All the Books I Read In 2012

These Three Remain, Pamela Aidan

2012-02-27T08:05:00.002-08:00

This is book three in the Fitzwilliam Darcy, Gentleman, series, a retelling of Pride and Prejudice from the viewpoint of Mr. Darcy. And this one was the best! It's kind of where all the action took place. He proposed to Elizabeth Bennet twice! and she accepted the second time! And he improved his character!

Also, all this stuff came out about his friend Dyfed Brougham, professional bad-ass, who has this sort of Scarlet Pimpernel thing going on... I wonder if this author intended (or maybe she did - I'll check) to write more about him.

Totally cute. It made me squee.

I know. I'm totally lame.

Also, it didn't have any sex in it, which is a bonus for me. I remember the first time I tried to read a continuation of Pride and Prejudice, it was just soooo gross! I prefer to think of my Austen heroines as totally chaste, thank you very little.

Thirteen Reasons Why, Jay Asher

2012-02-24T07:56:00.000-08:00

Well, okay. This is a book about thirteen tapes that a high school girl sent out after she committed suicide, ordering each person to send the tape on to someone new. And, wow. It was really messed up.

I kept reading, looking for a definite reason WHY she killed herself. WHY. And nothing definite ever revealed itself. She just... did.

And maybe that's the point of the book.

Grass, Sheri S. Tepper

2012-02-23T19:12:00.000-08:00

I am rapidly becoming a giant screaming Sheri S. Tepper fan. JEEZ this was such an interesting book. I love her strong female characters, her commentary on patriarchy, and her worlds are just so INTERESTING. This book is set on Grass, a planet covered in, you guessed it, grass. And much more would spoil things, I think.

Duty and Desire, Pamela Aiden

2012-02-18T16:06:00.003-08:00

The second book in this series of Pride and Prejudice told from the viewpoint of Mr. Darcy. It's starting to get more confusing, as Mr. Darcy's first name was Fitzwilliam, which is the last name of his cousin, of the family D'Arcy. Ugh. Difficult for me to keep track, but then again I'm just not very smart.

Mandy, Julie Andrews Edwards (reread)

2012-02-17T16:06:00.004-08:00

So, this book was written by Julie Andrews (yes, THAT Julie Andrews) in the 1960s, and it's a cute story. Definitely little-kiddish, but cute. It's about an orphan named Mandy who discovers this little cottage out in the woods and decides to make a little home out of it. Because, otherwise, she HAS NO HOME.

I really just wish Mandy would come by and clean my apartment.

Cutting for Stone, Abraham Verghese

2012-02-13T12:07:00.000-08:00

Lovely book. It's set (mostly) in Ethiopia, in a hospital with non-Ethiopian doctors. The main protagonist is Marion Stone, twin brother of Shiva Stone, abandoned son of Dr. Thomas Stone and a nun. It had some medical details that were kind of gross but really fascinating (I do like that kind of stuff, though). It maybe helped that I had this book on 2-week loan from the library, so I was fully committed to reading it as fast as I could. But yeah. 525 pages in three days. Beat that.

Will Grayson, Will Grayson, by John Green and David Levithan

2012-02-12T20:18:00.000-08:00

Coming of age novel about two guys named Will Grayson, one of them the best friend of a gay high school football player named Tiny Cooper and Tiny's new boyfriend, Will Grayson. It's pretty weird.

The musical that the GSA puts on does sound awesome, though I'm inclined to doubt that any school would put on a musical written by a student, especially since said student rewrote the musical while practices were going on. Especially a musical about a gay kid, with, like, boys kissing boys in it. Sorry, but I don't think that there is a high school that that's liberal.

Also, the end is really dumb.

Other than that, I liked the book a lot!

An Assembly Such As This, Pamela Aidan

2012-02-05T17:33:00.000-08:00

A retelling of Pride and Prejudice, from the viewpoint of Mr. Darcy. Freakin' adorable. I wasn't expecting to like this book as much as I did.

Mr. Darcy is, as described in this book, a total sweetie. I <3 him.

The Thief, Megan Whalen Turner (reread)

2012-02-03T17:29:00.000-08:00

This is technically a reread, as my awesome grandma got me this book when I was a kid... I didn't much like it, as remember. I liked it better on the reread.

However, I remembered JUST enough to give away the surprise ending. Sigh.

I think I'll still read the next couple books in the series. I hear they get GOOD.

Sex, Mom, and God, Francis Schaeffer

2012-01-29T12:43:00.000-08:00

This book's tagline (or whatever it's called for books is "How the Bible's Strange Take on Sex Led to Crazy Politics--and How I Learned to Love Women (and Jesus) Anyway." And that pretty much sums the book up. It was very interesting. I don't agree with all of Schaeffer's points, especially about abortion, but that's okay!

Also, for the record, he fucked a snowlady. Yeah. That happened.

Smoking Ears and Screaming Teeth, Trevor Norton

2012-01-25T15:13:00.000-08:00

Who doesn't like a book about scientists who experimented on themselves! YAY!

As a biologist, I most enjoyed the scientists who gave themselves diseases such as cholera so that they could cure themselves (hopefully!), but the scientists who pioneered diving to great depths in the ocean were fun too! The title is named from a scientist who did experiments in how much pressure a human body could withstand, and smoke came out of his ears and his fillings started screaming. Yikes.

Flu, Gina Kolata (audiobook)

2012-01-21T15:02:00.000-08:00

I am passionately interested in disease, especially flu, so this audiobook was a perfect fit! Very interesting, as these scientists try to find the virus that caused the horrible flu epidemic of 1918 (which is, weirdly, hardly even remembered anymore, even though the scenes Kolata describes sound like something out of plague times).

One minor quibble: I don't necessarily think the author should narrate her own book, especially if she has a bit of a lisp. Just a little distracting.

The Night of the Solstice, L.J. Smith (reread)

2012-01-19T14:56:00.000-08:00

YAY book! This book is cheesy but enjoyable. The best part was when my partner looked at what I was reading and scoffed at the cheesy title and cover, and then I scoffed at his book: Dark Glory War, with cheesy sci-fi cover.

Abigail, Lois T. Henderson (reread)

2012-01-17T14:47:00.000-08:00

I used to read this book a lot as a kid; it's sort of in the "brainwash kids for Jesus" genre - well, sort of. It's about an Old Testament character, one of King David's wives, so there's no Jesus in this book whatsoever. Still.

It was okay. I liked the little hints of romance in it between Abigail and King David. So sweet. That's probably why I liked it as a kid, too. Talk about non-threatening boys!

Summon the Keeper, Tanya Huff

2012-01-16T16:26:00.000-08:00

Aww. This book is such a SWEET story about a portal to Hell. It also has old Olympians in it, which was hilarious. AND Claire, the main character, ends up with the boy that I was hoping she'd end up with! YAY!

I was a little worried at first, though; one of the main characters is a 17 year-old talking cat. And all I could think was, if the cat dies I'm going to be really pissed. Spoiler alert: he lives! YAY again.

Down Among the Dead Men, Michelle Williams

2012-01-15T16:21:00.000-08:00

This was a memoir of a year that Williams spent working in a mortuary in Great Britain. She eviscerates bodies, cleans up blood, and looks at dead bodies ALL THE TIME. Sounds like fun!

However, there's a lot of crap about her life other than work in there. BORING.

Also, I think it might be a British thing, but she and her family all drink a LOT. It probably helps that she doesn't drive.

The Absolutely True Story of a Part-Time Indian, Sherman Alexie

2012-01-14T16:18:00.000-08:00

Hoo boy, this book rocked. It was funny but at the same time it made me think!

