I just finished reading The Prisoner of Heaven by Carlos Ruiz Zafon. It's the third in his "Cemetary of Forgotten Books" series. I loved the first one, and really enjoyed the second as well. This one was pretty good, but not as good as I'd hoped.
Fermin, a side character from The Shadow of the Wind (book one), has a big problem in this new novel. He wants to get married to his pregnant girlfriend, but there's a problem with his legal documents. Due to some events that happened during World War II, he's recorded as having died years ago. Then a figure from his past appears and leaves him a threatening message.
The bulk of the book is a flashback to the events that happened when he was in Montjuic Prison during World War II. He tells it to Daniel (narrator of book one), to explain why he's so afraid of this figure from his past. When he was in prison, he met David Martin, the writer main character of The Angel's Game (book two). He also met the cruel, pompous governor, who was in charge of the prison at the time. The story concerns his relationship with those men, and his attempt at an escape.
My first problem was just that I thought I was missing a lot because I didn't remember the plots of the first two books very well. Despite a note in the beginning of the book that says the books can be read in any order, I felt I was constantly struggling to recall the importance of different characters. So if you're going to read this, I recommend reading the first two books first.
The second problem is that the book felt short and unfinished. It seems pretty set up for a sequel, with some unfinished issues, which is fine. But really I felt like there was no huge climax. No complete resolution. And it was shorter than the previous books, so it wouldn't have hurt it to go on.
Should you read? If you've recently read the first two books, sure. But I wouldn't bother to buy it on hardcover, like I did.
Sunday, September 30, 2012
Friday, September 28, 2012
Canning Label!!
Isn't the eagle fierce? Aren't the talons serious?
Monday, September 17, 2012
The Canning Eagle
I tried canning this weekend! My friend Rachael and I had been planning it for awhile. She'd grown up canning with her mom and grandmother; I'd wanted to do it for years but had been too intimidated to try on my own.
It turns out it isn't hard at all! (Although I did joke that we should make cute little gift tags for our jars that list the symptoms of botulism.) I made an Indian curry simmer sauce (it's just the base for most of the curries I make: onions, garlic, ginger, a bunch of whole spices, and tomatoes), and Rachael made a berry/peach jam.
The most difficult part was that I'd bought 25 pounds of tomatoes at the farmers' market, and that's a lot of tomatoes to wrangle. But I took them down, because I'm the Canning Eagle (my new canning nickname. what, you don't have a canning nickname?).
OK, here's how we canned: We cooked our foods while simultaneously sterilizing our jars and lids by washing them in the dishwasher. Then we filled the jars with our sauce or jam (I used a canning funnel to make it easier), sealed them up, and dropped them in boiling water for ten minutes. We used a special pair of tongs made to grab jars, but you could use regular tongs. Anyway, after they were pulled out of the water, they cooled, and as they cooled, they sealed! You can actually here a popping sound when they seal sometimes. To test them, you just push on the top, and if the lid doesn't snap back, it's sealed! (If it does snap back, just put it in the fridge and eat it semi-soon, instead of keeping it in the cupboard.)
In summary:
I made 16 pint jars of sauce! And then, tonight, I made 6 pint jars of applesauce! I am truly the Canning Eagle.
It turns out it isn't hard at all! (Although I did joke that we should make cute little gift tags for our jars that list the symptoms of botulism.) I made an Indian curry simmer sauce (it's just the base for most of the curries I make: onions, garlic, ginger, a bunch of whole spices, and tomatoes), and Rachael made a berry/peach jam.
The most difficult part was that I'd bought 25 pounds of tomatoes at the farmers' market, and that's a lot of tomatoes to wrangle. But I took them down, because I'm the Canning Eagle (my new canning nickname. what, you don't have a canning nickname?).
OK, here's how we canned: We cooked our foods while simultaneously sterilizing our jars and lids by washing them in the dishwasher. Then we filled the jars with our sauce or jam (I used a canning funnel to make it easier), sealed them up, and dropped them in boiling water for ten minutes. We used a special pair of tongs made to grab jars, but you could use regular tongs. Anyway, after they were pulled out of the water, they cooled, and as they cooled, they sealed! You can actually here a popping sound when they seal sometimes. To test them, you just push on the top, and if the lid doesn't snap back, it's sealed! (If it does snap back, just put it in the fridge and eat it semi-soon, instead of keeping it in the cupboard.)
In summary:
- Sterilize (in the dishwasher or in boiling water for ten minutes)
- Fill, wipe the sides, seal
- Drop in boiling water for ten or so minutes (time depends on the recipe), remove
I made 16 pint jars of sauce! And then, tonight, I made 6 pint jars of applesauce! I am truly the Canning Eagle.
