{Lindsay} Books 7-12

I went through a bit of a slow spell with the reading in the past few weeks. I thought I'd get through a ton of books since I'm not working, but it seems that it's harder to keep myself busy now that I don't have anything that needs to be done, and I've instead gotten a bit lazy with everything. That and I'm back on a serious music kick, so a lot of my energy lately has been invested in going to shows and finding new stuff to listen to. I did eventually manage to get through a few books, though.

First was Milton's Paradise Lost. Nothing like reliving my college Brit Lit I survey course to get the reading juices flowing! I only had to read short sections of it for that class, but had tried on several occasions after that to get through the entire work. It wasn't until now that I was able to do it. Overall, it really is a fascinating story, though Milton's attempts at tying it in with other epic works is a bit awkward at times. My favorite part of Milton's interpretation of the Fall is the way he fleshes out all the characters and gives them feelings, motives, and both good and flawed aspects. It's difficult to entirely loathe Satan, just as it's difficult to see Milton's God as a supremely perfect being. As for Adam and Eve, they end up seeming mostly (to me, at least) just pawns in a game far bigger than themselves, so it's even difficult to place most of the blame of mankind's fall on just them. In the end, there were only two books out of the twelve that really didn't hold my interest, so now that I've gotten through the whole thing once I can definitely see myself reading this one over and over again.

Next was a book on Judaism. I'm not really sure how to critique a non-fiction work, especially one about a religion I don't follow myself. I was raised Catholic, and although I haven't followed it or any religion since high school, I find myself intrigued by religion as a societal construct and dissecting the differences between them all. This book was a little hard to make sense of at times, since it's basically a collection of all sorts of different texts related to Judaism, a lot of them very short and not all of them placed into full context for the reader. There's also a lot of vocabulary that isn't always glossed, so I felt like I had to already know a lot about Jewish religion (culture?) to make sense of it all. That's okay, though. I was certainly not expecting to become an expert on an entire religion from one book. Still, from a comparative perspective, it was nice to at least begin to get a better grasp on differences between the Judeo-Christian religions.

After that was some more Vonnegut. I really really love this guy's writing, and am totally bummed I didn't read more of his stuff until now. Sirens of Titan is only the third book of his that I've read, but I'm officially hooked on his style, and also his worldview that comes out through his plots and characters.

Next was Watchmen. Having not grown up on comic books, I honestly had no knowledge of the existence of this story until the movie got made. I really had no interest in the movie/story until it was brought to my attention that it's actually a very literary work. After learning some more about the general plot and opinions of its amazingness, I was intrigued enough to pick up my own copy of the book, and I'm so glad I did. I honestly think Rorschach might be one of my new favorite literary characters ever. There's SO much going on between the main plot, the flashbacks, the supplemental "documents" at the end of each chapter, the Black Freighter story interwoven with the main action. It makes for a very stimulating read. I'm planning on seeing the movie, but am afraid it's going to disappoint. Hopefully that won't be the case.

Yesterday I re-read Equus. If you're not familiar with it, I definitely suggest checking it out. Plot-wise, it's about a psychiatrist who has a teenaged patient, and he's trying to figure out why the patient blinded six horses. It also has some interesting commentary woven in about what it means to be normal vs. "troubled," and what the psychiatrist thinks of himself and his role in making troubled teens "normal." I don't know if I would go so far as calling this play disturbing, but it certainly has some intense moments. I almost went to see it on Broadway with Daniel Radcliffe playing the patient, but I never got around to it.

Finally, based on Flood's recommendation, was The Graveyard Book. It's been awhile since I read The Jungle Book, so I don't know that I picked up all of Gaiman's allusions to it, but I really really enjoyed it. I have a soft spot for "creepy" stories, so anything involving graveyards and ghosts is A+ in my book. It's about a boy who, after his family is murdered when he is a baby, ends up being raised by ghosts in an English cemetary. He learns how to do "ghosty" things, like become invisible to those around him, and show up in people's dreams. Eventually he has to face the man who killed his family. The end made me a bit sad, as most coming-of-age, losing-the-innconce-of-youth stories tend to. Overall, the settings are what really made this book great for me, so if you have no shame in reading well-written young adult fiction, definitely give this one a whirl.

For my next books, I'm reading Watership Down for the billionth time, and an omnibus of three Michael Crichton books.

