So, I Read FIFTY SHADES OF GREY

2012 at 5am     Posted by Rebecca Joines Schinsky

 

Yep. I did it. You can chalk this one right up there with Nicholas Sparks’ The Last Song and Dan Brown’s The Lost Symbol on the list of Books I Read So You Don’t Have To.

I firmly believe that you have to earn your right to have an opinion about a book–kinda like how you don’t get to bitch about the state of things if you don’t vote–and frankly, my curiosity was getting the better of me. Figuring that anything that’s fun to do alone is more fun with a partner, I asked my pal Greg Zimmerman (who also writes for Book Riot and is the brains behind The New Dork Review of Books) to come along for the ride. And he said yes!

After a series of silly emails and Twitter DMs, we got down to business. Check out the first installment (of two, or maybe three, depending on how chatty we get) of our Fifty Shades of Grey reading diary now. And if you’ve read it too, I’d love to know what you think!

It’s Toni Morrison Day!

2012 at 10am     Posted by Rebecca Joines Schinsky

I’ve been writing and tweeting and anticipating for months, and at last, Toni Morrison’s Home is out!

We’ve made a holiday out of it over at Book Riot, and I hope you’ll check out the full and awesome line-up, including posts, giveaways, reading guides, and quizzes.

Bookrageous 36: Bookish Origin Stories

2012 at 5am     Posted by Rebecca Joines Schinsky

After a rollicking conversation about Swamplandia!, we took a break from our regular programming to discuss our bookish origin stories–where we started and how we ended up in the bookish jobs we have now. Hope you’ll listen, enjoy, subscribe, and let us know what you’d like to hear about in the future.

Just Read It: ANGELMAKER by Nick Harkaway

2012 at 5am     Posted by Rebecca Joines Schinsky

Published March 2012 by Knopf

The son of a notorious Tommy gun-toting London gangster, Joshua Joseph Spork resolved as a young man to “have a life, not a legend” and turned down his father’s invitation into a world where “money was something you could always steal more of” in favor of following his grandfather into the decidedly less glamorous clockwork repair business. When Joe’s shady pal Billy Friend presents him with a remarkable “doodah” to fiddle with and two very intimidating men (named Titwhistle and Cummerbund, because Nick Harkaway is awesome at naming characters) show up looking for it, then Billy turns up murdered, Our Man Spork gets the distinct impression that he’s wrapped up in something bigger than he understands. And HOO BOY is he right.

Turns out, the doodah is part of a much larger contraption–one with the potential to wreak global havoc–that was designed by the brilliant Frankie Fossoyeur at the behest of evil madman Shem Shem Tsien (again with the superfantastic character names). The Apprehension Engine involves mechanical bees (yes, bees) that, when let loose, enable people to “recognise lies and deception” when they hear them. Fossoyeur’s goal when she built it was to bring about the “death of falsehood,” but Shem Shem Tsien was after godhood and world domination [insert evil laugh here]. When Joe Spork repairs the doodah, he unknowingly activates the Apprehension Engine and sets into motion the gears of mass destruction. But octogenarian former spy and Woman of Consequence (god bless Nick Harkaway for this phrase) Edie Banister smells trouble and comes out of retirement to help Joe save the world.

“It’s so odd to be a supervillain, and at her age, too.”

Harkaway’s narrative bounces between the present and past, giving readers glimpses into Mathew “Tommy Gun” Spork’s illustrious history, Edie’s days as a renowned crime fighter, and Shem Shem Tsien’s ascent into near-immortality. The story sounds crazy–I mean, mechanical bees that can end the world?–but it all makes perfect sense within the logic of the world Harkaway has created. If that’s not the mark of excellent fiction, I don’t know what is. (And for the record, at least one character questions it: “Who makes mechanical bees, for God’s sake? Who creates a superweapon or a superwhatever-it-is and makes it so bloody whimsical?”)

