What would you do with a $50 gift card from Barnes and Noble?
I recently received a $50 gift card from Barnes and Noble and I have NO idea what to do with it. You would think it's obvious I should buy $50 worth of books, right? My problem is that $50 at Barnes and Noble is truthfully about three books (with tax and sometimes shipping) and I don't know which three books I should buy. I have a list of "Ten Books I Need to Own" (post coming soon), but I can't pick three books off that list I really want now. I thought about getting Choke by Chuck Palahniuk, The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky, Amy & Roger's Epic Detour by Morgan Matson and The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger. Then I thought that I can easily get those books cheaper at The Strand (a family owned bookstore in NYC) and I'd rather do that than buying them at a chain bookstore. I grappled with buying Moonrise Kingdom (2012) on DVD because it's one of my favorite films, but it's almost $30 at B&N which means I'd be able to get one book and maybe a bookmark with the remaining balance.
I started thinking of what else I could buy with $50 and I think I came up with the perfect solution. My favorite bands are releasing new albums in the coming months and I really want to support them by purchasing their records. Barnes and Noble sells CDs, more specifically the CDs from the bands I want to support. (I'd much rather get vinyls, but I can wait to get those seeing as I don't even have a record player yet.) Finally, a solution! However, now another problem has arisen: Will I have enough for the three CDs I want? It sucks that I have to factor in tax and maybe shipping. This will only lessen the amount of items I can purchase. The gift card doesn't expire until August, by then all three CDs would have been released and I can buy them all at once. So I have time, but I don't want it to be two weeks before the card expires and I still don't know what to get. The irony of buying music instead of books at a bookstore is not lost on me. I would rather get some books and start my collection, but I'm more certain on what music I want than I am on what books I want.
I'm on the fence about it (and will be until I take action), but I'm leaning towards getting the CDs. I can always save up my money and get the books cheaper at The Strand. I have a real dilemma on my hands, but like I said I have until August to make the right choice. Wish me luck!
What would you do in this situation?*
*I'm making it seem more dramatic than it really is, but this is what's important to me right now. I'm not always handed $50 to go crazy with and I don't shit gold bricks. I have to be smart with the money I have (took me a year to learn that lesson) and spend it wisely.
Wednesday, February 27, 2013
Monday, February 25, 2013
Next On My Book List
I was thrown into a (F. Scott) Fit(zgerald) at the library, went a smidge crazy and checked out three of his novels. The last F. Scott Fitzgerald novel I read, The Beautiful and Damned, was not my favorite, but I didn't give up hope! I'm a fan of Mr. F. Scott and I want to read his other works. So I'm taking a month long break from Chuck Palahniuk to read these three books. Fitzgerald is an excellent writer and I always see these novels being mentioned on TV shows and other works of fiction. Now I'll get the references when I see more. This is going to be a fun month! Maybe F. Scott Fitzgerald should be the next author whose novels I marathon read.
I'm probably not going to write individual reviews for these novels. I might do a F. Scott Fitzgerald masterpost. It depends on what reviews you want to read.
I recommend all these novels because F. Scott Fitzgerald is a brilliant writer. And if you haven't already read it in a high school English class, read The Great Gatsby. I also recommend The Beautiful and Damned even though I didn't like it; maybe you will. There's also a book of The Curious Case of Benjamin Button and other short stories he wrote.
Enjoy! I know I am!
P.S.: I hope you got my pun at the beginning of this post!
This Side of Paradise
Tender is the Night
The Basil and Josephine Stories
I'm probably not going to write individual reviews for these novels. I might do a F. Scott Fitzgerald masterpost. It depends on what reviews you want to read.
I recommend all these novels because F. Scott Fitzgerald is a brilliant writer. And if you haven't already read it in a high school English class, read The Great Gatsby. I also recommend The Beautiful and Damned even though I didn't like it; maybe you will. There's also a book of The Curious Case of Benjamin Button and other short stories he wrote.
Enjoy! I know I am!
P.S.: I hope you got my pun at the beginning of this post!
Sunday, February 17, 2013
A Damned Good Review
I was SO excited to read Damned by Chuck Palahniuk. I read the synopsis and I was instantly hooked.