No, seriously. It also had in it the most offensive racist joke I've ever heard, and that's saying something, as I am no spring chicken.

It's a YA book, though, which does kind of throw me. I mean, what is WITH those modern YA books and all the swears?!? I guess they make kids want to read, but still!

Heh. More or less kidding. Maybe kids won't just read Harry Potter now. Ugh.

Listed: hundreds of amusing, amazing and downright weird lists, by Geoff Tibballs

2012-01-11T16:13:00.000-08:00

Ugh. That title just doesn't FEEL right without the Oxford comma.

ANYWAY.

This was a book of lists. I enjoyed it. However, I can't think of ANY example lists now. So, it's not exactly the kind of book that lingers with you or anything. Not that there's anything wrong with that. You know, sometimes, a book is just entertainment.

What It Is Like to Go to War, Karl Marlantes (audiobook)

2012-01-10T16:03:00.000-08:00

This book was, in a word, amazing. Devastating. Heartbreaking, ultimately empowering.

Marlantes does have a point: the way we treat warriors (i.e. the small percentage of US citizens who actually do our fighting for us) doesn't help them deal with what they've had to do one bit. It's unnatural, in a way, but yet really natural to have to kill for one's country, but treating it like it's easy or easy to forget just makes the problem worse.

This book was narrated by the actor Bronson Pinchot, who did an amazing job.

Stop Pretending: what happened when my big sister went crazy, Sonya Sones

2012-01-10T15:59:00.000-08:00

This was another one of those novels made of poetry, which works in this case. As the title says, it's about this girl whose older sister has a nervous breakdown and is sent to a mental health facility. She gets better, slowly, but what's really interesting is that this book is about how her younger sister, age 14, is treated by people who know, and who don't know. That would be tough.

Some of her friends stop being her friend when she tells them, which just seems weird and bitchy to me, but then again I'm 27.

I See Rude People, Amy Alkon

2012-01-09T16:07:00.000-08:00

Another etiquette book, though this etiquette book was actually more about tales of revenge that Alkon took on people who, say, stole her car or called her on the phone when she was trying to work. She does have some points: parents need to PARENT, dammit, and not just let their kids scream all they want at coffee shops where other people may go for relaxation, or talk really loud on their cell phones (I'm with Alkon on this: don't talk on your cell phone in public, or at least when people can't get away from you).

I do have one beef with her: she said something along the lines of, feminists are wrong, you can't have it all. To which my response is, WHEN EXACTLY DID FEMINISTS SAY THAT??? Jeez.

And this is maybe a rant for another time, but I am so sick of people implying that feminism is dead, and those of us who consider ourselves feminists lost from another time. As far as I can tell, equality between the sexes isn't quite there yet, so feminists still serve a purpose. Blah.

Bridget Jones' Diary, Helen Fielding (reread like whoa)

2012-01-06T15:53:00.000-08:00

I really like this book, which maybe explains why I've read it at least ten times. Yeah.

Anyone else reread books that much? I refuse to believe that I'm THAT abnormal...

The Marriage Plot, Jeffrey Eugenides

2012-01-03T12:50:00.000-08:00

Meh. That is all I have to say.

Well, not quite: this is the first new book I've read exclusively on my Kindle! YAY.

Gibbon's Decline and Fall, Sheri S. Tepper (reread)

2012-01-01T12:43:00.000-08:00

This book is set in a futuristic semi-dystopia where women are slowly being subjugated again in the United States, due to the cult-like rise of a scary leader who (spoiler alert) turns out to be some sort of creepy undead alien who comes after all civilizations where women are (almost) equal to men. Needless to say, very feminist book.

Also, AWESOME.

Girl of the Limberlost, Gene Stratton Porter (reread)

2011-12-31T12:41:00.000-08:00

So sweet, even though I am now old and cynical.

The Misadventures of Bethany Price, Marion Cockrell

2011-12-31T12:38:00.000-08:00

Not impressed. Actually, disappointed.

Summing up 2011

2011-12-31T12:26:00.000-08:00

In total, I read 107 books in 2011. My highest months for reading were July, October, and December, each of which coming in with a total of 12 books. My lowest months were January, April, May, and September, with a lowly 6 books each. That is one half of the total of my higher months! I don't think that actually means anything, just fun fact.

Of these 107 books, seventeen were audiobooks, with one audiobook a relisten:
A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, Betty Smith
Assassination Vacation, Sarah Vowell (relisten)
Tippecanoe and Tyler Too: Famous Slogans and Catchphrases in American History, Jan Van Meter
Dead Until Dark, Charlaine Harris
Superfreakonomics, Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner
Outlander, Diana Gabaldon
The Last Kingdom, Bernard Cornwell
West With the Night, Beryl Markham
Agincourt, Bernard Cornwell
Brightsided: How Positive Thinking is Undermining America, Barbara Ehrenreich
Bossypants, Tina Fey
The Second World War: Milestones to Disaster, Winston Churchill
Nothing’s Sacred, Lewis Black
Endurance, Alfred Lansing
Heart of Darkness, Joseph Conrad
Sarah’s Key, Tatiana de Rosnay
The Disappearing Spoon: and Other True Tales of Madness, Love, and the History of the World from the Periodic Table of the Elements, Sam Keane

Twenty-three of these books were rereads, or 21.7% of total books read. This is not as bad as I had feared. I would consider this past year to be pretty typical of my reading habits, so I guess that I don't just reread the same books over and over!
Girl of the Limberlost, Gene Stratton Porter
Belles on Their Toes, Frank Bunker Gilbreth Jr. and Ernestine Gilbreth Carey
Assassination Vacation, Sarah Vowell
Circus of the Damned, Laurell K. Hamilton
The Laughing Corpse, Laurell K. Hamilton
The Fall of Atlantis, Marion Zimmer Bradley
Guilty Pleasures, Laurell K. Hamilton
The Shining, Stephen King
Magical Melons, Carol Ryrie Brink
Caddie Woodlawn, Carol Ryrie Brink
The Revolt of Sarah Perkins, Marion Cockrell
The Secret Circle: The Power, L.J. Smith
The Secret Circle: The Captive, L.J. Smith
The Secret Circle: The Initiation, L.J. Smith
Anastasia’s Chosen Career, Lois Lowry
A Storm of Swords, George R.R. Martin
A Clash of Kings, George R.R. Martin
A Game of Thrones, George R.R. Martin
The Witch of Blackbird Pond, Elizabeth George Speare
The Devil Wears Prada, Lauren Weisberger
The Outlaws of Sherwood, Robin McKinley
Beauty, Robin McKinley
Good In Bed, Jennifer Weiner
The Starlight Crystal, Christopher Pike

My twelve favorite books (one for each month! not really) were:
The Gate to Women’s Country, Sheri S. Tepper
Assassination Vacation, Sarah Vowell
Superfreakonomics, Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner
The Gift of Fear, Gavin de Becker
Alanna: The whole series, Tamora Pierce (4 books)
Endurance, Alfred Lansing
The Poisoner's Handbook: Murder and the Birth of Forensic Medicine in Jazz Age New York, Deborah Blum
Dear Mr. Rogers, Does It Ever Rain in Your Neighborhood?: Letters to Mr. Rogers, Fred Rogers
Sex At Dawn: How We Mate, Why We Stray, and What It Means for Modern Relationships, Christopher Ryan and Cacilda Jetha

My twelve least favorite books were:
Little, Big, John Crowley
Sarah's Key, Tatiana de Rosnay
Nothing's Sacred, Lewis Black (audiobook)
Marjorie Morningstar, Herman Wouk
Sleepwalk With Me, Mike Birbiglia
Tuesdays With Morrie, Mitch Albom
Bright Lights, Big Ass, Jen Lancaster
Dangerous Angels: The Weetzie Bat Books, Francesca Lia Block
Skippy Dies, Paul Murray
A Tree Grows In Brooklyn, Betty Smith
The Art of Conversation, Catherine Blyth
Outlander, Diana Gabaldon (audiobook)

That about sums it all up! Except, of course, I have some sort of drivel in my head now about the inexactitude of measuring a year in what was read, or in diapers, or in cups of coffee. And now, I want to start singing: 525,600 MINUTES! HOW DO YOU MEASURE A YEAR IN THE LIFE?

