82 posts tagged “books”
This month has been positively shameful. I blame a lot of it on how Await Your Reply totally wrecked me, and made everything else seem boring and unimportant. I only finished two books in November and I didn't like one of them. How sad am I? But, well, this is my last week of class and now the time I've devoted to reading some 425+ student pages a month can be spent on other things.
BOOK ACQUIRED
Her Fearful Symmetry by Audrey Niffenegger
Exit Ghost by Philip Roth
BOOKS READ
The Complete Essex County by Jeff Lemire: Sweeping and brilliant graphic novel about hockey, forgiveness, loneliness, and family in Canada.
Totally Killer by Greg Olear: Despite being a sort of homage to American Psycho, a bad choice in point of view ruins what could have been a pretty funny novel about murder, babyboomers, and 1991.
CURRENTLY READING
Juliet, Naked by Nick Hornby
I think I only read three books in all of October. That's damn near shameful. I will, however, blame my writing class on this. Where usually we read a majority of 12-18ish page short stories, this time around we're being bombarded by 6,000 word 28-page novel beginnings. It's been hell. Not just the sheer amount of words to read, but only a few of the novel chapters have been worth my time. In fact, one novel start was so offensive that the class was actually angry. Of course the complete lack of punctuation didn't help matters. It just goes to show you, domestic violence is not an issue you can make funny, right up there with rape, child molestation, and genocide. None of these things are funny. Let it be known.
On with the show.
BOOK ACQUIRED
Swimming Inside the Sun by David Zweig
Chronic City by Jonathan Lethem
Totally Killer by Greg Olear
Last Night in Twisted River by John Irving
BOOKS READ
Await Your Reply by Dan Chaon: This novel about identity, identity theft, the Internet, brotherhood, and more is probably going to make my top 10 best books of 2009 -- will blow your mind.
American Born Chinese by Gene Luen Yang: Even with an ending that comes off as a little convenient and coincidental, this graphic novel about growing up Chinese in America weaves together three different stories in a way that is sweet and funny.
Andromeda Klein by Frank Portman: A slightly disappointing novel by the author of the the fan-fucking-tastic King Dork is about a skinny weird girl obsessed with the occult and has a tendency to be a bit boring under the weight of all the magic research.
CURRENTLY READING
Every Boat Turns South by J.P. White
The Complete Essex County by Jeff Lemiere (which I actually finished today, but now it's November)
Last Night in Twisted River by John Irving
See, for the first time ever in my book-collecting career I have decided to separate the read from the unread. It's a bold move. In the past I've organized books by favorite status, some trumped up sort of topical nonsense I made up, and strict-alphabetical regardless of topic (fiction mixed with non-fiction, anthologies, references, it was chaos).
For the most part I am sticking with the segregation (fiction, non-fiction, and graphic novels/memoirs). It's just that now the unread will be alphabetized amongst themselves, just like the read. It makes sense in my head.
There are much more read than I first anticipated. I've already filled most of the four shelves of the big bookcase and I'm at T in Thompson. So not too shabby. When I first started I feared it would be much more lopsided, with the unread heavily outweighing the read.
I'm pretty pleased that there are 20ish books on the giveaway/donate table too. These are books that are both unread and probably built to stay that way, and others that I had read but don't need to keep in the permanent collection mostly do to their forgettable nature.
I'm hoping that seeing all the unreads together, pathetic and unloved will move to pick one up and read it. I've already made a plan to incorporate reading one "old" book a month as part of RP2010 (for the record RP2009 includes reading 56 books, 12 of which have to be graphic novels and 12 of which have to be short story collection).
September was a big bag of suck as far as reading was concerned. Not only did I go back to class (which is requires a lot of reading) but I just couldn't seem to find a book that could capture my attention. It seemed as though everything I picked up felt like a chore to read. As I sit here, I can think of nine books I am in the midst of. Nine. That makes finishing one kinda difficult.
In other, totally unrelated book news one of my all-time favorite authors is coming to read in Minneapolis in November. I am so excited that my hands shake when I think about it. John Irving pretty much changed my life. I can't wait to hear him read.
On with the show!
BOOK ACQUIRED
Going Bovine by Libba Bray
Andromeda Klein by Frank Portman
Every o Turns South by J.P. White
That's all I can think of off the top of my head. I have a bunch of good'uns on the way (Irving, Hornby, etc.)
BOOKS READ:
We Need to Talk About Kevin by Lionel Shriver: This epistolary novel about a woman who mothered a high school murderer is so well written, the story so well told that everyone should read it (now).
Asterios Polyp by David Mazzuchelli: Reviews would make you think this was the second coming of Jesus in graphic novel form, but with a cliched story and some art that might be amazing if you're much smarter about art than I am, it's not.
Everything Matters! by Ron Currie, Jr.: Generally sci-fi tales about the apocalypse aren't touching and uplifting, this one is and is about 1000% better than The Road.