Books 7&8

I've spent the better part of the last few weeks plowing through John Irving's "A Prayer for Owen Meany". "The World According to Garp" is one of my favorite books so I had high expectations for this one. I absolutely loved it and found it very hard to put it down - Irving has this great way of traveling through decades of stories and winding them together without losing focus on what he's trying to tell the reader. And as the back cover warned me, the character of Owen Meany was absolutely heart warming and heartbreaking. This book caught my attention at the most appropriate time in my life and I am so very glad that I read it. And just like "Garp", I immediately want to read it again for anything I might have missed.





Next up: "Good In Bed" by Jennifer Weiner. It seems that I've been reading nothing but stories relating to wartime communities, of boys becoming men at the loss of something very important. To give my mind a break (and slowly but surely return my growing stack of borrowed books), I'm making a one-day read of this book. It's a story of a girl coming to terms with her own fatness - which is difficult to read at points because it is somewhat poorly written, and as a fat girl myself, causes me to feel unnaturally guilty and worried that I actually sound and act like this character. I may not finish it, but it'll keep me somewhat entertained for this rainy day.

TRUE TILL DEATH

I finished The World According to Garp in two days, which is pretty good considering it is 600 pages. There are a couple of literary elements that are really intruiging about this book. For starters the book covers a tremendous amount of years with a clarity and depth that I have only seen in masterpieces like 100 Years of Solitude and War and Peace so go John Irving. The second was the story within the story element; Garp is a writer and the book contains both a short story he writes and the opening chapter to his final work (40 pages!). The actual content of the novel is very moving, and I found parts very relevant to my life, which made me think that the way Garp works is by playing on the universality of sadness and triumph.

next up is Love In The Time of Cholera

A picture of all the books I have read since I last "rapped at ya"

Rebecca had questionable (at best) politics, but for a novel that is essentially a mystery novel it is really well executed. I would recommend it to anyone who is interested in reading Jane Eyre but doesn't want to deal language that is as dated.

The Heart of Whiteness is a book I really wanted to read for a while, for the following reasons
1) it is a discussion of dealing with white on other racism from a white person's view and 2)the title is a reference to a great, (albeit again questionable politically) novella. It did not disapoint, as it really attacked the question of what someone can do, knowing they are engaged in a system that benefits them solely because of skin color

Coraline is a book that interested me because I loved Gaiman's story telling techniques in Sandman and wanted to see how he could carry that out over the course of a novel. He did a great job and the book is really cute and also engaging. Coraline as a character is a perfect role model for anyone who is a) creative and b)oppressed in some manner. If I had a daughter I would read this book to her everyday, because it is not often a heroine makes it through a book without falling in love or needing the help of a man! She is like Kelly Clarkson, Ms. Independent!

The Kindly Ones and The Wake are the closing two graphic novels in the Sandman series and they are a perfect finale. The Kindly Ones is more action packed, while at the same time increasingly more philosophical about death. It is mind blowing to see loose ends from the first eight TPB brought back into this one and tied together. GO NEIL! The Wake had me in tears. Gaiman is honestly the best storytelling comic book writer, to the point where the line between Graphic Novel and Novel appears blurred. I have never read a series as cohesive and moving as this one, where even changes in art style are reflective in changes in content. FUCK, I hate the empty feeling when you finish something you love and know it won't go any further. No comic has given me that feeling as deeply as this did, and I will reread it to explore the themes deeper.

Wampeters, Foma & Granfalloons (Opinions) by Vonnegut was, as all his works are an interesting read. Since so much of his personal philosophy is distilled into his fiction, I found it a bit odd to get it so straightforwardly, but then again Vonnegut is always a little "to-the-point" without being straightforward. The best essay in here was the one about science fiction, because as someone who writes in worlds with machines, but who doesn't write sci-fi, I feel his pain/weirdness at his works being called sci-fi.

I am finally going to read The World According to Garp this week. Get psyched!

Book #3 - "The Time Machine Did it" - John Swartzwelder

130 pages, large text, and easily one of the funniest things I've ever read. A fictional story written by the author of "59 episodes of the Simpsons". I took it to work and read it during a slow shift. I found the humor similar to that in "I am America and so Can You", and, of course, to that of earlier Simpsons episodes. Definitely would recommend for a quick, amusing read.

