For the Sake of Not Forgetting...
I am currently reading
Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee by Dee Brown.
I have yet to write reviews of:
Died in the Wool, by Mary Kruger
Perfume: The Story of a Murderer, by Patrick Suskind
Tanglewreck, by Jeanette Winterson
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, by JK Rowling
Me Talk Pretty One Day, by David Sedaris
The Stepford Wives, by Ira Levin
1984, by George Orwell (for the 2nd time)
Perhaps I will get the chance to write these reviews. Perhaps I will instead get caught up in other books. Either way, read. It's good for you!
Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff, Christ's Childhood Pal, by Christopher Moore
Recommended by a friend, I picked up
Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff, Christ's Childhood Pal. I don't often read comedy but admit that on each occasion I do, it's a good time. (For instance, when I first read Bridget Jones' Diary, tears rolled down my face and I had to lie down. My boyfriend at the time could not understand what I found so funny when I'd read a page or two aloud. Needless to say, he is no longer my boyfriend. Humorless git.) To take it one step further, nor do I read books about religion. I had a feeling, however, that Biff's gospel wasn't going to get too preachy.
A point is made throughout the book: the bible mentions Jesus (referred to by his birth name Josh) when he is 30 years old and older but never, not even once!, does it mention the Josh we must surely be most curious about: Jesus the Child. Biff clears that up. He is brought back from the nether-regions of wherever-friends-of-Jesus go when they die to add his own gospel. Inquiring minds want to know!
Biff starts where he should: at 6 years old, when he and Josh are best buds. There's a girl in town that Biff has a crush on - her name is Mary Magdalene. But wouldn't you know, she kinda likes Josh.
Josh knows he's the Messiah. That means, he also knows he can't give in to any sin. Biff takes on the burden of helping Josh understand sin without directly dabbling in the stuff himself.
And did you know Josh said that God really doesn't care if Jews eat bacon? Because... it's just bacon. (Hey! Look at Chris Moore, not the Crobinator).
To make this less a book report and more a review, I tell you my experience in the reading: smirking. I didn't think it was a comedy in the slap-your-knee,
hardy-har-har sort of way. It had an undertone that required silent head-nods at parties. Those quips and wits and nods that say "You get that? I got that. That was good."
Personally, that's all I need to enjoy it.
(I'd try to end this with something sarcastic, because Biff is proud of his invention of sarcasm - and upset when Josh uses it incorrectly, but I can't think of anything. Plus I'm working. In a cubicle. Which are brain-disinfectants, leaving them completely free of thought).
A Quick Update - Mentions Sex! Yay!
I have not forgotten about the wonderland of book-reading, my dears. I have been reading - just neglecting to tell you what I thought of them. I've recently read
Miracle in the Andes, written by Nando Parrado. Nando was one of the two men who trekked out of the Andes mountains where their plane had crashed in 1972. Part of a rugby team on their way to Chile, he made the journey to civilization.
Miracle in the Andes was good. But something kept getting in the way and I think it's the author's need to be so
fair. Though the compassion and understanding he blankets over each individuals' reaction is certainly justified and true, I think it takes away from his own experience - and sucks out some of the emotion a person would feel in that moment. For instance, he notes the lack of motivation and the strong desire to die in some of the passengers. He touches upon his own feelings of being frustrated and angry with that person, but quickly (and I think
too quickly), he dissipates those raw feelings with understanding and compassion. Very PC; but also... very PC.
I have also been reading
She Comes First: The Thinking Man's Guide to Pleasuring a Woman This is a great source of information. The entire first part of the book is focusing on understanding not only the female body's purpose and "mechanisms"(if you will) but also the connection between emotions (read: sensuality, knowledge, "scary talk," etc.) and the body's process of arousal. I admit I was a little anxious to read a man's interpretation of the female body, because let's ALL admit it: even if the information is factual (he does use many reports, essays and studies as back-up), facts themselves can still be interpreted differently from person to person. I want to know what one man is spreading to other men. If I feel that information is accurate to me, then great. Publish away! A "Bravo" to Mr. Kerner. Let's just hope that the men who read it don't skip to the "technique" section - skimming the bolded words.
