tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-49418074215069734932024-03-13T08:11:43.693-07:00There's Always SomethingAndreahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03056498707464063744noreply@blogger.comBlogger209125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4941807421506973493.post-79493386300125483712015-02-23T18:26:00.000-08:002015-02-23T18:26:04.187-08:00Farewell, Pawnee: The Essential Parks and Recreation<div class="MsoNormal">
As the final season of NBC’s critically acclaimed comedy
draws to a close (with more of a whimper than a bang, it must be mentioned, as
the network has been churning out two new episodes per week in an incredibly
transparent effort to clear the way for more reality TV), it’s more than worth
taking a look back at some of the moments, the magic, and of course the
laughter the show has provided in its seven season run.<o:p></o:p></div>
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I’m going to try and narrow it down my recommendations to one episode per
season, for those who don’t have unlimited time to binge-watch (or
re-binge-watch). <o:p></o:p></div>
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<b>Season 1: "The Banquet"<o:p></o:p></b></div>
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I think most people’s instinct for the sometimes painfully
awkward first season is to ignore it completely, or to name “Rock Show” (the
season-ender) as their favorite. But if “Rock Show” is the biggest indicator of
the better show to come in season 2, that progress is because of the notes the writers
and actors hit during “The Banquet.” This episode, number 5 of 6, has a
little bit of everything we’ve come to know and love – Leslie’s early
insecurity and need for her mother’s approval, Ron and his love affair with all
things meat, Tom being his best schmoozy self, and even some character
development thrown in for good measure (this is the episode where Ann begins to
realize her relationship with Andy is headed for a dead end; when Mark seems to
see the sadness of his bachelor lifestyle; and of course when Leslie and Ann
realize that best friendship does come with the occasional dispute, and a need
for honesty). It’s also got Leslie being mistaken for a man all night at the
titular banquet because she’s gotten herself a “political powerhouse” hairstyle
for the evening, so there’s that.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<b>Season Two: "The
Master Plan"<o:p></o:p></b></div>
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Loathe though I am to give Rob Lowe any kind of credit, the
arrival of his Chris Traeger and Adam Scott’s Ben Wyatt really did complete
<i>Parks</i> in a way I hadn’t fully realized it needed. These two new characters
show up in Pawnee right on the brink of Leslie’s anticipated triumph in this
episode, wherein she is preparing a proposal for Pawnee’s “master plan” for the
upcoming fiscal year. Unfortunately the two are state auditors, there to slash
the very budget Leslie is hoping to utilize to build her park. She immediately
can’t abide Ben in particular, which in obvious sitcom fashion must mean
(spoiler alert!) they will eventually fall in love. Oh, and it’s worth
mentioning that this episode also features some fantastic comedic moments with
April and Andy (and Ben Schwartz’s Jean Ralphio).<o:p></o:p></div>
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<b>Season Three: TIE – "Fancy Party", "The Fight"<o:p></o:p></b></div>
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Season three is when the show really found its groove, so obviously I can’t pick just one episode to recommend. "Fancy Party" features
April and Andy’s surprise wedding, and apart from having a soft spot for them,
it’s just a very unexpectedly charming event. Everyone comes together to
celebrate without questioning the rushed nature of the nuptials – everyone except
Leslie, but even she eventually comes around. <o:p></o:p></div>
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"The Fight", on the other hand, features a far less pleasant
party. Everyone converges on the Snakehole Lounge (“The Sexiest and Most
Dangerous club in Pawnee”) to support Tom, who has invented his own alcohol. As
you might expect, this is a terrible idea, as the drink’s potency leads to a
range of shenanigans, most notably Ann and Leslie’s biggest fight to date. It’s
played both hilariously and relatably by Amy Poehler and Rashida Jones, and the
supporting cast provides just enough comic relief to take the edge off. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<b>Season Four: "Win, Lose, or Draw"</b><o:p></o:p></div>
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I’m recommending the season finale for the 4<sup>th</sup>
season not because it’s the most standout episode, but because Parks’ fourth season is the most cohesive, narrative-wise, with each episode building on the
last, chapters in an overarching story following Leslie’s campaign for city council. Thus it all culminates in “Win,
Lose, or Draw” wherein we see all of the hard work and support put in by
Leslie’s team pay off in a big way. I won’t lie to you, I cried at the end of
this episode, and you might too.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<b>Season Five: "Emergency
Response"<o:p></o:p></b></div>
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While it’s very tempting to pick “Ben and Leslie” (I just
love everything about the two of them together, okay?!), I didn’t think this
list needed TWO wedding episodes. I’ve therefore selected the episode preceding
their wedding, “Emergency Response.” This episode has Leslie at her finest
crazy, aided and abetted by the gang as they try to cope with a hypothetical
city-wide emergency situation. It also features Ron's fabulous turn on Joan Calamezzo's show, doling advice out to Pawnee's citizens.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<b>Season Six: "Moving Up"<o:p></o:p></b></div>
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Picking the season finale again, not because every episode
of the sixth season is equally strong, but because most of them are a little
weak, in a way I have some trouble articulating. There was just something
missing from the back half of season six, and it took the finale (both the
storyline and the rebooting time jump) to really pull me back in. "Moving Up" has a bunch of blink-and-you'll-miss-them call back to earlier moments in the show's history, and an intriguing scene from 2017 that bucks the show's usual tradition of tying things up neatly at season's end. This is an episode that could've been a series-ender itself, but instead became the framework for season seven, which has proven both innovative and heartwarming. <o:p></o:p></div>
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I haven't picked a favorite episode for season seven yet, mostly because I don't think I'm ready to acknowledge that the journey's almost over. Saying goodbye to a long-running show is, for a TV lover like myself, a uniquely bittersweet experience. One thing I'm happy about as a viewer is that <i>Parks and Recreation </i>has been given the chance to go out on their terms, something that didn't seem possible back in the early stages of its tenure, when premature cancellation seemed inevitable. I know a lot of people who, like myself, have come to consider this their go-to "happy" show, pulling up an episode on days when they just need to smile for a few minutes. I think people underestimate the amount of diligent, dedicated work that has gone into this show over the past seven years, and how much everyone who's a part of it cares about the fans, the characters, and just telling the best story possible. This is a show that has taught us that following your dreams isn't necessarily a fool's errand - after all, we began this journey with one woman and her ambition to build a park. Seeing how far Leslie and the gang have come has been hilarious, entertaining, and just so rewarding. Thank you, <i>Parks</i> team, and thank you, NBC, for letting us share in that joy for as long as you did. </div>
Andreahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03056498707464063744noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4941807421506973493.post-14226652644764111242015-01-27T17:53:00.000-08:002015-01-27T17:53:09.434-08:00Book Review: Suspicion Nation by Lisa Bloom<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjto_PHjL908tcLxdLxYxkkAi6x1A7XGlYhG-e8fClUEnpi_OXZteTTUasHy7-NPCtdV0_llDvDJMN2TWUOwqMeFnewxRZE4cQ8_K2nws_Hv5hRAHNO8J-EwPquo90Vj9oxMbG2AaqwAvpV/s1600/sn.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjto_PHjL908tcLxdLxYxkkAi6x1A7XGlYhG-e8fClUEnpi_OXZteTTUasHy7-NPCtdV0_llDvDJMN2TWUOwqMeFnewxRZE4cQ8_K2nws_Hv5hRAHNO8J-EwPquo90Vj9oxMbG2AaqwAvpV/s1600/sn.jpg" /></a></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br class="kix-line-break" /></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">If you’re going to read one book about the sad state of race relations in America, you should probably read Michelle Alexander’s </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 15px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The New Jim Crow</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> (I don’t think Lisa Bloom would begrudge me that, since she recommends the book herself). But if you’re going to read </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 15px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">two </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">books about race in America - and given the current state of affairs, it certainly couldn’t hurt - you should absolutely pick up a copy of </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 15px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Suspicion Nation </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">by civil rights attorney Lisa Bloom.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The book is an exploration of the new brand of racism in America, tracing its course from something that was blatant and almost a point of pride for some bigots (think George Wallace), to something subtler and, in many ways, just as sinister. Our racial prejudices have become so internalized, so institutionalized, that they are part of daily life and a routine aspect of the criminal justice system. Bloom uses the tragic case of Trayvon Martin to illustrate just how the fears and suspicions we keep (involuntarily, in some cases) in the secret corners of our minds can affect our viewpoints, our judgment, and can be the deciding factor between life and death. George Zimmerman wasn’t acquitted because it was successfully proven that he wasn’t a racist; he was acquitted because his perspective of the world, colored in prejudices he might not even be able to articulate or acknowledge, was shared by his attorneys, the prosecution, and the majority of the jury members who elected not to punish him for Trayvon’s murder.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">What </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 15px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Suspicion Nation</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> succeeds at is pinpointing precisely why the Zimmerman verdict feels like a punch in the gut. It’s not just because a murderer escaped justice (that, sadly, happens all the time); it’s that an entirely winnable case was lost due largely to a refusal to address our nation’s race problem. Trayvon Martin was denied justice because it was absurdly easy to persuade the six female jurors that an unarmed seventeen year old constitutes a threat simply based on his race.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">In the first half of the book Bloom walks through the case step by step, providing an idiot-proof guide to how this trial ought to have been conducted and the numerous places the prosecution went wrong. She highlights the alternative, more logical approach a better prosecutor might have taken, providing suggestions and analysis that make you wish fervently that she’d been the one in that courtroom advocating for Trayvon, the only person in the case who could not speak for himself.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The sheer number of times the prosecutors dropped the ball is disheartening, to put it mildly. And while Bloom refuses to speculate that this incompetence might have been deliberate, I’m not entirely convinced. Basic facts were ignored every step of the way, and game-changing arguments that could have turned the tide (and the jury) against Zimmerman were thrown completely out the window. The jury, which ought to have been a carefully selected group of individuals with no prior knowledge of the case, was littered with preconceived notions about not only race and the nature of Florida’s laws, but about Trayvon and Zimmerman themselves. The state needed only to find six individuals who could go into the trial with the ability to listen impartially to the evidence, and it seems they failed even at that, which may have sunk them long before they were able to selectively and sloppily present the facts of the case.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The logic of dismissing race as a factor is beyond me. Yes, I can understand that intent is difficult to prove in many cases – you can hardly crack open a defendant’s brain and see what they were thinking at the time of the crime—but in this case intent was a crucial part of the case and, Bloom argues, fairly easily proven. The defense claimed, and the jury believed, that all that mattered in the altercation between Trayvon and Zimmerman was “who was on top and who was on the bottom.” This is a factor, to be sure, but then so is the fact that the altercation would not have existed in the first place if Zimmerman hadn’t followed Trayvon, if the teenager hadn’t suspected he was in danger, and if Zimmerman didn’t have a demonstrated history of expressing suspicion toward members of the black community. The prosecution had evidence supporting all this, by the way; they simply failed to use it. As an amateur who has yet to see the inside of a law classroom, even I can see that this was at best negligence, and at worst a determined obfuscation of the facts so the narrative would conform to Zimmerman’s side of the story.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Bloom interjects at several key points to lay out a hypothetical prosecution strategy so simple that a pair of trained monkeys likely could have pulled it off. So why couldn’t the state’s team of prosecutors? While Bloom generously pleads the fifth on a real answer to this query, I have a different one: was it a question of </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 15px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">can’t </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">or </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 15px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">won’t</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">? It seems only too clear that even the prosecutors ostensibly trying to prove Zimmerman guilty couldn’t completely dismiss the notion that his suspicion of a young black man was reasonable. And that question of reasonableness, Bloom emphasizes, was the key to unlocking the self-defense argument. </span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6TiXol0xZ_j5_GKEniGS4YxJo6HOYQ6_EFiXfNrtBLdeOaN2ubrpWvd-fJtLOZ89hYPSfiqians9Xuz1CeahY4eqWeEbCbBCVUT9Y9O50K99IpwyGGyFtMIN62ZAV1XYrg8Cw4jlJEPWA/s1600/1.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6TiXol0xZ_j5_GKEniGS4YxJo6HOYQ6_EFiXfNrtBLdeOaN2ubrpWvd-fJtLOZ89hYPSfiqians9Xuz1CeahY4eqWeEbCbBCVUT9Y9O50K99IpwyGGyFtMIN62ZAV1XYrg8Cw4jlJEPWA/s1600/1.png" height="213" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.1500000000000001; margin-bottom: 10pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">If you’re like me, this book will make you angry. You’ll page through it torn between disbelief and the kind of rage that makes you want to shake someone, perhaps the prosecutors, and tell them to wake up and smell the racial profiling. But after you’ve finished reading, you’ll be haunted by it, by the specter of buried prejudice that exists in every corner of society. The media, the government, your friends and family, even yourself – when it comes down to it none of us is completely innocent of experiencing traces of the ‘suspicion’ Bloom details. The book’s conclusion acknowledges that we have a long road ahead of us when it comes to repairing this damage, but it also ends on a note of hope that we can and will repair the damage we’ve done:</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“We can prevent our country from making the same mistake by deciding that the scourges of racial bias and rampant gun violence are intolerable, and that the life of each of our children, every single one, matters and is worthy of our passionate protection” (297).</span></div>
<span id="docs-internal-guid-ceb9cf55-2e38-473d-b2e0-5aec27ca9e59"><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Let’s hope she’s right.</span></span>Andreahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03056498707464063744noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4941807421506973493.post-63495414433192126642014-12-03T19:56:00.000-08:002014-12-03T19:56:49.939-08:00The First Step is Admitting There's a Problem: Why We Need to Build a New America<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<br />
I'd like to share a scene from "The Newsroom" that feels just as relevant today as it did two years ago when it aired. This is the very first scene from the very first episode, and you can watch it at <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=icmTJuxI5dc">this link</a> if you'd prefer watching it to reading.<br />
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A student asks what makes America the world's greatest country, and Will dodges the question with glib answers. But the moderator keeps needling him until...snap.</div>
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<strong>Will</strong><br />It's not the greatest country in the world, professor, that's my answer.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 10px; margin-top: 10px;">
<strong>Moderator</strong><br /><em>[pause] </em>You're saying—</div>
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<strong>Will</strong><br />Yes.</div>
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<strong>Moderator</strong><br />Let's talk about—</div>
</blockquote>
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<strong>Will</strong><br />Fine. <em>[to the liberal panelist]</em> Sharon, the NEA is a loser. Yeah, it accounts for a penny out of our paychecks, but he<em> [gesturing to the conservative panelist] </em>gets to hit you with it anytime he wants. It doesn't cost money, it costs votes. It costs airtime and column inches. You know why people don't like liberals? Because they lose. If liberals are so fuckin' smart, how come they lose so GODDAMN ALWAYS?</div>
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And <em>[to the conservative panelist] </em>with a straight face, you're going to tell students that America's so star-spangled awesome that we're the only ones in the world who have freedom? Canada has freedom, Japan has freedom, the UK, France, Italy, Germany, Spain, Australia, Belgium has freedom. Two hundred seven sovereign states in the world, like 180 of them have freedom.</div>
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And you—sorority girl—yeah—just in case you accidentally wander into a voting booth one day, there are some things you should know, and one of them is that there is absolutely no evidence to support the statement that we're the greatest country in the world. We're seventh in literacy, twenty-seventh in math, twenty-second in science, forty-ninth in life expectancy, 178th in infant mortality, third in median household income, number four in labor force, and number four in exports. We lead the world in only three categories: number of incarcerated citizens per capita, number of adults who believe angels are real, and defense spending, where we spend more than the next twenty-six countries combined, twenty-five of whom are allies. None of this is the fault of a 20-year-old college student, but you, nonetheless, are without a doubt, a member of the WORST-period-GENERATION-period-EVER-period, so when you ask what makes us the greatest country in the world, <em>I don't know what the fuck you're talking about?! Yosemite?!!!</em></div>
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We sure used to be. We stood up for what was right! We fought for moral reasons, we passed and struck down laws for moral reasons. We waged wars on poverty, not poor people. We sacrificed, we cared about our neighbors, we put our money where our mouths were, and we never beat our chest. We built great big things, made ungodly technological advances, explored the universe, cured diseases, and cultivated the world's greatest artists and the world's greatest economy. We reached for the stars, and we acted like men. We aspired to intelligence; we didn't belittle it; it didn't make us feel inferior. We didn't identify ourselves by who we voted for in the last election, and we didn't scare so easy. And we were able to be all these things and do all these things because we were informed. By great men, men who were revered. The first step in solving any problem is recognizing there is one—America is not the greatest country in the world anymore.</div>
</blockquote>
</div>
<br />
Will's right - well, Aaron Sorkin is right. America is not the greatest country in the world anymore. The case could reasonably made that it never truly was. But he's also right that it can be. It has the potential. We have people who are smart, who are brave, who are compassionate, and we have them in droves. They just don't seem to align recently with the cardboard cutout of who and what our culture values. They don't seem to have the voice or the power they ought to, and in an unfortunately growing number of cases, they lack the energy to do anything but fall in line, to keep quiet and allow the status quo to persevere.<br />
<br />
We have to be better. We have to pay attention, and we have to speak up when we see injustice being done. I'm getting really and truly sick of people who proudly say "oh, I don't care about politics" or "I don't watch the news" like these things are some passing fad. Believing that is a mistake, and a dangerous one. The only way to change things for the better is to participate, to <i>care</i>. These are the conversations and the elections and the stories that will determine what this country <b>IS </b>for the duration of the time we'll spend here. Doesn't that merit at least a fraction of the attention we give to celebrity gossip or our local sports franchise?<br />
<br />
Maybe I sound self-righteous, or judgmental. But that's because I've made a life of actively striving to <b>not </b>bury my head in the sand, and the way this country works, the votes of those who do choose ignorance carry exactly the same weight as mine. I love that about America, the idea that we might all - in theory, at least - get an equal say, but that doesn't mean I want to stand by and watch that opportunity be squandered.<br />
<br />
There is a reality that has taken hold in the United States of America in 2014 that the majority of us are flat-out ignoring, even though it's right in front of our faces. Equality, the kind the founding fathers dreamed about and the kind people from all over their globes risked their lives to come here seeking, is crippled, on the verge of extinction. It's slipping away, and for the most part we're letting it. We as a nation are content to wander around with our eyes closed and our hands down our pants, more concerned about this week's eliminated contestant on The Voice than the fact that innocent men and women are being killed by the people who are supposed to exist to protect and serve us. The knee-jerk reaction is to assume that the victim must have had it coming, or that there has to be a justification, because we'd rather not fathom the possibility that someone in a position of authority is capable of truly monstrous behavior.<br />
<br />
I'm not going to debate the Mike Brown or Eric Garner cases here (though for the record I am appalled at the lack of even an indictment in either case), not because I think I'd lose or because I know I'd open an entire can of ignorance-soaked worms on my social media outlets, but because it isn't my tragedy. I am a white woman, and as such will never ever be able to fully comprehend the horror of what's happening to African Americans in this country, the terror that must exist in knowing you can be targeted at any moment and that the perpetrator will, in all likelihood, walk away without punishment. I'm an ally in this fight, and I stand beside the protesters and individuals who continue to lead brave and vital discussions on these topics; but I lack the authority of personal experience. I can say there is no question in my mind that we need some serious changes in this country, both in terms of race relations and in terms of establishing once and for all who watches the watchers, and ensuring they do their job in a manner that doesn't cost innocent lives.<br />
<br />
Will said it in the speech above, and it's one of the founding principles of any recovery program worth its salt: the first step is admitting that you have a problem. America, we have a problem.<br />
<br />
A lot of people might think I lack patriotism, that I hate America and that's why I'm constantly criticizing it. That actually isn't true at all. I love America, but I love it the way Will McAvoy loves it - for all that it has the potential to be, rather than what it currently is. We can create a world in which equality exists, in which we celebrate our differences but don't allow them to overrule our comprehension of the basic rules of right and wrong. It's possible to do that, it really is. But we can't do it in one day (we haven't been able to do it in multiple generations, after all), and it'll be hard work. At its core, though, America has the tools to do this. We have the power to change our laws and to influence the way this country treats its citizens, no matter who they are or what they look like.<br />
<br />
I'm not exempting myself from this. We have to tug ourselves out of this apathetic hole we've fallen into, and it's <i>hard </i>to listen to bad news day in and day out without feeling discouraged. I know it would be easier to stay at home under the covers finding out which Kardashian is getting divorced or pregnant this week, but I can't do that. I can't sit still anymore knowing that these kinds of injustices are becoming the norm in the country.<br />
<br />
I guess this is my promise to stay awake, to pay careful attention and spread as much factual and helpful information as possible, and to do whatever I can to keep fighting the good fight. My congresspeople will be hearing from me - hell, I'll send a letter a week if I have to until something budges, and I will not be silent. If we can bring ourselves to care, and we can push ourselves to stand up and speak out, someone eventually has to listen.<br />
<br />
Let's stop pretending America is the greatest country in the world when it clearly has such a long way to go, and instead force it to become that country, in reality, once and for all.Andreahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03056498707464063744noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4941807421506973493.post-74568551408619623862014-11-01T15:58:00.000-07:002014-11-01T15:58:40.989-07:00True Life: I Just Fell in Love with a Pop Album<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDYLyigwxHOQNyWnXdSekjH4EuZi8Ll3NqWuqs6LM-cgsnjTm1tNuel1VqRzeHaCq-OsBq_fWkjSZY9z7OcCruHssrtaqCQKWxAIfvEwTXzhF3aB4T0RvWeCb1Mg1s335-vSyXSezCc18T/s1600/9.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDYLyigwxHOQNyWnXdSekjH4EuZi8Ll3NqWuqs6LM-cgsnjTm1tNuel1VqRzeHaCq-OsBq_fWkjSZY9z7OcCruHssrtaqCQKWxAIfvEwTXzhF3aB4T0RvWeCb1Mg1s335-vSyXSezCc18T/s1600/9.jpg" height="320" width="320" /></a></div>
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<br />
(I did warn you this blog was eclectic.)<br />
<br />
I'll preface this by saying that no, I don't listen to a lot of pop music. I don't drive, and when I do listen to radio it's usually in a gym or bar, where I have no control over what I'm hearing. That said, I've heard enough snippets of Ariana, Iggy, and Katy to know that there's not a lot of substantial stuff in Top 40 pop right now.<br />
<br />
At least, that's what I thought prior to spending this past week streaming "1989" and finding that I couldn't stop listening to it. I've been wandering in a fog of infectious tunes for seven days, unable to get the words out of my head (though to be fair I haven't been trying that hard).<br />
<br />
I was embarrassed to admit it at first, but now I'll say it for god and everyone to see: this is a fantastic album. I'm not being ironic; I truly like the music, and I like Taylor Swift herself a lot better having listened to it.<br />