Already started reading a second novel of his. "How I Conquered Your Planet". From what I've seen, he has 5 books, all involving the same dim witted detective, Frank Burly. I find myself less interested in the plots themselves, and more concernced with the next joke, which there are plenty of. Half way through this, will probably finish today.

Books 5 &6

I'm still reading "Acid Dreams", but continuing my somewhat bad habit of reading more than one book at a time. I just finished "Ham on Rye", swearing off my promise to never read another Bukowski novel. Reading him makes me feel dirty, but strangely attracted to him as a person. This story is kind of what I wanted to see happen to Holden Caulfield. Someone enveloped by their own self-hatred, not afraid to admit that their shitty parents turned them into a shitty human being without ever actually saying the words. Bukowski's simple language and snarky descriptions of everything are humbling and it's no surprise to me that I love this kind of fiction. The kind that doesn't require you to think, to process, the story, but instead leads you into thinking and processing your own story. Or maybe just me.

Next will be "A Seperate Peace" by John Knowles. A very good friend of mine sat down together putting back a few beers while watching the Superbowl and got into it about our tastes in literature. After arguing about the Beats and the "Lost Generation" we decided to trade book collections and see where each other are really at. He majored in French Lit in college which blows my mind because I find pretty much everything outside of 20th century American Lit to be boring out of context. Lucky for me everything he lent me is 20th century American Lit and I don't have to force myself through books like I did in high school. I haven't yet cracked the spine of "A Seperate Peace", but after reading the back cover I think I'll enjoy it, whatever it may be about.

3,4,5, etc

I guess I am going to start mixing school and pleasure books, sue me. Luc is doing it too!

I finished Naked Lunch by Burroughs a little while ago, it was very interesting to say the least. At first (and throughout most of it) I was really confused as to what was going on. He makes up a lot of words, and uses a ton of words that I do not know because I don't know a lot about drug culture. Reading the book front to back may not even be the best strategy since the entire book is made up of little segments of scenes and he doesn't tell you when the scenes change. You could pick it up at any point in the book and understand it just as much as someone who has been reading it from the beginning. I definitely want to read it again in the future after I read some criticism on it.

I also finished Less Than Zero by Bret Easton Ellis. My mom and I agree that Ellis is the most boring writer ever and he maybe used 5 adjectives throughout the entire book. I have concluded that I am NOT a fan of minimalist writing. It is so empty, I felt no attachment to any of the characters, and I could not engage myself at all. The book is about a rich college freshman home in LA from school for the first time. His friend's parents are all movie stars, and they all lead that glitzy cocaine and drugs filled lifestyle. One could say that Ellis' writing style is purposely empty to portray the emptiness of the rich lifestyle, but I think that is a total cop out. The book just went on and on with a feeling of boringness. It reminded me of The Perks of Being a Wallflower but more grown up with less puberty. That said, I want to read American Psycho in hopes that it is better.

Have also read Descartes' Discourse/Meditations and Hobbes' Leviathan but I don't think anyone wants me to ramble on about Philosophy. I'm also slowly reading the Bible and The Art of Biblical Narrative for one of my classes.

Up next for novels is Infinite Jest by David Foster Wallace. I think this will be the longest book I have read in my life so far at over 1,000 pages. I'm also slowly getting through One Hundred Years of Solitude. I wish I could just read it all the way through but I don't have the time.

Books 4, 5, 6, 7

Finished Persepolis about a week or two ago. Really enjoyed it, moreso than the movie which I saw prior to reading the book. The book explains the series of events FAR more than the movie. I didn't like the movie as much because it left me very confused as to why things were happening. Ohwell. I started and finished Galapagos, which was wonderful. Wholly recommend, was similar to Cat's Cradle in some aspects. Not a perfect book, or a good Vonnegut work to start with, as he jumps around quite a bit before beginning to tie anything together. However, it has all the most wonderful aspects of any Vonnegut novel (human race destruction/human beings sucking in general for the most part). At this point I have read 9/14 Vonnegut novels! I also have read The Little Prince about 3 times this year, so I figure I can count that at least once towards the total! Was told about The Little Prince years and years ago but I never picked up a copy until this year. Great book, very quick to read also. I should hope that everyone has read this book already, but if not they should! I am still slowely reading The Decline of American Power, doing a chapter at a time every few days because it is SO dense. Scholarly author who must not have supposed that normal people would ever pick up his book. Today I will finally begin reading a book I have wanted to read for a while, but it was checked out of the library for an entire semester during the fall. It was available yesterday so woo! I got it. The Revolution Will Not Be Microwaved; Inside America's Underground Food Movements. I hope it rules.