Angelmaker tips its hat to classic gangster noir and is filled with sly winks to the genre. As Joe Spork–accompanied by his lawyer, his supersexy girlfriend Polly, and the indomitable Ms. Banister–sheds his quiet clockmaker identity to pick up the baton (or Tommy gun, as it were) left to him by his father (in a violin case, natch) and orchestrate a “night of misrule” in which all of London’s criminals come together for a job bigger than any job they’ve heard of, Harkaway’s writing becomes unmistakably cinematic. And it’s a hell of a lot of fun to read. If I were the kind of girl who calls books “pageturners,” this is the part where I would tell you about how madly I tore through this one. And I chuckled all the way through it, too. It would be hard not to, with characters saying things like:

“And is this your henchman? Do you know, I’ve always wondered what that means. How exactly does one hench? Is there a degree in henching, or is it more of an apprenticeship?”

Joe Spork’s rise to gangsterdom will make you want to don your trenchcoat, set your fedora at a cocky angle, and go fight some baddies. Harkaway calls it “good, wholesome, old-fashioned British crime,” and Angelmaker is about that. But for my money, it’s more about “brass and swagger”–that which Joe dredges up from within himself and, more important, that which Harkaway puts on full display in this endlessly clever (but never smug) frolic through the almost-end of the world.

Quickies: It’s Business Time

2012 at 5am     Posted by Rebecca Joines Schinsky

Maybe it’s the crazyinsane work schedule or the daunting (but incredibly satisfying) Toni Morrison re-read project, but I’ve been finding lately that I can’t focus on fiction. In the zero-sum game of allotting imagination energy, work and Toni get pretty much everything (okay, “Smash” is getting a tiny and embarrassing bit, too) and leave me incapable of building worlds and stepping into others’ lives in my mind. So I’ve been binging on nonfiction (like the superawesome The Power of Habit), and much to my surprise, I’ve found myself reading several business-y books.

First up is The 20% Doctrine by Ryan Tate. If you’ve read much about Google in the last few years, you’ve probably heard about their “20% Time” policy, which allows all employees to spend 20% of their working hours on projects for their personal enjoyment, the assumption being that workers are happier, healthier, more innovative, and more productive in the long-term when they’re allowed to experiment, explore, and flex their creative muscles. In The 20% Doctrine, Tate investigates how other companies–both within the tech industry and well beyond it–have implemented and benefited from encouraging employees to goof off while on the clock.

And it’s really interesting! At least, it was to me, particularly in the context of my work at a start-up that exists primarily in a creative industry but is also tech-based. I have a lot of control over my days and flexibility in how they’re structured, and I’ve been playing with applying something like the 20% doctrine to my work life. (Honestly, it’s more like tacking an extra hour or two of creative time onto my workday than it is using existing work time for creative projects, but it is making me happier and more productive, regardless.) The book also fed my current obsession with workflow (ask me sometime how not checking my email first thing in the morning has changed my life!) and reminded me how valuable learning about other businesses’ best practices can be. Because I’m now the kind of person who uses phrases like “best practices.” Oy! Moving on.

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In Ethical Chic: The Inside Story of the Companies We Think We Love, Fran Hawthorne looks at six BIG companies that are perceived by the public as being highly ethical to find out, well, if they really are. Hawthorne hits Tom’s of Maine, Apple, Starbucks, Trader Joe’s, Timberland (Who knew they had this reputation? Not I.), and American Apparel, discussing her research about how they source materials, treat their workers, and interact with their communities. She does a nice job of pointing out the way that consumers equate “cool” with ethical–maybe it’s wishful thinking?–and the feedback loop that’s created when a company decides to make their practices more ethical in hopes of becoming hipper. There are no earth-shattering revelations here, and the writing is dry at times, but there are some fascinating bits, I appreciate that Hawthorne set out to question assumptions and look at evidence instead of accepting spin.

And now I have a question for you–because it’s a question/quibble I had during the reading–do you consider how a company prices its products to be a factor in determining how ethical it is? Maybe my capitalist spirit is showing, but I’ve never thought that high price, in and of itself, is unethical or immoral. Hawthorne, though, seems to disagree me, docking proverbial points for things like five-dollar lattes, which not everyone can afford. It’s not something I’d thought of before, and I was surprised to see it included as a criterion. What do you think?

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