1. The Mistress’s Daughter by A.M. Homes
2. Henry Fool
3. Midlake (early album)
4. Salt and pepper shakers shaped like artichokes

1) . . . book you read?

I am reading Rich Dad Poor Dad by Robert Kiyosaki. BUT, Lovely Bones by Alice Seabold is a REALLY good book.

2) . . . movie you rented (has to be a DVD, don’t go teasing me with suggestions for first-run flicks unless you’re also going to babysit)?

I can’t remember. But someone recommended The Prestige and that was a good one.

3) . . . music you purchased?

Diablo Rojo and Ixtapa by Rodrigo y Gabriela (download from Itunes)

and bonus question,

4) . . . thing you bought yourself?

I haven’t bought it yet, but on Thursday I will be getting new shoes. I am at the point in my pregnancy where bending over to tie my shoes is starting to suck.

You should sign up at http://www.goodreads.com/ and then share fabulous book finds with friends and random blog readers (like, um, y’know…me).

I just finished “Not the End of the World” which is a book of short stories (found recommended by one of my Good Reads connections).

I haven’t bought any new music in a long time but will definitely be checking out some of the stuff recommended here in your comments.

As for DVDs, I’m currently watching the 4th season of Scrubs (started at the beginning) because I that show. We also watched Wicker Man the other day and it sucked so I would advise against it. Started to watch Hannibal Rising but my pregnant, hormonal self could not handle it. So helpful, huh?

Have you watched ‘Firefly’ the one season TV series and the accompanying movie ‘Serenity?” If not, get thee to the Netflix site and order them up, for I think you will enjoy. If you have watched these well I also suggest ‘Freaks and Geeks.’ If you’ve seen that, then I suggest you read ‘Even Cowgirls Get The Blues,’ and if you’ve read that, then pick up ‘Mind The Gap,’ which I suspect you may have read given your penchant for good tast.

i’m re-reading the wind up bird chronicle by haruki murakami because it’s fucking beautiful.

i just watched mysterious skin and found it to be creepy and lovely.

i’m OBSESSED with the new cold war kids. obessed.

i just bought two cats (well, i donated some money and the pound gave me the cats). and i love them.

book- the city in which i love you (poems by li-young lee)
watching- slings and arrows (an canadian tv series. so so funny)
music- the avett brothers album “emotionalism”– do fun, so fantastic
thing- vespa (!!!!)

1) A Thousand Splendid Suns – Khaled Housseni (sp?) – tragic yet beautiful

2) I saw Zodiac too…so can’t really help with movies.
We’ve been watching Tell Me You Love Me on HBO (series) on demand. First episode was like watching Skin-a-Max and not too interesting but for some reason we keep watching.

3) Eddie Vedder – Call of the Wild soundtrack

4) A little black dress and Bonne Bell lip balm (Strawberry and Cotton Candy flavors)

1) The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon
2) Flyboys (my fiance made me get it, but I ended up really liking it)
3) All the Stars and Boulevards by Augustana
4) A cashmere sweater on sale at Filene’s Basement

1) Little Children by Tom Perrotta–loved it!! It was so funny, yet really dark and twisted…

2) It was a weird night…Saw III, Dangerous Minds, and Talladega Nights…all good in their own way.

3) A Fine Frenzy’s debut album One Cell in the Sea….absolutely gorgeous!

4) A fruit plate from Jason’s Deli…

1) I read Marisha Pessl’s “Special Topics in Calamity Physics” a couple of months ago and luuurved it!

2) We just watched “The Painted Veil” this past weekend and it was very good and beautifully shot. I’m trying to think of some less obvious movies since if I’ve seen it, it’s probably something everyone else saw years ago. Have you seen “Hero” and “House of Flying Daggers”? Love those. There’s a movie by a French-Vietnamese director called “The Vertical Ray of the Sun” that I really love, as well. Same goes for “Indochine.” Apparently all of my non-obvious movies are Asian.

