> The Things You Can Read: July 2013

The Things You Can Read welcomes you and thanks you for your readership. We, here at The Things You Can Read, ask your help, if you visit our site regularly, please follow us either via email or Google Friend Connect.  Launched on June 7, 2012, our site has already attracted a great deal of attention.  One of the goals of the site is to feature reviews of Children's Picture Books, Young Adult novels and Adult Literary Fiction/Nonfiction.  A second goal for the blog is to be a resource for teachers of English and writing--with examples of student created writing, writing tips, resource links, and the opportunity to pick the brain of a seasoned English teacher.  To spice things up...every now and then, we'll also include random quotes and thoughts on education and life in general, but our ultimate goal is to reach out into the blogosphere and be a "Book Whisperer" and "Writing Whisperer" to children and adults of all ages.   Thank you for your readership.  Here is to a lifetime filled with reading and writing.

Wednesday, July 31, 2013

Waiting on Wednesday: July 31, 2013

Waiting on Wednesday
As a boy, William Bellman commits one small, cruel act: killing a bird with his slingshot. Little does he know the unforeseen and terrible consequences of the deed, which is soon forgotten amidst the riot of boyhood games. By the time he is grown, with a wife and children of his own, William seems to be a man blessed by fortune—until tragedy strikes and the stranger in black comes. Then he starts to wonder if all his happiness is about to be eclipsed. Desperate to save the one precious thing he has left, William enters into a rather strange bargain, with an even stranger partner, to found a decidedly macabre business.

And Bellman & Black is born.



I loved Diane Setterfield's The Thirteenth Tale, and I am so happy that after a seven year hiatus, we will be able to read her second novel,  Bellman & Black .  Publication date for this one is scheduled for November 5, 2013.

Thanks to Breaking the Spine  for hosting this event every Wednesday allowing bloggers to highlight a book that they are eagerly anticipating hitting the shelves!

Does Bellman & Black grab your attention?  Is it one you'd be interested in reading?  Let us know here at The Things You Can Read!

Happy reading to all! ☮

Happy Reading
The Things You Can Read!
Believe In Truth, Beauty, Freedom, Love, and the Power of Books!

Tuesday, July 30, 2013

Top Ten Tuesday For July 30, 2013

The only one on my list that I have not read.

The question for July 30 is: Top Ten Favorite Beginnings/Endings In Books (talk about books that started or ended just perfectly or with a bang OR you could do specific opening lines or last lines.  Again, I want to thank Rose City Reader for bringing Top Ten Tuesday to my attention.
I started answering this question with the July Classic Club Question [Click HERE].  I only had 4 opening sentences already chosen for their question, so now I'll have to add to it to make it to TEN.  My answer will focus on beginnings and why I liked them.
 
1.  "Scarlett O'Hara was not beautiful, but men seldom realized it when caught by her charm as the Tarleton twins were." Gone With the Wind by Margaret Mitchell

Why?
Folks who have never read the book, but only viewed the movie might never realize this important part of Scarlett O'Hara's character.  Vivian Leigh is a beautiful Scarlett, but on the page it was Scarlett's charisma that caused all her men to fall in love with her, which is in part what makes her such an interesting character.   [See Picture Below]

2.  "When he was nearly thirteen, my brother Jem got his arm badly broken at the elbow." To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee

Why?
Most folks don't realize the words spoken in the movie are not the first words of the novel.  This one line is key because everything is leading up to the event that caused Jem to break his arm.  In other words, by the end of the novel the author has taken us full circle all through Harper Lee's choice of her first line.

3.  "Who is John Galt?" Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand

Why?
An iconic sentence, that many folks may have heard or seen in print, but do they know the meaning?

4.  "When I stepped out into the bright sunlight from the darkness of the movie house, I had only two things on my mind: Paul Newman and a ride home."-The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton

Why?
I love this opening sentence because this sets the tone for The Outsiders.  I read it in 7th grade for the first time, and now I teach the novel four times a year to roughly 100 new 7th grade students.  I related to Ponyboy immediately based on this one sentence the first time I read it.

