Just a note to remind you that today is the last day to enter the Cafe Press giveaway, wherein the winner selects $50 worth of merchandise, and gets free international shipping as well!
Please note: Eastern European Reading Challenge participants are NOT automatically entered,
you must still leave a comment to enter.
A few book recommendations:
The Birds by Tarjei Vesaas, a Scandinavian literary fiction title that is really amazing. I hesitated to review it here, as it's difficult to find; however, if you are up for a search for a subtle, quiet, yet tension-filled character study, it's well worth your efforts. The title was recommended to me by Peter Geye, author of
Safe From The Sea.
The gist of the story is a competent but lonely woman caring for her mentally-challenged younger brother in rural Norway. The story is told through his eyes, and how he interprets events that occur in their life is fascinating. As a stranger enters the scene, things change that he cannot understand, leading to a disturbing and compelling conflict. An excellent novel....
I'm currently reading Thomas Bernhard's
Prose, which could be subtitled,
Really Smart Guys Who Think Far Too Much. It's a German translation that has been mentioned on numerous literary sites...I find myself giggling and grieving for the people in this complicated little collection of seven short stories. As far as I can tell, they aren't linked, but I'm only half way through it. A great read so far, with lots of word play and symbolism throughout.
Additionally, two great giveaways coming up in March...stay tuned for an international giveaway of
Wave of Terror from Theodore Odrach, and a new US-only giveaway for Algonquin's latest title,
West of Here.
By the way, are you nerdy enough to have a favorite font? Prefer a sans-serif font? Do you even know what a serif is? If you fit that geeky description (as I do), you might find this article to be particularly interesting in regard to how you retain information based on what font you are reading---
http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2011/01/the-benefit-of-ugly-fonts/
Lastly, for a laugh, check out the fake trailer for a fake British movie from last week's Saturday Night Live...as a fan of British crime shoes, this one killed us:
http://collider.com/bill-hader-russell-brand-fake-british-trailer/76128/
Oops! One more thing....came across a list of "Rules" for a college art department:
Corita Kent's Rules and Hints for Students and Teachers. An excellent set of ideas that could be beneficial to just about anyone...the best:
- find a place you trust and then try trusting it awhile
- consider everything an experiment
- nothing is a mistake, there's no win and no fail, there's only make
- don't try to create and analyze at the same time, they are different processes
- be happy whenever you can, manage it. Enjoy yourself, it's lighter than you think.
Love the book cover for Prose - it's so odd. Interesting write-up.
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