3 and 4 - The Apprentice, and Brave New World

The Apprentice, by Tess Gerritsen, was on sale at Rite-Aid, so I bought it.  It was a typical crime scene investigation, but the crime connected with the person leading the case.  It was okay.  6/10.

Brave New World, by Aldous Huxley, on the otherhand, was a great, great read. Contrasting to 1984, it was a world where instead of being deprived of everything, everything was given out.  No one felt pain, or stress, and a simple drug cured all other problems.  Excellent, excellent read. It also reminded me of this Copper comic: here.  I give it a 10/10, and if you haven't read it, please do so.

I'm not sure what I'm reading next, but I know I want to read Catch 22, Absalom, Absalom, reread The Scarlet Letter, and read a bunch of Hemingway; For Whom The Bell Tolls, A Farewell to Arms, and The Old Man and The Sea.

002, 003, 004

I had to abandon The Great Gatsby because my semester reading crept up on me. Last night I finally finished Bastard out of Carolina by Dorothy Allison, and ten minutes ago I finished Blood Meridian by Cormac McCarthy. I'm going to go start The Road now because I have to finish it by tonight.

{Lindsay} Books 5, 6, and 7 (plus 1)

So one good thing about being unemployed is I now have a lot more time to devote to my reading...as well as the bajillion other projects I have going on right now...

Dewey was a cute book. Chapters alternated between the life of a cat in a town library, the library and the surrounding community, and the author's life. This mix made for a very well-rounded story and a more interesting read.

Book 5 was The Humble Little Condom: A History. In case that title doesn't tell it all, it's a wide-sweeping history of condom production and use from the beginning of recorded history. I was expecting it to be really interesting, but the first half is kind of a snoozer. Since it covers such a vast span of time, the author has little time to devote to really significant, interesting details. Every few paragraphs are broken up into their own little sections, and there isn't a whole lot of cohesion between these different sections. The author says a lot, but doesn't end up explaining a lot, and I found myself wanting to know more about literally everything mentioned in this book.

Book 6 was He's a Stud, She's a Slut, and 49 Other Double Standards Every Woman Should Know. This one was okay, I guess. None of the double standards presented were anything I (and I'm assuming most people) wasn't already aware of. The author provides some interesting and sometimes insightful commentary, and I definitely agreed with her on many things (for example, disdain over the idea that women can't pick up the check on a dinner date simply because they're women, and that's what the man is supposed to do), but there were times when I was annoyed at its overly feministness. I feel weird citing that as a criticism of the book, since I have nothing against feminism as a general concept, or feminists as people. I would definitely label myself one, if I was into labeling to begin with. I guess I just don't get the whole devoting-your-whole-being-to-focusing-on-the-fact-that-you're-a-strong-woman thing. Just BE one, ya know? I dunno, maybe I'm missing the point of the whole movement and am really some sort of sex/gender traitor by saying that. Whatever! It was a quick, entertaining read, and certainly validated my own personal feelings about women's roles in all sorts of contexts, so overall it made for good times.

I'm not counting it, since I started it last year, but I fiiiiiinally finished Crime. Oh Irvine Welsh that I knew and loved, where have you gone? The reason it took me so long to finish is because it's so goddamn BORING. The plot takes forever to get anywhere, and he writes a lot more scene description than dialogue in this one than in his other works. If it didn't have his name on the cover, I would have no idea that he was the one who wrote it. Not much phonetic Scots, no raunchy sex scenes, no characters that you get to know well enough to REALLY hate. Ugh. Such a letdown! One thing I did find interesting, though, was the fact that the entire book is written in the present tense as opposed to the usual past. Welsh even writes in the second person from time to time.

Next up for number 7: Just One Child: Science and Policy in Deng's China.