""Are you there, Satan? It's me, Madison," declares the whip-tongues thirteen-year-old narrator of Damned, Chuck Palahniuk's subversive new work of fiction. The daughter of a narcissistic film star and a billionaire Madison is abandoned at her Swiss boarding school over Christmas while her parents are off touting their new projects and adopting more orphans. She dies over the holiday of a marijuana overdose-and the next thing she knows, she's in Hell. Madison shares her cell with a motley crew of young sinners that is almost too good to be true: a cheerleader, a jock, a nerd, and a punk rocker, united by fate to form the six-feet-under version of everyone's favorite detention movie. Madison and her pals must trek across the Dandruff Desert and cross the Valley of Used Disposable Diapers to confront Satan in his citadel, and all the popcorn balls and wax lips that serve as currency of Hell won't buy them off.
This is the afterlife as only Chuck Palahniuk could imagine it: a twisted inferno where The English Patient plays on endless repeat, roaming demons interrupt your dinner from their sweltering call center to hard-sell you Hell. . . He makes torment, well, simply divine."
I thought the premise was hilarious! Damned is Palahniuk's version of The Breakfast Club (1985), I read that and I died of laughter.
For some reason I had this thought that I'd never read or seen a story quite like Damned. I think this thought came because I'd never read or seen a story quite like Damned by Chuck Palahniuk. The main character is a thirteen year old girl. In the majority of Palahniuk novels, the narrator as a male in his late twenties/thirties; with the exception of a couple of his novels (Tell-All and Diary) whose narrators are women. My point is that the narrator of Damned is so far from Palahniuk's norm I was way beyond impressed and definitely considered this to be the twist in Damned. Damned is definitely a story I've read before, but I've never seen it done like this.
""Are you there, Satan? It's me, Madison," declares the whip-tongues thirteen-year-old narrator of Damned, Chuck Palahniuk's subversive new work of fiction. The daughter of a narcissistic film star and a billionaire Madison is abandoned at her Swiss boarding school over Christmas while her parents are off touting their new projects and adopting more orphans. She dies over the holiday of a marijuana overdose-and the next thing she knows, she's in Hell. Madison shares her cell with a motley crew of young sinners that is almost too good to be true: a cheerleader, a jock, a nerd, and a punk rocker, united by fate to form the six-feet-under version of everyone's favorite detention movie. Madison and her pals must trek across the Dandruff Desert and cross the Valley of Used Disposable Diapers to confront Satan in his citadel, and all the popcorn balls and wax lips that serve as currency of Hell won't buy them off.
This is the afterlife as only Chuck Palahniuk could imagine it: a twisted inferno where The English Patient plays on endless repeat, roaming demons interrupt your dinner from their sweltering call center to hard-sell you Hell. . . He makes torment, well, simply divine."
I thought the premise was hilarious! Damned is Palahniuk's version of The Breakfast Club (1985), I read that and I died of laughter.
For some reason I had this thought that I'd never read or seen a story quite like Damned. I think this thought came because I'd never read or seen a story quite like Damned by Chuck Palahniuk. The main character is a thirteen year old girl. In the majority of Palahniuk novels, the narrator as a male in his late twenties/thirties; with the exception of a couple of his novels (Tell-All and Diary) whose narrators are women. My point is that the narrator of Damned is so far from Palahniuk's norm I was way beyond impressed and definitely considered this to be the twist in Damned. Damned is definitely a story I've read before, but I've never seen it done like this.
I read Damned as Madison writing a letter to Satan. For what reason, I'm not too sure; maybe praise and admiration about Hell or praise and admiration for him. I also felt that she felt that she needed to prove something to Satan. She would follow up some of her sentences with a sentence stating that she was thirteen and dead, not thirteen and brain dead. I thought that was accurate for a thirteen year girl like Madison because of what her parents were like. Madison was the opposite of most thirteen year old girls. They're always trying to impress someone and grown up way too fast, but Madison had already grown up because of her parents. Her (prematurely ended) childhood caused Maddy to be way wise beyond her years. It's as if she knew she was going to die young and was instilled with all this knowledge. Contrary, I also think she's very eager to grow up and prove to Satan that she's mature. Not to mention, she's also a thirteen year old girl in the traditional sense and wants to appear mature to the older cute boys with her in Hell.
Maddy's outlook on life is hilarious. The way she describes past events and her life or death (pun) in Hell is simply magnificent. My humor and Maddy's are very similar. I suppose I'm saying I have the humor of a thirteen year old girl or of a forty-something year old man; either one is true. My favorite scene was when Maddy's parents try to give her "The Talk" (about sex) and they end up showing her a porn video, was priceless. Madison obviously knew about the Birds and the Bees already and her critique of the video was much appreciated and hilarious to me as a film student. Madison's puns were also quite witty. For example My So-Called Life would be My So-Called Death in Hell because you're dead. Any expression that had 'life' in it would be changed to 'death'. Very clever, Palahniuk, if I do day so myself.
