IT'S NOT MUCH to look at. But it's comfortable. It's a couch, and it's in my retired parents' place in Florida. It's where, after an exhausting and exhilirating year, I will be spending a good portion of next week, after a quick little jag down to New York for the weekend.
The aim for the week on the couch (and outside in the yard, in shorts, yes...shorts) is 3 books. I've got two chosen already. I'm going to get through the Peanuts and Schulz biography. And I'm finally going to read Bob Dylan's Chronicles. I have room for one more -- a fiction. I've got about twelve candidates stacked up on my table. But you know, the more the merrier.
Leave your suggestions in the comments below.
I'm also looking for suggestions on reprint posts. If you've been reading the blog awhile, and you can remember a post you'd like to see again, let me know about that, too.
Oh, and last night I stumbled upon my second Rent-A-Goalie. I think it re-airs on Showcase sometime this week. And somewhere on a Citytv station near you, there should be a repeat of Episode 4 of Across The River To Motor City. I meant to write about that one before it aired. Oh, and are we up to my eps of Blood Ties on City yet?
Man, things get away from you at this time of year.
16 comments:
For fiction, I've been reading Neal Stephenson's long and very rewarding Baroque Cycle.
Non-fiction: 1491, Collapse, Westviking, Ulysses Found.
Just noticed the Robert Plant and Allison Krauss album on your list.
It's killer. Grab it for the plane ride.
And the objective correlative post is always a classic.
:: thinks over fiction reading the last year or so :: It's old news, but the first novel that comes to mind (partly because I heard recently that there's a miniseries adapation in the pipeline) is Neal Stephenson's The Diamond Age. It felt a bit front-loaded with worldbuilding, possibly because there were a lot of characters to introduce whose threads take a while to come together. But it's pretty innovative worldbuilding, and once it got moving, the ride was well worth the slightly bumpy start.
Cloud Atlas, by David Mitchell. Life will never be the same.
Add a fourth: Steve Martin's book about his stand-up years.
You can read it in an afternoon.
It's worth it.
Because it's christmas it's nice to read something that is a little positive, life affirming yada yada so i'd suggest "Aunt Julia and the Scriptwriter" which is very sweet, funny etc or either of Charles Johnson's books (if they are in print) "Oxherding Tale" or "Middle Passage" -- both of which tell stories about the whole dang slavery thing but tell their protagonist's tale as if they were rollicking adventures ala TC Boyles "Water Music".
I've recently discovered the amazing-ness of Rex Stout again. Pickup a Nero Wolfe mystery and you won't be disappointed. They're also shorter than a lot of books so you could go through a couple no problem. Check out "A Right to Die"
Also, Cormac McCarthy's "The Road" is a great book!
As a border-straddler, you might love The Horn of a Lamb by Robert Sedlack.
Or even his first novel The African Safari Papers.
Both great.
Don't read anything!!!!
Dude, you've been writing for a year solid. You need to go into sponge mode and start takin' some back! Go to the beach, the dog track, even a Jai-alai fronton.
EDo stuff you can't do here -- ever.
Catch a Nascar race, get a ticket to a Dolphins game (trust me, they're giving them away). Go clubbing, bone fishing or swim with the mighty Manatees. God, go to EPCOT if you're really stuck.
Point is -- stop thinking and being inspired to write and reconnect with all the things the audience does because that's how you make yourself fresh and new and ready to do something different.
EDo stuff was a typo -- drop the E, I would never suggest you eat those soy bean things, they're awful.
Just have fun, you've earned the right to shut the brain down for a bit.
"Dreamland" by Kevin Baker. Historical fiction set in and amongst the Coney Island amusement parks, circa 1908.
Sneak away to Hillsboro House (a condo) in Hillsboro Beach, Fla. (Intercoastal side, off A1A). There are manatees living in the lagoon.
The 'Day In The Life of a TV Writer' play by play post still stands out for me (though there were so many)
Yes we are up to your BT episodes. The series has grown on me slowly but staedily all season...
As for something to read... a couple of Canadian choices - you can read them both free on line or sample before you buy.
How about the Hugo Nominated Blindsight by Peter Watts. Grim yes but with ideas enough to make your head POP! I loved it.
Blindsight
Right now I'm pottering through a first novel by Canadian author Jeniffer Rahn The Longevity Thesis. Fantasy but not at all 'typical'. The only reason I'm pottering through it and not racing is the demands of the season.
Longevity Thesis
PS I hope those links work. I hate not being able to edit in blogger comments.
well the links are fine but excuse please my other typos: it is of course 'Jennifer Rahn'
I'm more of a non-fiction gal myself, but if you must, read some Steinbeck. He's always good for reminding one that Americans were once a free-thinking and compassionate people. You might need something like that in Florida.
Otherwise, read Naomi Klein's 'The Shock Doctrine'. Then try to resist the urge to blow up a Wal-Mart.
Just try. I dare ya.
I won't suggest a title, but read top-class junk. It's the finest way to decompress. After my English Lit finals I lay on my bed and read fifteen Doc Savage novels back-to-back, and it's still the giddiest experience of my reading life.
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