(Note: I wrote this post Tuesday night and then forgot to hit publish. Was tired.)

Driving to the movies tonight, I spent a good 20 minutes driving in a sunshower… it was hot, the A/C was cranked, the sun visor was down because I was being blinded, and the windshield wipers were at the medium speed setting because it was a goodly amount of precipitation. I tried to see if I was on the leading edge of a storm cloud because all I could espy ahead of me and around me were fluffy clouds with sunlight streaming through them.

In the end, I thought to myself, “The rain must be coming from the next cloud over. The one I can’t see.”

I realize this is usually the case.

I’m putting together a list of books I plan on buying so that I don’t end up buying three previously unplanned books next time I go to the bookstore. This list is being placed in my new Moleskine notebook (softcover this time) since that way I know I’ll have it with me.

Some would say, “Eva, you’re not a technophobe or Luddite. Why don’t you just save them as a memo in your cell phone?” You know, I could do that. But I like writing things down in my notebook. I like being able to flip it right open and know what I’m looking for instead of navigating through the phone menus and whatnot.

So far on the list:

• Buying In: The Secret Dialogue Between What We Buy and Who We Are by Rob Walker
• The Yiddish Policeman’s Union by Michael Chabon
• New Moon or Twilight by Stephenie Meyer (this series of vampire novels is HUGE young adult hits. Movie coming soon. I need to read one and see if they live up to the hype)
• The Road by Cormac McCarthy - NOT THE OPRAH’S BOOK CLUB EDITION. Seriously. I might end up ordering the British version through abebooks or alibris if I can’t locate an untainted copy.
• The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Diaz (paperback 9/2/08)

I’ve also got a few good recommendations which I’m writing down (The Outcast by Sadies Jones and A Summer of Hummingbirds by Christopher Benfey), but I’ll wait for the paperbacks on those. I prefer trade paperbacks. It’s a thing (charming quirk?) I have.

While the point of this list is to prevent me from buying far more books than I need, I want to be easy on myself. The whole magic of bookstores (which doesn’t exist in the online environment) is the chance you’ll find that unplanned purchase… the serendipitous discovery that introduces you to an author you didn’t know before or helps you find your new favorite book. That has only ever really happened for me when I’ve let myself get lost wandering the fiction section (though it’s happened in others, too).

The point is that seeing an interesting title or cover will prompt me to pick the book up off the shelf or table - and that’s something that just won’t happen on Amazon. I won’t spend an hour looking at EVERY SINGLE BOOK on the site. I WILL, however, spend an hour looking at EVERY SINGLE BOOK on a bookstore shelf written by someone with a last name beginning with M, N, O or P (for example).

And that’s how I end up with far too many books. I need to start going through my collection and unloading the retired books (I dare not call them unwanted) from my library and getting them out into the world where they might provide happiness to others. I won’t do the BookCrossing thing yet, either since some might be OK for a library and with a large quantity, bookcrossing might be difficult to do. I’d like to just fill up a shopping bag and bring them somewhere and say, “HERE. FREE!”

But I’ve had several friends request that I provide them with a list of what I’m planning on chucking since they might want first dibs. It’s nice to know that they trust my taste even that much. It’s a bit dicey with reading since I’ll read almost anything (almost) and that usually means that my more genre-minded friends will end up disappointed, as will my more literary-minded friends.

YES, I enjoyed both The Satanic Verses and Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban equally. Strange, but true. I recognize them both for what they are and enjoy them accordingly. Rushdie for his use of language and imagery and humor… Rowling for the enthralling world she created and her sense of the fantastical.

This is turning into a bit of a soapbox piece. I think I’m just hungry - and a hungry Polak is an angry Polak, as my mother oft quips at family dinners. I went walking after work with my friend/co-worker and I’m now ravenous. But I can only think about soup and toast since my stomach is a little uncertain.

