tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-42814245957372606892012-02-16T18:11:58.228-06:00The reading-list accompaniment to <a href="http://disasterkitchen.blogspot.com">Disaster Kitchen</a>.CëRïSëhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18133935575651973096noreply@blogger.comBlogger411100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4281424595737260689.post-78788667972366536692010-01-14T19:56:00.003-06:002010-01-14T20:35:54.274-06:00

My dad found this cool old copy of The Bagpipers at the Whitman College bookstore, and gave it to me for Christmas. I recognized George Sand's name, but really didn't know anything about her other than that, like the similarly masculinely-monikered George Elliot, she was a woman.It was my primary reading material while I was in Washington over the holidays, as I had somehow managed to bring only

CëRïSëhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18133935575651973096noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4281424595737260689.post-67955698595620155122009-11-23T12:51:00.004-06:002009-11-23T13:41:19.142-06:00

Last night I finished David Sedaris's most recent book, When You Are Engulfed in Flames.Mostly because Me Talk Pretty One Day reduced my aunt and me to tears when we read it out loud in Italy one summer, and because I got to hear him read in Omaha five or six years ago (and now hear his stories in my head as if he were reading them out loud), I buy and read all his books (albeit rather late, in

CëRïSëhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18133935575651973096noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4281424595737260689.post-88054002922661710722009-11-10T11:45:00.005-06:002009-11-10T22:51:17.467-06:00

Okay, I read the Twilight books. All four of them. In about three weeks.My sister, knowing, certainly, that I would not take the initiative to hunt them down myself, placed the entire stack in my hands when I visited her in Seattle this summer and instructed me to read them, although, she warned, they were like crack.Yes, I scoffed, especially when I read the first page. It's possible I groaned,

CëRïSëhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18133935575651973096noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4281424595737260689.post-64932400603945065842009-11-10T11:18:00.005-06:002009-11-10T12:45:37.036-06:00

I finished Watership Down sometime in July, I think. Like Cold Mountain, it was another Walla Walla Goodwill find, and I picked it up because it was a classic and because I had the vague sense that my brother-in-law and/or sister owned and probably recommended it.I had a hard time getting into it, but did keep plugging along, and was rewarded for that. Although it's ostensibly a children's book,

CëRïSëhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18133935575651973096noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4281424595737260689.post-9851978372546768292009-07-16T00:28:00.005-05:002009-11-10T12:45:46.102-06:00

I really enjoyed Cold Mountain; it wasn't perfect, but I thought it was one of the best and most thought-provoking books I've read in quite a while--which was especially rewarding since I'd picked it up at the Walla Walla Goodwill for fifty cents!Ostensibly a love story, albeit a nontraditional one, the tale is told in alternating chapters from the two protagonists' own concurrent, but not

CëRïSëhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18133935575651973096noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4281424595737260689.post-29168953786432427852009-07-15T23:44:00.004-05:002009-07-16T00:27:55.661-05:00

Richard Dawkins is a pompous ass, and the title of his new book is so unabashedly combative that I consistently found myself hiding it. I began reading it not long after I finished The Pillars of the Earth (or perhaps before, come to think of it), but was too embarrassed to add the title to the "currently reading" section of my blog (hence the very long delay in updating the book blog at all!).I

CëRïSëhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18133935575651973096noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4281424595737260689.post-74215740926529602332009-07-15T23:28:00.003-05:002009-07-15T23:41:02.559-05:00

I'm pretty sure it was David's idea that we see Angels and Demons, although I think the reason I agreed was Ewan McGregor.Nonetheless, being the kind of person who reads the book before seeing the film (which almost without fail makes the film less enjoyable to me and me less enjoyable to other people), I had to read it first.I read The Da Vinci Code several years ago, and although I thought the

CëRïSëhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18133935575651973096noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4281424595737260689.post-4168342009822382772009-07-15T23:17:00.005-05:002009-07-16T00:31:05.685-05:00

I believe this was the last of my Christmas books, given to me somewhat sheepishly by my mom. I used to be a pretty big Patrick McManus fan, and his story "How to Go Splat!" still makes me laugh when I think about it. (You can actually read the entire story online, thanks to Google books; I discovered this just now when it was one of the three results Google turned up for the search " 'pulpy mess

CëRïSëhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18133935575651973096noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4281424595737260689.post-13217028970689031262009-07-15T23:01:00.005-05:002009-07-15T23:41:30.616-05:00

The copy of The Pillars of the Earth that I read--loaned to me by a friend who had read it in her book club--was 983 pages long. Still, I polished it off much more quickly than the far shorter Mrs. Dalloway.I finished the book in April, and am only just getting around to writing my review, but other than it being long, I mostly remember it as being not at well written, nonetheless highly engaging

CëRïSëhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18133935575651973096noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4281424595737260689.post-72905182399100451642009-03-21T15:37:00.004-05:002009-03-21T16:26:29.279-05:00