3) I am also the last to know about good music, but I recently downloaded “Only You” and “The Fear You Won’t Fall” by Josh Radin and they are lovely. Also, I’ve recommended it before, but if you haven’t heeded my prior advice, you must get some John & Mary. They spun off of 10,000 Maniacs back in the ’90s and OH, is their music great.

4) A buttload of new work clothes from J Crew. You can use their personal shoppers for free, so I made an appointment, told her what I wanted and how much I could spend, and when I got there she had a dressing room full of stuff for me to try on. It was extremely awesome.

1. The Secret River by Kate Grenville. It’s about a very poor English boatman who escapes the noose and is sent with his family to settle / serve his time in Australia. Sydney was basically a shantytown at the time, with a few mansions near the water, and the family encounters landscapes and people they couldn’t even imagine at home. I couldn’t put it down.

2. Bollywood Hollywood. It was fun, but watch Water instead.

3. Hmm…not sure what the last music I bought was…but I’ve fallen for Honeyroot and need to acquire their album ASAP. You can see / hear a bit of them here.

4. Theoretically, a new laptop. It’ll be here in a few weeks. In terms of things I’ve bought and have in hand…sock yarn.

Book: I’m currently flying through Cormac McArthy’s No Country for Old Men. It is rough, thrilling and quite violent and I’m loving it so far. Also, you can soon enjoy the movie version being released by the Coen brothers starring Javier Bardem (my Spanish version of Clive Owen). Also, I really heartily second Ian McKewan’s Atonement, another book that just grabs you.

Movie: Old Joy, a fantastic DVD choice. It’s a story about two friends who have sort of grown apart since college, one is having a kid and the other is still bumming around being a freespirit and they get together to take a quick trip to Bagby Hot Springs in Oregon. It’s sort of quiet and slow moving but really a beautiful story about growing up, etc. Not at all cheesy, and pretty to look at. Also, starring Will Oldham, aka Bonnie Prince Billy.

Music: Andrew Bird, I’ve been listening to both Weather Systems and Armchair Apocrypha lately, really nice. Also, the soundtrack from The Harder They Come, classic Jimmy Cliff movie from 1972 with quintessential reggae soundtrack. Yeah!

Thing: these bowls from ikea http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/50057254
you can’t tell in the picture, but they are teensy weensy!

1) “Omnivore’s Dilemma” by Michael Pollan
It’s a great book if you want more encouragement in healthy eating and Pollan is just a damned good writer.

2) Harold and Kumar Go To White Castle and Spaced (Season 1 + 2)
Spaced is ridiculously good if you love Hot Fuzz and everything Simon Pegg.

3) “Sweet Escape” by Gwen Stefani

4) A women’s Suunto Lumi altimeter watch

1) . . . book you read?
The Golden Compass (and The Subtle Knife, and The Amber Spyglass) by Phillip Pullman. I am an academic (English) by trade (servitude?) and a sci-fi/fantasy fan by choice. These books are awesome. Way better than the forty thousand pages of Harry Potter I also enjoyed reading.

2) . . . movie you rented (has to be a DVD, don’t go teasing me with suggestions for first-run flicks unless you’re also going to babysit)?
Hot Fuzz; gotta love Simon Pegg and his rogue crew; and with a new baby and grad school to constantly deal with, I gotta love the laugh-out-loud, shoot-soda-out-my-nose comedy.

3) . . . music you purchased?
new Spoon album, Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga. Also like the new Rogue Wave. I’m an indie trend-follower. Oops.

and bonus question,

4) . . . thing you bought yourself? An awesome ring from Sundance, just for kicks, but then when it came in the mail, it was too silvery. Too silvery! Can you imagine such a thing? I’m like, “how can I tarnish it?” It’s already been exchanged for a less silvery one.

(If I seem a little outdated, I will repeat, I am an English grad school dork and a new mother. It’s amazing that I even know what’s happened in the world in the last five years.)

1) The Penderwicks. It’s a kid’s book–I’m scouting out material for reading at night to my daughter. Really good book though. Fun.

