Blah blah blah
I’ve woken up stupidly early (like 4:30-5:30) several days in the last week. It’s annoying. I don’t want to go to bed at 9:00 like somebody’s grandma, but it’s creeping toward that. What gives? Next thing you know I’ll be wearing adult diapers and demanding discounts at Village Inn.
Hm…I’m hungry. Today is one of the few days this week it’s not supposed to rain, so Denny’s going to grill up some chicken and mushrooms, which we’ll have with farmer’s market spinach salad and…maybe something else, TBD. I picked up some reduced fat salt and pepper potato chips in the hippie aisle at Hy-Vee last night, so maybe we’ll give those a try.
Isn’t it nice of me to just brainstorm about dinner? Fascinating, I’m sure. I owe you more than that.
Um…I just read two Chuck Palahniuk books in a row and I think they’re warping my brain. I think he’s a really good writer, though. He’s all about the novel as a whole. Things don’t make sense at first, but as you delve further in, everything arranges itself. He does interesting things with repeating words and phrases, and he’s all about the slow reveal, but not in the cheap twist ending sense.
I like him, but I think I need a break. Any good book recommendations?
A lot of my favorite books are science-related nonfiction, so I would recommend:
The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat and Other Clinical Tales by Oliver Sacks
Stiff by Mary Roach
The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down by Anne Fadiman
Anything by Christopher Moore. I would imagine you probably are already into him, but start with Lamb and then get the stupidest angel because those two go hand in hand. Practical Demonkeeping is great too. He’s twisted, but fun.
When I saw the words, “Chuckles Palomick” I was about to squawk a virtual rant, “oooo! That man’s writing shat a brick unto my minds! THREE TIMES(cuz I read 3 books!)” I thought we would bond about how angry Chunk Paluminkl’s writing makes us. But upon further inspection… we are like an antithesis of each other! We will have to come to terms with our absolute disagreement of all things Pahlahnoik. It will take time, but eventually time wounds all heels. I mean, wait, what? Hoyurt!
I’ll second the Christopher Moore recommendation (_Bloodsucking Fiends_, _A Dirty Job_, and _You Suck_ are another related group).
I like to read young adult fiction in the summer, for some reason (maybe I’ve gone pavlovian for the Harry Potter publishing cycle?) so here are some ideas in that direction:
Any of the YA fiction by Scott Westerfeld, but especially _Peeps_ or the Midnighters series beginning with _The Midnight Hour_.
_Jumper_ and its sequel _Reflex_ by Steven Gould.
Last but not least, and particularly apt in light of the awesome-looking upcoming film, _The Golden Compass_, first of the His Dark Materials trilogy by Philip Pullman.
The Midnighters and His Dark Materials serieses (holy crap, how do you pluralize that?) both feature female leads. I don’t know how much that matters to you, but I started noticing it when Holly mentioned that she was sick of reading adventure stories with no interesting female characters.
On the other hand, I just dished out a list with zero female authors. Hmmn. Let me fix that.
…oh, that was pretty easy: _The Doomsday Book_ and/or _To Say Nothing of the Dog_ by Connie Willis, one of my verymostfavoritest sf authors. The stories take place in the setting of (but do not revolve around) a time machine, which is operated exclusively by and for a university History department (nobody else needs or wants it, apparently). This is treated with such nonchalance that it leaves plenty of room for the actual story. These are great, funny reads, but maybe a little too heavy for beach reading, as it were.
All these are available at ICPL of course.
HTH.
Dude! I LOVE Connie Willis. She has a book of short stories I have, too,called “Fire Watch” or something, and a somewhat less successful but ultimately interesting book called “Passage”.
Thanks! Those are good suggestions (I should have known Jack’s list would be the longest).
I’m sorry we have differing opinions on Chuck P., Jamal. I hope we can still be friends.
I’d recommend anything by Arnold Lobel, particularly from the Frog and Toad series. “Spring” is a good one. I also favor “A Lost Button.”
_Fire Watch_ is good stuff. The title story is .
Connie Willis has another excellent story/novelette about fire crews in London during the Blitz, which if I remember right is called “Jack”; always a mark of quality. It doesn’t have time machines, but it does have the undead.
Worth mentioning now that I’ve thought about it: they’re set in the same milieu, but while _To Say Nothing of the Dog_ is quite funny, _Doomsday Book_ is kind of a downer. Great book, worth reading, but a downer.
I have a friend who, just yesterday, told me about http://www.goodreads.com. I haven’t had time to explore it, yet, but she says it is a great place to discover new books. You have to sign up, but it is free, and she was just raving about how cool it is.
Anything by Ian McEwan is pretty good: Enduring Love, Amsterdam, Atonement.
Chuck Palahniuk, yes, so what would cleanse the pallet appropriately? How about some Irvine Welsh? Just kidding.
If you’re looking for breezier fare, most of Nick Hornby’s work is fun and easy.
More seriously, someone mentioned Oliver Sacks, which made me think of Sylvia Nasar’s “A Beautiful Mind” biography of John Nash. Amazing book and nothing whatsoever like the movie. Awesome in an academic/change-the-world(!) sort of way.
In the summer, I tend to read more poetry. James Tate is quirky and amusing — you could start with his “Selected Poems” or “Distance from Loved Ones.”
Good luck with your summer reading list!