Belles on Their Toes, Frank Bunker Gilbreth Jr. and Ernestine Gilbreth Carey (reread)

2011-12-27T10:41:00.000-08:00

Aww. This book is still really sweet, and poignant. It is almost written as an elegy to the Gilbreth parents, describing how they missed their father and how their mother kept the family together after their father died.

And, it has a lot about how hard it was for a woman alone back then, trying to make enough money to support eleven kids in a male-dominated (well, actually, exclusively male) field.

Milkweed, Jerry Spinelli

2011-12-23T09:46:00.000-08:00

I came across this book during a brief sojourn into the YA section of my library. I checked out out because Spinelli also wrote Maniac Magee which is one of the best books ever written.

However, this book was totally about the Holocaust. Yeah. That threw me.

Sigh.

I Love You, Beth Cooper, by Larry Doyle

2011-12-16T13:29:00.000-08:00

This book was hilarious. It's about this awkward smart guy who proclaims his love for Beth Cooper in his valedictory speech at graduation, and then the CRAZY SHIT that happened in the 24 hours after that. AWESOME. YAY.

Skippy Dies, Paul Murray

2011-12-16T11:40:00.000-08:00

So, this book starts out with the death of Skippy. I was really hoping for a pay-off, but after 600+ pages (see, I don't just read kid books), there was only kind of a pay-off. Sigh.

Full of sound and fury, signifying nothing.

Classy, Derek Blasberg

2011-12-16T11:35:00.000-08:00

This was a modern etiquette book, which really emphasized stuff that I think should be common sense, common knowledge, and common courtesy. Most importantly, that it is RUDE to have dinner with someone and have your phone out on the table next to you! Put that away!

Also, stuff was said about clothes that leads me to suspect that the author is gay.

It was cute, occasionally insulting to women, and pretty funny, in a cutting sort of way. He dropped names like crazy by NOT dropping names but leaving enough hints that a discerning reader could figure out exactly whose cooch he was talking about (another hint that should be common sense: wear underwear).

Anyway. Not a complete waste of my time. I do love etiquette books, though the older ones are more fun.

What My Girlfriend Doesn't Know, Sonya Sones

2011-12-11T14:01:00.000-08:00

This turned out to be the sequel of What My Mother Doesn't Know, which I kind of didn't realize at the time... I mostly grabbed it because it looked like it was about lesbian high schoolers, which is a soft spot of mine, because the jacket said something about "Robin and Sophie". Unfortunately, Robin turned out to be a dude :-(

Again, a quick read. It had a cute poem in there that looked like boobies! It was kind of awesome.

What My Mother Doesn't Know, Sonya Sones

2011-12-09T09:19:00.000-08:00

This book was totally sweet! All about how much this girl makes out with different boys, which makes me a little jealous because she'd done more making out by the age of 15 than I've done in my entire life. This is sad.

Only thing
It was written in this weird
Poetry
style.

So
there were
Only
About
Forty words a page

So, yeah. Needless to say, a quick read.

The Worst-Case Scenario Survival Handbook, Joshua Piven

2011-12-07T09:15:00.000-08:00

Yeah, I know this craze is, like, ten years old or so. I just haven't read one of these books yet!

It was fun. The pictures were the best part.

Now, if only my weeny little brain could retain any important information from this book...

A Tree Grows In Brooklyn, Betty Smith (audiobook)

2011-12-05T07:47:00.000-08:00

This book is about the growing-up years of a young woman in 1910s Brooklyn. She grew up very poor, and blah blah blah I don't care.

I think I would have actually appreciated this book when I was maybe thirteen, and still silly, but now it was just kind of boring. I just made it to the end in the hopes that she would get out of Brooklyn, instead of doing something stupid and getting knocked up.

She did.

*spoiler alert* She went to University of Michigan. And that's about as far from Brooklyn as you can get.

Anyway.

It doesn't help, either, that the audiobook I was listening to had this really shitty jazz combo music between chapters, which was especially annoying as the 1910s was before even early jazz was starting to get played, and shitty jazz combos didn't make their start until maybe the 1940s at the earliest. Unfortunately.

The Gate to Women's Country, Sheri S. Tepper

2011-12-05T07:42:00.000-08:00

This book was phenomenal. I mean it! The title sounds familiar to me. I think I maybe tried to read it in high school, but failed miserably, lacking either the patience or the life experience to finish it.

Seriously, though. Awesome. I loved the little vignettes from the play that the main character was in, and how they related to the rest of the story. And I loved the broken timeline narration, though that usually annoys me in less well-written books.

And I loved all the feminist theory behind this story, and just the very idea of it: imagine! all men are sent away to go to war as they wish, and the women really run things!

Plus, it's set in a post-apocalyptic world, and I just LOVE those. Especially, as above, when well-written. This was a really immersive environment, one that I could almost see happening in the future. Almost.

V for Vendetta, Alan Moore (graphic novel)

2011-11-30T14:31:00.000-08:00

I had to consult Wikipedia after finishing this book (so as to avoid accidentally spoiling the ending for myself) to figure out what the hell is going on.

I don't know if this is a problem with the book, or a problem with my face-blindness having difficulty telling the drawn people apart. Especially all the white men.

Anyway. Interesting. I like how he used the medium to make the story more atmospheric than it otherwise would be, with music streaming out of jukeboxes in the background (which also made it more confusing).

Assassination Vacation, Sarah Vowell (audio) (relisten)

2011-11-29T14:29:00.000-08:00

I LOVE this book. I think this is the third time I've listened to it, and I get something new out of it each time. Best part, there are guest voices, such as Stephen Colbert, Jon Stewart, etc. etc., which makes it fun to figure out who is doing which voice.

Also, Vowell's voice is squeaky and adorable.

Five enthusiastic thumbs up!

The Birchbark House, Louise Erdrich

2011-11-27T12:01:00.000-08:00

This book was sweet, all about a family in the Ojibwa tribe in 1840s Northern Minnesota. I can't even imagine how hard it would have been to live through a Minnesota winter, especially on Lake Superior with those icy winds always blowing.

Then, add in a smallpox epidemic, which robs people of the strength needed to hunt or find food, and I'm just astonished.

Loved this book.

Why Does He Do That?, Lundy Bancroft

2011-11-26T11:57:00.000-08:00

This was a book about abusive men, which made it just OH SO MUCH FUN to read.

Interesting, though. I do think that society doesn't take abusive men as seriously as it should, especially with all those "oh so funny" jokes about women getting beaten up.

Oh, and the rape jokes. Those are hilarious as well.

It's not that feminists don't have senses of humor, it's just that the jokes are so appallingly bad...

Pippi Longstocking, Astrid Lundgren

2011-11-24T11:53:00.000-08:00

I don't know if I ever read this book as a young'un. I don't think so. I know I watched the movie half a dozen times, but this book wasn't really all that similar to the movie (that doesn't mean the movie wasn't good, though; maybe I should rewatch it, or maybe not, since rewatching as a grown-up tends to make my fondness for the movie disappear, sigh).