2) Knocked Up! I laughed my ass off, out loud, in a theater. I almost never do that.

3) I am digging Paolo Nutini. Did you know that kid is only 20 years old and Scottish? (you probably did. I am usually the last to know about these things)

4) A super cute Anne Klein shirt, white with red stripes, that I cannot find a picture of online!

1. ‘The Time Traveler’s Wife’ is beautful and haunting. For some good chick lit- ‘Babyville’ by Jane Green and the Shopaholic series by Sophie Kinsella.

2. Gotta agree with the “Blades of Glory.” Had no expectations but dead funny. Tonight I am watching “Fracture” with Anthony Hopkins and Ryan Gosling. It’s been highly recommended by several people.

3. Last cd I bought was the new Maroon 5. Pretty good.

4. A pair of black quilted ballet flats from Old Navy. Their shoes are cute and cheap but give me blisters in the worst way.

1. Madame Bovary (Flaubert, but you knew that already)

2. I recieved two movies today and another one a few days ago: Sophie’s Choice, Knocked Up, and Imagine Me & You.

3. The artist: Common. The album: Finding Forever. That and Kanye West’s Graduation. Ok, whatever, I totally picked sides in the ‘feud’ and Kanye won me over.

4. A dress and skirt from Banana Republic.

1. “Anyone Out There?” — Marian Keyes. It’s chick-lit, but good.

2. “The Prestige” — which brought on a new found realization that a) Christian Bale is hot and b) I want Michael Caine to be my grandfather. I’m weird, I guess.

3. “Wreck of the Day” –album by Anna Nalick. Sure, it’s about 2 years old, but man, it’s awesome. She’s got that kind of voice that hits the soul on those bluesy days. Very good stuff.

4. Shower to Shower Body Powder. For real. I absolutely love getting out of the shower and shaking that stuff on me. Try it!

1. I’m reading “A Thousand Splendid Suns” by Khaled Hosseini. Highly recommend.

2. Haven’t seen a good flick lately. Unfortunately.

3. My ipod is rather stale like yours.

4. Best thing I’ve bought would have to be Edy’s Loaded Peanut Butter Cup ice cream. Think creamy chocolate ice cream, chocolate pieces, and thick peanut butter swirls. To die for.

1. The Department of Lost and Found by Allison Winn Scotch. What a fantastic book and its her first novel.

2. We’re catching up on old seasons of The Wire. And Knocked Up should be out on DVD this week.

3. No music for me – sorry.

4. Dermalogica skin smoothing cream – its fantastic.

my answer to #2: rent The Departed with Leonardo DiCaprio. GREAT movie. So good, and I don’t even really like “Leo”. Also, Shooter with Mark Wahlberg. Good, too, although not as much as the first movie I mentioned. And, last one, I promise, Deja Vu with Denzel Washington. That’s good, too.

1. “The Next Thing on My List” by Jill Smolinski- a good, fast, read.

2. Shameless-Season 1-James McAvoy is my new pretend boyfriend.

3. Various Bruce Springsteen songs from Itunes-we must be the only people of our generation who have no Bruce CD’s.

4.Della Cruz bike-so fun!

1. “After Dark” by Haruki Murakami

2. “Children of Men”

3. The Shins – “Wincing the Night Away”
Arcade Fire – “Funeral”
Franz Ferdinand – “You Could Have It So Much Better”
John Vanderslice – “Emerald City”
Spoon – “Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga”
Tori Amos – “American Doll Posse

1) Shelf Monkey by Corey Redekop.
2) Bill and Ted’s Bogus Journey. Stop laughing at me.
3) The Reminder by Feist.
4) A Pumpkin Spice Frappucino at Starbucks. Although I should have had the Cinnamon Mocha. Next time.

1. This Body: A Novel of Reincarnation by Laurel Doud
American gods by Neil Gaiman

2. Chumscrubbers
Igby Goes Down

3. Foo Fighter-Echoes Silence Patience & Grace

4. Liquorice Altoids

1. I just finished The Memory Keeper’s Daughter – nice read. I’m currently reading God is not Great which is good thus far as well.

