The Moon Is Down

Speaking of war, did you know Steinbeck wrote propaganda? Yeah, I didn't either. I stumbled across this in the library and thought "oh, a steinbeck I haven't read, cool." It's a novel he wrote during WWII about a city that gets occupied and then revolts. It's good. It's short too.

The Civil War

I live in Richmond. I can't leave my house without seeing some evidence of the Civil War. It's a really interesting history we have. I decided to learn more about it. I started with this. Well I've read a few other things, one of which was really interesting and maybe made into a TV Movie? I can't remember what it was called. See what I mean about forgetting books I have read?

Anyway, this is a really interesting book because it's more of an anecdotal history of how things happened. It's all based on historical fact but it's compiled from letters people wrote to one another or battlefield accounts told to newspapers. I liked it. I am going to read a lot more about the war and then travel around and look at things. I can't wait.

Jack London

I decided to read these for various reasons. I assume that I had read them at some point in my life. I think they're pretty standard elementary school reading, but I don't remember books I read a year ago, let alone 20+ years ago (yes, I am old. deal with it.).

There are so many good lines in these. They're great. Read them if you haven't. Re-read them if you have. Hope things get better.

Maughm

When I went to law school, my criminal law professor insisted that we write an introduction before the first class. I wrote about how I love books and she suggested that I read Maughm.

It took me a really long time to get around to taking her up on that proposition. It helped that I saw the movie version of The Painted Veil, which is really good. Watch it.

So I read the book.


It's really good and really well written. It's the story of a doctor and his wife who go to a foreign country to help combat some terrible disease (plague, malaria?). She has been having an affair and this is punishment for both of them. They both find love and redemption in the end. The book and movie are equally good, though they have slightly different endings.

So, then I read The Razor's Edge.


Here is a picture of me reading it:


At any rate, I didn't like it. I thought it was incredibly boring. It's the story of a writer who meets various people throughout his life. It's not so much a story of the author as a chronicle of the lives of these "interesting" people. They're not interesting. Really. Now I don't know if I want to read more Maughm or not. I think The Razor's Edge is supposedly his "best" novel.

Ian McEwan

I don't know if I'm an Ian McEwan fan or not. I saw Atonement, after everyone had been raving about how good it was, and quite frankly I thought it sucked. Then I saw a preview for this movie called "Enduring Love" starring Samantha Morton, Daniel Craig and Rhys Ifans, all of whom I adore. So I watched it, really liked it, and realized it was based on an Ian McEwan novel. Now I know that movies can very often ruin books (The Fountainhead anyone?), so I wanted to do a bit of a comparison.

I recently was in Korea and while there realized that my friend had a couple of McEwan books sitting around.

First I read this one, On Chesil Beach.


It's terrible. It has a few good lines but really is just a boring story of two people who never communicate with one another (presumably due to social mores of the day, but I don't buy it) and that's it. That's the entire story. Don't read it.

She also had Enduring Love, which was really exciting to me as I wanted to do a comparison between the book and the movie.


The movie was really good. The book was only slightly better. It had a bit more exposition, as books are able to do. Worth watching and reading though. It's a story about people who witness a terrible accident and how that affects their relationships with one another.

So based on that, I thought I would give Atonement a shot.


I'm about 3/4 of the way through it. This says something to me. If I really liked it, I'd be finished with it already. Somehow, riding my bike always wins in what I want to do with my time though. It's ok. I'll reserve judgment until I'm finished, but so far, meh.

I still don't know if I'm a McEwan fan or not.

Atlas Shrugged

One of my all time favorite books. I have read it more times than I can remember and every time I do, I find something new/different to appreciate about it.

I was going through a rough time a few months ago (which is nothing compared to my current situation, but who knew) and I find that whenever I am feeling less than happy, re-reading an Ayn Rand novel cheers me up a lot.

I know a lot of people think she's crazy or sexist or whatever, but I love her. I think she's incredibly inspiring and writes some of the most beautiful things I have ever read. If you haven't read this, you should.

"Love is our response to our highest values, and can be nothing else."

"He thought that he would see her tonight, almost hating it, because tomorrow morning seemed so close and then he would have to leave her - he wondered whether he could remain in town tomorrow, or whether he should leave now, without seeing her, so that he could wait, so that he could always have it ahead of him: the moment of closing his hands over her shoulders and looking down at her face."

Graphic Novels

I normally tend to keep away from Graphic Novels. Don't get me wrong, I think comics are awesome and a really great way of telling a story. It's just that I read REALLY fast and these things tend to be REALLY expensive. So it's a simple matter of getting the most for my dollar. In that sense graphic novels don't really apply. However, a friend of mine told me I should try reading Preacher. A mutual friend of ours happens to own the entire series? Done!


I really liked it. It's a great story about love, regret, revenge and how belief can ruin everyone. I read most of these while I was distracting myself getting tattooed. They are a soothing accompaniment. If you are hyper religious, you probably wouldn't agree with a lot of the ideas, but since I'm an atheist, I didn't have that problem. Also, I do like a good love story. I wish the real life ones were as simple.

In discussing Preacher with a friend/coworker, she mentioned that she liked it ok but much preferred Y: The Last Man.


Conveniently, she owns all but the last two. I tore through 1-8 in about two days. I actually am buying the last two so I can finish out the series, which I then intend to gift to her to complete her collection. I'm nice like that.

At any rate, it interestingly has a lot of references to Preacher. So that was cool. I don't know how many I would have caught had I not just finished the other series, but it was a good transition. Y is the story of the last man on earth after a plague kills all the other men but leaves the women. It's really interesting to see a world of women from a male perspective, as well as the possible roles women would take. Nature abhors a vacuum.

I can't wait to finish it.

She also gave me what was literally a graphic novel. Just one thick, illustrated book. It's called Blankets.


I really, really liked this and I want to read other things he has written. It's a story about a childhood and how that hurts/shapes a person. It's also a story about a first love and the effects of that. Read it.