I couldn’t come up with a new topic for today’s T13 post, so I decided to look back and list 13 of my old TT posts instead. Interestingly, a lot of my favorite ones were about books. Go figure.

If you are a long-time reader of this blog you probably read most of them before, but for new readers this can count as a nice introduction to who I am as good as anything else I could write.

13 T.V. Shows I Watch Currently

13 New Authors I Discovered Last Year

13 Book Adaptions That Don’t Suck

Thirteen WP plugins I like (and use)

Thirteen good books I read this year

Thirteen favorite demotivators

Sweet Pretty MuthaFuckin Country&Western Acid House Music

Thirteen favorite websites

Thirteen favorite movies

Thirteen Tattoos I would like to get

Thirteen places I’d like to live for a while

Thirteen good books I read this year

New header graphics I made

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And as usual: come and play along at the New T13 Headquarters.

13 things I learned about Twitter since signing up 4 days ago

For months I have been watching the phenomenon of Twitter from the outside, absolutely not getting what the fuss was all about. The whole thing seemed like a complete waste of time to me. After all, who should be interested in hourly one-sentence updates on what I am just doing? Or anybody else, for that matter? Few of us lead such an interesting life that it would merit such updates.

But a few days ago I finally succumbed to the peer pressure (mainly from Grace …) and thought, what the hell, if I want to go on making fun of the thing I should better go and give it a try first.

Here is how it went:

When I tried signing up the first thing I learned is that some … person had already taken my name. *fume* In case you didn’t know already: my chosen online name pretty much everywhere is samulli. I do have a few others that I use on sites I don’t want to have associated with that identity, but samulli should only be used by me. I get very irate when I see someone else use that name. And even more so when said “person” just blocks the name by signing up to a service and then goes on blatantly not using it. *grrr argh*

So, lesson 1 would be: I should have just signed up to this Twitter thing months ago, if only to make sure I secure my actual name.

Since I wanted to at least have samulli be a part of my name, I chose to sign up as “samullidesign” instead. It’s far from perfect, but I actually had a reason for choosing this particular handle. More on that in a couple of weeks or so.

Nevertheless, I should have come up with a shorter name, because the more characters your name has, the less people have left for writing the actual messages when they send you @replies.

Lesson 2: Choose your name carefully, make it as short as possible.

After I signed up I was sitting there with a “now what?” feeling. I didn’t have much of an idea what to do next.

The clever thing to do is of course adding people to your “following” list so that you can read what they are tweeting about. The problem is finding them, because on the actual Twitter site there is – at least as far as I have been able to find – no central directory where you can look for people. Sure, there’s the Find People page, but that only helps when you know exactly who to look for. I had rather wanted to look for like-minded people or something.

Since that option wasn’t immediately available I looked up some online friends and added them and then went through my RSS reader and added a lot of the authors of blogs I subscribe to. That gave me about 25 people to follow right there.

Then I got the idea to look up whom the people I follow follow themselves. Chances are when they find them interesting for some reason, so might I. Of course I might unfollow some of them in the future if it turns out I was wrong, but for now I am just interested in finding people.

That gave me about 30 more names. And, as a side-effect, it made me realize how many celebrities are on Twitter as well.

So, the next thing I did was looking up some of those actors, actresses and, most importantly, authors that I am a fan of. And honestly, that’s the thing that actually sold me on this whole Twitter gig. Yes, I am that shallow.

How cool is it that I can actually talk to my favorite authors or actors in real time? Very. True, some of them might turn out to be not half as interesting in person as they seem on TV or through their books, but that’s a risk I am willing to take.

Here are some examples of who I am talking about:
Felicia Day – she was the first one I knew to have a Twitter account
Alysson Hannigan (Denisof)
Nathan Fillion – he finally signed up after Felicia badgered him, I hope he really gets into it like she has

Greg Grunberg
Neil Gaiman
Stephen Colbert
Joe Hill
Steve Buscemi – he is very active and fucking hilarious

Michael Marshall Smith – he is also very active and he also has a new blog with a couple of fantastic posts
Stephen Fry
Kevin Spacey
Hugh Jackman

Of course, now I already hear some of you saying “How do you know it’s really them and not some impostors?” It’s the internet after all, you can never be entirely sure of anything here. Contrary to all appearances even I myself could be a slightly overweight, almost middle-aged spinster who lives more or less online, because she doesn’t have any real friends … oh, wait.

Anyway, to get back to the point: Of course I can’t swear to it, but in the cases I linked to I am pretty sure (98%) that all of them really are the people they claim to be. And if they’re not, they are at least very adept at impostoring and in many cases damn entertaining, so I am ok with it either way.

Now if only Felicia could badger Joss Whedon, Alan Tudyk and Summer Glau into signing up on Twitter I would be perfectly happy.

After adding quite a few people to my following-list I noticed within the first 24 hours after signing up that my followers count grew quite a lot as well. Which was not totally unexpected, because many people tend to add you right back when they see you added them. Funnily, many of my new followers weren’t on my following list, nor did I have any idea who the hell they were.

Turns out that , as far as I can see, many people who mainly use Twitter as a marketing platform, follow newbies in the hopes of having them follow right back to extend the reach of their network. Nothing to say against that per sé, but I chose in most cases not to add them, because I am just not interested in what they are tweeting about. So I guess they won’t be following me for long either, but I can live with that.

Since I didn’t want to hang around all day on the Twitter website, but on the other hand wanted to keep an eye on the conversations I looked around for some desktop applications or similar stuff that I could use. Turns out there are literally dozens of different programs and Firefox Add-ons and whatnot out there. There is Thwirl, TweetDeck (that seems to be the most widely used one), Tweetie (an iPhone app), Twitterific (ditto), EventBox (that seems to be exclusively for Mac), Seesmic Desktop, TwitBin (a Firefox Add-on), and probably a lot of others.

I am using TwitBin for now and it works just fine. It resides in a sidebar inside the browser, which I have open all the time anyway. It doesn’t have a wealth of options, but that’s exactly what I like about it. I can read the public streams, my direct messages and my @replies. That’s all I want for now. Later on, when I follow a lot more people, I might give TweetDeck a try as I hear it has a lot more options to group streams etc.

Another thing that I did on the second day already was customizing my profile. Since I always like to make things a little more personal and the standard backgrounds all looked quite boring to me this was a no-brainer. After all, who wants to use the same background as half a million other people? It was also pretty easy since you don’t have all that much room to work with anyway, so there’s no room for elaborate designs.

After now 4 days using Twitter I am slowly getting the hang of it and I even understand the appeal – up to a point. I can at least say one thing for sure: Whoever said that it can get addictive definitely wasn’t kidding. So be warned. It is very easy to waste an appalling amount of time with this stuff.

But it is also kind of fun, even if you’re – like me – not writing all that much yourself.

If you find people who share your interests it can be very interesting at times, because contrary to what I used to believe a lot of people don’t actually use Twitter as an “update on what I am doing”-application anymore, but instead share links to various interesting blog posts, resources and other stuff or discuss the problems they encounter in their work (all right, maybe that’s mostly the webdesigners, since they are working on their computers and online all day anyway). So all this can be not only an interesting and entertaining waste of time, it can sometimes actually be a lot of help when you’re stuck on something and can ask for help.