This was another Christmas present, again from my dad. I'd somehow made it this far in my life without reading any Virginia Woolf, although I had read The Hours several years ago, which lent at least the first part of Mrs. Dalloway a somewhat eerie déjà vu.The omniscient perspective, it has always seemed to me, is a tricky voice to pull off in a novel, but Woolf handles it with aplomb. And, wow,

CëRïSëhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18133935575651973096noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4281424595737260689.post-79308888451781189222009-03-12T11:48:00.005-05:002009-11-10T12:46:13.635-06:00

This tiny book was a Christmas present from my mom. Conversational, engaging, and divided into bite-sized chapters often arranged around a particular story or anecdote, it was easy to read before bed or whenever I had a spare moment.The book avoids being saccharine or sappy, which is impressive when one considers that it was written by a man dying of terminal cancer and trying to impart life

CëRïSëhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18133935575651973096noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4281424595737260689.post-28071134162572260632009-02-28T13:55:00.004-06:002009-02-28T14:42:31.508-06:00

Some books are staggeringly brilliant, whether because of their esoteric subject matter, intricately conceived plots, mind-blowing vocabulary, or depth of (often obscure) knowledge; Umberto Eco, Vladimir Nabakov, and Thomas Pynchon come to mind. I had not even heard of the Canadian Robertson Davies until my dad gave me The Manticore for Christmas this year, having selected him from the list of

CëRïSëhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18133935575651973096noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4281424595737260689.post-39388635517156207612009-02-19T11:48:00.003-06:002009-02-28T14:43:21.375-06:00

My brother-in-law, Chris, gave me this book for Christmas. It's a poetic and beautifully-written novel that weaves between three different time periods, telling its story in letters from different characters as well as in first-person narration.It was engaging and a quick, enjoyable read, as well as an insightful commentary on the costs of war, although not necessarily a re-reader.

CëRïSëhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18133935575651973096noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4281424595737260689.post-31817810989031088342009-02-02T22:09:00.002-06:002009-02-02T22:16:36.254-06:00

Angus, Thongs and Full-Frontal Snogging: Confessions of Georgia Nicolson was another of my sister's Christmas gifts to me. A very short, quick read, it was not my usual fare, but provided plenty of laughing and snorting out loud. Written as the diary of a 14-year old schoolgirl, it is rife with British slang, which I do find generally delightful.The tale is very far from anything I experienced my

CëRïSëhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18133935575651973096noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4281424595737260689.post-23119335199585438212009-02-02T21:47:00.003-06:002009-02-02T22:07:38.799-06:00

Snow Crash is sort of a cyberpunk novel, though I'm not sure it precisely fits that definition. Like Neuromancer, it's frequently cited in the literature, and so I was very excited to receive it from my sister for Christmas.Ultimately, however, I was disappointed. It is full of very interesting ideas, some of which would probably have been even more so 16 years ago when it was originally

CëRïSëhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18133935575651973096noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4281424595737260689.post-78947724249235662432008-12-29T21:36:00.001-06:002009-02-02T21:45:51.279-06:00

Naked Lunch is a very familiar title, and an oft-cited work when it comes to postmodern literature. It works interestingly as a conceptual piece, but not so much as a book one would actually want to read.I made it most of the way through, but it was so repetitive (due to Burroughs' cut-up method) that I did go ahead an skip the last several chapters, something I rarely do. Instead, I wrapped it

CëRïSëhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18133935575651973096noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4281424595737260689.post-75195197836955137412008-12-29T21:22:00.000-06:002009-02-02T21:36:00.050-06:00

I read this book because it was #10 on this list. Otherwise, I'm not sure I would ever have heard of it, let alone read it.I found it quite long, not particularly well-written, and generally depressing. I didn't have to struggle in particular to finish it; the story does clip along, even if it's from disaster to disaster. For that reason, it reminded me of nothing so much as Tess of the

CëRïSëhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18133935575651973096noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4281424595737260689.post-7648139750560382822008-12-28T21:04:00.000-06:002009-02-02T21:21:54.542-06:00

The Tale of Despereaux: Being the Story of a Mouse, a Princess, Some Soup, and a Spool of Thread was on my sister's coffee table over Christmas, and I was smitten as soon as I began reading it. In fact, I loved it so much that I persuaded her to let me take it to Walla Walla while she was working that weekend, and, when we were stuck on Snoqualmie Pass for an hour and a half en route, read parts

CëRïSëhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18133935575651973096noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4281424595737260689.post-49206202999408501962008-12-03T18:15:00.004-06:002008-12-03T19:37:09.144-06:00

I'd had Love In the Time of Cholera on my to-read list for 10 or 12 years, since a friend (Albanian, I believe) recommended it, writing the title for me on a Post-It Note that lived on my bulletin board for years. Maybe because it was released as a movie this year, or because it was on this list that I've been working my way through, I finally checked it out from the library.I'd seen posters for

CëRïSëhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18133935575651973096noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4281424595737260689.post-31408602618869584542008-11-17T18:18:00.004-06:002009-02-02T22:08:45.609-06:00

I had to return this to the library before I had the chance to read the introduction (which, thanks to a teacher in high school, I always save for last; after all, the introduction was written after its author read the book, and I've found that this order makes much more sense). It's unfortunate, because I wanted more insight on why the book is such a vaunted classic.Although I can appreciate the

CëRïSëhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18133935575651973096noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4281424595737260689.post-64870964314024358992008-10-25T12:45:00.003-05:002008-10-25T12:58:55.959-05:00

A friend had recommended White Oleander to me years ago, and since she was one of the most prolific and interested readers I'd ever met, I put it on my list. When I saw it at the yard sale across the street for .25, I fished out a quarter and brought the book home.The novel was beautifully written and evocative, but I had a hard time both suspending disbelief and giving the author credibility; as

CëRïSëhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18133935575651973096noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4281424595737260689.post-41716334405253118442008-10-25T12:30:00.003-05:002008-10-25T12:44:26.816-05:00

I had reserved both Broken Angels and Woken Furies at the library, and this one actually came in first, so as soon as I finished the latter, I started this one. I finished both in about a week.There were passages in Woken Furies that felt oddly as though someone else were trying to imitate Morgan's style, but without his panache. It was a disturbing effect, and I didn't know whether he'd actually

CëRïSëhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18133935575651973096noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4281424595737260689.post-15879066562089529082008-10-25T12:15:00.004-05:002008-10-25T12:27:36.149-05:00

Broken Angels is the sequel to Altered Carbon, which I read twice this spring/summer. I didn't think it was quite to the level of Morgan's first Takeshi Kovacs novel, but it was similarly gripping, creative, and entertaining.Morgan's writing is cinematic, deftly weaving vivid scenes that immerse you in his carefully-crafted fictive world. Although this novel did not seem quite as fast-faced and

CëRïSëhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18133935575651973096noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4281424595737260689.post-51340960256526460842008-08-21T21:20:00.002-05:002008-08-21T21:39:36.756-05:00

At my favorite Palm Springs used bookstore this summer, I spent almost all the cash I had on a paperback copy of Anna Karenina. I spent the summer studying for my exams, and figured that this would be the perfect time to read a classic Russian novel I'd had on my list for ages. However, it surprised me by being good. This is what I wrote last July:So I'm reading Anna Karenina, and loving it. I

CëRïSëhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18133935575651973096noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4281424595737260689.post-7941471449146847992008-08-21T21:11:00.003-05:002008-08-21T21:20:30.506-05:00

My parents' neighbor brought this over while I was studying for my exams this summer. He thought I might be interested in the subject matter, having lived in Florence for six months. I was interested, and ended up reading the book in about three days, taking guilty little breaks from my exam studying.Preston, who is a crime novelist, brings an unmistakable drama to this already almost improbably

CëRïSëhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18133935575651973096noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4281424595737260689.post-75609665274670768332008-06-14T17:29:00.005-05:002008-11-19T01:01:25.612-06:00

I first read Neuromancer sometime between high school and college, when this guy (who gave me The Ultimate Hitchhiker's Guide--wrapped in a towel!--for my 17th birthday) recommended it. He claimed that most of The Matrix had been taken from it, uncredited, and that if I liked the latter, I should check it out. It was unlike anything I'd ever read, and there were definitely distinct echoes of The

CëRïSëhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18133935575651973096noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4281424595737260689.post-88667553309977258232008-06-14T12:43:00.004-05:002008-06-14T12:58:56.764-05:00

Pretty much everyone read this book before I did, and thought I would love it--especially the Italy bits, since I had lived there. They were right! I found the book completely charming, in turn hilarious, insightful, and moving.I was initially struck by how similar to me author/narrator Liz Gilbert felt--her love of travel, her ability to make friends, her passion for my Italy. It became

CëRïSëhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18133935575651973096noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4281424595737260689.post-21497522954110675662008-06-14T12:01:00.003-05:002008-06-14T12:42:07.341-05:00

In my Time and Interactivity Seminar, I met a woman who, like me, was interested in cyborgs, and she and I ended up presenting on that subject on the same day. When we met at the Bad Waitress to talk about what each of us would be presenting, she mentioned this book to me, and loaned it to me at the next class period.It looks like pure pulp sci-fi, especially its purplish, holographic cover, and

CëRïSëhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18133935575651973096noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4281424595737260689.post-56002818531782369552008-04-27T22:18:00.002-05:002008-04-27T22:28:46.678-05:00

