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Kirkland Hosts Northwest BookFest 2011

September 17, 2011 – 10:58 am

Save the date! Northwest BookFest 2011 is only a few weeks away…and for the first time ever, the Eastside will host.   This year’s theme (giving us hope there will be many more years to come) is It’s Raining Books!  By the looks of the program schedule there is lots to choose from.  Readers can pick from panels of thrillers, romance, young adult, mystery, literary fiction, memoirs and even steampunk.  Would be writers and authors can listen to publishing professionals talk about book development, small press publishing, marketing, and more. The weekend festival is billed as a family event so parents, plan on stopping by before or after that soccer game.

By helen | Posted in Book World, Writer's Salon | Tagged , , , | Comments (0)

A Summer Toast to the Fall Reading Season

September 12, 2011 – 12:16 pm

My Facebook friends know that I have been chronicling a backyard vegetable garden project that a friend and I collaborated on. Of course, all summer long we’ve been bragging to friends that we would host a harvest garden party to celebrate all the wonderful produce we were sure to grow. What we didn’t expect was a lousy, cold, wet summer that never got above 70 until early August and the bugs, mildew and disease that got most of us buying our veggies in a super market in the first place. We did have some successes. The lettuce, arugula, shallots, french beans, beet greens and chard love wet cool weather. The tomatoes did not. We kept our word, however, and held our farm potluck (my friend Linda’s term for it) last weekend. Lots of great food and one very delicious signature drink Vodka With Lemon & Rosemary (from the garden) that proved to be a hit.  So as summer winds down, and with all the crazy summer weather everyone around the country has had to endure, CHEERS!  Here’s to family, friends and a fall of wonderful reading ahead!


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The recipe is from Food Network hottie Dave Lieberman‘s 2006 cookbook Dave’s Dinners: A Fresh Approach to Home-Cooked Meals which I found online courtesy of the blog site Well Fed.

By helen | Posted in Health and Lifestyle, Read 'em And Eat | Tagged , , , , | Comments (0)

What The Class Of 2015 Is Reading

September 8, 2011 – 5:52 pm


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My son and daughter have been out of college for several years now, but I still love to see what schools are asking their incoming freshman to read.  I found this  list on the College Confidential Forum.  Rebecca Skloot’s The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks looks to be the favorite pick this year.  Do you know what your Alma Mater is reading?

 

UPDATE: 9/12/2011  NPR recently asked their listeners to suggest books that they feel incoming college freshman should read.  http://www.npr.org/2011/09/08/140266970/you-recommend-freshmen-common-reads

 

Adelphi University – The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot

Amherst College – Race and Class Matters at an Elite College by Elizabeth Aries (just Ch. 3)

Bates – Winning: Reflections on an American Obsession, by Francesco Duina

Baylor U. Honors Program – The Whole Five Feet, by Christopher R. Beha

Beloit College – The Ghost Map by Steven Johnson

Bentley U. – The Last Lecture, by Randy Pausch

Brown University – Factory Girls: From Village to City in a Changing China, by Leslie T. Chang

California State U. at Northridge – The Glass Castle, by Jeannette Walls

Colgate U. – Acts of Faith, by Eboo Patel

College of Wooster – Brother, I’m Dying, by Edwidge Danticat

Colorado College – Ludlow, by David Mason (professor English at CC)

Cornell University – Homer & Langley, by E.L. Doctorow

Duke – Eating Animals by Jonathan Safran Foer

Earlham College – Rooftops of Tehran, by Mahbod Seraji, and How We Decide, by Jonah Lehrer

Elon University – Creating a World Without Poverty by Muhammed Yunus

Florida Gulf Coast University- Life Safari, by John P. Strelecky

Florida State University – The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot

Hampshire College – Alone Together: Why We Expect More From Technology and Less From Each Other, by Sherry Turkle

Illinois Wesleyan University – “Interpreter of Maladies” by Jhumpa Lahiri

Johns Hopkins: Strength in What Remains, Tracy Kidder.

