Florence Welch: Cure for Cultural Boredom

Summer is an important time for self-exploration, so it's essential to find a good source of introspection or inspiration. Last spring, I rediscovered Florence and the Machine per "Dog Days Are Over" (which has a knack of making me cry, and did tonight out of NOWHERE as I watched the Maida Vale performance of it, which I highly recommend and is viewable here), and re-rediscovered her just the other day after stumbling upon her picture in the May issue of ELLE UK. Starting that day, I have submerged myself into Florence and the Machine, reading old interviews, watching old videos, anything and everything I can, and its provided me with a bounty of inspiration.

A good story is necessary in the summer, a time that can get so dreadfully boring that you want to do something extreme. I've read some of my best books in the summer, and year after year, the pressure is on to find worthy contenders to beat the greats of years past. I think that, perhaps, via Florence, I may have found even a SERIES of contenders for this year's dive into reading. Captivated as I was by her disarming ability to tell a story, I've Googled pretty much everything name-dropped in her bloggings and interviews, etc., to come upon some serious gold in the "magical feminist" author that is, the apparently classic one I'd never heard of, Angela Carter. Tonight, I've been drowning in works like The Bloody Chamber and The Magic Toyshop (neither of which I even own... yet), even their chapter names so full of strange poetry that the connections Welch draws from her work is immediately visible to a Florence fan. You don't even have to go in with a clear plot in your mind, and it's still interesting as hell.

It's almost enough to get ME writing again. Hopefully, you'll get the idea too from the Alice in Wonderland-inspired video for her wonderful upcoming single, "Rabbit Heart (Raise It Up)":

Nick Cave has a new book coming out. THIS YEAR.

And the sound you just heard was me dying a little on the inside but in a good way.

YES, you heard me correctly: this fall will see the release of Nick Cave's second book, entitled The Death of Bunny Munro, which will follow a new widower and his son on a road trip around England. It will be his first work of fiction since 1989's And the Ass Saw the Angel, a critically acclaimed tale of revenge, sin and voyeurism in the deep South written in the peak of a Bible-thumping stage for which Cave would become so famous. It is the most eloquent, highly nuanced literary porn I have ever read (seriously, that book is dirrrrrty, Xtina-style, but not really).
This year will also see him providing voices and production for the upcoming animated film The Cat Piano (which sounds adorable) and taking on the role as screenwriter for the movie The Death of a Ladies' Man. Most notably, he and longtime partner in crime Warren Ellis will be in charge for the score for the long-awaited Cormac McCarthy opus The Road. I will be seeing all of the above.
And the Ass Saw the Angel will also see its twentieth anniversary re-release through Penguin later this year, re-edited by Cave himself.

So badly do I hope this all means a book-signing tour. It must, it MUST!
I WILL travel for you, Nick. My love knows no distance.

Your little doll,
Y Lolita Hazed

Wrapped Up in Books

*Sigh*, summer equals freedom to me in so many different ways. Physical freedom, mental freedom, spiritual freedom-- I can go wherever I want, be alone when I want and of course, curl up with a good book.

Books become like my little babies in the summer-- this is why I detest reading lists. I'm a control freak who likes to pick what she reads, y'know? I like to read without a deadline. The past summers have gotten me to develop so many favorite books over the past few years. I usually have good taste in books during summer.

• Trainspotting by Irvine Welsh
  
• Generation X by Douglas Coupland
  
• Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov (obviously my favorite book of all time)
  
• The Diving Bell and the Butterfly by Jean-Dominique Bauby
  
• And the Ass Saw the Angel by Nick Cave
  
• Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi

All of the books above were read in summers and magically became my favorites. Each of them left a lasting impression on me, but most importantly taught me the intimacy that comes with a good book. I think this idea came with Trainspotting, which, to me, is one of the most intimate books in the whole world. With each character's chapter (especially the endearing Spud), I felt as if I was sitting with them at a cafe, listening to them tell me about their day. It might've been the first time I felt like fictional people were my friends (*sigh*, I have to read it again soon).
So school's back and I'm feeling pretty hermity. Not only that, but I want to educate myself independently, you know? I want to lose myself in books again this year. I've got an ever-expanding library list and I'm way excited to get some checked off of it this year!

This is what it looks like at the moment:

• Gilbert Adair: The Holy Innocents (the book that inspired Bertolucci's famous adaptation The Dreamers-- it's rare as hell, so it'll be a challenge to score! The cheapest copies I've seen are anywhere from $40-80... and this is a short story!)
  
• Lesley Arfin: Dear Diary (not sure why I haven't gotten around to it yet. Have any of you guys read it?)
  
• Simone de Beauvoir: The Mandarins and The Second Sex (these selections were both inspired by reading Persepolis, not to mention I want to educate myself as a feminist. I'm so reading The Feminine Mystique one day.)
  
• Bret Easton Ellis: American Psycho and The Informers (the former is apparently a classic, and I can't find it at bookstores or libraries! I'm excited to read it though. The latter will be a movie soon, so I need to get that read ASAP!)
  
• John Milton: Paradise Lost (a book I kept getting confused with Lost Horizon by, um, James Hilton! Seriously, can you blame me?)

Do you guys have any summer favorites? What have been your beach reads this year? Tell me the good, the bad, the awesomely trashy-- I want to know it all! Let's give each other recommendations!

Does anyone else have a reading checklist for this year as well? Totally let me know about that! I'm here to hear.

P.S. Erika, apologies, I've totally stolen your layout hook-up. Was getting tired of the same ol' same ol', I hope you don't mind!