Spooky Little Girl

When Josh and I were dating for awhile, we started reading together. We have differing accounts about how this happened and which book was first, but we would read books by Laurie Notaro and laugh so hard we nearly peed. It is one of my many fun memories from before we were married. She is most well-known for her Idiot Girl's books, which are essays about her life.

Tonight we got to go to a book reading for Laurie Notaro's most recent book Spooky Little Girl, which I haven't read yet, but am looking forward to. I didn't get to see her on her last book tour, for there's a (slight) chance i might be going to hell, which was her first work of fiction and strongly influenced by her move to Eugene from Phoenix, because I was really sick, but Josh and I made sure to be at Powell's for this book tour (the last stop!)

Here I am waiting for the whole thing to start (we were apparently 30 minutes early):

Things filled up later. Josh remarked that it was a lot like the time when we went to a taping of "The Ellen Show"-- a lot of ladies out on the town. A lot of saving seats with purses, talking about how many seats needed to be saved, shouting across the room at each other, and cacklaughing. Also, a lot of back tattoos.

As predicted, Laurie Notaro was hilarious. She read a bit from Spooky Little Girl and something from her not-yet-published book about how she and a friend dressed up like characters from Whatever Happened to Baby Jane? for Halloween and she "saved" her friend from "choking." I can't recreate it, but it was funny stuff.

My only complaint is that, though we were in the second row, we somehow ended up toward the back of the book-signing line. There were a fair amount of people there, and Laurie Notaro talked to everyone, so it took awhile. Josh and I got a little nuts.

Here we are standing in line:

As time wore on, we started goofing around/reading books.

Our devil pictures:

There were some other pictures, which I've decided not to share. 

An interesting thing, and if you've been to readings at Powell's you may have already been aware of this, is that the lectern for readings looks like a stack of books. 

The books in the top part are actual books by writer Bret Harte. I found that interesting.

Finally we got to the front and got to talk with Laurie Notaro (Josh invited her to Hoodoo, and I just rolled my eyes), and we got to take a couple pictures.

The first one was the result of the woman taking the picture telling us to "say menopause!"

So we had to take another:

Totally worth it! If you're looking for a funny book to read, Laurie Notaro has now published 8 of them, so you have a lot to choose from.

Also, Josh bought this pin for me, which I'm going to wear to my next book club meeting:

Emily's Books Read in 2009: Second Quarter

Following through with my New Year's resolution, and continuing on my first quarter list, here is the list of books I read from April through June:

19. Plum Spooky by Janet Evanovich (finished 4/4)
Not good. Don't read it. Janet Evanovich's books tend toward trashy mixed with mystery, but this book was just trashy. Ugh.

20. Bright Lights, Big Ass by Jen Lancaster (finished 4/11)
I heart you, Jen Lancaster, for writing something about social class and living in a big city that I can relate to as an upper class White girl. I much prefer this book to the ones required for my practicum.

21. Bare Bones by Kathy Reichs (finished 4/12)
This is the author responsible for inspiring the "Bones" tv series. I much prefer the tv series, but the books aren't terrible.

22. Size 14 Isn't Fat Either by Meg Cabot (finished 4/19)

23. Big Boned by Meg Cabot (finished 4/29)

24. Deja Dead by Kathy Reichs (finished 5/4)
I wish I had realized before I started reading this book that it was about bikers. I had a hard time getting through it.

25. Partners in Crime by Agatha Christie (finished 5/20)
Before this book, I read about 3/4ths of The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Society, but had to return it to the library. This Christie book was just okay-- a collection of short stories with Tommy and Tuppence Beresford, who aren't as good as Poirot and Miss Marple.

26. Grave Peril by Jim Butcher (finished 5/28)
Proud author in this author photo. This is book 4(ish?) of the Dresden Files series, centered around a wizard who is also a private investigator. My sister really likes the books and she gave a few of them to me, so I read them.

