Pink is the New Blog | Everybody's Business Is My Business » Books

Trick Or ‘Retreat’

It's Trent, Bitch! — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 19:46:12 +0000

In the wake of the stunning development in the Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season 8 comic book series, concerning the SHOCKING reveal of the Big Bad known as Twilight, you may recall that I recently dug out all of my BtVS graphic novels so that I could catch up on what’s been goin’ on in the Buffyverse leading up to the Twilight storyline. Yesterday Buffy the Vampire Slayer – Season Vol 6: Retreat arrived in my mailbox and I got right down to reading the first bit of the graphic novel:

OOOOH man … I am LOVING Season 8 of Buffy. I need to finish this graphic novel so I can get totally caught up again but the whole Twilight thing is just … genius. Joss Whedon, I do love you. I know I should’ve spent my night reading the current Turtle Party: Book Club selection (which I announced yesterday) but the siren call of Buffy the Vampire Slayer was too much to ignore. Wee!!

No plans for tonight … but I’m anxious to get out of the house. It’s cool today but sunny … I’m gonna try and make the most of it. Um, how is it Wednesday again so soon? Oy!

What Up World, It’s Your Book ‘Sway’

It's Trent, Bitch! — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 19:18:32 +0000

Last night was the latest meeting of The Turtle Party: Book Club where we discussed our thoughts on our last book, No One Belongs Here More Than You by Miranda July which was chosen last month by our dear Amelia. Unfortch, last night’s meeting was Amelia’s last beause she is going abroad for the next few months. We loved the book and we LOVE Amelia and we will anxiously await her return home :)

The duty fell to Jason to select our next book so we went with his choice Sway: The Irresistible Pull of Irrational Behavior by Ori and Rom Brafman:

We decided to go with something a bit different to read this time. The last book was our first collection of short stories and this book is our first critical thinking book. Sway sounds wholly fascinating and it was voted on by everyone last night … I’ve already downloaded the Kindle version so I can jump right in. Next month’s Turtle Party: Book Club meeting will be pushed back a week to April 11 to accommodate Easter … so plan accordingly all y’all who are reading along with us at home ;)

Other than that … no big plans for the day. It’s cooooold here in LA today. It’ll warm up to the 70s by Thursday but today is a chilly one. It’s a perfect day for reading :D

Abe-y The Vampire Slayer

It's Trent, Bitch! — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 21:10:57 +0000

Last night was a pretty quiet night … altho I didn’t get those “things around the house” completed (or even started, so laundry this afternoon — I swear it!) I did manage to get one thing accomplished. I made my way out to Book Soup to pick up a copy of Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter autographed by author Seth Grahame-Smith:

As you may be aware, Grahame-Smith is also the author of Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, which Natalie Portman is making into a film. Lincoln: Vampire Hunter may have *just* been released in stores but it’s already been optioned to become a movie. I understand Tim Burton is going to adapt the novel for the big screen. I’ve not read the book yet but I’m really looking forward to … especially after watching the book’s video trailer (yes, this book has a video trailer):

Awesome, right? So yeah … that’s all I did last night. No plans for tonight either … there’s that laundry I mentioned … and mebbe some reading?

Mr. ‘Sandman’

It's Trent, Bitch! — Thu, 25 Feb 2010 20:17:16 +0000

Just as I suspected, last night’s rain drizzle did a great job of keeping me indoors … so I curled up with my Sandman graphic novels and managed to read my way thru many of them all last night:

While these beautiful hardbound copies of The Absolute Sandman and The Absolute Death sat on my bookshelf, I re-read my way thru my beloved dog-eared paperback graphic novel books. I should be done with the whole series (again) very soon and then I plan to read Absolute Death. I still have a lot of other reading to get thru (including this month’s selection for The Turtle Party: Book Club) but I’ve been in such a Neil Gaiman way these days. It’s very easy to want to say lost among the Endless:

I’m very happy to report that it is, once again, sunny and warm here in SoCal today … which means, I’m gonna get out there and soak up the sun! Hope it’s sunny and warm wherever you are!! WEE!