<br />
It's not that I've ever harbored a particular dislike for Swift, I just thought a lot of the hype was unfounded. Sure, her previous songs have been catchy and cute, but they just weren't for me (probably because I'd long since left my tweens by the time she arrived on the scene). The most notable memory I associated with Taylor Swift was the media circus a few years ago when she was releasing an album and the blogosphere devoted a significant amount of time and research to figuring out exactly which celebrity fling each song was about. Cue exaggerated eye roll.<br />
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<br />
But "1989" is different. It's a full pop album, for one thing - and I think the best decision Swift and her team made on this record was to lean into that 110%. Every song has a catchy, current hook, and I have no doubt that any of the tracks would fit in just fine with the current fare on the radio. But what sets it apart from the bunch is what Swift brings to the mix: not just the palpable sincerity she brings to each song but the lyrics themselves.<br />
<br />
If you've been waiting for this record in the hope of more sappy ramblings about various celebrity boy toys, you'll be disappointed. Sure, some have combed the songs for hints of this, but I think to approach the album this way is to miss the point. To put it in a very simplistic way, this is a much more mature album. Sure, a lot of the songs still have that trademark romantic overtone, but even the ones that are most reminiscent of Swift's earlier work have a new layer to them, an acknowledgement that sometimes you make mistakes in love, and sometimes relationships have to end, and both of these things are okay. Apart from finding this refreshing myself, I love the idea of 15-21 year old girls hearing these kinds of things, and hopefully taking their cues from them.<br />
<br />
As for Taylor Swift's "scandalous" love life? Don't worry, it's addressed on this album in a way I don't think she's ever done before. Don't get me wrong, the record is far from being a "fuck you" album, but the way Swift handles it is almost better, and certainly classier. She faces the popular perception that she's boy-crazy and confronts it head on, namely in the track set to be released as the album's second single, "Blank Space". The lyrics to this track (possibly my favorite on the album) are sharply sarcastic, and it really gives a great insight into how Swift has decided to handle her media-imposed identity. She's done pretending it isn't true that she's dated around, and she's done trying to apologize for it. Taylor Swift knows she's a player, and she's openly mocking our singular fascination with that aspect of her life. That kind of empowerment is something I can't help but applaud.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpzb63L3Ajv6mg1tnWiDnqd8PUUXXcQ6Pv4K3qTAlkoyahOtEA4Nl8A0dxVJsV-pCgMK7lu6KErNz0DYWjIqOC2FuYjMmbyilDipLT-mi9FWUiR_4XcVhNRr3_RDyUSvAaN_SVTFVn5nHQ/s1600/8.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpzb63L3Ajv6mg1tnWiDnqd8PUUXXcQ6Pv4K3qTAlkoyahOtEA4Nl8A0dxVJsV-pCgMK7lu6KErNz0DYWjIqOC2FuYjMmbyilDipLT-mi9FWUiR_4XcVhNRr3_RDyUSvAaN_SVTFVn5nHQ/s1600/8.jpg" height="320" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
I think the other misconception about Swift is that she's somehow less intelligent than other musicians, perhaps because of the themes she tends to write songs about. While that not only seems like a ridiculous generalization (I do hate the idea that being smart or "worldly" means wholly dismissing notions like romance), you only have to listen to "New Romantics" to see that Swift is smarter than most people give her credit for. The song is a ridiculously danceable commentary on the Millennial generation, and one of the better commentaries I've seen to boot. The titular comparison between the current generation and the Romantics of the 19th century, angst-ridden and eager for stimulation, is astonishingly apt and I could probably write another several pages on that, but I won't.<br />
<br />
I guess what I'm saying, and why I felt compelled to write this when I usually stick to literature and politics, is that I think it's time we give Taylor Swift the credit she deserves. By that I mean not just giving her our money or our ears, but giving her actual respect as a feminist, as an artist who has come into her own and made the praiseworthy decision to use her staggering fame to really make a mark rather than simply searching for the next big hit. She knows that there are literally millions of young girls out there being inundated with competing narratives of what a woman should be, and she's choosing to wield that power in a deliberate, responsible way. In my opinion, that's a pretty big deal.Andreahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03056498707464063744noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4941807421506973493.post-45965047263626002692014-10-26T18:56:00.000-07:002014-10-26T18:56:41.124-07:00Required Reading: Rise of the Warrior Cop by Radley Balko<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<i>"No, America today isn’t a police state. Far from it. But it
would be foolish to wait until it becomes one to get concerned." </i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<i>(Rise of the Warrior Cop by Radley Balko, pg. 336)<o:p></o:p></i></div>
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<br />
I don't usually review nonfiction books, particularly ones about topics on which I consider myself such a novice, but the pure dismay and frustration this book has inspired in me has forced me to change my policy, to advocate for this book as required reading for anyone who cares about the country we live in, and the ways which that country has chosen to enforce law, order, and justice.<br />
<br />
If you've been watching the coverage of events like Ferguson and wondering why so many in positions of authority seem downright accustomed to seeing cops in full riot gear, armed to the teeth and more than willing to utilize force and other excessive measures, Balko provides the simple yet alarming answer: no one who makes or enforces law is outraged because they are the ones who have allowed police militarization, who have been allowing it for decades.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJBHQCscyDAecIkNyr3o_98PkqX8Q7kOJQibHRiF7ZK56fJIHNz-9CXyWS9aoiLV7HT3yuqpC9qT3i5m1WxPrcDXdYWm7pTilqs1MTAVJjOxeXuTE27QsDbI57S1dA1fNZymBp55jNM6xj/s1600/wwfwe.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJBHQCscyDAecIkNyr3o_98PkqX8Q7kOJQibHRiF7ZK56fJIHNz-9CXyWS9aoiLV7HT3yuqpC9qT3i5m1WxPrcDXdYWm7pTilqs1MTAVJjOxeXuTE27QsDbI57S1dA1fNZymBp55jNM6xj/s1600/wwfwe.jpg" /></a></div>
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Balko manages to walk the line between keeping things interesting and anecdote-based, and peppering the stories he tells with cold, hard, well-cited facts. His book doesn't fall victim to what I'll call "documentary syndrome", where about 1/3 of the way in the point gets lost amid some dry analysis; rather, incident after incident is detailed with care, and every step of the legislative process which has made the militarization of America's police forces such a rampant problem weaves in between, painting a picture of gradual corruption for which responsibility is splashed across departments and divisions from the smallest peon town precincts to the men and women of the federal government.<br />
<br />
Historical context is provided, from the origins of policing forces in the Roman empire to the founding fathers of the United States and their fear of a standing army within their new nation. This gives way to a discussion of legislation which began largely following the second world war, laws which allowed for never-before-seen powers for police officers including no-knock raids, laws regulating search warrants which have been weak at the best of times, and eventually the birth of the SWAT team in America. Looking at the evolution of police forces from this progressive perspective, it becomes clear that we've been building to events like Ferguson for years. And a surprising amount of otherwise reasonable people have done almost nothing to stop it.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3qjpxyzFPos4JXgXW_w-sXSkrVEGeeVzD0-mFz-VYyoWdR6ox0T9Jvkbm1aDUbgs5zEet-8ABs7fIwXwPmFco0YUBtT3oXFgcZE5bqxijYx776_wWGsC49VUpqqMat37AF3TrngovOpaK/s1600/job.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3qjpxyzFPos4JXgXW_w-sXSkrVEGeeVzD0-mFz-VYyoWdR6ox0T9Jvkbm1aDUbgs5zEet-8ABs7fIwXwPmFco0YUBtT3oXFgcZE5bqxijYx776_wWGsC49VUpqqMat37AF3TrngovOpaK/s1600/job.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></div>
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It is unsurprising that Richard Nixon and Ronald Reagan were quick to jump onto the militarization band wagon, obsessed as they both were with delivering a victory in the war on drugs (which was essentially just a war on the counter-culture of the sixties loathed by both of them). What seems more astonishing is the fact that liberals Bill Clinton and Barack Obama were and have been just as eager to prop up these laws and even increase police authority in the context of a changing world. Consider that "by the end of his first term, Barack Obama had overseen more
federal raids on medical marijuana dispensaries in four years than George W Bush had
presided over in eight" (301). Sounds strange, right? Balko also reminds the reader of the startling fact that one of the main proponents of much of the legislation that has done away with civilians' fourth amendment rights in police matters is none other than the man currently one heartbeat away from the presidency, good old Joe Biden. Support for law enforcement's use of excessive measures has managed to become one of just a handful of issues that somehow transcends party lines as well as standing the test of time. As recently as 2011 funding was increased for programs enabling and encouraging the Defense Department to transfer their excess military equipment to police departments across the country, and there does not seem to be an end in sight.<br />
<br />
More than anything, though, the theme of aggression in the incidents Balko details is striking, even as the names, dates, and purported offenses begin to stack up. Police officers have come to think of themselves as soldiers, as enforcers of the law against agitators who are "other" to them, men and women with whom they do not feel even a remote sense of camaraderie. They use their suspicions of citizens as part of circular reasoning which allows them to justify violent raids which come without any warning and which often result in property damage and even injury or death to individuals who have not even been charged with a crime. Profiling, heavy reliance on questionably reliable informants, and policies which encourage an "intimidate first, ask questions later" strategy, have created an atmosphere in which people fear the police, and in which they are in legitimate danger of getting on the wrong side of an officer who has literally been trained by military personnel, equipped with gear and weaponry that belong in Fallujah, and who thinks of himself as a warrior first and foremost.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVTTF7EqWv7TYRDw8eWkDCd4uQjLRjeZricX3SF752PG336C_9XsY1QJsfjYwGuZkxRpVkkhxUtgMWG9Jpnat1kK9TCCFil1QQn22GCEQAMqrBjfArPYkKh3GvWpgop6EC4jUpd50YOZ3p/s1600/sdfsdf.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVTTF7EqWv7TYRDw8eWkDCd4uQjLRjeZricX3SF752PG336C_9XsY1QJsfjYwGuZkxRpVkkhxUtgMWG9Jpnat1kK9TCCFil1QQn22GCEQAMqrBjfArPYkKh3GvWpgop6EC4jUpd50YOZ3p/s1600/sdfsdf.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></div>
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<br />
Balko tackles the defenses of the continued support of police militarization with similar efficiency and logic. The war on drugs, of which the majority of these policies have been in service, has not only not been "won," but the small victories that have been claimed have really not been victories at all. Drug usage and peddling are still very much alive in this country, and he cites some sobering statistics illustrating just how far the government and the media have gone to oversell the successes in terms of actual drugs, money, and stolen property recovered, even when the facts themselves just don't line up. The other major defense he cites is the oft-repeated notion that cops are in incredible danger on the job, that our increasingly well-armed public poses a volatile threat to them virtually any time they are out in the community. It's due to this perceived risk that many are in support of their local police donning battle gear and driving armored vehicles, reacting with sometimes lethal force during confrontations with suspects. But the statistics don't support this justification. Shootings of police officers by civilians or suspects, while of course tragic when they occur, just don't take place that often. They've been decreasing nationwide for years, and on the whole police officers are not in much greater danger than the majority of citizens they are tasked with protecting: "In fact, of the seventy-four US cities with
populations of 250,000 or more, thirty-six have murder rates higher than that
of police in America. You’re more likely to be murdered just by living in these
cities than the average American police officer is to be murdered on the job”
(271).<br />
<br />
Police militarization has become such an ingrained part of our society, and it is a systemic issue that will not be solved overnight. Before any real action can be taken, attitudes must change, and before that, people have to pay attention. We can and should be questioning our law enforcement authorities and the way they comport themselves on the job. We should be calling for greater accountability, including but not limited to cameras on the officers or their vehicles, and a detailed federal database of any and all incidents involving a police officer discharging a weapon against a civilian. That's the least that can be done. The way we look at violence needs to change, too. We have become too accustomed to it; we expect it, especially from the police. And if we allow our expectations to continue to align with the policies currently in place, we will only see more of the same treatment, more of the same mistakes, more of the same violence against potentially innocent people.<br />
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It's important to note that this is not a problem to be solved by responding with the same kind of violence and ignorance to which many of these officers have been trained to default. Calling all cops pigs, or antagonizing the local beat cops you see on your walk to work, will not fix what is a corrosive problem that trickles from the top down, and not the other way around. Balko is particularly adamant on this point, including this in the book's conclusion:<br />
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"In the Introduction, I noted that this is not an anti-cop
book. And it isn’t. Despite all of this, there are still good cops. A lot of
them. But we have passed laws and policies that have elevated police officers
above the people they serve. As Tim Lynch has written, you could make a good
argument that police should be held to a <i>higher
</i>standard than regular citizens. And you could make a good argument they
should be held to the same standard. But it’s hard to conceive of a convincing argument
that they should be held to a lower one. But that’s exactly what we’ve done”
(336).<o:p></o:p></div>
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<div class="MsoNormal">
Maybe you think people like Balko and myself are overstating the problem. Maybe you trust the police to do what's in your best interest, despite all the empirical evidence to the contrary, or maybe the possibility of police abuses and brutality is just something you don't like to think much about. But even if that's true, this is a matter of our constitutional rights being bent, manipulated, and at times outright ignored. A quote from a Philadelphia PD spokesperson appears in the book's concluding chapter that sums it up pretty well: "Officers’ safety comes first, and not infringing on people’s
rights comes second." Sentiments like that from high-ranking members of law enforcement may not worry you, but if you're paying even a little bit of attention, they really should.</div>
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Andreahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03056498707464063744noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4941807421506973493.post-48237043483204221672014-09-01T08:09:00.000-07:002014-09-01T08:09:10.893-07:00People, Not Property: Why Clicking That Link Makes You Part of the Problem<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiY-DGWG2XLPczzQehMMCRU54Sf3UiCIsohlS3bhmnrAX9nJ0cviK1Cv4heMaVZDY6ajn-bEaVDQXHPFsneSaEHj1atXWKChlMEL7WEX6GjGQ-NQ7jirSt7f5tFbCJQvSfFktFhd3cgnY6A/s1600/1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiY-DGWG2XLPczzQehMMCRU54Sf3UiCIsohlS3bhmnrAX9nJ0cviK1Cv4heMaVZDY6ajn-bEaVDQXHPFsneSaEHj1atXWKChlMEL7WEX6GjGQ-NQ7jirSt7f5tFbCJQvSfFktFhd3cgnY6A/s1600/1.jpg" height="214" width="320" /></a></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> Maybe it stems from the mythology of Adam and Eve -- Eve was produced from the rib of Adam, and therefore was an extension of him. Maybe subconsciously men still think women are theirs to create, theirs to control. It wouldn’t surprise me, given this latest scandal. </span></div>
<b id="docs-internal-guid-43cbbf06-31bc-a216-868b-bbdb70107ed0" style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> Since I read the first post about this latest celebrity photo leak, I have felt absolutely sickened. I wasn’t thinking about the men who are trying to profit off the photos, or the many voices that have chimed in across the internet arguing the semantics of what it means to put a woman’s nude photo on a public forum without her consent. I was thinking about the women in question, whether they spent the weekend hiding under the covers, afraid to leave their houses and go out to face the world; or even worse, if they have to go to work today or tomorrow and wonder if their colleagues - people they know and trust - looked at the photos, if they’re thinking about them, if they shared them with other strangers. The mere thought of that level of humiliation makes me want to curl into the fetal position, so I cannot possibly imagine what they are going through.</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> Even if you think of yourself as a person who would never end up in this situation (although this belief in itself smacks just a little bit of victim blaming), think for a minute about your own life, your own embarrassing moments, of things out in the world you know could one day come back and haunt you. Think of a photo you took because you wanted to spice things up with your significant other, or even just a photo you took because damn, your ass looked really good that day. Think of the silly text messages you send to your friends which, taken out of context, could easily be misconstrued as something bizarre or even mean. </span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> Because the problem is that yes, these women are in the public eye, but that in no way means they’ve surrendered their right to privacy when it comes to this. The point, and the reason many women across the world are appalled by this leak and the way it’s been handled, is because those photos were never intended for public consumption, much less public judgment. These women were taking photos intended for their partners, or maybe even just for themselves, and to think that you, the anonymous masses of the web, have somehow earned the right to invade that personal, private space, is both delusional and cruel. </span></div>
<br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> The issue in this particular case comes down to body autonomy, something all people are entitled to, but which women in our society are rarely granted in full. Members of the female gender should have just as much freedom as men to make choices about their bodies, whether those choices emerge in the arena of reproductive rights, sexual activity, or merely the ability to choose who does or does not see them naked. Maybe these actresses take pride in the fact that they haven’t done a nude scene in one of their films or tv shows; maybe they just don’t care to become another body for the world to pass judgment on. The point is, it’s their choice, and when people commit acts like this, when other people conspire and spread access to photos like this, they are actively and maliciously taking that choice away. It might be well-disguised by the sleek veil of modern technology, but this photo leak is essentially no different from taking an upskirt photo on public transit, or peeping in someone’s bedroom window in the hopes you’ll get to see them changing clothes. You wouldn’t hesitate to call a person who pursues those sorts of things a creep (or worse), so it begs the question: if you were one of the people who clicked over to look at these celebrity photos, if you were one of the people who used them in some manner for your own enjoyment (or even just to attract traffic on your own media platform), what exactly does that make you?</span>Andreahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03056498707464063744noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4941807421506973493.post-84102335432936185332014-06-30T18:51:00.001-07:002014-06-30T18:51:39.426-07:00What Moral High Ground? The Hypocritical States of America<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIBwngbjpte1xg1PTCEf2gdgh8kJmmaL3KkCKY-usBP7k09OzFjAtSfQzv901M051tuPBzErERHbvlcOnGMnVcAmqYxM_viXmBvaUY7l4twcX6AiIbnkuGQWskQ4EKmxGfOOGiVzhNHFYt/s1600/usa.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIBwngbjpte1xg1PTCEf2gdgh8kJmmaL3KkCKY-usBP7k09OzFjAtSfQzv901M051tuPBzErERHbvlcOnGMnVcAmqYxM_viXmBvaUY7l4twcX6AiIbnkuGQWskQ4EKmxGfOOGiVzhNHFYt/s1600/usa.jpg" /></a></div>
(appropriately for the below discussion, this comes up on the first page of google images for the word 'america')<br />
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Before you ask, yes. Yes, of <i>course </i>I'm angry about the gender equality implications of today's Supreme Court ruling. I am livid, because I have half a brain and I know what the word 'freedom' means, and I know that today was a gargantuan leap backward in the pursuit of it.<br />
<br />
But plenty of reactions sharper and more insightful than any I could throw in the mix have already been entered into the cybersphere. I'm glad that my fellow women (and many men) are angry. I'm glad people are paying attention. What I'm more interested in, though, is what fewer people are talking about; what fewer people have noticed. I'm interested in the ideological implications of a national leadership that purports to be the greatest in the world, yet attempts to justify decisions like this.<br />
<br />
It's probably the result of the particular juxtaposition of the radio station news broadcasts I listen to at work, but today I heard about two stories more than any others: the Hobby Lobby decision, and the current goings-on in Iraq where ISIS is gaining ground each hour (at least, to hear the mainstream news tell it, that's what is happening). As I sat there at my desk, silently fuming over what idiots the people who get to run the world sometimes are (a habit of mine, I'm afraid), I realized there was a kind of nauseating irony at play.<br />
<br />
Precisely the same people who've spent the better part of the past few weeks shouting and mudslinging and criticizing the executive branch's handling of the deteriorating situation in Iraq are the people lauding the bold decision made by the Supreme Court today. That is to say, the exact people who feel we aren't doing enough to stop a group with a specific religious ideology from infringing on the liberty of their fellow citizens across the ocean are applauding different group's efforts to do the same thing right here within our borders.<br />
<br />
Let that sink in for a second.<br />
<br />
The time has come for the United States government, at least the very conservative and those who allow them to run amok, to admit that they envision a nation that is so oppressive and close-minded that they might as well rip the Constitution to shreds right now. You can have religious freedom, they're saying, as long as it's freedom to be Christian and Christian only. You can be a modern woman, as long as you do it in a way that conforms to a very specific 1950's-era set of criteria and never, ever allows you to hold more power than your male counterparts. You can even be gay, and hey, we'll let you get married, but we're still going to allow the sweeping majority of the country to belittle, victimize, shame, and even kill you while we stubbornly look the other way.<br />
<br />
The members of ISIS belong to a religious sect in Iraq that, without getting too far into the details, holds a drastically different belief about who ought to lead their nation than their opponents. They are willing to lie, cheat, and endanger lives for that belief. Is there anyone out there who truly can't see how eerily this resembles our do-nothing Congress and its perpetual thirst for trying to impeach President Obama, casting him as an "other" and calling the very foundations of the system that allowed him to become our nation's leader into question?<br />
<br />
People in positions of authority (mostly men) keep showing up on television, on the radio, and in print insisting that we need to do something about Iraq's descent into religious sectarianism. They insist until they're blue in the face that we brought American values to Iraq so that they could be just like us, democratic and free from oppression based on trifles like their individual beliefs, or which reproductive organs they do or do not possess.<br />
<br />
I'm not claiming that the Supreme Court, or the collection of impotent bags of hot air that we call Congress, are on a level with terrorists, at least not in terms of method. They would never be so blunt and sloppy in their machinations. I'm saying there's a similarity behind both brands of madness that we need to wake up and acknowledge. There's a lack of open-mindedness, of basic compassion, that is appalling to see in any public servant, let alone the majority. If it doesn't worry you, you aren't paying close enough attention.<br />
<br />
The men running this country are bigoted, and obsessed with the idea that everyone else should conform to, or at least fall under the jurisdiction of, their particular beliefs. I'm just saying, if that's not zealotry, I don't know what is.Andreahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03056498707464063744noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4941807421506973493.post-87521109886968882022014-03-17T20:26:00.001-07:002014-03-17T20:26:26.352-07:00Women's Month 2014: Banning Bossy, Finding Role Models, and Shaping Our Future<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgR0naUj9llqCy0zhH9xlK1PVHhyphenhyphensi7Vrs8DdPg5acX-z2Zr7kW7B24hgZEjJzKsZZ7-dHL_M-PtHCMChi_xb0kSJGblwMDJdTJtt7xBcEXPrFgUtAbdsEyHpg_1NYJjNAk-7Rau1axKgFZ/s1600/bb.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgR0naUj9llqCy0zhH9xlK1PVHhyphenhyphensi7Vrs8DdPg5acX-z2Zr7kW7B24hgZEjJzKsZZ7-dHL_M-PtHCMChi_xb0kSJGblwMDJdTJtt7xBcEXPrFgUtAbdsEyHpg_1NYJjNAk-7Rau1axKgFZ/s1600/bb.jpg" /></a></div>
<br />
By now you've probably heard about the Ban Bossy campaign, an effort launched this month co-sponsored by the Girl Scouts of America and LeanIn.org. The campaign is an attempt to subvert the ways we as a society regard young females who show an interest in leadership. 'Bossy' in and of itself isn't a negative word, though; the problem lies in how it's used. Bossy has come to serve as a stand-in for words much worse, a seemingly innocuous pejorative that in fact discourages and intimidates girls who might otherwise speak up. It's one of the myriad tiny ways we instruct young women to be seen and not heard, to be submissive and gentle rather than brave and outspoken. And it has to stop. <br />
<br />
Naturally, there's been a bit of pushback against the campaign by those who would continue to adhere to the status quo, casting Ban Bossy as an overreaction or exaggeration on the part of women. The prevalent argument among men, however, smacks simultaneously of laziness and ignorance--something along the lines of 'oh what, now there's <i>another </i>word we can't use? Where does it stop?!' <br />
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Here's the thing about that, though: thinking twice about the words you use before you use them is literally the <i>least</i> you can do in the fight for gender equality. No, you're not being oppressed when we ask you to consider that maybe conditioning little girls to view themselves in such a negative light isn't the most positive way to introduce them into grown-up society, especially when that society will graduate into referring to these same little girls as "bitches" and "cunts" when they attempt to take on leadership roles as adults.<br />
