I always figured V.C. had a really hot brother.
Anya Christina Emmanuella Jenkins. Twenty years old. Born on the fourth of July — and don't think there weren't jokes about that my whole life, mister, 'cause there were. 'Who's our little patriot?' they'd say, when I was younger and therefore smaller and shorter than I am now.
Anya ,'Potential'
We're Literary 2: To Read Makes Our Speaking English Good
There's more to life than watching Buffy the Vampire Slayer! No. Really, there is! Honestly! Here's a place for Buffistas to come and discuss what it is they're reading, their favorite authors and poets. "Geez. Crack a book sometime."
Trudy Booth - Jul 21, 2004 5:39:51 am PDT #5242 of 10002
Greece's financial crisis threatens to take down all of Western civilization - a civilization they themselves founded. A rather tragic irony - which is something they also invented. - Jon Stewart
Steph L. - Jul 21, 2004 6:23:28 am PDT #5243 of 10002
I look more rad than Lutheranism
Ewwww. My bro is a good-looking fella, but....ewwwwwwwwwwww.
msbelle - Jul 21, 2004 6:49:02 am PDT #5244 of 10002
I remember the crazy days. 500 posts an hour. Nubmer! Natgbsb
I haven't read a single book from the NYT paperback bestsellers list:
1 THE NOTEBOOK, by Nicholas Sparks.
2 BLEACHERS, by John Grisham.
3 BLINDSIDE, by Catherine Coulter.
4 ANGELS & DEMONS, by Dan Brown.
5 THE WEDDING, by Nicholas Sparks.
6 THE VANISHED MAN, by Jeffery Deaver.
7 WHEN HE WAS WICKED, by Julia Quinn.
8 DECEPTION POINT, by Dan Brown.
9 SENSE OF EVIL, by Kay Hooper.
10 THE BOURNE SUPREMACY, by Robert Ludlum.
11 DARK DESTINY, by Christine Feehan.
12 ANNA KARENINA, by Leo Tolstoy.
13 *THE SECRET LIFE OF BEES, by Sue Monk Kidd.
14 ENTRANCED, by Nora Roberts.
15 WEEKEND WARRIORS, by Fern Michaels.
and moreover, I haven't ever read a single author on the list. so. many. books.
Nutty - Jul 21, 2004 6:57:54 am PDT #5245 of 10002
"Mister Spock is on his fanny, sir. Reports heavy damage."
Huh. The paperback bestsellers list is like a greatest hits of beach-reading. Or not even a greatest hits.
I pity the novice spy-novel readers who pick up The Bourne Supremacy hoping for Matt Damon hijinks in Prague; the novel takes place almost entirely in China, and the hero is noticeably middle-aged. (Actually I think the Bourne novels became more elaborately flimsy as they went along, even as they strove for realism in details like Bourne aging. But the basic setup of the first novel is so death-defyingly implausible, I can't imagine it's very easy to maintain that level of damn-the-torpedoes excitement without sacrificing more and more logic.)
msbelle - Jul 21, 2004 7:00:02 am PDT #5246 of 10002
I remember the crazy days. 500 posts an hour. Nubmer! Natgbsb
I didn't see the first Bourne movie and I haven't read the books. I think I might bypass the books and just embrace the movies since they look like I would enjoy them and I know they are not true to the books.
megan walker - Jul 21, 2004 7:02:47 am PDT #5247 of 10002
"What kind of magical sunshine and lollipop world do you live in? Because you need to be medicated."-SFist
msbelle, definitely see the movies, at least the first one--it's very fun.
I've finally started on the stack of books you gave me. Loved Faking It.
msbelle - Jul 21, 2004 7:02:53 am PDT #5248 of 10002
I remember the crazy days. 500 posts an hour. Nubmer! Natgbsb
And as for the list, I totally get that it is mostly beach reading and things that large quantities of people will like, but I think quite a bit of what I read falls into those same categories. I think I just must read older stuff.
I am very conscious of not wanting to be reading what everyone else is. And I get that that makes no sense if it is a good book taht I would enjoy. But nothing depresses me more than seeing someone on the subway with the same book as me.
ETA - of course there are things that depress me more. blah blah hyperbole cakes.
Glad you like it Megan. I would like my Crusie toaster now please.
Connie Neil - Jul 21, 2004 7:03:56 am PDT #5249 of 10002
brillig
Ludlum is great fun if you like spy stuff, but his "Road" books are laugh-out-loud funny. Anyone who remembers the first Bush administration will find "Road to Omaha" a riot.
flea - Jul 21, 2004 7:09:06 am PDT #5250 of 10002
information libertarian
I guess Anna Karenina is a beach read? Gosh, kids today! Is there a movie coming out, or is Tolstoy just super-cool this summer? (Or is it an Oprah book?)
The NYT book review last page this week noted that 175,000 books are published annually in the US. I think. It is to boggle. I am (temporarily) ordering books for the library's "New Books" area, and it's really overwhelming just reading reviews.
Nutty - Jul 21, 2004 7:10:25 am PDT #5251 of 10002
"Mister Spock is on his fanny, sir. Reports heavy damage."
I am very conscious of not wanting to be reading what everyone else is.
I'm not quite that self-conscious in my reading choices, but that bestseller list is pretty much a list of "You have a limit of brain cells, so don't bother with these until vacation rolls around, and even then, be selective."
Which I have to be anyway, since I almost never buy new (especially mass-market) books if I can help it.
Megan's right -- you'll probably enjoy the Bourne movies just fine, maybe better, without reading the books. I will say, however, that Ludlum always had an entertaining eye for the skillset of a spy. Book-Bourne is the king of tiny details, psychology, and elaborate plans, the sort of thing that is usually too cumbersome to pull off in movies. Also, his politics are way subtler.