Books and Music
0 Comments Published by Oh Wayward One on 21 February 2007 at 2/21/2007 11:23:00 am.
I realize the one-track-mindedness of my last dozen posts and have decided that one must put more than just boring details about moving house into one's journal, when they're trying to do a proper journal. So I have decided to make a record of what I'm reading and hearing these days. Very important components of life indeed!!! :-D
Man having no TV is great for my book count, I'll say that!
So in the last year I have read the following:
(Value of "Must Read!"-ness recorded on scale of 1-10; 1 being lame-ass, and 10 being BEST BOOK EVER, IMHO)
(damn let's see how good my memory is - a year is a long time. Books NOT in order)
1. Place of Reeds, Caitlin Davies - 5
BAD BOOK TO READ IF YOURE MOVING TO BOTSWANA! But good book otherwise. Dramatic, full of excellent detail and imagery of this country. Amazing that it's actually a best seller here, considering, but makes for great reading.
2. The Source, James Michener - 9
One of the best books I've ever read, notwithstanding the fact that it's by my favorite author. Totally relevant to what is going on in the Middle East, a dummy's guide to the history of the Holy Land - gives you more perspective on the beginnings of religion and how foolish it can be than you'd ever learn in any history class or sunday school. Completely enlightening, ver-r-r-r-ry long. As all good JM books go.
3. Bots. Time, Will Randall - 7
Can be found in the "Travel Books" section of book store because it's non-fiction. Happy feel-good book about this country, probably the antithesis to Place of Reeds, and all true. About an english guy who teaches in Kasane for a year and all about his darling little kids and his adjustment to life here. It gets a 7 based on laughter and smile content - not literary. But I'm no lit snob so WTF!!
4-10. Then came the onslaught of Alexander McC-S books. I read 7 of them in less than a year, they were THAT GOOD. I find myself bashing my friends over the heads with these books, begging them desperately to read them because they are *that beautiful*. Everyone's turned off by the title of Book 1 (i.e. the title of the series: ("No. 1 ladies etc etc" ) for some reason? I dunno, maybe because it sounds childish or non-fiction or something? These books, man, these books! THEY ALL GET 10's!!!!!
10! 10! 10! 10s all around!!!
I got Pádraig to read them and he is HOOKED.
No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency
Tears oftheGiraffe
MoralityforBeautiful Girls
Kalahari TypingSchool for Men
Full CupboardofLife
In the Company ofCheerfullLadies
Blue Shoes andHappiness
I'd NEVER read 7 books in a year before, except when I was enrolled in some or another lit class in school or something.
11. DaVinci Code, Dan Brown - 8
What can i say? Everyone's read it, it's legendary, the book's better than the movie, yadda yadda. Great stuff, and like everyone else, I couldn't put it down. It was THIS book that got me back up on the reading horse again and got my eyeballs moving. So I guess you could say it was "inspiring"?
12. Angels &Deamons, Dan Brown - 9
Even better than the above!!! But maybe that's because I was going to Rome shortly thereafter??? I think that made all the difference in the rankings. I mean I still haven't been to Paris. esh. I also like a good religious conspiricy, not to mention good catholic skepticism.
13. DigitalFortress, Dan Brown - 4
TOTALLY LAME compared to the above 2, but not bad in general. Next to catholic skepticism, I like USA governmental intellegence skepticism!! If I'd had to have skipped 1 Dan Brown book, it could've easily been this one. I read it in Greece though so everything was laid back and easy going and it didnt matter if the books were 2nd rate HA!
14. DeceptionPoint, Dan Brown - 7
Just whipped through this (literally) in the last 5 days. It was awesome and fast-paced, albeit way more far fetched than the above and yet totally plausible at the same time if you've got a case of government-intel paranoia like me. I recommend it.
15. Sunday PhilosophyClub, Alexander McC-S - 3
Relatively Lame. Love AMcC-S, but I'll leave him with the lady detectives. Nothing *wrong* with it, so to speak, just slow and uneventful.
16. Friends, Lovers, Chocolate, Alexander McC-S - 2
See above. Same story, exact same story.
17. The 2 and a half Pillars of Wisdom, Alexander McC-S - 7
Very funny. Especially if you know any Germans. Man does he nail it right on the head. And the cool thing is that it's a wee trilogy, 3 short stories in 1, which I'm not sure why he chose to do (because it reads just like 1 long book) but who cares. I pissed myself repeatedly. Especially at the Germans. Oh I do love germans. And the lovely sausage dog makes a substantial appearence, which of course I appreciate on any day of my life.
