Next Pick!

Kayla announces December's book choice. I am making all kinds of strange faces in the background. I didn't realize I was so expressive...

Next pick is Ready Player One by Ernest Cline. For lazier parties, I've pasted the Goodreads summary below.

It’s the year 2044, and the real world is an ugly place. 

Like most of humanity, Wade Watts escapes his grim surroundings by spending his waking hours jacked into the OASIS, a sprawling virtual utopia that lets you be anything you want to be, a place where you can live and play and fall in love on any of ten thousand planets. 

And like most of humanity, Wade dreams of being the one to discover the ultimate lottery ticket that lies concealed within this virtual world. For somewhere inside this giant networked playground, OASIS creator James Halliday has hidden a series of fiendish puzzles that will yield massive fortune—and remarkable power—to whoever can unlock them.   

For years, millions have struggled fruitlessly to attain this prize, knowing only that Halliday’s riddles are based in the pop culture he loved—that of the late twentieth century. And for years, millions have found in this quest another means of escape, retreating into happy, obsessive study of Halliday’s icons. Like many of his contemporaries, Wade is as comfortable debating the finer points of John Hughes’s oeuvre, playing Pac-Man, or reciting Devo lyrics as he is scrounging power to run his OASIS rig.

And then Wade stumbles upon the first puzzle.

Suddenly the whole world is watching, and thousands of competitors join the hunt—among them certain powerful players who are willing to commit very real murder to beat Wade to this prize. Now the only way for Wade to survive and preserve everything he knows is to win. But to do so, he may have to leave behind his oh-so-perfect virtual existence and face up to life—and love—in the real world he’s always been so desperate to escape. 
 
A world at stake.
A quest for the ultimate prize.
Are you ready?

Meeting Notes: Stargirl by Jerry Spinelli

We met to discuss Stargirl on Saturday night and, as usual, had way too much fun.

Melisa was sick and wasn't able to join us. I really missed her contributions and her contagious laugh.
Fortunately, we had two guest worms, Bridget and Kara. Bridget had a book club anxiety dream that she'd read the wrong book and was told not to speak. Of course this wasn't the case, but I found it so funny that I decided to include it here on the blog.

I made some star-themed treats.

{Kara} 

You can read about my baking fiasco here. I am too lazy and annoyed to retype it.

At least the cookies turned out.

And the drinks. Drinks are imperative for a successful book club. At least for us. I decided to make a modified crantini because a) I am a fan of vodka martinis (okay, vodka in general), and b) I thought they'd be festive. I also cooked up a big pot of glogg, which was pretty delicious.

{Kayla}

                        {Bess, Annabelle, and Marissa}

{Kayla and Bridget}

{Courtney: hostess}

Oh yes! And we talked about the book too! Read Bess's summary (below) for our reaction.

Stargirl was a quick, fun read. The book is aimed at young adults and middle school students, so it might be the "youngest" book we've read so far. We kept that it mind as we discussed the themes, but still it was  hard to get past the simplicity of some of the concepts. Stargirl is a sophomore in high school who names herself and changes it as she develops. She'd been home-schooled until the year the novel takes place in. The narrator and protagonist is actually Leo, a timid boy who falls for Stargirl but harbors complex feelings toward her. She mystifies, and to some extent delights, the whole school by singing Happy Birthday to students, practicing random acts of kindness, and cheering and dancing her way through sporting events. Leo is attracted to her free spirit, and soon they start going out. (We actually weren't sure why they liked each other at all, but they did.) Leo begins to wish she'd be more like everyone else, and finally, after the two of them become social pariahs (after she attends classmates' families' funerals and cheers for the opposing team), he tells her so. He tries to explain to her that she's not connected to others, which upsets her because she wants to be connected to the whole of the universe. That conversation and that topic was sort of interesting. If you are connected to the whole planet, can you be connected to individuals? Along the same lines, how close do you have to be to someone to let them share personal moments with you? I did like considering what the world would be like if we were fully connected, not just with all of humankind, but all the plants and animals and everything. Leo takes his come-to-Jesus talk a little too far, though, and soon Stargirl gives herself a "normal" makeover for him. 

We spent some time talking about whether Stargirl ever did anything that offensive or hurtful and why many of her actions even turned most (but not all) of us off. We also wondered if, in trying to be open-minded, the book equated normal with "bad" and weird with "good," which is a little simplistic. There were some nice passages about Stargirl (although some might have been a little cheesy) and some nice descriptions in general. I liked the scene with Stargirl in the dessert talking with her teacher and Leo about extinct animals and what footprints we all might leave behind. On the other hand, I felt like the book could have had more scenes and less explanation, but I wonder if the author did that on purpose because it was almost like everything was being viewed through the eyes of the whole school instead of an individual. I do think scenes can draw the reader in more though.