Anyway. It was very cute. Pippi is such a pain in the ass. She reminds me of this little girl who goes to my church and doesn't realize that she shouldn't talk quite so much, a little girl who I think will grow up into an AWESOME woman because she doesn't just believe society's lesson that little girls should be clean sweet princesses instead of loud dirty hellions (I think that little boys are given way more leeway in that regard).

I'm not sure exactly why Pippi is allowed to live by herself, though, and how she takes care of herself...

Circus of the Damned, Laurell K. Hamilton (reread)

2011-11-22T12:03:00.000-08:00

Also an enjoyable book, with zombie raising and a new character who is described as looking just like Howdy Doody. That's just plain fun!

But, sigh... I don't want to hear any more descriptions of Jean-Claude's nipples! Argh! And his lacy shirts...am I supposed to find those sexy?? Yuck.

I'm done with this series. I have the fourth book checked out from the library, but it will be returned unread.

Tippecanoe and Tyler Too: Famous Slogans and Catchphrases in American History, Jan Van Meter (audiobook)

2011-11-19T16:59:00.000-08:00

This book is awesome! It reminds me about how my awesome AP US History teacher, Mr. Stauffacher, used to tell us stories that REALLY MADE HISTORY COME ALIVE!!

But not in the cheesy way. Seriously, a fabulous book. The author really delves deeply into each slogan (such as the titular Tippecanoe and Tyler too!) to define not only what it means, but the larger historical meaning. This ended up not just being a book of slogans, one by one, but a complete history of the United States, using these slogans and catchphrases to illustrate larger points in American history.

The Laughing Corpse, Laurell K. Hamilton (reread)

2011-11-14T13:23:00.000-08:00

Okay, so, um... the author picture on the back of the book appears to be a woman with dark curly hair, dark eyes, and pale skin. Which is definitely the same as how the author describes Anita Blake, the main character. Mary Sue, much?

Eh, whatever.

I enjoyed this book. It had more of the zombie raising and voodoo that I love (and less of the descriptions of Jean-Claude and his nipples and his lace shirts that I hate).

I'm now reading the third book of the series. Definitely not as obsessed as I was the first time I read them in college, though.

There's a part of me that thinks that part of the reason why I like these books so much is that Anita Blake, the main character, keeps getting the SHIT beaten out of her, which, since I don't like her character, is awesome. I'll keep that my dirty little secret, though.

The Fall of Atlantis, Marion Zimmer Bradley (reread)

2011-11-07T11:59:00.000-08:00

This is only TECHNICALLY a reread, as I don't really remember much of this book at all from the first time I read it, when I was like twelve (what can I say? my father just let me run amok in the science fiction section of the library. Amok, I say!).

Anyway. It was okay. It kind of gave me a headache, for some reason. Sort of a depressing story. Sigh.

Sidenote: were there just not as many young adult books when I was growing up?? because I don't remember making much of a stopover in YA between Children and Adult. Hm.

A Madman Dreams of Turing Machines, Janna Levin

2011-11-06T18:45:00.000-08:00

Huh.

Guilty Pleasures, Laurell K. Hamilton (reread)

2011-11-01T11:54:00.000-07:00

This is the first book of the Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter, series, which were a total guilty pleasure (heh) of mine back in college until they just turned into dirty dirty smut books about the eighth book in the series.

So, I reread my fiance's autographed (I know, weird) copy of the first one, just for the hell of it, and it wasn't too bad. I think I'll reread some more.

Yes.

The Shining, Stephen King (reread)

2011-10-24T09:32:00.000-07:00

I read this book maybe five years ago, during my last year in college (what?? I needed a break from studying) and it was creepy then, and still creepy now. Yikes.

I really think that it's one of King's best works, without the yucky sex scenes that really repel me from some of his other works (IT, I'm looking at you!). So there's that.

I think I thoroughly had the willies scared out of me this Halloween season with Hell House and this book. Kudos.

Hell House, Richard Matheson

2011-10-17T08:21:00.000-07:00

This book was unrelentingly creepy. I had seen the movie (The Legend of Hell House, 1973) and the book was even worse! Yikes!

I needed to be snuggled for a good hour after the end before I could calm down enough to sleep. And if that's not a ringing endorsement, I don't know what is.

The Baby on the Car Roof and 222 More Urban Legends, Thomas J. Craughwell

2011-10-15T08:12:00.000-07:00

Since I'm a somewhat obsessive reader of snopes.com, I've actually heard most of them. This book fits in to my spooky October book obsession since urban legends tend to actually scare the crap out of me, for some reason.

I guess I'm just really suggestible.

Which does make Halloween more fun.

The Silent Girl, Tess Gerritsen

2011-10-13T15:12:00.000-07:00

Gerritsen's most recent book. I just got it into my hot little hands, courtesy of the Madison Public Library System and my nearest library (after putting it on hold and failing to pick it up in a timely manner this summer, FAIL). And it was AWESOME.

Gerritsen did it again, and released a suspenseful and intelligent murder mystery, with enough gruesome details about murders and the perfect amount of gruesome details (i.e. NO details) about rape.

Magical Melons, Carol Ryrie Brink (reread)

2011-10-11T15:10:00.000-07:00

The sequel to the aforementioned Caddie Woodlawn, and actually a more interesting book. The author, apparently, instead of just limiting herself to one year in the life of the actual original Caddie, her grandmother, just retold her favorite stories. So it was more interesting, and more fun.

Apparently, they rereleased this book under the title Caddie Woodlawn's Family, which I refuse to acknowledge as a real book. Boo.

Caddie Woodlawn, Carol Ryrie Brink (reread)

2011-10-10T15:07:00.000-07:00

Yeah. So I reread a kids book. I used to love it as a kid.

Still love it.

At least it was 274 pages. So, bite me.

Fearless Girls, Wise Women & Beloved Sisters: Heroines in Folktales from Around the World, by Katherine Ragan and Jane Yolen

2011-10-10T13:13:00.000-07:00

This is a collection, as is obvious by the title, of folktales from around the world with female heroes. I liked it, though it did get tedious toward the end. It was very long, with lots of stories. Maybe if I had been trying to read only a few stories a day, instead of the whole book in a sitting, it would have worked out better. Anyway.

Suburban Legends, by Sam Stall

2011-10-09T08:45:00.000-07:00

This was a collection of true stories about weird shit that has happened in the suburbs. What was REALLY nice about this collection was that it was more modern than a lot of other urban legends, and also that it was all true and not really even urban legends. Anyway.

My favorite was this story about Marvin Heemeyer, who equipped his bulldozer with armor and concrete and went on a rampage, knocking down the Granby, CO, town hall in 2004. There's footage of his killdozer on Youtube. It's entertaining.

Anyway.

Love is a four-letter word : true tales of breakups, bad relationships, and broken hearts by American writers, edited by Michael Taeckens

2011-10-08T08:43:00.000-07:00

This was a collection of stories by various what I would call "trendy" authors of the moment, such as Junot Diaz, Dan Kennedy, and others. It was cute, I don't deny it, but two days after finishing it, I can't really remember any of the stories in particular. So there's that.

The Bookcase Ghost:: A Storyteller's Collection of Wisconsin Ghost Stories, by Elizabeth Matson and Stuart Stotts

2011-10-07T16:36:00.000-07:00

It's almost Halloween! Time for apple cider and pumpkins and scary stories.

Back in high school forensics, I did story-telling for one year, and really liked it... well, I liked the idea of it better than what actually happened, which is that people would just memorize the story and tell it, rather than taking a more organic approach, but yeah! Story-telling is sort of a lost art these days, and I miss it.

