books!

Hello, DW (and LJ). Have a meme.

The book I am reading: Our Mothers' War by Emily Yellin. So far so good. It was a Christmas gift and I decided to pick it up after rewatching Paradise Road the other night. I've been trying to get my hands on one of the books that inspired the film (namely White Coolies by Betty Jeffrey), but it seems to be out of print, at least in the States.

Also, there's never just one book that I'm reading. For instance, right now I'm also finishing up Brideshead Revisited by Evelyn Waugh.

The book I am writing: In my head, I'm writing two things. One is the Next Great Western Post-Apocalypse Novel, and the other is a memoir of my mother and her illness.

The book I love most: I'm still a very big fan of The Stand. Gaskell's North and South may be a close runner-up.

The last book I received as a gift: My brother gave me Founding Mothers and Fathers: Gendered Power and the Forming of American Society by Mary Beth Norton. Early birthday present.

The last book I gave as a gift: My brother asked for The Nazi Voter: The Social Foundations of Fascism in Germany, 1919-1933 for Christmas, so I got it for him. He's taking a graduate class on this and needed the book for the course.

The nearest book on my desk: I don't have any books on my desk (for a change!). The nearest book is Total Church: A Radical Reshaping around Gospel and Community by Tim Chester and Steve Timmis.

links and stuff

Google Reader, StumbleUpon, plus a bunch of you lovely people, keep me entertained these days. So I'm returning the favor.

Backing up your Gmail - apparently it might be a good idea.

Did I somehow miss that they're remaking All Quiet on the Western Front with Daniel Radcliffe?? Because Radcliffe's involvement contributes about 1/10 of the AWESOME here. I really can't believe I had no idea.

I found out at the bottom of the NPR article about books made into films for 2011. Some things coming out that I'm pretty excited about.

This customer story made me think of my job. Not every day, not with every call. But sometimes.

I rewatched The Duchess the other night, and I'm just as fascinated with it this time around as the first. Mostly with Georgiana herself, but this time I really got to wondering about Charles Grey. It wasn't his story being told, of course, but did you know he fathered 16 or so kids with his wife? And I always forget that he was Prime Minister right before Melbourne. I also wonder just a little about Bess Foster, whose audacity really struck me this time around.

Still really hate Cate Blanchett's Oscar dress, still really want her hair. I need a cut anyway. Think I might ask for this.

I was really pissed off that Charlie Sheen was on the cover of EW this week.

Liz Lemon, Abby Flynn, feminism, etc. Thinky thoughts will ensue. I don't watch 30 Rock and still found this interesting, since it uses the show only as a jumping-off point for a bigger discussion.

I think this would be really fun - making your own strawberry, elderberry, or dandelion wine.

I would really like to find an English-sung version of this song. Seems only to be done in Dutch in all the MP3s and such that I can find. But I've seen the lyrics in English, so....

Today is the 175th anniversary of the fall of the Alamo. Historians are now investigating whether there were more Texians killed there than originally believed (the number is 182 today, and could be as high as 257). We're commemorating the terquasesquintennial (if I spelled that right I'd be amazed - I certainly can't pronounce it) of a lot of things in Texas this year.

BUSY week coming up. I don't know if I'll have much patience left - especially since busy means also dealing with a very loudmouth coworker. Looks like I'll have a chance to put this into practice.

YAY - a full Game of Thrones trailer!!!!

Okay, and I will end with this - Young House Love is one of my new favorite blogs, and this post is not actually about the house the couple owns. But it is amazing anyway, about the restoration of a circa-1855 house.