I have yet to get to the part of the book about technique (because as I only date men, I am in no rush to read how to pleasure a woman - though should death be here on the morn and a poor woman needs some intimacy, I might claim love on the heart of this damsel if only to not be alone on my very last night alive without an orgasm [so I should make sure she reads the book too]. However, I may currently be in a bit of a rush to "hang out" with a man who
has read the technique part of the book).
Because I play things fair, I am also in the process of reading the counterpart to the above,
He Comes Next: A Thinking Woman's Guide to Pleasuring a Man. The book is great. It is formatted just as
She, with understanding (a blanket term that is not at all specific) and technique. It's great to read these things, and even better when you know it comes from a clear and blunt (but sensitive!) author. Note: Ian Kerner wrote the juxtaposed book
Admit It: You're Not That Into Him Either, to
He's Just Not That Into You (I may have these titles slightly wrong, but oh well. I've had some wine and I'm not setting up links. Wait till I read them.) Knowing he writes with that honesty, I was pleased to read about a man's feelings.
But there is a
downside.
I get the very strong feeling that this book - at least Part 1 - was written for (either):
A: Married couples/women
B: Older married couples;
C: Couples with sexual problems;
D: Overweight men.
I can count on one hand the excellent wonderful things from Part I that I could take with me; however, the rest was very irrelevant.
I am a single woman on the prowl. I'm not reading the book to be a great fellatio-er (how the hell do you say something like that? Would "slut" do?), but because I am curious to know about my body, the perceptions about my body that are being published, and the perceptions purchasers are buying into. And fellatio is, predominantly, a female-performing event, is it not? I wanna know what it has to say.
Again, I have not yet read the technique part of this book (I suppose this means I won't be getting any calls soon? . . . Buncha bastards. I should go dyke.)
. . . Now I am trying to remember what other books I have read since October, but my mind has gotten all crazy with fellatio and cunnilingus. Thanks a lot!
. . . Oh! I am currently reading
The Witch's Boy by Michael Gruber. I'll definitely post when I'm finished with that (probably tomorrow or Friday). Because I'm back on track, babies. That's right!
(P.S. I plan on figuring out how to sexily integrate this page to my main homepage. So stay tuned. ... For a really long time. [Just in case.])
Woe am I!
Poor you... Poor me!
I have been reading. I swear this to you, faithful readers. But I have not been posting. I take full responsibility. When I next write articles/reviews of my books, you will read about the following:
The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay, by Michael Chabon. Two-word review: Wonderfully heftig
Lighthousekeeping, by Jeanette Winterson. Two-word review: Lovingly soft.
I Never Promised You a Rose Garden, by Joanne Greenberg. Two-word review: Disappointingly pragmatic
The Testament, by John Grisham. Two-word review: Sauntering entertainment.
I am now starting
The Anatomist, by Federico Andahazi. No opinion yet.
Links to each will be posted when I post the reviews. And I
will post the reviews. Meanwhile, go read something. It's good for you. Of the list above, the quickest to read, while still being good, is the Winterson. The brain candy is Grisham. The slow but it's a story, is Greenberg. The best is Chabon (also wrote
The Wonder Boys).
The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress, by Robert A. Heinlein
This was given to me by a co-worker who plopped it on my desk one day and unceremoniously announced that I would appreciate it. Always hoping not to disappoint, I picked it up. I was just finishing something else that I neglected to post here (for reasons I have also forgotten), and was pleased to have something chosen for me to read.