There's something to be said for sitting around a bonfire telling ghost stories, and now I have 18 more added to my repertoire.

The Revolt of Sarah Perkins, Marion Cockrell (reread)

2011-10-04T10:09:00.000-07:00

Yeah! This book is about Sarah Perkins, a lady from the East who comes west in 1879 to answer an ad for a job teaching. Hijinks, as you would imagine, ensue.

It's a super-di-dooper book, and I love it mucho. I reread it all the time, because it's adorable!

The Secret Circle: The Power, L.J. Smith (reread)

2011-10-01T18:56:00.000-07:00

AND I read the third book in the series. YAY.

The Secret Circle: The Captive, L.J. Smith (reread)

2011-09-30T18:54:00.000-07:00

True to form, I started reading the second book in the series. Still entertaining. Not much in form of redeeming characteristics, but still entertaining, and that's sometimes the best thing.

The Art of Conversation, Catherine Blyth

2011-09-26T13:42:00.000-07:00

As it turns out, books about how to have conversations are REALLY BORING.

The Secret Circle: The Initiation, by L.J. Smith (reread)

2011-09-25T13:38:00.000-07:00

I had to reread this book after the horrible taint of watching CW's TV show The Secret Circle, which mostly just had people with the same names as in the book, and a very very loose connection of plot (they're witches!).

Sigh. It took everything that I really liked about the books (it's a trilogy, and YES I'm reading the second book right now) and got rid of it, just leaving an empty shell of a story to be filled by pretty pretty people. Also, it's in Washington state. WTF? Part of the point of the story was that their family were driven out of Salem, Massachusetts, by the witch hunt of 1692 and started their own town of New Salem for just witches!

I think it's trying to be a Twilight rip-off, with witches. This makes me sad.

Dead Until Dark, Charlaine Harris (audiobook)

2011-09-22T17:58:00.000-07:00

This book was all right... I don't know. I just wasn't as entranced with the idea behind it as a lot of people seem to be. Also, there were some sexy scenes that made me feel really uncomfortable at work. lol.

I guess it's when Vampire Elvis showed up that I decided the book was really a little messed up, and not necessarily in a good way. Yes. Vampire Elvis. It doesn't make any more sense in context.

At least the author got one thing right: in the last show-down, Sookie defeats the big bad guy ALL BY HERSELF instead of having her vampire lover Bill show up and take care of things.

6/10 stars.

Probably not going to read any more of this series.

Anastasia's Chosen Career, Lois Lowry (reread)

2011-09-15T11:55:00.000-07:00

All right. I really liked the Anastasia books as a kid, so I thought I'd reread one (I think I picked it up for fifty cents at Goodwill, it had words circled on some pages and 'BRIDGET' written all over it). And it was good.

The characterization is brilliant. The most interesting character in the book is definitely not the lead character, Anastasia, who acts as more of a narrator than as a character doing stuff.

I loved it. I think I shall go read some more.

Yes.

College Girls: Bluestockings, Sex Kittens, and Coeds, Then and Now, by Lynn Peril

2011-09-11T11:44:00.000-07:00

Picked this book up on a whim at the library. It was fantastic! It's always fun going into the stacks and finding something new and interesting where you least expect it.

Also, since when do I read nonfiction??? I know, right?

Anyway. Long book, but very interesting. Conventional wisdom used to think that women who went to college would never get married! Because, of course, what kind of a man would want to marry someone with more education than him?

I asked my fiance if he was intimidated by my level of education, and he said no, because he knows he's still smarter than I am. Hah. Not.

A Storm of Swords, George R.R. Martin (reread)

2011-08-31T16:02:00.000-07:00

And one last book in for August!

Another reread. I'm amazed at how much I had forgotten that happens in this book... oops. I still like the first book of the series the best, but this book is better than the second book.

Superfreakonomics, Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner (audiobook)

2011-08-26T11:09:00.000-07:00

I really liked this book! I love the different ways they bring of viewing the world, in an economic sense relying on numbers rather than just on how the world seems.

I wish I had READ the book rather than listened to it, though, as I think I missed parts.

It was over wayyy too fast! (and then I didn't know WHAT to do, as I was stuck at work without anything to listen to)

Chicks with Sticks (It's a Purl Thing), Elizabeth Lenhard

2011-08-23T11:04:00.000-07:00

Okay, I have no idea what "it's a purl thing" means... Anyway. A cute book. I accidentally grabbed the sequel on impulse at the library and read about a third of the way into it before deciding that I couldn't just READ the SEQUEL without reading the original. Which is why I read this one.

Definitely cute. I liked it. I don't think I'll go back and read the rest of the sequel, though. Sometimes the setting up of the story is the best part, which is what this book was.

Outlander, Diana Gabaldon (audiobook)

2011-08-18T08:32:00.000-07:00

Okay. So this book seemed like it would be right up my alley, a historical novel with an element of science fiction (with time travel) and lots of romance, including lots of hot sex. But... not so much. Even the sexy bits ended up getting repetitive. It's like, jeez just keep your hands off each other for five minutes, okay? and let's get back to the plot.

Also, the part where Jamie's sister is describing what it feels like to be pregnant and it ends up being a sensual experience where everyone has sex afterward....ewwwww.

And then the torture/rape scene at the end was totally cringe-worthy, but it doesn't end there! Instead, Claire has to "exorcise" Jamie's demons with some sort of weird bdsm type of trance/dream that she puts him in with the help of opium and some other witchcraft weird shit.

And then they totally DO IT in the baths at a monastery, where monks can wander in at any time, and it's all like blah blah blah orgasm shit, and I usually enjoy sex scenes. I'm no prude. And THEN, Claire's pregnant! Oh joy. I think I'll pass on the rest of the series.

The Gift of Fear, Gavin de Becker

2011-08-16T08:32:00.000-07:00

This book was phenomenal. It is all about using one's intuition to sense danger, instead of being afraid all the time. Especially as a woman, it is so hard to live in a big city (or even out in the country) without worrying about what lurks in the shadows. I know this sounds silly, but it's scary even to have a man come up to chat with you. I know that not all men are bad people (by far, they aren't) but it's still nerve-wracking.

de Becker gives concrete examples of when people used intuition to KNOW something before why they knew it became clear, such as seeing a shadow out of the corner of your eye... and also described his system of how to know if someone is just threatening someone else, or actually is prepared to strike.

Lioness Rampant, Tamora Pierce

2011-08-09T12:47:00.000-07:00

The conclusion of a very satisfying series. For once, a heroine doesn't lose her mind or her desire to do her own thing when she loses her virginity.

Anyway. Alanna sleeps with two more men in this book! You go, girl! Get those freaky ya-yas out! and then returns to the capitol of her kingdom, just in time, as her old enemy Roger has been resurrected by her powerful sorcerer brother. And only Alanna can save the country from Roger's evil grasp!

And she still doesn't end up marrying Prince (now King) Jonathan. Also, she quests and finds a magic jewel to give to the kingdom, and finally settles down with the ex-King of the Rogues, SEXY thief George Cooper. Just who I would have wanted her to settle down with!

But her cat dies at almost the end, in saving the realm, and I cried a little at that. Boo-hoo.

And that's the end of that series. So, um, I don't know what to read now.

The Woman Who Rides Like a Man, Tamora Pierce

2011-08-07T12:44:00.000-07:00

I am really enjoying this series! I am happy about certain parts in this book: 1.) NO Jonathan, or not much Jonathan, 2.) Alanna breaks it off with Jonathan! You go, girl!

Also, Alanna just was a total badass through this whole book. She kicked ass and took names. And then became a shaman! Woo!