"Love is a Mix Tape"

My friend recommended this book to me, but only described it as a book where someone "makes mix tapes for everything he does". Hindsight, I'm surprised I picked it up. It's a biography / autobiography written by one of the editors at Rolling Stone Magazine, speaking about different mix tapes he'd made for almost every occasion of his life, spanning from High School dances, to washing the dishes, to meeting the love of his life. Over the course of book he meets the girl of his dreams, gets married, has her die in his arms, and goes on to tell about his life afterward. I identified with so many parts of the story, especially with his grieving process after losing my own boyfriend years ago. It took me right back to the point where I was told he had passed away, and the on coming months that followed. Sheffield speaks to openly and honestly, sharing vulnerable secrets with the reader, that you can't help sympathizing with him. While the story had it's share of despair and loneliness, it maintained a steady humorous tone that made even the saddest of times comical. I finished the 225 page book in under 2 days, and was left feeling grateful for the little time I did have with all of my friends, boyfriend, father, and relatives that I have lost.

Books 4+5+6

I finished Nausea, and then I reread Nausea during a long bath, and then I thought about doing it again. Jean Paul Sartre has a way of capturing the existentialist moments of Doestyevsky and inflating them to new heights. I would say in terms of style there is more than just an echo of Notes From Underground in it, which is fine by me given that I loved Notes.

On Monday I tackled Umberto Eco's The Name of The Rose


It was sort of a thriller/murder mystery set in the 1300's in a monestary. It ruled! I had originally tried to read it at some point in November and failed, because the Pilfers played their music too loudly for me to concentrate.
The main characters, a Friar and his apprentice are always engaged in deductive reasoning, and it makes the whole thing seem like Encyclopedia Brown for adults, but I found it engaging. It wasn't Nausea, but for a 400 page book it read swiftly.

Next up is some more Sandman! I am almost done with all of them! AHHHH (real monsters)

Four Words....

"White Whale! Holy Grail!"

-"Blood and Thunder" by Mastodon

So I'm supposed to be reading Survivor: A Novel by Chuck Palahniuk, but I've just been listening to way too much of Mastodon's Leviathan lately. I'm going to have to but Chuck on the back-burner for a while and pick up Moby Dick (or The Whale) by Herman Melville. I am so excited! And it's the special leather-bound edition, too. (Not vegan, I know, but my grandparents got it for me as a 13th birthday present.)

Also, if you haven't heard of Mastodon or their album Leviathan, check out this link and give it a listen!! It's a whole album about Moby Dick!!

-Greg Thornberg

The Alphabet of Manliness

I mentioned this already on the CTska board, but I recently finished Maddox "The Alphabet of Manliness". Overall, it was a amusing book with quick, easy chapters which were perfect for me to skim through during my slow shifts at work. The majority of the book follows the same sadistic humor Maddox is famous for on his website, which attracted me in the first place. However, I can't overlook the fact that there were huge parts that lacked substance and seemed forced, as though to "fill letters" to complete the alphabet. The "Z" chapter on Zombies in particular was horribly boring. Overall, I'd recommend the book as something to keep in a magazine rack in someone's bathroom.

Book 4: "Acid Dreams- The Complete Social History of LSD..." - Martin A. Lee & Bruce Shlain

"After Dark" was another quick read, and like most of Murakami's later works a bit of a disappointment. Sometimes when reading his books I feel as though I am reading the same story over and over again, with one very well developed story winding around a lesser developed story that ends up being more significant than the other. Except that latter part didn't happen this time. It won't deter me from reading more but it does make me nostalgic for "The Wind Up Bird", "Hard Boiled Wonderland" and "Kafka On the Shore".


I'm very much looking forward to my next read, borrowed from a good friend already dog-eared and with an uncountable number of pages bent back to the point where I am destined to lose my place every time I close the book. I'm excited to read something I've been interested in for a while, but never took the initiative to investigate or understand. Whether or not it'll influence me to try LSD or quit my government job, who knows?

First, Second, and Third Books

I actually started this book on new years, in China, because I had packed it in my suitcase and I was at this god awful family gathering. Anyways, I read (Not That You Asked) Rants, Exploits, and Obsessions by Steve Almond. The book itself is actually a pretty quick read, I finished it in 2 days. The way that he structures is writing, really does read like he's ranting on paper. I really liked his writing style and reading about somebody else's sexual failures is always the best. There is a whole section devoted to his love, or more like obsession, with Vonnegut! Seriously, who could not love that. Plus he uses footnotes in a pretty humorous manner.