I don't know much about Robert Heinlein, which is to say, I don't know
anything about him, other than what is offered on the first introductory pages of the novel. For instance, a crater on Mars was named after him. Nor do I read much Science Fiction. What I have read, though, was carefully suggested by friends, and I tended to enjoy all of them, such as:
Neuromancer by William Gibson (so much so, in fact, that I still have my copy of
Pattern Recognition, unread, but with intentions of being so),
The Diamond Age by Neal Stephenson, that I absolutely loved, and some other wayward pieces. Despite loving them, though, in all cases, it's been the same: they take me longer to get through. I can't get in the thick of the plot, on the edge of the seat, in the mask of the author. I read some, I put it down, I read some more. Often times, the compulsion to finish is more driven than the compulsion to finish
the story. By the last third of the book, I can scream through it... but it takes a while to get there. Understand what I'm sayin'?
Much like with
The Diamond Age, I wished for more coffee shops with free coffee and warm comfortable tables, because I think that if I had that opportunity, I would have drank the book in like hot chocolate (but cooled enough to take good long drags of, you know?). Luna - the Moon - a prison ground for wayward mishaps of Earth (Terra). They have developed, they have adjusted, they live in a society not at all like that on Earth. And their livelihood, their freedoms, their basic needs are threatened by a government far away treating them as slaves. Luna does not want to be a slave. To anybody. They live solely for the things they need and they work for those things. As the motto of the book clearly indicates: TANSTAAFL! "There ain't no such thing as a free lunch!" - or free air! Everything on Luna is produced. Everything must be paid for. Everything must be created and that means that if you want it, you best be prepared to work. The Terrans feel that they should do nothing for the essentials that Luna provides (such as grain), and the Loonies (Luna residents) disagree.
With the help of an old professor, a sexy six-foot beauty queen, a computer tech with eight arms, and a computer that learns to breathe, Luna works to become free.
It was fascinating. I enjoyed it one-hundred percent. One thing though. I asked a sci-fi loving, reader friend if he'd read it. He said, "I read that book when I was 13 and it changed my life." I don't know how, and I'm not sure when I'll be ready for the conversation, but I'm curious until then...
Currently reading:
The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay by Michael Chabon. And because I'm shameless, I'm adding a link to my Amazon.com wish list to my site. I want more! More, I tell you!
Those Silly Agents!
Make sure, all you writers that are readers, to read my post about the bad manners of a
certain agent.
The Secret Diary of Anne Boleyn, by Robin Maxwell
Every now and then, I love delving into historical fiction. Rarely does my date stamp go beyond the 1800s when I can fantasize about Mr. Rochester or Newfoundland in the height of seal hunting. My mother Ellen is most intrigued by biographies of Kings and Queens and I like the movies about them - all so scandalous. But on a trip to Borders, looking for something cheap to read and feeling in the mood for a little historial fiction, I picked up this book for a mere $3.98. The cover line that got me?
Blending a historian's attention to accuracy with a novelist's artful rendering, Maxwell weaves compelling descriptions of court life and devastating portraits of actual people into her naughty, page-turning tale. The result is a masterpiece of historical fiction - so prophetic of our time that one would think it were ripped from today's headlines.
The novel begins with Elizabeth I at the throne. There is much talk about her and Robin Dudley, her horsemaster and lover. She hates her mother - simply because what she knows is what the public knows; and she adores her father for the same reasons. But then an old woman comes to visit and presents to Elizabeth an old journal - that of her mother, Anne Boleyn.
I personally found the diary far more fascinating than Elizabeth, but the concept of never letting a man rule over you, even if it means your head, would not have hit quite as hard without the tale of Elizabeth contemplating marriage with Robin after his own wife dies.
An intriguing story; not a book I'd recommend to my friends unless they wanted entertainment, or something to inspire them into more history, but good nonetheless. I just read and wanted to watch the movie all over again - especially when Cate Blanchette says, "I am married to England." Fucking badass.
No really cool badass songs in this novel, but entertainment aplenty.
Oh. And I'm really fascinated to read more biographical accounts of both women.