27. Death Masks by Jim Butcher (finished 6/3)

28. Killer Hair by Ellen Byerrum (finished 6/8)
I was inspired to start this series about a fashion-reporter-turned-crime-investigator because ads for the made for tv movie were running on the Lifetime Movie Network. Unfortunately, the movie wasn't that great, but the series is entertaining.

29. Murder by Manicure by Nancy J. Cohen (finished 6/10)
I wouldn't recommend it, though it wasn't the worst I've ever read. I felt Byerrum is better, but her books are also set in DC.

30. Deseigner Knockoff by Ellen Byerrum (finished 6/16)
Missing intern and a 60 year old murder mystery.

31. Blood Rites by Jim Butcher (finished 6/23)

32. Such a Pretty Fat by Jen Lancaster (finished 6/25)
I loved this book, especially since I've been trying to lose weight lately.

33. Dead Beat by Jim Butcher (finished 6/30)
Okay, so technically I haven't finished this yet, but I wanted to write this blog post instead of writing a paper, and I only have 100 pages left. I think the later books in the series are much better than the earlier ones.

So I read more books last quarter, but I also had to drop out of a class last term because I flunked 2 tests. Coming up in a month, I'm taking a term off school, so I will likely read more books (as well as finally finish painting my kitchen alcove and finally fix our kitchen floor and light fixture).

Up Next
* I Hope They Serve Beer in Hell by Tucker Max
This book was recommended to me by Amazon, and is a collection of short stories by a total douchebag who reminds me of my best friend in college, who is no longer my friend precisely because he was a douchebag. It should be interesting.

* A Graveyard for Lunatics by Ray Bradbury
Apparently this is book was inspired by the Hollywood Forever Cemetery, which Josh and I are planning to visit when we go to LA in October.
(NOTE: Be sure to look for the requisite photo of me standing next to Johnny Ramone's amazing headstone statue! -- Josh)

* The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society
Maybe I'll actually finish it this time.

Emily's Books Read in 2009: First Quarter

Earlier this year, I made a resolution to write down all the books I read this year, and I've kept it. Here are the books that I have read so far this year:

1. Twilight by Stephenie Meyer (finished 1/7)

2. New Moon by Stephenie Meyer (finished 1/10)
I think I liked this one better than the first one, but now I can't remember why.

3. sTORI Telling by Tori Spelling (finished 1/11)
An easy read, but interesting. I was a fan of the short-lived Tori Spelling show "So NoTORIous," which featured Zachary Quinto (of the new Star Trek and "Heroes" fame).

4. Obsessive Genius: The Inner World of Marie Curie by Barbara Goldsmith (finished 1/22)
This book was a manageable length for a biography. Normally I get about 3/4ths of the way through a biography and then get distracted, but I was always interested in this book. It made me remember why I will never be ridiculously successful-- I do not have the necessary insanity and drive. Marie Curie was NUTS.

5. The History of Love by Nicole Krauss (finished 1/29)
This book was okay, but not great. I think it was an Oprah book. Someone recommended it to me, and I enjoyed it but I'm not sure I would recommend it to other people. I don't know. It's a forgettable book.

6. The Disney Mountains: Imagineering at its Peak by Jason Surrell (finished 2/1)
This book is about exactly what the title says. It's interesting, has pictures, and was written by someone who worked as an imagineer.

7. Eclipse by Stephenie Meyer (finished 2/7)

8. hypocrite in a pouffy white dress by Susan Jane Gilman (finished 2/12)
This is a funny book about feminism and the female experience, but definitely Laurie Notaro (The Idiot Girl's Action Adventure Club) is much funnier.

9. Uglies by Scott Westerfeld (finished 2/13)
I read this book to screen it for my 11-year-old niece. It's a book about a dystopic alternate reality where everyone is required to get plastic surgery at age 16 so everyone is beautiful and no one can be jealous of each other based on looks. It is a very interesting concept and was a very interesting book, which is why I read the other two in the series.

10. Pretties by Scott Westerfeld (finished 2/17)

11. Specials by Scott Westerfeld (finished 2/21)
I guess there's another sequal, but I haven't read it yet.

12. Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting by in America by Barbara Ehrenreich (finished 2/24)
Technically I read this for my practicum, but I thought this book was excellent and I highly recommend it! Ehrenreich goes undercover in different minimum wage jobs across America to see whether she can live on that wage. Spoiler alert: she can't.

