KIRBC Notes: Dec. 7, 2011

By , on January 26th, 2012

‘Twas the book club before Christmas and we all gathered at Nic’s for the usual heady mix of recommending, heckling, and overconsumption. We kicked things off with the Present Game Bonanza (basically the book nerd equivalent of Storage Wars) and mulled wine in hand and treats within arm’s reach we got down to the business of recommending books.

Sarah & Erin (with support from JK): The Art of Fielding, Chad Harbach

Its not about baseball –  its’ about life and Moby-Dick!
(But it’s a bit about baseball — a young prodigy losing his gift.)
The “universal recommendation”
About life not turning out the way you expect it to
Nostalgia for academic life
Grips you totally, immersing you in the world Harbach creates
(Erin and I talked about it here.)

Jordan: Life: A Natural History of the First 4 Billion Years of Life on Earth, Richard Fortay

Head curator of paleontology at the London natural history museum, one of Jord’s personal heroes
Erin and Jord almost come to fisticuffs over whether trilobites are interesting
Narrative of geological periods
Very proper prose
“It has pictures, which I like, but also poetry & classic lit that he relates to geology”
Relevance ring true within human lifetime

Nic: The Dylan Dog Casefiles, Tizlano Sclavi

It’s huge! (Kelvin: “Nic’s presenting the phone book.”)
Italian [...]

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On Trauma Farm and a Farm of My Own

By , on January 16th, 2012

I am, I think, a rather typical middle-class urban dweller. I live not far from the buzzing downtown core, in the leafy, historic Annex, perched like a sparrow on top of the coursing powerline of the Bloor-Danforth subway. I cross the city each day on the TTC. I take advantage of the eclectic smorgasbord of food the city has to offer. I go to the museums and the literary events and the street festivals, take advantage (if not for granted) the wonderful variety of shops. But I think what makes me urban is not so much those things, but a mentality. A sort of frenetic activity, physically and mentally. Perhaps it’s the number of options, perhaps it’s the lights and noise of a city that never sleeps, but I think more likely it’s just my own overachieving nature mixed up with the realities of being a driven twenty-something building a career and taking on more than is advisable. And while I love my life, find it full and engaging and challenging, there is a part of me that worries that in taking on so much I’m missing out. That in engaging with everything I’m actually processing nothing. That in the [...]

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Books in 140 Seconds: The Art of Fielding

By , on January 12th, 2012

Hello, sports fans, time for another edition of your adrenaline-laced literary sprint, Books in 140 Seconds. Last week we pontificated on Brian Brett’s Trauma Farm, and this week we’re reentering the fictional world with one of our favourite books of 2011, Chad Harbach’s The Art of Fielding. Here’s the play by play of our reactions to this extraordinary book:

Read it. You won’t regret it. Erin and I both agree it’s one of our favourite books of 2011.

So a new year, and a new Books in 140 Seconds. We’re not going anywhere, but after almost 50 videos we may be around a little less often to ensure that we still make great videos about great books. Keep tuning in for all the critical commentary, yelling, and, of course, laughing at our own jokes you’ve come to expect. Look for our next video at the beginning of February. See you then.

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