CURRENTLY READING:
(hold on to your hats)
John the Revelator by Peter Murphy
Going Bovine by Libba Bray
Andromeda Klein by Frank Portman
A Gate in the Stairs by Lorrie Moore
Skyscrapers of the Midwest by Joshua Cotter
Sometimes We're All Real Same-Same by Mattox Roesch
Every Boat Turns South by J.P. White
If I finish three of these books I will be amazed.
August proved a rough month for reading. I got stuck in an awful, awful book so awful that I will not even mention its name. It took everything I had to struggle through 100 pages of this book (which I was only reading for a podcast that I do as a favor to a friend). The book sucked the life out of me, and combined with my guilt about having to read the book sucked the joy out of reading. Never again.
So yeah, August didn't find too many on the 'read' list, at least I don't think it did. We'll see.
BOOK ACQUIRED
A Gate in the Stairs by Lorrie Moore. Frankly once this one arrived all other books ceased to have any meaning to me. Moore is one of my all-time favorite writers and I wanted to read this novel so bad it scared me. In fact it scared me into not reading it. Yeah. Well, that and I feel like I have a ton of other book obligations to meet before diving into this one. Sometimes running a book blog is a lot of work.
Two poetry books that I cannot remember the name of because I gave them to one of the MN Reads' reviewers.
A bunch of other books that I have stacked up on the coffee table sent by hopeful authors and publishers that I will get to. I swear. Probably in October.
BOOKS READ
Love is a Four Letter Word edited by Michael Taeckens: Despite my initial trepidation about reading this collection of essays about love gone wrong I really, really enjoyed about 95% and the other 5%, surprisingly Junot Diaz's piece, was kind of meh.
The Maltese Falcon by Dashiell Hammet: One of the grandaddies of the hard-boiled detective noir genre, it was surprisingly enjoyable thanks to the lack of sexism and homophobia so prevalent in Chandler's The Big Sleep.
Shortcomings by Adrian Tomine: Utterly unenjoyable graphic novel that seems like it really wanted to say something about race and love and being Asian in America but never really gets around to saying anything.
Do Not Deny Me by Jean Thompson: The third short-story collection I've read by Thompson, who is fucking amazing, seems to be suffering what I dub "The Hold Steady Effect" whereby nothing seems to blow you away quite like the first experience, and while it's good and all it still makes you long for that first mind-blowing time.
CURRENTLY READING:
Asterios Polyp by David Mazzuchelli
Remedies by Kate Ledger
John the Revelator by Peter Murphy
I always feel bad when I don't pump out four or more books in a month. But then I have to remind myself that while I might not be completing as many books, I am reading a whole hell of a lot. When I take a writing workshop, we're required to read each of the student stories twice -- so that's the equivalent of reading four short stories a week, plus there's the published story from the book. Five stories a week is a lot. So if you do the math, five stories a week times four weeks a month is 20 stories a month, which is the equivalent of roughly two short story collections. Basically, I need to cut myself a little slack.
BOOKS ACQUIRED
Black Hole by Charles Burn
Skyscrapers of the Midwest by Joshua Cotter
I Kill Giants by Joe Kelly and J. M. Ken Nimura
Scott Pilgrim vol. 1 by Bryan Lee O'Malley
Shortcomings by Adrian Tomine
Everything Matters! by Ron Currie, Jr.
John the Revelator by Peter Murphy
The Hospital for Bad Poets by J.C. Hallman
Asterios Polyp by David Mazzucchelli
A.D.: New Orleans After the Deluge by Josh Neufeld
Love is a Four Letter Word edited by Michael Taeckens
The Maltese Falcon by Dashiel Hammet
Simplify by Tod Goldberg
BOOKS READ (OR ATTEMPTED)
I Kill Giants: Little girl takes on family tragedy and school yard bullies with imagination and moxie, making me bawl like a baby with its sweetness and power.
Both Ways is the Only Way I Want it: Meloy's second collection packs a punch by using sparse language and wonderful storytelling to tell tales that make you hold your breath from all the tension in a way that is most awesome.
In the Shadow of No Towers: Art Spiegelman loses his shit after 9-11 causing him to explain the losing of aforementioned shit using classic comic characters.
Sag Harbor: Benji goes to black enclave close to The Hamptons in 1985 and has a quiet, charming summer filled with coming of age moments.
Kingdom Come: A ponytailed (lame) Superman comes out of retirement to battle metahumans in a alternate universe DC comics tale that is so fucking lame I didn't finish it.
CURRENTLY READING:
Love is a Four Letter Word edited by
The Maltese Falcon by Dashiel Hammet
Shortcomings by Adrian Tomine (which I plan to actual start & finish tomorrow while laying about in my pajamas from dawn til dusk)
You can see what happened after that.