18. A Short History of Nearly Everything, Bill Bryson - 9
Addictive! And will bring new brilliance to anyone's gradually shrinking brain! This book is what I'm reading right now and it is A-M-A-ZING. As a scientist, I'm getting a lot out of this but that has NOTHING to do with the benefit that this book could be to ANYONE regardless of profession. It is so jam-packed full of amazing facts presented in such a witty and interesting way, you can't help but become smarter from reading this book. As a traveller, I have always admired Bill Bryson so much. But now as a recovering anti-reader, I love him for his ability to keep me intrigued. Page after page I just get smarter and more interested in the stuff I've forgotten over time, particularly embarassing as an earth scientist and geographer. oops.
Having only read the introduction, I was already charmed out of my pants. He writes: "Consider the fact that for 3.8 billion years, a period of time older than the Earth's mountains and rivers and oceans, every one of your forebears on both sides has been attractive enough to find a mate, healthy enough to reproduce, and sufficiently blessed by fate and circumstances to live long enough to do so. Not one of your pertinent ancestors was squashed, devoured, drowned, starved, stranded, stuck fast, untimely wounded, or otherwise deflected from its life's quest of delivering a tiny charge of genetic material to the right partner at the right moment in order to perpetuate the only possible sequence of hereditary combinations that could result -- eventually, astoundingly, and all too briefly -- in you". Oh Bill.
Holy crap i just realized i read 18 books in a year. This is unheard of.
So I'll make it quick on the music-front. Basically since we have my laptop full of mp3s, we listen to those. No surprise there. But the lack of TV means the radio is on a lot now and it's funny because it's always the following
- reggae
- hip hop
- jazz
- r & b
I'm not sure why that's funny, because aside from jazz I like all those things. However, the CONTENT of those generes is definitely funny. For example.... I've heard "Mr. BoomBastic" by Shaggy about 10 times in the last 2 months now. Hell man, I hadn't heard Mr. BoomBastic since I was what, 15??!?!?! But here I can hear it every day depending on what station I scroll to!!!
And then they'll go throw some completely random "white" song in there for no good reason-- particularly since it won't even be a decent pop song or even relatively CURRENT song for that matter. Case in point: who the hell heard Sean Mullins "Rock-a-bye" in the last 10 years?!? And for WHAT reason exactly!?!?
WHY?!?
MAN do these guys love them some Beyoncé at the moment. That "Irreplaceable" song haunts me. Haunts me in the way that I hate HER but I can't hate the song. Because it's PERMANENTLY ON THE AIR. and it isn't all THAT bad I guess. (gross. I totally just said that.)
Anyway I'm enjoying my regular dose of the Fugees and Beanie Man and all the various Marley relatives. It's good for our musical diversity. And I know it's good for the Husbanator because he's even reaching a point now where he actually LIKES a bit of hip hop. So I know it's working.... we're very lucky to have that radio.
I'll leave it at that. This concludes my annual report on "what I was reading and listening to that year".
Man having no TV is great for my book count, I'll say that!
So in the last year I have read the following:
(Value of "Must Read!"-ness recorded on scale of 1-10; 1 being lame-ass, and 10 being BEST BOOK EVER, IMHO)
(damn let's see how good my memory is - a year is a long time. Books NOT in order)
1. Place of Reeds, Caitlin Davies - 5
BAD BOOK TO READ IF YOURE MOVING TO BOTSWANA! But good book otherwise. Dramatic, full of excellent detail and imagery of this country. Amazing that it's actually a best seller here, considering, but makes for great reading.
2. The Source, James Michener - 9
One of the best books I've ever read, notwithstanding the fact that it's by my favorite author. Totally relevant to what is going on in the Middle East, a dummy's guide to the history of the Holy Land - gives you more perspective on the beginnings of religion and how foolish it can be than you'd ever learn in any history class or sunday school. Completely enlightening, ver-r-r-r-ry long. As all good JM books go.
3. Bots. Time, Will Randall - 7
Can be found in the "Travel Books" section of book store because it's non-fiction. Happy feel-good book about this country, probably the antithesis to Place of Reeds, and all true. About an english guy who teaches in Kasane for a year and all about his darling little kids and his adjustment to life here. It gets a 7 based on laughter and smile content - not literary. But I'm no lit snob so WTF!!
4-10. Then came the onslaught of Alexander McC-S books. I read 7 of them in less than a year, they were THAT GOOD. I find myself bashing my friends over the heads with these books, begging them desperately to read them because they are *that beautiful*. Everyone's turned off by the title of Book 1 (i.e. the title of the series: ("No. 1 ladies etc etc" ) for some reason? I dunno, maybe because it sounds childish or non-fiction or something? These books, man, these books! THEY ALL GET 10's!!!!!
10! 10! 10! 10s all around!!!
I got Pádraig to read them and he is HOOKED.
No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency
Tears oftheGiraffe
MoralityforBeautiful Girls
Kalahari TypingSchool for Men
Full CupboardofLife
In the Company ofCheerfullLadies
Blue Shoes andHappiness
I'd NEVER read 7 books in a year before, except when I was enrolled in some or another lit class in school or something.