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If you're really adamant that dropping one word in a singular context from your vocabulary is too darn difficult, fear not. There are other minute changes you can and should make in the way you speak, the way you interact with other humans and the way you see the world that can make things better for women, which will ultimately make things better for everyone. These are little ways that sexism has become ingrained in our society, and the only way we'll ever dispose of them is by policing ourselves first. And don't go thinking this is simply a list of tips for men--ladies can be equally and occasionally guiltier of committing these crimes against the female gender.<br />
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1. To quote the fabulous Tina Fey: "...stop calling each other sluts and whores. It just makes it okay for guys to call you sluts and whores." Now, while Tina and I may differ on this premise of it ever being "okay" for men to call women these names, the larger point is that we need to seriously reconsider the language we use when we talk or even think about women. I challenge you, as I've challenged myself, to take a tally of the number of times you mentally call a woman who has vaguely slighted you (or who is simply wearing an irritated expression) a 'bitch.' Count how many times you make a split-second decision that some girl is a 'slut' simply because she dresses less conservatively than you do. Ask yourself, and answer honestly, if you've ever shamed another female about her body, her assertive personality, or her sexual activities. If you're like me, you haven't been perfect on this front. You've transgressed perhaps more times than you'd like to admit. But awareness is the first step. Ask yourself why you jump to using these words, and try to justify why they're necessary (spoiler alert: they're not). It'll take awhile, but eventually these words won't be the first ones that spring to mind, and if they aren't in your thoughts, they won't be on your lips.<br />
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2. In a similar vein, think about how frequently we as a culture choose to insult others, but most especially women, based on their appearances rather than on the situation at hand. If I hear one more criticism of Hillary Clinton or Michelle Obama that discusses their clothing or hair rather than their accomplishments, I will scream. I'm appalled to say that I've literally (and more than once) heard arguments settled with the words "yeah, but (s)he's fat" as an explanation for not respecting someone. No, women are not the only targets of these types of attacks (the endless onslaught of Chris Christie fat jokes also springs to mind here), but it cannot be denied that when the person being discussed or criticized is a woman, people are much quicker to go to the appearance-based insults well. Stop being surprised that Melissa McCarthy is funny despite her full figure, that Sarah Jessica Parker is wildly successful despite her "horsey" face, that Lady Gaga is talented despite dressing unconventionally, and instead appreciate the work they do. Just because someone's appearance doesn't fit your narrow frame of beauty doesn't make them ugly, and it has nothing to do with their ability to excel in their field. <br />
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3. Quick, think of someone whom you believe encompasses an "empowered female role model" in current popular culture. Did someone like Katniss Everdeen or Arya Stark spring to mind? How about Leslie Knope, or Liz Lemon? Katy Perry? Ke$ha? How about Honey Boo-Boo, or the Kardashians? What if I told you every single one of these answers is the right one, and that there are infinite others you could've given that would have been just as correct? It's true--empowerment is one of those qualities that never looks identical on any two people. All of these fabulous ladies are brave, intelligent, ballsy, and kind; the difference lies simply in how they meet those criteria. The picture of an empowered woman comes in myriad forms (even ones you may not recognize at first) and is as ever-changing as our modern culture. We need to stop pigeonholing the idea of female role models into rigid parameters that can't ever be re-negotiated. Katniss is allowed to fall in love and still be badass; Ke$ha is allowed to sing party songs and still be intelligent; Kim Kardashian is allowed to be <i>US Weekly'</i>s favorite subject while simultaneously being one of the more charitable celebs in Hollywood. These women are all to be admired, and I'd be willing to bet that they've all been referred to as "bossy" (or worse) at least once.<br />
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I could continue this list for days, cataloging all the baby steps we can take to make things better for women. I could tell you that in the grand scheme of things, banning 'bossy' is something that stands to reap a huge benefit at the cost of almost zero effort on our parts. The Ban Bossy campaign, like most feminist campaigns in this vein, isn't asking you for much at all: they're simply asking you to think before you speak. And that's something we could all stand to do more often.Andreahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03056498707464063744noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4941807421506973493.post-82585948634819525192014-01-11T12:07:00.000-08:002014-01-11T12:07:19.286-08:00We Were Here: a novel by Andrea Augustinas (that's me!)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<br />
I wrote a book and it's available NOW in the Amazon Kindle store!<br />
<a href="http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00HSTBBZ4">http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00HSTBBZ4</a><br />
<br />
Read about it here:<br />
<a href="http://www.wewereherenovel.tumblr.com/">www.wewereherenovel.tumblr.com</a><br />
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<br />Andreahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03056498707464063744noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4941807421506973493.post-90189254214882781832013-11-23T10:21:00.001-08:002013-11-23T10:21:21.486-08:00Movie Review: Catching Fire<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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First let's clear up one thing: I did not cry during this film. Okay, I didn't cry a lot. Okay fine, I at least didn't cry quite as much as the young woman behind me, who from the sound of things was in tears from beginning to end. I'm not sure even she understood why she was having this reaction, but I can say that I don't blame her a bit.<br />
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That's just the kind of movie <i>Catching Fire</i> is--it takes your emotions and tugs them up through your throat, wraps them around your neck, and then asks you to try and breathe through the choke-hold. This review is itself being delayed for several hours after my initial viewing because I needed that time to process everything I thought about during and after this film, and to figure out how to best put it into words.<br />
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With a new director at the helm, <i>Catching Fire</i> could easily have felt choppy or jarringly desperate to stand out from its predecessor (think <i>Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban</i>), but it just didn't. Francis Lawrence understands the importance of maintaining and escalating the unique tone of the first movie, and his vision is executed beautifully onscreen without feeling like too sharp a departure from the universe established for us in<i> The Hunger Games</i>. Improvements were made in the few places they were needed, and while a few tidbits from the book were omitted, the film was admirably and almost completely true to its source material. The few instances where creative license is taken with scenes or characters feel organic and fit smoothly into the existing plot, and I find myself hard-pressed to think of one that ought to have been changed.<br />
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If memory serves I said this about the first film, but it feels doubly true now: looking at the directors, the screenwriters, the performers, I can't find a weak link in the bunch. It's almost as though they've all conspired to turn in some of the best work of their careers in the name of making this movie a success. I fully expected Jennifer Lawrence to be brilliant, as she so reliably is. What I didn't expect was for Jena Malone and Sam Claflin to so skillfully embody their fan-favorite characters. What I didn't expect was for Phillip Seymour-Hoffman to portray an intriguing new gamemaker with a cleverness I haven't seen since Alan Rickman humanized Severus Snape on the big screen. I didn't expect (though I hoped) that Josh Hutcherson and Liam Hemsworth would overcome the heartthrob status assigned to them and bring better performances than anticipated, showing that though neither of them will ever outshine J-Law, they are at least entitled to play on the same field. Further praise goes deservedly to Elizabeth Banks, Woody Harrelson, and Donald Sutherland for preventing their characters from becoming caricatures, and for bringing some of the most punch-in-the-gut emotional moments of the film.<br />
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When I initially read the book series back in late 2010, devouring all three within a week's time, I viewed <i>Catching Fire</i> as a hinge, a bridge between the initial horrors of <i>The Hunger Games</i> and the roaring conclusion of <i>Mockingjay</i>. Seeing the film, however, helped me appreciate the tight narrative it is in its own right. <i>Catching Fire </i>provides the most character development of the three novels, and the film fully rises to that task. One can seen the tone, as well as Katniss herself, travel from fear to anger to violence, inciting the revolution that will make or break the districts of Panem. Francis Lawrence has depicted it just about flawlessly, and the intensity of the film's proverbial call to action makes the audience want to join the rebellion themselves, or at the very least set some shit on fire.<br />
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As with many great films, there are a number of little things that really enhance the experience, making the film stand out not just as good, but great. <i>Catching Fire</i> incorporates the musical score from the previous film, using familiar refrains as callbacks to critical events which unfolded in <i>The Hunger Games</i>. It is also careful to re-establish certain visual elements as important, so that we feel re-immersed in Katniss' world rather than like we're being introduced to something brand new. The pacing is fairly remarkable as well-- this film approaches the 2.5 hour mark, and yet it feels smooth and free of those restless moments in which most viewers might feel tempted to check the time.<br />
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It is also worth noting just how well this film serves as the middle piece of the puzzle: it hearkens back to <i>The Hunger Games</i> without tediously recapping, and it foreshadows what is to come without forgetting itself as a standalone plot. The final scenes do feel ever so slightly rushed (one of my few complaints about the film) but in them we get a very clear preview of what to expect in <i>Mockingjay</i>, which rumor has it will be split into two parts. Questions of staggering significance lay on the table unanswered, and Katniss herself is in a state of visible turmoil, both anxious and afraid but also enraged and thirsting for revenge. Moviegoers will leave the theater feeling similarly, and eagerly awaiting the final installment.Andreahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03056498707464063744noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4941807421506973493.post-40304467506844983562013-03-18T17:18:00.000-07:002013-03-18T17:18:28.919-07:00Is Steubenville the New Norm? Questions We Should Be AskingIn a 24-hour news cycle, stories big and small eventually get swept under the rug. This should not be one of them. The issue of rape in our country goes hand in hand with our culture of violence, and needs to be discussed, analyzed, and most importantly, changed. This particular case raises a few very important questions, ones that ought to finally get the attention they demand.<i><b><br /></b></i><br />
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<i><b>1. Why do none of these young people seem to understand the definition of rape?</b></i><br />
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The fact that so few of the people involved in this case and its coverage seem to understand what rape is or isn't is appalling (especially given that many of those people are adults). Most notably frustrating, though, are the soundbites from the young men involved, young men whom it would seem have been failed by the adult role models in their lives as well as their own moral compasses. One student who took video of the assault on his phone indicated that he "didn't know it was rape" at the time, while one of the rapists issued an apology in court, not for his assault on the girl, but for the fact that they'd recorded and circulated the video footage. <br />
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Let me provide some clarity, a sort of SparkNotes definition of rape, if you will. These are all things that have been said elsewhere and often, but apparently the point still has not been made.<br />
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-An intoxicated person cannot consent to sex.<br />
-A drugged person cannot consent to sex.<br />
-An unconscious person cannot consent to sex.<br />
-A person who is being coerced (physically or otherwise) cannot consent to sex.<br />
-A person who is, for any other of a spectrum of reasons, unable to give an enthusiastic 'yes' has not consented to sex.<br />
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Act without that enthusiastic 'yes,' and you are committing rape. Bottom line. <br />
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The fact that just about no one in the case seems to comprehend this has inspired me to try and recall my own education, and whether it included any guidance on rape and sexual assault amid the calls for condom usage and obligatory photos of every STD imaginable. To be honest, I don't remember learning anything about rape (except, offensively, different methods for "preventing" myself from getting assaulted). That's part of the problem too-- girls these days are trained to believe that rape is inevitable and that it is incumbent upon them to protect themselves. And often that's the entire conversation.<br />
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There's probably no one person or even one group of people to blame for these boys' actions (they acted of their own free wills, after all), but the whole case begs the question of where we are missing out on opportunities to teach our young people what is and isn't acceptable to do to another human being. Maybe we've just been assuming that those are things that go without saying, guided by common sense, but the evidence is stacking up that we're wrong about that.<br />
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<i><b>2. Why has victim blaming become the norm in cases like this, something everyone seems to accept as inevitable?</b></i><br />
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Teenage girls are sending death threats to the victim. Death threats, to the girl who has already not only been physically assaulted, but had her character dragged through the mud during her pursuit of justice. And do you want to know the worst part? She knew this would happen. Several sources have quoted the victim as being initially reluctant to come forward, believing that everyone would blame her and direct their anger her way. What kind of awful world to we live in where a person who has had something taken from her in such a brutal way fears the people who should be supporting her in her fight to punish those responsible?<br />
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A staggering number of rape cases go unreported every year, every week, every day, because victims are afraid of a culture that will blame them for a crime that was committed against them. This case has proven yet again that such a fear is, tragically, completely warranted. It brings to mind the recent case of a young woman in India who was brutally raped aboard a moving bus. The issue of rape and victim-blaming in that culture was brought up frequently, and time and again I read people's insistence that such a thing could never happen in America. These people are part of a willfully blind majority in this country. Wake up, folks: it's already happening here. It's happening where you live, where you sleep, to your children. And it needs to stop.<br />
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<i><b>3. How are we not more disturbed at the details of this case?</b></i><br />
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I don't know if you've ever been to a party, but if you haven't, I can tell you that they're usually crowded. As in, full of people, all of whom have the potential to become witnesses to any events that should transpire. How in the world could a house full of young people, inebriated as they may have been, fail to notice something so awful happening right in front of them? Further, is it really the case that not one of them felt inclined to speak up, to say or do something (anything) to try and stop it? <br />
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I can all but guarantee you that this sort of behavior is not restricted to Steubenville, Ohio. It's even possible that this is one of the tamer cases, that there are young people out there simply letting this sort of behavior become the norm. And if that doesn't make you angry, sick, ashamed, or all of the above then congratulations, you are part of the problem.<br />
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Even more appalling is the fact that several of the victim's female friends did speak up, testifying <i>against </i>her in court. They said she was drunk, that she'd had a crush on one of her rapists prior to the incident, and that she was a dishonest person. Just so we're all clear, absolutely NONE of those things justifies what these young men did to her, even if they were 100% true. I have been wracking my brains trying to think of a more heinous violation of female solidarity, and gosh darn it, I'm coming up blank.<br />
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<i><b>4. Sympathizing with rapists is an outrage. Their lives are ruined? How about the girl they assaulted?</b></i><br />
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A reporter at CNN (we'll get to that) lamented the fact that the two rapists (and notice, interestingly, how she never referred to them as such) are going to be placed on the registry of sex offenders for the rest of their lives. Uh, yes. THAT'S HOW IT WORKS. That's why the list of sex offenders exists in the first place, so that we can be aware of who among us has a tendency toward sexually violent or abusive behavior. If Joe Pothead has to report his possession for narcotics charge on every job application for the rest of his life, then you're goddamn right I want these two individuals to have to acknowledge the crime they committed every fucking place they go. <br />
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Yes, maybe these young men's lives are, in fact, ruined. But they're the ones that did the ruining, no one else.<br />
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<b><i>5. Why does no one at CNN or other news outlets seem to know better?</i></b><br />
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Back in my day, CNN was something of a respected media outlet, utilizing things like discretion, integrity, and ethical boundaries. It would appear that this is no longer the case. I'll refer you to <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2cvUCDjLDIk">this video</a> of their coverage of the rapists' trial and let you experience your own outrage, because it truly is something that needs to be seen to be believed.<br />
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What grinds my gears about this is the fact that this isn't just a matter of one on-air reporter (or three, in this footage) spewing ignorant bilge; someone wrote the story, someone researched the details, someone is behind the camera...and so on. Was there really no one on the entire CNN team who realized they were about to go live with a look at the poor, sad, mistreated RAPISTS and thought that maybe, just maybe, the piece could use a rewrite?<br />
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There's also the small fact that no less than 4 major media outlets aired the victim's name during their coverage of the trial, something which violates a policy utilized in sexual assault case's to protect the victim (I'd imagine that goes double for underage victims). More than anything this careless error seems to prop up the notion that this wasn't a "real" rape; and perpetuate a culture in which we downplay all manner of sexual assault as well as the significant danger of taking this issue lightly.<br />
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<br />Andreahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03056498707464063744noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4941807421506973493.post-42584944121628648032012-12-31T17:52:00.001-08:002012-12-31T17:52:13.186-08:002012: The Best and WorstHere's some thoughts, sneaked in right under the wire here. 2012 had a lot of good things, but my hopes for 2013 are even higher.<b> </b><br />
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<b>Best Movies (in no particular order):</b><br />
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<i><b>The Hunger Games</b></i><br />
I had high hopes for this one from the day I first heard they were adapting the book into a film, and I was not disappointed. The casting was spot on, the big moments shone the way they were intended, and director Gary Ross took things one intriguing step further by using the film to force us to question our own beliefs and practices. Hopefully <i>Catching Fire</i> can continue the trend of success in 2013. <br />
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<b><i>Argo</i></b><br />
This is probably the most well-crafted movie I saw this year, and I think that everyone else should see it, at the very least so they can reassure themselves that Ben Affleck deserves the acclaim he's currently receiving. <br />
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<i><b>Silver Linings Playbook</b></i><br />
This movie is heart-wrenching, painfully real, and hysterically funny all at the same time. Both Bradley Cooper and Jennifer Lawrence give performances that are just plain fantastic (believe me, I was surprised about the former too), and the story is one that is incredibly poignant and accessible. If I had to pick a personal favorite among these, this movie is most likely it. <br />
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<i><b>The Amazing Spider-Man</b></i><br />
This movie surprised me-- I expected it to be pretty good, having Marc Webb, Emma Stone, and Andrew Garfield (among others) on board, but I didn't expect it to be SO good. <br />
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<i><b>The Dark Knight Rises</b></i><br />
I believe I have already expressed my full thoughts (probably to some excess) on this one. But yes, a tremendous ending to a remarkable trilogy of films. <br />
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<i><b>The Perks of Being a Wallflower</b></i><br />
Another book adaptation that far surpassed my expectations. Not only did it adhere to the spirit of the novel in all its teen angst glory, the casting turned out to be brilliant. All three of the lead actors were superb, and it definitely added to the realism of an occasionally melodramatic story. <br />
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<i><b>Pitch Perfect</b></i><br />
This is the best cheesy movie I've seen in ages. Not only does it have Anna Kendrick (and believe me, that alone lends it quite a bit of cred), it also has some elements to it that seem to have been forgotten in the movie industry's recent efforts aimed at teenagers. It offers the things that appealed to me initially about Glee, except you know, the music is far more impressive and the plot lines make sense; it also features a protagonist who defies a lot of the unofficial "rules" that make adolescent leading ladies so unbearable to watch lately. Written by Kay Cannon of <i>30 Rock</i> and <i>SNL</i>, <i>Pitch Perfect </i>doesn't underestimate its audience and has some truly laugh out loud moments as well as a few that will give you goosebumps. <br />
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*Note: I haven't seen <i>Zero Dark Thirty</i> yet, as it hasn't been released in my city, but I'm giving it a preemptive honorary spot on this list based on how good I'm anticipating it will be. <br />
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<b>Best TV Shows:</b><br />
<br />
<i><b>Parks and Recreation</b></i><br />
Season 5 has been heavily focused on character development, which I think is what may be underwhelming some viewers when compared with Season 4 and its exciting build to Leslie's election. But that's something that I love about this show, and something that if you love these characters, is the kind of payoff you've been waiting for. Tom's maturing and starting his own business; Ann is realizing that it's okay to be alone and get to know yourself; Ben and Leslie are settling into a relationship largely free of its early dramatics; April and Andy are finding their paths; even Ron is embarking upon what just might be a healthy relationship. The gang in Pawnee is growing up, and I can't wait to see what's next. <br />
<br />
<i><b>Game of Thrones</b></i><br />
The show's second season lived up to escalating expectations, with penultimate episode "Blackwater" making a lasting impression as one of the more recent achievements in dramatic television, outshining what many films have been able to do with more generous resources. And season three only promises more epic-ness to come.<br />
<br />
<i><b>Happy Endings</b></i><br />
The most hilarious show that almost no one is watching (and ABC is making little effort to air). Give this one a chance, and if it doesn't make you laugh out loud at least once, well, there might be something wrong with you. <br />
<br />
<br />
<b>Best New Shows: </b><br />
<br />
<i>The Mindy Project </i>(FOX)<i><br /></i><br />
<br />
<i>Go On </i>(NBC)<i><br /></i><br />
<br />
<b>Best TV Episodes:</b><br />
<br />
<i><b>How I Met Your Mother, "The Last Page"</b></i><br />
This had one of the better head-fakes in HIMYM's history, and especially made up for the streak of lackluster episodes which preceded it. I won't spoil the twist for those who haven't seen it, but it's pretty legendary. <br />
<br />
<i><b>Parks and Recreation, "Halloween Surprise"</b></i><br />
BEN AND LESLIE ARE GETTING MARRIED. Also, some other stuff happened. <br />
<br />
<i><b>Grey's Anatomy, "Remember the Time"</b></i><br />
RIP Mark Sloan-- I didn't even like you that much, but this episode proved that Grey's still knows how to tug at the strings (and induce ugly-crying to boot), even after all these years. <br />
<br />
<i><b>New Girl, "Injured"</b></i><br />
This was the episode that really brought me around on this show, because the showrunners seemed to have finally figured out the magic and potential of the ensemble rather than simply relying on the quirky cuteness of Zooey Deschanel ad infinitum. Season 2 has continued that trend, and I think good things can be expected. <br />
<br />
<b>Favorite People*:</b><br />
<br />
<b>Jennifer Lawrence</b><br />
We can disregard <i>House at the End of the Street</i> as a fluke and just continue drooling over how talented Ms. Lawrence is, right? That's what I've been doing, anyway. Not only did she emerge in popular media playing one of the most badass characters out there at the moment, but she also gave one of the best performances I've seen in years in <i>Silver Linings Playbook</i>, which will probably earn her a second Academy Award nomination (it's a crime if it doesn't). Oh, and she's only 22 years old, so no need to feel bad about your own accomplishments or anything. <br />
<br />
<b>The Obamas</b><br />
Yeah, Barack may not have gotten everything done that he wanted to do (fortunately he's got another 4 years to make it up to us), but Michelle and the girls more than made up for it by being their usual fabulous selves and providing America with more sorely-needed lady role models. <br />
<br />
<b>Jon Stewart</b><br />