5.  “It was a queer, sultry summer, the summer they electrocuted the Rosenbergs, and I didn’t know what I was doing in New York.”-The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath

Why?
The Bell Jar was published in 1963, only a month after its author’s tragic death, and it has been a book I have wanted to read for a very long time based simply on the first sentence.  I haven't taken the plunge yet but it I will very soon.

6.  "Happy families are all alike; every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way"–Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy

Why?
Why did I like this opening?  Because this statement is just as valid today as it was back when Tolstoy first wrote it.  Every family has their unhappiness even the ones that you think are perfect.  I also got over my fear of tackling Tolstoy when I read this one.

7.  "Last night I dreamt I went to Manderley again."–Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier

Why?
This just grabs you!  How can you not want to read on?  I've read this one twice.  Once back in 7th grade and again this year.  I loved it just as much as I did the first time.

 8.  “It was a pleasure to burn.”- Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury

Why?
Another one that just grabs you.  How can you not want to read on?

9.  “I was born twice: first, as a baby girl, on a remarkably smogless Detroit day in January of 1960; and then again, as a teenage boy, in an emergency room near Petoskey, Michigan, in August of 1974.” Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides

Why?
I loved this book and the first sentence sets the stage for what is to come.


10.  "A green hunting cap squeezed the top of a fleshy balloon of a head."-A Confederacy of Dunces by John Kennedy Toole

Why?
This book made me laugh out loud, and the first sentence says it all about the main character.

Vivian Leigh as Scarlett
Again, I didn't think I could get to ten, but I did.  As I said last week, I'm sure I'll think of something else later, but this will have to do for now.  What are your top ten first lines?  Let us know here at The Things You Can Read.


Happy reading to all! ☮

Happy Reading
The Things You Can Read!
Believe In Truth, Beauty, Freedom, Love, and the Power of Books!
 

Review: Born Standing Up: A Comic's Life


 
Review:  Born Standing Up: A Comic's Life by Steve Martin

I grew up watching Steve Martin on Saturday Night Live before they shortened it to just SNL and I even remember him performing on The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson.  I'll even admit to owning the LP A Wild and Crazy Guy.  I was a kid back when he was making it big, and as a kid, I liked his outlandish comedy.  So when I saw this book, I bit. 
 
I have to say as an adult, I don't find Steve Martin's stand-up as enjoyable as I once did, but I do love the writer he became after his stand-up success.  Previously, I read An Object of Beauty, a fictional story by Steve Martin, and loved it!  I feel the same about his movies.  The earlier stuff doesn't mesh with the person I am now, but his more recent movies like Shopgirl, I loved.
 
Again, I'll admit, I'm a sucker for pop-culture from the 70s and 80s, the eras I grew up, and this book, like a another book I read a few months ago, Mary, Lou, Rhoda, and Ted, [Click HERE for Review] brought back memories of another time and place when I was much younger and more carefree, so in my opinion, if you don't bring this kind of connection to the table this book might not be for you, I, however, enjoyed the ride.
 
Steve Martin by his own admission is a bit stand-offish, and his standoffishness comes across in his memoir.  If you are looking for The Glass Castle like revelations shared by memoir writer Jeannette Walls this is not the memoir for you. I  know Steve Martin thinks he wrote a memoir, but he really didn't reveal the nitty-gritty stuff of memoir writing.  What he wrote is an inside look at how he became successful, which is really interesting.  Again, I caution the reader, if you are looking for him to let lose a lot of dirt on the cast of SNL forget it.  The snarkiest he gets is an anecdote he shares about meeting Dan Aykroyd:
In Lorne's office later that day, the leather clad Danny Aykroyd told me he had been up all night riding his motorcycle, and when it had stalled at four A.M., he had thumbed a ride.  When the car got up to speed, the driver pushed him out of the moving vehicle, and he rolled onto the rainy streets of Manhattan.  I pictured Danny bouncing down the wet pavement and then said the only thing that came to mind.  I asked him if h wanted to go to Saks and shop for clothes.  He said, as friendly as he could, 'Uh, man, that's not my thing,'  We liked each other, but we were different.-Born Standing Up: A Comic's Life
If you are looking for him to bad mouth anyone famous, forget it-it's not happening.  He mentions some big names, but nothing of substance is shared.  Yes, he walked away from stand-up and you do know why, but he doesn't really share,-like therapy kind of sharing-how he felt about this decision, which is what most readers want in a memoir. 