Picked up the translated english version of this book in a Chinese bookstore. I remember reading The Stranger by Camus in high school. I feel like this book is one of those books that no matter how many times you re-read it you always pick up on something new. I never really noticed how much I actually enjoy the relationship that Meursault has with his neighbor Raymond. In the chinese version, it's kind of humorous to see the grammatical errors. Anyways, this book makes me want to master the french language and read the original text. I feel that in it's raw form, there is so much more that Camus eludes to.



I'm always a fan of Israeli men, but I'm not really a fan of the way that Israeli political systems work. Anyways, I read The Israel Lobby and U.S. Foreign Policy, by John Mearsheimer and Stephen Walt. This book had it's positive and negative aspects. The book in itself is very well written, providing stimulant topics of discussion and bring up the lobby's influence in american foreign policy. However, some of the facts that were presented are not exactly, kosher? For a majority of the book, I get the feeling that Mearsheimer and Walt wanted to portray the notion that Isrealis were anti-semitic. Which is not the case. Also, their solution to the problem was not cohesive and was not really supported by the case that they were bringing up. However, the book does a good job of portraying the United State's involvement in Israeli policy, especially their warfare development.

Anyways, I've started The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Klay by Michael Chabon. I don't know if I'll finish it within the week, but that's okay right?

Third & Fourth Books

I was going to start counting school books that I actually enjoyed, since there will be only two of them, but we'll see.
I'm still behind, just finishing the third book I started without having finished the second! Oops. The second one will be taking me a while. I finished Jailbird by Kurt Vonnegut, the least absurd of his novels that I have read so far. In comparison to other Vonnegut books, I would rate it a B.
The next book that I read will be Persepolis--a quick read to get me all caught up with this.

well, this isn't a really positive post

I have started reading Kurt Vonnegut's "The Sirens of Titan" to my dad. My dad is currently in the intensive care unit in Reno, Nevada recovering from a debilitating spinal cord injury rendering him quadrapeligic for the rest of his life.

I started the book back in Connecticut in efforts to get my mind off of his accident, but kept getting lost in Vonnegut's satirical science fiction. My dad turned me onto Vonnegut at a young age and figured since my dad wont be able to hold a book up without the assistance of someone or some apparatus, that I would read to him in his room. He's pretty excited. I've never read to a grown man before, should be an interesting experience. I probably wont get close to reading as many books as I'd like this year, but I can tell you that I will be reading a lot about stem cell research and spinal cord injury.

xoxo
Mitch

Jacob's Reviews on # 1 and 2.

The first book I read was Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil, written by John Berendt. It's a nonfiction book, about his travels to Savannah, Georgia, and the people he meets. I thought it was very suspenseful and a great read. Easily up near the top of all time favorite books and I recommend to everyone. 9/10 rating.

The second book I read was The Last Templar by Raymond Khoury. Apparently this is going to be made into a movie. I found this book lying around my house, and the summary on the back seemed interesting. It was compared to The Da Vinci Code by the New York Times. Anyways, it was very straight to the point, and was non-descriptive. The plot itself was pretty good, and the movie should be interesting. Around page 400, I was finally immersed in the novel, and became accustom to the lack of creative imagery. 6/10 rating.

I purchased a book at Rite-Aid while buying some sudofed. I don't recall the title [it's downstairs], but it's the typical murder mystery novel. Once midterms are finished, I shall catch up on my reading.

-Jacob

In Re: To Jess' Blog Post

The original intent was to read one book every week (on average) outside of a school curriculum. I set this goal because I felt that I wasted too much time on the internet (true) too much time doing nothing (true) and in general was not reading as much as I would have liked. The rules of the contest are just 52 books in 52 weeks, so if you wish to include school books you are welcome to, even though it is not my original plan. The whole point is to read more, so reading more is reading more!

One thing this inspired is me to do is to keep a separate list for the separate types of books. While I will continue to read the fifty two non-school books, I will also keep a list of all the books I read for school, as this is a good place to keep track of those sort of things.

Happy reading!

QUESTION!

So this isn't an update post, but rather a question post...

I am reading a bunch of different books for school (The Bible, The Art of Biblical Narrative, Leviathan by Hobbes, Descarte's Discourse and his Meditations, and also Naked Lunch) and soon to be a bunch of others. Do these all count?

If they do, then I will feel less guilty about not doing as much pleasure reading. I'm taking 4 English and Philosophy courses that are all reading intensive -- I have to red a few hundred pages a night. Cut me some slack?

