December 2010
Happy End of 2010!
Sorry for radio silence! En route to Toronto for Glorious Traditional New Year’s Eve Festivities: My cousins start making cheese fondue, realize they are out of Kirsch, begin frantically driving around Toronto looking for an open liquor store which hasn’t already sold all their Kirsch to people making fondue, find the Kirsch, make the fondue, eat the fondue, and then commence the...
Dec 31st
16 notes
The Lazy Self-Indulgent Book Reviewer's New Year's...
1.  When I wake up in the middle of the night and have to go to the bathroom, I’m going to get up right away, instead of thinking the need will eventually pass, and then lying there for four hours unable to sleep. That is all. Note that this has been my resolution for the last two years.  Because biting my nails is here to stay.
Dec 30th
42 notes
The Joy of Cooking, Irma Rombauer
No one in the history of human existence has ever mentioned using a mandoline to slice anything without the story culminating in “…and then we sat in the emergency room for three hours.”  I mean, I appreciate that you can slice things very finely with them, and everything, but couldn’t we just, like, eat chunkier foods, and not die? Truth.
Dec 30th
36 notes
slthemusical asked: I know you probably already thought this through, but is this contest open to Canadians? Meaning, specifically, if a Canadian wins the Kindle, will they be able to use it...in Canada? Looking forward to writing this kickass essay!
Dec 30th
3 notes
slthemusical asked: I know you probably already thought this through, but is this contest open to Canadians? Meaning, specifically, if a Canadian wins the Kindle, will they be able to use it...in Canada? Looking forward to writing this kickass essay!
Dec 29th
It Is Finished. And, It Begins. Like Jesus. Or...
Shall we meet back here again next year, same time same place?  Less melodramatically than “An Affair To Remember,” perhaps? I want everyone to benefit from these painstakingly mulled-over lists, so please forward to loved ones and say BUY ME THE ONES IN BOLD, or something.  Now, obviously, one or two of these books are Not Actually My Favourites, but I sensed that they would be...
Dec 29th
54 notes
The Personalized Book Recommendation Blitz of...
Necessary disclaimers!   Orson Scott Card is totally homophobic, and don’t read Lionel Shriver if you are pregnant or breastfeeding. Luc Sante, “Low Life” George Saunders, “CivilWarLand in Bad Decline” George Saunders, “Pastoralia” Robert Sawyer, “Starplex” Orson Scott Card, “Ender’s Game” Orson Scott Card, “The...
Dec 29th
48 notes
The Personalized Book Recommendation Blitz of...
As you can tell, everyone’s already READ “Atonement,” I think “Amsterdam” is a touch too contrived, and I heartily regret that no one set me up to recommend “Enduring Love.” Mary Lovell, “The Sisters: The Saga of the Mitford Family” Ann-Marie MacDonald, “Fall On Your Knees” Norman Maclean, “Young Men and Fire” ...
Dec 29th
36 notes
The Personalized Book Recommendation Blitz of...
Browse away, my darlings. Francine Du Plessix Gray, “Them: A Memoir of Parents” Michael Ende, “The Neverending Story” Philip Jose Farmer, “To Your Scattered Bodies Go” William Faulkner, “As I Lay Dying” Timothy Findley, “Headhunter” Timothy Findley, “Not Wanted On The Voyage” Jonathan Franzen, “Freedom” ...
Dec 29th
35 notes
The Personalized Book Recommendation Blitz of...
As you can tell, everyone’s already READ “Atonement,” I think “Amsterdam” is a touch too contrived, and I heartily regret that no one set me up to recommend “Enduring Love.” Mary Lovell, “The Sisters: The Saga of the Mitford Family” Ann-Marie MacDonald, “Fall On Your Knees” Norman Maclean, “Young Men and Fire” ...
Dec 29th
The Personalized Book Recommendation Blitz of...
Necessary disclaimers!   Orson Scott Card is totally homophobic, and don’t read Lionel Shriver if you are pregnant or breastfeeding. Luc Sante, “Low Life” George Saunders, “CivilWarLand in Bad Decline” George Saunders, “Pastoralia” Robert Sawyer, “Starplex” Orson Scott Card, “Ender’s Game” Orson Scott Card, “The...
Dec 29th
The Personalized Book Recommendation Blitz of...
Who loves you, baby? Richard Adams, “Watership Down” Edward Albee, “The Goat, or, Who Is Sylvia?” Lloyd Alexander, “The Chronicles of Prydain” Kate Atkinson, “Case Histories” Margaret Atwood, “Alias Grace” Margaret Atwood, “The Blind Assassin” Margaret Atwood, “Cat’s Eye” Margaret Atwood, “The...