So what is this book?  Well, if you are looking for a book that shows how hard it is to make comedy work, and how hard it is to make it in comedy then BINGO this is the book for you.  Simply said, in a one sentence summary: Born Standing Up: A Comic's Life is a book about dedication to ones craft at the expense of isolating oneself from the world.

I had the impression that Martin enjoyed researching the book more than writing it.  Why?  Because he stated, "As much as I enjoyed the writing of this book, researching it was a new thrill for me.  Finding s photo that confirmed a dim recollection of days gone by hooked  me on the detective work, and the legwork-marching form my desk back and forth to the archival boxes-gave me something to do besides type, think, worry, and cry."  Martin was methodical in his casting about for old artifacts from his early career.  He states in his acknowledgments, "This book has allowed me to contact old friends and dig through their memories and memorabilia.  All contacts have been pleasant and some quite moving.  The arrival of a package of photos or copies of letters offered by a friend was like having an archaeological dig brought to my own home."  He enlisted archival type help twenty years prior to writing the book and later he added to his collection when he retrieved age-worn boxes of memorabilia his mother had saved and found, "...inside sedimentary layers of collected junk, ephemera, snapshots, and yellowed newspaper clippings.  Like a geologist, I [Martin] was sometimes able to date items by their position in the stack."  The research he expended on creating the book was that the final product appeared-to someone outside looking in-to be a cathartic or shall we say therapeutic experience for Martin, and what the reader receives in return is the closest look inside the mind of an extremely talented man he will allow you.

I'll be honest, I didn't know what to expect with this book, so before laying down real money for it, I sampled the beginning using the Amazon sampling feature.  I liked what I read and ended up purchasing  Born Standing Up: A Comic's Life.  I mention this because using this feature, if you read with a Kindle, is such a good method to experiment with books you might not try otherwise.  The sample is free, and it usually gives you enough to really let you know if you will like the book or not.  I did the same thing with the other book I mentioned earlier in this review, Mary, Lou, Rhoda, and Ted, and ended up purchasing both.  If you hadn't thought of sampling before buying give it a try.

If you have never seen Steve Martin's early stuff, or you've forgotten his brand of early comedy, checkout YouTube for archived comedy sketches.  If you want to know how he came up with each of his signature bits for his act, read the book.

 
Here is the present day Martin reading from Born Standing Up: A Comic's Life:
 

 
In the midseventies, Steve Martin exploded onto the comedy scene. By 1978 he was the biggest concert draw in the history of stand-up. In 1981 he quit forever. This book is, in his own words, the story of "why I did stand-up and why I walked away."
 
Emmy and Grammy Award winner, author of the acclaimed New York Times bestsellers Shopgirl and The Pleasure of My Company, and a regular contributor to The New Yorker, Martin has always been a writer. His memoir of his years in stand-up is candid, spectacularly amusing, and beautifully written.
 
At age ten Martin started his career at Disneyland, selling guidebooks in the newly opened theme park. In the decade that followed, he worked in the Disney magic shop and the Bird Cage Theatre at Knott's Berry Farm, performing his first magic/comedy act a dozen times a week. The story of these years, during which he practiced and honed his craft, is moving and revelatory. The dedication to excellence and innovation is formed at an astonishingly early age and never wavers or wanes.
 
Martin illuminates the sacrifice, discipline, and originality that made him an icon and informs his work to this day. To be this good, to perform so frequently, was isolating and lonely. It took Martin decades to reconnect with his parents and sister, and he tells that story with great tenderness. Martin also paints a portrait of his times-the era of free love and protests against the war in Vietnam, the heady irreverence of The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour in the late sixties, and the transformative new voice of Saturday Night Live in the seventies.
 
 
Throughout the text, Martin has placed photographs, many never seen before. Born Standing Up is a superb testament to the sheer tenacity, focus, and daring of one of the greatest and most iconoclastic comedians of all time.
 