All in all I have to admit that my opinion about Twitter was quite wrong. It is hard to see from an outsider’s perspective, but the whole thing does actually have its merits and even though I won’t probably become a power user, I do finally get the point of it and I can understand why it has become so popular.

So, in case I have unwittingly convinced you to sign up and try it out, too, I’d be more than happy to follow your adventures. Either leave a link to your profile in the comments or follow me directly here.

And if you want to check out other Thursday Thirteen posts, head on over to the new T13 headquarters and either play along or read other people’s posts.

(icons via Creative Nerds)

I am sure I have mentioned it before: I am a t.v. junkie. Well, no, actually that isn’t quite right. I can’t abide watching the actual t.v. programs. Reality TV and gameshows and all that other crap is not for me. What I love are t.v. series.

And because german t.v. in general sucks to high heaven (although I am sure, my fellow germans would disagree), I only watch american shows – with some good old british classics in between (Blackadder and Monty Python come to mind).

And because german t.v. is usually one to two years behind with showing american shows, I have to get my fix over the internet. So here are my current favorite shows (as usual in no particular order):

Battlestar Galactica

Yes, I am aware that the show is officially over. But even though I am usually up to date with the shows I am watching, I did only get into BSG very late and I did put it on hiatus after I had seen the first 2 seasons.

I love the show to bits, but it got just too convoluted and intricate, so that I hated having to wait a week to get the next episode. So I decided to keep collecting the episodes until the show’s finale (which aired last week) and then have a BSG marathon and watch all 4 seasons in one fell swoop.

I am very much looking forward to do just that in the next couple of weeks.

Dollhouse

Did I fall asleep? Only for a little while…

I must admit, after deliberately avoiding all the buzz around this show before it even started, I started watching it more out of a sense of duty as a Whedon-fan than real interest. The premise of it just didn’t sound all that interesting to me (sorry, Joss!).

But even though Eliza Dushku’s acting is a bit hit-and-miss, the show grew on me pretty quickly and by now, six episodes in, I can say I am totally hooked. Not least because Dollhouse gives me my weekly Tahmoh-fix – he was gorgeous in BSG, and he just continues on in that fashion here. Even shirtless for much of last episode. *sigh* (yes, I am that shallow)

But, honestly, even more than the sex scenes I enjoyed his epic fight scene with Eliza. He was awesome in the boxring in BSG, but this backalley fight I could watch on repeat for fucking ever. So brutal and so much fun.

It is fantastic to be able for the first time to watch a Joss Whedon show while it airs (although there is something to be said for being able to watch whole seasons at one go and patience has never been my strong suit) – for however long FOX will keep it on the air. Considering the ratings, I am still fairly hopeful that they will actually air all 13 episodes that are already shot, but my hope doesn’t really extend towards a second season yet. We will see.

House M.D.

Well, considering the name of my blog and my deep and abiding love for Hugh Laurie, this one’s a no-brainer.

The show, now in its fifth season, has had its ups and downs (the new team for the most part being one of the downs), but just like apparently a lot of other people I just can’t get enough of grumpy and mean Dr. House. Maybe because he is just so much like me – minus the genius in my case, obviously, and the interest for saving random strangers’ lifes, and the limp. But the grumpiness and general disdain for humankind? That’s me to a T. (what does that expression even mean?)

And I definitely have to get me one of those shirts!

24

To say I’m a fan of the show would be a bit of an exaggeration. A friend of mine turned me onto it, because she is a fan – mostly of Mr. Sutherland – and pestered me to give it a chance. Which I did, starting with season 1. Which was frakkin’ boring as hell: too much politics, a snooze-inducing president, an annoying teenage daughter and a lot of patriotism, which always makes me sick, no matter which country it’s for. Plus, Kiefer: not my type. Basically the only thing I liked about him was the way he said “dammit” every five minutes. LOL

The only interesting thing in the show, as far as I was concerned, was Tony Almeida (Carlos Bernard). It is my curse to always fall for the guys in the second row.

Later, a second reason for watching it was added: Bill Buchanan. I have loved James Morrison ever since Space: Above and Beyond and he is another one of those guys who only get better with age.

So I watched my way through all 6 seasons of 24 (is it just me or did season 6 suck beyond words?) and am now following season 7 as it airs. I’m not very impressed with season 7 so far. First they bring back Tony from the dead, which is laudable, but we see him only for the first 6 or 7 episodes then he vanishes for hours, drinking coffee in some roadside café, apparently. Then they kill off Buchanan in some crazy-ass stupid way – what a waste. Now Tony is suddenly back, only to be kidnapped by the bad guys after all of 10 minutes screentime. Honestly? It almost seems like they’re willfully pissing me off.

Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles

If this list was in order of me liking the shows, this one would be pretty near the top right now. I just love this show to bits, especially since the last episode, which was all kinds of awesome.

My reason for starting to watch this back when it started was my love for the Terminator franchise on one hand (I can’t wait for the fourth movie!), but mainly it was Summer Glau. Kicking serious ass as a frakkin’ Terminator. I mean, how much better can television get? Yeah, I know, I am easily satisfied. But Summer is worth watching in anything (hell, I even watched The 4400 for her). Plus, after watching 300 I was curious to see more of Lena Headey as well. And she didn’t disappoint me.

Last week we finally, for the first time, got to see the real John Connor. Not the whining, annoying emo-brat, but John Frakkin’ Connor, the leader of humankind in the fight against the machines. Unfortunately, just as it turned into something awesome, it is pretty much a fact that the show will not get renewed next season. So all I can look forward to are 3 more episodes and a lot of heartbreak over a cliffhanger ending of one of my favorite shows. Great.

LOST

I don’t really have to explain what I like about LOST, do I? Besides shirtless Sawyer, of course.

Even though they almost lost me (ha, ha) during season 3, I am again a dedicated fan since they found their footing again in season 4. Having a fixed end date for the show and shorter seasons with only 17 episodes each has certainly helped the writers focus and made the show a lot more exciting again.

It’s pretty much a given that the ending and the explanation for all the things on the island can only be a disappointment. But I will nevertheless stay glued to the screen for the last 1.5 seasons, even though some of that time-travel stuff makes my head hurt if I think about it too closely.

Castle

This one is still brandnew, only 3 episodes aired so far. The premise wouldn’t have caught my interest, if it wasn’t for one thing: Nathan Fillion.

As with Summer I will watch literally anything that has Nathan Fillion in it. Hell, I even watched the couple of episodes of Desperate Housewives that he was in. Ever since I saw him the first time as Capt. Mal Reynolds in Firefly, the guy can do no wrong in my eyes. Of course it helps that he seems to be such a charming and funny guy in real life as well.

Nathan shines in this show and makes something that would otherwise have been just some mediocre, bordering-on-boring stuff into gold. Ok, maybe I’m biased. But he is definitely funny (I have read non-Nathan-fans write that about him!) and Castle is one of the most entertaining shows for me right now.

Since the ratings don’t seem to be golden, I will try to enjoy it while I still can.

Criminal Minds

I have a thing for procedurals. I have given up on the CSI and Law&Order franchises, but CM is still fun. Serial killers are just more interesting than your typical random run-of-the-mill murder.

Although, who am I kidding, my real reason for watching this show religiously is Matthew Gray Gubler. I feel like a cradle-robber for finding him cute, because he still looks like 18 or something (he is actually 27), but who cares. He’s just pure eye-candy.

