September 26, 2007

Odd Lots

In school I bonded with a girl over our shared love for the classic The Dark Crystal movie -- and our love for David Bowie in Labyrinth. (Oh, admit it. You were all about David Bowie, too.) Today I had to email her, because via Bookshelves of Doom, I discovered that there's more Dark Crystal -- manga style. Whoo! Tell me you don't recognize those pointy Muppet ears! If ever a storyline was perfect for the medium -- The Dark Crystal is it. I think they should go ahead and do the Labyrinth, too... because who doesn't like a good Goblin King?

Via The Guardian blog, all writers should write -- outside of the house. Viva la shed! Or, as the case may be, the coffee shop... That never has worked for me -- I'm far too nosy. But apparently all the 'greats' don't write at home. Maybe I have a greater ability to ignore piles of laundry than the average person?

The library here had a great display with Before I Die featured prominently on the shelf... Of course, I snatched it up. Stay tuned for my response to the book, but as for my thoughts on Shaken & Stirred's (and others) comments on the stupid Entertainment Weekly quotes - who on earth really believes that a novel is "handicapped" by being put in a YA category? I mean, who seriously, really and truly believes that? I can't help but think this was the author's moment to just make a cheap shot at YA because it's supposed to be for children or something.

There are enough issues in book classification otherwise to make a snark about YA just pointless. What about all of the books written by authors of a certain ethnicity, which get shelved by ethnic group instead of topic? Talk about a "handicap." At least a YA label means the book will still. Get. Read... (Eye rolling sigh.)

Like Big A, little a, I was heartsick over author Siohban Dowd's untimely death, and unlike that intrepid blogger, I can't quite bring myself to read Dowd's book. (No. That doesn't make sense. I know, I know. It's on my pile, but I'm wincing, for some reason.) Anyway - check out the review at Big A, little a, written by Bigger A -- Big A's MOM. I tell ya, that blogger manages to get more of her family working! Occasionally there's a 'little a' review, and I think there's even a 'Big A' on a Cybils team...

I was SO JEALOUS of S.E. Hinton when I was a kid. I mean, who was she to have written a novel when she was like, seventeen? And why couldn't I? And here it is, forty years later, and The Outsiders is still a book that sucks you in. I can only hope that forty years from now, that's still true of what I write!

1 comment:

Sarah Stevenson said...

There actually is a Labyrinth manga--the first volume (I think) was nominated for the Cybils last year. I guess I forgot to lend it to you. It was fairly well done, but it may not have made it into the priority lending pile...

And yes, I still think Labyrinth-era David Bowie is hot...but I kind of have a David Bowie thing, even now, which is probably a little strange. One of my favorite concert moments was seeing him at the Warfield (which only holds a couple thousand people) in about 1999, maybe, and being probably 20 feet away from the stage and positioned such that he actually made eye contact with us more than once during the show. !!