 
Happy reading to all! ☮

Happy Reading
The Things You Can Read!
Believe In Truth, Beauty, Freedom, Love, and the Power of Books!
 

Monday, July 29, 2013

July 29, 2013: It's Monday What Are You Reading?


Born Standing Up: A Comic's LifeI just finished Born Standing Up: A Comic's Life by Steve Martin [Review will be posted tomorrow]
 
 
Burial RitesI am currently reading Burial Rites by  





AND I'm listening to...

This TownThis Town by













What are you reading?  Let us know here at The Things You Can Read!
Happy reading to all! ☮

Happy Reading
The Things You Can Read!
Believe In Truth, Beauty, Freedom, Love, and the Power of Books!

Charting The Great Gatsby


Confused about who is riding or driving, or walking in The Great Gatsby?  Well, pop on over to Pop Chart Lab and take a gander at their charting of the comings and goings of all the characters in the novel.  Way Cool!  If you really like it you can even order one up for framing.  Really, Way Cool!  Let us know what you think of this one here at The Things You Can Read!

Happy reading to all! ☮

Happy Reading
The Things You Can Read!
Believe In Truth, Beauty, Freedom, Love, and the Power of Books!

Sunday, July 28, 2013

New Book Podcasts





We've added two NEW book related Podcasts to our podcast page.  Check these out and let us know what you think.  If you are looking for podcast checkout our PODCAST PAGE

BookRiot.com



Book Riot – The Podcast is a weekly news and talk show about what’s new, cool, and worth talking about in the world of books and reading, brought to you by the editors of BookRiot.com







Other People Podcast

In-depth interview with authors. Other People Podcast




If you know of a podcast we don't have listed please let us know here at The Things You Can Read!

Happy reading to all! ☮

Happy Reading
The Things You Can Read!
Believe In Truth, Beauty, Freedom, Love, and the Power of Books!

Saturday, July 27, 2013

Book Ad Campaign: The Right Book Will Always Keep You Company

(via AdRants)

How do we get folks to read?  Well, for one area they have their very own ad campaign to encourage reading.  The ad campaigns slogan is "The Right Book Will Always Keep You Company."


Books? Actual printed books? People still buy those things? Apparently so. Otherwise this ACW Grey-created campaign for Israeli bookstore chain Steimatzky is a total waste of money. Whether or not it's wasted ad spend remains to be seen but one thing is clear; this is one very creative ad campaign. The work centers on print which carries the headline "The Right Book Will Always Keep You Company." The visuals then convey the headline quite literally by placing characters from well known novels in bed with readers. - See more at: Adrants
 
 




(via AdRants)


(via AdRants)



(via AdRants)




(via AdRants)




(via AdRants)



Which image from the ad campaign grabs you?  Better yet, what slogan would you use to advertise reading books?  Let us know here at The Things You Can Read!

Happy reading to all! ☮

Happy Reading
The Things You Can Read!
Believe In Truth, Beauty, Freedom, Love, and the Power of Books!

Friday, July 26, 2013

Book Blogger Hop: July 26-August 1, 2013


 photo ClaudeRains_zps33ef88e5.gif
Book Blogger Hop: July 26-August 1, 2013

 
How do you organize your books to be read?
 
I keep a master list on Goodreads in my Want to Read section. I also keep a list of ARCs and Amazon Samples of books I want to try on my Kindle. I also have a disorganized physical book library of sorts that has never recovered from my move, which I am ashamed to say was three years-ago, so I have no excurse except that I've had three children since I've moved, and organizing books keeps moving down the list, right after changing diapers and cleaning up Legos-BELIEVE me when I tell you, YOU don't want to step on Legos, nor smell stinky diapers.


How do you organize your books to be read?  Let us know here at The Things You Can Read
 

 
Thanks to  Coffee Addicted Writer for hosting Book Blogger Hop!

Happy reading to all! ☮  

Happy Hopping and Reading!  
The Things You Can Read
Believe In Truth, Beauty, Freedom, Love, and the Power of Books!

