I just finished reading The Razor's Edge by W. Somerset Maugham and really enjoyed it. The fact that it takes place in so many rich locations to which I've never visited (and spans many decades) reminds me a bit of Love in the Time of Cholera.

Since I'm about to travel / wander through Europe for the first time in a few months I was wondering if anyone had any recommendations for books with similar subject matter or style. - Or any favorite novels about journeys/traveling, really.

- I'm also looking for another good Somerset Maugham book to start.

- and trying to figure out which Ian McEwan to start with; after reading a short story of his i liked and then realizing that he wrote one of my favorite children's books.

Oh, and Joan Didion? - What's the word?

Some other random stuff I've read & liked lately: Geek Love, The Corrections...


Suggestions?

i want to have the time to spend all day practicing the art of putting on makeup.... instead I look like shit because I'm getting only 5 hours of bad, stressful sleep each night because I'm working 12+ hours each day.

http://www.aadl.org/node/10863

If you're looking for yet another reason to visit our new Traverwood Branch look no further than the expanded graphic novel, comic and manga collections! I have it under good authority that teens looking for a great selection of NEW manga must visit Traverwood now! Currently none of Traverwood's materials are being used to fill the hold lists so there's a lot more great, new stuff sitting on the shelves than you may find at other locations. This will change at some point in the future so it's a limited-time luxury :) The Adult Graphic Novel collection is also filled with a lively selection of new graphic novels, and manga series. The kids's graphic novels are a a hot commodity, but rest assured more is on the way! If you're looking for titles or series that you haven't seen in our collection be sure to submit a suggestion!

http://www.aadl.org/node/10861

In an effort to reunite her family after the death of her husband, Katherine Dunne plans an elaborate sailing vacation with her three children. No one is looking forward to the vacation, including Katherine. To make matters worse, her teenage daughter is depressed and suicidal, her middle son is a drug addict with unused potential, and the youngest son rarely talks. Unfortunately, as soon as the vacation begins, it turns into the family’s worst nightmare.

Meanwhile back in Manhattan, Katherine's second husband, Peter, a well-known, ruthless lawyer, stays behind to prepare for a case. Little does Katherine know, her loving husband is anything but loving…

Sail is true to Patterson’s writing: short chapters; great plot twists; and plenty of supporting characters.

Now here's something - I enjoyed the movie, or, at least, the parts that actually worked, and the criticism expressed in the link a couple entries down is quite valid, to be honest, but it is not at all the most pointed criticism of the film. The biggest problems with The Dark Knight are aesthetic. To be completely honest, the film is 30 minutes too long, preachier than any movie I've seen this year, and that includes Werner Herzog's, Maggie Gyllenhaal absolutely cannot act - seriously, her performance utterly sucks - and the whole subplot of Two Face is the worst writing in a major film since Sin City. Also, Scarecrow is thrown in like a piece of laundry onto a pile of dirty clothes. It's a meaningless gesture, the only reason for which is some kind of reminder of the first film, a backward, pathetic glance. The parts of the film that are great are seriously injured by the parts of the film that stink. I won't even go into detail regarding Harvey Dent, only this - couldn't they have chopped a few minutes of the inane sermonizing to actually create believable conditions for the transformation he eventually undergoes? No, it's not the best superhero movie ever. 6. (Included in that score is the movie score, which is pretty good.) The high ratings of this movie on most sites baffles me. Sure, Ledger is amazing. But what else is there to this movie?I suppose an edited, 30 minutes shorter version might get slightly better marks, but Harvey Dent. That fumble really fucks up the movie big time. I heard critics talk about this like 10 year-olds talking about the greatest movie ever. Even the climax of the boat scene, the ethical core of the story, is sulllied by the hackneyed river-drag of an ending.

I liked Jesus Camp, though it was a little slow going - I liked it mostly because the kids are great, and often come to good, in spite of what the Cathollic Church, or the Evangelists, say about having kids forever if you have them until they are 6. But kids are always beyond such limitations, and the story is told with a steady hand. 8.

Tags: film

http://www.aadl.org/node/10855

Join talented Mike Murphy, director of Abrakadoodle, for a fun evening of art and create your own Pueblo Storytelling doll. On Friday, July 25 at 7:00 pm at the Downtown Library, we will be playing with Model Magic and sculpting tools and learning to create, imagine and explore!

http://www.aadl.org/node/10853

Float through fairy dust to the Downtown Ann Arbor District Library on Sunday, July 27th at 2:00 pm for fairytale storytime and fairy treats. You can make a sparkly bookmark and create a fanciful garden for the wee folk but whatever you do, don't forget to stop at the fairy door and see the new sign the fairies put up!

I am looking for a referal to an acupuncturist.  I don't just want to pick one out of the Yellow Pages and hope that they are decent.

If anyone can recommend one in the Commercial Drive/Hastings Sunrise/Financial District areas of Vancouver, that would be great.  Elsewhere in the city would be fine as well, but I would prefer to find one close to the areas that I already visit.

Thanks in advance!

Current Music: Charanga Cakewalk

http://www.mcsweeneys.net/links/danliebert/#23relativity

There was a non-fiction book, published very recently, about how the US is becoming increasingly segregated by ideology. The author's premise is that people are choosing, more and more, to live by others who think like them. He used data from past elections to make this point.

Bill Clinton talked about it in a recent speech.

It's called 'The Great Selection' or something like that??? But I can't find it anywhere online.

WHAT IS THE NAME OF THIS BOOK? please, thanks, any help appreciated.