Happy new year! Here’s a list of my favorite things from 2009 (several items were out prior to 2009, but 2009 is when I first experienced them): Favorite Book: The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafón Favorite Book Cover Artist: Chip Kidd Favorite Book Podcast: Books on the Nightstand Favorite Film (Theater): A [...]

Just as I did in 2007, I am looking through my database of movies I’ve seen since 1997. It gives me a good idea of how my film habits fluctuate throughout the years. Highs and lows are in red. 1997: 125 (55 in the theater) 1998: 101 (44 in the theater) 1999: 221 (84 in [...]

Here’s my list of the best of 2008: Best Book: The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Diaz Best Film: tie between Wall-E and Wristcutters: A Love Story Best TV Show: Lost Best Album: Acid Tongue by Jenny Lewis Best Purchase: Wii Fit (I just don’t use it consistently yet) Best Meal: Union [...]

List your favorite films from A to Z, one for each letter of the alphabet. Meme found via Reading is My Superpower. A = Amélie B = Being John Malkovich C = Caché D = Donnie Darko E = Eighty-four Charing Cross Road F = Fight Club G = Gosford Park H = The House [...]

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11:00 a.m. – Esther K. Smith, author of How to Make Books 1:00 p.m. – Out of Place panel: Rivka Galchen, Moustafa Bayoumi, and David Rakoff 4:00 p.m. – Esmeralda Santiago, author of The Turkish Lover 5:00 p.m. – Thirsty for Fiction pannel: Charles Bock, Chuck Klosterman, and Ed Park

The Brooklyn Book Festival has released their schedule for the September 14 event. Here’s my tentative schedule: 10 a.m. @ the Borough Hall Courtroom – Inside/Outside. Nathan Englander (The Ministry of Special Cases), Joseph O’Neill (Netherland), and Susan Choi (A Person of Interest) discuss imagined communities, global past-times, hopeless illegitimacy, and erasing death. 11 a.m. [...]

For my Mom’s birthday, I surprised her by showing up at her doorstep (with a little help from my dad). We watched the opening ceremony of the Olympics and made origami butterflies and swans. Oh, and lots of trips to Starbucks. This woman can really pound them down.