Friday, October 27, 2006

On a lighter note -- Housekeeping vs. the Dirt

Babelbabe mentioned this book, Housekeeping vs. the Dirt by Nick Hornby, in one of her posts and I loved how it sounded with lists of books at the beginning of each chapter. This book is a collection of book reviews that Hornby does for a magazine and they are really funny and interesting even if you haven't read the book he's writing about. In my case, it happened that I hadn't read most of the books. His review of Housekeeping by Marilynne Robinson got me interested enough in the book to check it out from the library. I haven't started it yet though; I'll let you know how it is. I especially loved his review of Motley Crüe's book, The Dirt, which is being made into a movie. At one point, he quotes from the book but he's put it in such tiny print that you can't read it at all. He warns you not to go get the magnifying glass to try to read what's there; he says it's just too nasty. He was right -- don't go get the magnifying class.

Friday Shuffle -- 10 + 1 Extra Tune

  1. Mississippi Bollweevil: North Mississippi Allstars from Electric Blue Watermelon
  2. Suite for Cello No. 1: Pablo Casals from Bach: Cello Suites Nos 1-6
  3. Far From Home: Neil Young from Prairie Wind -- I love this album especially this song
  4. Rollin' On: Mark Knopfler and Emmylou Harris from All the Roadrunning
  5. Make the World Go Away: Hank Cochrane from Honeysuckle Rose
  6. She's Too Good For Me: Warren Zevon from The Wind -- this is such a lovely album; many of the songs make me cry and this is one
  7. Four Strong Winds: Neil Young and Crazy Horse from Comes a Time
  8. Please Stay: Warren Zevon from The Wind -- oh God! This is the song that really wrings tears from me -- "Will you stay with me till the end, when there's nothing left but you and me and the wind."
  9. Erie Canal: Bruce Springsteen from We Shall Overcome: The Seeger Sessions
  10. Poor, Poor Excuse: Shemekia Copeland from The Soul Truth
  11. Tomorrow is a Long Time: Nickel Creek from Why Should the Fire Die -- I added this one because Nickel Creek's version of this Bob Dylan song is wonderful and deserves a mention and a listen.

7 comments:

Kristina said...

Double Neil = awesome

P.S. Robin and I were discussing this version of Erie Canal last weekend. Upon listening to that album, I had completely forgotten about that song. I had to sing it in elementary school. Brought back lots of memories!

sari said...

I really like Nick Hornby.

Kathy said...

Sari: That book is just really funny and fun -- I would go back and look at chapter headings because some weeks he would buy books but wouldn't review them and when he did review them I wanted to see when he bought them -- total nerdiness, I know.

Kristina: I hadn't heard Erie Canal in a thousand years until Bruce did it and I knew every single word from we sang it in elemenary school! Also, not only double Neil but double Warren Zevon too.

Dixie said...

I squealed as I read your shuffle, especially over Warren Zevon. I love him.

I just found out tonight that Blackmore's Night is coming out next month with a Christmas album. My dream come true!

Kathy said...

They would do a wonderful Christmas album -- I'll be keeping a lookout for it.

lazy cow said...

Housekeeping vs. Dirt isn't released in Australia yet. I'm chomping at the bit!

Kathy said...

I loved it -- especially considering I hadn't read any of the books he reviews.