Nobody handles the increasingly dismal, frustrating, and sometimes terrifying developments in the news quite like Jon Stewart. He's been perfecting his on-air persona for years, but it's the moments when his genuine concern for this floundering nation that truly set him apart. <br />
<br />
<b>Amy Poehler (always)</b><br />
Do I even have to explain this one anymore? She's hosting the Golden Globes on January 13th; watch that and maybe you'll begin to understand a fraction of what there is to love about this fabulous lady. <br />
<br />
<b>Maisie Williams</b><br />
Well, I'm probably biased because she plays my absolute favorite character on <i>Game of Thrones</i>, but this girl is adorable, and pretty darn talented to boot. Arya gets some even meatier stuff to work with during <i>A Storm of Swords</i>, so I for one am psyched to see what Williams will get to do come Season 3. <br />
<br />
<b>Joseph Gordon-Levitt</b><br />
Dude was everywhere in 2012, and it looks like that's a trend that will be continuing in the new year. No complaints here, especially if another team-up with Chris Nolan (and I'm not saying it HAS to be Batman related, but that'd be pretty cool...) is on the horizon.<br />
<br />
<b>The IKEA Monkey </b><br />
Not a person, I know, but have you seen this little guy? If there's anything I love more than animals dressed as humans (and fashionable humans at that) and shopping for affordable furniture, I do not know what it is.<br />
<br />
<b>Biggest Disappointments:</b><br />
<br />
<i>The Casual Vacancy</i><br />
<br />
The Apocalypse<br />
<br />
The 2012 Emmy Awards (the award recipients, not the broadcast itself, though that wasn't great either) <br />
<br />
<b>People I'm Sick of Hearing About:</b><br />
<br />
Taylor Swift<br />
<br />
One Direction/Justin Bieber/any of their female counterparts<br />
<br />
Donald Trump<br />
<br />
Tom Cruise <br />
<br />
Just...no.<br />
<br />
<br />
<b>Biggest (Positive) Surprises:</b><br />
<br />
<i><b>Positive Female Role Models (in media especially)</b></i><br />
Katniss Everdeen. Arya Stark. Princess Merida. Michelle Obama. Gabby Douglas. Hilary Clinton. The list could go on, but suffice it to say that ladies rocked in 2012, and I'm fairly certain there's no end in sight. <br />
<br />
<i><b>The Rise of Folk </b></i><br />
I actually read a magazine article recently that reference the door that had been opened for bands like the Lumineers and Of Monsters and Men in the "post-Mumford" era. If that's not an indicator of where the trends are headed, I don't know what is. <br />
<br />
<i><b>Saturday Night Live (without all-stars Kristen Wiig and Andy Samberg)</b></i><br />
Here's the little secret about this season of <i>SNL </i>that no one's talking about: it's actually been pretty great, all things considered. The old favorites are delivering their usual brilliance, and new faces like Kate McKinnon and Cecily Strong have me persuaded that things in Studio 8H are not as bleak as previously anticipated.<br />
<br />Andreahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03056498707464063744noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4941807421506973493.post-49978092431078576882012-12-30T20:58:00.001-08:002012-12-30T20:58:28.565-08:00100 Books: The Journey<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPNCz4j1qGVRFTeoO0YZsw0WwaqXMTJS1maM-CmbeopbmOa9tPcGaqDreXObdIS4lO50BzkSYo9i7A0UIu0hso8bGwEsmK7razcBJ1TCW_k7wyHts9qwa53F3QU1OUZw6ThTVHxnUWswUW/s1600/Stacks+of+Books.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="228" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPNCz4j1qGVRFTeoO0YZsw0WwaqXMTJS1maM-CmbeopbmOa9tPcGaqDreXObdIS4lO50BzkSYo9i7A0UIu0hso8bGwEsmK7razcBJ1TCW_k7wyHts9qwa53F3QU1OUZw6ThTVHxnUWswUW/s320/Stacks+of+Books.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
I promise I'll get to talking about the books themselves, but first kindly indulge some personal reflection. For me 2012 was a year of learning. I learned that being a real, live "grown up" is both wonderful and terrifying (the latter more often, particularly when you're unemployed, which I was for the first quarter of the year). I learned (or rather, re-learned) that I have some truly remarkable people in my corner, in multiple cities, no less. And I learned once again that stories really are the thing that means more to me than almost anything else in my life.<br />
<br />
Don't get me wrong--the wonderful people and the comforts I'm fortunate enough to have are important too, but I've always loved stories, and they've been there for me every step of the way, through thick and thin. In a way that's what my goal of reading 100 in a year was about: I wanted to immerse myself in other worlds and in the minds of characters completely different from myself, and see if stories were still everything I thought they were by year's end. And you know what? They were all that and more. Those places, fictional and otherwise, gave me somewhere to go when I was feeling down or lost, somewhere I could dream and think and just be. And those characters, even the ones with whom it seemed, on the surface, that I had absolutely nothing in common? I found tiny links of understanding, a million little ways I could relate to each and every one of them; reasons to root for them, and commiserate with them, and learn from them.<br />
<br />
I received a lot of uninvited commentary on my plan to read 100 books, mostly a lot of arguing about quantity vs. quality, and here at just about the end of December I've finally sussed out my response: for me the quantity is an essential part of the quality. Not only was I more likely to find things to love with a wider field of stories and voices, but it also added variety and diversity and color to a life that occasionally becomes bogged down in the boredom of my routine. That's without mentioning too the impact reading so many stories and experiencing so many writing styles has had on my own writing--I definitely feel more certain than ever that I can one day be a part of the canon from which all of these stories came.<br />
<br />
What else did I learn, specifically? I learned that in a year without any new Harry Potter-related projects, there was still magic to be found elsewhere. Lev Grossman, George RR Martin, and Gail Carson Levine continue to work magic with their stories, and fill a need so many of us have for a little bit of wizardry in our lives. I also learned that maybe once you've dabbled in the fantastical world of magic, Muggle realism is a more difficult realm to transition into than it seems (sorry, Jo).<br />
<br />
I learned that history, whether reimagined grimly (Roth), dramatized (Bolt), or weaved with fiction to create harrowing adventures (Hollick) or stories of people in a different time who just aren't that different from us (McCann), still serve as one of the best foundations for a truly poignant tale.<br />
<br />
I re-discovered the merits of literature for young people done right by authors like John Green and Suzanne Collins, as well as the fact that not all red-hot trends are deserving of the acclaim they receive (looking at you, E.L. James, and you too, Elizabeth Gilbert).<br />
<br />
I traveled countless miles without ever leaving my home. I went around the world with the likes of Salman Rushdie and Paulo Coehlo, and even visited Kenya alongside the President himself. I slipped some educational non-fiction books into the mix, learning the secrets of how we socialize from David Brooks, how the global economy collapsed in on itself from Matt Taibbi, but most importantly all the ins and outs of shows like <i>Saturday Night Life</i> and <i>Late Night with Conan O'Brien</i> from the people involved.<br />
<br />
I fit many obligatory classics in there too, from Shakespeare to Bradbury to Forster to Wharton back to Shakespeare again, and suffice it to say, they hold up just like you'd expect.<br />
<br />
With so many diverse works enjoyed over such a compact span of time, it would be impossible to pick a single (or even a single dozen) favorites. I recommend experiencing many of these books for a variety of reasons, though there are a few obvious exceptions (trust me, no one else on the planet needs to read <i>Fifty Shades of Grey</i>). More than that, though, I recommend making your own list for 2013, compiling all those stories you've been meaning to read for ages, and making a commitment to really doing it this time. It might be tough, but I guarantee it'll be worth it, because it will open up your world in ways you can't even begin to understand. And if you can't think of anything to read, you know at least one person with a whole host of recommendations.<br />
<br />
(It's me, by the way.)<br />
<br />
For those wondering (and I saved this till the end in case you weren't), the following is the list of each book I read during 2012. Those marked with an asterisk are the ones I most particularly recommend.<br />
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;"><span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"></span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span>1. The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde
by Robert Louis Stevenson</span>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: .25in .5in .75in 1.0in 1.25in 1.5in 1.75in 2.0in 2.25in 2.5in 2.75in 3.0in 3.25in 3.5in 3.75in 4.0in 4.25in 4.5in 4.75in 5.0in 5.25in 5.5in 5.75in 6.0in 6.25in 6.5in 6.75in 7.0in 7.25in 7.5in 7.75in 8.0in; text-autospace: none; text-indent: -.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">2<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span>Game of Thrones and Philosophy by William
Irwin</span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: .25in .5in .75in 1.0in 1.25in 1.5in 1.75in 2.0in 2.25in 2.5in 2.75in 3.0in 3.25in 3.5in 3.75in 4.0in 4.25in 4.5in 4.75in 5.0in 5.25in 5.5in 5.75in 6.0in 6.25in 6.5in 6.75in 7.0in 7.25in 7.5in 7.75in 8.0in; text-autospace: none; text-indent: -.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">3.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span>The Satanic Verses by Salman Rushdie</span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: .25in .5in .75in 1.0in 1.25in 1.5in 1.75in 2.0in 2.25in 2.5in 2.75in 3.0in 3.25in 3.5in 3.75in 4.0in 4.25in 4.5in 4.75in 5.0in 5.25in 5.5in 5.75in 6.0in 6.25in 6.5in 6.75in 7.0in 7.25in 7.5in 7.75in 8.0in; text-autospace: none; text-indent: -.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">4.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Watership Down by Richard Adams </span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: .25in .5in .75in 1.0in 1.25in 1.5in 1.75in 2.0in 2.25in 2.5in 2.75in 3.0in 3.25in 3.5in 3.75in 4.0in 4.25in 4.5in 4.75in 5.0in 5.25in 5.5in 5.75in 6.0in 6.25in 6.5in 6.75in 7.0in 7.25in 7.5in 7.75in 8.0in; text-autospace: none; text-indent: -.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">5.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">The
Virgin Suicides by Jeffrey Eugenides</span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: .25in .5in .75in 1.0in 1.25in 1.5in 1.75in 2.0in 2.25in 2.5in 2.75in 3.0in 3.25in 3.5in 3.75in 4.0in 4.25in 4.5in 4.75in 5.0in 5.25in 5.5in 5.75in 6.0in 6.25in 6.5in 6.75in 7.0in 7.25in 7.5in 7.75in 8.0in; text-autospace: none; text-indent: -.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">6.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The Leftovers by Tom Perrotta*</span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: .25in .5in .75in 1.0in 1.25in 1.5in 1.75in 2.0in 2.25in 2.5in 2.75in 3.0in 3.25in 3.5in 3.75in 4.0in 4.25in 4.5in 4.75in 5.0in 5.25in 5.5in 5.75in 6.0in 6.25in 6.5in 6.75in 7.0in 7.25in 7.5in 7.75in 8.0in; text-autospace: none; text-indent: -.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">7.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">The
Lord of the Flies by William Golding</span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: .25in .5in .75in 1.0in 1.25in 1.5in 1.75in 2.0in 2.25in 2.5in 2.75in 3.0in 3.25in 3.5in 3.75in 4.0in 4.25in 4.5in 4.75in 5.0in 5.25in 5.5in 5.75in 6.0in 6.25in 6.5in 6.75in 7.0in 7.25in 7.5in 7.75in 8.0in; text-autospace: none; text-indent: -.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">8.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">The
Plot Against America by Phillip Roth*</span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: .25in .5in .75in 1.0in 1.25in 1.5in 1.75in 2.0in 2.25in 2.5in 2.75in 3.0in 3.25in 3.5in 3.75in 4.0in 4.25in 4.5in 4.75in 5.0in 5.25in 5.5in 5.75in 6.0in 6.25in 6.5in 6.75in 7.0in 7.25in 7.5in 7.75in 8.0in; text-autospace: none; text-indent: -.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">9.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">The
Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time by Mark Haddon</span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: .25in .5in .75in 1.0in 1.25in 1.5in 1.75in 2.0in 2.25in 2.5in 2.75in 3.0in 3.25in 3.5in 3.75in 4.0in 4.25in 4.5in 4.75in 5.0in 5.25in 5.5in 5.75in 6.0in 6.25in 6.5in 6.75in 7.0in 7.25in 7.5in 7.75in 8.0in; text-autospace: none; text-indent: -.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">10.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">The Romantics by Pankaj Mishra</span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: .25in .5in .75in 1.0in 1.25in 1.5in 1.75in 2.0in 2.25in 2.5in 2.75in 3.0in 3.25in 3.5in 3.75in 4.0in 4.25in 4.5in 4.75in 5.0in 5.25in 5.5in 5.75in 6.0in 6.25in 6.5in 6.75in 7.0in 7.25in 7.5in 7.75in 8.0in; text-autospace: none; text-indent: -.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">11.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">American Psycho by Bret Easton
Ellis</span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: .25in .5in .75in 1.0in 1.25in 1.5in 1.75in 2.0in 2.25in 2.5in 2.75in 3.0in 3.25in 3.5in 3.75in 4.0in 4.25in 4.5in 4.75in 5.0in 5.25in 5.5in 5.75in 6.0in 6.25in 6.5in 6.75in 7.0in 7.25in 7.5in 7.75in 8.0in; text-autospace: none; text-indent: -.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">12.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Watchmen by Alan Moore</span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: .25in .5in .75in 1.0in 1.25in 1.5in 1.75in 2.0in 2.25in 2.5in 2.75in 3.0in 3.25in 3.5in 3.75in 4.0in 4.25in 4.5in 4.75in 5.0in 5.25in 5.5in 5.75in 6.0in 6.25in 6.5in 6.75in 7.0in 7.25in 7.5in 7.75in 8.0in; text-autospace: none; text-indent: -.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">13.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Reasons to Live by Amy Hempel</span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: .25in .5in .75in 1.0in 1.25in 1.5in 1.75in 2.0in 2.25in 2.5in 2.75in 3.0in 3.25in 3.5in 3.75in 4.0in 4.25in 4.5in 4.75in 5.0in 5.25in 5.5in 5.75in 6.0in 6.25in 6.5in 6.75in 7.0in 7.25in 7.5in 7.75in 8.0in; text-autospace: none; text-indent: -.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">14.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Breakfast of Champions by Kurt
Vonnegut</span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: .25in .5in .75in 1.0in 1.25in 1.5in 1.75in 2.0in 2.25in 2.5in 2.75in 3.0in 3.25in 3.5in 3.75in 4.0in 4.25in 4.5in 4.75in 5.0in 5.25in 5.5in 5.75in 6.0in 6.25in 6.5in 6.75in 7.0in 7.25in 7.5in 7.75in 8.0in; text-autospace: none; text-indent: -.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">15.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Farenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury*</span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: .25in .5in .75in 1.0in 1.25in 1.5in 1.75in 2.0in 2.25in 2.5in 2.75in 3.0in 3.25in 3.5in 3.75in 4.0in 4.25in 4.5in 4.75in 5.0in 5.25in 5.5in 5.75in 6.0in 6.25in 6.5in 6.75in 7.0in 7.25in 7.5in 7.75in 8.0in; text-autospace: none; text-indent: -.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">16.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">The Hunger Games by Suzanne
Collins*</span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: .25in .5in .75in 1.0in 1.25in 1.5in 1.75in 2.0in 2.25in 2.5in 2.75in 3.0in 3.25in 3.5in 3.75in 4.0in 4.25in 4.5in 4.75in 5.0in 5.25in 5.5in 5.75in 6.0in 6.25in 6.5in 6.75in 7.0in 7.25in 7.5in 7.75in 8.0in; text-autospace: none; text-indent: -.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">17.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins</span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: .25in .5in .75in 1.0in 1.25in 1.5in 1.75in 2.0in 2.25in 2.5in 2.75in 3.0in 3.25in 3.5in 3.75in 4.0in 4.25in 4.5in 4.75in 5.0in 5.25in 5.5in 5.75in 6.0in 6.25in 6.5in 6.75in 7.0in 7.25in 7.5in 7.75in 8.0in; text-autospace: none; text-indent: -.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">18.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins</span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: .25in .5in .75in 1.0in 1.25in 1.5in 1.75in 2.0in 2.25in 2.5in 2.75in 3.0in 3.25in 3.5in 3.75in 4.0in 4.25in 4.5in 4.75in 5.0in 5.25in 5.5in 5.75in 6.0in 6.25in 6.5in 6.75in 7.0in 7.25in 7.5in 7.75in 8.0in; text-autospace: none; text-indent: -.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">19.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">The Little Prince by Antoine de
Saint-Exupery</span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: .25in .5in .75in 1.0in 1.25in 1.5in 1.75in 2.0in 2.25in 2.5in 2.75in 3.0in 3.25in 3.5in 3.75in 4.0in 4.25in 4.5in 4.75in 5.0in 5.25in 5.5in 5.75in 6.0in 6.25in 6.5in 6.75in 7.0in 7.25in 7.5in 7.75in 8.0in; text-autospace: none; text-indent: -.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">20.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Rosencrantz & Guildenstern
are Dead by Tom Stoppard</span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: .25in .5in .75in 1.0in 1.25in 1.5in 1.75in 2.0in 2.25in 2.5in 2.75in 3.0in 3.25in 3.5in 3.75in 4.0in 4.25in 4.5in 4.75in 5.0in 5.25in 5.5in 5.75in 6.0in 6.25in 6.5in 6.75in 7.0in 7.25in 7.5in 7.75in 8.0in; text-autospace: none; text-indent: -.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">21.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">A Passage to India by EM Forster</span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: .25in .5in .75in 1.0in 1.25in 1.5in 1.75in 2.0in 2.25in 2.5in 2.75in 3.0in 3.25in 3.5in 3.75in 4.0in 4.25in 4.5in 4.75in 5.0in 5.25in 5.5in 5.75in 6.0in 6.25in 6.5in 6.75in 7.0in 7.25in 7.5in 7.75in 8.0in; text-autospace: none; text-indent: -.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">22.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">The Age of Innocence by Edith
Wharton</span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: .25in .5in .75in 1.0in 1.25in 1.5in 1.75in 2.0in 2.25in 2.5in 2.75in 3.0in 3.25in 3.5in 3.75in 4.0in 4.25in 4.5in 4.75in 5.0in 5.25in 5.5in 5.75in 6.0in 6.25in 6.5in 6.75in 7.0in 7.25in 7.5in 7.75in 8.0in; text-autospace: none; text-indent: -.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">23.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">A Room with a View by EM Forster</span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: .25in .5in .75in 1.0in 1.25in 1.5in 1.75in 2.0in 2.25in 2.5in 2.75in 3.0in 3.25in 3.5in 3.75in 4.0in 4.25in 4.5in 4.75in 5.0in 5.25in 5.5in 5.75in 6.0in 6.25in 6.5in 6.75in 7.0in 7.25in 7.5in 7.75in 8.0in; text-autospace: none; text-indent: -.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">24.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Damned by Chuck Palahniuk</span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: .25in .5in .75in 1.0in 1.25in 1.5in 1.75in 2.0in 2.25in 2.5in 2.75in 3.0in 3.25in 3.5in 3.75in 4.0in 4.25in 4.5in 4.75in 5.0in 5.25in 5.5in 5.75in 6.0in 6.25in 6.5in 6.75in 7.0in 7.25in 7.5in 7.75in 8.0in; text-autospace: none; text-indent: -.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">25.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">The War for Late Night by Bill
Carter</span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: .25in .5in .75in 1.0in 1.25in 1.5in 1.75in 2.0in 2.25in 2.5in 2.75in 3.0in 3.25in 3.5in 3.75in 4.0in 4.25in 4.5in 4.75in 5.0in 5.25in 5.5in 5.75in 6.0in 6.25in 6.5in 6.75in 7.0in 7.25in 7.5in 7.75in 8.0in; text-autospace: none; text-indent: -.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">26.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">The Paris Wife by Paula Mclain</span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: .25in .5in .75in 1.0in 1.25in 1.5in 1.75in 2.0in 2.25in 2.5in 2.75in 3.0in 3.25in 3.5in 3.75in 4.0in 4.25in 4.5in 4.75in 5.0in 5.25in 5.5in 5.75in 6.0in 6.25in 6.5in 6.75in 7.0in 7.25in 7.5in 7.75in 8.0in; text-autospace: none; text-indent: -.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">27.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">The Tiger’s Wife by Tea Obrecht</span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: .25in .5in .75in 1.0in 1.25in 1.5in 1.75in 2.0in 2.25in 2.5in 2.75in 3.0in 3.25in 3.5in 3.75in 4.0in 4.25in 4.5in 4.75in 5.0in 5.25in 5.5in 5.75in 6.0in 6.25in 6.5in 6.75in 7.0in 7.25in 7.5in 7.75in 8.0in; text-autospace: none; text-indent: -.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">28.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">The Social Animal by David Brooks*</span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: .25in .5in .75in 1.0in 1.25in 1.5in 1.75in 2.0in 2.25in 2.5in 2.75in 3.0in 3.25in 3.5in 3.75in 4.0in 4.25in 4.5in 4.75in 5.0in 5.25in 5.5in 5.75in 6.0in 6.25in 6.5in 6.75in 7.0in 7.25in 7.5in 7.75in 8.0in; text-autospace: none; text-indent: -.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">29.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Room:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A Novel by Emma Donoghue</span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: .25in .5in .75in 1.0in 1.25in 1.5in 1.75in 2.0in 2.25in 2.5in 2.75in 3.0in 3.25in 3.5in 3.75in 4.0in 4.25in 4.5in 4.75in 5.0in 5.25in 5.5in 5.75in 6.0in 6.25in 6.5in 6.75in 7.0in 7.25in 7.5in 7.75in 8.0in; text-autospace: none; text-indent: -.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">30.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">A Game of Thrones by George RR
Martin*</span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: .25in .5in .75in 1.0in 1.25in 1.5in 1.75in 2.0in 2.25in 2.5in 2.75in 3.0in 3.25in 3.5in 3.75in 4.0in 4.25in 4.5in 4.75in 5.0in 5.25in 5.5in 5.75in 6.0in 6.25in 6.5in 6.75in 7.0in 7.25in 7.5in 7.75in 8.0in; text-autospace: none; text-indent: -.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">31.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">A Clash of Kings by George RR
Martin</span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: .25in .5in .75in 1.0in 1.25in 1.5in 1.75in 2.0in 2.25in 2.5in 2.75in 3.0in 3.25in 3.5in 3.75in 4.0in 4.25in 4.5in 4.75in 5.0in 5.25in 5.5in 5.75in 6.0in 6.25in 6.5in 6.75in 7.0in 7.25in 7.5in 7.75in 8.0in; text-autospace: none; text-indent: -.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">32.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">A Storm of Swords by George RR
Martin</span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: .25in .5in .75in 1.0in 1.25in 1.5in 1.75in 2.0in 2.25in 2.5in 2.75in 3.0in 3.25in 3.5in 3.75in 4.0in 4.25in 4.5in 4.75in 5.0in 5.25in 5.5in 5.75in 6.0in 6.25in 6.5in 6.75in 7.0in 7.25in 7.5in 7.75in 8.0in; text-autospace: none; text-indent: -.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">33.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">A Feast for Crows by George RR
Martin</span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: .25in .5in .75in 1.0in 1.25in 1.5in 1.75in 2.0in 2.25in 2.5in 2.75in 3.0in 3.25in 3.5in 3.75in 4.0in 4.25in 4.5in 4.75in 5.0in 5.25in 5.5in 5.75in 6.0in 6.25in 6.5in 6.75in 7.0in 7.25in 7.5in 7.75in 8.0in; text-autospace: none; text-indent: -.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">34.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">A Dance with Dragons by George RR
Martin</span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: .25in .5in .75in 1.0in 1.25in 1.5in 1.75in 2.0in 2.25in 2.5in 2.75in 3.0in 3.25in 3.5in 3.75in 4.0in 4.25in 4.5in 4.75in 5.0in 5.25in 5.5in 5.75in 6.0in 6.25in 6.5in 6.75in 7.0in 7.25in 7.5in 7.75in 8.0in; text-autospace: none; text-indent: -.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">35.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Crossers by Phillip Caputo</span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: .25in .5in .75in 1.0in 1.25in 1.5in 1.75in 2.0in 2.25in 2.5in 2.75in 3.0in 3.25in 3.5in 3.75in 4.0in 4.25in 4.5in 4.75in 5.0in 5.25in 5.5in 5.75in 6.0in 6.25in 6.5in 6.75in 7.0in 7.25in 7.5in 7.75in 8.0in; text-autospace: none; text-indent: -.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">36.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">In the Time of the Butterflies by
Julia Alvarez*</span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: .25in .5in .75in 1.0in 1.25in 1.5in 1.75in 2.0in 2.25in 2.5in 2.75in 3.0in 3.25in 3.5in 3.75in 4.0in 4.25in 4.5in 4.75in 5.0in 5.25in 5.5in 5.75in 6.0in 6.25in 6.5in 6.75in 7.0in 7.25in 7.5in 7.75in 8.0in; text-autospace: none; text-indent: -.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">37.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Pawnee:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Greatest Town in America by Leslie Knope</span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: .25in .5in .75in 1.0in 1.25in 1.5in 1.75in 2.0in 2.25in 2.5in 2.75in 3.0in 3.25in 3.5in 3.75in 4.0in 4.25in 4.5in 4.75in 5.0in 5.25in 5.5in 5.75in 6.0in 6.25in 6.5in 6.75in 7.0in 7.25in 7.5in 7.75in 8.0in; text-autospace: none; text-indent: -.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">38.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">The Alchemist by Paulo Coehlo*</span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: .25in .5in .75in 1.0in 1.25in 1.5in 1.75in 2.0in 2.25in 2.5in 2.75in 3.0in 3.25in 3.5in 3.75in 4.0in 4.25in 4.5in 4.75in 5.0in 5.25in 5.5in 5.75in 6.0in 6.25in 6.5in 6.75in 7.0in 7.25in 7.5in 7.75in 8.0in; text-autospace: none; text-indent: -.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">39.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">On Chesil Beach by Ian McEwan</span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: .25in .5in .75in 1.0in 1.25in 1.5in 1.75in 2.0in 2.25in 2.5in 2.75in 3.0in 3.25in 3.5in 3.75in 4.0in 4.25in 4.5in 4.75in 5.0in 5.25in 5.5in 5.75in 6.0in 6.25in 6.5in 6.75in 7.0in 7.25in 7.5in 7.75in 8.0in; text-autospace: none; text-indent: -.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">40.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">One Second After by William
Forstchen</span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: .25in .5in .75in 1.0in 1.25in 1.5in 1.75in 2.0in 2.25in 2.5in 2.75in 3.0in 3.25in 3.5in 3.75in 4.0in 4.25in 4.5in 4.75in 5.0in 5.25in 5.5in 5.75in 6.0in 6.25in 6.5in 6.75in 7.0in 7.25in 7.5in 7.75in 8.0in; text-autospace: none; text-indent: -.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">41.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Bright’s Passage by Josh Ritter</span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: .25in .5in .75in 1.0in 1.25in 1.5in 1.75in 2.0in 2.25in 2.5in 2.75in 3.0in 3.25in 3.5in 3.75in 4.0in 4.25in 4.5in 4.75in 5.0in 5.25in 5.5in 5.75in 6.0in 6.25in 6.5in 6.75in 7.0in 7.25in 7.5in 7.75in 8.0in; text-autospace: none; text-indent: -.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">42.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Why We Broke Up by Daniel Handler</span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: .25in .5in .75in 1.0in 1.25in 1.5in 1.75in 2.0in 2.25in 2.5in 2.75in 3.0in 3.25in 3.5in 3.75in 4.0in 4.25in 4.5in 4.75in 5.0in 5.25in 5.5in 5.75in 6.0in 6.25in 6.5in 6.75in 7.0in 7.25in 7.5in 7.75in 8.0in; text-autospace: none; text-indent: -.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">43.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">The Art of War by Sun Tzu</span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: .25in .5in .75in 1.0in 1.25in 1.5in 1.75in 2.0in 2.25in 2.5in 2.75in 3.0in 3.25in 3.5in 3.75in 4.0in 4.25in 4.5in 4.75in 5.0in 5.25in 5.5in 5.75in 6.0in 6.25in 6.5in 6.75in 7.0in 7.25in 7.5in 7.75in 8.0in; text-autospace: none; text-indent: -.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">44.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Eat Pray Love by Elizabeth
Gilbert</span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: .25in .5in .75in 1.0in 1.25in 1.5in 1.75in 2.0in 2.25in 2.5in 2.75in 3.0in 3.25in 3.5in 3.75in 4.0in 4.25in 4.5in 4.75in 5.0in 5.25in 5.5in 5.75in 6.0in 6.25in 6.5in 6.75in 7.0in 7.25in 7.5in 7.75in 8.0in; text-autospace: none; text-indent: -.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">45.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">The Friday Night Knitting Club by