Books Two And Three Done, Four is Next!

I finished Invisible Cities by Italo Calvino. Like Chelsea my feelings on it were mixed. The book was made up of a hundred or so cities, described to Kubla Khan by Marco Polo. They are broken up by occasionally by moments of the two of them talking, or thinking. These brief interludes are so few and far between that I found myself hoping they would come up soon. For a book of only one hundred and sixty five pages it seemed at times to drag, with the constant pace of city after city. So far this review has been pretty negative so allow me to shift gears please!
The book has about fifteen passages that are written so perfectly that they still sit in my mind, as if I am currently reading them! There are moments where reality is broken, and things like airports and busses pop out of nowhere. There are moments where cities are described by the trash they fill, the conversations that repeat over hundreds of years, the museums inside of cities that are copies of every city the city could have ever been. It is truly wonderful when the book reaches such heights, but some how it failed to keep my interest.
My third book was (as seems to be a trend!) a graphic novel, The Sandman, Worlds' End by Neil Gaiman. It looks like this:




This episode of Sandman takes place at an inn called "The Inn at Worlds' End", where people from all sorts of historical and fantastical time frames meet to tell tales. They chance upon it because of a storm, one calls it a snow storm, another a reality storm, and more a resting spot they just can't seem to leave. Like all Gaiman, the art is excellent and the story telling absolutely phenomenal. To anyone looking for a great graphic novel, start with The Sandman (Preludes and Nocturnes is the first) and spend the next eleven weeks basking in Gaiman's glory!

The next book on my list is by J.P. Sartre, and is called Nausea. My version is this one :


After that, who knows! I never follow through on the ones I say I will read, but it will most likely be The World According to Garp.

Finished book two, onto the third

I finished Invisible Cities by Italo Calvino. My head was really blank this week and I could not focus. All the words either mushed together to form blocks of texts that I could not discern into real words or I would focus on one particular word and go looking for the history behind that particular word.
This was not a good week for me to tell you about the book because I almost don't know what I read. It has beautiful words and is woven together beautifully but at times I felt like daydreaming and put the book down. Actually, I did this a lot. I'll probably have to read it again sometime when I am more focused. But I digress...

Next up is The Diary of Anaïs Nin Volume One

{Lindsay} Aaaaand Book 4

Okay, so it only took me the day to get through Persepolis. I really really enjoyed it. The context is the Iranian Revolution and its effect on Iranian society, but more importantly it's a great story about family, friends, growing up, and standing up for what you believe in. Funny, sad, and inspiring all at once. Now I'm in a bit of a graphic novel mood and want to read Maus again...

However, next up is Dewey. Hooray for books about library cats!

3 - "After Dark" - Haruki Murakami

So, after finishing "Slaughterhouse Five" in one day, I've been kind of slacking in my reading. This Vonnegut book was a lot easier to read, and a much more enjoyable read than my attempt at "Breakfast of Champions". Perhaps in the future I can swallow my ego enough to take another crack at it, but not without diving into another quick and enjoyable journey through Murakami's dual storylines.

I've read my fair share of Murakami books, and while I'm pretty sure nothing will top "Hard Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World", I will never refuse one of his novels. This one is shaping up to be the same way, but the story takes place in a shorter timeline and the twist is not so obvious yet. "After Dark" will be a quick read, and I'm sure I won't rave about it but it will be enjoyable nonethless.

It is sort of funny posting this right after Lindsey, because I just finished Persepolis 1+2! It had a lot of stuff I wasn't expecting and a lot of stuff I was. (Speaking of which, I remember seeing in the movie preview that she has a jacket that says "Punk is not Dead" or something ... but that wasn't in the book...) I cried a few times, and smiled other times, so ultimately it was a good and solid book. Both were a very fast read (which is good) because...

I still have not finished One Hundred Years of Solitude! I have to read it slowly because the language is so beautiful and the characters are all similarly named, and I am frustrated not being able to fly through it. However, I really enjoy it so far. Marquez is a great writer. One thing I've noticed is that so much stuff is going on and everything progresses so quickly. That is also hard to keep up with. But I will finish it!

Right now I'm reading Naked Lunch for my literature class, so I am going to count it in my 365 books this year. It is very interesting so far, and something that I would never expect to read in school. Yay UVM!