Spinster

Favorite book: The Brothers K, by David James Duncan.
This is currently my favorite book. I cannot describe how much I love this book. If and when I meet someone who’s read it without me recommending it first, I will profess my undying love for that person, even if they are my mortal enemy. My favorite book in high school was Girl, by Blake Nelson. At the time, I imagined myself to be kindred spirits with Andrea, the main character, cause she was a suburban teenager who got into the underground punk scene in Portland, Oregon, and I was a suburban teenager who got into the underground punk scene in Miami, Florida. I’m not saying that this book is the reason I went to college in Portland, but I’m not saying it’s not, either.

Least favorite book: American Psycho, by Bret Easton Ellis
I know, I know, American Psycho is riveting and scathing social commentary. I don’t care. I hated it. It’s one of the only books that I forced myself to finish because I didn’t want to let it get the best of me.

Most important book: It’s a tie between A People’s History of the United States, by Howard Zinn, and The Weather Makers, by Tim Flannery
These are books that are sometimes difficult to read, either because the subject matter is not always what one wants to read after a day at work or school, or because the subject matter is painful and, in some cases, heartbreaking. However, they are still incredibly important to read: Zinn’s book reveals the too-often hidden grotesqueries of the founding of the United States; Flannery’s book emphasizes that our increase in carbon dioxide production has caused indelible harm to our planet and if we don’t act fast, we soon will not have the opportunity to reverse our mistakes.

Most overrated book: The Da Vinci Code, by Dan Brown
I. Did. Not. Like. This. Book. And I don’t get the hype. ‘Nuff said.

Movie that made me want to read the book: I Capture the Castle
The movie, directed by Tim Fywell, wasn’t bad or anything. It’s just that seeing it made me want to read the book. Dodie Smith (think 101 Dalmations) is the author of this coming of age story that is so far removed from today’s sex-drugs-bitchy-girls stories for teenagers (Gossip Girls, The Clique) that it is the ultimate breath of fresh air. Though at seventeen the main character, Cassandra, is obviously interested in boys and does have more than one potential love interest, she is far more interested in her burgeoning skills as a writer and the fate of her eccentric family. I cannot tell you how relieved I was that this story did not end with the fairy tale “happily ever after;” had it done so, it would have been a disservice to the book, Cassandra, and teenagers who need to believe that life does not begin and end with high school.

Movie that made me glad I’d read the book first: High Fidelity
John Cusack is adorable, Jack Black is hilarious—I think that I need to acknowledge this first, and also say that whoever cast this (and About a Boy) is a genius. However, I read this book, by Nick Hornby (see About a Boy and How to Be Good), several years before the movie came out, and it was one of my favorites in high school. The top-five lists? Love them. The ridiculously dead-on caricatures of record store clerks? So fabulous. The way that Hornby takes a narrator who is actually quite despicable and turns him into the guy we’re all rooting for? Brilliant. The movie just didn’t compare. If you liked the movie you’ll love the book.