Knopf 100--Day 7

Hollywood owes a ton to Knopf publishing. Even though the press is mostly thought of in terms of numbers of Nobel laureates and prestige, Alfred and the subsequent editors loved the dark and stormy nights. Since it's rained for two straight days in Austin, indulging in the noir seems appropriate today. (Note on the list: I've added numbers to Gianna's picks from yesterday, so we're now up to #21.)

21. The Maltese Falcon by Dashiell Hammett, originally published in 1931. No Knopf? No Hammett. No Humphrey Bogart (possibly a stretch). Dashiell Hammett was a house author for Knopf, so I just plucked one of his novels off the list. A bird statue with a fortune, a dead partner, cops, dames, and the wise cracking Sam Spade made The Maltese Falcon a huge hit. If you've seen the movie, read the book. It's exactly what you'd want it to be.

22. Angelmaker by Nick Harkaway, originally published in 2012. It hasn't made it to the silver screen yet, but I would love to see a film adaptation of Angelmaker by Nick Harkaway. Harkaway happens to be John LeCarre's son, and his second novel is a crazy send-up to spy thrillers and the Cold War era. An octogenarian granny super spy, the mob, a crazy serial killer with Buddhist ninja minions, and a hapless clock maker at the center of a global conspiracy are racing to locate the clockwork doomsday machine. Some are racing to trigger it, some are racing to keep it from destroying the world. At points Angelmaker is hilarious and so over the top, but it's too much fun to quit reading.

23. My Life in France by Julia Child with Alex Prud'homme, originally published in 2006. If you saw Julie & Julia, you quickly realized that Julie Powell was a self-consumed whiner and Julia Child is the mother of all culinary bad asses. The Julia Child parts of that film were based on My Life in France. Julia Child--tall woman, OSS spy, no nonsense destroyer of snooty sexist French chefs, and queen of the French/American kitchen--is larger than life, and one should read her stories of France directly from the star of the show.

24. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson, originally published in 2008. As a faithful adaptation of the book, I recommend the Swedish film, but the US version with Rooney Mara and Daniel Craig (mmm...Daniel Craig) is none too shabby either. Larsson's thriller was titled Men Who Hate Women in Sweden and that title fits. Lisbeth Salander, the protagonist of Dragon Tattoo and its sequels, has been abused, raped, robbed, called insane, and abandoned by family and caretakers, but she's also the epitome of tough revenge-seekers. If you're lucky, she'll just hack your computer, steal your fortune, and provide evidence of your criminal activity to the authorities. Piss her off and expect much, much worse treatment. I love Lisbeth Salander for her anger and for being both damaged and fearless. She's one of the most compelling characters I've ever read.

Good and Cheap (Books)! Day 7

We here in Book Land believe in proper manners. Gianna always places her napkin in her lap when she dines at the Olive Garden, for example. I turned my research toward the old world, in this case Germany, for a book called Sorry. We're all class. In order to stay on top of the current trends in proper etiquette, I make time to read the appropriate reference guides. Emily Post? Hell no. Um, excuse me.  Ahem. I think not.

Apologies are important. Sorry by Zoran Drvenkar, drives home this point. This thriller has been compared to the Scandinavian crime novels of Stieg Larsson and Jo Nesbo, but really it could be written about Austin. Four slacker friends, refusing to find "real" jobs, start a company dedicated to an aspect of the corporate world that is missing all too often these days: apologizing. Screw over your coworker for a promotion? Hire Kris, Tamara, Wolf, and Frauke to apologize for you. Breaking up with your girlfriend (or blog partner)? They can smooth out the awkwardness and make everyone feel better about the situation. It's just a nice thing to do. And for the four friends, it's a lucrative enterprise. Who wouldn't want to outsource the least pleasant part of a conversation?

Here's a great job for the crew. A man calls the company for an apology and sends Wolf to a house...where he finds--how do I phrase this nicely?--a woman with a giant spike driven through her head and pinning her to the wall. The killer wants Wolf to apologize, and he's not finished with his crimes, or expressions of

remorse, either. Suddenly saying "sorry" is a lot more complicated and hellish.

Reading Sorry has inspired me to reconsider how I treat people. For example, if I drive a spike through someone's head, I should make certain that I have no regrets first. Why pay extra for the customer service of an apology?

Zoran Dvenkar

Sometimes a really dark thriller hits the spot. BookPage wrote of this book, "Dark, demented, radical and grotesquely humorous, Sorry upends every convention of modern fiction craft, and brilliantly." I will not apologize for recommending this book. 

New Year, New 30 Day Book Challenge, Day 16

Day 16: Favorite Female Character

Liz:

Hey look! I get to go first today! Gianna's love connection attempts to find me a soul mate will have to wait at least a paragraph or two. (I've convinced friends to play board games with me for the first time in six months and need to finish my half of the post before Gianna's ready.) 

