While not all of genre X shares my unrequited love for Nate Silver (see seriously smoldering, above), many at this month’s discussion enjoyed his book. Although there were some notable exceptions:
“I felt like my brain fell out of my butt.”
and
“I can’t read it on the train, because I can’t concentrate. I can’t read it at home, because I’ll fall asleep.”
most of us appreciated the broad scope of the work, noting that there was a chapter for everyone. Read more
Perennial genre X favorite This American Life just began a new season of the television show on Showtime. As a special treat, view brilliant Oak Park resident Chris Ware‘s animation on this vignette.
Yay for synchronosity!
Being a pretty recent transplant to Chicago, I’m always on the lookout for the things that will make me feel like a local. I may be a wee bit bookish, but even I know that Chicago is one sporty town. Hence my attention to the list in yesterday’s Sun-Times for the 20 Things Chicago Sports Fans Must Do.
To be honest, I’ve hardly done any of the things on the list in my last eleven months in the Windy City. In fact, watching the marathon (from my car) and seeing the exploding scoreboard at the Cell is about all I’ve got. Anybody want to go Smelt Fishing? The full list is after the jump
So even though we’re slowing down a bit over the holidays, we at genre X want to wish everyone a very Happy Holiday season. Hope you have lots of extra time to get your reading done!
In honor of our placement in Oak Park, land of all things Frank Lloyd Wright, enjoy My Blank Page’s gingerbread version of Wright’s Fallingwater, via local blog Chicagoist.
Considering the Chicagoland area is chalk full of commuters, we find that library patrons are often looking for good “commuter reads”, i.e. books that will fit easily into a purse or briefcase. One small Chicago press has found the perfect answer to this request : free, miniature books that you can print out and take with you. Featherproof books offers a number of short stories/novellas in PDF format that come with directions for how to print them out, fold and staple them to make your very own, portable piece of commuter literature. I chose Eight Permutations on the Binoculars of Power by Jonathan Messinger (who also happens to be the Editor-in-chief at Featherproof) and Donovan’s Closet by Elizabeth Crane, a Chicago author whom I have read and enjoyed in the past, and I thoroughly enjoyed both selections. So much so, in fact, that I am tempted to greedily print out all of the titles. Fortunately to absolve people like me of guilt over doing this, Featherproof also provides you with a way to make a small donation towards their generous gift of great stories.