Buy Books This Holiday Season!
I've said before that books make great gifts, and now there's a blog dedicated to that very notion. Some bloggers have banded together to form Books for the Holidays. At their site, you can get gift recommendations, wish list ideas, and even suggest a gift.
In the spirit of the season, I thought I'd offer up my holiday wish list (Note: My wife already surprised me with one book this year, Jane Jacobs' The Death and Life of Great American Cities, which I'll be reading next).
Watchmen, by Alan Moore
Everybody says this is amazing, so I'm hoping to read it before the movie comes out.
The Devil We Know, by Robert Baer
When Robert Baer talks, I listen. His first two books, in addition to being very informative, are really entertaining. I can't wait for this one, which focuses on Iran.
Venus Drive, by Sam Lipsyte
I've written about Sam Lipsyte a bunch of times on this blog, but I've never been able to find this book. Somebody who really likes me could do much worse than find this book for me.
In the Drink, by Kate Christensen
I've been lazy in not ordering this for myself. Maybe somebody else will be more assertive than I've been for myself.
Outliers, by Malcolm Gladwell
Yeah, me and everybody else this year. Major anticipation for this one.
That's just a few things I'd like to get this year. What are you dying to have someone buy for you?
Labels: gift ideas, holidays, Kate Christensen
posted by Patrick @ 10:17 AM
2 comments
2 Comments:
I know that there's something perhaps a little evil about using a movie to insight others to good literature... but the new Watchman trailer shows how accurately the shots in movie are plucked from the pages of the original graphic novel.
I've heard there are going to be some fundamental differences between the film's ending and novel's ending, tho. There's some interesting speculation as to the consequences of this decision in geek-dom. Director Zack Snyder has already begged forgiveness of fans and is asking them to hold off judgment until the DVD comes out.
After all, the story is quite epic and this has me worrying about what's lost to the cutting room floor for the sake of a 100 min theatrical release.
I recommend that you take your time reading Watchmen. It was released in comics and meant to be taken in bite size chunks. I found it far too overwhelming to read straight through.
It's worth the time, tho! There's quite an interesting culture surround this particular piece of literature!
danica,
My boss, wonder that she is, just loaned me her copy of Watchmen, so I'll be starting that soon. Thanks for the tip about taking my time. Just glancing at the first few pages, I think I can see why that is. The detail is pretty incredible.
I don't know if you came to the Art Spiegelman event we had, but he talked about how rereading his books and his comics reveals more and more upon each reading -- little details that are at the edges of the frame, jokes that the reader can't get until later -- things like that. Very interesting, and I guess it probably applies to Watchmen, too. I will be posting what I think, possibly as I go.
Thanks again for the comment.
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