Though I have to admit, the rest of the cast is awfully attractive as well. and, as I said, serial killers are just entertaining.

Bones

Yep, another procedural. Another cast of extremely pretty people. And no, I haven’t started watching it because of David Boreanaz. Even though I am a big fan of Joss Whedon’s shows, I never really got into Angel (in fact I am only now slowly watching my way through season 5 for the first time, again out of a sense of duty as a Whedon-fan), and Angel himself with his perennial guilty brooding annoyed the fucking hell out of me most of the time. Additionally I was not a big fan of the books by Kathy Reich that inspired the series originally.

So I was pretty surprised when I found myself hooked on this show after a while, mainly because the show-Brennan was completely different from the book-Brennan – in a good way. Was Booth even in the books? I can’t remember.

Anyway, the show is certainly nothing deep or philosophical, like BSG was, nor is it all that suspensefull. It’s basically just fluff, but funny fluff. And I have grown to like the whole team and their interactions with each other (especially Sweets, he’s just so cute), so the case of the week is pretty much just filler.

NCIS

The same goes for this show. It’s all about the team and their bantering. The cases themselves are completely forgettable. I’m just so glad they finally killed off that endlessly annoying Madam Director (I can’t even remember her name). The show got a whole lot more fun since she’s dead. Although I have to say, I also could do with a lot less Abby sometimes.

But of course my main reason for watching is Gibbs. I just love me some Mark Harmon. He is another one of those guys who just get hotter the older they get, which is totally unfair, but there you are.

Life

This show just started a couple of weeks ago on german t.v. I gave it a shot and so far I am mildly entertained. I’m not sure if the “mildly” comes from the crappy german translation or if the show just isn’t all that witty. In any case it hasn’t made it onto my “have to watch in the original version and therefor download it”-list so far.

The main character isn’t doing much for me yet, but maybe I have to give him time to grow on me. I will keep watching a couple more episodes before I decide if I throw in the towel on this one.

Dexter

No, the fourth season hasn’t started early (I wish!). I was just missing my favorite serial killer buddy, so I started watching the show again from the start. I try to ration myself, so the 3 short seasons will last me until September, but so far that didn’t work out too well – I’m almost finished with season 2 already.

By the way, did you hear that Michael C. Hall and Jennifer Carpenter are married now? I just can’t get that fact out of my head anymore when I watch Dexter and Deborah Morgan. Must be interesting for them to spend their days playing brother and sister and then go home and be husband and wife again.  That just can’t be healthy.

Veronica Mars

No, this one isn’t a current show either. Cancelled before its time, like so many others. But ever since I watched it for the first time a couple months ago, I am completely in love with this show. Within only 2 or 3 episodes it had earned a secure place in my all-time top 5 list, right behind Firefly and tied with Buffy.

And even though it ends on a cliffhanger, it is worth getting hooked on, because at least there are 3 full seasons. It’s not like Firefly, where we only have 14 measly episodes – just enough to fall completely in love and then get your heart ripped out (may the responsible FUX exec rot in hell eternally!). I still think VM was good for another 1 or 2 seasons, but I can live with what we got.

If you have never seen it, do yourself a favor and watch it. Even if you usually never watch Highschool and growing-up shows. This isn’t crap like Beverly Hills 90210 or something similar. This is Veronica Mars. It’s witty, it’s funny, it’s poignant – it could almost be a Joss Whedon show, except that nobody has superpowers and nobody dies in it (Lilly doesn’t count since she is dead when the show starts.

So, considering that you now know my taste in television: are there any other shows (current or already cancelled) I should give a chance? Let me know in the comments.

If you wanna play along, come and join us at the new Thursday Thirteen headquarters.

Yes, I have become a bit obsessed with etsy lately. It’s amazing how much time one can spend there and how many interesting things pop up on random travels through the site. Today I’d like to showcase not etsy shops per sé, but random items that have caught my eye.

Some of the shops that sell them have lots of interesting other stuff on offer, others less so. Some of the items will probably be sold out by the time I publish this post, but since I can’t afford to buy most of them anyway, I don’t really care.

1. Figured Black Walnut Blanket Chest from PCwoodcraftandPens

As usual with these things: far outside my price range, but oh so beautiful.

2. Ants On My Cup and Saucer from baileydoesntbark

Honestly, I don’t know if I could actually drink anything from that cup. But I love the idea. And the shop’s name just makes me smile.

3. GLASS beads …Out of space from Sunyno

Don’t ask me what I would use them for. I haven’t got a clue. I just like shiny things.

4. Rustic Hearts Earrings from ktksilver

5. Realistic ceramic miner human skull from mudpuppy

All right, this is the one item that might actually tempt me to buy. I collect animal skulls and a human is still missing from my collection. And since the chances of getting my hands on a real one are slim, this thing would be the next best choice.

6. Nest Necklace in Antiqued Sterling Silver from bedhead

7. Once Upon A Time Moonstruck Locket from birdzNbeez

8. Large Fancy Heart from kathryncole

9. Let the sun shine in Poster from slidesideways

This would look awesome above my desk, right beside the window. It’s either that one or one of those “Keep Calm and Carry On” things. Then again, there are 2 free spaces on the wall on either side of the window, so I might as well get both.

10. Dark Love from redheart13

11. Sweet Rose Ruby Corduroy Messenger Bag from pongobaby

No, I don’t have a baby suddenly, nor do I plan to get pregnant anytime soon (or, like, ever). And my general aversion to all things pink is as strong as ever. But this bag would be perfect for my laptop. And, yes, I love the color.

12. Striped Fingerless Gloves from Morrgan

These are actually not the pair I wanted. She used to have them in a deep, dark red that looked awesome, but apparently they are sold out.

13. Tainted Love Necklace from beautifulbead

I swear, I have no idea what it is with all the hearts. I just noticed how friggin’ many of them I have bookmarked when I was writing this post. As far as I am aware I’m not in love, and even if I was I wouldn’t necessarily wear a heart-shaped pendant. I just think they all look so very pretty…

Minelolly

I found her store through the notebooks she makes, but when I checked out the rest of her inventory I was even more impressed by her colorful quilts. Unfortunately they are way out of my price range, but still beautiful to look at. She also has a blog.

Star of the East

As a rule, I don’t usually wear jewelry (apart from the piece of jade and the bone carving I wear around my neck and never take off ever since I left New Zealand). But even though I am not very likely to buy it, I nevertheless  love to look at rings and bracelets and necklaces and stuff like that.

What caught my eye in this shop, although they do have oodles of interesting stuff, was mainly the sea urchin collection, especially that necklace, which looks just awesome.

DaliDecals

Well, I am sure there are hundreds of shops on etsy alone that do these wall decals. But this was the first one I stumbled on that made me want to order something, namely those swirly things and this tree. Although some of their text decals are worth a look as well, and I guess since they also do custom work the possibilities are endless.

Pixie Soap

What can I say, I am a sucker for handmade soaps. I often buy them from our local market, but I might actually give this shop a try, even though I find the thought of ordering a thing like soap from the US a bit strange. But how can I resist when they look so delicious?

Rebecca’s Soap Delicatessen

Well, since we’re speaking of soap already…

With names like Strawberry Champagner, Lime Margarita or Chocolate Cherry the store’s name is very aptly chosen, I think.