Rihanna Releases A Book Titled ‘Rihanna’

It's Trent, Bitch! — Sat, 20 Feb 2010 17:12:12 +0000

Rihanna, known for her funky style and fashionable bravery, will be releasing a book of photographs this Summer that will feature some of her various fashion looks in a photobook titled Rihanna (edited by photographer Simon Henwood). If you are a Rihanna fan, then this book is for you. Here is our first look at the cover of Rihanna along with the full book description:

The official visual chronicle of the year’s “it” girl as she embarks on her first solo tour. The millions of sites tracking her every fashion move, the innumerable magazine covers including the recent Italian Vogue shot by Steven Klein, her past endorsement deals including Gucci and CoverGirl—Rihanna is the reigning style icon of the moment. She has garnered multiplatinum–selling success as an artist (her current album, her fourth, Rated R had the highest first-week sales of any of her other albums in the U.S. to date), including Grammys, MTV Video Music Awards, and countless other awards for her performances. Creative director Simon Henwood captures the supernova at the height of her beauty and ferocity in hundreds of photographs that track her enormous influence on current trends and interaction with the world of fashion—from her performances in the most cutting-edge couture (such as Gaultier and Chanel, as well as in pieces from museum collections), to her relationships with the unknown but up-and-coming designers she personally champions, to her fashion shoot with Ellen von Unwerth in Berlin for her album artwork. This is a visually arresting capsule of one of the world’s most talked-about artists of the year.

I think we’re all well-aware that Rihanna has made a career out of taking fashion risks and this book sounds like the perfect place to see many of those (in)famous looks in one place. As I mentioned above, this book seems geared toward diehard Ri Ri fans so haters need not apply. This book sounds fab … is it something that you think YOU might like to pick up?

[Source]

In ‘Gods’ We Trust

It's Trent, Bitch! — Tue, 16 Feb 2010 19:57:23 +0000

BLAHHHHHHH! So, my day yesterday was totally shot … thanks to the ineptness of UPS. Long story short, they were due to deliver a piece of furniture from Pottery Barn … which I spent all day tracking. The status read “OUT FOR DELIVERY” all day long and the deliver never arrived. The status date was not updated this morning which got me worried. I called them and found out, OH — THEY LOST THE PARCEL! Then the UPS lady told me about how there needed to be an investigation to find it … which had me wondering, when might I expect to receive my furniture — she had no answer. Thankfully, the kind folks at Pottery Barn are rushing out a replacement piece which will likely arrive before the lost one does. It’s possible the lost parcel may be delivered today but, I’m no longer holding my breath :(

At least the Pottery Barn folks care about customer service, which is why I am happy to buy from them.

The only bright side to yesterday’s fiasco was that I had a lot of time to finish reading American Gods by Neil Gaiman:

I’ve read the book before when it was published in ‘01 but I had a hankering to read it again … wow, it is such a fantastic book. Gods reminded me how masterful a storyteller Neil Gaiman is. It also reminded me why he is my fave contemporary author. I plan to read Anansi Boys soon but I want to re-read Gaiman’s entire Sandman comic book series first:

It’s been ages since I’ve read the entire series, so that’s my plan.

I’m still totally annoyed by UPS tho, now I’m worried that if I leave today I’ll miss the package delivery … GRRRRR.

Neil Gaiman Comes To UCLA

It's Trent, Bitch! — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 20:28:57 +0000

As you may recall, I passed along last month the news that my fave contemporary author Neil Gaiman would be appearing at UCLA for a UCLA Live event in February and last night was the night. I was lucky enough to attend Gaiman’s reading last night and had an absolutely amazing time:

Charming as ever, Neil delighted the sold out Royce Hall last night … telling stories and reading from his amazing body of work. He read a chapter from his last book The Graveyard Book and also read a chapter from his current book Odd and the Frost Giants. The highlight for me, tho, was a poem he read titled Instructions that will be included in a new book that is due out later this year. It is an absolute pleasure hearing this man read his work aloud … I hope Gaiman will be coming to your city in the near future because, I’m telling you, he is utterly fantastic.

His reading last night reminded me that I had yet to read his latest release Odd and the Frost Giants, much to my chagrin:

So I managed to read it in full last night. It’s a fantastic read … about a crippled boy who helps the Norse gods save the city of Asgard from the Frost Giants. It’s a short book, a quick read and utterly charming through and through. Neil Gaiman is such a talent, we are very lucky to have his stories.

Also last night, David’s oldest sister Lara arrived for the weekend … his brother Aram arrives this evening … and then the weekend officially gets underway. Rain or shine, this weekend is gonna rock. Have a good one, y’all!!

The ‘Belong’-ing

It's Trent, Bitch! — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 20:25:28 +0000

Last night was the latest meeting of The Turtle Party: Book Club and it was, quite probably, the most exciting and fun meeting we’ve ever had. While some folks were not able to finish reading The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay by Michael Chabon, the folks who did read it loved it entirely. I believe it was the highest rated book that we’ve read thus far. The duty fell to Amelia to bring in 3 selections for the group to vote on to read as our next book and after much debate, the decision came down to a tie between two books. After we asked our followers on Twitter to help us pick our next book, it was determined that we will be reading the short story collection No One Belongs Here More Than You by Miranda July:

I’m excited that our next book is a collection of short stories, I think it will make for a spirited discussion when we meet next. We decided to change up our meeting schedule a bit … instead of meeting every other Tuesday, we’ve decided to meet only once a month on the first Sunday of the month. Our next official meeting to discuss the book will be Sunday March 7 where we will discuss No One Belongs and then select our next book to read.