Kate Jacobs</span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: .25in .5in .75in 1.0in 1.25in 1.5in 1.75in 2.0in 2.25in 2.5in 2.75in 3.0in 3.25in 3.5in 3.75in 4.0in 4.25in 4.5in 4.75in 5.0in 5.25in 5.5in 5.75in 6.0in 6.25in 6.5in 6.75in 7.0in 7.25in 7.5in 7.75in 8.0in; text-autospace: none; text-indent: -.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">46.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">The Grief of Others by Leah Cohen</span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: .25in .5in .75in 1.0in 1.25in 1.5in 1.75in 2.0in 2.25in 2.5in 2.75in 3.0in 3.25in 3.5in 3.75in 4.0in 4.25in 4.5in 4.75in 5.0in 5.25in 5.5in 5.75in 6.0in 6.25in 6.5in 6.75in 7.0in 7.25in 7.5in 7.75in 8.0in; text-autospace: none; text-indent: -.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">47.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Talk Talk by TC Boyle</span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: .25in .5in .75in 1.0in 1.25in 1.5in 1.75in 2.0in 2.25in 2.5in 2.75in 3.0in 3.25in 3.5in 3.75in 4.0in 4.25in 4.5in 4.75in 5.0in 5.25in 5.5in 5.75in 6.0in 6.25in 6.5in 6.75in 7.0in 7.25in 7.5in 7.75in 8.0in; text-autospace: none; text-indent: -.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">48.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Skippy Dies by Paul Murray</span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: .25in .5in .75in 1.0in 1.25in 1.5in 1.75in 2.0in 2.25in 2.5in 2.75in 3.0in 3.25in 3.5in 3.75in 4.0in 4.25in 4.5in 4.75in 5.0in 5.25in 5.5in 5.75in 6.0in 6.25in 6.5in 6.75in 7.0in 7.25in 7.5in 7.75in 8.0in; text-autospace: none; text-indent: -.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">49.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Live from New York:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>An Uncensored History of Saturday Night Live</span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: .25in .5in .75in 1.0in 1.25in 1.5in 1.75in 2.0in 2.25in 2.5in 2.75in 3.0in 3.25in 3.5in 3.75in 4.0in 4.25in 4.5in 4.75in 5.0in 5.25in 5.5in 5.75in 6.0in 6.25in 6.5in 6.75in 7.0in 7.25in 7.5in 7.75in 8.0in; text-autospace: none; text-indent: -.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">50.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Griftopia by Matt Taibbi*</span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: .25in .5in .75in 1.0in 1.25in 1.5in 1.75in 2.0in 2.25in 2.5in 2.75in 3.0in 3.25in 3.5in 3.75in 4.0in 4.25in 4.5in 4.75in 5.0in 5.25in 5.5in 5.75in 6.0in 6.25in 6.5in 6.75in 7.0in 7.25in 7.5in 7.75in 8.0in; text-autospace: none; text-indent: -.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">51.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">I Am the Chosen King by Helen Hollick*</span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: .25in .5in .75in 1.0in 1.25in 1.5in 1.75in 2.0in 2.25in 2.5in 2.75in 3.0in 3.25in 3.5in 3.75in 4.0in 4.25in 4.5in 4.75in 5.0in 5.25in 5.5in 5.75in 6.0in 6.25in 6.5in 6.75in 7.0in 7.25in 7.5in 7.75in 8.0in; text-autospace: none; text-indent: -.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">52.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">The Absolutely True Diary of a
Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie</span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: .25in .5in .75in 1.0in 1.25in 1.5in 1.75in 2.0in 2.25in 2.5in 2.75in 3.0in 3.25in 3.5in 3.75in 4.0in 4.25in 4.5in 4.75in 5.0in 5.25in 5.5in 5.75in 6.0in 6.25in 6.5in 6.75in 7.0in 7.25in 7.5in 7.75in 8.0in; text-autospace: none; text-indent: -.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">53.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">The Hypnotist by MJ Rose</span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: .25in .5in .75in 1.0in 1.25in 1.5in 1.75in 2.0in 2.25in 2.5in 2.75in 3.0in 3.25in 3.5in 3.75in 4.0in 4.25in 4.5in 4.75in 5.0in 5.25in 5.5in 5.75in 6.0in 6.25in 6.5in 6.75in 7.0in 7.25in 7.5in 7.75in 8.0in; text-autospace: none; text-indent: -.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">54.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Let the Great World Spin by Colum
McCann*</span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: .25in .5in .75in 1.0in 1.25in 1.5in 1.75in 2.0in 2.25in 2.5in 2.75in 3.0in 3.25in 3.5in 3.75in 4.0in 4.25in 4.5in 4.75in 5.0in 5.25in 5.5in 5.75in 6.0in 6.25in 6.5in 6.75in 7.0in 7.25in 7.5in 7.75in 8.0in; text-autospace: none; text-indent: -.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">55.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">The Happiness Project by Gretchen
Rubin</span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: .25in .5in .75in 1.0in 1.25in 1.5in 1.75in 2.0in 2.25in 2.5in 2.75in 3.0in 3.25in 3.5in 3.75in 4.0in 4.25in 4.5in 4.75in 5.0in 5.25in 5.5in 5.75in 6.0in 6.25in 6.5in 6.75in 7.0in 7.25in 7.5in 7.75in 8.0in; text-autospace: none; text-indent: -.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">56.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Seriously, I’m Kidding by Ellen
Degeneres</span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: .25in .5in .75in 1.0in 1.25in 1.5in 1.75in 2.0in 2.25in 2.5in 2.75in 3.0in 3.25in 3.5in 3.75in 4.0in 4.25in 4.5in 4.75in 5.0in 5.25in 5.5in 5.75in 6.0in 6.25in 6.5in 6.75in 7.0in 7.25in 7.5in 7.75in 8.0in; text-autospace: none; text-indent: -.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">57.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">A Man for All Seasons by Robert
Bolt*</span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: .25in .5in .75in 1.0in 1.25in 1.5in 1.75in 2.0in 2.25in 2.5in 2.75in 3.0in 3.25in 3.5in 3.75in 4.0in 4.25in 4.5in 4.75in 5.0in 5.25in 5.5in 5.75in 6.0in 6.25in 6.5in 6.75in 7.0in 7.25in 7.5in 7.75in 8.0in; text-autospace: none; text-indent: -.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">58.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Fugitives and Refugees by Chuck
Palahniuk</span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: .25in .5in .75in 1.0in 1.25in 1.5in 1.75in 2.0in 2.25in 2.5in 2.75in 3.0in 3.25in 3.5in 3.75in 4.0in 4.25in 4.5in 4.75in 5.0in 5.25in 5.5in 5.75in 6.0in 6.25in 6.5in 6.75in 7.0in 7.25in 7.5in 7.75in 8.0in; text-autospace: none; text-indent: -.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">59.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Pygmy by Chuck Palahniuk</span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: .25in .5in .75in 1.0in 1.25in 1.5in 1.75in 2.0in 2.25in 2.5in 2.75in 3.0in 3.25in 3.5in 3.75in 4.0in 4.25in 4.5in 4.75in 5.0in 5.25in 5.5in 5.75in 6.0in 6.25in 6.5in 6.75in 7.0in 7.25in 7.5in 7.75in 8.0in; text-autospace: none; text-indent: -.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">60.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Death in the Afternoon by Ernest
Hemingway</span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: .25in .5in .75in 1.0in 1.25in 1.5in 1.75in 2.0in 2.25in 2.5in 2.75in 3.0in 3.25in 3.5in 3.75in 4.0in 4.25in 4.5in 4.75in 5.0in 5.25in 5.5in 5.75in 6.0in 6.25in 6.5in 6.75in 7.0in 7.25in 7.5in 7.75in 8.0in; text-autospace: none; text-indent: -.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">61.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">I Am the Messenger by Marcus
Zusak*</span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: .25in .5in .75in 1.0in 1.25in 1.5in 1.75in 2.0in 2.25in 2.5in 2.75in 3.0in 3.25in 3.5in 3.75in 4.0in 4.25in 4.5in 4.75in 5.0in 5.25in 5.5in 5.75in 6.0in 6.25in 6.5in 6.75in 7.0in 7.25in 7.5in 7.75in 8.0in; text-autospace: none; text-indent: -.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">62.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">It’s Kind of a Funny Story by Ned
Vizzini*</span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: .25in .5in .75in 1.0in 1.25in 1.5in 1.75in 2.0in 2.25in 2.5in 2.75in 3.0in 3.25in 3.5in 3.75in 4.0in 4.25in 4.5in 4.75in 5.0in 5.25in 5.5in 5.75in 6.0in 6.25in 6.5in 6.75in 7.0in 7.25in 7.5in 7.75in 8.0in; text-autospace: none; text-indent: -.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">63.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Death of a Salesman by Arthur
Miller</span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: .25in .5in .75in 1.0in 1.25in 1.5in 1.75in 2.0in 2.25in 2.5in 2.75in 3.0in 3.25in 3.5in 3.75in 4.0in 4.25in 4.5in 4.75in 5.0in 5.25in 5.5in 5.75in 6.0in 6.25in 6.5in 6.75in 7.0in 7.25in 7.5in 7.75in 8.0in; text-autospace: none; text-indent: -.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">64.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">The Seagull by Anton Chekhov</span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: .25in .5in .75in 1.0in 1.25in 1.5in 1.75in 2.0in 2.25in 2.5in 2.75in 3.0in 3.25in 3.5in 3.75in 4.0in 4.25in 4.5in 4.75in 5.0in 5.25in 5.5in 5.75in 6.0in 6.25in 6.5in 6.75in 7.0in 7.25in 7.5in 7.75in 8.0in; text-autospace: none; text-indent: -.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">65.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Rabbit Hole by David
Lindsay-Abaire*</span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: .25in .5in .75in 1.0in 1.25in 1.5in 1.75in 2.0in 2.25in 2.5in 2.75in 3.0in 3.25in 3.5in 3.75in 4.0in 4.25in 4.5in 4.75in 5.0in 5.25in 5.5in 5.75in 6.0in 6.25in 6.5in 6.75in 7.0in 7.25in 7.5in 7.75in 8.0in; text-autospace: none; text-indent: -.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">66.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Waiting for Godot by Samuel
Beckett</span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: .25in .5in .75in 1.0in 1.25in 1.5in 1.75in 2.0in 2.25in 2.5in 2.75in 3.0in 3.25in 3.5in 3.75in 4.0in 4.25in 4.5in 4.75in 5.0in 5.25in 5.5in 5.75in 6.0in 6.25in 6.5in 6.75in 7.0in 7.25in 7.5in 7.75in 8.0in; text-autospace: none; text-indent: -.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">67.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">The Brief and Wonderous Life of
Oscar Wao by Junot Diaz</span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: .25in .5in .75in 1.0in 1.25in 1.5in 1.75in 2.0in 2.25in 2.5in 2.75in 3.0in 3.25in 3.5in 3.75in 4.0in 4.25in 4.5in 4.75in 5.0in 5.25in 5.5in 5.75in 6.0in 6.25in 6.5in 6.75in 7.0in 7.25in 7.5in 7.75in 8.0in; text-autospace: none; text-indent: -.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">68.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">A Streetcar Named Desire by
Tennessee Williams</span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: .25in .5in .75in 1.0in 1.25in 1.5in 1.75in 2.0in 2.25in 2.5in 2.75in 3.0in 3.25in 3.5in 3.75in 4.0in 4.25in 4.5in 4.75in 5.0in 5.25in 5.5in 5.75in 6.0in 6.25in 6.5in 6.75in 7.0in 7.25in 7.5in 7.75in 8.0in; text-autospace: none; text-indent: -.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">69.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">The Beautiful and Damned by F.
Scott Fitzgerald</span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: .25in .5in .75in 1.0in 1.25in 1.5in 1.75in 2.0in 2.25in 2.5in 2.75in 3.0in 3.25in 3.5in 3.75in 4.0in 4.25in 4.5in 4.75in 5.0in 5.25in 5.5in 5.75in 6.0in 6.25in 6.5in 6.75in 7.0in 7.25in 7.5in 7.75in 8.0in; text-autospace: none; text-indent: -.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">70.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Spring Awakening (play) by Frank
Wedekind</span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: .25in .5in .75in 1.0in 1.25in 1.5in 1.75in 2.0in 2.25in 2.5in 2.75in 3.0in 3.25in 3.5in 3.75in 4.0in 4.25in 4.5in 4.75in 5.0in 5.25in 5.5in 5.75in 6.0in 6.25in 6.5in 6.75in 7.0in 7.25in 7.5in 7.75in 8.0in; text-autospace: none; text-indent: -.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">71.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Dreams From My Father by Barack
Obama</span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: .25in .5in .75in 1.0in 1.25in 1.5in 1.75in 2.0in 2.25in 2.5in 2.75in 3.0in 3.25in 3.5in 3.75in 4.0in 4.25in 4.5in 4.75in 5.0in 5.25in 5.5in 5.75in 6.0in 6.25in 6.5in 6.75in 7.0in 7.25in 7.5in 7.75in 8.0in; text-autospace: none; text-indent: -.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">72.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Othello by William Shakespeare</span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: .25in .5in .75in 1.0in 1.25in 1.5in 1.75in 2.0in 2.25in 2.5in 2.75in 3.0in 3.25in 3.5in 3.75in 4.0in 4.25in 4.5in 4.75in 5.0in 5.25in 5.5in 5.75in 6.0in 6.25in 6.5in 6.75in 7.0in 7.25in 7.5in 7.75in 8.0in; text-autospace: none; text-indent: -.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">73.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Measure for Measure by William
Shakespeare</span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: .25in .5in .75in 1.0in 1.25in 1.5in 1.75in 2.0in 2.25in 2.5in 2.75in 3.0in 3.25in 3.5in 3.75in 4.0in 4.25in 4.5in 4.75in 5.0in 5.25in 5.5in 5.75in 6.0in 6.25in 6.5in 6.75in 7.0in 7.25in 7.5in 7.75in 8.0in; text-autospace: none; text-indent: -.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">74.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Regarding the Fountain by Kate
Klise</span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: .25in .5in .75in 1.0in 1.25in 1.5in 1.75in 2.0in 2.25in 2.5in 2.75in 3.0in 3.25in 3.5in 3.75in 4.0in 4.25in 4.5in 4.75in 5.0in 5.25in 5.5in 5.75in 6.0in 6.25in 6.5in 6.75in 7.0in 7.25in 7.5in 7.75in 8.0in; text-autospace: none; text-indent: -.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">75.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Revolutionary Road by Richard
Yates</span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: .25in .5in .75in 1.0in 1.25in 1.5in 1.75in 2.0in 2.25in 2.5in 2.75in 3.0in 3.25in 3.5in 3.75in 4.0in 4.25in 4.5in 4.75in 5.0in 5.25in 5.5in 5.75in 6.0in 6.25in 6.5in 6.75in 7.0in 7.25in 7.5in 7.75in 8.0in; text-autospace: none; text-indent: -.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">76.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Three Cups of Tea by Greg
Mortenson</span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: .25in .5in .75in 1.0in 1.25in 1.5in 1.75in 2.0in 2.25in 2.5in 2.75in 3.0in 3.25in 3.5in 3.75in 4.0in 4.25in 4.5in 4.75in 5.0in 5.25in 5.5in 5.75in 6.0in 6.25in 6.5in 6.75in 7.0in 7.25in 7.5in 7.75in 8.0in; text-autospace: none; text-indent: -.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">77.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">50 Shades of Grey by EL James</span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: .25in .5in .75in 1.0in 1.25in 1.5in 1.75in 2.0in 2.25in 2.5in 2.75in 3.0in 3.25in 3.5in 3.75in 4.0in 4.25in 4.5in 4.75in 5.0in 5.25in 5.5in 5.75in 6.0in 6.25in 6.5in 6.75in 7.0in 7.25in 7.5in 7.75in 8.0in; text-autospace: none; text-indent: -.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">78.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Paper Towns by John Green</span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: .25in .5in .75in 1.0in 1.25in 1.5in 1.75in 2.0in 2.25in 2.5in 2.75in 3.0in 3.25in 3.5in 3.75in 4.0in 4.25in 4.5in 4.75in 5.0in 5.25in 5.5in 5.75in 6.0in 6.25in 6.5in 6.75in 7.0in 7.25in 7.5in 7.75in 8.0in; text-autospace: none; text-indent: -.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">79.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">The Fault in Our Stars by John
Green*</span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: .25in .5in .75in 1.0in 1.25in 1.5in 1.75in 2.0in 2.25in 2.5in 2.75in 3.0in 3.25in 3.5in 3.75in 4.0in 4.25in 4.5in 4.75in 5.0in 5.25in 5.5in 5.75in 6.0in 6.25in 6.5in 6.75in 7.0in 7.25in 7.5in 7.75in 8.0in; text-autospace: none; text-indent: -.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">80.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Onward by Howard Schultz</span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: .25in .5in .75in 1.0in 1.25in 1.5in 1.75in 2.0in 2.25in 2.5in 2.75in 3.0in 3.25in 3.5in 3.75in 4.0in 4.25in 4.5in 4.75in 5.0in 5.25in 5.5in 5.75in 6.0in 6.25in 6.5in 6.75in 7.0in 7.25in 7.5in 7.75in 8.0in; text-autospace: none; text-indent: -.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">81.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">The Magicians by Lev Grossman*</span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: .25in .5in .75in 1.0in 1.25in 1.5in 1.75in 2.0in 2.25in 2.5in 2.75in 3.0in 3.25in 3.5in 3.75in 4.0in 4.25in 4.5in 4.75in 5.0in 5.25in 5.5in 5.75in 6.0in 6.25in 6.5in 6.75in 7.0in 7.25in 7.5in 7.75in 8.0in; text-autospace: none; text-indent: -.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">82.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">The Casual Vacancy by JK Rowling</span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: .25in .5in .75in 1.0in 1.25in 1.5in 1.75in 2.0in 2.25in 2.5in 2.75in 3.0in 3.25in 3.5in 3.75in 4.0in 4.25in 4.5in 4.75in 5.0in 5.25in 5.5in 5.75in 6.0in 6.25in 6.5in 6.75in 7.0in 7.25in 7.5in 7.75in 8.0in; text-autospace: none; text-indent: -.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">83.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Zoe Letting Go by Nora Price*</span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: .25in .5in .75in 1.0in 1.25in 1.5in 1.75in 2.0in 2.25in 2.5in 2.75in 3.0in 3.25in 3.5in 3.75in 4.0in 4.25in 4.5in 4.75in 5.0in 5.25in 5.5in 5.75in 6.0in 6.25in 6.5in 6.75in 7.0in 7.25in 7.5in 7.75in 8.0in; text-autospace: none; text-indent: -.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">84.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Alanna: the First Adventurer by
Tamora Pierce</span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: .25in .5in .75in 1.0in 1.25in 1.5in 1.75in 2.0in 2.25in 2.5in 2.75in 3.0in 3.25in 3.5in 3.75in 4.0in 4.25in 4.5in 4.75in 5.0in 5.25in 5.5in 5.75in 6.0in 6.25in 6.5in 6.75in 7.0in 7.25in 7.5in 7.75in 8.0in; text-autospace: none; text-indent: -.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">85.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">In the Hand of the Goddess by Tamora
Pierce</span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: .25in .5in .75in 1.0in 1.25in 1.5in 1.75in 2.0in 2.25in 2.5in 2.75in 3.0in 3.25in 3.5in 3.75in 4.0in 4.25in 4.5in 4.75in 5.0in 5.25in 5.5in 5.75in 6.0in 6.25in 6.5in 6.75in 7.0in 7.25in 7.5in 7.75in 8.0in; text-autospace: none; text-indent: -.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">86.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">The Woman Who Rides Like a Man by
Tamora Pierce</span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: .25in .5in .75in 1.0in 1.25in 1.5in 1.75in 2.0in 2.25in 2.5in 2.75in 3.0in 3.25in 3.5in 3.75in 4.0in 4.25in 4.5in 4.75in 5.0in 5.25in 5.5in 5.75in 6.0in 6.25in 6.5in 6.75in 7.0in 7.25in 7.5in 7.75in 8.0in; text-autospace: none; text-indent: -.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">87.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Lioness Rampant by Tamora Pierce</span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: .25in .5in .75in 1.0in 1.25in 1.5in 1.75in 2.0in 2.25in 2.5in 2.75in 3.0in 3.25in 3.5in 3.75in 4.0in 4.25in 4.5in 4.75in 5.0in 5.25in 5.5in 5.75in 6.0in 6.25in 6.5in 6.75in 7.0in 7.25in 7.5in 7.75in 8.0in; text-autospace: none; text-indent: -.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">88.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Blue is for Nightmares by Laurie
Faria Stolarz</span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: .25in .5in .75in 1.0in 1.25in 1.5in 1.75in 2.0in 2.25in 2.5in 2.75in 3.0in 3.25in 3.5in 3.75in 4.0in 4.25in 4.5in 4.75in 5.0in 5.25in 5.5in 5.75in 6.0in 6.25in 6.5in 6.75in 7.0in 7.25in 7.5in 7.75in 8.0in; text-autospace: none; text-indent: -.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">89.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">The Two Princesses of Bamarre by
Gail Carson Levine</span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: .25in .5in .75in 1.0in 1.25in 1.5in 1.75in 2.0in 2.25in 2.5in 2.75in 3.0in 3.25in 3.5in 3.75in 4.0in 4.25in 4.5in 4.75in 5.0in 5.25in 5.5in 5.75in 6.0in 6.25in 6.5in 6.75in 7.0in 7.25in 7.5in 7.75in 8.0in; text-autospace: none; text-indent: -.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">90.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Looking for Alaska by John Green*</span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: .25in .5in .75in 1.0in 1.25in 1.5in 1.75in 2.0in 2.25in 2.5in 2.75in 3.0in 3.25in 3.5in 3.75in 4.0in 4.25in 4.5in 4.75in 5.0in 5.25in 5.5in 5.75in 6.0in 6.25in 6.5in 6.75in 7.0in 7.25in 7.5in 7.75in 8.0in; text-autospace: none; text-indent: -.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">91.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">An Abundance of Katherines by
John Green</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">92.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Will Grayson Will Grayson by John
Green and David Levithan </span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: .25in .5in .75in 1.0in 1.25in 1.5in 1.75in 2.0in 2.25in 2.5in 2.75in 3.0in 3.25in 3.5in 3.75in 4.0in 4.25in 4.5in 4.75in 5.0in 5.25in 5.5in 5.75in 6.0in 6.25in 6.5in 6.75in 7.0in 7.25in 7.5in 7.75in 8.0in; text-autospace: none; text-indent: -.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">93.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Haroun and the Sea of Stories by
Salman Rushdie*</span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: .25in .5in .75in 1.0in 1.25in 1.5in 1.75in 2.0in 2.25in 2.5in 2.75in 3.0in 3.25in 3.5in 3.75in 4.0in 4.25in 4.5in 4.75in 5.0in 5.25in 5.5in 5.75in 6.0in 6.25in 6.5in 6.75in 7.0in 7.25in 7.5in 7.75in 8.0in; text-autospace: none; text-indent: -.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">94.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">I Won’t Learn from You by Herbert
R. Kohl</span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: .25in .5in .75in 1.0in 1.25in 1.5in 1.75in 2.0in 2.25in 2.5in 2.75in 3.0in 3.25in 3.5in 3.75in 4.0in 4.25in 4.5in 4.75in 5.0in 5.25in 5.5in 5.75in 6.0in 6.25in 6.5in 6.75in 7.0in 7.25in 7.5in 7.75in 8.0in; text-autospace: none; text-indent: -.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">95.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">World War Z by Max Brooks*</span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: .25in .5in .75in 1.0in 1.25in 1.5in 1.75in 2.0in 2.25in 2.5in 2.75in 3.0in 3.25in 3.5in 3.75in 4.0in 4.25in 4.5in 4.75in 5.0in 5.25in 5.5in 5.75in 6.0in 6.25in 6.5in 6.75in 7.0in 7.25in 7.5in 7.75in 8.0in; text-autospace: none; text-indent: -.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">96.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Rabbit, Run by John Updike</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">97.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">One Last Thing Before I Go by
Jonathan Tropper*</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">98.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">The Funny Thing Is… by Ellen
Degeneres</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">99.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Henry and June by Anais Nin</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">100.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Super
Sad True Love Story by Gary Schteynart</span></div>
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<br />Andreahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03056498707464063744noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4941807421506973493.post-69920012830647972602012-12-09T17:27:00.000-08:002012-12-09T17:27:16.137-08:00Reading List Round-Up 2012: Books 78-88<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<b><i>Henry and June</i> by Anais Nin</b><br />
This is the forerunner of Fifty Shades of Grey, except Nin injects a lot more pseudo-intellectual discussion into her long-winded accounts of various sexual encounters (unlike EL James, who wouldn't know even pseudo-intellectualism if it smacked her in the face with a whip). Basically, it becomes clear in reading this book why Nin's most important contribution to society was being that girl Henry Miller was sleeping with whilst he penned his novels.<br />
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<b><i>The Hypnotist</i> by M.J. Rose</b><br />
Full disclosure: I think this may have been the wrong The Hypnotist, because I did not include the author on my initial reading list, and there are many books which share this title. However, it all worked out pretty well, Rose's novel is a very formulaic yet still mildly intriguing thriller featuring a plot which focuses primarily on the idea of reincarnation and our own past lives. It's a fast read and though it is fairly predictable, there are a few moments of genuine emotion that make spending those few hours worth it. <br />
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<b><i>The Plot Against America</i> by Philip Roth</b><br />
Of all the books I read this past month, this certainly wins the award for best premise before I'd even read a page. Roth imagines a world in which the events surrounding the United States and its role in World War II take a drastically different turn. It is told from the perspective of a Jewish boy growing up in New York as America slowly but surely allies itself with Hitler, and the ensuing chaos as well as the nuanced ripples taking place within the narrator's family are bot gut-wrenching and downright terrifying to envision. <br />
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<b><i>Three Cups of Tea</i> by Greg Mortensen and David Oliver Relin</b><br />
This book details the crusade of Mortensen to build schools in Pakistan during the late 1990's and early 2000's, and it is certainly recommended reading on a social awareness level (although I've since read rumors of various exaggerations and inaccuracies in the book, which may put a damper on its inspirational spirit). The co-authors paint Mortensen as a bit more heroic and dreamy than he likely was, and the portions of the book detailing his personal life (and particularly his romance with his wife) are at times downright gag-worthy, but I did my best to forgive him that, and recommend you do the same.<br />
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<b><i>A Man for All Seasons</i> by Robert Bolt</b><br />
I will never not be intrigued by fictionalizations of British history, and so this play dramatizing the last few months of the life of Sir Thomas More was right up my alley. More is painted as a heroic victim of King Henry VIII's crusade to well, pretty much to do whatever the hell he wanted at all times; and by the end both More and the reader are left with a fresh tragic yet resigned understanding of the injustice and inevitability of More's execution. <br />
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<b><i>The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde</i> by Robert Louis Stevenson</b><br />
Surprisingly dry and slow-moving for a story so well-loved for the fear it inspires. I was underwhelmed by this one, though I think that may be more a case of too much pre-emptive hype than any other factor. <br />
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<b><i>Zoe Letting Go</i> by Nora Price</b><br />
This is one of those YA books that boasts a considerably higher level of sophistication in its prose as well as an acutely accurate adolescent voice. The novel details a young girl's stint in a recovery facility for teens with eating disorders, but the somewhat choppy unreliable narration lends mystery to the tale, making us wonder what, exactly, led to a seemingly healthy girl's life being turned upside down in such a way. Sure, the intended game-changing twist at the novel's end is a bit predictable for anyone not in the book's intended demographic, but the punch it delivers straight to the gut is no less potent for that.<b> </b><br />
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<b><i>Dreams From My Father</i> by Barack Obama</b><br />
I read and enjoyed Obama's later work, <i>The Audacity of Hope</i>, when I was in high school, and I think it played no small part in my decision to vote for him in 2008. As someone who, like many, became just a little bit disillusioned with our President during his first term, I needed my faith restored, and it turns out this book, written well before Obama aspired to the White House, may just have been the thing to do it. I trust him as a leader now more than ever having read about his struggles to understand himself, his ancestry, and his place in the world. I recommend <i>Dreams From My Father</i> to any who feel that Obama has lost sight of what the common man (or woman) needs, or who just wants to understand the man himself a little bit better.<b> </b><br />
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<b><i>Regarding the Fountain</i> by Kate Klise</b><br />
A charming little children's book fervently recommended to me by my younger sister, this book is a quick and easy read that shows that even a story intended for kids which consists more predominantly of pictures than words can have subplots, intrigue, and a fantastic take-away message for readers of any age.<br />
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<b><i>Waiting for Godot</i> by Samuel Beckett</b><br />
Simple, existential, and strangely poignant in its own way, this play is everything my philosophy professors always promised it would be, if I could just manage to get around to reading the damned thing. Well, mission accomplished.<b> </b><br />