I think it was last year when I implemented the concept of Rock & Roll June whereby I spent the month reading rock and roll flavored books. Last year's experiment had mixed results, I read some really kick ass books and read some really not so kickass books (seriously rock and rollers need to stop writing about recoupable debt because it's about as sexy as accounting).
Here's the problem with rock and roll books they either lack in good writing or interesting content. I know, how could rock and roll be boring? It can be. I've been struggling through What Would Keith Richards Do? for about three weeks. While the subject matter is interesting, one can only take about three pages of sarcastic, ironic self-help/religion book prose at a time. If I were the type of person who read in the bathroom, this would be the book for just such an activity.
Because only one of the rock and roll books really captured my attention my reading slooooowwweedd way down. Of course, now I am making up for lot time by tearing through two books at once, each one an utter delight.
BOOKS ACQUIRED
Little Things: A Memoir in Slices by Jeffrey Brown
Remedies by Kate Ledger
The Love We Share Without Knowing by Christopher Barzak
Both Ways is the Only Way I Want it by Maile Meloy (one of the two books totally delighting me right now and after I finish each story in this collection it makes me wonder how the Meloy kids [her brother is Colin of The Decemberists] got to be so fucking talented)
Purge, Rehab Diaries by Nicole Johns
BOOKS READ
Little Things: A Memoir in Slices: As much as I like Jeffrey Brown (we like the same music, writers, etc.), I don't think adding drawings to average life stories makes for an exciting read.
Nick & Norah's Infinite Playlist: This was a totally delightful, stream-of-conscious tale told in alternating chapters from the point of view of Nick and Norah, two music obsessed teens who fall in love, sort of.
Maus: FUCKING A -- this book was so amazing that everyone should read it right now.
The Rock Snob's Dictionary: An Essential Lexicon of Rockological Knowledge: This book was kind of interesting and kind of boring all at the same time, perhaps I'm just snob enough to not be the target audience.
CURRENTLY READING
Both Ways is the Only Way I Want it by Maile Meloy
Sag Harbor by Colson Whitehead (this book is rocking my world)
I loved the book The Time Traveler's Wife. It's a moving, touching love story wrapped up in a very clever concept. It's like Harlequin romance meets sci-fi, only better written.
Seeing the trailer for the film-adaptation has frightened the hell out of me. I'm a little pissed off that Hollywood continues to ruin my favorite books (see Simon Birch that was so bad John Irving took his and Owen Meany's name off of it).
*The format of this column, the idea of which I stole from M-----l, is changing. I don't want to lose my 104p52w challenge on a lame technicality. So instead of writing 10-word reviews, I will be writing one sentence reviews in the hopes that will push over the 100-word threshold needed for each post.
Also, you should know that while writing this post it is raining outside, I am eating peanut m&Mms, and watching Twister for the second time in a row. I thought you would appreciate that peep into my life.
BOOKS ACQUIRED
Funny Misshapen Body by Jeff Brown (I think, I can't remember who wrote it and it's all the way over on the red chair and I am in the green chair, aka the La-Z-Grrl)
Laura Rider's Masterpiece by Jane Hamilton
Sag Harbor by Colson Whitehead
I think that might be all, I'm not sure. Max & Jaycie organized my books last weekend so I have no idea where anything really is.
BOOKS READ
The Umbrella Academy Vol. 1: The Apocalypse Suite by Gerard Way and Gabriel Ba: The Umbrella Academy, aka Emo Family Robinson, is a new kind of kickass superhero gang adopted by eccentric millionaire, Reginald Hargreeves, when they were all spontaneously born the same day to women with no signs of pregnancy.
The Song is You by Arthur Phillips: In this amazing novel, a 40something dude deals with a mid-life crisis by pursuing a 20something Irish soon-to-be rockstar in a weird cat and mouse courtship, and along the way discusses the intensely personal relationship we have with music.
Laura Rider's Masterpiece by Jane Hamilton: In this midling chicklit write off, Laura Rider sets up Jenna Faroili, a local Public Radio personality, to have an affiar with her husband, and then not-quite-wacky hijinks ensue.
German for Travelers by Norah Labiner: A novel about a movie star and romance novelist who are cousins investigating family secrets in Berlin that kicks so much ass that it's nearly impossible to comprehend that much ass being kicked.
Twin Study by Stacey Richter: A collection of a-fucking-mazing short stories that include cavemen invading suburbia, a Jew living in a christmas village with a pot-smoking bat boy for a next door neighbor, and a set of estranged twins who come together to participate in a scientific study.
CURRENTLY READING
The Rock Snob's Dictionary by David Kamp and Steven Daly
It Still Moves by Amanda Petrusich
Also on deck for Rock & Roll June:
What Would Keith Richards Do?
Flowers & Thorns by Bret Michaels
and some others that I can't remember the titles to at the moment.
