Title: Lost Constellations: The Art of Tara McPherson
Author: Tara McPherson
Hardcover: 112 pages
Publisher: Dark Horse Comics (April 15, 2009)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1595822224
ISBN-13: 978-1595822222
Reader's Annotation: "Lost Constellations: The Art of Tara McPherson Volume 2 is the compelling road map to the artist's most recent and ambitious journeys in paint, pencil, and sculpture." ~Via Dark Horse
Features line drawings next to paintings and illustrations (especially cool for the aspiring artist) Lost Constellations explores the Art of Tara Mcpherson as well as includes some of her FAMOUS art rock posters!
Synopsis: McPherson's Vol. II (second to Lonely at Heart), Mcpherson delivers a collection of artwork that has taken the looky-loos by storm. Like most of her characters suspended in either water or space, the reader will quickly find themselves staring at their own loss and gut-lost past, present, and future while suspended in their own space-like intoxication of Tara McPherson. I dare you to get enough. It's impossible. This is a book to own.
Notes: Parental suggestion for the young ones. Otherwise, subtley dark & delicious for everyone!
Extras: Want MORE Tara Stuff? Or maybe you just want to look at more McPherson art? Visit http://www.taramcpherson.com/
Having trouble filling your whole'd out middle? Revisit your childhood with Tara's coloring book/backpack ensemble. And in the meantime go here to color online. Viva la Tara.
Leviathan, Scott Westerfeld's yet to be released new steampunk novel has had a visit to "New Pretty Town" for a jacket make-over!
Check out the new Cover. I hate to say it but THIS makes me feel Bubbly. Click here to see the definition of Bubbly & some free Uglies related stuff online. Leviathan before turning 16 (seconds old) and after the Specials had their way with it...I apologize for the Uglies references, but can you blame me? It's an awesome remake!
Notes:
Can't wait for Fall 2009?
There is a Sneak Peak in the new paperback version of the Extras. And yes, it is a different one that was in From Bogus to Bubbly.
My Guilty Pleasure is a new series in which writers talk about the books they've loved only secretly — until now. There are — news flash here — true differences between men and women.
A friend who has twins (one boy, one girl) told me the story of when they were down at a pond, and the young twins spotted a cute little duck. The little girl said, "I want to pet the duck." The little boy said, "I want to kill the duck."
I rest my case.
And with that gender gauntlet thrown, let me say to you as a meat-eating, Entourage-watching, sports-loving (OK, I really don't love sports, or actually understand sports) — heterosexual man who can't sit through a single show onLifetime television, let me loudly proclaim: I, Brad Meltzer, love the Twilight series by Stephenie Meyer.
Now this is the part where I'm supposed to make an intellectual disclaimer like: I don't really love it, but I appreciate it for what it is.
But let me be clear here. I love it. I love Twilight. I love Bella, and I love Edward.
I'm not alone. Since it debuted in 2005, the Twilight series has sold over 53 million copies, making it the hottest thing in bookshops since that nerdy kid with the lightning-bolt scar.
But back to what's really important: Me.
I love this story of the gawky, awkward girl who falls in love with the brooding vampire. And I love that she can't get sexual with said vampire because when her blood gets pumping, it'll send him into a frenzy and he'll kill her. (How's that for a prophylactic?)
I love hearing the dark secret histories of how the other vampires were turned into vampires. And I love when Edward gets all huffy with Jacob the werewolf — oh my God, I'm on the verge of writing fan-fic here — but again, in case you missed it, I love this story.
But for the most part, I've told almost no one.
Y'know why?
Because as a man, this book is not supposed to be for me.
I realized this when I went to see the Twilight movie. Yes, I was there. Opening weekend. We got a babysitter for it. And I sat there in the dark with my wife and a roomful of suburban mothers and a smattering of teenage daughters. I counted. There were four other men (all teenagers) besides me. Me. Four dragged-along boyfriends. And the rest women.
But you know who I blame for this?
I blame my fellow men. That's right. I blame all the men out there who point fingers and call things "girlie" and run like spineless cowards whenever something gets embraced by the opposite sex.
It happens all the time. Remember when men were named Terry and Robin and Leslie? And then a few cool girls were named Teri and Robin and Leslie. And what happened? The men ran. Those names were ceded to the women.
To be honest, I can handle that for Leslie. Leslie is just not a cool name (no offense to Leslie Sydelman, who came to my bar mitzvah). But I will not let this stand for Twilight. We'd never dismiss Romeo and Juliet as "just for women." (Yes, I know — I'm not saying it's Shakespeare, and I still think Harry Potter is better — but don't mess up my analogy.) I won't cede Twilight.
And so I challenge — not the men out there; the men are clearly wusses — I challenge the women. Give Twilight to your teenage sons. Give it to your nephews and husbands and other guy types. Tell them it's cool. Tell them they'll like it. Tell them that it'll help them understand women and therefore help them get dates (c'mon, why else do you think I spent so much time with Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret)
And I issue this challenge — not for sexual equality, not to break down gender barriers. I issue it for the most vital reason of all: The sequel is coming, and I'm tired of being the only guy in the movie theater.
"My Guilty Pleasure" is produced and edited by Ellen Silva.
TO THE GUYS, You’ve seen it before. Maybe you’ve stumbled upon your girlfriend penciling portraits of some guy who is Certainly Not You, while she swears it’s ‘just Edward’. Or perhaps you’ve tried to call a girl on the phone only to have her mom say she’s busy reading a book whose title has something to do with moons or various stages of light. Or maybe you overheard a chattering, giggling crowd talking about some new guy named Jacob Black, and thought it must be a rockstar or actor; and then you hear them say how much they would love to have their boyfriend bite them, and you run from the room as fast as you can, only to find that you are completely wrong, in the dark, and very behind on the times.
