Bookmark This! June 19 - 25th, 2007

Check out what's happening this week...

http://www.blogto.com/books_lit/2007/06/bookmark_this_june_19_25th_2007/

Bookmark This! June 12 - 18th, 2007

Literary events going on this week, listed over at blogTO:

http://www.blogto.com/books_lit/2007/06/bookmark_this_june_12_18th_2007/

The Two Best Quotes From Timequake So Far

"At the time of their invention, books were devices as crassly practical for storing or transmitting language, albeit fabricated from scarcely modified substances found in forest and field and animals, as the latest Silicon Valley miracles. But by accident, not by cunning calculation, books, because of their weight and texture, and because of their sweetly token resistance to manipulation, involve our hands and eyes, and then our minds and souls, in a spiritual adventure I would be very sorry for my grandchildren not to know about."

"They [colons] don't do anything, don't suggest anything. They are transvestite hermaphrodites."

LOLOLOL... only Vonnegut could write these two sentences in one book, four pages apart.

Madness, I Say!

Take a look at this:
http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/05/28/book.burning.ap/index.html

A book store owner in Missouri is burning his unwanted books!

Tom Wayne, with the eloquence of an American book store owner, explains himself:
"After slogging through the tens of thousands of books we've slogged through and to accumulate that many and to have people turn you away when you take them somewhere, it's just kind of a knee-jerk reaction," he said. "And it's a good excuse for fun."

Yep. That's what I do for fun... burn some books. I find it extremely hard to believe he couldn't find anywhere to donate these books. What a waste. Not to mention the smoke being released into the atmosphere probably isn't good for the neighbours.

More Events for Literary Types

Here are my picks for this week's bookworm social calendar:

http://www.blogto.com/books_lit/2007/05/bookmark_this_may_29_june_4th_2007/


Enjoy!

Lit Events Posting

As you all know, I'm going to be doing a literary events posting each week for blogTO. To make it easy for us, I'll try and remember to post a link to it on here! This blog needs a bit of excitement, don't you think? Links = excitement. Yes, indeedy.

Here's the first one:
http://www.blogto.com/books_lit/2007/05/bookmark_this_may_2329_2007/
.

Baricco's Silk Made Into Movie...

As if! We were just talking about this, and I saw a preview for it on a DVD... Crazy!

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0494834/

Kurt Vonnegut Dead at 84

Vonnegut, one of my all time favourite authors, passed away on Wednesday in his Manhattan home. I went to visit his website, and this is all there was. It's the saddest thing ever. He'll be missed.

Kurt Vonnegut, Jr.
1922 - 2007

There's a excellent opinion piece written by New York Times columnist Verlyn Klinkenborg; in it he says:

"He is not only entertaining, he is electrocuting. You read him with enormous pleasure because he makes your hair stand on end. He says not only what no one is saying, but also what — as a mild young person — you know it is forbidden to say. No one nourishes the skepticism of the young like Vonnegut. In his world, decency is likelier to be rooted in skepticism than it is in the ardor of faith."

Generation X at Jason George

Here are the photos I took at the bar... they're not so good- it was really kinda dark in there- I should've used a flash! Ah well... sometimes they're interesting this way:

The Winner...

... of this year's Canada Reads competition is Lullabies for Little Criminals by Heather O'Neill. Congrats to John K. Samson of the Weakerthans for arguing that Lullabies is THE book Canadians should be reading! I have a feeling this will be my next pick!

Dukes Up

This year's Canada Reads competition is under way, and it should be a good debate. Each of the panelists has won a previous year's challenge, so the strategies are complex and the arguments quick. Here's a run down:

- Stephen Page (Barenaked Ladies) : Natasha and Other Stories by David Bezmozgis
- Donna Morrissey (author from out east) : The Song of Kahunsha by Anosh Irani
- John K. Sampson (The Weakerthans) : Lullabies for Little Criminals by Heather O'Neill
- Denise Bombardier (French author) : Children of My Heart (Ces enfants de ma vie) by Gabrielle Roy
- Jim Cuddy (Blue Rodeo) : Stanley Park by Timothy Taylor

I haven't read any of these books (I've got to remember next year to check which books are selected, before the actual debate)! But the discussions are interesting nonetheless, and there are now five new books (well, actually only three) on my "to read" list. So far, I'm not too interested in The Song of Kahunsha or Children of my Heart. I bet they're good though. And you can bet one of these will be my next book club pick, when it's my turn to pick again!

Don't forget to listen to Canada Reads everyday this week on the CBC at 11:30am and 7:30pm. If you miss it, you can always read the transcripts or download the discussion here:

http://www.cbc.ca/canadareads/debate/index.html

Austin Clarke Makes Me Laugh

For many reasons, but most recently, because of this:

http://www.quillandquire.com/blog/index.php/2007/02/19/austin-clarke-meets-malcolm-x/

My favourite is where they say, "Clarke apparently interviewed Malcolm X again, years later and shortly before his assassination, but forgot to turn on the tape recorder." LOLOLOL

The Order of Canada

The Order of Canada was given last night. Two of the authors we have read on Book Club received The Order:
Frances Itani (Deafening, January 2006)
Barbara Gowdy (The Romantic, March 2004)
Congratulations to these two beloved authors!

It's Settled

We're meeting at Maria's next Monday (the 19th), at 6:30pm.

We're eating pizza.

We're watching The Big Sleep with Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall.

Got Some Time On Your Hands??

I would LOVE to volunteer to be on the Toronto Book Awards Jury, but there's absolutely NO WAY I could read all 80-100 submissions in 3-4 months! That's 80-100 novels! Sheesh!

Anyways- if you're unlike me and have the time and motivation to volunteer, here's a link to the info!
http://www.workinculture.ca/apps/index.cfm?fuseaction=job.showDetails&jobid=19936&termid=

The Big Sleep

After our book club session at the Flatiron and Firkin, Gabriella has picked The Big Sleep by Raymond Chandler for our February meeting.

Julia has just announced that she's moving on from book club. Julia, we are going to miss you so much, I will forever remember those early sessions when only you and I were part of book club.
We love you, Julia!