Photos!
So many onions!
Delicious jam!
We can can!
The finished product!
Sunday, September 2, 2012
MTV
I just finished a marathon read of I Want My MTV, a history of the network from its start in 1981 till 1992. It's by Craig Marks and Rob Tannenbaum, and comes from interviews they did with nearly 400 people.
I was obsessed with MTV when I was a kid and a young teenager. I used to fill VHS tapes with recordings of videos I liked, stay up late waiting to see my favorite bands' new releases--I once threw a viewing party for the Video Music Awards. So, as you can imagine, the book was the perfect topic to grab me.
There were tons of hilarious and horrifying anecdotes. I found out David Fincher and Michael Bay both started as music video directors. I found out Kurt Loder used to rip on MTV as a Rolling Stone writer before they hired him. Most of the guys in metal bands come off as sexist in a naive way, like they have no idea why the things they did and the way they portrayed women would be offensive. (Except Sebastian Bach. He comes off like a cool guy.)
The only other book I've read in this style is Please Kill Me: An Uncensored Oral History of Punk, by Legs McNeil and Gillian McCain. Please Kill Me is one of my favorite books. When I first read it at 17, I wanted to move immediately to New York City and start a band. I Want My MTV was not quite as inspiring, not quite as shocking, not quite as amazing. Maybe because a lot of the characters involved were just filthy rich. Not the artists, at first, anyway, but the executives and directors and producers. It made it harder to care about their fates. (Even if they got fired from the network, they still remained filthy rich.)
Even with that caveat, the book was still a great read. Lots of fun. I wondered if the year chosen to end it would seem arbitrary, but it didn't. Things did change in 1992 for MTV. "The Real World" debuted. Grunge dominated hair metal and pop. I still watched it for years, though. I think the last time I watched it in any significant amount was, after a long gap, in 2003, in a hotel room in Amsterdam. (I wanted the TV on while I got ready to go out--I was not just sitting around in a hotel for lack of anything better to do in Amsterdam.) They aired episode after episode of "Jackass" and "The Osbournes." No videos. It's too bad. I think if they showed videos, I might still want to watch it sometimes.
I was obsessed with MTV when I was a kid and a young teenager. I used to fill VHS tapes with recordings of videos I liked, stay up late waiting to see my favorite bands' new releases--I once threw a viewing party for the Video Music Awards. So, as you can imagine, the book was the perfect topic to grab me.
There were tons of hilarious and horrifying anecdotes. I found out David Fincher and Michael Bay both started as music video directors. I found out Kurt Loder used to rip on MTV as a Rolling Stone writer before they hired him. Most of the guys in metal bands come off as sexist in a naive way, like they have no idea why the things they did and the way they portrayed women would be offensive. (Except Sebastian Bach. He comes off like a cool guy.)
The only other book I've read in this style is Please Kill Me: An Uncensored Oral History of Punk, by Legs McNeil and Gillian McCain. Please Kill Me is one of my favorite books. When I first read it at 17, I wanted to move immediately to New York City and start a band. I Want My MTV was not quite as inspiring, not quite as shocking, not quite as amazing. Maybe because a lot of the characters involved were just filthy rich. Not the artists, at first, anyway, but the executives and directors and producers. It made it harder to care about their fates. (Even if they got fired from the network, they still remained filthy rich.)
Even with that caveat, the book was still a great read. Lots of fun. I wondered if the year chosen to end it would seem arbitrary, but it didn't. Things did change in 1992 for MTV. "The Real World" debuted. Grunge dominated hair metal and pop. I still watched it for years, though. I think the last time I watched it in any significant amount was, after a long gap, in 2003, in a hotel room in Amsterdam. (I wanted the TV on while I got ready to go out--I was not just sitting around in a hotel for lack of anything better to do in Amsterdam.) They aired episode after episode of "Jackass" and "The Osbournes." No videos. It's too bad. I think if they showed videos, I might still want to watch it sometimes.
Monday, August 13, 2012
I Require A Ghost
Published again, yay! I have a short piece called "I Require A Ghost" published at punchnels.com (which is an awesome website you should probably read anyway). This is the first time I've had nonfiction published. Very exciting.
Check it out: www.punchnels.com/first-person/i-require-a-ghost/
Check it out: www.punchnels.com/first-person/i-require-a-ghost/
Friday, August 10, 2012
Candy Innovations
OK actually it's not an innovation. It's the same irresistible chocolate egg that I get so excited about every spring, except now the "yolk" is green instead of yellow.
