Sunday, March 1, 2009

Weekend Update

As it turns out, Henry was a comic strip--I have no memory of this strip, just the Henry children's books. Henry was mute except for the very rare word or sound. Found this picture on a Carl Anderson site. Anderson created Henry.



I started reading "Biting Moon" by Martha Grimes.



Also from the library, a collection of poetry and
Writers at Work (second series of The Paris Review Interviews.)

(I tried to look at two Louise Erdrich books, but was thwarted when some crud flaked off a page onto my hand.I can only hope this flaking crud dust was due to someone reading while eating and not something worse. Both novels had the same messed up pages. People should be extra careful with library books while slurping.)


The Kindle 2 takes some getting used to, more options to play around with. I can only imagine a Kindle 3 will be out next year, and I'll probably want that version too.

I read a review of Stephen King's novella UR, and doubt if the reviewer actually read the story. He said King's character used a "Kindle-like device" in the story. But it's very clearly a Kindle. The guy orders it from Amazon and calls it a Kindle. The reviewer also got some facts about the story wrong-- sounds like he heard about the story from a friend of a friend. It was a short novella and a fun read, it got me thinking about how interesting a story can be when time is a major element or a character.

Last week I met two teens at the local cafe. One teen had a new iPod (He'd had several previous iPods) and the other said he was holding out for a Kindle. His birthday was coming up and he'd saved enough money for a good supply of Kindle books and half the cost of the reader itself He was hoping to get his parents to spring for the rest. I was surprised any teenaged boy would prefer a Kindle to an iPod, but this teen was a readaholic. I don't meet many teens like him, but I do meet kids who love reading much more often than I did 10 years ago. One of these days I might inherit a family iPod. I'm the only one in the family who doesn't have one. Since there are always new models coming out, I'm thinking I can snag a used one.



Suntorp ~ How goes the Nietzsche?

13 comments:

R.L. Bourges said...

Oh, now that I see him, I remember Henry! (I would have held out for the Hedgehogs too.)

"...as if an imprint had been left on the air." Martha Grimes, huh? Must check her out.

Kindle seems like a nice thing to have - but so does that Treasury of World Poetry.

My ipod is about six or seven years old at this point - I guess it's moved onto Antique status.

Avid Reader said...

RL-- I was told my cell phone was an ANTIQUE by the kindly people in the booth--too much of an antique to fix! ( The March of technology is faster than the March of Time?)

Am enjoying the treasury and wish I owned a copy.

CocoDivaDog said...

Oh wow,
I have not seen that big-headed Henry since I don't know when!
I feel old!

Let me know when you're able to come to the Rose Hill Campus of Fordham University. It's been many years since I've been in that library, but I am sure I can show you the stacks where I once ate Chinese food (moo goo gai pan)in there. ooooh, I was so wicked in my youth.

Now I must stop blogging and get back to my work!
argh!

JGH said...

Just remembered that it was Harold who had the purple crayon! Not Henry. Henry always seemed a little odd, didn't he?

My Ipod seems like an old clunker now. It's only a couple of years old, but the new ones are so cool and sleek.

Kurt said...

I don't think I could read from a Kindle.

Anonymous said...

Avid, still remember Henry. Read him in the Sunday paper, growing up. And Nietzsche has been on hold, as I write and work. Been a couple days on him. It's getting very, very interesting, tho'

And Martha Grimes is an incredible writer. "Hotel Paradise" is another I've read. It has two follow-up books, as well. Must get those.

Megan said...

ST - I have "Belle Ruin" and can mail it to you...

Betty said...

Henry looks a little familiar to this Brit, but the memory is hazy. I like the cartoon you posted.
I think I'd struggle to read a book from anything but a book - if you see what I mean.

Anonymous said...

Megan, thanks. If my library doesn't have it, I may take you up on that offer. I can't believe how much new PB books have gotten!

Deborah Godin said...

Gee, Henry, if there ever was a time to utter something, the situation in that cartoon would be one!. (I can think of a few choice words / phrases, if you need help...)

Mickey's Musings said...

Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmm!! That book sounds interesting! I have read Martha Grimes. I like her Inspector Jury books. I can't seem to get away from the mystery novels ;)
My fave is Dorothy L Sayers and her "Lord Peter Wimsey" books :)
I saw the Amazon CEO guy on the 'Daily Show" with Jon Stewart. Man,what a laugh he has!!!!!!!
I gave a SanDisc player. I like that it has a radio in it ;)
Anyway,enough chatter from me!!

e said...

I vaguely remember Henry, I thought he was in a comic books series, but my memory is also hazy with age and I am not so old!

I share your observation that more kids like to read, and that while they and adults read differently on the Internet than they do with books and periodicals, Kindle and iPods require some focused listening. I've only borrowed an iPod, never had one of my own, so will have to see about a used one.

Anonymous said...

e, your memory is fine. Henry appeared in many comic books from the 40's to at least the 80's.

My Classic Fiction Book List -Partial List

  • Austen, Jane: (Complete Works)
  • Balzac: Cousin Bette/ Eugenie Grandet / Cousin Pons
  • Best Russian Short Stories
  • Boyle, TC: Short Works
  • Brennan, Maeve : Short Works, 1 Novella
  • Bronte, Emily, Ann, Jane (Complete Works)
  • Brookner, Anita ( Complete Works)
  • Cather, Willa (Complete Works)
  • Chekov: Short Works
  • David Copperfield (Dickens)
  • Dickens:A Tale of Two Cities
  • Dickens:Great Expectations
  • Dickens:Nicholas Nickelby
  • Dickens:Our Mutual Friend
  • Dickens:The Old Curiosity Shop
  • Doyle, Roddy (some novels, memoir)
  • Drabble, Margaret (4 Novels)
  • Drieser, Theodore (Complete Works)
  • Fitzgerald, F.Scott (Most Novels & short works)
  • Hardy, Thomas (Complete Works)
  • Hemingway, Short stories
  • Hemingway: The Old Man in the Sea
  • Hemingway: The Sun Also Rises
  • Hugo: Les Miserables/Hunchback Of ND
  • James, Henry: Daisy Miller
  • James, Henry: In The Cage
  • James, Henry: Portrait of a Lady
  • James, Henry: The Golden Bowl
  • James, Henry: What Maisy Knew
  • James, Henry: Wings of a Dove
  • James, Henry:The Ambassadors
  • James, Henry; The Bostonians
  • Kerouac: Dharma Bums
  • Kerouac: On The Road
  • Kerouac: The Subterraneans
  • Kerouac: Tristessa
  • Lardner,Ring:Short Works
  • Larsen: Quicksand
  • Lewis, Sinclair: Arrowsmith
  • Lewis, Sinclair: Free Air
  • Lewis, Sinclair: Main Street
  • Lewis, Sinclair: The Job
  • MacGill, Patrick (Complete works)
  • Mackin, Walter (novels)
  • Maupassant: Short Works, novels
  • McGahern, John (novels of)
  • McNulty, John (Short Works)
  • Norris, Frank: McTeague
  • O'Brien, Edna (3 Novels)
  • O'Donnell, Paeder : Novels of
  • O. Henry
  • Potok, Chaim (4 novels/1 non fiction)
  • Salinger, JD : Nine Stories
  • Salinger: Franny & Zooey
  • Salinger: Raise High the Roofbeams
  • Salinger: The Catcher in the Rye
  • Sinclair, Lewis: Dodsworth
  • Sinclair, Lewis: Elmer Gantry
  • Sinclair, Upton: King Coal
  • Sinclair, Upton: The Jungle
  • Steinbeck, John: Sweet Thursday
  • Steinbeck: Winter of our Discontent
  • Steinbeck: Cannery Row
  • Steinbeck: East of Eden
  • Steinbeck: The Grapes of Wrath
  • Theroux, Paul (3 Novels )
  • Toibin, Colm: (Novels of)
  • Tolstoy: Anna Karenina
  • Tolstoy: Short Works
  • Turgenev (2 novels)
  • Twain: T Sawyer, Life on the Mississippi
  • Vonnegut: Early Works (1950s-60s)
  • Wharton, Edith: Novels of/Short Stories
  • Women & Fiction (Edit. Cahill)
  • Zola, Emile ( 10 novels)