A Director Prepares, by Anne Bogart.

If you're a practicing director, and you haven't read this yet, pick it up.  It's totally worth your time.

T.S. Eliot suggests that an artist's work should be judged not by its novelty or newness, but rather ny how the artist handles the tradition he or she inherits.

If your work is too controlled, it has no life ( Read more... )

The Year of Living Biblically: One Man's Humble Quest to Follow the Bible as Literally as Possible
by AJ Jacobs

I picked this one up because of how much I liked his first book (The Know-It-All).  This one did not disappoint.
Clever, articulate and self-effacing in just the right amount, he's got a tone and style that I gravitate to.  Not only that, ( Read more... )

The Almost Moon, by Alice Sebold.

Sebold has a gift for poetic tone and thoughtful metaphor.  I love how you're just toodling along, reading away, and suddenly, BAM! she hits you with something like: She looked up at me and smiled.  'Bitch,' she said.  The thing about dementia is that sometimes you feel like the afflicted person has a trip wire to ( Read more... )

The Lost Night: A Daughter's Search for the Truth of Her Father's Murder
by Rachel Howard

It wasn't bad, but it turned into an angsty memoir when what I wanted was a first-hand true crime whodunit. 
She also never found out who did it, which left me MOST unsatisfied.

Like her, I suppose.

3 out of 5 stars 
 

The Orchid Thief: A True Story of Beauty and Obsession
by Susan Orlean

There were some fascinating parts, not only about orchids and their mind-boggling variety, hardiness and qualities, but also about the people who collect, nurture and obsess over them.

I liked it, but I did find sections a little dry at times, and I was not as intrigued by her ( Read more... )

The Dead Travel Fast: Stalking Vampires from Nosferatu to Count Chocula
by Eric Nuzum

Vampires, pop culture references flung willy-nilly, colloquialisms and smarts.
It was great.

My only regret was I had to burn through the last 50 pages to get it back to the library in time.

4 out of 5 stars.

Life of Pi, by Yann Martel.

I picked this up because of the teaser quote on the front: "A story to make you believe in the soul-searching power of fiction."

It's about a castaway who spends five months on a lifeboat with a Bengal tiger floating through the pacific.  Although I found the main middle section while he was on the boat interesting, I was ( Read more... )

 It's true.
I just finished reading the smuttiest book EVER.

An eloquent and sophisticated expose of the subtler psychology of this musical quartet it is not.  
A jaw-dropping shock-fest page turner of sex and depravity it is.

For pure rubbernecking entertainment?
4 out of 5 stars.

On Food and Cooking:  The Science and Lore of the Kitchen

Basically an encyclopedia of how and why cooking works the way it does.  Very user friendly, and each entry is well written.  I'll admit, I didn't read it cover to cover, but rather skimmed it and read sections that piqued my interest.

My favorite new tidbit of trivia:  ikizukuri.  The ( Read more... )

AlterKnits: Imaginative Projects and Creativity Exercises
by Leigh Radford

Although many of the projects in this book are not particularly exciting or unique, there are half a dozen that are tantalizing.  With patterns for a T-Shirt Rug and Mini Paper Lanterns and Mixed Media Pillows, it's a good fit for those of us with a penchant for the recon or ( Read more... )