Mark's Book Blog: My New Thing (I Think)

Monday, July 19, 2010

My New Thing (I Think)

"For instance, I travel with my own wine...You never know what quality you could encounter at a soiree."

"Very classy."

"I'm into class...It's my new thing."

You undoubtedly recognize the above exchange from the classic 1987 film, Can't Buy Me Love, starring Patrick Dempsey and the immortal Amanda Peterson. Patrick Dempsey eventually went on to star in Grey's Anatomy. Amanda Peterson's fame skyrocketed following Can't Buy Me Love.

(Quick but important digression. The Can't Buy Me Love exchange related above involved two ancillary characters from the film. The line "Very classy" was uttered by Ami Dolenz, daughter of Mickey Dolenz, famous for being one of the Monkeys. I couldn't use "immortal" again in this post, but if I could, "immortal" would have preceded "Mickey Dolenz." Anyway, I always found it ironic that a Monkeys' daughter was in a movie named after a Beatles song.)

Anyway, I'm considering a new thing myself.

Inspired by a good friend and fellow book lover, I am planning to read (or re-read, as the case may be) some classic novels. I intend to intersperse some classic novels as every third or fourth book I read.

As always, I'm looking for recommendations. So far, Middlemarch by George Elliot and Jane Eyre by Charlotte "Don't Call Me Emily" Bronte have been recommended to me. I'm not a big Dickens guy, and I wonder if Moby Dick is any less boring or The Grapes of Wrath any less depressing than either was back in high school or college.

Live long, read and prosper. We'll leave the lights on for you.

1 comment:

HollyJuly 21, 2010 at 12:52 PM
I've never read Eliot's Middlemarch, so I'd be interested in your thoughts on that one. It always seems daunting!

My guess is that Moby Dick is just as boring, although my dad has always loved that book. "You just have to realize that it's a story about whaling, and whalers," he tells me. That doesn't help.

I'm a big Thomas Hardy fan: Tess of the d'Urbervilles and Mayor of Casterbridge come to mind as interesting reads.

Willa Cather is probably my favorite American classic author. O, Pioneers and My Antonia are the ones most frequently taught in school.

I think The Great Gatsby is The Great American Novel. I read it again every few years, and not even Rob is allowed to touch my copy. Once, in high school, my dad let me read his copy, very carefully and under his supervision. Okay, we're a weird family when it comes to passion for books.
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Mark's Book Blog

Welcome to Mark's Book Blog!

Why did I set this up? Several reasons.

1. I'm constantly asked for book recommendations. I often cannot remember what I've read recently and, consequently, struggle for a recommendation. This will keep me up to date.

2. We're all busy. Sometimes I forget what I liked and what I didn't like about a book I read a month or two ago. As a result, this blog commits me to memorialize a book shortly after reading the book.

3. I, too, want book recommendations from those I trust (so I may or may not read your recommendation). From this blog, you can see what I've liked--you may not like my taste, may never come back to the blog--that's ok. If, though, you like some or all of what I like, tell me. And, more importantly, tell me what else I'd like!

Here's my recommendation scale--I will rate all books I read (subject to my ability to rate a book that I stop reading for good reason). The recommendation scale has gone through many iterations since inception of the blog and is effective for all books recommended on or after December 29, 2009. For the recommendation scale applicable to books recommended prior to that time, go here.

This blog uses a "grading" system. In order to accomplish the blog's goal of "recommending" books, the grading scale works out like this:

A - Highly recommended

B - Recommended

C - OK, you might like it

D - A waste of time

F - A HUGE waste of time

If a book, let's say it's a sports-themed, non-fiction book, earns a recommendation in the "A" range, the blog post will note that the book is "Highly recommended for fans of [we'll just insert the sport of tonsil hockey here as a placeholder]." In other words, even an "A" recommendation may not be a book that I suggest you read. It depends on your tastes. Certainly some books in the "A" range will be recommended to all.

One other note. I am generally a stickler for grammar and punctuation (for using made-up words like "stickler," not so much). As I've stated in various posts, I am well aware that this blog does not utilize the well-established "underline book titles" convention. There are some places where book titles are in quotes. There are other places where book titles are merely capitalized. While I apologize in advance for being such a heathen as to ignore this convention, it bothers me. It really does. This is the kind of stuff that keeps me up nights. Seriously. I decided, however, about 50 posts in that I would make the lack of consistency in the identification of book titles the consistency for the site. Therefore and henceforth, I will utilize whatever convention I want in any willy nilly fashion I see fit.

Mark

Mark's Book Blog

Monday, July 19, 2010

My New Thing (I Think)

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