Pop Culture Podcast
Popspotting #55: “Lies That Chelsea Handler Told Me†(May 25, 2011)
Jen has a husband, but she also has a boyfriend: her Amazon Kindle. She’s a voracious reader, and finally gets to share her love of the written word with the world. But her first pick isn’t exactly high-brow literature. It’s “Lies that Chelsea Handler Told Me.”
Jen has read all of her books, and liked this one just as much as the rest, even though it’s told from the perspective of Handler’s friends (and other victims).
We also talk about “Catching Fire,” the second book in the “Hunger Games” trilogy, which Jen is still working on but which will soon be a major motion picture. Is Jennifer Lawrence, previously of “Winter’s Bone,” the right star to play Katniss Everdeen?
Are you a bookworm too? What are you reading? Jen is always looking for recommendations on what to read next!
How about something from Haruki Murakami? I just finished “Kafka on the Shore” — David Lynch would give his left nut to make a story that surreal. “A Wild Sheep Chase”, “Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World” and “Norwegian Wood” are also good choices. But don’t start with “The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle”. For all the accolades, it meanders too much and doesn’t have a point.
i’m re-re-re-reading “The List of Seven” by Mark Frost. it would go on the same shelf as “The Alienist” by Caleb Carr and “Johnathon Strange & Mr Norrell” by Susanna Clark.Â
Ooh, thanks, Aaron. If it’s worth re-re-re-reading, it’s definitely worth a first read!
We’ve always admired your devotion to and appreciation for Haruki Murakami. For a beginner, what book would you start with?
Hi Jen,
I am in a couple of bookclubs but just finished “Never let me go” by Kazuo Ishiguru, Â It is really quite interesting. Â I read it before I saw the movie which is the way to do it because the best part of the book is trying to figure out what in the world is going and getting little bits and pieces as the main character starts to understand things.
Also having fun watching and reading Game of Thrones.
I loved Catching Fire – it’s my favorite of the trilogy. Â However, unlike the first one, it ends on rather a cliffhanger. Â I’ve read all three books twice, and I always cry at the end of the last book, Mockingjay.
Have you read Name of the Wind and The Wise Man’s Fear by Patrick Rothfuss? Â I’ve read them both on my Kindle and loved them, even though I’m not a huge fantasy reader. Â They are parts 1 and 2 of a trilogy, and I’ve heard there is a second trilogy planned after this one.
Thanks, Cat! “Never Let Me Go” is on Jen’s list. As for “Game of Thrones,” we’re curious, but we have no access to premium cable. Curses!
I’d go in this order:
1. A Wild Sheep Chase
2. Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World
3. Norwegian Wood
4. Kafka on the Shore
5. Dance Dance Dance