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<b><i>Pygmy </i>by Chuck Palahniuk</b><br />
This is I think my third attempt to read this one, out of a strong sense of loyalty to Chuck P and his fantastically strange style, but I just couldn't find it enjoyable at all. Not only was the narrator's "dialect" incredibly distracting, the events of the novel themselves were disturbing without that usual glimmer of redemption or at least logic that we usually get in a Palahniuk story. Oh well-- every batch has to have one bad apple, right?<b> </b><br />
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<b>Best Book: <i>The Plot Against America </i></b><br />
<b>Worst Book: <i>Pygmy </i></b><br />
<b>Fastest Read: <i>Regarding the Fountain </i></b><br />
<b>Slowest Read: <i>Three Cups of Tea</i></b>Andreahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03056498707464063744noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4941807421506973493.post-50499454966385165152012-11-07T20:36:00.000-08:002012-11-07T20:36:36.370-08:00Reading List Round-Up 2012: Books 64-77<br />
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<b><i>The Magicians</i> by Lev Grossman</b><br />
This book is intriguing, particularly for the homage it pays to books like <i>Harry Potter</i>, the <i>Narnia</i> series, and <i>The Lord of the Rings</i> trilogy. Grossman has an exciting concept to work with and a lot of creative inventions of his own embedded in worlds that resemble some of the greatest already built in fantasy literature. Unfortunately, the characters he inserts into those inventions and those worlds are almost painfully dull.<i> </i>Certainly worth a read if you're like me and this is a genre close to your heart but if not the appeal may be lost in the shuffle.<br />
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<i><b>Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead by Tom Stoppard</b></i><br />
This is an excellent little play for those of us who wondered what <i>Hamlet </i>might have looked like from a different character's viewpoint. Stoppard plays with the source material as well as the power of words and language in a way that is witty, engaging, and oddly tragic when the title characters meet their inevitable end. <br />
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<b><i>Skippy Dies</i> by Paul Murray</b><br />
This one starts out vaguely interesting, as the titular event occurs within the first chapter, then the rest of the story delineates the events leading up to it, but on the whole it stretches a bit too far away from its own intriguing premise. Too many details and sidebars crop up along the way and it feels meandering, which is probably why the Irish have taken to it so strongly. <br />
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<b><i>In the Time of the Butterflies </i>by Julia Alvarez</b><br />
This book is beautiful and haunting, much more so in light of the fact that it's based on a true story, a fictionalized account of the lives of Las Mariposas ("the Butterflies") a family of revolutionary-minded sisters living in the Dominican Republic under the horrific reign of "El Jefe" Trujillo. Alvarez weaves an engaging tale told through the memories and writings of the three sisters killed in an "accident" by the regime, with thoughtful reflections and additions by the lone surviving sister, who continues to tell her family's harrowing tale.<br />
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<i><b>The Woman Who Rides Like a Man </b></i><b>by Tamora Pierce</b><br />
The third novel in Pierce's <i>Alanna </i>series stretches the already loose boundaries of realism within its world. Alanna, who became an official knight in the second book, travels to a faraway village and becomes their shaman (after killing the previous shaman, naturally). What follows is a little bit of coverage of her training her magical apprentices, but mostly a lot (a LOT) of angst surrounding her love/sex life. <br />
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<b><i>One Last Thing Before I Go</i> by Jonathan Tropper</b><br />
<b> </b>Tropper's latest effort includes all of the features that have, by now, become his signature: dysfunctional (usually Jewish) family, a pseudo love triangle, a too-smart-for-his/her-own-good kid, and of course, crippling tragedy. The book feels just a bit lazy and formulaic at times, but as always Tropper makes up for things lacking in the prose itself with the heart behind it, and the simple capsules of wisdom and insight that take his books from the typical to works with genuine heart. <b><br /></b><br />
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<b><i>The Casual Vacancy</i> by JK Rowling</b><br />
My full thoughts on this one have already been expressed <a href="http://andreaaugustinas.blogspot.com/2012/10/book-review-casual-vacancy-by-jk-rowling.html">here</a>. <br />
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<i><b>Talk Talk </b></i><b>by T.C. Boyle</b><i><b><br /></b></i><br />
Maybe I'm just a holdout when it comes to jumping on the TC Boyle bandwagon, but I found this one extremely underwhelming. It touches on two topics that are in themselves intriguing (the plight of the hearing impaired and identity theft/fraud), but the characters are flat and unsympathetic, and Boyle just plain doesn't seem to be making much of a point with the story. <br />
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<i><b>Let the Great World Spin </b></i><b>by Colum McCann</b><br />
This novel is beautiful, achieving scope without excessive length or verbosity, a misstep of which several of this month's other reads are guilty. It takes place in New York City in the seventies and provide portraits of a manageable number of characters who each bring a unique perspective to the same moment in history. In short this book is a beautiful snapshots of lives you can easily imagine being lived in reality, with just that little touch of fiction magic we all need in a good read.<br />
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<i><b>I Am the Chosen King </b></i><b>by Helen Hollick</b><br />
This book is historical fiction at some of its romantic and intriguing best. Centered around the family of Harold II, last of the English kings, this book depicts the lead-up to the Norman invasion in 1066. This tome is a much more worthwhile read than any of the textbook entries I can recall on the material, though I'm sure some of the dramatics and specifics are to be taken with a grain of salt. <i><b><br /></b></i><br />
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<b><i>The Funny Thing Is...</i> by Ellen Degeneres</b><br />
Yet another light, quick read from everybody's favorite day time talk show host, as upbeat and uniquely humorous as we know and love her to be. I was able to read and digest this one in just one sitting, and I can pretty much guarantee it'll leave you in a good mood whether you read an excerpt or the whole darn thing.<br />
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<b><i>Haroun and the Sea of Stories</i> by Salman Rushdie</b><br />
This little book can most accurately be described as delightful. It's part fantastical adventure, part fable on the importance of storytelling, and it is 100% charming. Rushdie does here what he does slightly less well in longer works such as <i>The Satanic Verses</i>, which is deliver a compelling, beautifully articulated moral that is also concise.<br />
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<b>Will Grayson, Will Grayson by John Green and David Levithan </b><br />
Green and Levithan team up to create a dual narrative that is occasionally shaky but overall possesses the same heart and humor that have become their hallmarks. The characters of <i>Will Grayson Will Grayson</i> make up for in fabulousness what they perhaps lack in dimensionality, and given the target demographic of the novel, this seems to work in its favor.<br />
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<i><b>I Won't Learn From You </b></i><b>by Herbert R. Kohl</b><br />
This is a book I borrowed from my teacher-in-training friend who is forever discussing issues within the educational system that sail right over my head, and therefore not my usual type of read. However, the points brought up by Kohl surrounding creative maladjustment are interesting, particularly when contextualized with the latest data coming out of this nation's schools. His arguments are clearly laid out and colored with personal examples, and the book on the whole makes for an excellent reference document when it comes to these issues.<i><b> </b></i><br />
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<b>Best Book: <i>Let the Great World Spin </i>and <i>I Am the Chosen King </i></b><br />
<b>Worst Book: <i>Skippy Dies </i></b><br />
<b>Fastest Read: <i>Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead</i></b><br />
<b>Slowest Read: <i>The Casual Vacancy </i></b>Andreahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03056498707464063744noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4941807421506973493.post-55185946512761895492012-10-09T19:28:00.000-07:002012-10-09T19:30:15.636-07:00Book Review: The Casual Vacancy by JK Rowling<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<i>The Casual Vacancy, </i>AKA the most anticipated novel of the year<i>, </i>certainly achieves a separation from JK Rowling's previous work, but it's far less edgy than it is disappointing: the woman who helped us believe that anything is possible if you're brave enough, and that love is the most powerful force in the world, proves herself in the course of these 500-odd pages to be every bit as jaded by the state of the world as the rest of us.<br />
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The problem isn't the novel itself, which is a witty piece that surely meets the current standard for contemporary adult literature (although it should be noted that it by no means exceeds said standard, with its framework of cliches all too visible). The problem instead comes from the storyteller herself, the admittedly inflated expectations most of us have of her, and the novel's lack of any truly compelling overarching message.<br />
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I will be the first to admit that these problems are thrown into much sharper relief by comparison to the book's predecessor (well, 8 predecessors). But it's an almost necessary comparison, one I'm sure Ms. Rowling both anticipated and considered as she was crafting this tedious tale of suburban life in the fictional Pagford, England. Even the darkest, most unsettling moments in her <i>Harry Potter</i> series allowed for a sliver of hope that things could get better, that they just <i>had </i>to. In <i>Vacancy</i>, Rowling all but slams the door on this kind of optimism, with the novel's dismal conclusion promising that its characters' cycles of pettiness and destruction will continue. It's realistic, to be sure, but the sympathy and more importantly, the magic, get lost in the shuffle.<br />
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Rowling has been adamant during multiple interviews surrounding the book's release that she "needed" to write this story. I'm just not sure that we, her magic-loving, escape-hungry fans, needed to read it.Andreahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03056498707464063744noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4941807421506973493.post-31490422414176426462012-09-23T15:49:00.000-07:002012-09-23T15:49:22.005-07:00Reading List Round-Up 2012: Books 56-63In case you couldn't surmise as much for yourself from the titles gathered here, I've been on something of a Young Adult novels binge lately. This is mostly for inspiration as I've been struggling through my own YA piece, though it's also at least partly because of how much fun it is to kick back and read a few books that don't take themselves nearly as seriously as contemporary adult literature. There are a few classics thrown into the mix for good measure, but on the whole I spent August living in the heads of teenage protagonists, trying to reconcile them with the wisdom their creators sought to convey. The results were, as you might expect, very mixed.<br />
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<b><i>Looking for Alaska</i> by John Green</b><br />
Tragic, intriguing, and a painfully accurate capturing of teenagers and grief. Looking for Alaska starts off promising no more than any other coming-of-age novel, but it takes a few twists and turns as well as some unexpected character development and ultimately proves that this is a text for a new generation. Green illustrates beautifully the raw pain and aching confusion of dealing with one's first brush with tragedy, and manages to do so while still peppering the story with genuinely funny moments and characters who seem just like the kids you used to know. <br />
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<b><i>An Abundance of Katherines</i> by John Green</b><br />
This for me is by far Green's weakest novel. The protagonist is whiny and unlikeable (this is in contrast to his other protagonists, who are still pretty whiny but manage to redeem themselves through their relationships with other characters or by making some discovery which renders them less self-pitying). I guess after the much higher stakes of <i>Looking for Alaska</i> and <i>The Fault in Our Stars</i>, it was hard to get behind a character who spends the entire book moping about his failed relationships with girls (and he's only in high school) in the same way. It's still got Green's trademark wit and nuggets of wisdom, as well as a supporting cast about any of whom I'd rather read than the lead character he's chosen, and overall was still better than a lot of YA fiction out there. However, it's difficult to read this somewhat sloppy entry in Green's catalog when you know he's capable of so much better. <br />
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<b><i>A Room with a View</i> by EM Forster</b><br />
I'll be honest and admit that this is one of those books I read out of a sense of obligation, feeling like I "needed" to have read it to be taken seriously--there are a number of books on my 2012 reading list that fall into this category, and unfortunately <i>A Room with a View</i> proved to be one of the most tedious. Unlike <i>The Age of Innocence</i> (full thoughts on that one below), <i>A Room with a View</i>, for me anyway, failed to break out of its framework as a period piece and intrigue me. I was bored with all of the major characters before the first half of the book was over, and nothing done in the second act really redeemed them in my eyes. The best thing I can say about this novel is that it was relatively short and easy to get through, and the writing itself is superb, but if you're in it for sheer plot or excitement, I'd recommend looking elsewhere.<br />
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<b>The Age of Innocence by Edith Wharton</b><br />
Another more obligatory read, <i>The Age of Innocence </i>is well-executed, which is no surprise to anyone who's read Wharton's work before, and intriguing enough to keep the reader engaged through the densely painted portraits of early twentieth-century American society. It reads almost like a soap opera, with romance, scandal, and intrigue; but ultimately falls short by proving a bit too bland and predictable in the end. Overall, I'd recommend it as an excellent period piece, but a book that needs to be viewed primarily in the context of its time to be fully appreciated.<br />
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<b><i>Alanna: The First Adventure</i> by Tamora Pierce, and <i>In the Hand of the Goddess</i> (sequel) by Tamora Pierce</b><br />
These books, though they admittedly suffer from some (and by some I mean many) rudimentary flaws in prose, are a wonderful little YA discovery that I unfortunately did not make on my own. <i>Alanna</i> tells the tale of a young girl who poses as a boy to train in the hopes of becoming a knight--it might sound like it's been done before, but consider that this book came out in 1983, at least a decade before <i>Mulan </i>or <i>Game of Thrones</i>. Its sequel, <i>In the Hand of the Goddess</i>, is a bit more tedious as it deals with a lot more teenage-female-angst than its predecessor, but the adventures remain both intriguing and thrilling. These are definitely the younger audience-skewing novels I'd be most likely to recommend to readers in the YA demographic.<br />
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<b><i>Blue is for Nightmares</i> by Laurie Faria Stolarz</b><br />
Unfortunately, this seems to be another YA novel more in the vain of the <i>Twilight </i>books, heavy on the teen angst and "high stakes" drama, but skimping frequently on the fundamentals of prose writing. <i>Blue is for Nightmares</i> has some intriguing features and some characters who could be compelling given a little more attention and skill on the part of their creator, but on the whole is underwhelming and difficult to stay engaged with. <b><br /></b><br />
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<br />
<b><i>The Two Princesses of Bamarre</i> by Gail Carson Levine</b><br />
This is an adorable-yet-sage story that wedges itself somewhere between Children's and YA Literature, and might just be all the better for that blurriness. Carson Levine proved with Ella Enchanted that she could weave a story that would appeal on equal levels to children and adults, and Two Princesses achieves a similar feat, if not quite as skillfully. It has all the requisite fantasy elements--sorcerers, dragons, fairies, and knights galore--but it also has a very human story at its heart. This is definitely a book I'd recommend enthusiastically for young readers, and writers aiming at that demographic.<br />
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<b><br /></b>
<b><br /></b>
<b>Best Book: <i>Looking for Alaska</i></b><br />
<b>Worst Book: <i>Blue is for Nightmares</i></b><br />
<b>Longest Read: <i>The Age of Innocence </i></b><br />
<b>Quickest Read: <i>The Two Princesses of Bamarre</i></b><br />
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<br />Andreahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03056498707464063744noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4941807421506973493.post-52544937703423899262012-09-20T12:49:00.002-07:002012-09-20T12:49:39.793-07:00Fall TV 2012: What to Watch and When to Watch ItI may have been absent from the Interwebs for a lot of this summer (it's strange how real life will keep you busy sometimes), but don't worry, I haven't been watching and studying any less television than usual. In fact, I've been saving up some of my excitement and analysis for exactly this moment: the proverbial eve of the fall TV season kick-off. These are a few of the shows I'll be watching and reviewing subject, as always, to change (except for <i>Parks and Rec</i>, which I will watch/love till the end of time). And in case you've been sitting on your sofa staring blankly at your television set and awaiting my instructions as to what you should watch, here they are for your perusal:<b><u><br /></u></b><br />
<br />
<b><u>Mondays:</u></b><br />
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<br />
<b><i>How I Met Your Mother </i>(CBS, premieres September 24th)</b><br />
*Where we left off: Barney's future bride was revealed (it's Robin!); Lily and Marshall had a baby (and promptly brought it with them to the bar); Ted and Victoria rode off into the sunset together (sort of).<br />
*What's next: With the writers, at least according to recent interviews with Bays and Thomas, working as though this will be the show's last season, it seems the tying up of some loose ends is on the horizon. We have to figure out how the heck Barney and Robin make it to the alter (remember he's newly engaged to stripper Quinn in the present), as well as how Ted ruins things with Victoria (again) and arrives at the show's titular moment at long last. It should prove to be an interesting season, and hopefully there will be significantly less time wasted with so many plots to unravel in so short a time.<br />
*Wish list: I'd love to see an announcement (sooner rather than later) that <i>HIMYM </i>will in fact wrap up after this season. I think 24 episodes is more than enough time to wrap up the loose ends still dangling if the writers are deliberate about it, and if Thomas and Bays are permitted to stretch this journey out any further the cracks are really going to start to show. <br />
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<br />
<u><b>(NEW SHOWS!) Tuesdays:</b></u><br />
<u><b><br /></b></u>
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<br />
<i><b>Go On </b></i><b>(NBC, premiered September 9th)</b><b></b><br />
The primary reason this show works well is that the execs at NBC have
stopped fucking around and finally returned Matthew Perry to the role he
belongs: Chandler Bing. Yes, Chandler's aged a decade or so and he's
got a different name and job and blah, blah, blah; but essentially this
character is nearly identical personality-wise. It's as though we're
seeing future Chandler following the death of Monica, whom we all knew
kept him grounded, and though he's surely bereaved, he's also hilarious.<br />
<br />
Better
than that, though, this show actually seems to have heart, and not in a
jammed-down-your-throat kind of way. It's ballsy for a primetime
sitcom to deal with something like grief, but the level of accuracy<i> Go
On</i> supplies in the pilot episode alone is definitely encouraging, and a
good sign of things to come. Hopefully NBC doesn't err on the side of
their usual instinct, which is to water down the honesty of some of
their best programs (<i>Community </i>and its new team of writers springs to
mind, not to mention the soon-to-wrap train wreck that <i>The Office </i>has
become), because that would sacrifice a lot of what thus far makes this show
appealing.<br />
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<br />
<b><i>The Mindy Project</i> (FOX, premieres September 25th)</b><br />
This is a show that seems designed to stand up well beside its lineup-mate, FOX's <i>New Girl</i>, which was of course one of last year's runaway hits (not to mention the source of way too much Deschanel Hype in my life). <i>The Mindy Project</i> follows Mindy Kaling, who you'll recognize as Kelly Kapoor from <i>The Office,</i> in the early stages of her career as an OB/GYN, as well as the battle-worn (and hilarious) stage of her romantic life. It's lighthearted, it's laugh-out-loud funny, and it's identifiable, which is really all you can hope for in a pilot episode. I can foresee problems similar to those found in the early run of <i>New Girl</i>, when it became clear that the amount of "isn't-she-quirky" based humor needed to be toned down-- in <i>The Mindy Project</i>, it's easy to lose sight of Mindy's role as (in theory, at least) an everywoman character in the more grating aspects of the character's personality.<br />
<br />
This one also has an excellent supporting cast going for it, and I'm hopeful that the writers will gradually shift some of the focus so expended on Mindy in the pilot to some of these already very interesting personalities.<br />
<u><b><br /></b></u>
<br />
<u><b>Wednesdays:</b></u><br />
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<br />
<b><i>Happy Endings</i> (ABC, premieres October 23rd)</b><br />
*Where we left off: Season 2's finale brought us another wedding, this time between friends of the gang Derrick and Eric. We saw Penny struggle with possible feelings for Dave, who ended the night instead with erstwhile fiance Alex, while Brad and Jane tried to come to a compromise on how to better communicate with each other.<br />
*What's next: It doesn't seem that this Alex/Dave/Penny triangle is going to be too much of an overwrought thing (especially with rumors of Penny getting a new semi-longterm love interest), which is excellent news for a show that's already brilliant without the addition of needless melodrama. <br />
*Wish list: More of Adam Pally's Max and less of Elisha Cuthbert's Alex (mainly just less of the emphasis on her being the dumb blonde of the group); more viewers for what I guarantee is the funniest show you're not watching.<br />
<br />
<br />
<b><u>Thursdays:</u></b><br />
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<br />
<b><i>Parks and Recreation</i> (NBC, premieres September 20th)</b><br />
*Where we left off: One Leslie Knope is about to take Pawnee City Council by storm after triumphing in the season finale's election. She'll be working on a long-term relationship with Ben, who has taken a job in Washington D.C. and who has somewhat inexplicably recruited April to work as his intern.<br />
*What's next: A Ben/Leslie shake-up, but according to executive producer Mike Schur it's not the kind you'd expect. Also, some long overdue maturity for Tom, who last season appeared to backtrack a bit following his Entertainment 720 venture. But the best news is that by the end of the season premiere, the Tom/Ann debacle will really and truly be a thing of the past.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<b><u>Fridays:</u></b><br />
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<br />
<b><i>Community </i>(NBC, premieres October 19th) </b><br />
*Where we left off: In a season finale that really would've made a great conclusion to the series, we saw everyone going their almost separate ways in relative happiness (yes, even Jeff, who decided to finally seek out his long-estranged father). It was almost enough to make you not want a fourth season. Almost.<br />
*What's next: The show's last-minute salvation last spring means that some tweaks are going to have to take place (this is even without the team of new writers and the firing of Dan Harmon, the show's creator). We'll apparently be meeting Jeff's father, there will be an <i>Inspector Spacetime</i> convention, and the gang will pay homage (sort of?) to <i>The Hunger Games</i> in the season premiere.<br />
*Wish list: I don't have too many particular demands, I just hope that the show will still be recognizable as the delightful, wonderfully weird thing it is after the new writers have gotten their hands on it.<br />
<br />
<br />
<b><u>Honorable Mentions:</u></b><br />
<br />
<b><i>30 Rock, The Office</i> (Thursdays, NBC):</b> Both are entering their final seasons, hopefully some laughs will be resurrected before the end.<br />
<br />
<b><i>Grey's Anatomy</i> (Thursdays, ABC)</b>: Yup, they're still kicking over at Seattle Grace. And this season promises to be every bit as miserable and death-filled as you could possibly hope.<br />
<br />
<br />
Here's to a wonderful 2012/2013 television season.Andreahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03056498707464063744noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4941807421506973493.post-51241618626041108572012-08-31T19:45:00.000-07:002012-08-31T19:47:10.315-07:00Reading List Round-Up 2012: Books 46-55Note: These are actually the books I read throughout the month of July; I've just been slacking off on updating my log and reactions. <br />
<b><br /></b>
<i><b>The Tiger's Wife by Tea Obreht</b></i><br />
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<br />
This one started off impressively, looking almost like a Gabriel Garcia Marquez novel in its scope and sprawl, but for me it got boring very quickly. The thing most reviews raved about with this book is the author's age (she's 25), and for that she certainly gets kudos from me, but she failed to keep me enthralled in the story. <br />
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<b><i>Rabbit Hole</i> by David Lindsay-Abaire</b><br />
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<br />
This is a short, quick read-- I finished it in one 45-minute sitting. It's a play, so brevity is to be expected, especially given the more minimalist style of this one, but the story is no less moving for it. I watched the film adaptation (featuring Nicole Kidman and Aaron Eckhart) last year, and so was familiar with the material, but reading Lindsay-Abaire's articulation of it there on the page helped me vividly re-visit a truly touching story and a frank exploration of grief in the bubble of modern life.<br />
<i><br /></i>
<b><i>A Dance With Dragons</i> by George RR Martin</b><br />
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<br />
<b> </b>I tried so, so hard to stop myself from reading this one, knowing it would be torturous for me to endure the next who-knows-how-many years until its successor goes to the presses. <i>A Dance with Dragons </i>absolutely outshines its predecessor, <i>A Feast for Crows</i> (admittedly not a difficult feat), and leaves so many characters' fates in the balance that it's hard to resist storming over to GRRM's house and demanding to know what happens next.<br />
<br />
<b><i>Game of Thrones and Philosophy</i> edited by William Irwin</b><br />
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<br />
