Loneliest Number

Go to your Google search engine and type in "loneliest number". Please.

Negotiating With The Dead: A Writer On Writing

Negotiating with the Dead is Margaret Atwood’s tale of what it’s like to be a writer. It’s not instructions; it doesn’t tell you how to be a writer. Negotiating with the Dead expounds different aspects of what it’s like to be a writer. Atwood uses many metaphors and explains what is often going on in a writer’s mind. She also talks about the relationship between writer and reader. It is a good book; just don’t expect a road map on how to be as successful as the author

Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters

Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters is Quirk Classics newest Jane Austen installment. Ben H. Winters’s does a fair job taking the classic tale to a sub-surface level. It is a fun and interesting read, blending personal heartbreak with sea monster attacks. Winters keeps the essential personality of each of the characters. He leaves the old world of Austen behind and creates a new one. It is a world fraught with battling sea-beasts.

Be warned, Winters is not the same author who created Pride and Prejudice and Zombies. There is definitely a difference in writing style and the manner in which the books are transformed. While Winters created entirely new towns and re-wrote much (maybe too much) of the story, Seth Grahame-Smith’s approach was more subtle. So don’t expect the same feeling from both books. The individual style is apparent. I prefer PPZ; SSSM seemed too long. It lacked something that PPZ managed to keep from the Austen original. SSSM is a fun read and if you liked the first Quirk remake, try this one too.

Kick a Ginger Day

Have you heard of this? November 20th was national Kick a Ginger Day. This is its second year. I must be out of the loop. My husband was telling me about it. As he was teaching, the vice-principal was going around and talking to each classroom. Last year it got pretty bad. My husband told me that one of his students had bruises up and down her calves. So this year, the school was taking a stance. “Kick a Ginger” and suffer the consequences.

Do you really want to kick Julia Roberts, Amy Adams, Reba McIntyre or Rupert Grint? Yes, you might want to kick Lindsay Lohan, Carrot Top or Ginger Spice, but that doesn’t really have anything to do with their hair colour.

I talked to my husband, then took a look around the internet. Kick a Ginger Day came from a South Park episode that said red-haired people were bad and had no souls. Apparently, the episode was supposed to satirize vampire movies and Children of the Corn. I’ve never seen the episode and have no desire to. Clearly their attempt at satire failed.

Last year, a Facebook group was created for Kick a Ginger Day. 40000 people joined! People with red hair found themselves in danger. Children were coming home with bruises because classmates were kicking them. Some police were classifying this as a hate crime; the only reason these people were attacked was because of the colour of their hair. Now, if you search Facebook, there are many more groups denouncing this act, encouraging you to “hug a Ginger” instead. I’m still shocked that people would kick a group of people just because a cartoon told them to do it.

The Book Mine Set: The Great Wednesday Compare #5- Chuck Palahniuk VRESUS Miriam Toews

The Book Mine Set: The Great Wednesday Compare #5- Chuck Palahniuk VRESUS Miriam Toews

True Blood

I just finished watching the HBO series True Blood. It was fabulous! I was initially hesitant to watch it. I’m a fan of the Charlaine Harris books and didn’t want to be disappointed with their interpretation on television. However, a friend who had read the Sookie Stackhouse books at about the same time as me, recommended True Blood. She loves Eric. After watching the series, I can see why.

True Blood is based on the Harris books, but it’s not quite the same. The vampires seem a bit meaner. In the books, I’m rooting for Eric and Sookie, but on the show, Eric might be too “evil” for me. So, I’m for Bill on the show. Season one is the first book, season two is the second, and there are more differences than just the vampires’ behaviour. What happens to Jason and his reaction to these circumstances are a significant change. Amy and Jessica are new characters. Lafayette is still alive. The maenad went from a flash in the pan to a primary pain. These changes are fantastic and fun.

I wonder how True Blood interprets Club Dead in season three. Who are they going to cast as Alcide Herveaux? Are Sophie-Anne and Hadley going to make another appearance? How will Eric and Sookie get closer when she’s so disgusted with him now? With the end of season two, they’ve already changed the kidnapping. I’m eager for season three.

The Book Mine Set: The Great Wednesday Compare #5- Chuck Palahniuk VERSUS Douglas Adams

Vote for your favourite author. I like Douglas Adams, but Chuck Palahniuk gave the world Fight Club.

The Book Mine Set: The Great Wednesday Compare #5- Chuck Palahniuk VERSUS Douglas Adams

The Giving Tree

The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein is a classic children’s story that I’ve recently read to my little baby. My daughter is now 5½ months old. I read her The Giving Tree Tuesday and Wednesday before her naps. Unlike my daughter’s favourite, Goodnight Moon, this is a story I read as a child. The copy I have now is my husband’s.

It’s kind of sad. When I was younger, I remember thinking of it as sweet. I’ve read it to her twice and I feel like I’m getting emotional each time. I know it’s silly, but the tree does so much for the boy and I feel like he just takes advantage of her. I talked to my husband about it and basically he said it’s a story about unconditional love. I know I would certainly give everything of myself for my child. Yet, I feel like the boy ought to appreciate the tree. I don’t know. Maybe I’m just being silly in my sleep-deprived state… or perhaps I’ve grown cynical in adulthood.