Book Beginnings on Friday: Burial Rites by Hannah Kent


Book Beginnings on Friday is a great way share what you're reading and find some great books to add to your TBR pile.  Here is what you are asked to do:

Please join me every Friday to share the first sentence (or so) of the book you are reading, along with your initial thoughts about the sentence, impressions of the book, or anything else the opener inspires. Please remember to include the title of the book and the author's name.-Rose City Reader


"They say I must die"-Burial Rites by

So far I'm really enjoying this one.  It was one of my older ARCs and I thought I'd better get busy and read it.  It is set in Iceland in 1829, and I am not too familiar with this era of Icelandic history.  It is a historical novel, but is based on a true story.  So far so good!  I can't wait to see where this one will take me.  I'm about 20% done, so I've got a bit more reading to do, but as I said I'm liking it so far.




Little, Brown and Company: Burial Rites by Hannah Kent





What are you reading right now.  Let us know here at The Things You Can Read!















Thursday, July 25, 2013

Waiting on Wednesday: A Day Late

 photo 683e72cf-9949-4ed2-9a6b-224af6073c51_zps136c2260.jpg
I know it's not Wednesday, but I could not resist highlighting this book:



The Rosie Project by Graeme Simsion

Don Tillman, 39, a successful but odd genetics prof, designs a questionnaire for his Wife Project: punctual, non-drinker, non-smoker. Rosie, a spontaneous, outspoken barmaid, smokes, curses, and adjusts his clock when he complains about his schedule. Yet an unlikely partnership blooms when Don agrees to help Rosie find her biological father-Summary Courtesy of Goodreads






Having read and reviewed The Rosie Project, I am eager to see what others think of this one.  It is not going to be released until October 1, 2013, but I could easily see how Hollywood could make this one into a super comedy!

Simon & Schuster: The Rosie Project by Graeme Simsion


Thanks to Breaking the Spine  for hosting this event every Wednesday allowing bloggers to highlight a book that they are eagerly anticipating hitting the shelves!

Does The Rosie Project grab your attention?  Is it one you'd be interested in reading?  Let us know here at The Things You Can Read!

Happy reading to all! ☮

Happy Reading
The Things You Can Read!
Believe In Truth, Beauty, Freedom, Love, and the Power of Books!


Tree of Life Branching Out Collaborative Writing Challenge

 
For all those writers out there here is a very interesting project that actually started on July 15.  Check out the description below.  If it sounds like something you'd be interested in click on over to Tree of Life: Branching Out for even more information.  Our thanks to Blogging A to Z Challenge for brings this to our attention!
 

Tree of Life: Branching Out is a collaborative writing challenge, where creative minds meet epic movie music. Preselected guest writers representing all genres, from all across the globe, will contribute their own 150 word excerpt (wc is flexible) to a continuing story collectively written over the course of 26 days. Each of the 26 writers will find inspiration in a featured composition from the motion picture music production house, audiomachine's new TREE OF LIFE
album. These clever masters of the craft will spin the story in whatever direction they choose, picking up where the previous writer left off, resulting in the ultimate collaborative tale.

 
Does this project interest you?  Let us know here at The Things You Can Read!

Happy reading to all! ☮

Happy Reading
The Things You Can Read!
Believe In Truth, Beauty, Freedom, Love, and the Power of Books!
 




Wednesday, July 24, 2013

21 Books That Will Teach You Something Important

 
How to Read a Book: The Classic Guide to Intelligent Reading
 
Over at BuzzFeed you will find a list of books that will teach you something.  How great!  I love to learn.  I could have been a perpetual student, if only I didn't have to earn a living (wink, wink).  I perused the list and the one that grabbed my attention was the very first one on the list:  How to Read a Book: The Classic Guide to Intelligent ReadingWhy?  Because I'm always interested in how to make my reading experience even better. 
 
The post is entitled 21 Books That Will Teach You Something Important, click on over and let us know, which one grabs you?  Don't forget to share your thoughts here at The Things You Can Read.
 
Happy reading to all! ☮

Happy Reading
The Things You Can Read!
Believe In Truth, Beauty, Freedom, Love, and the Power of Books!
 
 
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