I’m finally getting a bit caught up on my RSS feeds. I haven’t had much time or desire to read through, so there are literally thousands of posts to read. Some are just getting skipped since they’re from before I went on vacation in late April. However, here are some things I found interesting, compelling, or otherwise worth sharing:

1. A three-dimensional exploration of Pablo Picasso’s Guernica.
2. Craftzine’s instructions on decorating office supplies with fabric.
3. A product that appeals to me in so many ways: a gizmo that creates perfectly spherical ice “cubes” - or, um, ice spheres, I guess.
4. An article in The New Yorker (via Bella Sugar) about how even Dove’s “real beauty” ad campaign makes liberal use of photo retouching done by a premiere photo retoucher who works for all the big magazines and ad agencies. Not surprising, but f’ed up nonetheless.
5. A post from BiblioAddict about buying a book for its cover. It’s saying basically what I was going to say about Michael Chabon’s Maps and Legends. I bought this book for the dustjacket (or jackets - there are three, ingeniously designed and cut to produce a stunning package). I also really liked The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay, and the first 60 pages of this (his first non-fiction) book are phenomenal. I’ll pick up The Yiddish Policeman’s Union next week since it’s in paperback now and is supposed to be fantastic, as well. But really, look at Maps and Legends:
   

Yesterday, my friend Sara called me to tell me about a used book sale going on in the next town over. She’d gone earlier and acquired a treasure-trove of beautiful old books for a total of $1.75 ($1 and $2 books for 50 and 75% off!)

Well, I went this morning before heading off to ComicCon, and they were having a bag sale—all the books you could carry in a paper shopping bag would cost you $5 (it was a fundraiser for a local school). Here’s what I brought home (minus one that I gave to my sister):

There are some I’ve heard of and some I’ve never heard of and bought because they looked like an interesting read from a time long gone and are probably long since out of print. To start, there is this gem from one of my favorite wits of all time, George Bernard Shaw (a 1928 publication):

I’m not sure if it’s a serious work or not… that time period was rife with things that would sound misogynistic these days but which were considered quite complimentary almost 100 years ago. I guess we’ll see just how intelligent a woman I am.

The purple cover below just made me smile - a combination of the title, the illustration… the whole cover treatment. Amusing. And it’s from 1909!

Then I found this very cool 1944 edition of Crime and Punishment. I love the embossing on the cover.

I have to admit that I bought this next book for the novelty of the title and the cool logo action. It’s from 1924…

And an interior that removes any possibility of having stumbled across interesting 1920’s erotica… I don’t think “happy ending” had taken on a lewd secondary meaning yet at that point.

And the Tempestuous Petticoat from this post’s title? Well, that’s from 1948, surprisingly. But I love this illustration.

I’m going to sit here for a bit enjoying the look and feel of these. Maybe I’ll even start reading one once I finish obsessing…

…since I’ve mentioned my obsessive reading habit. It’s still here; it’s just sometimes a bit overwhelming to write about reading because I do a LOT of it. A LOT.

And I’m not really good at writing about reading. I can analyze ’til the cows come home and write you a lengthy paper performing a close-reading of three lines from Hamlet - but I’m not a good reviewer. This is something I’ve come to terms with and can accept.

Instead, I’ll just mention two books I read this week, quote a bit from them, and make note of the fact that I really really enjoyed them. Good? OK.

Book the first: Nabokov’s Invitation to a Beheading. One of my greatest regrets from college is that I wasn’t able to take the Nabokov colloquium that NYU offered, like, once every two years. I took the James Joyce colloquium and that was great - but Nabokov does rate higher than Joyce on my literary love list.

So, Invitation to a Beheading is pure Nabokov in terms of his use of language and voice; the plot, however, is allegorical and surreal in a very Kafka-esque way. The very first line of the novel is the pronouncement of the death sentence for the protagonist - from there, it’s a psychological exploration of that waiting game. He knows he’s going to be executed, but doesn’t know where or when, and the cast of characters surrounding him (prison guards, lawyers, fellow prisoners) serve only to frustrate him further and drive him to lunacy.

