2012 Book #21: The Fellowship of the Ring
So this isn’t my first time reading The Fellowship of the Ring, though, surprisingly, it’s only my second time finishing it. I tried the first time when I was eleven or twelve. I remember it clearly: My mom and I were in the Waldenbooks in Pierre Bossier Mall (do they still make Waldenbooks?), and I […]
2012 Book #20: The Waste Lands
This novel makes me want to write a nastygram to Stephen King. That doesn’t mean it’s bad: in fact, I really enjoyed it, and it’s definitely my favorite Dark Tower book so far. But the ending! Think of the most cliffhangery cliffhanger ever, and you have the end of The Waste Lands. It might as […]
2012 Book #19: The Names
I know it’s been a long time since my last book post, but I’ve been busy. This time, I make no apologies. If you’d like to see what I’ve been doing lately, have a look over here. Anyway. I finished reading The Names a few days ago, but I’m so unenthusiastic about it that I’ve been […]
2012 Book #18: Sabriel
I’d never thought too much of Goodreads’ recommendations, but I think Sabriel changed my mind. Goodreads categorizes recommendations based on shelves, and it thought I’d like Sabriel based on my Favorites shelf. (I’ve been using Goodreads for years to catalog what I’ve read, and I’m pretty picky with the Favorite’s shelf.) After The Castle of Crossed Destinies, I was kind […]
2012 Book #17: Lunch Poems
Yeah, it’s a book of poetry. And it counts. I picked up a copy of Frank O’Hara‘s Lunch Poems in the Boston Museum of Fine Arts after walking through an Alex Katz exhibition. Alex Katz, by the way, is very cool. Anyway, I forget what the relation is, but there is one. So I picked up Lunch […]
2012 Book #16: The Castle of Crossed Destinies
I spotted The Castle of Crossed Destinies at Barnes and Noble on the same trip in which I found So Big. I was randomly browsing the shelves when I came across this one, large for a Calvino book. The margins of almost every page are lined with tarot card engravings. I was intrigued. Not so […]
2012 Book #15: So Big
I discovered So Big the other day when I was wandering around Barnes & Noble. I had just finished East of Eden, and I had absolutely no idea what I wanted to read next. I was also really tired of reading on a Kindle. These days, I very rarely buy books at full price. For […]
2012 Book #14: East of Eden
I’m totally not hitting 50 books this year. So it goes. East of Eden took me about a month to read, but that’s not because it’s bad. It can be a wee bit slow, though. And it’s really long. It’s basically a Cain and Abel story set in California. I’m sure you can imagine what happens. […]
2012 Book #13: Suttree
ZOMG it has been a long time since I posted a review. And it certainly took me long enough to read Suttree. I finished it over a month ago, then read East of Eden. I’ve been busy. Anyway, Suttree is probably the best book I’ve read so far this year, and this post will totally not do […]
In the process of reading: East of Eden
John Steinbeck, in an interview with The Paris Review: I have never been a title man. I don’t give a damn what it is called. I would call it [East of Eden] Valley to the Sea, which is a quotation from absolutely nothing but has two great words and a direction. What do you think […]