We found them at Walgreens yesterday. The sight of them is disturbing for two reasons. Most importantly, this spring I ate enough Cadbury Creme Eggs to make at least a dozen candy omelets. They're so good. (Very inspiring, too.) This version is like Green Eggs and Ham--weird looking, still delicious. I've had one so far, half-hoping it wouldn't taste as good as the original. It did.
The other disturbing thing, of course, is that Halloween candy is out in August.
The other disturbing thing, of course, is that Halloween candy is out in August.
Saturday, July 28, 2012
Airport Delays
How to survive massive airport delays without losing your mind or humanity (as determined by my recent experiences):
1. Don't let yourself get too hungry or thirsty.
I had a little baggie of emergency almonds in my purse.
2. Remember that the flight crew probably has nothing to do with the delays.
They don't want to be stuck on the tarmac any more than you do. Telling them that they should be embarrassed, as one man on my flight did, just makes you looks like a jackass to the rest of the passengers. Be nice to the flight crew, because then they will be nice to you.
3. Bring more to read then you would think you'd possibly need.
I still prefer actual paper books for day-to-day reading, but for traveling, nothing beats my Kindle.
4. Pretend you are a character in a light-hearted movie.
Perhaps a farce or a romantic comedy about a young woman trying to make it as a professional dealing with comically terrible travel luck. Just don't imagine the movie is a thriller or a horror movie. The Philly airport at 1:30am is pretty creepy if you're in a horror movie.
5. When other passengers irritate you, think that your excellent behavior can set a good example for them.
Not for any noble reasons. It's so you get to feel all superior and smug with yourself.
6. Imagine telling it to people later.
"And then we were told we'd be sitting in the plane for another hour! Can you believe it?!"
7. In the words of Donna and Tom from Parks and Recreation, "Treat Yo' Self!"
When I found out I'd be arriving to my hotel at 2a.m. at the earliest, I canceled my early-morning meeting for the next day. I dropped money on a delicious dinner snack thing once I got to the hotel, and I realllly enjoyed it. (Seriously, are you familiar with GoPicnic? I just had one last night. They are so delicious and clever and yummy, and come with little Sudoku puzzles for you to do while you eat.) Then I slept till noon the next day.
1. Don't let yourself get too hungry or thirsty.
I had a little baggie of emergency almonds in my purse.
2. Remember that the flight crew probably has nothing to do with the delays.
They don't want to be stuck on the tarmac any more than you do. Telling them that they should be embarrassed, as one man on my flight did, just makes you looks like a jackass to the rest of the passengers. Be nice to the flight crew, because then they will be nice to you.
3. Bring more to read then you would think you'd possibly need.
I still prefer actual paper books for day-to-day reading, but for traveling, nothing beats my Kindle.
4. Pretend you are a character in a light-hearted movie.
Perhaps a farce or a romantic comedy about a young woman trying to make it as a professional dealing with comically terrible travel luck. Just don't imagine the movie is a thriller or a horror movie. The Philly airport at 1:30am is pretty creepy if you're in a horror movie.
5. When other passengers irritate you, think that your excellent behavior can set a good example for them.
Not for any noble reasons. It's so you get to feel all superior and smug with yourself.
6. Imagine telling it to people later.
"And then we were told we'd be sitting in the plane for another hour! Can you believe it?!"
7. In the words of Donna and Tom from Parks and Recreation, "Treat Yo' Self!"
When I found out I'd be arriving to my hotel at 2a.m. at the earliest, I canceled my early-morning meeting for the next day. I dropped money on a delicious dinner snack thing once I got to the hotel, and I realllly enjoyed it. (Seriously, are you familiar with GoPicnic? I just had one last night. They are so delicious and clever and yummy, and come with little Sudoku puzzles for you to do while you eat.) Then I slept till noon the next day.
Monday, July 9, 2012
Gone Girl
Yes, it's been awhile. I've been traveling a lot, and I've been reading a lot. What do you NEED to read? Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn. It is an absolutely addictive, unputdownable mystery novel.
Nick's wife Amy is missing, and Nick is the prime suspect. He's definitely suspicious, but it's unclear if he's the one behind her absence. Chapters alternate between his point of view in the immediate aftermath of Amy's disappearance and Amy's journal entries from earlier in their marriage. There were probably at least six times in the book where I set it down and shouted "What?! Seriously?!" to whoever was nearby.
Go read it. Now.
Nick's wife Amy is missing, and Nick is the prime suspect. He's definitely suspicious, but it's unclear if he's the one behind her absence. Chapters alternate between his point of view in the immediate aftermath of Amy's disappearance and Amy's journal entries from earlier in their marriage. There were probably at least six times in the book where I set it down and shouted "What?! Seriously?!" to whoever was nearby.
Go read it. Now.
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