones slowly drew the community into chaos.
Why I Want to Read It: I liked Julia Scheeres memoir Jesus Land, which was about her time at a religious reform school in the Dominican Republic. I think her experiences in that sort of environment will give a lot of insight into this particular exploration of Jonestown and what happened there.
Who Else Might Like It: Historians, those fascinated by fanaticism and escapism
Reviews: Chocolate & Croissants |
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Earlier this summer, my sister Jenny and I decided to read and review The Help by Kathryn Stockett. We both read the book over our 4th of July vacation, and had a race to see who would finish first. We have a long-standing competition about reading speed that dates back all the way to the early Harry Potter books. It’s vicious.
In this race, Jenny beat me out… but just barely. She also very responsibly answered all of the questions we came up with for our review in a timely manner… while I procrastinated and was lazy! However, finally, I bring you the latest edition of The Sisterhood of the Summer Book Reviews.
Why did you decide to read this book?
Jenny: I wanted to read this book because I had heard a lot of good things about it from some people that I knew. I also really enjoy reading historical fiction because I love learning about the past, but my favorite way to do that is through stories from the point of view of people who lived during that time. Now I know historical fiction is not true, but I like to imagine what it might have been like to live during that time, or to have some of the challenges that existed back in that time.
Kim: Because you picked it! Also, there’s been a lot of hype about the book, so I get curious about fiction when it seems so universally loved by the people who read it.
How was the dialect to you? Was it confusing to follow?
Jenny: At first I found it a little difficult to follow. I was stumbling over words, and having to re-read sentences to understand what was going on. But as I got further into the book got used to the dialect and reading became a lot easier and quicker.
Kim: Honestly, I don’t think I even noticed. I don’t remember ever thinking, “This is hard to read!” or feeling frustrated by it.
[continue reading…]
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Today I have a guest post over Jenn’s Bookshelves as part of her Murder, Monsters, & Mayhem celebration this October. For the post, I picked three different nonfiction books I think well-represent murder, monsters, and mayhem… depending on what you’re in the mood for reading.
Unrelated, I also had my first new post up on Book Riot last week in which I confess to my habit of turning classic literature into a daytime soap opera and excitement about a new translation of an old book in which a famous hero gets called a son of a bitch. Could that be any more cryptic?
In any case, I hope you’ll hope around the Interwebs and check out some of my other writing this week (and offer your suggestions about bookish decorating ideas for my new office!).
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There are many cool things about my new job as a community newspaper editor, but one unexpectedly sweet perk is that I have my own office. Not a cubicle or other Office Space-like desk divider system, a real, honest-to-goodness office that I get all to myself. It’s actually pretty ridiculous.
I’ve been so busy for the last couple of months that I haven’t had much time to think about decorating the place. I’ve started bringing in a few things for my desk and bulletin board — tea mugs for storing pens and, you know, drinking tea; photographs, postcards and a favorite xkcd comic — but the walls are still pretty bare.
The former editor put up nine black and white journalism-related pictures, but they don’t really inspire me much. I want art with more pops of color that reflect some of my passions better.
My current idea is to buy a series of vintage dictionary prints from some Etsy shops I found over the weekend. I love the mix of old words and beautiful color prints, and I think I can combine favorites from different shops into a relatively coherent looking photo collage. These are some of my current favorites:
Top row (left to right): Minnesota by StayGoldMedia; Elephant & Butterfly from nommon; Penguin Family by nommon. Bottom row (left to right): Keep Calm by woodendoll; Tulips by Vintagraphy; Pigs Can Fly with Love Balloons by VintageDictionaryArt
I really want some book-related art, which is why I figured I could turn to all of you for some advice. Do you have any favorite bookish pieces of art or places to shop that I could use? Any favorite Etsy shops I could mix and match from? Better ideas that vintage dictionary prints? I am totally open to suggestions!
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