Today's topic is our favorite female character, and this one's easy for me. I'm going to reveal here for the first time that Stieg Larsson modeled his protagonist from The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo after me.  Naturally I love myself.  Shall we look at the evidence?

Liz....beth.

1. Lizbeth Salander. It even sounds like Elizabeth Sullivan.
2. Lizbeth has a twin sister named Camilla. I have a twin sister named Kathryn.
3. Lizbeth is brilliant.  I know, this one's obvious.
4. Lizbeth is socially awkward and tends to behave outside the bounds of social norms. I once gave a presentation to nuns in which I discussed Harry Hole.
5. We have rage issues.
6. We are both single. Daniel Craig may or may not have been our true love.
7. Lizbeth has a dragon tattoo. The dragon is my Chinese Zodiac sign.
8. Lizbeth's heritage is dark, the daughter of a Russian mobster and prostitute. I grew up in East Texas.
9. Gianna is in love with Lizbeth. Gianna is in love with me.

I feel such relief. The truth shall set you free and all that. Please don't send me fan letters, though. I want to maintain my privacy. 

Gianna:

I try not to read books with female protagonists, so this category will be tough.  Okay the first few that come to mind, and I know Liz is going to totally make fun of mine, but she only makes fun of me because she has a not so secret crush on me. Also, I have not seen Liz’s picks yet, but twenty bucks says she picks Mrs. Dalloway. [wow....how wrong was I?]

Okay, you are a punk if you don’t love every single female character in Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Café. Ruth, Idgie, Evelyn, Mrs. Threadgoode, and of course ‘secrets in the sauce’ Sipsey.

I love Lillian from one of my favorite novels, Away by Amy Bloom. I think Lillian is the kind of woman (or man, really) that I aspire to. She’s smart and fearless. She escapes Russia after the murder of her entire family, including her daughter. While in New York she meets a woman who claims Lillian’s daughter is still alive in Russia. Lillian is able to “negotiate” transportation all the way to Alaska, but with no other option she must walk the rest of the way along the Telegraph Trail toward Siberia. 

The last two thoughts in my head about awesome ladies are; Jo, from  Little Women by Louisa May Alcott, and pretty much any woman that Margaret Atwood writes. If you have to ask why you’re in trouble.

30 More Days Book Challenge: Day 9

Sticking with the genre trend....

Day 9: Favorite Mystery

Gianna:

I read mysteries in spurts but certainly have read my fair share. It’s too hard to pick my favorite mystery so I will just pick my favorite mystery writer who wrote several of my favorites. My favorite is Texan Patricia Highsmith. I tend to like psychological thriller more than a formulaic mystery (although they certainly serve a purpose), and the psychological thriller is Highsmith’s strength. She is most famous for the Ripley series but her first novel, Strangers On a Train, is probably my favorite. Highsmith was a sad troubled soul and I suppose that may be what draws me to her. In fact, I read a biography, Beautiful Shadow, which described her as “cruel,” and I thought, “hmm… alcoholic, talented, depressed, and cruel…I would date her.” [Based on this information, I'm more than a little surprised that Gianna hasn't tried to date me.  Maybe I don't drink enough?] Interestingly enough, and by interestingly I mean sadly, she was also very anti-Semitic (although one of her closest friends was Jewish – what was that dude's problem, right?) and she was racist as well. But everything worked out because in her old age she developed a terrible hump and couldn’t stand up straight (no pun intended…get it? She was a lesbian!).

Liz:

So I never read mysteries, and then I discovered that I would be selling to Murder By the Book, the premier mystery bookstore in Houston, and I decided that I should at least attempt to read a mystery or thriller.  I don't know why I never read a lot of mysteries; I love suspense movies and many of my closest friends (by which I mean, of course, about four of the six Liz Friends) are mystery fans.  I took a crash course in mysteries, reading The Big Sleep and learning names like Hammett, Cain, and Ambler.  I dutifully read the Stieg Larsson Millennium Trilogy (Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, etc) and decided that "Lisbeth Salander" sounded an awful lot like "Liz Sullivan" and told a bunch of people that Stieg based the character on an intrepid, slightly disturbed, Random House sales rep.  I read Henning Mankell and Jo Nesbo, Larsson's fellow Scandinavian writers.  If I have to pick a favorite book, though, I'm going to pick Mildred Pierce.  I admit it--I've never read this book.  I haven't seen the HBO movie yet either.  But the HBO movie stars Kate Winslet, and I've known Gianna long enough to know that Kate can do no wrong.  The HBO version, therefore, is perfect (and the Emmy nominations, 22 of 'em, suggest as much too), and the source material is obviously the finest mystery writing ever.  Therefore, it's my favorite. 

(I really should read more mysteries.  Tell you what--we'll take mystery suggestions, both here and on Facebook, and Gianna and I will read the top recommended mystery.  No, I haven't asked Gianna about this yet.  And in the meantime I'll try to squeeze Mildred Pierce onto my reading list.)