And then, at the end, Alanna finds a map for the Dominion Jewel, which leads us into an epic quest in the next book! YAY!

A Clash of Kings, George R.R. Martin (reread)

2011-08-04T12:42:00.000-07:00

I didn't really care for this book, upon reread. I guess it's hard to write a satisfying middle of the series book. I mean, it was OK, and I liked all the parts with Tyrion in them, but it seems like everyone keeps doing really stupid or treacherous things, no matter how much I yell at the book.

Sad face.

Anyway. On to the next book, A Storm of Swords!

The Last Kingdom, Bernard Cornwell (audiobook)

2011-07-30T19:51:00.000-07:00

The narrator's voice on this is so sexy... mm.

This book is set during the time of Alfred the Great in England, and it's good fun. The main character, whose name I have no idea how to spell, really likes killing people in battle, which is pretty exciting.

This is the first book in a series, so I guess I know what I'm reading next! Yay.

In the Hand of the Goddess, Tamora Pierce

2011-07-27T19:51:00.000-07:00

I am really enjoying this series. It's not dumbed down at all. You never feel like OF COURSE the main character is going to make it through just because she's the main character.

Anyway. Alanna just killed her enemy, or did she?? I have my suspicions. Time to get the next book!

Inside Wikileaks: My Time with Julian Assange at the World's Most Dangerous Website, Daniel Domscheit-Berg

2011-07-26T19:54:00.000-07:00

Yeah. This book pretty much just confirmed my suspicions that Julian Assange is just a giant fucking nutcase.

I do think that Wikileaks, as initially envisioned, is necessary in the world right now, but Assange has gotten scary.

Something that really interested me was the story of how some people responded to the rape allegations against Assange in Sweden: they thought that it couldn't POSSIBLY be true and it must be some government trying to suppress him.

Just... remember, people, just because you admire someone and what they have done doesn't mean that they always do only the right thing.

Possessed: The Life of Joan Crawford, by Donald Spoto

2011-07-25T08:47:00.000-07:00

This book was okay.

When I was a kid, I used to read and re-read Mommie Dearest, by Joan's daughter Christina, in which Joan is described as a psychotic bitch.

This book wasn't NEARLY as fun.

Also, it spent a little too much time describing her movies, which, well, whatever. I mostly wanted to hear about her sex life.

West With the Night, Beryl Markham (audiobook)

2011-07-18T12:53:00.000-07:00

This book is a grand adventure tale of the early aviatrix, Beryl Markham! I loved it!

She grew up in Africa, on a farm with her father, who raised horses and farmed or something? and had a factory? Anyway. All that really doesn't matter. What DOES matter is that she was a total fucking bad-ass, from her childhood on. She went hunting boars with one of the local tribes, and wrote an absolutely heartbreaking tribute to her loyal dog.

She broke horses, got thrown off of horses, helped horses deliver foals, and became the first woman horse-trainer in Africa, training horses to win races. Thrilling.

And then, she learned how to fly. She flew oxygen to a man dying. She flew looking for elephants for safaris. She flew from Africa to England. And lastly, she flew west, with the night, from England to North America, aiming for New York but having to make an emergency landing in Nova Scotia after her fuel line ended up icing up. She was the second person to fly that way, which is harder due to prevailing winds than flying east to west across the Atlantic, and the first woman.

However, she did leave the stories of her various love affairs out of this memoir. Wikipedia had to enlighten me of those.

Still. Now THIS is a memoir. Bad-ass.

The Abstinence Teacher, Tom Perrotta

2011-07-16T12:42:00.000-07:00

This book was rather blah.

I get annoyed by people who are all like, oh I only read the CLASSICS, since they're the only books WORTH READING. You know, whatever, peoples. Get over yourselves. There was crap written back then, just as there is really good literature these days. Also, crap can be fun. Sure, if you're only reading four books a year (average for Americans, apparently) maybe you feel like you really NEED that quality to make up for just not reading enough.

However, this book is not exactly a stellar example of current literature. I'm not entirely sure why I read it. It was interesting enough, and I enjoy books that expose the hypocrisy of bad Christians foisting their religion on others. Also, I enjoy abstinence-only education being exposed for the REALLY DUMB IDEA that it is, especially with a sexified woman advocating it because apparently waiting until you're married makes the wedding night sex the best sex ever? Ew.

Anyway. I didn't really care for Little Children, the other book of Perrotta's that I have read, and I didn't care for this, so I am going to chalk this up to a dislike of his writing style and move on.

Further, I will not blame my dislike on the fact that all books these days are crap. Because that is a load of, well, crap.

P.S. Longer Letter Later, by Ann Martin and Paula Danziger

2011-07-11T12:31:00.000-07:00

All right! I was strolling around my local library perusing the young adult section looking for a certain book when this one caught my eye.

You see, I have... I have a "history" with these two authors. Ann Martin (who sometimes has her middle initial in her byline [or whatever it's called on a book]: M.) wrote The Baby-Sitters Club books, as well as this super-sweet book (but horribly dated upon reread) called With and Without You, about a girl whose father dies of a heart condition as she tries to get over being shy and meets a guy she like totally really likes. I mock, but it was so sweet, and I used to read it over and over.

Paula Danziger wrote some wonderful YA books, such as The Cat Ate My Gymsuit and The Pistachio Prescription, which are delightful.

So, I saw those two authors and was all like, "HELL YA."

Of course, the problems that I have with the characters that these authors develop is only amplified in this joint effort, written as a series of letters between two best friends, one of whom moved to Ohio right before the book starts. The other girl has a series of problems, like her father gets laid off, reveals his mounting debt, becomes an alcoholic, and then abandons the family in quick (and rather unrealistic - talk about a downward spiral) succession. So, she has to deal with all that.

Of course, Danziger's character is a loudmouth and an "actress" (and I mean that in the most obnoxious way possible), and Martin's character is super-super-shy and totally lame.

Aside from all that, I enjoyed the book.

A Game of Thrones, George R.R. Martin (reread)

2011-07-10T18:12:00.000-07:00

I just watched the HBO miniseries of this book, and decided it was time to reread the book, since I couldn't reread it BEFORE seeing the miniseries, because that tends to make me feel like the adaptation sucks. Always.

I rather liked this adaptation, and still feel that way after rereading the book.

I just started the reread of the second book. Martin's fifth book is finally being released on Tuesday, so I'm thinking about pre-ordering it on Amazon. HOWEVER, it's coming out in HARDCOVER. This bothers me. I think I'll just wait until I'm done with the fourth book, and by then maybe it'll be out in paperback. I hope so. I really dislike hardcover books.

Dangerous Angels: The Weetzie Bat Books, Francesca Lia Block

2011-07-04T18:03:00.000-07:00

So, I guess these are modern urban fairy tales, so I shouldn't worry so much about the characters.

Anyway. I had to get into these, and I did eventually... but until then, I kept thinking things like, oh they should really get their dog neutered, and how do they have so much money? and who would really go and see those dumb-sounding movies they kept making?

So, they were okay. All the people in these books were young and good-looking, and they would do dumb things because of LOOOOVE.

Kind of cute books, though. This was a compilation of the five Weetzie Bat novellas that Block wrote, and I'll just count them as one book, as they were each, like, 70 pages, and that's just sad...

The Witch of Blackbird Pond, Elizabeth George Speare (reread)

2011-07-03T17:30:00.000-07:00

I read this book a lot. It's very sweet, with important lessons about accepting people who might look weird or act weird. But that's not why I read it.

It's another young adult book. I know, I'm a grown-ass lady and need to read as such, but so many of these books are just so well-written.