For something light and almost, but not quite as funny as Christopher Moore – Gil’s All Fright Diner by A. Lee Martinez. A little hokey but a quick, fun read.

2. Haven’t watched any movies, just caught up on Dexter (love it) and have been watching Fall Previews for a week. Some friends just told me about Prize Winner of Defiance, Ohio. It looks like a cute movie.

3. I’ve been listening to Pandora then using my Rhapsody account to load up my mp3 player so I’ve not purchased anything in a while.

1. “A Thoudsand Splendid Suns”, by Kite Runner Guy Khaled Hosseini

2. Um. I’ve been listening to songs my ex wrote for me, so probably that won’t help you.

3. No good movies, either. We don’t get out much.

4. Cripes, I’ve been so focused on my daughter’s birthday, I haven’t bought myself a damn thing. And, I get paid in 3.5 hours.

if you haven’t read “random family” by adrian nicole leblanc, go out right now, buy a copy, and camp out on the couch. it’s nonfiction, might be in ‘social sciences’. about a journalist who lives with a poor family in the bronx for TEN YEARS and writes a book about them, reads like a novel. sooooo good.
recent documentaries i loved: unknown white male, girlhood, the weather underground, when we were kings (about the rumble in the jungle, so fantastic).
lately i’ve been having fun with feist, justin timberlake, rilo kiley’s ‘under the blacklight’, spoon’s new one (ga ga ga. . .), white stripes. and i want to hear the new foo fighters really bad. i’ve been b uying myself a lot of fall clothes. i need more work clothes. (I should enter your flickr group with the work clothes).

http://www.goodreads.com/user/show/264971

1. A Thousand Acres by Jane Smiley. Not fantastic, but good. A bit overly “epic”. When you’re in China, though, you find yourself reading any and all books in a language you understand.

2. Many, many TV shows on DVD borrowed from the library. Favorite recent find? Seasons of Northern Exposure.

3. Haven’t bought music in years. Was gifted a CD last year – Gershwin Groove by the “Red, Hot and…” series.

4. Still outfitting our new apartment, so last night bought a small saucepan, sponge, chopsticks, and also water, ginger and honey for my dearest’s cold.

1. “The Thirteenth Tale” by Diane Setterfield

2. Reno 911! Miami
oh holy hell, did i ever laugh and laugh and laugh…you get the point. ahem.

3. “The Racing Rat” and “An End Has a Start” by Editors

4. A new pair of sneakers which I l-o-v-e – oh, and Stila’s Limited Edition Moss Agate Palette which is so wonderful there are almost no words. No words.

1. Twilight Series by Stephenie Meyer and rereading The Sword of Shannara series for fun

2. Funniest comedy sitcom in a long time : How I Met Your Mother. Set up kind of like friends, but snarkier, more innuendos and 10 times funnier. Season 2 is coming out on DVD. Also caught up on the first season of Heroes, SUPER ADDICTIVE. Oh, and Ghost Whisperer, it’s nice combination of 6th Sense meets a chick flick. The second season is better then the first.

3. Michael Buble and A Fine Frenzy “One Cell in the Sea” ( you should really check her out on itunes, so so so so incredible.

4. A new wok

1. Right now I am reading “The Kite Runner” by Khaled Hosseini, and it’s just really well written and wonderful to read. And I always have to reccommend “Hard-boiled Wonderland and the End of the World” by Haruki Murakami. It is just so wonderful and mesmerizing and beautifully sad.

2. Well we watched “Knocked Up Tonight” which was humorous as always. Though I think the best DVD movie I’ve seen recently was “Winter Passing” with Zoee Deschanel, Will Ferrell, and Ed Harris.

3. The New Iron and Wine CD is pretty excellent.

4. And the last thing that I bought for myself was hangers … I just moved and I have a closet the size of a small bedroom, and not enough hangers.

(1) the four-book series “Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants” which is a very easy easy read, but fun. I liked the 3rd book the best. You can read each one in just a few hours.

