Finished: Janice Y K Lee’s The Piano Teacher
Now starting: Roddy Doyle’s The Woman Who Walked into Doors
Finished: Stephenie Meyer, New Moon
Now Reading: Stephenie Meyer, Eclipse
I know, I know…I am surprised to be reading her myself. Her first book should be burned, but the second and third books introduce some interesting themes(character dynamics).
I read 1984 recently and really enjoyed it…cough
That’s it. I’m ditching The Chocolate War. I hate you, Robert Cormier. How did you ever get to be so old without ever being a teenage boy?
What pushed you over the edge?
The Vigils’ assignment where the kids would all jump up and dance whenever the teacher said a certain word (“environment”). And if the teacher didn’t say the word, someone was supposed to try and get him to say it. And the whole purpose behind the prank was to get him to stop saying it.
So the teacher says the word over and over during the class, and the kids are all getting tired. One of the kids “realizes” that the leader of the Vigils must have betrayed them by telling the teacher about the joke. Because the teacher would never have figured that one out on his own, no sirree.
So, we’re trying to annoy the teacher because he does something that annoys us. And if he quits, we have to get him to start again. And when he figures it out, he’ll quit for good! But he figured it out right away, so someone must have told him! Now he does it a lot. How could this plan have gone so wrong?! Also, who gives a shit?
:rolleyes::rolleyes::rolleyes::rolleyes::rolleyes::rolleyes:Ow.
I just finished this last week. Once it reaches the events of November 18/1978 be warned that you may not be able to put the book down. The author does an excellent job sharing his terrifying experience.
I picked up Sarah Vowell’s Assassination Vacation and finished it in one long session. I really liked it, mostly because I find a lot of similarities between Vowell and myself. Mostly being excited about things that cause most polite people to back away slowly (She likes presidential assassinations, I’m more of a deadly pandemic girl myself), but I also found it wonderfully coincidental that we both grew up in Montana and now live in NYC. I love reading books and feeling like I’m having a private conversation with the author.
I have few, if any, similarities with Vowell (I’m a guy, for instance). But I think she’s a terrific writer and recommend her other books.
This is why I will never understand why people bash the Twilight series so relentlessly. Sure it has plenty of flaws, but I can understand why it’s popular because it’s so damn readable.
On the other hand, The Chocolate War is considered a classic of YA literature and its just completely non-sensical.
I’m nearing the end of Let the Right One In by John Ajvide Lindqvist – yep, it’s the book on which the movie was based. (I haven’t seen the movie yet. We Netflix’d it a while ago and it got sidelined by Battlestar Galactica.) It’s kind of a creepfest, but in a good shivery way. I love it and it’s probably going to go down as one of my favorite books of the year.
I’m still finishing Michael Pollan’s In Defense of Food, and have a George Pelecanos book on deck. I’ve never read him before, but as an avid fan of The Wire I’m looking forward to it. After reading this thread I also now have a load of books I need to purchase and/or add to my Amazon list. Especially Rapture Ready! and Raven – which could be nice back to back, maybe?
Oh! I also recently finished Angelica by Arthur Phillips. This is the first of his books I’ve read, and I think I’d like to pick up another. Angelica was creepy and complex and I really liked the structure of the book, but it certainly wasn’t “up.” Thoughts on his other books?
I was recently fascinated by this news article, about a man who discovered a briefcase of old letters in his basement. The previous owners of the house had been the elderly parents of one of the victims of Jonestown. Sad, sad story.
Ow. Sounds like me.
I now have Assassination Vacation on order as a book-on-CD from my library. The blurb shows an impressive array of voice talent on it: Brad Bird, Eric Bogosian, Dave Eggers, Greg Giraldo, Daniel Handler, Catherine Keener, Stephen King, Tony Kushner, Conan O’Brien, David Rakoff, and Jon Stewart!
I really liked Vowell as the voice of Violet, the insecure daughter in The Incredibles.
Finished Power and the Darkness: Josh Gibson’s Life in the Shadows of the Game, about the best negro-league hitter, and maybe the greatest hitter of all time. It’s the only bio of him, apparently, so I’m glad to report it’s good.
Now I’m reading Pride and Prejudice and Zombies - about 50 pages in, and already I really really want to hear this is going to be a movie.
I read about half of Dirt: the quirks, habits, and passions of keeping house, edited by Mindy Lewis. It’s short essays on housekeeping by various authors. Actual housekeeping is more fun.
I got a good start on The Hustler, by Walter Tevis, recommended by WordMan. I’m liking it so far.
Is that actually any fun to read? I saw it on the shelf, and I sorta thought it might be one of those books where the concept was the best part.
I have a copy, but I haven’t read it yet. The illustrations are amusing. It looks like Elizabeth kicks Darcy’s ass in response to his first bungled proposal.
I’ve started the fifth collection of the Darwin Arwards, The Darwin Awards: Next Evolution. After five collections, the Darwin people definitely seem to be running out of the zany deaths that made the first books so interesting. I can read stories about guys getting drunk and driving off the road in the newspaper.
I’m also reading Dr. Denis Leary’s Why We Suck. I love Leary, and the book is funny, but it’s hard to read more than a few pages at a time because he’s so Denis Leary all the time.
Reading Magic Burns by Ilona Andrews. A nice “ubran fantasy” type book and has all the hooks… magic, vampires, .lycans, chicks with swords… all the good stuff.
this is the second in the series and if you liked the Mercy Thompson books, you will love these too.
I’ve enjoyed the series. I finished book three in April.