Dec 29th
48 notes
The Personalized Book Recommendation Blitz of...
Browse away, my darlings. Francine Du Plessix Gray, “Them: A Memoir of Parents” Michael Ende, “The Neverending Story” Philip Jose Farmer, “To Your Scattered Bodies Go” William Faulkner, “As I Lay Dying” Timothy Findley, “Headhunter” Timothy Findley, “Not Wanted On The Voyage” Jonathan Franzen, “Freedom” ...
Dec 29th
The Personalized Book Recommendation Blitz of...
Who loves you, baby? Richard Adams, “Watership Down” Edward Albee, “The Goat, or, Who Is Sylvia?” Lloyd Alexander, “The Chronicles of Prydain” Kate Atkinson, “Case Histories” Margaret Atwood, “Alias Grace” Margaret Atwood, “The Blind Assassin” Margaret Atwood, “Cat’s Eye” Margaret Atwood, “The...
Dec 28th
Say What You Want About Old-School Country Music
But, live or in the studio, it sounds just as fucking good. If you don’t click that link, I’ll know.
Dec 28th
25 notes
Zen and The Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, Robert...
Ladies and Gentlemen, what’s the Question of the Week? Everyone In The World:  “I heard about your blog!  Lots of readers, huh?  Is it going to lead to something, do you think?” Lazy Reviewer, a month ago:  “hmmhhghghghweep.” Lazy Reviewer, a week ago:  “imaystartdoingrealreviewsforpeople INHALE andtumblrhasaskedme INHALE toedittheirlitpage INHALE...
Dec 28th
41 notes
Dec 28th
290 notes
Tumblr: A Parable
Relative, glancing over shoulder at my dashboard:  WHAT IS THAT? Lazy, squinting momentarily:  That is…explicit gay porn. Relative:  W-why? Lazy, shrugging:  I follow back.
Dec 28th
79 notes
Songs and Dances of Ireland, Paul Lavender
Curiously-devoted acolytes of this blog are aware that I am, if not a self-hating Irish person, at least a self-mocking Irish person.  Because, you know, as a person, I’m very OKAY THEN, MOVING ON, and NO POINT GETTING WORKED UP ABOUT THE PAST, and WELL, WHAT’S FOR LUNCH?  To the extent that sometimes people are all, like, oh, I feel so guilty about that, and I’m all, oh,...
Dec 28th
15 notes
The Lazy Self-Indulgent Book Reviewer Meditates On...
I’m reading the year-end Esquire this morning, as one does, and there’s a thing with Yoko (Lazy Self-Indulgent Book Reviews has always valued the Gestalt of Yoko), and they’re asking her about Lennon, and she says: “Obviously, it was a very negative thing for me to lose such a good partner.  He was very good.  He was a very strong and beautiful and protective force for...
Dec 28th
26 notes
“I once owned two white mice, but…one ate the other and then died of...”
– Graham Greene
Dec 28th
21 notes
The Joy of Sex, Alex Comfort
Industrious Husband, alternately mildly jealous of and totally weirded out by the Lazy Family’s aggressive sex-positivity, had not, before today, heard that my legendarily progressive lesbian aunt joyfully celebrated her then-seventeen year old daughter’s first sexual experience by sliding a themed greeting card under her bedroom door…before her gentleman caller had left the next morning. People...
Dec 28th
45 notes
The Good Soldier, Ford Madox Ford
“The heroine - the perfectly normal, virtuous, and slightly deceitful heroine - has become the happy wife of a perfectly normal, virtuous, and slightly deceitful husband. She will shortly become a mother of a perfectly normal, virtuous, slightly deceitful son or daughter. A happy ending, that is what it works out at.”
Dec 28th
5 notes
Dec 28th
7 notes
“All of these elderly people over the holidays saying “what would you do if...”
– Industrious Husband, in a rare moment of rage.
Dec 28th
86 notes
shariden asked: Thanks! These are so fun to read! My four: Invisible Cities by Italo Calvino, Inferno by Eileen Myles, Oscar Wilde's fairy tales, the Sherlock Holmes stories
Dec 27th
33 notes
heavenearthandhoratio asked: OOH, book recommendations, I'm too excited. Also, you're Tumblr is my favorite ever, just so you know. Okay, four favorite books The Little Prince (Antoine de Saint-Exupéry), Pride and Prejudice, Ulysses (Joyce), and as campy as they are the Dreden Files Books by Jim Butcher. Wow, that's an odd combo now that I look at it. Thanks.
Dec 27th
4 notes
suitcaseheart asked: If it's not too late...
His Dark Materials Trilogy (Philip Pullman)
A Death in the Family (James Agee)
Year of the Flood (Margaret Atwood)
Cell (Stephen King)
Dec 27th
3 notes
chopsaw asked: Oh, this is exciting!