Moonbeemz Designs

Again, jewelry. What caught my eye here were the opals. Opals are by far my absolute favorite gems. When I was in Australia I used to stand in front of the windows of every jeweller and admire the fantastic and beautiful opal jewelry. Unfortunately, all of them were far outside my price range.

Not so here. If the stones in this shop are really as big as described they are almost laughably cheap. Ok, they do have flaws, so that probably explains it. But still: shiny.

XcessRize Designs

Another unusual shop for me. Not all that interested in bags and stuff normally either. But these do look nice, mostly because of the colorful fabric designs. Plus, those little shoulder bags are quite practical.

stevester

More bags – yay! And t-shirts, although they really are not my taste. Actually it was just one of their bags that caught my eye, mainly because I have a similar one already – only without the leaf:

Koenig Designs

Knick-knacks. Another category I am not really a fan of, generally speaking. But now and then one piece stands out and says hello to me. These 2 paperweights fall into this category:

Shaka Studios

Antiques can be fun or totally dull. This shop’s inventory tends toward the fun side. Totally out of my price range again, obviously. The one thing that tempts me, though, is this backgammon game. Awesome, if completely overpriced. I might have to build my own after all…

Expression Rocks

Again, nothing really useful, but I like them things anyway, especially since you can leave them outside and they wouldn’t clutter up my house.

Moxy

What drew me here were the journals, but the shop also has some very nice photographs that I could easily imagine hanging on my walls.

Kreativlink

And I can say without exaggeration that I saved the best for last. You see, what started my infatuation with etsy in the first place were the scores of handmade journals and diaries and notebooks of all kinds.

And after looking through that category for a while now, I am pretty sure there are no more beautiful ones than the ones of Renate Ikinger from Austria. Those little pictures here don’t do them justice at all. Hop over to the shop and check out the incredibly done details on each one of them.

In case anyone of you is ever looking for a birthday present for me, you know where to look now.    (j/k)

Oh, I got one more that I just can’t leave out:

April Kawaoka Jewelry

Again, jewelry, but it’s just so beautiful. Understated, organic-looking. Something I would wear, if I ever had the opportunity to wear jewelry.

I couldn’t think of any more book lists for the time being, so this week I present just

13 random things I found somewhere on the net lately.

1. The Jumbo Hostel

A hostel within a retrofitted Boeing 747 in the Stockholm-Arlanda airport.

Bloody cool idea, if you ask me. From the pictures it doesn’t look too practical, bit cramped and all that. But I don’t care, if I ever make it to Stockholm I’d definitely like to give it a try for a couple of nights.

(via)

2. Vetsch Architektur

I’m on a bit of an architecture trip at the moment and this is definitely something outside of the norm. Peter Vetsch’s Earth Houses do tend to end up looking like modern versions of hobbitholes, but that doesn’t have to be a bad thing. I’d love to have a chance to look inside one of them one day.

(via)

3. Banana Spring Rolls

Yumm!That’s all I’m saying.

That blog the recipe is from, by the way, is generally awesome. Not only is it one of the very, very few blogspot-blogs with a really nice design, it also has mouth-wateringly delicious recipes aplenty. I gain 3 pounds just by reading them and looking at the pictures. Visit at your own risk!

4. Plastic Logic Reader

Even though I do think the general idea of them is fantastic, I’m not much of a fan of e-books so far, because I don’t like having to read a book on my computer monitor and I can’t afford a Kindle. But here is another kind of reader that to me looks even better than the Kindle.

I just think they really have to come up with a better name before they actually start selling this thing. But since I doubtlessly won’t be able to afford this one either in the near future, I guess I won’t become a fan of e-books anytime soon. Shame, really.

(via)

5. Red Velvet Cheesecake

Ok, I admit, I haven’t tried the recipe yet. But I will. And soon. Because the picture alone blew me away. Plus, it’s cheesecake. And it’s red. And it’s got creamcheese topping on top (yeah, I know, where else?).

Beautiful and yummy doesn’t even begin to cover it…

(via)

6. The Institute For Human Continuity

I don’t know if you heard, but apparently the world as we know it is gonna end on Decmeber, 21st of 2012. To be honest, I am still fuzzy on the details as to how it will happen – mostly because I don’t really give a shit – but if you care to find out, a simple Google search will give you plenty of results to sift through.

Now, this Institute’s self-appointed mission is to “ensure the survival of the human race beyond 2012″. You can even register for a “survival lottery” that is supposed to improve your chances of surviving whatever cataclysmic event it is that will kill off most of your fellow humans. Although, for the life of me I can’t see how that is supposed to work. Then again, people who actually take such a site seriously probably don’t have to intellectual capacity to question much of anything on it.

Anyway, if you wanna have a couple minutes of hilarity, check it out. I especially enjoyed the staff page. Now that’s a list of the most made-up sounding names I ever saw. Or maybe I’m just cynic. LOL

(via)

7. The New Zealand Travel Blog

There just had to be something New Zealand-related in this list. Now, I could probably write a blog about this topic myself, but the fact of the matter is that I am way too lazy for that. But luckily there are other folk who aren’t.

So if you’re planning a trip to God’s Own Country in the future, or just wanna dream about it, have a look through this blog.

And all I can say is: I wanna go home again. *sigh*

8. A Drive

Do you need to store some data , which you want to be able to access from anywhere and share with other people? This is a great site.

50GB of free online storage. What more could anybody want?

I must admit I haven’a tried it yet, but it does sound awfully good. So far I have been using GoogleDocs for my online backups, but for some reason I often have trouble accessing the site and sometimes it takes 5 tries to save something. I don’t know if that is a general problem or if it’s just me, but I decided to just don’t bother anymore and give this A Drive thing a try next time I need to backup something again.

9. Elements of Design – an alternative webdesign showcase

Now this will only be interesting for you, if you are the least bit interested in webdesign. As you probably know there are lots and lots of design galleries. Most of them showcase complete webdesigns, mostly with a complete screenshot of the particualr websites.

This one here, as the name already tells, concentrates on only single elements. Accordingly, the categories are called things like “footers”, “comment forms” or “navigation” etc. Which is cool when you need inspiration for just a certain aspect of a design.

As I said, for not design-interested people totally uninteresting.

10. IconsPedia and Icon Archive

Here is something that might be interesting to more people. If you like icons, that is.

On both of those sites you find literally thousands of different icons, which you can use on your computer to replace the boring normal ones that come with Windows. Or as buddy icons, or as avatars in a forum. Or whatever else you can think of.

And have I mentioned they are all free?

11. 50 Excellent Icon Design Tutorials

Or maybe you’d rather learn how to design these nifty icons yourself?

Yeah, I know, it was a long shot. But I want to give some of these tutorials a try some time (when I’m finished with working my way through the countless interesting Photoshop tuts out there) and this is as good as place as any to keep that link.

12. LDS Sparkledammerung

Yes, I know,  have linked to this thing before, but it is just so hilarious that I like to read it again once in a while.

So, if you are a fan of those awfully crappy, steaming pile of shit Twilight books, or if you are still trying to decide if it is worth your time reading them in the first place (hint: no, it’s not), have a look at this review of all four parts of the series over at LiveJournal. It’s just so damn hilarious and so much more fun than the bloody books themselves.

