Wednesday, February 23, 2011

Emily's Reading List: February, 2011

So here's what I'm reading right now and for the last little while.
    Newspapers:
  • The Saturday Globe and Mail- I've been thinking of giving this up lately because of the lack of content and the overabundance of ad space but I'm hanging in there, mainly for Tabitha Southey. Best columnist ever! she is wry and sarcastic, she likes being read aloud (which is what I most like doing with newspapers), and her choice and interpretation of issues are landmarks for me (and, I know, many others) . I also read Doug Saunders (awesome research and interpretation of current sociological issues) and most of Focus, some of Arts, the News and recently I've been very much enjoying interviews of famous actors by Johanna Schneller. Her style is dry and appealing, her insights ring authentic and as she said last week, “if I see one more movie where grown-up, multidimensional women fall like bowling pins for a hapless man-child, I think I truly will hurl.” Me too!
  • The Guardian Weekly- this excellent source of journalism from around the world focuses on international development. Here, I can read stories about town planning in Istanbul and about China's surging green economy. Also cultural reviews of stuff beyond my usual gaze and happily way beyond what the Globe would ever print- this week: a review of Eric Hobsbawm's, How to Change the World: Tales of Marx and Marxism. Despite the childish title, the book sounds like the one I need to help me wrestle through my questions about communism.
Magazines
  • I have a hand-me-down copy of the Economist sitting by my bed but have yet to penetrate further than the first few pages. I find that newspapers work this way though. You have to become familiar with the format and really own it before serious extraction of it's depths (this is why we need more female columnists).
  • No new Art Mags this month. Sad to say.

Books
  • Just finished the classic, Lady Chatterly's Lover, by D.H. Lawrence for my book club. I got a bit bored about half way through but was encouraged by a friend to skim lightly through (of course stopping for all the really sexy or important parts). In the end, I'm glad I read it. Good old D.H., he really believes in the power of cunts and fucking (and he makes quite a convincing case) .
  • The Wind in My Wheels, by Josie Dew? What is with that name? It sounds like cycling shorts. Anyways, it's about a woman who cycles around the world starting from her home in the U.K. . She makes many short trips and describes them briefly, though with acuity. The irritation comes from her awful cycling partner, Ward and Josie's endless whining tolerance of him. I just flipped ahead and somehow she hasn't dumped him and moved on! Arghhh. I'm returning this book to the library today.
  • Elizabeth Smart's, By Grand Central Station I Sat Down and Wept. Classic poetic prose -I'm just beginning. It is apparently extremely highly regarded which I respect (when smart people give me advice, I usually try to listen) but it does seem to be rather fraught. She “fell in love” with the author of a book of poetry without having met him and invited him and his wife to come and stay with her in California and then is surprised and when it's uncomfortable? Really! The delivery is not enough, I need content which I can relate to as well and thankfully I learned about those particular boundaries between the ages of 24 and 30 without even having to write a book about it. If you have read this book and can give me a reason to persist, please pass it along.
On the shelf for next month(and actually already begun) are Jane Urquhart's Away, The Wisdom of Insecurity by Alan Watts and The Mayor of Castro Street by Randy Shilts. I have also bought the February edition of Artnews. Hah!