It’s hilarious, frustrating as hell because you’re in the same boat as Cincinnatus (the protagonist), and I enjoyed it thoroughly. There’s a great segment where the narrator calls attention to our process of reading the book:

So we are coming to the end. The right-hand, still untasted part of the novel, which, during our delectable reading, we would lightly feel, mechanically testing whether there were still plenty left (and our fingers were always gladdened by the placid, faithful thickness) has suddenly, for no reason at all, become quite meager: a few minutes of quick reading, already downhill…

I found myself smiling while reading that passage since I do read that way; feeling ahead with my right hand and deriving pleasure from feeling that there are yet pages and pages to read. This isn’t the only reason to enjoy it–there’s a gem of some sort on every page (IMHO). But I really enjoy Nabokov.

Then there’s Paul Auster. He’s another one–I’ve enjoyed everything I’ve ever read by him. And I’ve read a good bit. Not everything yet, though. That’s a goal. The most recent thing I read was Oracle Night which I purchased at The Strand a couple of weeks ago. I started reading it on Saturday night and finished up on the train today.

But I’m realizing that I should hold off on the Auster-love for tonight and hit the hay since I have an early morning tomorrow…

• Violet is a repository of beautiful things. They sent me a “Penmanship” themed newsletter last week… and I am in absolute lust with these two items:

On the left, Cards for a Year… “40 cards and 42 envelopes. Each card is imprinted with an icon; text inside the card states the occasion.” Simple… perfect. I love the look and feel of these types of cards - just heavy white cardstock with a single iconic image. It plays right into my esthetic.

On the right, Punctuation Cards. Each card has punctuation marks letter-pressed onto it in bright colors. Striking!

• Then, there’s the new Portishead CD, “Third.” It’s been my soundtrack for the car/train/walk/computer since Saturday afternoon. It releases on April 28th, but some songs have been circulating on music blogs - and here are two that are in my top 4 from the album (so far):

  Portishead - Machine Gun
  

  Portishead -We Carry On
  

• Portishead will be performing at Coachella. So will a plethora of other musical acts I enjoy. Luckily, I will be attending Coachella, so I will get to benefit from all of these musical acts I enjoy performing in once place over a span of three days. Here’s another band I am looking forward to seeing - Cut Copy. They’ve a very retro 80’s feel to them which I enjoy… it’s not world-changing, but it’s fun. Especially around the 1:14 mark. I might be posting sample songs from several of other bands over the next few days:

  Cut Copy - Future
  

• I finally acted on the LibraryThing early reviewer email that I get every month and decided to throw my name in the hat for a few review copies of forthcoming books. I got an email today notifying me that I will be receiving one of them: Love Marriage by V.V. Ganeshananthan. It sounds right up my alley.

“‘In this globe-scattered Sri Lankan family, we speak of only two kinds of marriage. The first is the Arranged Marriage. The second is the Love Marriage. In reality, there is a whole spectrum in between, but most of us spend years running away from the first toward the second.’
The daughter of Sri Lankan immigrants who left their collapsing country and married in America, Yalini finds herself caught between the traditions of her ancestors and the lure of her own modern world. But when she is summoned to Toronto to help care for her dying uncle, Kumaran, a former member of the militant Tamil Tigers, Yalini is forced to see that violence is not a relic of the Sri Lankan past, but very much a part of her Western present. … (show rest)

While Kumaran’s loved ones gather around him to say goodbye, Yalini traces her family’s roots—and the conflicts facing them as ethnic Tamils—through a series of marriages. Now, as Kumaran’s death and his daughter’s politically motivated nuptials edge closer, Yalini must decide where she stands.

Lyrical and innovative, V. V. Ganeshananthan’s novel brilliantly unfolds how generations of struggle both form and fractures families.”