13. Dollhouse

Joss Whedon’s new show. The one I have been waiting for for fucking ever, it seems. The first one I have the chance to watch right from the very beginning (I was late to the party with the other three). I’m not sure yet if I will love it as much as the other three shows (scratch that, I doubt I will ever love anything as much as I love Firefly), but even after only one episode I can tell that it’s better than 95% of the other stuff out there at the moment.

Just 2 words: watch it.

Fridays on FOX. Or on Hulu. Or wherever. Or get it from iTunes. Just watch it, especially you folk in the US – because if FUX cancels this show prematurely I will personally hold all of you responsible.

(Dollverse)

]]> http://www.samulli.com/weblog/t13-13-random-things/feed 14 http://www.samulli.com/weblog/t13-13-new-authors-i-discovered-last-year http://www.samulli.com/weblog/t13-13-new-authors-i-discovered-last-year#comments Thu, 12 Feb 2009 16:48:54 +0000 samulli http://www.samulli.com/weblog/?p=1256

I’m lazy again and I haven’t got a lot of time, so again I give you a booklist. Or, rather an author list this time. And because I can’t be arsed to look them all up, there are no pictures of the covers today, nor links to the books on Amazon. But I’m sure you will be able to find them, if you should look for them.

13 new – to me – authors I discovered last year.

1. Ann Packer

Book: “The Dive from Clausen’s Pier”

I don’t remember where I heard of this book first, it was probably on Bookcrossing as usual. I received the book through Bookmooch and although it wasn’t exactly a life-changing experience to read it, it was still a nice read and I would pick up other books by Ann Packer if I should stumble on them.

2. Carl Hiaasen

Book: “Basket Case”

This one I picked up in the library in Leipzig during my ill-fated stay there at the first half of 2008. Loved it and found the story, the characters and the writing style so hilarious that I mooched 7 or 8 other books by Hiaasen from Bookmooch.

Unfortunately, even though I still enjoy his books and they are all quite entertaining, for me his particular style of quirkiness got old real fast and the other books turned out to be a bit repetitive. I still got 4 of them on Mt. TBR and I think they will stay there for the forseeable future. I still think “Basket Case” was the best of the bunch I read so far, but maybe that’s just because it was my first.

3. Jose Saramago

Book: “Blindness”

What a load of crap this book was. Both in the literal and in the figurative sense. I picked it up because it sounded like right up my alley, but it turned out to be a major disappointment. Definitely an author, whose books I will never ever pick up again.

4. John Banville

Book: “The Sea”

Saw this book mentioned in several blogs, and I think Banville won some award or other, didn’t he? Anyway, I got curious and read it on a whim.

I can’t say that I was bowled over, but it certainly has a strange kind of appeal. It’s not the kind of book I’d normally read, but it was a nice change. And Banville earned a place on my “ok to give another try”-list.

5. Markus Zusak

Book: “The Book Thief”

I had this book on my shelf for months before finally picking it up and actually reading it. Definitely not at all the kind of stuff I normally read. But I fell in love with Zusak’s writing style and with this story and it ended up being among my top 10 books I read last year.

I already joined a bookring on Bookcrossing for Zusak’s next book “I Am The Messenger”. Can’t wait to get my hands on it.

6. P.G. Wodehouse

Books: several

As I have mentioned before, I have Hugh Laurie to thank for my discovery of P.G. Wodehouse. I randomly ordered a 3-in-1 omnibus of Jeeves&Wooster stories from Amazon and I haven’t looked back. Pure comedic genius.

7. Sebastian Faulks

Book: “Human Traces”

I picked this one up in one of those used book stores in London on my last trip there, purely because I loved the cover. I have often been lucky with that strategy, but in this case: not so much. I don’t know if it was the book or the author in general, but this thing bored me to tears. I think I tossed it aside for good after about 70 pages or so. I didn’t actively hate it or anything, it was just not interesting at all. But for now Faulks still gets the benefit of the doubt from me and if I run into one of his other books I might give him another chance.

8. John Connolly

Book: “The Book of Lost Things”

Another bookring on Bookcrossing and a fantastic read. One of the rare instances where I wished I didn’t have to send the book on to the next reader and could just keep it to re-read it right away. Instead I put it on my wishlist on Bookmooch.

Every other of of his books I come across will definitely be devoured as well.

9. Michel Faber

Book: “The Crimson Petal and The White”

Another find from reading several bookblogs, who all wrote glowing reviews. Again, not my usual reading matter at all, but it turned out another very pleasant surprise. The 800 pages were way too short for my taste – it could have gone on for another 800 for all I cared.

Another author whose books I will pick up without any questions as to what they are about.

10. Christopher Moore

Book: “Fluke”

Moore was recommended to me as a very funny writer (can’t remember by whom, though). This one was another bookring. It was a nice read, but I can’t say I found it particularly funny. I didn’t, on the other hand, find it particularly awful either. Actually I felt pretty ho-hum about it. But since so many people rave about the funniness of this guy, I will give him another try. I am signed up for another one of his books and will make up my mind after I read that one.

11. Octavia E. Butler

Book: “Dawn”

Another one of the lucky finds last year. It’s a shame that she died so young, but her books are all on my wishlist and the two that I read already have moved straight to my keeper shelf. Absolut fantastic writer.

12. John Updike

Book: “The Afterlife and Other Stories”

Didn’t he die, too, recently? I picked up this book in my local library just because the title sounded halfway interesting, especially since I developed a taste for shortstories last year.

Now, I don’t wanna say anything bad about the recently departed, but it was a complete waste of time for me. If I remember correctly I didn’t even finish most of the stories. Not my taste at all, but I am toying with the idea of giving one of his novels a try. Some day.

13. Sophie Kinsella

Book: “Confessions of a Shopaholic”

Well, now this one is a bit embarrassing, because normally I don’t touch chick-lit. This book I got as a free extra when I mooched several other – real – books from a fellow Bookmoocher. Actually I had planned to directly offer it for a bookring or something, but I figured I might as well read it first. Took me all of one afternoon or so and all it did was reinforce my distaste for fluffy chick-lit. Ok, it wasn’t quite as bile-inducingly bad as I had feared, but it wasn’t in any way memorable or particularly interesting either. One author whose books I can skip in the future without a second glance – together with all the other ones who write the same stuff. No loss.

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As usual, come over to the new Thursday Thirteen Headquarters to play along and visit other 13ers.

It is a sad, but well-known phenomenon that many movies that are based on books turn out plain sucky. That’s why it is usually advisable, if possible, to first watch the movie and only read the book afterwards so as to avoid the disappointment.

But there are, now and again, a couple of films that get it right. They manage to translate the story from the pages of the books onto the screen in a manner that even avid fans of the books can live with.

Here are the ones that worked for me:

1. Harold and Maude

imdb-summary:

The self-destructive and needy wealthy teenager Harold is obsessed by death and spends his leisure time attending funerals, watching the demolishing of buildings, visiting junkyards, simulating suicides trying to get attention from his indifferent, snobbish and egocentric mother, and having sessions with his psychologist. When Harold meets the anarchist seventy-nine-year-old Maude at a funeral, they become friends and the old lady discloses other perspectives of the cycle of life for him. Meanwhile, his mother enlists him in a dating service and tries to force Harold to join the army. On the day of Maude’s eightieth birthday, Harold proposes to her but he finds the truth about life at the end of hers.

This movie is old – older than me, in fact. But even though it has aged, it is still a lovely story. I loved the book already and was not even interested in watching the movie, but for once was pleasantly surprised when I recently stumbled upon it on t.v.

