[booklog 2006]
i didn't keep up any records of what i read while travelling, so this is hugely incomplete. but then again, i didn't read quite as much as i usually do. so, in only the order in which they are piled on my bookshelf and appear in my memory:
15. Assata, Assata Shakur. just finished this one a few minutes ago. not an easy read, but a very good one. there's a hell of a lot in there for me to think about, reminders of how little of history and politics i know & understand, and a good solid kick in the ass about directions i want my life to be going.
16. American Gods and "The Monarch of the Glen", Neil Gaiman. almost an entirely different book, when read in the car on the road between Minneapolis and the badlands of South Dakota after having driven a zigzag course through much of the midwest. it made me laugh to notice that many of the details in the book about the House on the Rock were ones that had stuck in my head as well.
17. The Wooden Sea, Jonathan Carroll. metaphysics or mischief, it's a fun and convoluted read, if sometimes a little too convoluted.
18. The Glass Key, Dashiell Hammett. from "the originator of today's most popular mystery fiction, the novel of suspense and detection." it's good and all, but it didn't grab me; as with some of Chandler's work, eventually it starts to feel hollow.
19. Jhereg, Steven Brust. fun, kinda fluffy; i remember thinking when i put it down "a detective novel with dragons. huh."
20. Galveston, Sean Stewart. i picked this up while helping jencallisto with packing, and couldn't put it down. vivid characters, and the setup hooked me hard, but...where the story went in the end didn't quite make sense to me.
21. The Chequebook and the Cruise-Missile, Arundhati Roy. a fascinating series of interviews, another one that made me feel like i have a hell of a lot of reading and learning to do about history and politics and the world-at-large.
22. Neuromancer, William Gibson. hadn't read it in awhile. still good. "I never did like to do anything simple when I could do it ass-backwards..."
23. drag king dreams, Leslie Feinberg. another one of those that reaches out and grabs me by the heart, holds it up and says "look. LOOK. it's time to get up, it's time to be out in the world. pay more attention to what you're doing, how you're living, make sure it's where you want to be. know what changes you want to see, know why, and then get off your ass and start making them."
24. The Book of Flying, Keith Miller. borrowed this from l_stboy in Mississippi; a lovely story, written with delicate filigree poetic prose.
25-30. Strangers in Paradise, Terry Moore. the whole damn thing. borrowed from violin in Atlanta, and i need to remind my dad to ship it back when he gets done reading it...
31-36. the Griffin & Sabine set, all six books, Nick Bantock. found the last two at Powell's in Portland. sometimes the story is surreal and simple and beautiful, and sometimes the moooshy romance and 'supernatural' bits of the plot get to be too much for me to enjoy, but always and always the art is amazing.
37. Doris, #23, cindy. picked this up in Needles & Pens after the Dyke March last week.
38. The Sun, the Moon, and the Stars, Steven Brust. i like his writing style, but this book was a frame-story, sort of, except that the relation between the frame and the fairy-tale inside of it was unclear.
...and that's all i can think of for now. time for sleeping, very soon.
15. Assata, Assata Shakur. just finished this one a few minutes ago. not an easy read, but a very good one. there's a hell of a lot in there for me to think about, reminders of how little of history and politics i know & understand, and a good solid kick in the ass about directions i want my life to be going.
16. American Gods and "The Monarch of the Glen", Neil Gaiman. almost an entirely different book, when read in the car on the road between Minneapolis and the badlands of South Dakota after having driven a zigzag course through much of the midwest. it made me laugh to notice that many of the details in the book about the House on the Rock were ones that had stuck in my head as well.
17. The Wooden Sea, Jonathan Carroll. metaphysics or mischief, it's a fun and convoluted read, if sometimes a little too convoluted.
18. The Glass Key, Dashiell Hammett. from "the originator of today's most popular mystery fiction, the novel of suspense and detection." it's good and all, but it didn't grab me; as with some of Chandler's work, eventually it starts to feel hollow.
19. Jhereg, Steven Brust. fun, kinda fluffy; i remember thinking when i put it down "a detective novel with dragons. huh."
20. Galveston, Sean Stewart. i picked this up while helping jencallisto with packing, and couldn't put it down. vivid characters, and the setup hooked me hard, but...where the story went in the end didn't quite make sense to me.
21. The Chequebook and the Cruise-Missile, Arundhati Roy. a fascinating series of interviews, another one that made me feel like i have a hell of a lot of reading and learning to do about history and politics and the world-at-large.
22. Neuromancer, William Gibson. hadn't read it in awhile. still good. "I never did like to do anything simple when I could do it ass-backwards..."
23. drag king dreams, Leslie Feinberg. another one of those that reaches out and grabs me by the heart, holds it up and says "look. LOOK. it's time to get up, it's time to be out in the world. pay more attention to what you're doing, how you're living, make sure it's where you want to be. know what changes you want to see, know why, and then get off your ass and start making them."
24. The Book of Flying, Keith Miller. borrowed this from l_stboy in Mississippi; a lovely story, written with delicate filigree poetic prose.
25-30. Strangers in Paradise, Terry Moore. the whole damn thing. borrowed from violin in Atlanta, and i need to remind my dad to ship it back when he gets done reading it...
31-36. the Griffin & Sabine set, all six books, Nick Bantock. found the last two at Powell's in Portland. sometimes the story is surreal and simple and beautiful, and sometimes the moooshy romance and 'supernatural' bits of the plot get to be too much for me to enjoy, but always and always the art is amazing.
37. Doris, #23, cindy. picked this up in Needles & Pens after the Dyke March last week.
38. The Sun, the Moon, and the Stars, Steven Brust. i like his writing style, but this book was a frame-story, sort of, except that the relation between the frame and the fairy-tale inside of it was unclear.
...and that's all i can think of for now. time for sleeping, very soon.