Tag Archives: reading

what would glitz wear

glitz

I’m a little more than halfway through Glitz (Kindle here), my first Elmore Leonard novel. I can see why they make great movies. The dialogue is natural and entertaining, and the characters are interesting–from the off-duty detective to the casino’s lounge singer to the gangster’s bodyguard. I like how the women are equal players. Nancy Donovan is smarter than most–if not all–of the men surrounding her, including her husband. Linda is comfortable in her personality and ready to make her own way as an artist. They may have to play a man’s game, but they rewrite a few rules.

These women are sexy, but they aren’t just there for sex. But I bet no matter what they are doing, they look good doing it.

nancy donovan in glitz

Like Gretchen Wieners, Nancy keeps secrets in her perfectly coiffed hair. She runs a casino with her husband, Tom, and at least one Atlantic City gangster. And she can run circles around them. Nancy is always put together and she is not to be trifled with.

iris

Iris is a young, beautiful girl from Puerto Rico who dreams of being a hostess in the United States. She is spunky and fun but, man, does she have some bad luck.

linda

Linda Moon befriends Iris in Atlantic City. Out of all these women, I’d most like to be friends with her. She has her head on straight and is following her passion for making music. But she’s practical, too, and has figured out a way to make a living by singing in Nancy and Tom’s casino. And, like the rest of the casino, she could be decked out in gold when she performs.

ladonna in glitz

Ladonna is the former Miss Oklahoma. But I’m afraid she’s fallen a bit from when she took the crown. Now we never see her without a drink in her hand, and she’s terrified for her life because of the violence surrounding her. We first meet her drowning in both an oversized sweater and an oversized bloody mary.

I can’t wait to read more about these women, and the rest of the characters. More on Glitz soon!

10 books i haven’t read

mockingbird

Sometimes there feels like there is just never enough time to catch up. I could read all day and all night and never read all the things that look interesting. There’s so many classic books I still need to read, I wonder how I’ll ever manage to get to the new fantastic books coming out. And Twitter leads me to a hundred interesting articles before I’ve even had coffee. What’s a girl to do?!

I think I read probably more than the average person. I’m certainly no Stephen King, who reads roughly 70 or 80 books a year according to On Writing, but I generally am always in the middle of a book. But there are some books that have escaped my 20-some-odd years of reading.

  • To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee. I know, I know! But I just haven’t gotten to it yet, ok? I also haven’t seen the movie, and I’m not even entirely sure what it’s about. A trial? A guy named Atticus Finch? I’m the worst!
  • Same with 1984 by George Orwell. (I also haven’t read Animal Farm)
  • Little Women by Louisa May Alcott. I’ve seen the movie though!
  • Lord of the Flies by William Golding. But I’m pretty sure this is about an island of boys, right? Kind of like a terrifying Peter Pan, where there aren’t any grown-ups?
  • Rabbit, Run by John Updike. I have been meaning to read Updike for years–years I tell you!
  • Fear and Loathing In Las Vegas by Hunter S. Thompson. I have read The Rum Diary, so I’m not totally hopeless when it comes to Hunter S. Thompson.
  • Pride And Prejudice by Jane Austen. Although I have started this a few times, and I completely love the movie.
  • The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien. Any of them. I haven’t even read The Hobbit. I’m totally failing at being a nerd.
  • The Stand. I love Stephen King. He’s one of my favorite authors and this is one of his most famous books.
  • And finally, anything by Elmore Leonard. After his death, it has re-come to my attention how much I have messed up by not reading his books. I’ve read his rules, and I’ve seen the movies. But why have I never read any of his books? I am positive I would love them. Anyone have a rec for what I should start with?

Are there any books you haven’t read that you think you should have? Please keep me from being too embarrassed and share some of your own.

where’d you go, bernadette

bernadette

The other day on Twitter, I asked for a recommendation for a quick read. No less than three people recommended Where’d You Go, Bernadette (Kindle here). 

Obviously, I had missed the memo on how great of a book this was. Lucky for me, my friends steered me in the right direction. And I am very glad they did.

