2008-06-16

11th5

f'unny
.

Fox Bunny Funny 055) Fox Bunny Funny by Andy Hartzell, finished June 16
    I love the art of creating an entire book without any words. And this was was unexpectedly affecting at times. I recommend it. Without words, it won't take you long.

    before leaving the library



Where did I leave my glasses? title= 054 Where Did I Leave My Glasses?: The What, When, and Why of Normal Memory Loss by Martha Weinman Lear, finished June 15
    My apologies to Katya. She went to all that effort to recommend some nonfiction to me and, well, I can't remember where my copy of Boggs is. Ever since Lady Steed rearranged the books, apparently, it's been somewhere other than where I think it should be. And the rest of her list? I never remember to bring it to the library.

    Which makes this book so apropos, I suppose. According to the book, Science Agrees that middle-age starts at 45. Well, I can't find my glasses now. Or Boggs. Or a whole lot of things.

    I checked out this book mostly to make Lady Steed laugh and hear her tell me, yep, you need that. I would probably skim the interesting parts, but mostly I got it so my wife would laugh at me (does that sound desperate?). But I ended up reading the whole thing. Well, not reading reading, but I did "read" the whole thing, even if it was in a way that means it'll never sink into my longterm storage. Crap.

    Is that ironic?

    Anyway, the book was interesting. Lots of fun science and anecdotes. Breezy.

    Oh, and if you want to share your own "Most Embarrassing Memory Lapse", Lear is working on a second book now and she wants to know. Email WhereDidILeaveMyGlasses@hbgusa.com. Or, you know, leave it in the comments here. Even better.

    about couple weeks but i don't remember exactly



The Mystery Guest: an account 053) The Mystery Guest by Grégoire Bouillier, trans. Lorin Stein, finished June 14
    I can't speak with authority on the original French, but in translation, Bouillier is a lovely writer with his page-long sentences and little refrains. All the same, if this book hadn't been a mere 126 pages, I don't know that I would have finished it.

    It's 1990 and the woman who up and disappeared on him four years ago calls up, apropos of nuthin, and invites him to a party. Bouillier recounts his thoughts through that call, through the party, through moments over the next fourteen years; he draws analogies and parallels between himself and space probes; defines himself with the aid of wine bottles and novels and turtlenecks.

    This book was evolutionary for me [sic]. It has reshaped my thoughts on what memoir can be, in terms of voice and scope and purpose. And if his first book, coming out in translation this fall, is as short as this, I think I may well read it.

    four days



Spuds 052) The Legend of Spud Murphy by Eoin Colfer, finished June 10
    Fun read. I hadn't read any of Mr Colfer's better known books and I needed something to read on the way home from the library that wouldn't get added to the stack. Enter evil librarian. (Isn't it always the case?)

    maybe half an hour



Bones 051) Good Bones and Simple Murders by Margaret Atwood, finished June 10
    I should note that many of my comments here should not be generalized to Margaret Atwood's entire oeuvre but confined to this book; I do not choose, however, to demarcate between which should and which should not. So ha.

    She sure can be a ponderous writer, can't she? She'll take a harmless little joke and force it to be a deep consideration of all things human. Each and every comma screams I AM GREAT ART! I'm not joking: the punctuation is clearly arranged to effect a sense of Importance.

    Atwood is impossible to discuss without mentioning feminism. So much of so much ends up being on the battle of the sexes, with the men never coming off to well, even if they do tend to win. But I wouldn't have you dismiss it as that kind of feminism because that would be taking it too far. Sometimes. Sometimes it would be taking it about the right far.

    None of which to say Atwood isn't a fine artist. I like a lot of her work and some of the bits of this book-of-bits I liked as well--or at least appreciated. Sometimes that's all you can really ask of me.

    (All of which reminds me: I want to reread The Handmaid's Tale......

    couple weeks





Previously:

4 comments:

  1. Oh how I love reading your blog...I see how many books you read and it motivates me. To do something. Read more? I love it - yet I never make the time to do so. I play on f.acebook to freaking long.

    Or, maybe it's because my eyes are getting funky and I've been using reading glasses more and more.

    I don't know.

    I just must change something!

    ReplyDelete
  2. .

    Audiobooks?

    Wouldn't work for Fox Bunny Funny though.....

    ReplyDelete
  3. Yes...good point. I think about that quite often - but then I remember my iPod and all I have on there to occupy my time instead of the BLASTED internet!

    Plus, I have a hard time understanding your posts - TRY AS I MIGHT - so I continue to come back hoping that ONE DAY I will get it.

    ;)

    ReplyDelete