• Here’s a super creative move: this spiffy perfume tester technique from Givenchy. Elegant, eye-catching, and a bit unusual: ribbon. Three styles of ribbon, actually, each pre-printed with the name of the three fragrances in this new line (which they’re treating like a wine - complete with a vintage). Long enough that you can tie it around your wrist/hair/purse strap.

The fragrances themselves are a bit too strong, too floral and too “my summer mink is at the cleaners” for me (and I realize that that might mean something different to different people… I guess it’s my shorthand for something that’s cloyingly sweet and reminds me of extremely wealthy older women).

And yes, I did actually hear a woman utter that sentence once upon a time. It was surreal.

I’ve been playing with the camera. And reading about it. And taking pictures of various things in my bedroom. Like my books.

I will have to tell the story of Boston and such soon. But tonight, I was in the mood to play with Photoshop.

Voila. New header.

And I’m really loving my newest book purchase - Nabokov’s “Invitation to a Beheading.” I should finish it off tonight since I didn’t have my train commute today to do my reading.

A week or two ago, I heard a short interview with Harold McGee on my local public radio station - WNYC. The audio is available online here. McGee is a food scientist; his book “On Food and Cooking” is sort of the bible of molecular gastronomy and general foodie craziness (it’s been around for 20+ years and was completely revised and updated in 2004). I was fascinated by that short clip (where he spoke with my favorite public radio host, Soterios Johnson) about the chemistry of forcing water into rice and pasta, cooking sous-vide, and the window of time to cook something to perfect doneness.

So I ordered it from Amazon because it seemed right up my alley. It arrived earlier this week and it just makes me feel all powerful flipping through the pages (which, incidentally, feel really nice. Good paper choice, production folks at Scribner/Simon & Schuster!)

I’ve been flipping around and reading the chapters/sections that capture my interest: the milk and dairy section gave me a better understanding of cheeses and the differences between ice cream, custard (ice cream + egg yolk) and gelato (custard with more butterfat). The chapter on eggs opens with the answer to, “What came first? The chicken or the egg?” (appropriate for today, I suppose). His answer: eggs existed long before chickens did—he sides with Samuel Butler who said, “a chicken is just an egg’s way of making another egg.”

Interesting stuff on muscle fibers and how they determine whether meat is light or dark, judging doneness of meat by feel, the chemistry behind the onion’s tear-producing skills (a sulfur compound known as the “lacrimator”—lacrimose means tearful) which is essentially a molecular bomb that hits the nerve endings of our eyes and breaks down into hydrogen sulfide, sulfur dioxide and sulfuric acid. Yes, the same sulfuric acid that we would add to sugar in high school chemistry class to create a pillar of stinky black carbon in a beaker. It’s also the same stuff that will burst into flames if a 100% pure piece of it comes in contact with air - it reacts violently with water, so the moisture in the air does that. A 98% pure piece of it will burn through paper just by touching it. Fun stuff. And that’s what makes us cry when we’re cutting onions.

I skipped past the fruit chapter for now and am about to start Chapter 8 –”Flavorings from Plants: Herbs and Spices, Tea and Coffee.” Mmm.

Easter breakfast with the family is finished (I made a kick-ass Asparagus and Leek Frittata - except we didn’t have leeks or shiitake mushrooms, so I used scallions, onion and red peppers instead. It worked out OK.) Yay, food!

For the next month, Neil Gaiman’s novel, American Gods, will be available in its entirety to read online, for free.

This free book would’ve beaten the Oprah/Suze Orman free book to the punch (in terms of availability) had it not been for the fact that readers actually voted to select which of Neil Gaiman’s books Harper should make available online. Democracy in action.

American Gods is a good one. I voted for Neverwhere, but this would’ve been my second choice if that was an option.

Check it out. It’s good stuff. And here’s the post announcing it on his blog with a few words from Mr. Gaiman about the whole idea.