Although I consider the fact that the narrator is a thirteen year old girl the twist in Damned, the real twist is a zinger. No spoilers, but if you pay close attention to Madison's protests throughout, your jaw will drop. Her protests for example when she says things like I'm thirteen and dead not thirteen and brain dead.
I'm not dying to see Damned turned into a film as much as I am with Survivor or Lullaby. I don't think the filmmakers could recreate Hell as excellent as Palahniuk describes it. The screenwriter could adapt it the same way as Palahniuk, but that doesn't mean the director or set designer will interpret it the same way. From experience I know detailed landscapes as Palahniuk has described Hell usually end up with actors in front of a green screen and the quality of the film just immediately goes down ten fold. Case in point Alice in Wonderland (2010). More recently Oz the Great and Powerful (2013), even though it hasn't been released yet.
Damned by Chuck Palahniuk is a must read!
BTW:
Maddy's outlook on life is hilarious. The way she describes past events and her life or death (pun) in Hell is simply magnificent. My humor and Maddy's are very similar. I suppose I'm saying I have the humor of a thirteen year old girl or of a forty-something year old man; either one is true. My favorite scene was when Maddy's parents try to give her "The Talk" (about sex) and they end up showing her a porn video, was priceless. Madison obviously knew about the Birds and the Bees already and her critique of the video was much appreciated and hilarious to me as a film student. Madison's puns were also quite witty. For example My So-Called Life would be My So-Called Death in Hell because you're dead. Any expression that had 'life' in it would be changed to 'death'. Very clever, Palahniuk, if I do day so myself.
Although I consider the fact that the narrator is a thirteen year old girl the twist in Damned, the real twist is a zinger. No spoilers, but if you pay close attention to Madison's protests throughout, your jaw will drop. Her protests for example when she says things like I'm thirteen and dead not thirteen and brain dead.
I learned some new words while reading Damned. Some I realized I knew when I looked up the definition, but just didn't know the spelling and some I never knew, but now I hear them everywhere. Most notably being somnambulist. Somnambulist means someone who engages in sleepwalking. I first saw this word while watching Angel (1999-2004); it's the title of episode eleven in season one. I didn't think to look it up then, but later I saw it in Damned and off went the lightbulb.
I'm not dying to see Damned turned into a film as much as I am with Survivor or Lullaby. I don't think the filmmakers could recreate Hell as excellent as Palahniuk describes it. The screenwriter could adapt it the same way as Palahniuk, but that doesn't mean the director or set designer will interpret it the same way. From experience I know detailed landscapes as Palahniuk has described Hell usually end up with actors in front of a green screen and the quality of the film just immediately goes down ten fold. Case in point Alice in Wonderland (2010). More recently Oz the Great and Powerful (2013), even though it hasn't been released yet.
Damned by Chuck Palahniuk is a must read!
My favorite quote had to be:
"I can't believe there's no wifi in Hell…." -Babette
That quote pretty much sums up my generation. I'll be quoting Babette when I'm in Hell, clutching my iPhone 87 and desperately trying to find a wifi signal.
Monday, February 4, 2013
Favorite Reading Spots
Klaus Baudelaire would sit in the library of his childhood home, pick a book off the shelf and read it from start to finish, Charlie read in the cafeteria during lunch and Matilda read in her room for hours with to a pile of books. I like to read on the subway, in my bed and in front of the TV, with one book in hand.
Here are my favorite reading spots:
The subway
Five (sometimes six) days out of seven, I find myself "trapped" underground for over an hour riding from Point A to Point B, on the subway. It's quiet (except for the occasionally homeless person who walks up and down the car asking for money), it passes the time and it gives me something I can study. I find it extremely awkward when I don't have a book to read on the subway. I never know where to look or what to do with my hands. When I'm reading a book, I don't have to make awkward eye contact with strangers, stare at the ground or focus on how many stops until I get off. The time really does fly by when I'm reading on the subway. I also find that I read a good chunk of a book on the subway. There are times when I've started a book then by the time my stop comes I've read about fifty pages and by the end of the day over one hundred. The only downside to reading on the subway is you get those people who'll look over your shoulder and read along with you. Sometimes they'll be so desperate that they lean on you to see the words better.
