Member: DanaJean

Noticed you liked Clockwork Orange, and I was wondering if you'd be interested in reviewing my new novel and posting your comments here as well as a few other book-related sites. Thought you might like my book since it's also about a group of violent kids (and also a bit dark). I could e-mail you the novel in an e-book format if you'd like (I'm out of physical copies at the moment). Let me know if you're interested. Here's a link to a summary (and a sample chapter) in case you'd like to read more about the book before you commit:

http://christophertusa.com/

Thanks,

Chris

posted by cmtusa at 10:47 pm (EST) on Sep 13, 2009

Traditional Native American Prayer

O Great Spirit,

whose voice I hear in the winds,
and whose breath gives life to all the world
-hear me-
I come before you, one of your children.
I am small and weak.
I need your strength and wisdom.
Let me walk in beauty and make my eyes ever behold
the red and purple sunset.
Make my hands respect the things you have made,
my ears sharp to hear your voice.
Make me wise, so that I may know the things
you have taught my People.
The lessons you have hidden in every leaf and rock.
I seek strength not to be superior to my brothers,
but to be able to fight my greatest enemy,
myself.
Make me ever ready to come to you,
with clean hands and straight eyes,
so when life fades as a fading sunset,
my spirit may come to you without shame.

posted by theoldman at 11:34 am (EST) on Apr 13, 2009

THANK YOU. I love the line "Screw Audacity of Hope, this should have won a Spoken Word Grammy!" in your review of Audiovile/100 Jolts. Brilliant! You are a great, lively reviewer. Glad you enjoyed the experience!

posted by arnzen at 7:41 am (EST) on Mar 2, 2009

Glad I could lead you to "Evil Spirits"! I also think Reed didn't get the credit he deserved for his work, a topic the author brings up in the book. It does seem that he made such a ruckus on his time off that it overshadowed his acting. If you have Netflix you'll find that they have an extensive list of his movies and I have several in my queue.

posted by mstrust at 11:32 pm (EST) on Feb 25, 2009

Haha, no problem! Enjoy your book! I sent a message over to the author about purchasing one for myself, hehe.

posted by TheresaHPIR at 10:28 pm (EST) on Feb 19, 2009

Our next book is Loved Walked in by Marisa de los Santos. We do one fiction, one classic, and one non-fiction book each quarter. We were wanting a book that would be lighter after the Grapes of Wrath and thought a good love story would fit the bill for February. Have you read it? I read it a few years ago and really enjoyed it.

posted by LittleTaiko at 2:00 pm (EST) on Feb 6, 2009

Thanks for checking in! The book club meeting went fairly well. They didn't throw me out for suggesting that most likely the Joads had been swept away in the flood and good riddance to them! Most of them liked it but didn't love it. Too much of an overall downer I suppose. We did agree that the best thing he did was put in the short chapters in between the Joads story so that it gave you a break and you weren't constantly beaten down by their tragic life.

It helped knowing there was somebody else out there who disliked the family. Oh - it turns out that nobody likes Rose of Sharon.

Thanks for being so supportive!

posted by LittleTaiko at 10:24 pm (EST) on Feb 5, 2009

Yeah, I'm sure I'm going to be in the minority at my book club meeting next week. I can't help but feel that I'm a horrible person for not liking the characters, but really Rose of Sharon (what kind of name is that?) should have been left on the side of the road a long time ago. At least I'm not alone.

posted by LittleTaiko at 7:20 pm (EST) on Jan 27, 2009

Loved your comments on The Grapes of Wrath. While, I still gave it 3 stars, it's nice to see someone else who quite frankly wanted all of the Joads to go away. Ma was the only one I had any sympathy for. Loved the chapters that weren't about the Joads though which is why I gave it higher ranking then I would have.

posted by LittleTaiko at 5:48 pm (EST) on Jan 27, 2009