Roald Dahl, The Witches
Michael Chabon, The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay
Heather Pringle, The Mummy Congress:Science, Obsession, and the Everlasting Dead
John Ajvide Lindqvist, Let the Right One In
Dec 27th
7 notes
fjordfish asked: THIS IS SO INCREDIBLY HARD! *breathes* Okay - so, how about four books I really really loved that I read in the past year or so? I hope that's close enough!

1 - Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, because I am a fantasy addict.
2 - Atlas Shrugged, because I hate politics but I love social studies.
3 - The Hunger Games, because I love stories of dystopian/utopian...
Dec 27th
4 notes
tired-and-wired asked: I love you to pieces for this blog. Here's a few books that I have recently read and have fallen in love with: The History of Love by Nicole Krauss, The Book of Lost Things by John Connolly, and Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell by Susanna Clarke.
Dec 27th
3 notes
the-road-so-far-in-the-tardis asked: Hi Lazy!
I would like to take you up on your holiday offer :) My top 4 favorite books of all time are:
1. Frankenstein, Shelley
2. Love In The Time of Cholera, Marquez
3. Invisible Monsters, Palahniuk
4. The Butter Battle Book, Seuss
Thanks Lazy! Happy holidays!
Dec 27th
2 notes
6138833494 asked: hey lazy! love your reviews. these are my fav books off the top of my head:
jane eyre
fight club
the sweet edge
the wind in the willows
merry christmas!
Dec 27th
4 notes
annfran asked: book of joe- jonathan tropper
the curious incident of the dog in the night-time- mark haddon
you shall know our velocity!- dave eggers
suite française- irène némirovsky

i like this game! thanks!
Dec 27th
5 notes
greyfan asked: How about something conjured up by:

The Thin Place, Kathryn Davis
The Cockroaches of Stay More, Donald Harington
She Got Up Off the Couch, Haven Kimmel
The Road, Cormac McCarthy
Mr. Bridge, Evan S. Connell

That would be awesome.
Dec 27th
2 notes
rottenfifteener asked: I keep thinking about doing this and then I think OHMYGOD, lazybookreviewer will JUDGE and FIND ME LACKING, and I so need your approval to make this a good Christmas, but here we go anyway.
Catch-22 by Joseph Heller
The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde
A Confederacy of Dunces by John Kennedy Toole
The Fuck-Up by Anonymous (later revealed to be, uh, like, Arthur...
Dec 27th
6 notes
mausii asked: Ooh! ME! ME! I want a book recommendation!

