Reading
Bookini
Gary Shteyngart’s Super Sad True Love Story
July 29th, 2010
Satire is never easy, but it’s a particularly tough sell during the summer months. By mid-July, most everyone is ready to turn off their brains and enjoy some passive entertainment. But before you gorge yourself on techno-thrillers and chick lit, or pickle your cortex with frozen margaritas, do yourself a favor and consider adding Gary Shteyngart’s Super Sad True Love Story (Random House, $26) to your beach bag. Read more »
Reading
The Librarian Loves ...
Selected by Jeanne Goodrich, executive director for the Las Vegas-Clark County Library District.
July 29th, 2010
We live in a rush-rush world, bombarded by the latest news, celebrity gossip and political ads; we’re pulled by trends and pushed by an erratic economy. Slow down, take a break and turn to your contemplative side with Vietnamese monk and Buddhist teacher Thich Nhat Hanh’s Living Buddha, Living Christ (Riverhead Trade, 2007). Read more »
Reading
Conventional Approach
For aspiring writers, comic book conventions offer a networking opportunity—and a sobering experience
July 22nd, 2010
This weekend, geeks of the world and the content producers who fuel their insatiable appetite for comic books, films and multimedia will descend upon San Diego for the 41st annual Comic-Con International. But aside from the discussion panels, film screenings, celebrity autograph signings, costumed characters and after-parties, there’s another draw to North America’s largest comic book and popular arts convention—the opportunity to network with the movers and shakers of the comic book industry. Read more »
Reading
The Librarian Loves ...
Selected by Jeanne Goodrich, executive director for the Las Vegas-Clark County Library District
July 15th, 2010
What differentiates a successful leader from an unsuccessful one? The ability to handle, rather than succumb, to stress is a major factor. Resonant Leadership (Harvard Business Press, 2005), by Richard Boyatzis and Annie McKee (who coauthored with Daniel Goleman Primal Leadership), utilizes multidisciplinary research and real world experience to provide a framework for ensuring the continued ability to manage one’s emotions and workplace demands. Read more »
Bookini
Book This Passage
July 8th, 2010
On paper, Justin Cronin has no business writing a summer best-seller such as The Passage (Ballantine Books, $27). Summer books, like summer movies, are mostly predictable affairs. Readers expect twice the plot and half the logic, and everyone is so crazy from the heat that nobody bothers to ask questions. Read more »
Required Reading For the apocalypse
July 8th, 2010
The official apocalypse of the Baby Boomers: A super-flu in Stephen King’s The Stand (Doubleday, 1978) transforms the world into the final battleground of good and evil. Read more »
Reading
Of Girls and Gambling
Two new female-penned memoirs show the spectrum of gambling, from addiction to ecstasy
July 8th, 2010
When you get past the absurdity of the euphemism “gaming,” you quickly accept that gambling is woven into the fabric of Las Vegas life. From grocery stores to the local bowling alley, gambling is omnipresent. Spend enough time living here, and you’ll meet someone with a gambling problem and/or you’ll see a friend develop one and change into an addict before your eyes. Read more »
Reading
Sites to See
July 8th, 2010
Clump ‘em and Dump ‘em (getridofthings.com) Lovely Plumage (alltheprettybirds.blogspot.com) Oh yeah? (youarenotsosmart.com) Read more »
Reading
The Librarian Loves ...
Selected by Jeanne Goodrich, executive director for the Las Vegas-Clark County Library District.
July 1st, 2010
Young Rose Edelstein discovers—as she eats the lemon cake her mother has prepared for her ninth birthday—that she can discern the emotions of the people who have prepared her food just by tasting it. Read more »
Reading
Dorks Anonymous
Descend into gaming addiction with this compelling first-person book
July 1st, 2010
I’ve never bought an Xbox or played online role-playing games for the same reason I’ve never done heroin: I don’t want to get hooked and destroy my life. I know enough about video game habits, having wasted my pre-teen life joy-sticking my way to the conclusion of Atari 2600 adventure games. Luckily, at 14, I discovered music and comic books, and diverted my obsessive behavior toward playing guitar, writing graphic novels—and, you know, trying to get laid. Read more »
