more books i have read...
I absolutely cannot stop listening to ben folds this week. not even new stuff. their first album (i think).
Won't you look up at the skyline
At the mortar, block, and glass
And check out the reflections in my eyes
See they always used to be there
Even when this was all was grass
And I sang and danced about a high-rise
And you were laughing at my helmet hat
Laughing at my torch
Go ahead and laugh all you want
I got my philosophy
And it keeps me on the ground
And I trust it like the ground
That's why my philosophy
Keeps me walking when I'm falling down
I see that there is evil
And I know that there is good
And the in-betweens I never understood
Would you look at me I'm crazy
But I get the job done
I'm crazy but I get the job done
So go ahead and laugh all you want
I got my philosophy
And I trust it like the ground
That's why my philosophy
Keeps me walking when I'm falling down
I pushed you cause I loved you guys
I didn't realize
That you weren't having fun
And I dragged you up the stairs
And I told you to fly
You were flapping your arms
Then you started to cry, you were too high
Now you take this all for granted
You take the mortar, block, and glass
And you forget the speech that moved the stone
And it's really not that you can't see
The forest from the trees
You just never been out in the woods alone
So you can laugh all you want to
But I've got my philosophy
Keeps my feet on the ground
And I love you you're my friend
But you got no philosophy
Now it's time for this song to end
Anyways, here are more Erin book reviews, in no particular order of when I read them.
Wicked, Gregory Maguire: Wow, what a letdown. I was so moved by the musical, impressed by all the connections with The Wizard of Oz, and the book was nothing close. It was slow and the characters were not as interesting and, um, i didn't like it. Pretentious.
The Alchemist, Paulo Coelho: Amazing. Thank you Cheryl. This is very touching, and really makes me think about love.
Pledged, Alexandra Robbins: Kate left this at my house, and I'm not sure what possessed me to pick it up. But I did, and finished it out of some morbid curiosity of sororities. Nothing in it really surprised me though, and it wasn't really very special. It tried to be academic but came off much more like chick lit.
The Truth, With Jokes, Al Franken: I love him, he is hilarious. This book is much darker than Liars but still really funny. Also, he has a whole section about Jack Abramoff, and the book was published long before he was indicted.
Confidence and Clarity, Russ Weatherford: This guy is a personal friend of my family, and he wrote this book about learning lines. Generally its not very interesting, I just read it because I know him. But if you need to learn to learn lines, I suspect it would be very useful.
The Tipping Point, Malcolm Gladwell: I read this because he wrote Blink, even though I haven't read Blink. It's all about how epidemics start, and how small things can have a huge effect on society. The section on Sesame Street and children's programming was especially interesting to me since I'm into that, but overall it's very interesting. He cites a lot of psychological studies that I am familiar with so he's not just making the whole thing up, all though some of his intepretations of the results, uh, intrigued me.
Poisonwood Bible, Barbara Kingsolver: This book is phenomenal. In the same way that The Kite Runner changed the way I think about Afghanistan, this book changed the way I think about the Congo. It also threw gender difference in religion in a new light. I recommend this for everyone, especially southerners, or people who are trying to understand southerners. Everyone really.
Choice Theory, William Glasser: Glasser is a psychologist who Paula studied with, and our counseling theory at camp is based on his ideas, so I thought I should learn more about him. I really like his counseling strategies because his basic theory is that the only person's behavior you can change is your own, so he doesn't bother delving into things that happened in the past that you can't change. However, when he starts going on about how to implement this theory in the school, I think he goes a little crazy.
Blue Like Jazz, Donald Miller: I borrowed this from Harrison's roommate, on Harrison's and Justin's recommendation (I think). I haven't read a book on religion in a while, and this was a good one for me. On the one hand, I agreed with his attitude toward religion (for instance, he has a chapter called "How to go to church without getting angry." On the other hand, something about his view is just so very male that I have trouble sympathizing with him. But this is a good book for anyone who feels disenfranchised by the religious right.
The Stranger, Albert Camus: I read this in Europe, and it was a great book for travelling. I enjoyed it, but I don't really know what to say about it.
Cold Mountain, Charles Frazier: I absolutely loved this, even after seeing and loving the movie. I feel that the book is as much about the landscape and the life on the mountain as it is about the relationship. Very beautiful.
The Catcher in the Rye, J. D. Salinger: This was not what I expected. I don't understand why everyone is so in love with this book. I never read it in school, and I felt that I should, and I did, and I would love someone to explain to me what I'm missing.
The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald: I read this thrice with my English class that I taught last semester. Harrison says that beautiful language is not enough to make a book worthwhile, and I disagree. I love the story too, but man, that ending.
"Gatsby believed in the green light, the orgiastic future that year by year recedes before us. It eluded us then, but that's no matter--tomorrow we will run faster, stretch out our arms farther. ...And one fine morning--
So we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past."
