Monday, April 21, 2008

Say What?

New York Magazine's cover story is about "Gossip Girl," the TV show. I admit I didn't have the patience to slog through the whole thing, but I thought I'd post in case you all were interested. Beyond the cover headline at right, the magazine calls the show "genius." I have three words to say to both those comments: Friday. Night. Lights.

Anyway, we're supposed to be focusing on the book, right? The women-centric blog Jezebel comments on the article but also has some insight on how the show's portrayals of characters compare to those of the book. Could be fodder for discussion next month!

Thursday, April 17, 2008

OMG! A Tween Pick!


I've been loving "Gossip Girl" on CW and wanted to check out the book that inspired the guilty-pleasure TV show. It's such a hit that author Cecily von Ziegesar has her own site.

The early May meeting date/time is TBA (so please vote on the Evite!) We'll be meeting at The Diner in Adams Morgan, so bring your appetite and your hunger for good scoop.

No worries if you haven't read the book or seen the show.

Your wannebe UES* resident,
Doris.

*Upper East Side of Manhattan

Thursday, April 10, 2008

Persuasion: We're Convinced

We had a small but pleasant turnout for April's meeting: Jenny, Catherine and myself. So a consensus wasn't difficult: We all liked "Persuasion." It was the second time reading the book for me. The last time was in high school, I think, and I didn't really appreciate it then. We talked about reading books too young -- before you have the life experience to understand or fully empathize with characters. Can you really feel the emotion of such a romantic story if you've never been in love? All I know is I was super-swoony at the end of "Persuasion," and I don't recall feeling the same the first go-round.

If you're a Jane Austen virgin, "Pride and Prejudice" is probably the best place to start. But this one is right up there -- short and very romantic.

Speaking of swooning: For a while there, it was threatening to become the James McAvoy Fan Club instead of Lazy Woman's Book Club. Jenny and Catherine both enjoyed the movie "Becoming Jane," the fictionalized imagining of Jane Austen's romantic life that James starred in. I'm adding it to my Netflix queue! We're also looking forward to his upcoming decidedly un-Austen-esque role in the summer action flick "Wanted," with Angelina Jolie.

Anyhoo, back to books. Catherine brought up Goodreads, the book-centered social networking site Doris recommended a while back. Yeah, I begged off at the time, citing laziness. I sucked it up tonight and created a profile, adding a paltry 18 books to my "have read these" virtual bookshelf. (Seven of those are Harry Potter!) Catherine has 119 books. Doris has a shelf-busting 259! Look us up if you join!

No time to read? Would you rather be read to? Jenny mentioned the Web site LibriVox, which has free audiobook downloads of titles in the public domain. The catalogue was down when I checked, but Jenny has Austen books on her iPod. Fun!

Hope to see you all next month! Hosting slot and book choice are open for May, so if you're up for it or have a book idea, let us know. I'll also send an e-mail about it soon.