month the third.

i'm three months in.  this sucks, but i'm surviving.

while i suffer in agonizing silence (and occasional written word), here’s what i’ve been reading (and listening) to in the past month:

the zombie survival guide - max brooks

medium: print

obtained through: library

impression: eh.  it was fine.  not nearly as funny as i thought it might be.

divergent - veronica roth

medium: audio

obtained through: library

impression: not as dystopian enough for me, but an interesting premise.  it was entertaining, for the most part, until it turned in to a mushy love story.  and civil war.  this book could not decide what it wanted to be.

official book club selection - kathy griffin

medium: audio

obtained through: library

impression: hysterical.  dry.  great.  it was also nice to get to know more about her life without the constant snark--a sort of window into the real person.

life as we knew it - susan beth pfeffer

medium: e-book

obtained through: library

impression: the only thing more annoying than the mother in this book is the protagonist.  seriously--i don't think i've read a more unlikeable character.  skip this one.

panic in level 4 - richard preston

medium: audio

obtained through: library

impression: i tried to read preston's bestseller the hot zone but started having ebola-monkey fueled nightmares and quickly put it down.  this is the answer to that problem--small doses of intense and scary situations that end just as you think you can't take anymore.  most of the stories were less than extraordinary, but a few were awesome!

the devil and sherlock holmes - david grann

medium: print

obtained through: already owned it

impression: i pretty much hated grann's magnum opus--the lost city of z--but think this book is much better.  each tale is well researched, crafted, and told, and, better still, just when you're growing bored, the story changes.

unwind - neal shusterman

medium: audio

obtained through: library

impression: eh.  this book started out quite promisingly, albeit the politics in it are a bit heavy-handed.  i've grown bored in the middle, though, and have stopped caring about the characters.  still haven't finished this one.

don't know much about mythology - kenneth c. davis

medium: e-book

obtained through: barnes and noble free book fridays

impression: the intro is quite long-winded and seems self-important, but davis has a lot to say about mythos and makes some great points.  i'm interested to get into the "meat" of the book.

the odyssey - homer

medium: print

obtained through: already owned it

impression: i'm back to teaching world lit 1, which means reading the classics again.  while i've read all the stuff below before, i'm still counting it.  

what can i say about the odyssey?!  it's awesome, and polyphemus is a sissy.

oedipus the king - sophocles

medium: print

obtained through: already owned it

impression: ummm...attempted infanticide, patricide, and sleeping with mom.  how much more awesome (and disgustingly sad) can one play get?

medea - euripides

medium: print

obtained through: already owned it

impression: this is probably my favorite play out of ancient greece.  all of the characters are so easy to loathe, yet they all make rational arguments to support their craziness.

poetics - aristotle

medium: print

obtained through: already owned it

impression: that's right, i make my students read poetics.  yes, yes, i'm cruel.  i happen to love this slice of nonfiction from so long ago. 

you know you have a problem when...

..you are quite literally going crazy for want of your obsession. when you are jonesing so badly that you feel you are about to simmer over.

i'm almost half way through my book-buying experiment.  i've done far better than i had ever thought i could.  yes, oh yes, i've wanted to buy books, but i have resisted.  i have followed the rules.  i have been true to myself and my experiment.

but life, it seems, doesn't care about my social-experiment.  life has, frankly, been a bitch lately.  i've been reeling, perpetually holding my breath and waiting for the other proverbial shoe to drop.

whenever i'm in a tailspin i tend to read poetry.  i think it has something to do with all the many hours spent obsessing over papers about poetry in grad school.  any time i would get too lost in my own analysis/thoughts/head, i could go back to the text and seek the answers there.

poetry is pure.  it is simple.  it is the essence of life.

yes, i would usually turn to poetry to sort my life out and feel better right now, but i can't.  or i won't.

normally spenser, sydney, donne, wyatt and shakespeare get me through.

failing them, hughes, heaney and yeats seem to work.

but this time, no poet i've studied will suffice.

i need someone i enjoy, someone i respect, someone i've never had to critically interpret for a grade.

which leads to my problem:  i want whitman.

leaves of grass is calling to me.  it whispers its name on the wind--beckoning me towards the nearest bookstore.

the problem is that i cannot read poetry electronically.  nor can i borrow a copy from a library or friend.  i have to have a printed page in front of me, waiting and expecting annotations, notes, and insights.  i must be able to scribble.

i can't provide that for myself right now--at least not from whitman, and it is literally keeping me up at night.

so for now whitman wind, i hope you find calm.  i will get to you...eventually.

i hope that when i do you can offer me the fulfilling nature of your forbears.

until then (exactly 94 days from now), i guess i will make do with what i have.

unless someone would like to give me a lovely little leaves of grass gift...

two months later

yesterday marks the two month mark on my buying-books-ban.  i have officially not purchased a single book in two months.  and i am dying.

that's not to say i haven't been reading (a lot), but i am seriously fighting off some hellish book-buying demons that would make goethe's faust cringe.

so, while i suffer, here’s what i’ve been reading (and listening) to in the past month:

 

medium raw – anthony bourdain

medium: audio

obtained through: library

impression:  random, food-pornish, self-indulgent.  medium raw is all of these things, but it is still great.  as only anthony bourdain can be.

 

the big sleep – raymond chandler

medium: print

obtained through: already owned it

impression: love, love, LOVE this book!  the "chandlerisms" throughout are brilliant.  i can't wait to read more.

 the brief wondrous life of oscar wao – junot diaz

medium: audio

obtained through: library

impression:  i'm kind of dumbstruck by this one.  i LOVE diaz's short stories (both drown and independently published), so i was excited to read this one. it's peculiar, and there were moments when i didn't really get it, but for the most part, i thoroughly enjoyed this book.  even the post-modern uber-weird narratorial style worked. 

the killer inside me – jim thompson

medium: print

obtained through: already owned it

impression:  intimidated and intrigued. just starting this one, but my interest is definitely piqued.





 

virals – kathy reichs

medium: print

obtained through: library

impression:  i love the tv series bones, and since the creator of that series wrote this, i thought i would give it a try.  plus, goodreads recommended it based on my love of the hunger games and his dark materials series.  it's quick, easy, and somewhat entertaining.  by far not the best thing i've ever read, but it satisfies the need for crap-fiction.

the zombie survival guide - max brooks

medium: print

obtained through: library

impression: just started this one...literally on page 1.  it's zombies.  why not?!