Well, since my apartment is not ready for its reveal yet, I shall blog about books. But fear not, next weekend is a three day weekend, so I'll have more time to figure out apartment details. (Its crazy trying to move in and everything!)
You gotta read, baby, read! (say what?)
You gotta read, baby, read.
The more I read,
The more I know.
The more I know,
The smarter I grow.
The smarter I grow,
The stronger my voice,
While speaking my mind,
or making my choice!
You gotta read baby, read!
(a little chant we sing in reading in my class haha)
So the subway is this wonderful opportunity to read! So far I have read three books and am on my fourth! Now, this may not seem like a lot, but considering I usually read about 2-3 leisure books in an entire year, I feel like I read a lot! And its great!
David Sedaris, you are one funny, funny man. Haha This books made me laugh. Out loud. And made strangers look at me thinking "why is that woman laughing at her book?" To which I would have replied "Because he is such a funny, funny man!" I loved this book - lighthearted, short stories that make you want to keep reading. Additionally, it will encourage you to think of how very funny little things in life are. Highly recommended.
Catcher in the Rye. Classic tale, right? Well, I am really glad I decided to re-read this, because you know what?! Somehow I had it in my mind that he went so crazy that he committed suicide in the end... and that is definitely not how the book ends! haha I really enjoyed re-reading this book - I love the conversational flow of the words. I love that I feel like he was a person I knew... rather than a person I read about in a book this one time. Again, highly recommended.
"Life changes in the instant.
You sit down for dinner and life as you know it ends."
For those of you who don't know, Joan Didion is a noteworthy American journalist/author. This book examines her life for the year following the death of her husband. In general, it was a powerful description of the delicacy of life, the power of grief, and optimism and hope which never really fail. I would recommend this book, but to someone who's looking for an "inquisitive read".
I saw the previews for this movie and I thought it would be a movie I would just love - I mean who doesn't love a middle-class drama? Well, as I was piddling around B&N I saw this book. So I decided to read it and then watch the movie. Well... middle-class drama indeed. I'm 100 pages in (this book is definitely not one that's 'hard to put down' haha) and all I've really gathered from it is that there are two characters who more or less hate their life but don't do anything about it except continue to live their life as they are supposed to, rather than how they want to. And 100 pages in, I'm still not sure of the author's style - often times I'm confused about what I'm reading and why. haha. Recommend? Maybe see the movie first... haha
What book shall I read next? Looking for recommendations please :)
Oh. and having internet in your home makes life soooo much better! hahaha Oh, this modern life of ours. haha
Catcher in the Rye. Classic tale, right? Well, I am really glad I decided to re-read this, because you know what?! Somehow I had it in my mind that he went so crazy that he committed suicide in the end... and that is definitely not how the book ends! haha I really enjoyed re-reading this book - I love the conversational flow of the words. I love that I feel like he was a person I knew... rather than a person I read about in a book this one time. Again, highly recommended.
"Life changes in the instant.You sit down for dinner and life as you know it ends."
For those of you who don't know, Joan Didion is a noteworthy American journalist/author. This book examines her life for the year following the death of her husband. In general, it was a powerful description of the delicacy of life, the power of grief, and optimism and hope which never really fail. I would recommend this book, but to someone who's looking for an "inquisitive read".
I saw the previews for this movie and I thought it would be a movie I would just love - I mean who doesn't love a middle-class drama? Well, as I was piddling around B&N I saw this book. So I decided to read it and then watch the movie. Well... middle-class drama indeed. I'm 100 pages in (this book is definitely not one that's 'hard to put down' haha) and all I've really gathered from it is that there are two characters who more or less hate their life but don't do anything about it except continue to live their life as they are supposed to, rather than how they want to. And 100 pages in, I'm still not sure of the author's style - often times I'm confused about what I'm reading and why. haha. Recommend? Maybe see the movie first... hahaWhat book shall I read next? Looking for recommendations please :)
Oh. and having internet in your home makes life soooo much better! hahaha Oh, this modern life of ours. haha
Hahahahha - Oh Laura. I just finished re-reading Catcher in the Rye LAST NIGHT. AND I just bought Revolutionary Road a few days ago from a used book store and plan to read it next. We must have ESP(N).