My bed
I don't usually read in my bed because my bed is reserved for sleeping. There's also so many distractions in my room, the main one being my laptop. My laptop rests right by my bed. My laptop has the internet and the internet can lead to an infinite amount of possible distractions from reading. I'm always checking my social media, applying for jobs or answering and writing emails. As much as I'm on my computer and my phone, I'd never read a book on them. When I finally push aside all distractions, usually around 2am, I lie on my bed and read. I'm not one to wrap up in my blanket because I like to be able to move around until I find a comfortable position. I always ending up on my stomach. I don't always completely shut off my laptop. I leave it on so I can play music because I love listening to music while I read. I finish books in my bed, I rarely start them there.
In front of the TV
Not the most conventional place to read, but to me it's just like reading while listening to music. I've gotten used to having background noise while I read and the TV does just the trick. It's a little distracting because people are talking. As opposed to listening to music, people talking is simliar to the dialogue structure of a book and sometimes distracts me. When I'm listening to music the instruments and vocals tell a story different from the structure of a prose and doesn't bother me. I mostly read during commercial breaks. Once again not the greatest because those last about three minutes and I get to read maybe a page or two, but it's better than watching the commercials. I read throughout a show too, if I've seen it before. Reading in front of the TV is the last place I read. It's rather hard to read and watch TV; I stop after a couple commercial breaks or when I finish a chapter. There are times when the TV's background noise is too distracting and there are times when the background noise is perfect.
I would love to be able to have my own personal library in my house where I can grab a book off the shelf, sit in a big puffy chair and read a book from start to finish. Maybe not a puffy chair because I'm really a fan of sitting and reading. I'll put a bed in my personal library! My personal library will be my bedroom! For now I have the subway, my bed and the TV room to stimulate my reading habit.
No matter where I'm reading, I can always rely on the book to take me out of that place and into the world of the character.
Where are your favorite places to read?
Here are my favorite reading spots:
The subway
Five (sometimes six) days out of seven, I find myself "trapped" underground for over an hour riding from Point A to Point B, on the subway. It's quiet (except for the occasionally homeless person who walks up and down the car asking for money), it passes the time and it gives me something I can study. I find it extremely awkward when I don't have a book to read on the subway. I never know where to look or what to do with my hands. When I'm reading a book, I don't have to make awkward eye contact with strangers, stare at the ground or focus on how many stops until I get off. The time really does fly by when I'm reading on the subway. I also find that I read a good chunk of a book on the subway. There are times when I've started a book then by the time my stop comes I've read about fifty pages and by the end of the day over one hundred. The only downside to reading on the subway is you get those people who'll look over your shoulder and read along with you. Sometimes they'll be so desperate that they lean on you to see the words better.
My bed
I don't usually read in my bed because my bed is reserved for sleeping. There's also so many distractions in my room, the main one being my laptop. My laptop rests right by my bed. My laptop has the internet and the internet can lead to an infinite amount of possible distractions from reading. I'm always checking my social media, applying for jobs or answering and writing emails. As much as I'm on my computer and my phone, I'd never read a book on them. When I finally push aside all distractions, usually around 2am, I lie on my bed and read. I'm not one to wrap up in my blanket because I like to be able to move around until I find a comfortable position. I always ending up on my stomach. I don't always completely shut off my laptop. I leave it on so I can play music because I love listening to music while I read. I finish books in my bed, I rarely start them there.
In front of the TV
Not the most conventional place to read, but to me it's just like reading while listening to music. I've gotten used to having background noise while I read and the TV does just the trick. It's a little distracting because people are talking. As opposed to listening to music, people talking is simliar to the dialogue structure of a book and sometimes distracts me. When I'm listening to music the instruments and vocals tell a story different from the structure of a prose and doesn't bother me. I mostly read during commercial breaks. Once again not the greatest because those last about three minutes and I get to read maybe a page or two, but it's better than watching the commercials. I read throughout a show too, if I've seen it before. Reading in front of the TV is the last place I read. It's rather hard to read and watch TV; I stop after a couple commercial breaks or when I finish a chapter. There are times when the TV's background noise is too distracting and there are times when the background noise is perfect.
I would love to be able to have my own personal library in my house where I can grab a book off the shelf, sit in a big puffy chair and read a book from start to finish. Maybe not a puffy chair because I'm really a fan of sitting and reading. I'll put a bed in my personal library! My personal library will be my bedroom! For now I have the subway, my bed and the TV room to stimulate my reading habit.
No matter where I'm reading, I can always rely on the book to take me out of that place and into the world of the character.
Where are your favorite places to read?
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