Definitely an intriguing read and one that adds even more depth to the book series I've fallen in love with over the past few months, but in comparison with some of the other <i>Philosophy and... </i>books (of which I've read several) this one seems to play it a little safe, not delving into the text quite as deeply as I was expecting and sticking largely to analysis of the first novel, which I guess is fair given that they are trying to appeal to the television audience responsible for its recent surge in popularity. <b><br /></b><br />
<br />
<b><i>Othello </i>by William Shakespeare</b><br />
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<br />
For me the bar in Shakespearean tragedy is set with <i>Hamlet</i>, most likely because it's the one I've read to death (the bar for comedies is set with <i>Much Ado</i>, if you were wondering), and so I didn't really expect <i>Othello </i>to bowl me over, particularly when I'd already seen it performed and knew what was going to happen. <i>Othello </i>is definitely an interesting read in terms of tying Shakespeare's works to our contemporary concerns, with its interracial relationship and exploration of jealousy especially, but it's hard to feel moved when the character lamenting his fate at the end has brought so much of that fate upon himself (er, like pretty much every other Shakespearean tragedy protagonist, I guess). In any event, this one was underwhelming for me. <b><br /></b><br />
<br />
<b><i>Death of a Salesman</i> by Arthur Miller</b><br />
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Another one of the greats that I somehow missed out on during high school, though ultimately I don't think I'd be terribly upset if I never got around to it. I know, I know, it's compelling, and it addresses the American dream and whatnot, but for me it was just hard to get behind the characters. I have a suspicion that this play gains a lot of ground in its performance, and thus I will try to hold off complete judgment until I've had an opportunity to watch it and see its words come to life. <br />
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<b><i>The Fault in Our Stars</i> by John Green</b><br />
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Started off seeming just a bit too typical YA for my tastes, but the second half spirals into some just heartbreaking beauty. This novel is honest and poignant without being too self-involved. It takes a bit of suspension of disbelief as far as the idea that teenagers like the ones in this book actually exist, but once you've made peace with that it's a journey you won't want to see end. As a bonus, this book also contains possibly my favorite (definitely in the top five, at least) passages illuminating where its title came from.<br />
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<b><i>The Seagull</i> by Anton Chekhov, translation by Tom Stoppard</b><br />
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Semi-intriguing and so very, very Russian. The characters are so self-pitying it sometimes becomes difficult to stay engaged, but there are some beautiful moments of writing amid the melancholy. <b><br /></b><br />
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<b><i>On Chesil Beach</i> by Ian McEwan</b><br />
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This is by far the most boring book ever written about two people having sex. I love Ian McEwan, and I suppose there were parts of this book that were interesting, at least in terms of his distinctive style and talent with characterization, but on the whole On Chesil Beach is 100% underwhelming.<b><br /></b><br />
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<b><i>The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian</i> by Sherman Alexie</b><br />
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This is a painfully accurate portrait of what it is to be a young adult, and that's not even taking into account the eye-opening element of the racial persecution still faced by those in our country of Native-American heritage. It's at times funny but mostly tragic in a way that even the narrator doesn't seem to understand. Definitely a must-read. <br />
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<b>Best Book: <i>The Fault in Our Stars</i> by John Green</b><br />
<b>Worst Book: <i>The Tiger's Wife </i>by Tea Obreht</b><br />
<b>Fastest Read: <i>Rabbit Hole</i> by David Lindsay-Abaire</b><br />
<b>Slowest Read: <i>The Tiger's Wife</i> by Tea Obreht</b>Andreahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03056498707464063744noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4941807421506973493.post-53224234155814544152012-07-19T00:22:00.002-07:002012-07-19T00:24:15.202-07:00Movie Review: The Dark Knight Rises<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Christopher Nolan does not yet have an Academy Award for directing a film. Think about that when you're walking out of the theater after seeing this film tomorrow (or this weekend, or next week), and realize, as I have, what an outrage it will be if he doesn't at least earn a nomination for his work on this Batman trilogy, particularly for creating a third and final installment that closes the series just about perfectly.<br />
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A few tidbits right off the bat about what made this film such a wonderful experience for a fan who, like many, has been anticipating its arrival since 2008:<br />
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1. Tom Hardy acts just about as well as anyone can with use of about 20% of his face, so definite kudos there. Anne Hathaway is also surprisingly compelling as Cat Woman/Selina Kyle.<br />
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2. Other performances that are downright spectacular include those from Joseph Gordon Levitt, Michael Caine, and Matthew Modine (and a note on him: is it pure coincidence that not only is his character as annoyingly stubborn as a certain former president, but Modine even resembles him a bit?).<br />
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3. Hans Zimmer's musical score, as in the previous two films, is impeccable. It ties the film together thematically while incorporating critical parts of the previous installments' motifs, which left me with an additional underlying feeling of unity between the stories, something you certainly don't get with most films and their sequels.<br />
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4. Maybe it's simply because this film is the most current, but the destruction and fear presented on the screen feels more real--and more frighteningly plausible-- than ever before. It's impossible not to feel on the edge of your seat. <br />
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5. There is a, shall we say, <i>patriotic </i>moment just shy of the climax of Bane's reign of terror that is downright eerie. It will literally give you chills (and you will know exactly which part I mean when you've seen the film).<br />
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<i>The Dark Knight</i> showed us the horrors that could emerge as a result of one man's thirst for chaos; its sequel takes things a step further by showing us chaos on a truly grand scale, and the unexpected ways in which such chaos can test us. This installment brings us Bane, a super-strong, super-scary (he wears a mask all the time! his voice sounds like a child's nightmare!) mercenary who wants to fulfill Ra's al Ghul's mission to raze Gotham to the ground. The brilliance of this detail in particular is that it brings the trilogy full circle, taking us all the way back to <i>Batman Begins</i> and the original intention behind the League of Shadows, who trained Batman in his fightin' ways. Bane operates in a manner similar to The Joker, at least in philosophy: preying on the already existent fears and tensions between people, which in this film find themselves heavily rooted in politics and the ever-widening gap between the rich and the poor. Not referencing the explosion of animosity between the 99 and 1 percent would make the film feel less relevant to the modern viewer, something Nolan realizes and makes certain to incorporate seamlessly. <br />
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It is also here in the final film of the trilogy that Christian Bale seems to find his footing as Bruce Wayne/Batman at last, balancing between his old arrogance and the anguish that has manifested as a result of the events of <i>The Dark Knight</i>. Wayne is broken, largely due to his lingering guilt over Rachel's death, and doesn't want to play his role as Batman anymore. His eventual return to action is a slow burn to which many factors contribute, making it all the more satisfying to see him finally put the suit back on and take to the streets of Gotham once again. Bale found himself somewhat overshadowed in <i>The Dark Knight</i> by his peers' performances (as well as the superior material they were given to work with), but here he makes Bruce/Batman almost likeable again, and definitely more relatable.<br />
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One of the more striking elements of the story (and one of the few I can really discuss without any significant spoilers), is the character study of the men I'll refer to as "the three orphans of Gotham." We have Bruce Wayne, whose story we've heard (and seen) innumerable times; we also have rookie character and police officer John Blake (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) who empathizes with Bruce yet retains the idealism Wayne never quite had; and finally, we have Bane, abandoned by just about everyone he loved and resigned to using his physical strength as a means of expressing his pain. Nolan is doing something compelling by having these three juxtaposed so closely together; their individual actions and insights show how different and strangely similar their circumstances have made them, and the heroic (or anti-heroic, in Bane's case) attributes of each seem to highlight those of the other two. It seems yet another fantastic illustration (this trilogy is so very good at these) of how just one nuance in our choices can make us a completely different person than we might otherwise have been. And after all, Batman has always been about choices, hasn't it? I can't think of a better way to really drive this home in the last leg of the story.<br />
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Are there are a couple of flaws in this film? Sure. The romance that crops up in this installment feel less than sizzling, and finds itself both ill-timed and poorly executed. Then again, I have yet to find a superhero movie that also deals really well with a realistic romantic relationship--it's often the first thing sacrificed in the name of creating more explosions or introducing additional plot twists. The only other complaint that springs to mind about this film, though, is that some of the fights and action sequences feel a bit drawn out (keep in mind this is from someone who is admittedly not the biggest fan of such things), and again, this is probably due to the need to appeal to the summer blockbuster crowd, not all of whom would be willing to sit through nearly three hours of complex plotting and nuanced references to the previous two films as well as their comic book origins without an explosion or two.<br />
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Of course, everyone and their brother is going to inevitably compare this film to its predecessor, which is (arguably) one of the better films ever made. <i>The Dark Knight</i> (2008) was special because it had The Joker, who supplied the film with two critical things: the first was an absolutely unbeatable performance from the late Heath Ledger, the second was a staggering degree of unpredictability. <i>The</i> <i>Dark Knight Rises</i>' plot twists don't hold quite the same shock value as those we saw in the previous film, particularly because so many of the big 'twist' moments have their origins in the comics, which have been around and available for decades (so actually they're not really 'spoilers' at all); even Bane in all his terrifying glory has features you can anticipate once you've seen a scene or two and grasped his M.O. His plan is to introduce anarchy, similar to The Joker, but said plan has a very clear and distinct structure, complete with deadlines; whereas with Ledger's Joker you felt he honestly could do just about anything at any time. So yes, <i>The Dark Knight Rises </i>falls ever so slightly short of our collectively elevated expectations in this sense.<br />
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That does not, by any stretch of the imagination, make it any less of a cinematic achievement. <i>The Dark Knight Rises</i> does everything a good 'last leg of the trilogy' film should do, and does all of those things very, very well. <i>The Dark Knight</i>'s intention was to take you from the foundation laid in <i>Batman Begins</i> and plunge you into a state of uncertainty and emotional investment, raising the stakes significantly by the end of its tale. The task of <i>The Dark Knight Rises</i>, then, is to bring that excitement up to a fever pitch, then bring you back down in time for a cathartic conclusion. Those expecting this film to look exactly like <i>The Dark Knight </i>are expecting the wrong film entirely, and will inevitably be disappointed. For an interesting interpretation of how Christopher Nolan may have structured the trilogy (and how we can see <i>The Dark Knight Rises</i> succeeding in its particular role) I refer you to <a href="http://www.cracked.com/blog/advanced-batman-theory-why-nolan-will-kill-bruce-wayne/">this article </a>, in which the author explores the mission of each film as part of a kind of triptych of storytelling. He also speculates at length about what will happen in <i>The Dark Knight Rises</i> (the article was written in 2011), getting some things (I won't say which here, don't worry) almost exactly right, which only adds weight to his theory about what Nolan is attempting beneath the already dense surface of these films.<br />
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I wouldn't dream of giving away the ending, but suffice it to say, <i>The Dark Knight Rises</i> ends on a truly satisfying note, one that befits the two preceding films as well as it does the two preceding hours. Several loose ends are tied up (or in some cases, just a bit less loose) in a way that shows the care and craftsmanship that went into this story. The conclusion is beautiful as well as cathartic, and though it feels like a firm rounding out of the tail end of Batman's saga, the door is left open just a crack for some intriguing possibilities down the road.<br />
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In other words, exactly as it should be.Andreahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03056498707464063744noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4941807421506973493.post-15597592438654959442012-07-07T13:14:00.001-07:002012-07-07T13:14:37.428-07:00Movie Review: The Amazing Spider-ManThis film is already taking the box office by storm (remember that despite the odd decision to open it on a Tuesday, its opening weekend is technically not even over yet), which would seem to earn it some credibility in the face of no small amount of skepticism. Fans, critics, and the general public alike (myself among them) wondered why another installment of Spider Man's saga was necessary, particularly so soon after the most recent trilogy's conclusion, and especially given that the new film as pitched seemed like it would retell parts of the legendary tale that we'd already seen on screen. And maybe it was curiosity that drove millions to theaters this week to check out the Marc Webb (<i>500 Days of Summer</i>) directed re-boot-- that was definitely part of the motivation for me (that, and a possibly unhealthy love of all things Andrew Garfield). Already people have asked me if the new film is better or worse than the 2002 version, and I have to say, I think that is not the question we should be asking. The real question is, do we need both of these Spider Man films? And the answer, surprisingly, is yes.<br />
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Let's recall first the release of the first Tobey Maguire/Sam Raimi <i>Spider-Man</i>. It was the spring of 2002, and at least here in the US, the atmosphere was still tense and fearful in the aftermath of September 11th. The film industry seemed almost as lost as we were-- I can't for the life of me recall any truly inspiring or exciting films that came out and took us by storm during the beginning of 2002. But then<i> Spider-Man</i> came along and we were surprised to realize that we were ready to go to the movies again, ready to be inspired and feel that sense of hope some of us had thought we'd lost. And the <i>Spider-Man</i> of 2002 was the perfect film to provide that for us. If we had gone out to the theaters that spring to find a British actor starring in a film that had a lot of confusing nuances about good and evil, its appeal would have been lost on us. I know that for me, as a then-thirteen year old, the reboot's intentions and probably parts of its plot would have sailed right over my head. But Raimi and co. knew what they were doing, and they knew the audience they were doing it for. <i>Spider-Man</i> had a tidy plot with a clear good vs. evil framework; a hero who quickly developed the kind of confidence and swagger (well, at least as much swagger as a nerdy white teenager can have) that we thought we ourselves had lost; not to mention it was set in New York City, which at the time was considered by many the heart of our nation. American flags, a certain degree of solidarity among the city dwellers, and a strong message of perseverance colored and enhanced what might have been an otherwise mediocre film, and its release could not have been more timely.<br />
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Here in 2012, only ten years later, we have a different set of expectations for our superhero films. We turned a significant corner with 2008's <i>The Dark Knight</i>, which managed to integrate the age-old ideas behind comic book heroes into a complicated, chaotic, and thoroughly modern world. The success of the film (and the popularity of its villain) illustrated that we were a country and an audience grown darker, and that we wanted our movies to reflect that. I would wager that 2002's <i>Spider-Man</i> released now, with our thick veil of cynicism in place, would not fare as well. There was a degree of almost magic about that film, the idea of accidents and coincidences turning out for the best a core part of its mythology, and back then we needed to see that kind of movie. Now, though, we want a hero who is deeply flawed, who might stumble and fall along the way, who just wants to be <i>normal</i>, whatever that means. <i>The Amazing Spider-Man</i> achieves this, with Andrew Garfield's spot-on combination of awkwardness and brooding, as well as a staunch unwillingness to mask his emotions (or, indeed, his face--he just kept taking off that darn mask!). Garfield's Spider-Man represents this generation so accurately that he feels relateable, almost painfully so. I think the key to understanding why we need both of these films lies in the portrayal: today's teenager would struggle to realistically identify with Maguire's optimistic, almost bright and shiny Peter Parker; nor could the kids of 2002 get on board with Garfield's more contemplative, conflicted incarnation. Just goes to show, I suppose, that a decade can make a world of difference.<br />
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The minds behind <i>The Amazing Spider-Man </i>knew, obviously, that they were headed into potentially hostile territory in making this film, and the balance they manage to strike between paying respect to what we've already seen of the story and re-examining or altering the details is highly satisfying. It feels reverent without being over the top, showing that this isn't an attempt to erase what has already been written, but to supplement it with a deeper understanding of how this all came about.<br />
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And in the end that's what I loved most about <i>The Amazing Spider-Man</i>: it wasn't your average action-filled, simple plot movie. In fact, I was kind of amazed at how long it took for us to actually arrive at the first significant action sequence. Once you've seen the whole film, however, you find yourself realizing that the depth with which it paints the characters makes you feel that much more connected to them. Garfield's Peter Parker/Spider-Man spends more time simply sitting and thinking than any superhero I think I've ever seen in a film, but for his character it makes so much sense. You'd be disappointed, I think, to see him simply throw himself into being Spider-Man without much consideration for the consequences, after the way his character is introduced and fleshed out. Gwen Stacy is a similarly interesting character, in that we get so much more valuable information about who she is than we ever did with Mary Jane Watson. Gwen cottons on to the danger of dating a superhero right away--she's even the one who points the problem out to Peter! She's also much more autonomous: every time she winds up in danger it's because she's put herself there intentionally with the goal of helping the people she loves. Sure, she does need to be rescued occasionally (I think technically that only happens once in the film) because this <i>is </i>a superhero movie after all, but you definitely aren't left wondering whether she can hold her own. This, I think, is another mark of how far we've come (all political women's rights issues aside)-- the 2012 audience demands a female lead who isn't simply there to look pretty (even though she does, because gosh darn it Emma Stone is adorable). <br />
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The film also strives to emphasize that, even given these amazing powers, Peter Parker is never going to be some larger-than-life iconic figure. This is illustrated beautifully in a climactic scene in which Spider-Man is trying to rescue a young boy from a burning vehicle. His words and his expression show real terror, like he knows he has no business being there trying to act the hero. There are also some great scenes with his aunt and uncle that illustrate those relationships in a much more satisfying way than the original film (the fact that in this version Uncle Ben and Aunt May are portrayed by Martin Sheen and Sally Field also helps). Peter's motivations for nearly all of his actions as Spider-Man are also inextricably linked to his deep need to understand and feel connected to his family, first in his search for an old friend of his father's and later in his quest to avenge Uncle Ben's death. This seems to me significantly better motivation than wanting to buy a car to impress a pretty girl.<br />
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Overall, this film has an emotional core that I wasn't quite expecting--the cast is small but determined to provide genuine insight into each and every character, and to make sure that when those characters are placed in peril, it's gonna frickin' hurt. It also leaves the door wide open for a sequel that could go in almost any direction and which is sure to be capable of equally heart-wrenching moments--let's not forget that in the comic books Gwen Stacy dies horrifically when Spider-Man fails to save her from the Green Goblin. Given the acting abilities of Stone and Garfield as well as how well this film has invested us in their relationship, I'm already dreading this moment in the inevitable sequel.<br />
<br />Andreahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03056498707464063744noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4941807421506973493.post-50880846319722559852012-07-02T20:02:00.001-07:002012-07-02T20:02:26.872-07:00Emmys 2012: Who Should (and Who Will) Get a NodIt's nearly that time again, that time when I will inevitably be disappointed by the disparity between who I fervently believe ought to be recognized for their work on television, and who will actually be nominated come July 19th. Thus I've compiled a list of predictions here, to be taken with a heavy grain of salt (most of them are just who I'm personally pulling for after a season spent studying television avidly), of some of the individuals who likely will receive a nomination, and those who are already (and will sadly only ever be) winners in my mind.<br />
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<u><b>Best Supporting Actress, Drama:</b></u><br />
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<b>Maisie Williams, <i>Game of Thrones</i></b><br />
Now I know people aren't going to take me seriously on this one (despite the fact that the execs at HBO themselves submitted Williams for consideration), but I am absolutely convinced that this girl deserves some recognition. Her scenes with Charles Dance in particular were extremely impressive, and for me definitely improved a couple of episodes that were otherwise just a little lackluster. I don't think she's ready/has enough of a presence on the show just yet to merit a win (I'm pretty sure Christina Hendricks is the actress to beat in this category this year), but a nomination would be huge for the show and for Williams. And no, I'm definitely not biased because she portrays my favorite character in the entire series.<br />
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<b>Christina Hendricks, <i>Mad Men</i></b><br />
I'm not nearly caught on up <i>Mad Men</i> yet, but the buzz surrounding Hendricks and her performances during the series' long-awaited fifth season are almost impossible to avoid. I love the character of Joan, and from what I can tell she's come a long way since we met her five years ago. Hendricks certainly deserves a win, even if she's not my personal favorite of the bunch.<br />
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<b>Jessica Capshaw, <i>Grey's Anatomy </i></b><br />
Another one I feel some people might scoff at, given the somewhat depleted reputation <i>Grey</i>'s has had in the past couple of years. However, as someone who loyally watched every week this season and tracked the many, many goings-on at Seattle Grace with renewed enthusiasm, I would like to honestly endorse Ms. Jessica Capshaw, who plays Dr. Arizona Robbins on the show. I know a lot of people would like to see Sandra Oh recognized for her work this season (and I acknowledge she did have quite the dramatic arc), I think what Capshaw did with her character's admittedly diminished screen time was much more subtle and at least equally, if not more, impressive.<br />
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<b>Maggie Smith<i>, Downton Abbey </i></b><br />
I think Smith is a shoe-in for a nomination again this year, because her character has emerged as the representative icon for this show as it has exploded in popularity. Sure, some of the Dowager Countess' zingers lacked a little of their season one sting, but we got to see a different side of her during some of the more dramatic scenes during this past season. That, and Maggie Smith is a gosh-darn living legend, people. <b><i><br /></i></b><br />
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<u><b>Best Supporting Actor, Drama:</b></u><br />
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<b>Peter Dinklage, <i>Game of Thrones</i></b><br />
Can you tell yet that <i>Game of Thrones</i> is pretty much the only drama I watch regularly? Well, that and <i>Downton Abbey</i>, but I think the second season of the former did a better job avoiding the sophomore slump than the latter. Peter Dinklage will definitely be nominated-- his character and the actor himself are fan favorites-- but whether he'll win is still up for debate. <br />
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<u><b>Best Supporting Actress, Comedy:</b></u><br />
I think it speaks to how wonderful some of the comedic ensembles on TV are right now that I can think of many more candidates for the Supporting categories than the Lead ones. The six women here (and the six men in the next section) are the result of narrowing down an even lengthier list of deserving candidates.<br />
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<b>Aubrey Plaza, <i>Parks and Recreation</i></b><br />
Plaza continued to do something amazing during <i>Parks</i>' fourth season: slowly growing a heart in the once-empty chest of one April Ludgate while continuing to be snarky and hilarious to boot. Her arc this season had her growing up alongside her husband Andy, from tackling an ambitious bucket list to auditing college courses to making steps (baby steps, sure, but steps nonetheless) toward actual careers and adulthood. She also surprised just about everyone by turning out to be the most logical stand-in for Leslie at the Parks Department during the latter's campaign. She did set up Tom and Ann, who quickly became one of the more tedious couples on television, but I think we can forgive her that one.<i><br /></i><br />
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<b>Eliza Coupe, <i>Happy Endings</i></b><br />