On the whole, we liked the book for what it was. 

Playlist for the night (nearly all of this music I've discovered through my awesome brother, Scott):

1. Sweet Jane: Cowboy Junkies
2. Welcome Home, Son: Radical Face
3. I've Got a Feeling: The Besnard Lakes
4. Wedding Bells: Lissie
5. Pursuit of Happiness: Lissie
6. New Tradition: Company
7. Lola: Cud
8. T.K.: Clinic
9. Seven Nation Army: Nostalgia 77
10. Crying: T.V. on the Radio
11. Little Girl: Dark Night of the Soul, featuring Julian Casablancas
12. I Walk the Earth: King Buscuit Time
13. Infinity Guitars: Sleigh Bells
14. Rill Rill: Sleigh Bells
15. Your Kisses Are Wasted on Me: The Pipettes
16. Seven Nation Army: Ben (L'Oncle Soul)
17. Can't Stand Me Now: The Libertines
18. Lights Out: Santogold
19. Single Ladies: Pomplamoose
20. Gangsta: tUnE-yArDs
21. That's My Bitch: Jay-Z and Kanye West
22. More Than a Feeling: Boston (this song doesn't totally fit in, but it got Bess singing)
23. No One's Gonna Love You: Cee-Lo Green
24. Stop Stomp-Stompin': The Coathangers
25. Whip It: Devo
26. Bad Reputation: The Hit Girls
27. Oh Bondage, Up Yours!:  X-Ray Spex
28. A Mihna Menina: Os Muntantes

Check back soon for details on our next read.

Straight Flossin'

After taking into account all of your input, I decided to stitch up Graeme Gibson's The Bedside Book of Beasts, A Wildlife Micellany.  I think I picked it over the others for a couple of reasons.  The color of the cover is so vibrant that I was really visually attracted to it,  so I hoped other people would be as well.  But also, this cover art already had a really wonderful stitchy look to it, so it was begging to be turned into an embroidery.  And come on, don't you love the name?  It sounds a little naughty.  Rawr!

Go check out all the other entries in the Covered in Stitches Contest.  There are so many amazing interpretations of all sorts of books.  Even though you can't actually vote, go show me some love.  I ain't too proud to beg!     

Becoming Someone Else

Have you ever wanted to Become Someone Else?  With Halloween around the corner, I'm already starting to think about who I'd like to be.  The Lithuanian Ad agency, Love, created this unique campaign for the bookstore Mint Vinetu.  They said,

"When one reads books, he/she starts living it and identifies (or not) with main hero. These print ads for the Mint Vinetu bookstore, which sells lots of classics, focuses on the idea of becoming someone else. And provokes people to try on different personas."

Who would you be?  I'm drawn to Hamlet.  

Opinions Please

Do you guys remember the fancy stitched book covers by Jillian Tamaki that I posted about awhile back? I am extremely excited because one of my favorite blogs, Feeling Stitchy, is hosting a competition to make your own stitchy renditions of book covers.  I think Melisa and I are both going to give it a go.  I've been scouring the internet for possible book choices and have a few narrowed down.  I would love opinions from everyone about which of these they would like to see stitched up.  Which one would you choose?  I reserve the right to make the final decision, but really want to hear what you think.  I am also open to other suggestions if anyone has any really beautiful or intricate book covers that they love.  These are my picks.  I won't tell you which one I'm leaning towards.

And the next book is...

I know. You've been dying to hear what we're reading next. Melisa announces it in the short video below. Check it out.

Too lazy to watch a 30 second Youtube video (Christina)? Fine. The next pick is Joshua Mohr's Termite Parade. I'll link a New York Times review here for interested parties. If the book is bad, blame Melisa. Just kidding. But seriously, read with us! We absolutely love the fact that we've got some virtual book-clubbers. It's made this whole thing even more fun (if that's even possible).

This cover kind of sicks me out. What do you think of it?
Grab a copy at the local library and get to reading. Due date = September 17th. I'm already excited.

Bookworms unite!

Embroidered Book Covers

How amazing are these book covers? I especially love this idea because it combines my two nerdiest habits of reading and stitching. They are absolutely gorgeous, and available next month!

Though the artist, Jillian Tamaki, does not yet have a shop, you should be able to purchase them here this fall.