books books books
1. independent people by halldor laxness. this is a nobel prize winning book. also, it is just awesome. i feel compelled to warn you, though, it is long, and written to sort of subtly echo the ol' nordic sagas, and so is generally not a fun or easy read as such but is a totally awesome and rewarding. but it is definitely satirical, among other things, and i guess is just not everybody's thing.
2. do androids dream of electric sheep? by philip k dick. this book is science fiction. i hate science fiction. i love this book. i went through it in a couple of hours. anyway, it is the rare kind of sci fi book that says something about a non-sci fi world. and it's easy to find in libraries (sometimes called blade runner after the movie, ick). and it is short. so it is generally super-fantastic.
3. and you shall know our velocity! by dave eggers. this is an unusual narrative style, i guess, in that it just sort of goes and goes, but it is really interesting and a fun read. it is about this dude who comes into a bit of money and doesn't want it, so he and his friend go all over the world trying to give it away. but obviously it is a whole lot cooler than people trying to give away money.
4. the illustrated man or something wicked this way comes by ray bradbury. two of my favourite books ever. the illustrated man (a short story collection) is the book i carry with me everywhere, for when i am waiting for the bus or whatever. words don't describe my love for this books. oh yes.
5. fahrenheit 451 by ray bradbury. there. i said it. i am the only person to ever like this book. ok. fine.
6. generation x by douglas coupland. yeah i know what an awful title. but this book, although not the greatest i've ever read, is absolutely one of the closest to me. my pretty 70s SLR camera is named after my favourite character, dagmar, who i totally adored the instant the narrator mentioned that he didn't bathe for a week because a spider made a web in his tub (which, by the way, is one of the few sensitive things dag does in the book, so please don't think he is at all a typically 'i am so kind and considerate' sympathetic sort of character).
7. l'etranger by albert camus. i've only read the french, but i assume there's a translation out there that does a pretty good job of capturing that weird tone that makes this book so awesome.
anyway i am tired of writing things that are neither informative nor enticing about these books (and thus doing them a disservice) but hey.