The House of Sleep - Jonathan Coe
The Chrysalids - John Wyndham
The Lucifer Box Series (I'm counting them as one, shh!) - Mark Gatiss
Perfume - Paqtrick Suskind

Happy Christmas!
x
Dec 27th
4 notes
scribbledline-deactivated201101 asked: Hey! Firstly, thanks for the follow, and secondly, four favourite books. The Fountainhead, The Age of Reason, Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrel and finally,The Master and Margarita.
Dec 27th
3 notes
ruby-bruiseday-deactivated20110 asked: A little late to the book recommendations party, but some of my favorites:
The Chess Garden by Brooks Hansen
The Once and Future King by TH White
A Prayer for Owen Meany by Mr. John Irving
and Cloudstreet by Tim Winton

are some of my favorites. I also feel like I shouldn't let slide that I love Cloudstreet in part because it reminds me so much of The...
Dec 27th
4 notes
Anonymous asked: Don't know if you're still doing this, but.... My 4 favorite books are: The Spellman Files by Lisa Lutz, Jellicoe Road by Melina Marchetta, Lois McMaster Bujold's Vorkosigan series, and The Lions of Al-Rassan by Guy Gavriel Kay. Find me a good book, Lazy Reviewer! (Oh and I've already read The Mists of Avalon)
Dec 27th
2 notes
inkstainsandpencilshavings asked: Mr. Midshipman Hornblower by C.S. Forester
The Diamond Age by Neal Stephenson
Stranger in a Strange Land by Robert A. Heinlein
Callahan's Crosstime Saloon by Spider Robinson
Dec 27th
1 note
sugaryumyum asked: Yay!

1) Frankenstein
2) The Handmaid's Tale
3) Choke/Invisible Monsters
4) Harriet the Spy
Dec 27th
1 note
allifer asked: - The Master and Margarita
- A Supposedly Fun Thing I'll Never Do Again
- DUNE
- Master and Commander
Dec 27th
7 notes
eush asked: Ooh, this sounds like fun! Here's four off the top of my head:

Nabokov - Lolita
Wodehouse - anything ever, really
Robbins - Still Life with woodpecker
Murakami - Kafka on the Shore

Thanks, and happy holidays!
Dec 27th
2 notes
shague asked: Okay, here are some of my favorites (The list might seem weak, I am but an uncultured seventeen year old. And I hope plays count.)
1) Alice's Adventures In Wonderland and Through The Looking Glass
2) The Fountainhead
3) A Midsummer Night's Dream
4) The Taming of the Shrew
Oh, and Happy Christmas!
Dec 27th
4 notes
nerd-gasms asked: I love: Catch-22, Everything is Illuminated, Terry Pratchett (in general, but in honor of the holidays let's say the Hogfather), and the Great Gatsby. With special bonus preferences of Pride & Prejudice and Harry Potter. I could go on, but I guess I should stand down and let you get a word in edgewise...
Dec 27th
7 notes
Anonymous asked: Here's my list if you're still accepting!

House of Leaves, Call of the Wild, Thirsty by M.T. Anderson, Girl With A Dragon Tattoo.

Thanks so much!
Dec 27th
2 notes
lannistersroar asked: I thought I sent this already, but I guess not. Recs please!

His Dark Materials by Phillip Pullman
Ode To Kirihito by Dr. Osamu Tezuka
A Prayer For Owen Meany by John Irving
oh and DUNE I love Dune

♥
Dec 27th
2 notes
Anonymous asked: Kafka On The Shore - Haruki Murakami
Griffin And Sabine - Nick Bantock
The Hobbit - J.R.R. Tolkien
The Neverending Story - Michael Ende

Thank you!
Dec 27th
4 notes
Anonymous asked: OK, my turn. Riddley Walker, The Dog of the South, Death on the Installment Plan, and The Golden Gate. Thanks,
Aengus
Dec 27th
1 note