This book used to sit on my Grandma's kids bookshelf that she maintained for all her grandkids when we would come to visit, and I would usually avail myself of this book every year, at Christmas. And maybe again during the summer. And yet I still just read it yesterday, without boredom and without picking out any plot failings (not that plot failings NECESSARILY make me dislike a book; they generally amuse me more than annoy me).

And if that's not a strong endorsement for this book, I don't know what is.

Alanna: The First Adventure (The Song of the Lioness), Tamora Pierce

2011-07-02T17:24:00.000-07:00

I wish I had read these books when I was a little younger... They're probably (or at least the first one is) intended for an audience of maybe eleven year-old girls. For all that, though, it was very well-written (unlike, say, Harry Potter), and I think I'll read the others. I do so enjoy spunky girls.

It is set in a fantasy universe, where a ten year-old girl switches places with her brother so that SHE can train to be a knight. She has to hide who she is, which becomes more difficult as she gets older, but she definitely has the toughness of character that would serve her well as a knight. She works harder than anyone else to overcome being smaller and thinner. She makes friends with the king of the thieves in the city where she lives, as well as the prince of the kingdom, and impresses them with her toughness, even after they both discover that she is a girl.

Yeah. Fun book. I loved it.

Secret Diary of a Call Girl, Belle du Jour

2011-07-01T17:13:00.000-07:00

This book was JUST as trashy as you would think. A fun, silly read, though sometimes disturbing as the main character was into some freaky sex shit, and I don't just mean as part of her job.

Anyway. If nothing else, she seemed well-qualified for a job as a call girl, because she genuinely enjoyed sex. A lot.

It was fun, though I had a definite prudish reaction to it (ewwwww, she did WHAT?).

The Plague and I, Betty MacDonald

2011-06-28T17:50:00.000-07:00

This book was written by the same woman who wrote the Mrs. Piggly-Wiggly books! I loved those books.

Anyway. You know all that whining that I do about memoirs? Forget it. This book is a memoir of the year or so that MacDonald spent in a sanitarium with tuberculosis.

Back before antibiotics were discovered, tuberculosis was "cured" by having patients lie flat on their backs and not do anything but eat until the tuberculous area "walled" itself off of its own volition. The trick was, having the patient do as little as possible with their lungs, including collapsing part or all of the lung in order to better "rest" it, as one would rest a broken leg.

This was mostly crap. However, it worked well enough, or at least kept infectious tuberculosis patients from infecting others, to cause sanitariums to be built all over the country. People would have to come and LIVE there, sometimes for years and years, and weren't allowed to do ANYTHING (not even read, well, I would die).

Anyway. MacDonald seemed to make the best of her time in the sanitarium, and (spoiler alert) ended up getting better, returning home, and writing this book, as well as the Mrs. Piggly-Wiggly books.

Bright Lights, Big Ass, Jen Lancaster

2011-06-25T17:47:00.000-07:00

This book started out promisingly enough. She's a very funny writer. I think I'm just so sick of memoirs in which nothing happens. Yes, I get it, you got a new house and worked for a temp agency. Still, not that interesting.

Also, she's a former sorority girl and a Republican. I had to check to make sure she wasn't my ex-roommate. Ugh.

I know, I'm prejudiced...

Agincourt, Bernard Cornwell (audiobook)

2011-06-24T17:49:00.000-07:00

I super double plus sparkly hearted this book! Yay war! Huzzah for King Harry and St. George!

And, I'm totally serious.

I keep pronouncing Agincourt wrong, though, confusing the hell out of people. It's even an audiobook, I don't know what my problem is!!

Tuesdays With Morrie, Mitch Albom

2011-06-18T17:34:00.000-07:00

EWWWWW. What a pile of steaming crap.

I volunteer for hospice right now, which may make me resent this book more than I should, but... I sit with a woman who is actively dying for two hours a week. And it is nothing like this book. NOTHING. I feel like people would read Tuesdays With Morrie and feel like they should volunteer for hospice as some sort of amazing life-changing event, then get burnt out and quit. Not that volunteering for hospice isn't changing my life, and for the better, but not because the woman I sit with is sharing life's secrets with me.

That's just Morrie. And the fact that he was dying seemed to really be immaterial to the story, except to make it really sad.

Sex At Dawn: How We Mate, Why We Stray, and What It Means for Modern Relationships, Christopher Ryan and Cacilda Jetha

2011-06-16T17:26:00.000-07:00

This book is about the misconceptions that many people have about early human's sex lives, namely that they were monogamous (like gibbons) or polygynous (like gorillas), when in truth we were probably more like chimpanzees and bonobos: promiscuous and highly sexual.

A lot of why people thought we must have been monogamous seems to have been wishful thinking, like calling modern humans monogamous (to be honest). We are a bunch of horny cheaters, and not just the men.

Anyway. Very interesting book. It had an agenda, definitely, and it only told one side of the story, but that doesn't make it a bad book.

Brightsided: How Positive Thinking is Undermining America, by Barbara Ehrenreich (audiobook)

2011-06-16T12:02:00.000-07:00

I listened to this book this week while driving up and down from the house where I was housesitting, which is about a 50 minute drive from work. That is more driving than I would normally choose to do, by a lot, and this book was entertaining enough to get me through it.

There has been a movement in the US since the 1980s of positive thinking. While I find this to be most heinous in Christian churches (name it and claim it kind of prosperity gospel, because of course what Jesus really wants is for YOU TO BE RICH, yeah), Ehrenreich found it to be worst in the banking industry. Not necessarily that it was more prevalent, but that more powerful CEOs thought that thinking positively would keep the economy from tanking, even though they were doing some crazy shit with finance like mortgage-backed securities and all that blah blah dumbness.

They would go so far as to fire anyone for not being positive, if they merely spoke some doubts about how the business is moving. These businesses, instead of paying their workers more, would instead give them self-help books and seminars to help them think positively, despite the layoffs and reduced pay and more work. Which is bullshit.

Ironically, I just today got in the mail a brochure from my health insurance provider about positive thinking. Personally, I think that positive thinking is good only when it is still realistic. Ehrenreich writes about how she first encountered the pervasiveness of positive thinking when she was diagnosed with breast cancer, and no one was "allowed" to be angry about having cancer, because the anger will make the cancer grow or some shit like that.

There's no harm in being optimistic. But there really isn't any big peer-reviewed studies that says being optimistic cures cancer, either. I prefer realism, myself. As for the brochure, I read it, took away a few points (celebrate successes and comfort myself when things go wrong), and threw away the rest.

The Devil Wears Prada, Lauren Weisberger (reread)

2011-06-07T12:24:00.000-07:00

I recently rewatched the movie version of The Devil Wears Prada for the nth time (where n is greater than three), and while Merle Streep is amazing in her role as Amanda Priestly, super-bitch and crazy boss, the book is still far preferable.

For one thing, it actually makes sense. So, Andrea gives up her life and works for this woman for nine months, and then suddenly hits a breaking point for no reason? Yeah, right. At least in the book, she had a reason. Also, the characterization was a lot more palatable. I mean, I understand that people turn into caricatures for movies, but this movie took it to an extreme.

While we were watching the movie, my boyfriend and I kept wondering, "Why are her friends being so mean to her?" I mean, she's trying, she just has a crazy bitch of a boss and she just needs to stay employed for a year. What's the big deal about her missing a few parties? In the book, Andrea keeps telling her friends and boyfriend that she will be somewhere, and then completely flakes on them, when it would be better for her to just say to them, "Okay, look, I have this crazy job, so I'll talk to you in a year."