Besides, is it bad that I would literally kill to have this car? I have a thing for hearses anyway, but this Jaguar is just the cutest thing automobile-wise that I’ve ever laid eyes on.

2. Girl With a Pearl Earring

imdb-summray:

This film, adapted from a work of fiction by author Tracy Chevalier, tells a story about the events surrounding the creation of the painting “Girl With A Pearl Earring” by 17th century Dutch master Johannes Vermeer. Little is known about the girl in the painting, it is speculated that she was a maid who lived in the house of the painter along with his family and other servants, though there is no historical evidence . This masterful film attempts to recreate the mysterious girl’s life. Griet, played by Scarlett Johansson, is a maid in the house of painter Johannes Vermeer, played by British actor Colin Firth. Vermeer’s wealthy patron and sole means of support, Van Ruijven, commissions him to paint Griet with the intent that he will have her for himself before it is finished. She must somehow secretly pose for the crucial painting without the knowledge of Vermeer’s wife, avoid Van Ruijven’s grasp, and protect herself from the cruel gossip of the world of a 17th century servant.

I think the movie managed perfectly to translate the mood from the book to the screen. Plus, every film with Colin Firth in it automatically gets a benevolent treatment from me.

3. Lord of the Rings

I don’t think I have to post a summary for this one, do I? Whoever doesn’t know what these 3 films are about must have lived in a cave or something for the last 10 years or so.

The book is one of my all-time favorites and I was actually quite convinced that it just wasn’t humanly possible to translate the sweeping grandeur of the story on to the screen. Peter Jackson proved me wrong and I gladly bow to his genius. Those movies deserved every single Oscar they won, and then some.

4. Cider House Rules

imdb-summary:

Homer is an orphan in remote St. Cloud, Maine. Never adopted, he becomes the favorite of orphanage director Dr. Larch, who imparts his full medical knowledge on Homer, who becomes a skilled, albeit unlicensed, physician. But Homer yearns for a self-chosen life outside the orphanage. When Wally and pregnant Candy visit the orphanage Dr. Larch provides medically safe, albeit illegal, abortions Homer leaves with them to work on Wally’s family apple farm. Wally goes off to war, leaving Homer and Candy alone together. What will Homer learn about life and love in the cider house? What of the destiny that Dr. Larch has planned for him?

John Irving is among my favorite writers and “The Cider House Rules” is one of my favorite books by him (THE favorite is “A Prayer for Owen Meany”). I’m not much of a fan of Tobey Maguire, although I don’t mind him much either. But Michael Caine is the real reason why I love to watch this film again from time to time.

5. Batman Begins and The Dark Knight

Yes, I am aware that these are not exactly “book adaptions” in the strictest sense. But I count graphical novels, a.k.a. comics, as books here anyway. I can hardly leave two of the most amazing movies of the last couple of years off this list.

You see, the thing is, I am not even a big fan of comics. I am trying to develop a taste for them, because I certainly do admire the artistry, but in many cases – Batman comics being among them – they are just a little bit unsatisfying, because they are over too quickly and I am left craving more story, more character development, more descriptions – basically more of everything.

And that’s exactly why I have to include those two movies in this list. Because only after watching those movies do I actually understand that there is more to the Batman comics than just pretty pictures of a guy in a cape and with cool gadgets. These movies had everything I missed in the original comics.

6. Stardust

imdb-summary:

In the 1800’s, the clumsy teenager Tristan Thorn crosses the wall in the border of his town to the magic realm of Stormhold to bring a fallen star to his beloved Victoria, a spoiled girl that does not love him but has promised to marry him if he accomplishes his promise. In the fantasy kingdom, he meets the star Yvaine and imprisons her with a magic rope, promising to release her after meeting Victoria. Yvaine was hit by the magic ruby of the evil King of Stormhold that has promised his throne to the son that could find the stone. Meanwhile, three evil witches led by Lamia seek Yvaine to eat her heart and make them young again, and the two sons of the dead king also search Ivaine because she wears the necklace with the powerful ruby.

Again, falling in love with this movie totally surprised me. I adore Neil Gaiman’s books, but since there are so many magical elements in them I always have a hard time believing they are translatable to film. This one especially with its fairytale story could have gone horribly wrong. But luckily it turned out fantastic, not least because of all the great actors involved. Claire Danes especially was gorgeous as the fallen star Yvaine. And not to forget Robert DeNiro in a fantastic role as Captain Shakespeare. Bloody hilarious.

7. A Boy and His Dog

imdb-summary:

A post-apocalyptic tale based on a novella by Harlan Ellison. A boy communicates telepathically with his dog as they scavenge for food and sex, and they stumble into an underground society where the old society is preserved. The daughter of one of the leaders of the community seduces and lures him below, where the citizens have become unable to reproduce because of being underground so long. They use him for impregnation purposes, and then plan to be rid of him.

Another oldie. Apparently, there are several versions of this film. I watched the one from 1975 (the year I was born), starring a very young Don Johnson. Normally I rarely bother to watch such old movies, because I usually end up hating them anyway. The cheesy special effects, the overblown acting style and all that normally is just not my cup of tea.

The reason I watched this one was my love for dystopian fiction and the fact that I couldn’t manage to get my hands on the original story by Harlan Ellison. I fully expected to hate the film, but surprisingly I quite enjoyed it. It is certainly one of the stranger films I have ever seen, and I wouldn’t exactly go as far as saying it’s a good one. But it is certainly entertaining, in a twisted kind of way. But then again, maybe that’s just me.

8. I Am Legend

imdb-summary:

Robert Neville is a scientist who was unable to stop the spread of the terrible virus that was incurable and man-made. Immune, Neville is now the last human survivor in what is left of New York City and perhaps the world. For three years, Neville has faithfully sent out daily radio messages, desperate to find any other survivors who might be out there. But he is not alone. Mutant victims of the plague — The Infected — lurk in the shadows… watching Neville’s every move… waiting for him to make a fatal mistake. Perhaps mankind’s last, best hope, Neville is driven by only one remaining mission: to find a way to reverse the effects of the virus using his own immune blood. But he knows he is outnumbered… and quickly running out of time.

Again, this is the remake of the remake of the adaption of a shortstory. And for once I think the movie is way better than the original story – or would be, if it wasn’t for the botched ending. I didn’t like the original story at all when I read it after watching the movie, but I have to admit that the ending of the story does make a lot more sense in the light of the title.

9. The Shining

imdb-summary:

A man, his son and wife become the winter caretakers of an isolated hotel where Danny, the son, sees disturbing visions of the hotel’s past using a telepathic gift known as “The Shining”. The father, Jack Torrance, is underway in a writing project when he slowly slips into insanity as a result of cabin fever and former guests of the hotels ghost’s. After being convinced by a waiter’s ghost to “correct” the family, Jack goes completely insane. The only thing that can save Danny and his mother is “The Shining”.

One thing you have to know about me: I don’t have nightmares. Ever. Or maybe I have them and then just don’t remember them when I wake up, who cares. The point is, even though I can be scared shitless when I’m awake, I don’t lose sleep over scary movies or books.