She plays the neurotic, sometimes too-serious Jane to absolute perfection every week. Coupe is an example of someone who knows her character so well you get the sense she could play the part in her sleep. She also adds a different nuance to the show's humor, with most of her co-stars relying on more goofy humor in contrast to her snark. This is a show that is gaining more and more momentum with each episode, and it's about time it (and its performers) started gaining the recognition they deserve. I'd love to see that start with Eliza Coupe.<b><i><br /></i></b><br />
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<b>Kristen Wiig, <i>Saturday Night Live</i></b><br />
This season on <i>SNL </i>was basically <i>The Kristen Wiig Show, featuring Some Other People</i>. And hey, she's earned it. Wiig has been honing her craft and only getting funnier since she started on the show, inventing dozens of hilarious and memorable characters and helping to bring the show back from a bit of a slump. I would honestly love to see Wiig honored for her last year on the show, and I think a lot of other people would, too. <b><i><br /></i></b><br />
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<b>Julie Bowen, <i>Modern Family</i></b><br />
I'm including her in here not because Modern Family's third season was really awards-worthy, but because Bowen and her on-screen counterpart, Ty Burrell, continue to be consistently funny even in the face of lackluster writing and beaten-to-death jokes. That, and she'll almost definitely be nominated, and I don't want people thinking I guessed wrong.<br />
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<b>Maya Rudolph,<i> Up All Night</i></b><br />
Her crazy talk show host Ava provided some often much-needed wackiness to the plight of the Brinkleys during the show's freshman season. I'm not expecting a win (I'm not even realistically expecting a nomination), but Rudolph would be my pick to round out this category, and I'd like to see the show get a nod to recognize the things it has done well so far. <b><i><br /></i></b><br />
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<b>Cobie Smulders, <i>How I Met Your Mother </i></b><br />
Normally things get complicated when the Emmys try to honor someone for their more dramatic work in the comedy category; however, it is not unprecedented. And Smulders did some fantastic work with Robin's personal arc this season, carrying the action during several episodes that were a bit less than the show's gold standard. <b><i><br /></i></b><br />
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<u><b>Best Supporting Actor, Comedy:</b></u><br />
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<b>Nick Offerman, <i>Parks and Recreation</i></b><br />
Not giving this man the win in this category would be an outrage. Not giving him a nomination would be a crime, for which I would expect the Emmy voters to be arrested immediately. Offerman keeps Ron Swanson dimensional, intriguing, and hilarious episode after episode, and after four seasons has not disappointed yet. Also, Offerman is one half of the team presenting the nominations on July 19th, so it'd be kind of an additional bummer for him to have to stand there while he goes unrecognized in his category yet again.<i><br /></i><br />
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<b>Danny Pudi, <i>Community</i></b><br />
Let's be honest here. Abed was the true star of Community's third season. He carried many of the major plots, and played a character who was equal parts multi-faceted and dramatic as well as hilarious in his own, hyper observant way. Pudi deserves a nomination at the very least; it would be a damn shame to let an episode like "Virtual Systems Analysis" go to waste.<br />
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<b>Chris Pratt, <i>Parks and Recreation</i></b><br />
Pratt's Andy is consistently funny, every single episode, and he owes that less to his cemented status as the resident lovable dummy than to Chris Pratt's impeccable timing and instincts. He is that rare performer who I absolutely believe is capable of taking material that lies flat on the page and taking to a whole new and unexpected level. I'd love to see all the men (and ladies) of <i>Parks </i>up for nominations, but I'll settle for at least this guy. <b><i><br /></i></b><br />
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<b>Aziz Ansari, <i>Parks and Recreation</i></b><br />
Again, consistently funny, and Ansari was given a bit more to work with this season with Tom's Entertainment 720 story line (we can just ignore the Tom/Ann arc, right?). I think Aziz is repeatedly underestimated and undervalued, and that he deserves a shot at this prize at least as much as any of the increasingly boring dudes over on <i>Modern Family</i>.<br />
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<b>Rainn Wilson, <i>The Office</i></b><br />
Wilson deserves a medal for carrying <i>The Office </i>this season. It seemed the show could not go on without Michael Scott (and in many ways, it has failed to do so), and even fan favorites Jim, Pam, and Andy seemed to fall flat in season 8. But it was Dwight--crazier than ever, always power-hungry Dwight--who continued to strive for hilarity every damn time. Give him the recognition he deserves for accomplishing a seemingly impossible feat.<br />
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<br />
<b>Ty Burrell, <i>Modern Family</i></b><br />
Burrell will be nominated, and he's the only Modern Family cast member I feel has actually earned it again. He continues to combine his awkward humor with some genuine emotional moments in a way that is just downright pleasing to watch.<br />
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<u><b>Best Actress, Comedy:</b></u><br />
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<b>Amy Poehler, <i>Parks and Recreation</i></b><br />
If Amy Poehler doesn't walk away with this award this year there is just no justice in the world. This was the year she took a character (Leslie Knope) whom most people found annoying at best when the series premiered, and brought her to an unexpected and absolutely delightful moment of triumph and likeability. That's on top of her never-wavering ability to be both the most sincere character on television as well as one of the most hilarious.<br />
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<b>Lena Dunham, <i>Girls</i></b><br />
Dunham will get a nomination, as the Emmy voters are perennially in love with quirky new shows as well as pretty much anything to air on HBO. Throw in the fact that Judd Apatow has a producer credit, and they'll be queuing up to hand awards to the girls of <i>Girls </i>(see what I did there?). I'm perfectly okay with Dunham being nominated, but there is no universe (and I think she'd agree) in which she deserves this award over Amy Poehler. <i><br /></i><br />
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<b>Zooey Deschanel, <i>New Girl</i></b><br />
Ugh. Much as I'd like to hope people are over Deschanel and Jess Day, I'm sure they aren't. I'm sure she'll be nominated, but again, Poehler is the one to top here.<b><i><br /></i></b><br />
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<b><i>Tina Fey, 30 Rock</i></b><br />
Another likely lock for a nomination, but <i>30 Rock</i>'s sixth season just didn't measure up to its predecessors. I think Fey is also the co-nominee most likely to be outraged alongside me if Amy Poehler doesn't win.<br />
<br />
...Is it clear yet who I'm rooting for here? I basically watch the Emmys to see if they finally validate Poehler and <i>Parks</i>. I hope this is the year I'm finally not disappointed.<br />
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<u><b>Best Actor, Comedy:</b></u><br />
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<b>Joel McHale, <i>Community</i></b><br />
I think this nomination would please me just because McHale probably takes himself the least seriously as an actor out of everyone in the field. He really has grown as a performer and as a character on <i>Community</i>, though, and it shows throughout season three. I would also love to hear his acceptance speech. <b><i><br /></i></b><br />
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<b>Adam Scott, <i>Parks and Recreation</i></b><br />
Oh Ben Wyatt, do you even understand how many women out there adore you? That alone would be reason enough for Scott to deserve a nomination. But romance aside, Ben had a lot of wonderfully witty, genuine moments of his own this season on <i>Parks</i>, which is why the powers that be likely saw fit to submit him for consideration as a Lead Actor. I will definitely be rooting for him come Emmy night. <b><i><br /></i></b><br />
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<u><b>Best Drama:</b></u><br />
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<b><i>Game of Thrones</i></b><br />
I just love this show so much, and I would love for it to unseat a favorite like Homeland or Mad Men. Let's show the world (or at least, the fraction of the world who pay attention to the Emmy awards) that a little show about dragons and magic and kings and kick-ass ladies can beat a navel-gazing drama or a lackluster procedural fair and square.<br />
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<b><i>Downton Abbey</i></b><br />
<i>Downton </i>took a big risk moving themselves to this category (they could have dominated in the Mini-Series department), and I'm not entirely sure it will pay off, given the competition. I'd love to see it creep into the list of nominees, though, and I think it has a decent chance at doing so. <br />
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<b><i>Mad Men</i></b><br />
Will be nominated, will probably win. Will probably surprise no one. <i><br /></i><br />
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<b><i>Breaking Bad</i></b><br />
Again unsurprising, though a potential contender to unseat <i>Mad Men</i>. <br />
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<u><b>Best Comedy:</b></u><br />
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<b><i>Parks and Recreation</i></b><br />
Please, TV gods, please just once give the award to my all-time favorite comedy series. Please. <i><br /></i><br />
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<b><i>Modern Family</i></b><br />
The third season was extremely sub-par compared to the previous two, and I think everyone knows it, but doesn't want to admit it because of the show's popularity. This will win if the Emmy voters continue their unfortunate habit of simply checking the same names year after year.<br />
<i> </i><br />
<b><i>Happy Endings</i></b><br />
More people need to be watching (and appreciating) this show. End of story. But seriously, this is one of the best ensemble casts on TV, with some of the sharpest writing. Hopefully Emmy voters take notice.<i><br /></i><br />
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<b><i>Community</i></b><br />
Maybe all the controversy over its near-cancellation, move to Friday nights, and loss of producer Dan Harmon will finally have earned this show the notice it so sorely deserves.<br />
<i> </i>Andreahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03056498707464063744noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4941807421506973493.post-79300839942292695422012-07-01T12:03:00.001-07:002012-07-01T12:03:48.153-07:00Reading List Round-Up 2012: Books 34-45After realizing last time around that I'd gotten more than a little behind on this resolution (that'll happen when real-life things like job changing and moving house take over your time and energy), I've been scrambling to catch up and try to get back on pace with my reading. Although I didn't quite make it (I should be at 50 as of today, July 1st), I made more progress than I expected. And in my defense, some of these books were really darn long (lookin' at you in particular, George RR Martin). There wasn't really any discernible theme that linked these books together, except maybe that the ones that sounded great were only mediocre (<i>Damned</i>, <i>Super Sad True Love Story</i>), and the ones I wasn't initially psyched about (<i>Paper Towns, A Feast for Crows</i>) wound up grabbing hold of me and refusing to let go. <b><i><br /></i></b><br />
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<b><i>Crossers </i>by Phillip Caputo</b><br />
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I am sad to say I didn't make it past page 60 on this one. I usually make an effort to finish all the books I start, but this was just not my style at all, and there were too many other good books waiting for me to spend any more time on it. If you're a fan of what was shaping up to be (based on what I read) something of a modern day Western with some apt social commentary thrown in, you might have more luck with this one than I did.<br />
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<b><i>A Storm of Swords</i> by George RR Martin</b><br />
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I'd heard it said that this is the best book in the series, and by the end of the first handful of chapters I was fully convinced of this fact. It doesn't hurt that it has huge doses of my favorite characters (Arya Stark, Jon Snow, and Tyrion Lannister) and amazing plot twists (even though I was spoiled/fully prepared for arguably the book's biggest shocking turn of events, it still managed to make my heart race and bring tears to my eyes). More than that, though, the third installment of Martin's <i>A Song of Ice and Fire</i> series just cements his status as a genius, because so many tiny seeds of information planted way back in the first novel come to fruition in ways I never even imagined, yet which make complete sense once they've all been laid on the table. I can't talk much more about this one without completely nerding out and going overboard, but suffice it to say, if you're looking for a book series to get hooked on, this one would be a fabulous choice, and one that will keep you coming back for more.<br />
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<b><i>The Friday Night Knitting Club</i> by Kate Jacobs</b><br />
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This book could have been good were it not written by someone with a high school grasp of storytelling. I realize how arrogant that must read, but seriously, there are pages of front-loaded character descriptions in the first chapter, wildly alternating point of view (as in, switching from one character to another within the same paragraph, which is a HUGE no-no unless you're some kind of stream of consciousness genius, which Jacobs is not), and just plain bad diction. I wanted to get through this book quickly because the premise seemed charming and straightforward, but it was a challenge because I was so busy cringing and/or imagining how I might improve upon the prose.<br />
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<b><i>Breakfast of Champions</i> by Kurt Vonnegut</b><br />
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Wonderful in that uniquely Vonnegut way-- this book is both funny and painfully accurate in its disconnected presentation of humanity, our values, and why we do the things we do. And though it's still a little offbeat (though really, what did Vonnegut ever write that wasn't), this is definitely one of the more accessible of his novels, and one I would certainly recommend as a great introduction to an undervalued author. <br />
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<b><i>Damned </i>by Chuck Palahniuk</b><br />
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Palahniuk's books have, in my opinion, been growing weaker with each passing year. Even <i>Tell All</i>, the last of his more recent novels that I read, pales in comparison to his earlier work; and <i>Damned</i>, despite its admittedly imaginative premise and usual amount of trademark Chuck snark, was just plain forgettable. Maybe I'm jaded; maybe I just have higher expectations of the man who brought us <i>Fight Club.</i><br />
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<b><i>S</i><i>uper Sad True Love Story</i> by Gary Schteynhart</b><br />
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As much as I admired a lot of the work Schteynhart put into constructing his bleak vision of America's future, it is always very difficult for me (and, I'm sure, many others) to really get on board with a novel where I absolutely loathe both of the main characters. And yes, there are definitely characters in literature whom you hate in a good way, usually because their depravity intrigues you; but Leonard and Eunice, the two participants in the title's love story, are miserable, entitled, and spend most of the novel whining, unable to really put the global events around them into proper perspective. I guess the best way to sum it up is to say that in the end, I didn't feel that the love story was all that sad at all-- mostly I was just overwhelmingly glad to be finished reading about it. <br />
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<b><i>50 Shades of Grey</i> by E. L. James</b><br />
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Yup, I read it. I'm not proud--curiosity got the better of me, okay? And it was even more awful than I'd anticipated. You can read a full account of my journey into this trash <a href="http://50shadesofterribleprose.tumblr.com/">at this link</a>, but in summary I'll say that the controversial sex scenes you keep hearing about are far and away the <i>least </i>offensive, outrageous, and/or terrifying parts of this novel. And I'm using the word "novel" extremely loosely.<br />
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<b><i>A Feast for Crows</i> by George R.R. Martin</b><br />
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So there's nothing bad about this book, strictly speaking, it's just a little bit underwhelming in the aftermath of <i>Storm of Swords</i>. It's got a lot of fresh set-up and foundation laying to do, because of the million and one big reveals/payoffs at the end of <i>Swords </i>and the fact that there are three more books in the works, so as long as you keep that in mind <i>A Feast for Crows</i> still manages to be pretty enjoyable. My only complaint is the narration choices, because in this book we're hearing primarily from characters who haven't been given their own chapters in the past, and for good reason. Imagine if J.K. Rowling had decided to write <i>Order of the Phoenix</i> from the perspective of Winky the House Elf or Professor Sprout or Bellatrix LeStrange-- interesting perspectives, sure, but not necessarily who we want to hear from in the wake of everything that happened in the previous book. A Feast for Crows also doesn't ever really achieve the same exciting pace as the previous novels, something probably to do with the POV characters and longer chapters, but maybe also just because it felt like we were getting an imbalance of background information compared to action in this book.<br />
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<b><i>Onward </i>by Howard Schultz</b><br />
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I got this book free since I was recently hired as a barista, which means there was no real reason not to read it. I definitely found it interesting, and would recommend it to anyone who either works for Starbucks or patronizes them on a regular basis-- there are a lot of insights behind the practices and products that help clarify them. Schultz writes in a very straightforward, clear style that is easy to follow and makes this a quick read as well.<br />
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<b><i>Room: A Novel</i> by Emma Donoghue</b><br />
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It's clear from the first pages that this is not a book for everyone. For those who (like me) are often pulled out of the story by a strange dialect or speech affect on the part of the narrator, it will be a struggle to get through this one, as the story is told entirely from the perspective of five-year-old Jack, a child who is living in captivity with his mother in a small room, which for him comprises an entire universe and meticulous routine. As the story progresses, more and more of the world outside is revealed to Jack, and his mother is revealed to be much stronger and much more cunning than she initially appeared. Interestingly, this one is based loosely on a true story.<i><br /></i><br />
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<b><i>Paper Towns</i> by John Green</b><br />
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What a beautiful, strange, angsty little book. Green manages to near-perfectly capture the adolescent voice and provides thoroughly relatable characters to boot. There are some moments in here that it would be tempting to label as cliche, but the ending in particular more than compensates for that. Additionally, this one took me about 2.5 hours to read, so it's a quick read that'll stick with you long after you've closed the book itself. <br />
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<b><i>The Paris Wife</i> by Paula McLain</b><br />
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This book provides a touching fictionalized account of Ernest Hemingway's marriage to his first wife, Hadley, told from her point of view. For anyone interested in all things related to Hemingway (like myself), this book is food for thought, if a bit trite and flowery at times. Hadley somehow manages to come across as both whiny and surprisingly strong almost simultaneously. McLain trips over herself occasionally in the prose, trying a bit too hard, perhaps, to emulate the writer around whom the action centers, but on the whole this is a fast, fun read.<br />
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<b>Best Book: <i>A Storm of Swords</i> by George RR Martin</b><br />
<b>Honorable Mention: <i>Paper Towns</i> by John Green </b><br />
<b>Worst Book: <i>Fifty Shades of Grey</i> by E L James (absolutely unsurprising)</b><br />
<b>Fastest Read: <i>Breakfast of Champions</i> by Kurt Vonnegut</b><br />
<br />Andreahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03056498707464063744noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4941807421506973493.post-86007073881461869912012-06-22T15:30:00.000-07:002012-06-22T15:31:08.404-07:00Side ProjectI haven't been posting as much on here lately because I've been working on this silly side project:<br />
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<a href="http://50shadesofterribleprose.tumblr.com/">50 Shades of Terrible Prose</a><br />
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You should probably check it out if you like making fun of ridiculous things.Andreahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03056498707464063744noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4941807421506973493.post-33059643521498865532012-06-07T20:35:00.002-07:002012-07-02T20:07:54.926-07:00TV Review: Parks and Recreation-- Win Lose or Draw<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Remember that time I reviewed the <i>Parks and Recreation </i>season finale a month after watching it? Yeah, this is that time.<br />
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"Win, Lose, or Draw" almost instantaneously secured a spot on my all-time favorite episodes list, which is an increasingly stiff competition. I loved it mostly because of the element of excitement it had, serving as the culmination of a season-long story arc, which is something we haven't really seen since "Harvest Festival" last year.<br />
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In the first act we saw Kathryn Hahn and Paul Rudd cementing their status as gold-standard guest performers with their respective hijinks, my personal favorite of which was Rudd's Bobby Newport solemnly informing Leslie that voting for oneself in the election is illegal (though I also liked the rigged voting machines with the candy bar vouchers).<br />
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As I had hoped, there were a few fake-out moments when it came to Leslie's fate, the first of which was a surprise early lead by Brandi Maxx, Pawnee's resident porn star and, apparently, would-be politician. I have to say, I might have been able to cope with Leslie losing if Maxx had been the competitor to beat her, for the sheer humor of it.<br />
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The surprise/question mark plot of the episode concerned Ben, who received a job offer to work on a political campaign in Washington, D.C. His initial instinct was to turn it down, and Leslie seemed grateful, excited that they would be able to have a normal relationship for the first time since they began dating. However, after a heart to heart with Ron (more on that in a minute), Leslie decided to let Ben go off and pursue his dream job, sending him off in a scene that beautifully mirrored the season's premiere, in which Ben broke up with Leslie so she could pursue her dream of attaining political office.<br />
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And on the heels of Ben and Leslie's resolution came the episode's dramatic peak: the final election results. I still can't decide if I'm happier that Leslie won or that Ann, who has in many ways taken a backseat this season plot-wise, got to be the one to tell her. Both of them on the verge of tears and Ann trying to tease her with another fake-out added up to just plain perfection, and I can't imagine that moment being scripted any other way. <br />
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The subtle hero of this episode, though, was one Mr. Ron Swanson. If nothing else this episode demonstrated just how far he's come as a character, from season one's adamant disinterest in his co-workers to being the person nearly everyone goes to for advice. We've seen Leslie and Ron bonding before, but I think their conversation in the city council chamber while awaiting the recount (again mirroring the season premiere when they were both hiding in the woods) is one of their all-time best friendship moments. Leslie trusts Ron, but Ron also genuinely wants Leslie (and Ben) to be happy. And that, friends, is how you realistically develop a character on television.<br />
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One benefit to my tardiness with this review is that it has been confirmed by now that <i>Parks </i>is getting a full fifth season next year (NBC tried to trick us all by floating another potential abbreviated run, but luckily that was all sorted out). So what might we be seeing when we go back to Pawnee in September? We'll surely get something of a Leslie crash-course in what life is really like for a city council member (I predict just a little bit of disillusion, particularly for Leslie, who thrives on being able to see projects through to the end through sheer determination and very little sleep); and we'll hopefully have a nice (and not too long-awaited reunion) when Ben's job is finished in D.C. I can't say for sure what their relationship dynamic will be or if there will be any major steps forward, but I don't think an engagement by season's end is an unreasonable guess, given how much these two crazy kids care about each other.<br />
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As for the rest of the gang, I hope we'll get to split near equal time between Leslie's adventures and the goings-on back at the Parks Department, particularly if April is still playing a large role. I'd like to see them forge ahead with the seedling of a plot concerning Andy's future career in law enforcement, because I think it will not only be hilarious, but a logical next step for his character. I think Ron is probably overdue for a visit from one of the many Tammys in his life, and Tom will hopefully find some way to occupy his time that doesn't result in an Ann/Tom redux (I think we can all agree that theirs is a relationship best left in season four). Speaking of Ann, she's the one I'm interested to watch next season. Leslie will likely be a bit more unavailable than usual, and those are the times when Ann has historically been at her most interesting. I hope the writers can come up with something more exciting than just a string of romantic entanglements for her--maybe she could spearhead some kind of project between the Health and Parks departments (this would have the added bonus of Ann and April having to collaborate, which never fails to amuse).<br />
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I'm sure I will have many, many more predictions and thoughts the closer we get to season five (it just feels so dismally far away at the moment), especially as information starts to trickle out. In the meantime, let's enjoy the fact that <i>Parks </i>is finally getting some awards recognition and keep our fingers crossed that this bodes well for Emmy nominations, which will be announced on July 19th.<br />
<br />Andreahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03056498707464063744noreply@blogger.com0