Anyway. Both the movie and the book end up with happy endings, but the book's ending seemed a lot more plausible. For one thing, her boyfriend ended up breaking up with her for good, which probably was for the best, and she didn't end up getting a new job right away. She had to move back in with her parents for awhile, and sit around for awhile, and gain back the fifteen pounds she had lost while working for Miranda Priestly, and reflect.

And that appealed to me.

Bossypants, Tina Fey (audiobook)

2011-06-05T20:26:00.000-07:00

I listened to this on a drive out to DC (from Wisconsin) with my mother and younger sister. It was pretty awesome.

Tina Fey doesn't necessarily call herself a feminist, but she totally is. She talks a lot about the dynamic working as a woman for Second City and Saturday Night Live, which were and still are largely male-dominated. Also, there are assholes like Christopher Hitchens who still say shit like women aren't funny, which is obviously not true.

Anyway. She tells some interesting stories about bottles and cups of piss that writers would leave around, trying to breastfeed while writing for 30 Rock, and... yeah.

I really enjoyed a lot of what she wrote, and having her read the book certainly didn't hurt.

Dear Mr. Rogers, Does It Ever Rain in Your Neighborhood?: Letters to Mr. Rogers, Fred Rogers

2011-06-03T18:09:00.000-07:00

This book was beautiful.

Mr. Rogers' Neighborhood, for anyone who doesn't know, is a kids TV show here in the United States. I watched it as a child until I was five, and while older kids may make fun of younger kids' TV shows, like Barney and Sesame Street, they would never make fun of Mr. Rogers. He was such a genuine man, and it really came through in his TV show.

Anyway. As made obvious by the title, this is a collection of letters to Mr. Rogers, and some responses from Mr. Rogers, and how he thought about what to say to each of these letters. Some were silly, some were sad. Some were from parents who didn't know who else to turn to, some were from kids, some were from kids written by their parents (and Mr. Rogers would often write back to BOTH the parent and the child, even if the question or letter seemed inconsequential. For example, one parent wrote in to tell Mr. Rogers that his son didn't believe that he pooped, because he had never seen him poop, even though he acknowledged that other people who he had never seen poop did. And Mr. Rogers wrote back to both of them, complimenting the parent on answering his son's question in such a way to make him think, and telling the son that he does poop.)

My favorite thing about this book is that Mr. Rogers NEVER wanted children to believe that his show was "real". Every time someone would ask if it rains or why he changed his shoes or why he only zipped his sweater up halfway, he would explain that his "neighborhood" is in fact in a big studio, so he wouldn't get cold if he only zipped his sweater halfway, and that it can rain, but it's a very difficult effect, so they don't use it very often. He explained that he had a wife and kids and grandkids, but they weren't part of the show because he had to keep some of his life private (which I really admire, especially in these days of voyeuristic reality television - just because people want to know what goes on in famous people's lives doesn't mean that they have the right to know).

Anyway. Yeah. I hope that when/if I have children, I can remember to treat them with love and dignity and answer their questions well and make them think. I really do hope.

Anything but Straight, Wayne Besen

2011-05-31T12:18:00.000-07:00

Okay. So, I've started listening to Dan Savage's Savage Lovecast, a podcast where Savage answers questions that people call in to ask. It's good.

He recommended this book, which has the subtitle "Unmasking the Scandals and Lies Behind the Ex-Gay Myth," for those who want to learn more about the generally Christian Right's attempt to "de-gayify" or "pray away the gay" or, well, I'm sure that they have more legitimate names for what they are doing.

Anyway. What these programs mostly seem to be doing is making people who want to change their sexuality really sad, as it doesn't work! These poor people keep praying and trying, but they are still attracted to the same sex, and then they think that Jesus has let them down or they aren't trying hard enough and... well, it's been linked to suicides. It's disgusting.

This book was a very interesting read. Besen brings a lot of his own experiences "infiltrating" the ex-gay movement into the book, and tells us a lot about some of the founders of the different ex-gay groups (like, the co-founders of Exodus International ended up leaving Exodus, and their wives, to be together. Yeah, like that. Isn't that adorable?) and how some of these therapists would misuse their positions to have, say, phone sex with their clients or give them full-body naked massages.

This book's main thesis seems to be that it's not right to just ignore the ex-gay movement and let it be, but it has to be fought because it IS leading to the worsening of the lives of the people in the ex-gay programs. Also, conservative politicians embrace the ex-gay movement because if gay people can change their sexual orientation, then they all SHOULD change and therefore don't deserve anti-discrimination laws or gay marriage or the repeal of anti-sodomy laws. Yeah.

Things Fall Apart, Chinua Achebe

2011-05-29T09:19:00.000-07:00

I read this at a friend's house when I got bored in the middle of a party (is that weird? probably. I tend to think of my social life in terms of Sims [yes, from the game], and when my social meter gets full, which tends to happen pretty quickly, I find it hard not to crawl off into the other room and read or fall asleep or, in any case, try to find something a little less intensive than chatting. Watching a movie is fine, though there is a rather high probability that I will fall asleep, especially when I've been drinking.)

Anyway.

It is in the list 1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die, so when I saw it on his bookshelf, I pulled it out and started reading to see if it was any good.

And it was good enough for me to finish the book that night, before leaving the party. Yes, I am just that asocial.

Very depressing, though. It is set in Africa, and then Christians come in and ruin everything. I am overgeneralizing, of course, but colonialism does tend to do that. Blah.

I don't like feeling like the white people kept coming in, to Africa, to South and North and Central America, to the Philippines, and ruining what was before a functional and interesting and awesome society, and trying to turn them into people JUST LIKE US who wear too much clothing and speak in the King's English and worship Jesus and all that. But it too often seemed to be the case. Sigh.

Sleepwalk With Me, Mike Birbiglia

2011-05-24T14:33:00.000-07:00

I had high hopes for this memoir. Birbiglia was featured on an episode of This American Life telling an absolutely hilarious story about how he jumped out of a second-story hotel room window and could have died. I know, funny, right?

Anyway. This was a memoir of his entire life up to this point, and he's like what? 32? So, my usual problem with memoir and their writers (they're boring and overly navel contemplatey) stands.

Though, I will admit the chapter about his sleepwalking problem was really funny.

The Second World War: Milestones to Disaster, Winston Churchill (audiobook)

2011-05-18T15:47:00.000-07:00

This was probably one of those books that is just way easier to read when it's printed, at least for me. For one thing, I have a much stronger visual memory than audio memory, so I had a hard time remembering names. And being able to flip back through the pages to when Winston first introduced someone would have been very helpful.

So, I had that problem. It got easier after awhile, when the characters became less obscure. I had previously listened to Winston's best biography (unquestionably), The Last Lion, by William Manchester, so I already knew a lot about the actors as it got closer to World War II. That helped.

A minor amusement about the audiobook: the narrator was obviously doing his best Winston... but he pronounced the French words correctly! What's with that?!?

Anyway. This was more of a memoir than a history, as Winston told us a lot about what he was thinking at the time, and how he was right (which he was), which got old.

The Outlaws of Sherwood, Robin McKinley

2011-05-16T15:40:00.000-07:00

I've read this book a whole bunch of times, and just added one more on.

Sometimes, I go through what I call "reader's block" where I just can't find a book to settle down with. I read a little from one book and then get distracted, then read some out of another book. Sometimes, I find one of my favorite books and read the best parts. But not a complete book. I find that the only thing that cures me of this is rereading one of my favorite books that I haven't read in awhile, preferably a relatively simple book.

This book is YA and relatively simple. Also, it's a retelling of the Robin Hood story (obviously), which is just such a fascinating story that not even Disney could mess it up.

Anyway. I busted through my reader's block in good style with this one.