ReplyDeleteI was actually dissapointed by Catcher in the Rye the second time I read it. I loved it so much when I read it at 16. But Holden just kept annoying me this time. I probably loved it at 16 because I was annoying then too haha. I am going to pretend I didn't reread it and continue to bask in my first time love for it.
Keep reading Rev Road. I think they change their lives....I think that's what I've heard.
I read Time Travelers Wife and fell in love with it, but I think you've already read it? (Actually I just looked up your favorite books on facebook and it's on there so it's a pretty safe bet that you've already read it...)
Also read The Lovely Bones recently, it was pretty good, but TTW was just too hard an act to follow. I've just started The Perks of Being a Wallflower because it was recommended to me and it's good so far - reminds me of Catcher in the Rye a little but he's pretty much the exact opposite of Holden Caufield. But it's got a lot of those little one-line life epiphanies that I really love.
This comment is way too long but I just thought it was funny that we were reading the same books! I love books.
I like the time travelers wife, but it left me in a weird feeling. I did not feel like the character of Claire was very real. How she talked and acted seemed to be so opposite. Maybe it was me and not the book at all? I don't know, and if anyone has seen the movie is it any good? Kirsten and I have not attempted to even think about seeing it as we have this cynical view that indeed love cannot last through time. Sorry romance!!
ReplyDeleteThat is so opposite Megan!! The first time I read catcher in the rye I really did not understand it and I was about 16 as well. I read it because it was a "classic" on universal human blah blah blah and came away more confused. I wonder if I read it again would it make more sense now that I have lived a few years longer? I am glad you are recommending bookies Laura!!! I needed a new one too.
I would recommend (some things I just read) are:
The hobbit! (finished it for the 3rd time today)
The color purple (I really like it even though someone made fun of me for reading it because I am not black, ignorance!)
Jeeves and Wooster (british fun C and I love)
Tracy! i think that is why i loved TTW - first of all because it was so different from any love story i have ever read (especially since i am not really a huge fan of normal love stories, i think they are cheesy and boring and unrealistic). not that this was realistic of course, but it was on such another level that you couldn't compare it to real life, if that makes sense. i loved it because it actually made me feel like anything is possible, and that we have no control when it comes to fate or destiny or God or whatever you want to call it. Their love didn't last THROUGH time, because time wasn't the constant. It was the love, the meaning of their lives (it's not just about love I think - it's about any kind of life purpose that is just meant to be). Time was all jumbled up and not linear like we know it. Their love was the rock and the time moved around it like the earth and the sun. Time means nothing. I don't know if I'm making sense but I loved it because it made me view life and love and time and God (fate) in a way I had never ever seen it before. And I think it is so exciting when that happens!!
ReplyDeleteI saw the movie, but I think maybe I saw it too soon after reading the book. It just didn't do it any justice at all. I did not feel the magic like I did with the book and I didn't feel like the characters were real. But Maybe I will watch it later and like it more.
Also, Catcher in the Rye made LESS sense to me now than it did when I was 16. He just seemed like a selfish, annoying 16 year old who didn't know what the hell he wanted in his life. Which I can't blame him for, because I was the same. Which is why I think I connected with him then. So maybe it's a good thing I don't relate to poor Holden anymore?
I want to read The Color Purple! Screw those people who think you have to be black to read that. Do you have to be white to read all the millions of books with white people in them? I hate ignorance!
I think it is funny we are talking over Laura's blog!
ReplyDeleteSo it was the love that was the foundation, but is there love that exists in the world that can last through all of that? My negative and cynical view of love (and I do realize that my recent life events make me extremely biased) is that it fades just as we do. Everything crumbles until it is dead.
I love how you wrote what you thought though. You make it sound like a dream within itself. That the planets could orbit the meaning of our lives. For now I only believe that the love my parents, family, and some great friends will last forever and be the rock that holds me to this earth.
I have always liked how you think and the different conclusions we tend to draw from things. Makes life the more interesting.
I also love this conversation - makes my post feel popular or something hahaha
ReplyDeleteI was really surprised at how much I liked the TTW. I agree that it was refreshing how unlike any other 'love story' I read it seemed to be. And I think their love did fade... as all love does... but they pushed through it... like great love does. I saw the movie and was rather disappointed because I felt like the movie didn't connect you to the characters as well as I had felt in the book.
And Tracy and Kirsten, I can't even decide if I agree with you or not on your rather jaded view of love... but I fully agree on the love of friends and family and all that matters most in life :)