(2) no recent-run movies, but we’ve lately been renting old Hitchcocks such as “Rear Window” and “Spellbound.” If you’ve ever liked his style of film, give them another watch.

(3) Haven’t bought any tunes in a while because my friend just downloaded about 20G of his iTunes files onto my computer and I’m still sorting through them.

(4) A brand new EVT-168 electric scooter! It is SO MUCH FUN! http://www.evtamerica.com/168.htm

1. The Shell Seekers by Rosamunde Pilcher (a cozy and comforting read)
2. The Secret Life of Words with Tim Robbins
3. Rise by Anoushka Shankar (Ravi’s daughter)
4. white eyelet Sketchers

1. Water for Elephants – sara gruen

2. Breach ( somehow I’m getting older movies from Netflix, stuff I never heard of…)

3. Jon Bon Jovi Lost Highway (sometimes old habits are hard to break)

4. My ipod nano, so no help on this one :)

1. My Life in France by Julia Child (She was a trailblazer with a sharp wit.)
2. The Prestige (very good – but you have to watch when you’re in the mood to pay attention to the details – I had to rewind a few times)
Also – Veronica Mars
3. I Hear the Bells by Mike Doughty
4. Red, long-sleeved tee at H&M (with gathers around the bust area just for a little oomph)

1) Pride and Prejudice… I love it, and it’s a great read. Am also completely devouring Ivanhoe. Oh, and High Noon by Nora Roberts.

2) I haven’t rented it yet, but I reeeeeally want to see Knocked Up. It just came out! Also Blades of Glory, hee! The last great DVD I picked up was actually season 2 of She-Ra… oh, the shame.

3) Sadly, I don’t listen to music that much, unless it’s on the radio or something I already own.

and bonus question,

4) I splurged today about bought myself a gamecube and a gameboy player for it so I can play all my gameboy games (mostly old-school Nintendo games redone) on the TV. I also now have Animal Crossing for both the Gamecube AND the DS, which means I will never have any free time again, ever. Those games are great!!!

PS: if you can Netflix the A&E/BBC version of Pride & Prejudice with Colin Firth as Mr. Darcy, do it! Five hours of yummy Colin Firth goodness, and it puts the recent 2-hr Kiera disaster to shame.

1) . . . book you read? I’m in the middle of reading the Left Behind series. I’m on the third book, Nicolae, and I am really enjoying it.

2) . . . movie you rented (has to be a DVD, don’t go teasing me with suggestions for first-run flicks unless you’re also going to babysit)? hmm, the last movie I watched that was rented was “The Illusionist” with Edward Norton…..I actually reallllly enjoyed this movie a lot. My friends also did…..her husband? not so much.

3) . . . music you purchased? I think the last CD I bought was Hawk Nelson-letters to the president and Sanctus Real-fight the tide

and bonus question,

4) . . . thing you bought yourself? I bought myself 2 t-shirts from Threadless.com day before yesterday. The haiku refrigerator one (http://www.threadless.com/product/623/Haikus_are_easy_but) and the one with the cactus and the balloon that says impossible love (http://www.threadless.com/product/483/Impossible_Love)

1) Proofs from THE BOOK, Aigner/Ziegler, nonfiction. :) As far as fiction goes, I just finished “Old Man’s War” and its followup, forget the title, by John Scalzi and quite liked it.

2) Haven’t rented a flick in ages.

3) Culture of Ascent, from Glass Hammer (a pre-order, haven’t received it yet, but I have high hopes!)

and bonus
4) a new batch of tea from specialteas.com, including a lovely if direly expensive Darjeeling first flush.

Oh boy I am so boring………

1. The Lesser Kindred by Elisabeth Kerner, fantasy book about dragons. There are 3 in the series, I’m on the 3rd now.

2. We watched Hot Shots the other night for the billionth time, god how old is that talk about stale! We have Blades of Glory and Ghostrider waiting from Netflix, we just started it again.

