msjamgochian'sinfinitebooklist

I'm not a team sports enthusiast. Truly, I'm vehemently anti-athletics of the team variety, since, among more virtuous geopolitical reasons, they remind me of being tortured by jocks as a new wave teen. Still, I relished Bachelder's book, because it isn't really about organized sport. Rather, it's a near-scientific observation of twenty-two men in the throes of middle life who have gathered annually for the last sixteen years to reenact Joe Theismann's 1985 leg-shattering play, known as "The Throwback Special," laced with heavy doses of bittersweet humor - a favorite flavor of mine. Those of you who miss the pleasure of eavesdropping on humans conversing in public spaces* will appreciate the low- and high-brow overheard philosophical gems sprinkled throughout the work as the men, largely begrudgingly, prepare for a ritual many of them are no longer emotionally invested in. Reading it felt like the best kind of being invisible: reader as witness to a c...

Looking for love in unusual places? I've assembled a group of picks that aren't your standard romance fare - although if it is cheesy romance that you need, I'll gladly be your supplier. In the historical fiction category are three unforgettable love stories, all of which happened to win the Booker prize: Richard Flanagan's heartwrenching The Narrow Road to the Deep North, A.S. Byatt's sumptuous and suspenseful Possession; and Peter Carey's unforgettable tale of misfit love, Oscar and Lucinda. In the YA lit arena, three sad love stand-outs all evolve around mixed race romance; Ashley Hope Perez's Out of Darkness, Jodi Lynn Anderson's Tigerlily, and Martha Brockenbrough's The Game of Love and Death will make your heart hurt just the right way. Only have time for a little love? Check out David Levithan's love lexicon, The Lover's Dictionary, Junot Diaz's smart and funny This is How You Lose Her, or Carlos Fuentes' thinly-veiled trib...

Sometimes when struggling to complete a piece of writing, you discover something that facilitates procrastination in exciting new ways. While trying to finish the screenplay for her much-anticipated second film, Ms. July found herself reading the ubiquitous Pennysaver classifieds during longer and longer lunches. Eventually, she contacted some of the strangers with items for sale, and circuitously found the ending for her screenplay (not to mention an unforgettable actor who wound up playing himself in the film). Her home visits to the Pennysaver crew feel like prolonged eavesdropping on a public bus and are just as entertaining. An excellent holiday gift for Miranda July fans.

This addictive lexicon adeptly and poetically defines love through a series of small moments. Each entry details another realization, from the couple's beginnings (autonomy, n. "I want my books to have their own shelves," you said, and that's how I knew it would be okay to live together), to their romantic decline (dispel, v. It was the way you said," I have something to tell you." I could feel the magic drain from the room.) Levithan illustrates the unease of giving up too much (reservation, n. There are times when I worry that I've already lost myself... that my self is so inseparable from being with you that if we were to separate, I would no longer be) and the inevitable giving in (balk, v. I was the one who said we should live together. And even as I was doing it, I knew this would mean that I would be the one to blame if it all went wrong...) A gorgeous book, not to be missed. Click here for a full review and dont' miss Mr. Levithan's twi...