Stephen King’s book “The Shining” was mildly scary when I read it as a teenager, but it didn’t impress me all that much in the end. But watching Jack Nicholson lose it in this movie? Scared the shit out of me. This was actually the first time that I was afraid to close my eyes at night for fear of nightmares. (Incidentally, it was also the last time, since I slept like a baby anyway and just figured worrying about nightmares is a waste of time for me.) From that point on Jack Nicholson to me was the definition of a very scary deranged guy. Until Heath Ledger came along and completely upstaged him in “The Dark Knight”.

10. Pet Sematary

imdb-summary:

The Creeds have just moved to a new house in the countryside. Their house is perfect, except for two things: the semi-trailers that roar past on the narrow road, and the mysterious cemetary in the woods behind the house. The Creed’s neighbours are reluctant to talk about the cemetary, and for good reason too.

“Pet Sematary” was the first book by Stephen King that I ever read. I must have been in my early teens and I clearly remember finding it scary and fun. Entertaining enough to turn me into a devoted King-fan.

Now, everybody knows that adaptions of King’s books more often than not end up being total crap. One could argue that “Pet Sematary” falls into the same category. It is noticably different from the book in some regards, mainly in that it is way funnier. I’m not quite sure if that was intentional, but I certainly laughed out loud a couple of times, especially when Victor, the dead guy, turns up. Even though he deoesn’t look too pretty with his brains being all smashed up and running down the side of his head, I nevertheless had a huge crush on the guy when I saw the movie for the first time. What can I say, I have strange taste in men.

11. Chocolat

imdb-summary:

Vianne Rocher and her young daughter are drifters who are met with skepticism and resistance when they move to a conservative town in rural France and open a chocolate shop during Lent. As Vianne begins to work her magic and help those around her, the townspeople are soon won-over by her exuberance and her delicious chocolates – except for the mayor, who is determined to shut her down. When a group of river drifters visit the town, Vianne teaches the townspeople something about acceptance, and finds love for herself along the way.

This is an adaption of one of Joanne Harris’ books, it’s about chocolate, and it has got Johnny Depp, Juliette Binoche and Judi Dench in it. What more could a movie need? Nothing, as far as I am concerned.

Again, the story in the movie is altered from the book – and I really wonder why they always have to do that – but in this case the deviation is not too bothersome. The story still flows. Defnitely a film to be watched repeatedly, curled up on the couch with a cup of hot chocolate.

13. Nobody’s Fool

imdb-summary:

Sully is a rascally ne’er-do-well approaching retirement age. While he is pressing a worker’s compensation suit for a bad knee, he secretly works for his nemesis, Carl, and flirts with Carl’s young wife Toby. Sully’s long- forgotten son and family have moved back to town, so Sully faces unfamiliar family responsibilities. Meanwhile, Sully’s landlady’s banker son plots to push through a new development and evict Sully from his mother’s life.

Richard Russo’s books are full of lovable loser characters and this one of no different. Sully is certainly not exactly a role-model for how one should live his life, but I would definitely get along with him fantastically. That he is portrayed by the phenomenal Paul Newman doesn’t hurt either. How could this guy be still this hot at his age? Must be the blue eyes. Very entertaining movie in any case.

12. Empire Falls

imdb-summary:

A story about the intricacies of small town, blue-collar American life, centered around the misadventures of one, Miles Roby, manager of the Empire Grill. Trapped within the confines of Empire Falls, Maine since the death of his mother, Miles has been unable to sever his many ties to his dilapidated hometown, including his reformed brother, his lay-about father, his soon-to-be-ex-wife, and their intelligent, if awkward daughter, Tick.

All right, this one is not a movie, but a 4-part t.v. series. But it is still a book adaption, so I feel free to include it here. Again, the book was written by Richard Russo, and again Paul Newman is in it. 11 years older, but still as charming as hell. It’s a quiet little film about normal people – no superheroes here, nor big action scenes or the like – but that’s exactly what makes it so remarkable and rewatchable.

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So much from me. What are your favorite book adaptions? I’m always happy about good tips.

Oh, one more thing: I made some new T13 headers and reorganized my header collection. Have a look around and tell me what you think, if you have time.

This week I had a bit of trouble coming up with a topic for my book list. Turns out I could make lots of lists about the books I read, but almost none of them would have 13 entries.  But with not taking the tpoic too literally I finally decided on this:

13 non-fiction books I read last year

1. Tim Ferriss – The 4 Hour Work Week

It took me a while to get around to this book after I read so much about it in dozens of blogs after it came out. In the end I opted for the audio version to be able to listen to it while driving. Ferriss propagates an interesting concept, which probably works for a few people, but I am definitely not one of them. Interesting book anyway.

2. David Allen – Getting Things Done

Another one of those bestsellers that turned into something of a bible for many people. Again, I chose the audio version and again I was impressed with the concept, but it’s not for me either. I am just not that organized and I don’t even want to be. My mind works differently and all these lists and folders and stuff just seem too rigid and, frankly, quite exhausting to maintain. But nevertheless I took some good advice on the more general aspects of getting organized away from this book.

3. Jeremy Rifkin – Das Ende der Arbeit/The End of Work

I stumbled upon this one in my local library (in german, of course). Had never heard of Rifkin before, although I gather he is a pretty well-known analyst and author. Not really my kind of topic normally, but since I am trying to decide what to do with the rest of my life right now, it grabbed my interest. Rifkin’s prognosis is not exactly comforting, but then again, neither is reality.

4. Hingston, Balfour – Home Office/Working from Home

Having been unemployed and unable to find a normal job for the past 4 years now I am starting to think about working from home and becoming self-employed. This is the first of several books I have read last year about this topic.

5. Holm Friebe, Sascha Lobo – Wir nennen es Arbeit

I don’t think this book is available in english yet. Literally translated, the title means “We call it work”. It’s about what the authors call the “digital bohéme” – freelancers, artists, whatever – who make their living outside of the traditional corporate structures. I don’t count myself as one of them, but since traditional jobs are kind of hard to come by nowadays, I will have to think at least into the general direction of such a lifestyle.

6. Andreas Lutz – Businessplan

Well, that one kind of explains itself. Our local library has quite a collection of such books and I have read a couple of them. Not sure if I am much closer to ever actually writing a viable businessplan. Not sure if I will ever need to, either. But it’s sure been interesting to learn how to.

But enough already about the business books.

7. Alan Weisman – The World Without Us

The premise of this book is: what would happen to the earth if human beings all vanished overnight?

Those who know me know that this scenario is my favorite daydream, so there was no chance in hell I could pass up this book once I learned of its existence. If you have ever watched the BBC documenatry “Life After People” you will have an inkling what Weisman writes about: the crumbling of every man-made structure, the decay of each and every trace of human life, the way nature takes over again, but also the lingering time-bombs we would leave behind. Wonderful reading to me, since if this really happens some day, I will by definition not be able to watch it personally and I find it nice to be able to quench my curiosity beforehand.

8. David Vise – The Google Story

Another library find. Even though I’m a big fan of Google products, I also have ambivalent feelings about the trustability of such a fast-growing company. They pretty much take over the internet nowadays, which can’t be a good thing. The book, even though it is not my usual reading choice, turned out to be quite fascinating. I’m not sure if my worries have been alleviated by it, but it sure was interesting to peek “behind the scenes” a bit.

