Helen's Reads » Author Events & Happenings

Werner Herzog Reads From His Book ‘Go The F–k To Sleep’

helen — Wed, 22 Jun 2011 22:38:45 +0000

I’ve been wanting to get a look at this book, ever since I heard about the title and the fact that legendary director Werner Herzog wrote it. To my good fortune, Book Beast posted a snippet of the author’s recent reading at the New York Public Library.

I have reposted here in honor of every tired parent past, present and future.

Mark Your Calendars for Live Author Web Chats

helen — Mon, 07 Feb 2011 21:15:37 +0000

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Algonquin Books online book club is kick starting their 2011 event season with author Julia Alvarez discussing her book In The Time of Butterflies with author Edwidge Danticat (Brother, I’m Dying). This live webcast will be held on March 21st at 7pm EST. This is not a passive event. Readers are encouraged to join in the discussion in the weeks leading up to the webcast. Those participating have the chance to score swag bags and other publisher goodies. If you want to get a group of friends together, the website provides ideas for wine pairings and food suggestions as well as the traditional reading group guide.

Future book club events will feature Sara Gruen (Water For Elephants) interviewed by Kathryn Stockett (The Help) on April 26th; Heidi Durrow (The Girl Who Fell from the Sky) interviewed by Terry McMillan on August 18th; and Robert Goolrick (A Reliable Wife) interviewed by Patricia Cornwell on October 20th.

Nancy Pearl’s Reading Wisdom

helen — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 16:06:49 +0000

Last night I was one of a hundred adoring fans that turned out to hear our very own former Seattle Public Library librarian, Nancy Pearl, do what she does best, tell us whats good to read. The focus on this evening’s event was summer reading or as quoted in The Seattle Times piece promoting the event,

“For many people, summer reading implies lighter reading – it doesn’t matter if saltwater splashes over it or the covers get ripped off,” Pearl says. “You don’t have a lot of emotional capital tied up in the book.”

I’ve sorted the twenty one books Pearl gushed about into four categories: Airplane Reads, Armchair Travelers, Mystery/ Spy/Thrillers and Book Club Reads. (Really, she is so enthusiastic about the books she loves that I’m ready to toss what I am currently reading and dive into any one of these.) I will share her list of picks in my next couple of posts. For now, I thought I would pass along Pearl’s thoughts on choosing that next good book to read.

If you are 50 years old or younger: Read 50 pages. If the book doesn’t grab you, give it away. If you are compelled to solve the mystery or find out how the story ends, read the last chapter and be done with it.

If you are older than 50: Subtract your age from 100 and read that number of pages. It’s one of the few perks of aging, according to Pearl.

If you are 100 years and older: Congratulations! You are now allowed to judge a book by it’s cover.

Britain’s New Poet Laureate Ms Carol Ann Duffy

helen — Mon, 11 May 2009 19:43:14 +0000

You have to love Britain’s new poet laureate, Carol Ann Duffy. Not only is she the first woman ever to hold the office, but she also: is a mom who happens to be openly gay; plans to donate her annual stipend (roughly $8500 a year) to fund an annual poetry prize; made it clear she intends to collect all 600 bottles of sherry that comes with the position and writes poems of everyday life that are easily read and understood.

The following poem is from The World’s Wife, a collection of poems about women in history and mythology telling their side of the story.

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Mrs Rip Van Winkle

I sank like a stone
into the still, deep waters of late middle age,
aching from head to foot.
I took up food
and gave up exercise.
It did me good.
And while he slept
I found some hobbies for myself.
Painting. Seeing the sights I’d always dreamed about:
The Leaning Tower.
The Pyramids. The Taj Mahal.
I made a little watercolour of them all.
But what was best,
what hands-down beat the rest,
was saying a none-too-fond farewell to sex.
Until the day
I came home with this pastel of Niagara
and he was sitting up in bed rattling Viagra.

Creepy Swedish Plots Make For Great Reads & TV

helen — Tue, 28 Apr 2009 22:12:28 +0000

Fans of Swedish author Henning Mankell are in for a treat. On May 10th, PBS will begin airing the Wallander series which first aired on BBC One last November and December. Each three 90 minute episode is based on one of the ten police mysteries that make up the Wallander series. The series was produced by Mankell’s own production company Yellow Bird and stars Kenneth Branagh as inspector Kurt Wallander. Watch the trailer and get ready to be creeped out or better yet, buy Sidetracked (#5 in the series and the first episode to air) and get creeped out now!

Click here to purchase this book from your favorite Indie Bookseller

Girlsfriends And Aging

helen — Wed, 22 Apr 2009 00:53:54 +0000

Tomorrow I’m headed off to San Francisco to spend the weekend at the beach with ten plus fabulous friends. It’s an annual event. We call ourselves the Stinson Beach Babes. Each year I go, I return home with aching cheek muscles from all the talking and laughing. Our friendships go back some 30 years. Back when we were newly married career gals just starting our families and hoping it was true that we could have it all. It doesn’t surprise me then that a new book about female friendships is striking a chord with a lot of women. The folks at Earlyword reported that The NY Times most emailed story this week is What Are Friends For? A Longer Life which mentions the book and focuses on research that shows people with close friends do better at fighting illness and depression, have speedier recoveries, and age slower. Read my review of the book.

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The No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency On HBO

helen — Tue, 24 Mar 2009 21:53:43 +0000

Alexander McCall Smith fans (visit his website…it’s fantastic), stay tuned. This Sunday night, March 29th, HBO will begin airing the very popular The No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency . For those of you unfamiliar with these warm hearted whodunits, Detective Agency is a series of nine novels (#10 due out in April -Tea Time For the Traditionally Built) which read in succession. The HBO series will encompass the first seven novels. As the cases unfold, you will meet the colorful characters that play as big a role IN the mysteries AS the mysteries themselves. Enjoy the promo.

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Source: Earlyword

Fiction Friday – ‘Cutting for Stone’

helen — Fri, 27 Feb 2009 23:23:58 +0000

Last night, I ventured out to hear Abraham Verghese read from his new book Cutting for Stone at Elliott Bay Book Co. You know a very special author is in town when Rick Simonson is on hand to greet and introduce the author of the evening. Unlike some authors that seem to travel through town every other year or so, Dr. Verghese last toured 10 years ago with Tennis Partner. His warm, eloquent, inspiring style made for easy listening. Of the two passages read, the one about preforming a vasectomy (I was fearing queasy) was unexpectedly funny and worth the price of admission. (OK, OK, Elliott Bay doesn’t charge admission, but hey, you get the idea.) Those of you lucky enough to live in or near Iowa City, Denver, San Francisco or Los Angeles can still catch him on tour.

Click here to purchase this book from your favorite Indie Bookseller

REMEMBER: I am giving away a signed copy of Cutting for Stone as part of the BookroomReviews.com Book Giveaway Carnival. Click here for details.

Bookroom Reviews Book Giveaway Carnival

helen — Mon, 23 Feb 2009 19:02:10 +0000

I am giving away a signed copy of Cutting for Stone by Abraham Verghese (read about his Seattle visit) as part of the BookroomReviews.com Book Giveaway Carnival. To enter, simply leave a comment on this post. The winner will be chosen at random on Sunday, March 8th. All readers are eligible, but you must be a resident of the United States. Comments posted prior to March 2nd will not be counted. Good luck!

Thanks to everyone who entered. My book give away is now closed. And the winner is….

John Updike (March 18, 1932 – January 27, 2009)

helen — Wed, 28 Jan 2009 02:32:13 +0000