For, fellows, the thing the girls are all talking about is a book.
Once you found out about all this frenzy, you may or may not have cracked open a copy of Twilight (in secret, of course). Either you wanted to know what they were crazy about, or you wanted to know How To Become The Living Edward Cullen. No matter why you got to it, somehow Stephenie Meyer has cast a spell over this planet, and now us guys are starting to feel the bite as well.
If you have experienced this strange phenomenon in any way (as I have on many occasions), I really would like to hear from you about your experiences of reading Twilight. You could win some prizes and get a mention on the site (anonymously, if need be):
Reader's Annotation: After getting caught with a fake I.D., Lottie is sent to her grandparents for a summer as punishment.
Synopsis: Lottie is spoiled and wild and lives for the London nightlife. But when she gets caught with a fake ID, her parents send her (as punishment) to her grandparents high-end resort club. Golf, ladies with tea, and the boring elite consume her rebellious spirit. But as a twist, a modern Nancy-Drew murder mystery change Lottie's summer experience into something more wild then her wild nights in London. Perhaps her boring summer punishment may turn out to be one very adventuresome summer! And, as much as she tries to avoid it, she may fall in love in the process.
One of the best parts of Clubbing is the never-ending British slang Lottie uses throughout the book. The back of the book provides a "Lottie's Lexicon" to help the reader decipher her tongue. But beware, you my start saying speaking in "Lottie."
Notes: CLUBBING is written by the Eisner- and Harvey-nominated indie sensation Andi Watson (Geisha, Paris, Skeleton Key) and illustrated by Josh Howard (Dead @ 17), Wizard magazine's pick as the #1 independent book to watch in 2005.
Reader's Annotation: Lily Bart, one of literatures finest contradictions, lived in New York at the turn of the Century, when everything was lavish and opulent: for the rich. For the less secure like Ms. Bart, running in these circles were nothing short of a gamble. Unrequited love, a caged life, & shear loss are explored through Lily in Wharton's classic tragedy.
Synopsis: Edith Wharton's doomed novel The House of Mirth is a tale of class and gender, elegance and disaster. It is time-sensitive tale (yet ageless) set in Old New York at the turn of the 20th Century. At the center of The House of Mirthis Lily Bart. Merely a female embellishment, Ms. Bart struggles to stay afloat in a wealthier society then she has means to exist, while at the same time trying to temper a spirit which far out weighs her societal cage. She acknowledges the contradictions of love and marriage, social climbing and luck, while playing the game of turn of the century survival. After a series of terrible mistakes (of which no woman is allotted many in her day) Lily Bart takes a disheartening and tragic, spiraling dive into the darkest place a human soul can exist: a place that many don't return from.
(Adult Book ONLY...Unless your parents say it's ok!)
Bloodsucking Fiends
By: Christopher Moore
Paperback: 304 pages
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Publishing Date: March 2008
Age Level: Adult
ISBN: 1416558497
Series Titles: Bloodsucking Fiends: A Love Story
You Suck! A Love Story
Reader's Annotation:LOVE BITES! No seriously, it really does bite.
Synopsis: Attention! I am about to review a title that is one of my favorite romps of all time. It's funny as hell, and no it's not YA, but if you can stomach a little crass, tongue in cheek, dig in! This the red velvet cake of vampire satires.
Jody, is in her mid 20's with a series of bad relationships under her belt when she hit's satan's lottery and is turned into a newborn gorgeous vampire. The vamp who made her leaves a fat bundle of cash with her and with that she sets off into her new life. Or un-life in this case. But she needs someone who can do her bidding in the daylight. Enter C. Thomas Flood. No, you are not reading it wrong. It's hysterical. And as accurate a literary name as you could get for this young boy who left Incontinence, Indiana to come to San Francisco to be the next Jack Kerouac (personally, with a name like that he might one to stick to dollar a page erotica, but at any rate...) While working a night job at a supermarket, Jody vamps her way into his life, and turns it upside down and inside out.
From turkey bowling in the supermarket, to raunchy un-dead love-making; From failed date-o-holic to rockin' hot vamp, Bloodsucking Fiends is a ride that will have you flying through the pages at a preternatural pace!
Notes & Warning: Terribly lewd & Hysterically bad launguage ensues; References to drugs and the drinking of blood follows; Undead & living, outright sexual gambols prickle their way through the book. SO don't say I didn't warn you...
Now, if you can handle THAT, which I believe you can (because you are smart enough to read into the implications of Moore's insanely funny, bizarre, & sometimes freaky style), then you will be in for a big treat. Bloodsucking Fiends is and always will be one of my favorite books ever.
Extras:
Quote from Bloodsucking Fiends
"This is horrible."
"What is it?" Tommy insisted.
"I just realized-I'm always going to be a pudgette. I have jeans I'll never get into. I am always going to need to loose five pounds."
"So what, every woman I've ever known thought she needed to loose five pounds."
"But they have a chance, they have hope. I'm doomed."
"You could go on a liquid diet," Tommy said.
"Very funny." She pinched her hip to confirm her observations. "Five pounds. If only he'd waited another week to attack. I was on a yogurt and grapefruit diet. I would have made it. I'd be thin forever." She realized she was obsessing and turned to Tommy. "How's your neck by the way?"
READ BLOODSUCKING FIENDS ON GOOGLE BOOKS FOR FREE HERE!
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