Macalester College – What Is the What, by Dave Eggers

Marquette University – “The Other Wes Moore” by Wes Moore

Methodist U. – Scratch Beginnings, by Adam Shepard

Miami University (OH) – “The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind” by William Kamkwamba and Bryan Mealer

Meredith College – Enrique’s Journey by Sonia Nazario

Mount Holyoke – “Half the Sky” by Nicholas Kristoff and Sheryl WuDunn

NC State – “The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks” by Rebecca Skloot

Northwestern University – The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, by Rebecca Skloot

Occidental College – Twilight: Los Angeles, 1992, by Anna Deavere Smith

Pomona College – Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro

Reed College – The Odyssey

Rice – The Honor Code: How Moral Revolutions Happen, by Kwame Anthony Appiah

Rutgers Honors – Monsters of Templeton

St. John’s College (Md. and N.M.) – Iliad, Homer

Saint Michael’s College – Eating Animals, by Jonathan Safran Foer

Shepherd U. – This I Believe, edited by Jay Allison and Dan Gediman

Smith College – The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, by Rebecca Skloot

Stanford University -
• March, Geraldine Brooks
• The Violence of Peace: America’s Wars in the Age of Obama, Stephen Carter
• One Bullet Away: The Making of a Marine Officer, Nathaniel C. Fick

Tufts University – Zeitoun by David Eggers

Tulane University- The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, by Rebecca Skloot

University of Alabama Birmingham (UAB) – Thinking in Pictures: My Life with Autism by Dr. Temple Grandin.

University of Delaware – The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot

U. of Maryland-Baltimore County – Outcasts United, by Warren St. John

University of Missouri – Zeitoun by Dave Eggers

UNC-Chapel Hill: Eating Animals by Jonathan Safran Foer

University of Pennsylvania – Reality Is Broken: Why Games Make Us Better and How They Can Change the World by Jane McGonigal

University of Pittsburgh – Oryx and Crake

University of South Carolina – No Impact Man

U. of Tennessee at Knoxville – The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, by Rebecca Skloot

U. of Virginia School of Engineering – Packing for Mars, by Mary Roach

Vanderbilt – The Good Life, by Peter Gomes

Virginia Tech – “Animal, Vegetable, Miracle: A Year of Food Life” by Barbara Kingsolver

Washington U. in St. Louis – The Cellist of Sarajevo, by Steven Galloway

Whitman College – “The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down: A Hmong Child, Her American Doctors, and the Collision of Two Cultures” by Anne Fadiman

Wofford – Memoirs of a Geisha

By helen | Posted in Book Buzz | Tagged , | Comments (0)

DIY Book Clutch

August 15, 2011 – 10:17 am

Are you looking for an end of summer bookish project or a literary fashionista pining away for one of those cute book clutches ala Olympia Le-Tan or Kate Spade?  Then this DIY project is for you.  Courtesy of See Kate Sew, the directions look fairly easy.  The hardest part is apparently finding the right size purse and book to meld together with a glue gun.  I’m tempted to give it a go myself.  How fun to have a Janet Evanovich One For The Money clutch (for example) to jump start a fall wardrobe.  A definite conversation starter… in  my book.

A little vintage book… upon further review is actually a clever clutch.
By helen | Posted in Book Design | Comments (3)

Set Design Inspiration For THE HELP

August 7, 2011 – 12:56 pm

 

So what goes into bringing a number one best seller like Kathryn Stockett‘s The Help to the big screen? A good script is essential but set design is certainly the biggest component to transporting an audience back in time to the deep south of the sixties. According to Cinema Style, the inspiration for many of the interior shots for the movie came from the book Under Live Oaks by Caroline Seebohm and Peter Woloszynski as well as old Better Homes and Gardens magazines and referencing the movie version of  Gone With The Wind.

Designed by production designer Mark Ricker (Nanny Diaries and Julie and Julia) and set decorator Rena Angelo, the houses of the five characters are as diverse as the characters themselves. … Ricker found the book in particular to be “wonderfully rich in details and worked quite nicely to inform Skeeter and Celia Foote’s houses – both of which would have more history and layers than the newer houses in the film (Hilly and Elizabeth’s).”

You can view a few of the interior set shots and read the full post here.  The Help opens nationwide this Wednesday, August 10th.

By helen | Posted in On The Big Screen | Comments (0)

Michael Dibdin’s Aurelio Zen Mysteries Come to PBS

July 18, 2011 – 2:27 pm


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In case you missed Vendetta, last night’s premier episode of PBS Masterpiece Mystery’s new ZEN series, you’re still in luck.  Based on the wonderful mysteries of Michael Dibdin, Cabal airs next Sunday night, July24th followed on the 31st by Ratking (which was actually the first book written in the Zen series). Not sure what I loved watching most.  Rufus Sewell in the title role of Aurelio Zen (a Venetian name he tirelessly explains); the Italian countryside where the murders take place; or Masterpiece Mystery host Alan Cummings’ introductions (1 minute into the below link). You can watch the first episode here, or better yet, buy the books and start reading.

http://www.iptv.org/video/detail.cfm/19915/mast_20110717_masterpiece_zen_vendetta

By helen | Posted in Uncategorized | Comments (1)

Happy Fourth & Happy Reading!

