Books in 140 Seconds: Important Artifacts

Welcome back to another installment of Books in 140 Seconds, in which Erin Balser and I try to make your fortnight by running a book club in just 140 seconds. Not very much time, folks. Not much at all. So really, we’re just starting the conversation, and if you’ve read the book feel free to join in by commenting here.

We kicked off our book club series with a discussion of Prep by Curtis Sittenfeld, and this week we’ve turned our attention to a cool little number known as Important Artifacts and Personal Property from the Collection of Lenore Doolan and Harold Morris, Including, Books, Street Fashion, and Jewelry by Leanne Shapton. You may remember this book from my review a couple months ago. It’s a book that Erin and I both love (oops, spoiler!), and so we decided to channel our inner Material Girl to discuss this loving curated collection of everyday objects. 

KIRBC presents Books in 140 Seconds runs every second Thursday at 1:40 p.m. Tune in on April 22nd as we go graphic with a discussion of Brian K. Vaughan and Pia Guerra’s Y: The Last Man.

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Breaking news on Important Artifacts the movie: Greg Mottola to direct and turn it into a rom com, and Brad Pitt and Natalie Portman signed on to the project. More details here: http://www.slashfilm.com/2010/04/19/greg-mottola-to-writedirect-brad-pitt-and-natalie-portman-in-important-artifacts/

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Books in 140 Seconds: Prep

As we announced a couple weeks ago, Erin Balser and I have decided to run a book club in a mere 140 seconds, and we’re taping it for your viewing pleasure. Just watch the video and then join in the conversation here. Books in 140 Seconds runs every second Thursday, and we’ll give you a heads up on the next fortnight’s book at the end of every post, so the overachievers among you can get reading.

For our first foray into digi-micro-bookclubbing, we decided to go with the frequently recommended boarding school classic, Prep by Curtis Sittenfeld. We read the book, I donned my pearls, and here’s what happened:

140 seconds isn’t much. We still had a lot to say, and we’d love to discuss it here. There are a lot of big ticket issues at play in Prep — including race, class, sexuality, some fascinating characters, and Lee exposes herself to the same dissection she applies to others. I’ll be posting a review next week, but this is a great place to discuss ideas and reactions as well.

A quick note on the method to our madness when it comes to selecting our next book: like at the KIRBC, there isn’t really one. We’ll aim for a variety of formats from a variety of publishers, but those are the only rules. So basically, anything’s fair game.

On that note, the next book to receive the book club blitz is: Leanne Shapton’s Important Artifacts and Personal Property from the Collection of Lenore Doolan and Harold Morris, Including, Books, Street Fashion, and Jewelry. As an intro to the book, check out my review, and by all means, pick up the book itself — cause like all of the ephemera the book so lovingly catalogues, I think this one’s a keeper.

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JK on Vacay

So after a few weeks of furious blogging here at KIRBC, this lady is in need of a vacation! I’ll be gone this week and I’m leaving Cheese in charge to look after you rapscallions.

As with many book lovers, the big vacation question is how many books you can reasonably bring with you, and which ones get to make the trip. Here’s the reading material that will be hitting the beach with me:

Prep by Curtis Sittenfeld: This one’s been on the To Read list for a long time, having been highly recommended by several fine people of my acquaintance.

Lost in Mongolia by Colin Angus. After Beyond the Horizon knocked my socks off, I wanted more Angus. This is my way of dabbling in a little extreme adventure from the safety of a lounger on the beach.

Stolen by Kelley Armstrong. #2 in the her Women of the Otherworld series. I read Bitten just a few weeks ago and I’ve been dying to read the next installment ever since.

Flashforward by Robert J. Sawyer. I admit, this one’s really a backup, but I have been meaning to take this foray into sci-fi for somet time, so it’ll probably end up coming along, just in case.

Oh, and tucked at the bottom,  that’s this month’s issue of The Walrus, which has patiently been waiting for my attention.

Hopefully I’ll get the chance to report back on most of these upon my return! When I’m back, look for a return to our regular scheduled programming here, with a review of Jessica Grant’s delightful Come, Thou Tortoise and also the launch of Books in 140 Seconds, my regular two minutes of mayhem with Erin Balser.

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