(I've not been around, I've been blogging on Videogum.com and boy is my everything tired! Go there, things are good there!)
There are two excellent books I've been meaning to plug (but neither needs it, they're absolutely everywhere!) I want to write long things about each of them, but I'm exhausted, so just please take my word for it (and, you know, everyone else's) as a person who's always looking for good books to read, that you can't do better than:
Rapture Ready!: Adventures in the Parallel Universe of Christian Pop Culture
Longtime genius blogger Daniel Radosh travels the country talking to Christian bands, comedians, actors, mascots, kitsch-peddlers, etc, and getting into funny scrapes along the way. The genius of this book is the way Radosh balances his own fish out of water (for lack of a less cliched term) perspective with his genuine respect and empathy for people who don't share his worldview. That said, the funniest parts of the book are when Daniel Gets Mad. (Favorite chapter: Daniel fills in as an actor in a Passion Play at a Christian theme park, and singlehandedly tries to redeem his People from centuries of misunderstanding.)
Also, they've made a really cool site with an appendix so you can see people and places from the book.
I Was Told There'd Be Cake
That fawning "Most popular publicist" profile was good press, but it only distracts from the charm of the actual book, which is funny and original and refreshingly almost totally not about dating. If you've been waiting for a book about the inner life of a woman who thinks about Things Other Than Boys And Clothes, here it is. I read it in one uninterrupted afternoon and couldn't put it down. I still maintain that Sloane never had more than two plastic ponies in her drawer (CrosleyGate '08) but if you want a real reason to be jealous of the girl, which I clearly am, (and enormously entertained by her), read this book. Also, the website is amazing.
But don't take my word for it! Look for both of these books on Best of 2008 lists in December.
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