11. DaVinci Code, Dan Brown - 8
What can i say? Everyone's read it, it's legendary, the book's better than the movie, yadda yadda. Great stuff, and like everyone else, I couldn't put it down. It was THIS book that got me back up on the reading horse again and got my eyeballs moving. So I guess you could say it was "inspiring"?
12. Angels &Deamons, Dan Brown - 9
Even better than the above!!! But maybe that's because I was going to Rome shortly thereafter??? I think that made all the difference in the rankings. I mean I still haven't been to Paris. esh. I also like a good religious conspiricy, not to mention good catholic skepticism.
13. DigitalFortress, Dan Brown - 4
TOTALLY LAME compared to the above 2, but not bad in general. Next to catholic skepticism, I like USA governmental intellegence skepticism!! If I'd had to have skipped 1 Dan Brown book, it could've easily been this one. I read it in Greece though so everything was laid back and easy going and it didnt matter if the books were 2nd rate HA!
14. DeceptionPoint, Dan Brown - 7
Just whipped through this (literally) in the last 5 days. It was awesome and fast-paced, albeit way more far fetched than the above and yet totally plausible at the same time if you've got a case of government-intel paranoia like me. I recommend it.
15. Sunday PhilosophyClub, Alexander McC-S - 3
Relatively Lame. Love AMcC-S, but I'll leave him with the lady detectives. Nothing *wrong* with it, so to speak, just slow and uneventful.
16. Friends, Lovers, Chocolate, Alexander McC-S - 2
See above. Same story, exact same story.
17. The 2 and a half Pillars of Wisdom, Alexander McC-S - 7
Very funny. Especially if you know any Germans. Man does he nail it right on the head. And the cool thing is that it's a wee trilogy, 3 short stories in 1, which I'm not sure why he chose to do (because it reads just like 1 long book) but who cares. I pissed myself repeatedly. Especially at the Germans. Oh I do love germans. And the lovely sausage dog makes a substantial appearence, which of course I appreciate on any day of my life.
18. A Short History of Nearly Everything, Bill Bryson - 9
Addictive! And will bring new brilliance to anyone's gradually shrinking brain! This book is what I'm reading right now and it is A-M-A-ZING. As a scientist, I'm getting a lot out of this but that has NOTHING to do with the benefit that this book could be to ANYONE regardless of profession. It is so jam-packed full of amazing facts presented in such a witty and interesting way, you can't help but become smarter from reading this book. As a traveller, I have always admired Bill Bryson so much. But now as a recovering anti-reader, I love him for his ability to keep me intrigued. Page after page I just get smarter and more interested in the stuff I've forgotten over time, particularly embarassing as an earth scientist and geographer. oops.
Having only read the introduction, I was already charmed out of my pants. He writes: "Consider the fact that for 3.8 billion years, a period of time older than the Earth's mountains and rivers and oceans, every one of your forebears on both sides has been attractive enough to find a mate, healthy enough to reproduce, and sufficiently blessed by fate and circumstances to live long enough to do so. Not one of your pertinent ancestors was squashed, devoured, drowned, starved, stranded, stuck fast, untimely wounded, or otherwise deflected from its life's quest of delivering a tiny charge of genetic material to the right partner at the right moment in order to perpetuate the only possible sequence of hereditary combinations that could result -- eventually, astoundingly, and all too briefly -- in you". Oh Bill.
Holy crap i just realized i read 18 books in a year. This is unheard of.
So I'll make it quick on the music-front. Basically since we have my laptop full of mp3s, we listen to those. No surprise there. But the lack of TV means the radio is on a lot now and it's funny because it's always the following
- reggae
- hip hop
- jazz
- r & b
I'm not sure why that's funny, because aside from jazz I like all those things. However, the CONTENT of those generes is definitely funny. For example.... I've heard "Mr. BoomBastic" by Shaggy about 10 times in the last 2 months now. Hell man, I hadn't heard Mr. BoomBastic since I was what, 15??!?!?! But here I can hear it every day depending on what station I scroll to!!!
And then they'll go throw some completely random "white" song in there for no good reason-- particularly since it won't even be a decent pop song or even relatively CURRENT song for that matter. Case in point: who the hell heard Sean Mullins "Rock-a-bye" in the last 10 years?!? And for WHAT reason exactly!?!?
WHY?!?
MAN do these guys love them some Beyoncé at the moment. That "Irreplaceable" song haunts me. Haunts me in the way that I hate HER but I can't hate the song. Because it's PERMANENTLY ON THE AIR. and it isn't all THAT bad I guess. (gross. I totally just said that.)
Anyway I'm enjoying my regular dose of the Fugees and Beanie Man and all the various Marley relatives. It's good for our musical diversity. And I know it's good for the Husbanator because he's even reaching a point now where he actually LIKES a bit of hip hop. So I know it's working.... we're very lucky to have that radio.
I'll leave it at that. This concludes my annual report on "what I was reading and listening to that year".
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