Where’d You go, Bernadette follows the written, faxed, and e-mail correspondence of Bernadette, her neighbors, her husband Elgin, and her daughter Bee. After Bernadette’s mysterious disappearance, Bee uses these documents to piece together the truth about her mom and where she might have gone. (It sounds like the structure to our #familybookclub pick House of Leaves, but so far they couldn’t be more different.)Continue reading “where’d you go, bernadette”

lying cat (embroidery no. 14)

lying cat saga

If you’ve read Saga (like you should!) you must love Lying Cat. She is sidekick to The Will and can tell when someone is lying. We all need some Lying Cat in our lives–but since I can’t get a hold of the original, I embroidered this. Here’s a closer look.

Continue reading “lying cat (embroidery no. 14)”

the cuckoo’s calling parts 4 and 5

jk-rowling-the-cuckoos-calling

The Cuckoo’s Calling (kindle here) part 4 and 5 are combined because I accidentally finished it. I, well, wasn’t crazy about it. SPOILERS AHEAD. DEAD AHEAD.

Well, we found out the murderer. And I’m kind of annoyed about it. Making the murderer the person who hired the detective feels like a cheat and a gimmick, not a smart subversion of reader expectations.

Things did get a little juicier in the last parts. The pace picked up, and I read a little faster. Poor Rochelle is tossed over the edge, just like Lula was. Strike finally gets into some tough spots, even though one is with an elderly woman confined to a bed.

But the glimpse of celebs and some exciting detective work (I mean, a little bit at least) doesn’t make up for an ending (and middle?) that fell flat. I like an altercation with the killer as much as the next person, but why on earth would Strike, who is recently injured, has one leg, and has taken off his prosthesis, sit around his office and wait for Bristow to come do him in? I know he was a boxer, but what did he really expect to happen?

Continue reading “the cuckoo’s calling parts 4 and 5”

saga-inspired interiors

saga vol. 1

I read Saga, vol. 1, for book club this month, and I just loved it. It’s so sharp and funny and beautifully drawn. My favorite character is Lying Cat, of course, but there are so many other great characters that it’s hard to choose: Izabel, a typical teenager who happens to be a ghost with exposed entrails; The Will, a freelancer getting over a bad break up; The Stalk, in her eight-legged bad ass glory; and of course, the new parents Marko and Alana.

Everyone in book club loved it, too. On top of the lovely characters, there is a lot of layers to the story. There’s politics, a war, racism, morality, friendship, adventure, you name it. I had never read a comic book or graphic novel before, but I thought this was a great introduction. It’s very readable, and though book club deemed it a bit choppy, we all thought the storytelling was great.

So I picked up volume two and devoured that as well. Lucky for me, the next issue comes out this month so I don’t have to wait too long for the next installment.

One of my favorite parts of diving into comic books was the drawings, obvs. I love the color story for each character and setting. And in the spirit of Saga, I created some interior design collages with a character and their home in mind.

the will

The Will. His colors are light and airy, and we see a lot of blues, whites, and yellows. His spaceship seems pretty minimalist and modern. Ever the bachelor, I don’t expect he’d be into too may frills. I imagine Lying Cat would take over his chaise, and The Will would definitely have some catnip on hand.

Continue reading “saga-inspired interiors”

the cuckoo’s calling part 3

jk-rowling-the-cuckoos-calling

You know, it’s surprising we didn’t guess it was Rowling right away. She’s got a thing for crazy names. Hermione. Cormoran. In part 3 of The Cuckoo’s Calling (Kindle here), we meet the mysterious Rochelle, have a run in with Lula’s angry racist uncle, and Robin flexes her deception muscles.

Strike is continuing his clue gathering and interviews. He finally met Lula’s friend from rehab, Rochelle, who seems as unreliable as just about everyone else he’s interviewed. Robin finds Rochelle by pretending to be Rochelle when she calls the hospital to ask when her appointment is. Then they stalk the entrance of the hospital until Rochelle arrives. Robin also pretends to be someone she’s not when she and Strike visit the boutique that Lula visited the last day she was alive. Robin has certainly been getting into this detective business. (Speaking of Robin, are her and Strike ever going to get it on?)