9. Joyce Carol Oates – The Faith of a Writer

Funnily, I have never read any of Oates’s fiction, so I have no idea how good a writer she actually is, but I quite enjoyed her book about the craft of writing. But then again, I usually tend to enjoy books about writing, even if I don’t know the author’s own work. This one stands only as an example of 3 or 4 writing-themed books I read last year.

10. Randy Pausch – The Last Lecture

I have written before about how impressed and touched I was by Randy Pausch’s Last Lecture and the life-lessons he imparted with it. If you have seen the video, you won’t find all that much that’s new in this book – it’s essentially just a slightly expanded version of what he said in the lecture. But it is still worth reading it even if you know the video.

Well, and that brings us to the atheist reading section of this list. After I read Richard Dawkins’ “The God Delusion” last year (which I generally liked, even though I had a few problems with his overly preachy and zealous attitude), I tried a few other books that are often mentioned in the same context.

11. Christopher Hitchens – God is Not Great

Well, if you thought Dawkins is polemic and a bit over the top, you will probably be disgusted by Hitchens. He is a bit wearying with his attacks on religion in general and followers of any kind of faith. I really do agree with the central tenet that religion, especially organized religion, is not a good thing and mainly it’S all a big bag of lies and as such pathetic and dangerous, if taken to extremes. But I really don’t get why Dawkins and Hitchens have to be so fucking militant about it. Do they really think they will convince people of their theses by offending them and pretty much calling them morons for believing in something that is so blatantly stupid and unfounded and whatnot? I really don’t think so. Mainly they’re just preaching to the choir. I mean, as a fellow atheist it is nice to know that I am not alone in my incredulity, that there are more people out there who see religion as fairytales for grown-ups. But I had hoped for a more constructive approach to the discussion. This book is clearly not it.

12. Sam Harris – The End of Faith

Sam Harris’ writing is more what I had been looking for. Yes, he speaks basically the same truths as Dawkins and Hitchens, but he does so in a much more civil manner. He’s not just putting down everybody who honestly believes in religion, but instead opens up a discussion, underlining his opinions with facts and displaying an impressive kowledge of the Bible that is hard to argue with. I’m not saying he is perfect, because he can’t refrain from taking a few cheap shots either. But he is certainly less radical in his views than Hitchens or Dawkins. I know that many people who call themselves religious won’t want to hear what he has to say, but anybody who gives the book a fair chance has to admit that he at least makes sense. If you agree with his opinion or not is a different matter.

13. Sam Harris – Letter to a Christian Nation

This book, as I understand it, was written as a kind of follow-up for “The End of Faith”. He cites quite a few comments made on the first book here and goes on to refute them, aiming especially at Americans this time. Very entertaining, and in many parts enlightening, reading – if, that is, you’re not one of “them”.

That’s it with the 13 books I promised, but and as an added bonus I just have to mention:

Julia Sweeney – Letting go of God

This is not a book, but a show, of which I heard the audio version. And contrary to many of the male atheist authors, Julia Sweeney is not the least bit preachy, but brings her point across in a funny manner (well, ok, I take it this is a comedy show, so that’s probably not much of a surprise). The show is awesome and hilarious. I think, if the so-called “serious” atheist authors showed a bit more humor they would be able to convince many more people that religion is ridiculous and laughable than they do by their fervent sermons that point out that every believer is a fool. But maybe that’s just me.

Just like I did last January for 2007, I’d like to showcase a few of the books I have read last year. And I might as well do it in the form of a T13.

I managed to read 122 books in 2008. That’s 25 less than 2007 and I can’t even say why. The fact that I spent the whole of November writing my own book might have something to do with it. Naturally, there were a few new authors I discovered, and also a few disappointments. If I haven’t miscounted there were only 9 books I didn’t bother to finish, which is quite a good ratio, considering how ruthless I am nowadays, if a book doesn’t manage to grab my attention within the first 50 – 70 pages.

This first part of my review I want to dedicate to the pleasant memories, so here you have

my favorite books of 2008:

(And even though I numbered them they are not in a particular order.)

13. Steph Swainston – No Present Like Time

This is the sequel to “The Year of Our War”, which I read last year. Very original and interesting fantasy. I can’t wait for the next installment in the series.

12. Connie Willis – Doomsday Book

Another all-time favorite author of mine. This is not my favorite book by her, but it’s still a fantastic read. Although I have to say, I am a bit disappointed in the boring cover design. Her books really deserve better.

11. Jasper Fforde – The Fourth Bear

It’s not the Thursday Next Series, but the Nursery Crime Division books at least take place in the same kind of world and are just as hilariously funny. Plus, I am always impressed with the strange and quirky ideas Fforde comes up with.

10. Octavia E. Butler – Wild Seed

I only discovered Octavia E. Butler’s books this year (“Dawn” was the first one I read) and shortly later heard that she had died. I am deeply impressed with her work and one of my goals for this year is to try to find her other books as well.

9. Walter M. Miller – A Canticle for Leibowitz

Well, dystopian fiction is still my favorite genre, and this is one of the classics. Contrary to other classics with this one I actually understand why it got that status.

8. Neil Gaiman – Neverwhere

With this book Neil Gaiman finally ascended into the Olymp of my all-time favorite writers. I continue to be amazed and impressed and in love with his books. The next one on my shopping list is “The Graveyard Book”, about which I have heard only good things as well.

7. Markus Zusak – The Book Thief

You know the hype there was about this book? For once it’s really justified. I normally hate books about World War II and Nazi Germany, but this one I love with all my heart. Can’t wait to get my hands on Zusak’s next book.

6. Michael Marshall Smith – One of Us

Just like Gaiman, Smith is one of my all-time favorites. The man can do no wrong in my eyes and this book again proved it. Fantastic read.

5. Scott Westerfeld – Pretties,  Specials

Part 2 and 3 of the Uglies-Trilogy, which is already a quartet, if I am informed correctly. Just as good as the first part. Westerfeld made it into my “I will read everything with his name on the cover”-category.

4. Michel Faber – The Crimson Petal and the White

Now this one was a surprise, considering all the praise I had heard about it before. I was prepared for a let-down, but I couldn’t put it down again. More than 800 pages of tiny script and I read it in two sittings, because it was just that good. I am very curious to check out Faber’s other books now.

3. John Connolly – The Book of Lost Things

Another surprise. I don’t remember why I signed up for the bookring on Bookcrossing, but I am very glad I did. A fairy-tale world that sucked me in right from the start.

2. P.G. Wodehouse – Right Ho, Jeeves (and others)

Well, talk about new discoveries. I don’t know how I went this long without a book by Wodehouse falling into my hands, but I definitely missed out on something. I picked this one up, because Hugh Laurie once mentioned his love for Wodehouse’s writing. As a big Hugh Laurie fan (and a fan of his writing) I decided I had to check Wodehouse out. Well, I’d like to thank Hugh Laurie for changing my life.

1. Margaret Atwood – Oryx and Crake

Dystopian fiction by a well-respected writer. You know, not just some science fiction hack that intellectual people don’t take seriously, but a real literary writer, whatever that means. Damn good reading in any case.

Since the original Thursday Thirteen site unfortunately is out of commission, come and play along at the new and shiny T13-headquarters. I’m glad somebody took it over, otherwise I would have felt like I had to.

I was already halfway ready to take down my T13 header collection, but since the folks at the new headquarters were nice enough to put a link to them in their sidebar, I guess I can still leave them were they are and might even make some new ones just for the hell of it.