Won't you look up at the skyline
At the mortar, block, and glass
And check out the reflections in my eyes
See they always used to be there
Even when this was all was grass
And I sang and danced about a high-rise
And you were laughing at my helmet hat
Laughing at my torch
Go ahead and laugh all you want
I got my philosophy
And it keeps me on the ground
And I trust it like the ground
That's why my philosophy
Keeps me walking when I'm falling down
I see that there is evil
And I know that there is good
And the in-betweens I never understood
Would you look at me I'm crazy
But I get the job done
I'm crazy but I get the job done
So go ahead and laugh all you want
I got my philosophy
And I trust it like the ground
That's why my philosophy
Keeps me walking when I'm falling down
I pushed you cause I loved you guys
I didn't realize
That you weren't having fun
And I dragged you up the stairs
And I told you to fly
You were flapping your arms
Then you started to cry, you were too high
Now you take this all for granted
You take the mortar, block, and glass
And you forget the speech that moved the stone
And it's really not that you can't see
The forest from the trees
You just never been out in the woods alone
So you can laugh all you want to
But I've got my philosophy
Keeps my feet on the ground
And I love you you're my friend
But you got no philosophy
Now it's time for this song to end
Anyways, here are more Erin book reviews, in no particular order of when I read them.
Wicked, Gregory Maguire: Wow, what a letdown. I was so moved by the musical, impressed by all the connections with The Wizard of Oz, and the book was nothing close. It was slow and the characters were not as interesting and, um, i didn't like it. Pretentious.
The Alchemist, Paulo Coelho: Amazing. Thank you Cheryl. This is very touching, and really makes me think about love.
Pledged, Alexandra Robbins: Kate left this at my house, and I'm not sure what possessed me to pick it up. But I did, and finished it out of some morbid curiosity of sororities. Nothing in it really surprised me though, and it wasn't really very special. It tried to be academic but came off much more like chick lit.
The Truth, With Jokes, Al Franken: I love him, he is hilarious. This book is much darker than Liars but still really funny. Also, he has a whole section about Jack Abramoff, and the book was published long before he was indicted.
Confidence and Clarity, Russ Weatherford: This guy is a personal friend of my family, and he wrote this book about learning lines. Generally its not very interesting, I just read it because I know him. But if you need to learn to learn lines, I suspect it would be very useful.
The Tipping Point, Malcolm Gladwell: I read this because he wrote Blink, even though I haven't read Blink. It's all about how epidemics start, and how small things can have a huge effect on society. The section on Sesame Street and children's programming was especially interesting to me since I'm into that, but overall it's very interesting. He cites a lot of psychological studies that I am familiar with so he's not just making the whole thing up, all though some of his intepretations of the results, uh, intrigued me.
Poisonwood Bible, Barbara Kingsolver: This book is phenomenal. In the same way that The Kite Runner changed the way I think about Afghanistan, this book changed the way I think about the Congo. It also threw gender difference in religion in a new light. I recommend this for everyone, especially southerners, or people who are trying to understand southerners. Everyone really.
Choice Theory, William Glasser: Glasser is a psychologist who Paula studied with, and our counseling theory at camp is based on his ideas, so I thought I should learn more about him. I really like his counseling strategies because his basic theory is that the only person's behavior you can change is your own, so he doesn't bother delving into things that happened in the past that you can't change. However, when he starts going on about how to implement this theory in the school, I think he goes a little crazy.
Blue Like Jazz, Donald Miller: I borrowed this from Harrison's roommate, on Harrison's and Justin's recommendation (I think). I haven't read a book on religion in a while, and this was a good one for me. On the one hand, I agreed with his attitude toward religion (for instance, he has a chapter called "How to go to church without getting angry." On the other hand, something about his view is just so very male that I have trouble sympathizing with him. But this is a good book for anyone who feels disenfranchised by the religious right.
The Stranger, Albert Camus: I read this in Europe, and it was a great book for travelling. I enjoyed it, but I don't really know what to say about it.
Cold Mountain, Charles Frazier: I absolutely loved this, even after seeing and loving the movie. I feel that the book is as much about the landscape and the life on the mountain as it is about the relationship. Very beautiful.
The Catcher in the Rye, J. D. Salinger: This was not what I expected. I don't understand why everyone is so in love with this book. I never read it in school, and I felt that I should, and I did, and I would love someone to explain to me what I'm missing.
The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald: I read this thrice with my English class that I taught last semester. Harrison says that beautiful language is not enough to make a book worthwhile, and I disagree. I love the story too, but man, that ending.
"Gatsby believed in the green light, the orgiastic future that year by year recedes before us. It eluded us then, but that's no matter--tomorrow we will run faster, stretch out our arms farther. ...And one fine morning--
So we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past."