13. The Story of Edgar Sawtelle by David Wroblewski (finished 3/5)
I unwisely finished reading this book instead of studying for an important test (which is why I'm having the worst term in school that I have ever had), but I became very invested in the denoument. This is a re-imagining of Hamlet in a loose way. Also, I imagine if you like dogs then the dog-training aspect of the story will strike a chord.

14. Electric Blue by Nancy Bush (finished 3/16)
The author is from Lake Oswego and the series is set in the Portland area. This is a detective story with a female protagonist, which seems to be the type of book I read most often. I liked it better than the first in the series (Candy Apple Red)

15. Ultra Violet by Nancy Bush (finished 3/21)
The third book in the series. The events take place directly after the second book, and you can't really read it and understand it without reading the second one.

16. Size 12 is not Fat by Meg Cabot (finished 3/22)
Meg Cabot wrote the Princess Diaries series (which I haven't read). This is another female detective series where the female protagonist is a former teen pop star whose mom embezzled all of her money so she is forced to work as a college dorm parent. I thought it was entertaining.

17. Vi Agra Falls by Mary Daheim (finished 3/25)
This is the latest in a long series of mystery novels featuring the proprietress of a Bed & Breakfast in the Seattle area. I like this series because of the clever titles, such as Snow Place to Die and Silver Scream. This book is not the greatest.

18. Breaking Dawn by Stephenie Meyer (finished 3/30)
I don't think that Stephenie Meyer is the worst author ever like Stephen King has claimed. Obviously I'm not huge into the whole Twilight thing, otherwise I would have read the series before now (and seen the movie), but it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be.


Some books that are in my queue for the next three months:
The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Society
Plum Spooky
Bright Lights, Big Ass

A Literary Resolution

My resolution for this year is to write down (and possibly critique?) all the books I read during the year. I did something similar to this in 2005 and I wanted to re-visit the list, but it is locked in a trunk to which I have lost the key (it's a long and uninteresting story). It was fun then because it motivated me to read more (and finish books when I start them) and I read something like 95 books in total. I doubt that I will be able to read anywhere close to that many this year.

I think what made me want to do this again is that I've read some exceptionally good books in this past year and I wish that I had listed them so I could remember them all. Some of the greats from 2008 are:

* American Wife by Curtis Sittenfeld-- I am in love with this book. It is a fictionalized account of the life of Laura Bush and I never realized she was so interesting. I've read that Sittenfeld has been somewhat obsessed with the subject and it shows. I can't describe it better than that-- just that it's exactly the kind of book that someone with a spectacular imagination would write about someone whose private life has been so hidden. I think Sittenfeld did an excellent job making her protagonist three-dimensional, and it has made me more accepting of our current lame-duck president.

* The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield-- a murder mystery-type novel with an amateur biographer as the protagonist who is called upon to write the definitive tell-all about a famous authoress who is close to death. The tone of the novel has been compared to Victorian-era novels like Jane Eyre.

* The Magician's Assistant by Ann Patchett-- this novel is about the things that we don't know about the people we think we know well. After her husband, the magician that she assisted, dies, the main character discovers he had a mother and sisters when he claimed he was an orphan.

* The Patron Saint of Liars by Ann Patchett-- this was the year I discovered Ann Patchett, who is one of the best authors I've read in awhile (she also wrote Bel Canto, which I don't think is her best novel even though it might be her most popular). This was her first novel and it felt a bit incomplete and unsatisfying, but it was intensely engrossing. Told from three points of view, it is the story of a woman who comes to a Catholic home for unwed mothers even though she is married, then stays for longer than she intended. As a psychologist-in-training, I loved the portrayal of a woman who is hindered by her need for secrecy and privacy.

So this year I resolve to write down all of the non-school books this year that I read. Hopefully this will help me remember the good ones so I can recommend them to others.