Entertainment Weekly

Once in a while, one comes across a published list of books that are "must reads" and they usually have a nice long list of classics. That is fine and all, but please, can we see a little creativity and risk taking? Recently, the magazine Entertainment Weekly (EW) put out a list of 100 influential books in the past 25 years and to my surprise, I was impressed. I based my opinion upon the fact that I enjoyed most the of the books listed that I had read already. http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,20207076_20207387_20207349,00.html

I've read several more books on the EW list by now and liked all but one. A standout so far is "Interpreter of Maladies" by Jhumpa Lahiri. It is a collection of short stories; as a whole the work is a poignant look at life as an immigrant or someone displaced from their familiar surroundings. The first story is somewhat depressing but push on through! Touching and subtle.
http://www.amazon.com/Interpreter-Maladies-Jhumpa-Lahiri/dp/0618101365/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1225382716&sr=1-1

The Ultimate Pairing!

I've seen lots of guidelines on the best pairings for food and beer or food and wine, but I've always wondered about the best pairings for literature and wine. What kind of book goes best with Guiness??? The Washington Examiner has the answer:

The Ultimate Guide to Pairing Literature with Alcohol: Read, Drink and Be Merry.

BTW, I found this through the Bookslut blog, one of my daily stops -
Blog of a Bookslut

Please RSVP to the eVite for the IBC Meeting - looking like maybe Nov. 8th is the best, but still haven't heard from a few folks - and I'm working on finishing some of those overdue updates!