After our raucous meeting, we all stayed together to watch Lost … which was very fun, if a bit confusing and very lively for pretty much everyone … well, save for one of us. We had a great time last night, I love my fellow Turtle Partiers.

Today, we clean … we will be hosting David’s brother Aram this weekend to celebrate his birthday so we start cleaning our pit today. Wee, I can’t wait. /sarcasm

Kirsten Returns To Oz

It's Trent, Bitch! — Tue, 02 Feb 2010 20:41:54 +0000

Yesterday afternoon I got to spend a bit more time with my dear Aussie Kirsten before she had to pack up her bags and return home to Australia where she will be attending medical school. I seriously love that woman and I wanted to spend just a bit more time with her before I had to say goodbye … here is the last Polaroid we snapped before she jetted back home to Oz last night:

As sad as I am that she has to leave, I’m so excited for her new opportunity back home. Not only will she be embarking on a whole new career but she will be closer to her family and friends … who, I’m sure, miss her terribly. We’re hoping to get Kiki back in the States over the Summer and we are hoping to visit her in Australia for New Year’s Eve. I miss and love her but this is a great move for her.

After hanging with Kirsten, I grabbed a bite to eat at Sashi with my homie g-dawg Josh Z. in Manhattan Beach, CA before returning home to my neck of the woods. I’ve been spending a lot of time near the beach lately, I can deffo see the appeal of living there.

Oh, I also picked up a new book yesterday … if you are interested, find out what I’m reading now after the jump …

I mentioned in THIS post that I am planning to read the Alice in Wonderland stories before I see the film in theaters next month. I want to mention that the copy of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll that I picked up is published by Barnes & Noble and looks like this:

Trust me, the book looks even cooler in real life than it does in these photos. Early last month I managed to pick up a B&N published version of Anne Rice’s The Vampire Chronicles (Interview with the Vampire, The Vampire Lestat and Queen of the Damed) as well:

These books are really amazing ones to have in your library. There are a few more I want to pick up (The Complete Sherlock Holmes by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Seven Novels by H.G. Wells and The Arabian Nights) and I suggest if you’re a fan of these books, you should visit your local B&N while they’re still in stock. I understand that online supplies are out for some of the good ones. Anyways, I know there are book fans out there so I figured I’d pass along this info. I’m not sure if any of y’all remember the B&N published books they put out in the 90’s but these are of much better quality.

In other book news, The Turtle Party: Book Club meets tonight so we’ll be discussing Chabon’s Kavalier & Clay and will be selecting our next book. Reading is fun!!

RuPaul Releases A New Book Titled ‘Workin’ It!’

It's Trent, Bitch! — Fri, 29 Jan 2010 21:58:46 +0000

The always fabulous RuPaul is releasing a new book next Tuesday titled Workin’ It! which is more than just a book about style, it’s also a fierce guidebook for living fabulous thru life’s little bumps. Here is the cover of Ru’s new book and a brief description of what the book is all about:

More than just a style guide, this is a navigation system through the bumpy road of life. Let RuPaul teach you the tried, tested and found true techniques that will propel you from background player to shining star! No more playing small, your time is now! “Workin’ It!” will provide helpful and provocative tips on fashion, beauty, style and confidence for girls and boys, straight and gay – and everyone in between! No one knows more about life, self-expression and style than RuPaul! With photos by Mathu Andersen from the new season of RuPaul’s Drag Race and a fresh look at style and inner beauty, “Workin’ It!” will pick up where the show leaves off. The book will be as colourful, fun, and intriguing as RuPaul, with insights into makeup, clothing choices and the illusion of drag. Fans of RuPaul will get piece of Ru’s philosophy on style and attitude – and how it’s more than the clothes that make the man, or woman! With fabulous colour photos throughout and a fresh, funky design “Workin’ It!” will be the perfect guide to RuPaul – part style guide, part confidence manifesto, and entirely fabulous!

RuPaul, who is a huge fan of Pink is the new Blog, recorded a short video message especially for Pink readers. After the jump, check out Ru’s message for YOU …

I’ve been lucky enough to score an early review copy of this book and it is really fun, full of amazingly fantastic photos of RuPaul shot by photographer Mathu Andersen. Click HERE to preview the book yourselves online. Click HERE to order your copy from Amazon. Don’t forget, my girl RuPaul’s second season of RuPaul’s Drag Race premieres Monday night on LOGO! Everyone needs a bit of fabulosity in their lives … everyone needs a bit of RuPaul in their lives ;) Order now!!

[Source]