janvier 14, 2007
love affair with the printed word.
in lieu of having anything better to do (i mean, once the classes, rehearsals, work and drinking are done), i've decided that 2007 is going to be My Year Of Reading. which, realistically, makes it not all that much different from the years of recent memory; the only difference is that this year i'm going to keep a record of the books that i read (or finish, anyway). that, and i'm going to dip a toe back in the world of non-fiction, which i've left rather neglected since reading the entire works of claude levi-strauss in 1999.
being sick has given me a marvelous head start on this endeavor--two weeks into the year and i've already crossed the finish line on:
jane eyre
mother tongue - bill bryson
sound bites - alex kapranos
freddy and fredericka - mark helprin
and have just begun stiff by mary roach.
on the list of things to conquer/revisit this year (i.e., things that have been lurking on my bookshelf but that i've not quite finished in years past):
a wild sheep chase - haruki murakami
the lost continent - bill bryson
nights at the circus - angela carter
from the beast to the blonde - marina warner
the complete sherlock holmes
the last lion - william manchester (march is biography month!)
some suggestions made to me (also known as "books i have yet to procure"):
idlewild, everfree and edenborn - nick sagan
suite francaise - irene nemirovsky/sandra smith
any suggestions on where to go from there?
Posted by shivery at janvier 14, 2007 10:24 PMif you'd like some non-fiction without jumping straight into dense theory i recommend 'social intelligence' by daniel goleman. i just finished it and i loved it. it's neuroscience meets psychology, and basically it's about how our interactions with people physically shape our brains and bodies. i found it fascinating and accessible.
if you want something to keep track of your reading for the year, you might like to look at anobii.com. you can put a wishlist up too, so you can drop hints to people about what you'd like to read next!
Posted by: estee at janvier 14, 2007 11:59 PMI'm reading A Wild Sheep Chase now. I've read a couple others by Murakami and found that they tend to draw me in, strange as they may be, but I'm not far enough into Sheep Chase to have a strong opinion one way or another.
As for nonfiction, I'd recommend The Tipping Point. It was required reading for a class I TAed last year, but I thoroughly enjoyed it and have lent it out to people since.
Posted by: jenn at janvier 15, 2007 12:15 AMHow about a pile of Robert Anton Wilson. It'll take your introspection and mind-fuck it.
i have malcolm gladwell's second one, too, if that's the sort of thing you're interested in. haven't read it, though.
Posted by: kate at janvier 17, 2007 05:26 PM