July 1, 2011 – 9:01 am

What do some bookish folk do
To help them escape when they\’re (red, white &) blue?

Apparently, some of them stage their private book collections.  I love this American Flag book look created by Thatcher Wine of Juniper Books.  ~via Decorno

By helen | Posted in Book World | Comments (0)

THE HELP, The Movie

June 29, 2011 – 2:33 pm


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Summer is here and one book to movie I am most looking forward to is Kathryn Stockett’s The Help due in theaters August 12th.  Here is some behind the scene footage just to get you primed.

By helen | Posted in On The Big Screen | Comments (0)

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

June 22, 2011 – 4:38 pm

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.

By helen | Posted in Author Events & Happenings | Comments (0)

I’ve Scoured The Beach Reads Lists, So You Don’t Have To

June 21, 2011 – 2:59 pm

Photo: John Rawlings   Vogue Summer Fiction

“Holy Moly”,  I never realized that an innocent search for Best 2011 Beach Reads could turn into a Googling nightmare.  Two hours into my online search, I’m still finding sites like Geeky Beach Reads, Equestrian Beach Reads, Sci-fi Beach Reads, Boozy Beach Reads, Classic Beach Reads, Smart Summer Beach Reads, Best Summer Beach Read for Your Personality, Scientist Approved Beach Reading, Best Foodie Beach Reads (this list could go on and on).  What’s amazing is that there are very few repetitions of titles.  When one book does appear not one or two but three plus times, my fellow readers, I take notice.  So here you go.


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Then Came You by Jennifer Weiner

This from Good Housekeeping magazine’s 10 Summer Beach Reads.

“The queen of chick lit returns with a new novel about four women, bound by obligation and opportunity, who must struggle to become a family.”

Personal take: Even if the genre ‘chick lit’ is a turn off to you, give one of Weiner’s books a go.  One of my all time favorite books which was turned into a movie is Weiner’s In Her Shoes.


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State of Wonder by Ann Patchett

This from Rachel Syme  NPR’s Summer High Fliers

“Patchett has crafted a story that is both an adventure tale and a deep psychological study, complete with mosquitoes, poison arrows and, of course, a tribe of cannibals. If you’re looking for an escape that doesn’t abandon literary elegance, this is it.”

Personal take: My book club attended this author’s reading during her book tour stop in Seattle.  When the author recapped the plot: Dr. Marina Singh, a research scientist travels to the Amazon to track down her former mentor…discovers an indigenous tribe where the women give birth into old age… which makes it a bit of a horror story), I was sold.  This book is #1 on my summer reading list.


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Before I Go To Sleep by S.J. Watson

Janet Maslin of The New York Times’ Books to Bury Yourself In writes:

“The summer’s single most suspenseful plot belongs to Before I Go to Sleep, by another debut author, S. J. Watson. Its heroine, the middle-aged Christine, is the spookiest amnesiac in a season that’s full of them.”

Personal take: I’ve been hearing about this book for several months.  My 28 year old daughter just read the galley and emailed me “it was AMAZING! SO GOOD.  #2 on my summer reading list.


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If You Were Here: A Novel by Jen Lancaster

Lancaster worked for a technology company before being laid off and blogging about how she coped which then turned into six books.  This from Jet Set Girls blog (but I’m thinking any of her previous books would be fun in the sun too).

“The author of the hilarious Bitter is the New Black and My Fair Lazy tries her hand at fiction in a story that will delight any Gen Xers’ heart. The narrator, Mia and her husband, Mac, move from downtown Chicago to suburb Abington Cambs, the setting of many John Hughes’ films. The couple settles in Jake Ryan’s house from Sixteen Candles, with hilarious results.

Personal take: Definitely books my daughter and her friends would like.  This author’s books appeared over and over again on many of the ‘beach read’ lists, so even if it might not be for me, I had to share.


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Bossypants by Tina Fey

This quote comes from Desert Living Today’s Summer Reading List For Adults.

“Get this for a laugh out loud beach read and some perfectly worded jokes for your next night out (comedic timing not included).”  Ba dum tssshhh

Personal take: Definitely #3 on my summer list.


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The Paris Wife by Paula McLain

From Daily Candy Beach Reads

“Hemingway writes of his starter wife, Hadley Richardson, “I wished I had died before I ever loved anyone but her.” Paula McLain pens her historical novel in Richardson’s voice, spinning a gripping love story that tragically seduces us into rooting for the doomed romance. Best read with a pitcher of dry martinis.”

Personal take: Several of my book club friends are reading or have read.  A good selection if you want a head start to next year’s book club season.

By helen | Posted in Best Of, Book Clubs | Comments (1)