3. The very last CD I listened to in my car was Blue October-Argue with a Tree, it’s a live CD and it is excellent! I haven’t bought anything new in a loooooong time.

Bonus……
4. This is so sad but I cannot even remember the last thing I bought myself :(

I really had to chime in on this, so this is a first time comment from me. I read this book The Orphan’s Tales: In the Night Garden by Catherynne Valente and absolutely loved it. Couldn’t wait for the end and gobbled it up. But once at the end I still wanted more. The follow up book is due out at the end of October.

1) Good Grief, by Lolly Winston

2), 3) and 4) It’s been so long I don’t remember.

But if you’re looking for music recommendations, you need to go listen to “Zombie Me” by No More Kings. I found it as a free download at CNet (it’s not free anymore, sorry), and it’s about a guy who trips over his shoelaces and dies and becomes a zombie. Now he slides down the street with no shoes on his feet looking for brains to eat, and he speaks “with all the eloquence of livestock.”

The lyrics are pretty funny and it has a kicky tune and you have this thing about zombies, right? So I thought you might enjoy it. You can listen to the entire song here. If you like it, it’s available at iTunes.

1. My Sister’s Keeper by Jodi Picoult. I’m on a Picoult trip. She writes beautifully and I still cannot get this book out of my head.

2. The Last Castle with Robert Redford. It’s an older film but nice to see Reford age without surgery. He’s still gorgeous, wrinkles and all, and that makes him more fascinating.

3. Reba Duets – all of them are good

4. A piano! It’s used and old but in tune and I cannot wait till it gets here! I’m relearning to play after many many years but figured it would be something I will enjoy for many years.

I’m writing down recommendations for good books because I havn’t read one in quite a while. Although, Nineteen Minutes by Jody Picolt (sp?) was pretty good.
I know this is old and forgive me it you have already watched it, but we just finished watching the whole series of Six Feet Under and it was excellent!! Plus the first season of Big Love was pretty good and I second or third Weeds which was awesome and a easy watch.

I have never posted here- this is quite exciting! hee :)
1. Harry Potter, The Last and Looking For Alaska by John Green (b/c I stumbled on a video series the author did with his brother on YouTube and sort of have a mad crush on the cute, nerdy writer guy). So, apparently I’m on a YA fiction kick.
Both were quite good and not-so-young-adulty.
2.Curse of the Golden Flower- fun martial arts hijinks, but BLOODY with little emotional payoff. Pretty colors as per usual in a Zhang Yimou film, though.
3.Lily Allen (I’m a sucker for a low class british girl and anyone who writes an entire song about her ex-boyfriend’s small penis) and Michael Jackson- Essential Michael Jackson.
4. Short black denim skirt with shiny things on the ass pockets and pink suede mary janes.

Oh my god, my Sundry debut is as a slutty girl who reads at an 8th grade level and enjoys penis humor….. can we be bff?

I am STILL trying to read Bel Canto and sort of refuse to read anything else until I finish that. It is really quite good BUT I am just not motivated to read at the moment (tired and my kid won’t go to sleep at night…)

Team America – World Police – I thought it was quite funny in a stupid sort of way and I am probably one of few Americans who did not see it when it 1st came out but we just watched Million Dollar Baby and holy shit is that good!

Ack… Amy Winehouse. I love her sound, not such a big fan of her “addictions.”

I love love love my new Gap shirt. I was going to give you the link but I cannot get my stinking work computer to work (server issues over here.) It is SO cute – it is this short sleeve brown colored European fit (from their European collection.)

Middlesex, Jeffrey Eugenides-awesome
Nixon-good. He was a crook , i don’t care what anyone says….
Bryan Ferry-Dylanesque …excellent if you like Dylan
nothing really, but i have a night booked in NYC, Marriott Time Square. Dinner ,show, the whole nine yards . Should be pretty cool….

I think you hsould read “Eat Pray Love” by Elizabeth Gilbert. It is just a wonderfully written book and a great story. It is autobiographical and usually non-fiction is not my thing, but it was great. I also loved “Anyone Out There?” by Marian Keyes.