Category Archives: life

Book Club: Extreme Decisions

Posted on by

The Good: I’m starting a book club! It’s called, creatively enough, Contemporary Fiction Club (CFC to those in the know). At least for now anyhow…

The Bad: I’m floundering in impossible choices. A good book club is a lot of pressure!

What books should my fledgling book club read? My co-founder and I think focusing on contemporary fiction would be fun. But then, I’ve picked up some poor fiction choices lately. The book should obviously be well-written and discussion-worthy. Hopefully it will lure people of all kinds into thinking CFC is the best book club ever. I feel like this is an impossible decision, and important because I want everyone to come back. Any thoughts?

And then there’s the additional worry of how to handle the meetings. Should I have questions? Let people just talk?

All suggestions welcome. Also please note, despite the above pathetic ramblings, I’m actually hosting a lovely brilliant book club full of intelligent and fascinating discussion, so it would be the highlight of your literary life to come to our first meeting–Feb 2!

Matthew Barney and Bjork, and Facebook?

Posted on by

Matthew Barney, artist, and Bjork, musician, are a glam, hip celebrity couple. A tidbit on Art Fag City rumoured that Barney ‘Facebooked divorced’ Bjork. While it is amazing in that these cool adults update their relationship status like tweens across the world, it is probably completely untrue. Delicious bit of gossip though.

Barney is perhaps best known for his Cremaster cycle, and Bjork for her swan dress, erm vocal abilities. I’ve always been struck by how these unsteriotypical people, who seem very much outside of society’s narrow perscriptums, fulfill gender stereotypes.

Matthew Barney had a strong background in science and works rationally, methodically and precisely. The Cremaster cycle takes the cremaster muscle as the start of a biologically-based exploration of creation through a series of videos. Bjork, like her much of her singing, is emotionally-driven,intuitive, and wild. The New York Times captured this in a 2006 article:

“In person, they are sometimes strikingly different. Mr. Barney, 38, is friendly but detached and analytical, exuding a conceptual coolness that is reflected in his films…By contrast, Bjork, 40, who arrived alone for the interview in white rubber rain boots and a sweater with a knitted owl across the front, was animated and introspective. She said her music was always grounded in her life and her emotions…That often made collaboration with Mr. Barney a disorienting experience.”

For the record, I always liked the dress.

How do you get your books?

Posted on by

Not ‘how do you choose your books?’ but, how do you physically get books into your hands? People love Amazon’s prices and delivery to the door, and for many nothing beats the browsing through stacks at your favorite bookstore, whether it includes a Starbucks coffee while you browse brightly-lit Barnes & Nobles’ bestsellers or squeezing between dusty stacks of a locally-owned used bookshop. Neither of these options can compare to the public library.

The most prominent advantage is that the public library has no price tags. Worries over whether a book is worth 25 dollars aren’t a factor when the offensive item is free and returnable. You can check out and return many books at once, and browse them at your leisure. True, the library charges late fees, so eventually you have to give them back.

However, not owning books is an unappreciated advantage in itself. Most people only read a book once. A library of classics you return to is a great resource, but on the other hand, you can always check a book out again. Bookshelves are useless, inefficient storage spaces put on display in a way you would never show trunks of old clothing or holiday decorations. Once you buy a book, you are stuck with it; no amount of reasoning makes it seem ethical to simply throw it away, and books are often hard to give away.

As a space, a library offers distinct benefits, such as being undisturbed in public. They don’t play music and talking is discouraged. You can read or study in quiet, comfortable environment. Often, the library offers that hot commodity: free wireless Internet. You won’t find that in your typical bookstore where the cafe Internet is pay as you go.

Because of space, a public library is the best browsing. With typically more shelf space than a bookstore, you can pick up, flip through, and put down books for hours. Libraries carry older books than most bookstores, and have started carrying DVDs and magazines as well. Many libraries try to engage patrons in civic programs. They offer lectures as well as computer classes or book groups. Plus, a library is a great spot to drop off children, if only for story hour.

Manhattan’s New York Public Library (NYPL) system has changed the way I get books. The large research branches are housed in gorgeous public structures, and offer exhibitions as well as the civic programs of smaller libraries. The small branch libraries don’t always have that extensive browsing quality, but they offer another feature that makes life so easy: delivery. Not to your home, but to the library of your choosing. On the NYPL website, you can search their collection and order books and DVDs, and they will let you know when they are available for pick up via email. NYPL’s online service enables you to renew online and view due dates and late fee as do many libraries, but you can also keep a list of books that you would like to read at some point. The collection includes DVDs of smaller or older films that the local video store simple doesn’t have. With libraries in every neighborhood, books have never been easier to come by.