I actually finished this sometime last month, but hadn't gotten around to posting it here.I enjoyed that it had very short chapters the perfect length for reading just before I fell asleep; that Ter had been reading it when she came to visit me in Italy; and that it was about a state where I lived, off and on, for half a decade, and brought back good memories. In addition to those recommendations

CëRïSëhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18133935575651973096noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4281424595737260689.post-19435812104047418092008-02-28T17:16:00.003-06:002008-02-28T17:29:51.440-06:00

I read Of Mice and Men last Thursday. That is, all but the first three pages, which I'd read the night before. It was short, engaging, and provided a striking contrast to what my brother calls Hemingway ("Old Hem")'s focus on "the one true word and the sort of war on the adjective."The only other Steinbeck I'd read was The Red Pony, close to two decades ago. I suppose eventually I'll have to read

CëRïSëhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18133935575651973096noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4281424595737260689.post-40475005386576299852008-02-10T14:08:00.000-06:002008-02-10T16:38:46.840-06:00

I'm a little embarrassed to admit that this is actually the first Hemingway novel I've read. I found it engaging and extremely readable, with flashes of insight into human relationships and sometimes strikingly spare, realistic dialogue. And as I'm currently trapped in snowy Minnesota, it was thrilling to vicariously visit sun-baked France and Spain.Also, out of curiosity, did everyone drink that

CëRïSëhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18133935575651973096noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4281424595737260689.post-20933919825361415362008-01-23T23:01:00.001-06:002008-02-10T16:39:13.354-06:00

This book was given to me by my parents' neighbor, to whom Amazon.com had sent an "advanced reader's edition," the first I ever remember reading. As it was a galley, "from uncorrected proofs," there were quite a few errors, which were somewhat distracting. Still, I read the book quickly; the plot was fairly interesting and the language, though at times unconvincing (especially the dialogue) ,

CëRïSëhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18133935575651973096noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4281424595737260689.post-44427332997000766002008-01-18T17:44:00.001-06:002008-01-27T13:06:19.622-06:00

C.S. Lewis, The Last Battle.My parents read C.S. Lewis's Chronicles of Narnia aloud, in rotation, to us kids growing up; when we finished The Last Battle, we'd start over immediately with The Magician's Nephew. I had thus heard them multiple times (and had myself done some of the reading aloud), but had never gone through the series by myself. My mom gave me the set (a nice, slightly moldy used

CëRïSëhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18133935575651973096noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4281424595737260689.post-28060874529539385272008-01-16T22:30:00.000-06:002008-01-27T13:06:34.042-06:00

C.S. Lewis, The Silver Chair.Series review here.

CëRïSëhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18133935575651973096noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4281424595737260689.post-71069268641636232852008-01-14T16:11:00.002-06:002008-01-27T13:06:52.617-06:00

C.S. Lewis, The Voyage of the "Dawn Treader."Series review here.

CëRïSëhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18133935575651973096noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4281424595737260689.post-7783673816432790492008-01-14T16:11:00.001-06:002008-01-27T13:07:04.474-06:00

C.S. Lewis, Prince Caspian.Series review here.

CëRïSëhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18133935575651973096noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4281424595737260689.post-91338287869890104552008-01-14T16:10:00.000-06:002008-01-27T13:07:20.748-06:00

C.S. Lewis, The Horse and His Boy.Series review here.

CëRïSëhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18133935575651973096noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4281424595737260689.post-55318545387384555492008-01-11T00:06:00.000-06:002008-01-27T13:07:40.512-06:00

C.S. Lewis, The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe.Series review here.

CëRïSëhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18133935575651973096noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4281424595737260689.post-45566593939451650492008-01-07T22:04:00.000-06:002008-01-27T13:08:00.885-06:00

C.S. Lewis, The Magician's NephewSeries review here.

CëRïSëhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18133935575651973096noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4281424595737260689.post-49538203408847753142008-01-06T22:02:00.000-06:002008-01-27T13:08:20.107-06:00

Nick Hornby, How to Be Good.Deanna was going to take this book to Goodwill, but I snagged it. I had really enjoyed the films High Fidelity and About A Boy, although I hadn't yet read anything by him.This book was funny, creative, well-written, and entertaining, although I didn't think it any particular classic. I'll probably still try High Fidelity and/or About A Boy, but should probably take on

CëRïSëhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18133935575651973096noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4281424595737260689.post-59925185377017123182008-01-06T15:24:00.000-06:002008-01-27T13:08:38.631-06:00

Umberto Eco, The Mysterious Flame of Queen Loana.Umberto Eco is such a genius--see, for example, his texts on semiotics--that it seems unfair that he should even be able to write novels. The facts that they are brilliant, critically acclaimed, and that at least one has been turned into a well-regarded film* just makes it crueler. He has even written a book called History of Beauty. I want to be

CëRïSëhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18133935575651973096noreply@blogger.com0