Continue reading “the cuckoo’s calling part 3”

saga: white outfit inspiration

I just read a graphic novel for the first time. It’s called Saga, vol. 1, by Brian K. Vaughan. It was cool! Ever the speed reader, I had to remind myself to not just read the text, but to really take a look at the images. It’s kind of a love, adventure, space travel, war story, I think.

Check out this Bad B and my new best friend, #lyingcat. He can tell if you’re lying.

saga, lying cat

I don’t know this woman’s (is it a woman?) name, but I do know I like her sense of style. I love an all white look but can rarely pull it off because I tend to spill my coffee. A lot. If I were to do an all white look any way I wanted, I might do something like this. With a bold, pointy ring to represent her horn, of course.

all white

More on Saga this weekend after book club. Until then, try this monochrome thing, and may you carry your Tide pen with you.

the cuckoo’s calling part 2

jk-rowling-the-cuckoos-calling

We enter part 2 of The Cuckoo’s Calling (Kindle here, my thoughts on part 1 here) to follow our heroes while they gather more clues. I actually feel more like I am in the board game clue than in a story. If security guard was in the wash room, and the boyfriend at the club, I propose Mr. Bestigui murdered Lula Landry in the drawing room with the candlestick.

As an editor/journalist/pretend police investigator, I like gathering clues and information. But as a reader, I’d like to get all of this info as the plot moves along or as characters develop. It seems like more talking than showing, more explaining than storytelling.

“Strike would have preferred Bristow not to intervene.”  See what I mean? Telling me what’s in his head is just so boring.

But since we spent all that time interviewing and clue gathering, let’s see what we know.

  • Lula has a friend from rehab named Rochelle who met with Lula on the day of her suicide/murder.
  • Lula had an on-and-off relationship with that dumb guy who wears a wolf mask to avoid the paparazzi because, sure, a wolf mask garners less attention.
  • Mr. Bestigui is mad about 200 roses being spilled in Deeby Mac’s apartment. If those roses don’t mean anything this is the biggest, most annoying red herring ever.
  • Lula’s driver is obsessed with fame and celebs, and he was not her driver the night she died.
  • The apartment security guard was away from his post when Lula fell.
  • Tansy Bestigui heard some yelling in Lula’s apartment. The police don’t believe she could have heard anyone–they clearly don’t live in a place where you can hear things through the vents.

What do you guys think? Have any bets on who the killer is? Are their big clues I’m missing? If you’ve finished, no spoilers please! See my thoughts on part 1 here, and keep reading! I’ll see you back here next week.

(I bought this book on my own and am not being paid to write about it. But I am a part of the Amazon Affiliates program, so if you buy through my links on Amazon, I’ll receive a little bit of money for it.)

rocket, my screen-printed bike

bike

“Seems to me,” the Lady said, “a boy’s bicycle needs to see where it’s goin’. Needs to see whether there’s a clear road or trouble ahead. Seems to me a boy’s bicycle needs some horse in it, and some deer, and maybe even a touch of reptile. For cleverness, don’t you know?”

In Boy’s Life by Robert McCammon, our hero Cory gets a brand new bike.

This isn’t just any bike. This bike is from The Lady. It’s brand new and made just for him. It’s red and had a headlight, and in the headlight it has an eye that looks out for Cory. It steers him away from danger and helps him get to adventure–fast.

“At this instant I felt at one with Rocket, as if we were of the same skin and grease, and when I grinned, a bug flew into my teeth. I didn’t care; I swallowed it because I was invincible.”

So in tribute to a book I loved, and in tribute to Rocket, a bike I wish I had, I made my own. Sort of. Mine’s a bit more two dimensional.

screen printing stencil

I started with a stencil. I traced and drew and doodled until I had a bike I liked. Then I traced it onto a transparency and used a craft knife/box cutter thing to cut out my stencil.

Continue reading “rocket, my screen-printed bike”