words, words, words

This week is book banning week which sounds sort of awful if you think about it. When I first heard about it I thought it was a week celebrating banning books but no, it is a celebration of all the books that were once banned in this country. Silly me! Sponsored by the ALA (American Library Association), this week tries to bring awareness to an issue that still very much exists even though it feels like ancient history. Honestly, it floors me that in 2011, books are still being "challenged." That is the word used now because as you know it is against the Constitution to ban books but one has the right to challenge anything (also according to our beloved Constitution.) According to some research I did there were over 300 documented challenges concerning books in this country last year, most of them made by parents of school aged children. As a former teacher and educator, this disgusts me. It suggests that our children should not think for themselves or even worse, that they...

I decided not to totally give up on "Tropic of Cancer." After throwing my tantrum over the weekend about how much I hated it, I picked it up again with the thought that if this is considered a classic, it must have more merit other than lewd sexual scenes and sloppy run on's. So far, I haven't found it but I don't think I'm going to throw in the towel just yet. What I have decided to do instead, is alternate reading it with something much more fun and enjoyable. So, as I threatened in my last post, I am re-reading the Harry Potter series. (if these books are not considered classics yet, they will be in the future, guaranteed.) I will admit, I am a bit of a Harry Potter nerd. Yes, I did buy the 7th book at the crack of dawn on the day it came out. No, I did not put a toilet seat cover over my head and go as Moaning Myrtle to the bookstore. I'll leave it up to you to decide where I stand on the nerd spectrum. A lot of people ask me how I can read a book mo...

I think I'm throwing in the towel on "Tropic of Cancer." I really can't take it. I realized I started dreading going to bed every night because that is the time I read. And for those of you who don't know me well, I NEVER dread going to bed.I love to sleep. Its one of my favorite things to do actually. I'm pretty notorious in my family for snapping viciously at anyone who tries to disturb my sleep or tries to hold a conversation with me within a half an hour of me waking up - even longer if my coveted first cup of coffee hasn't nestled into my bloodstream yet. So, if I am dreading going to bed - me the lover of all things nocturnal, than there is a problem with this book. It is just so damn haphazard. Its one run on sentence after another and endless descriptions of crap I could care less about. I will admit there are some beautiful passages describing the seedier side of Paris in the 30s but that's really where it all ends for me. I should just pull a...

Ok so fitting that I chose "Tropic of Cancer" to read next, because we are coming upon book banning week (September 24th-October 1st) which is a celebration of books that were once banned in this country. Well, the way I feel about this book so far is that it should have stayed banned (for the record, I don't believe in book banning, I'm just trying to make a point). This novel is seriously dirty. No wonder it was banned for so long. I get it. I'm going to need several long cold showers after I'm done reading this one. It is an autobiographical account of Miller's life and his exploits with various women. There is more to it than that, but I'll get there. Reading the forward, I was pretty excited because Henry Miller felt like a kindred spirit. The novel is set in Paris in the 1930s and anyone who knows me knows that that is right up my alley. Awesome, I thought I'm going to love this book! Miller was 36 at the time (same as me) and living with h...

I don't really have too much to say about "Animal Farm." Its a social commentary, a statement about the dangers of power on society. It was well written if a bit blah and the story just didn't interest me. Just not my kind of book. I'm glad I read it because it shows up on every list of great literature I found but it is easily forgettable. Not sure what my next read will be. I'm too interested in fall television right now. I'm a total TV junkie. I admit it freely and yes you can be a geeky bookworm and a TV nerd at the same time. I'm a hopeless reality show follower -I love all of those competition shows - top chef, amazing race, survivor, etc. Shakespeare had theater in the the round; our generation has reality TV. kind of sad. I'm thinking of "Tropic of Cancer" for my next book. I really know nothing about it except it makes an appearance in an episode of "Seinfeld." Seems fitting that I only know of this book from a TV sh...

Ok so I chose "Animal Farm" for my next book because A. I had it already and B.its very short. Before I head into one the meatier picks on my list, I want to knock out some of the more easily read books. Animal Farm - written in 1945 and published in the U.S. in 1946, is a satire about communism told from the perspective of farm animals. Weird, weird, weird. I breezed through the first 80 pages (its only 128 pages - on the borderline of even being called a book) but then hit a wall. I kind of hate this book. It's boring, the writing is elementary and I'm not interested at all in the subject matter. I only have 40 or so pages left and I'm doing everything I can to avoid going back to it. I feel like I'm back in college again where procrastination was my middle name. I was the student who did EVERYTHING last minute. I didn't start writing my 20 page senior thesis until 2 days before it was due. Somehow I always managed to get good grades despite my horribl...

For the one person who is reading this blog, don't read this review if you haven't' read the book and want to. I give away a good chunk of the plot...if you have read it or have no desire to than please read on.... I left off last time on page 30ish completely in love with the writing in this novel, wonderfully curious about the character of Humbert and excited about the journey Nabokov was about to take me on. Well, shortly after reaching page 40, everything but the love for the writing in this book changed for me.  I have finished the book and have many, many thoughts on it. So here goes: Although, I started out sympathizing with Humbert's character, as the novel progressed, I found it harder and harder to have any good feelings towards him at all. He is actually a pretty loathsome character,  motivated by only one thing throughout and that is his lust for Dorothy "Lolita" Haze. It is seemingly the ONLY thing that drives all of his actions in life and mos...

So I have finally starting reading "Lolita" and I'm hooked. My husband came into our bedroom at 1:45 am and saw me fighting sleep while trying to read. That's what happens when a book is that good. You forget where you are or what is happening around you. All sense of time fades away. Within the first paragraph I already knew why this book is considered a classic: the writing is beautiful. A lot of times in between reading really well written, thought provoking books, I will take a break with something easy - ya know the type- they are usually referred to as beach reads, the books where you don't have to concentrate at all to get through it. I like these books but I never feel as if the authors are real writers. To me they are purely employees collecting a paycheck for doing a job. The words don't sing off of the page; there is no soul alive behind the paragraphs. Reading a classic is a whole different experience. You can feel the writers emotions right there...

Unemployment is like a game. How many jobs did I apply to this week and get rejected from? answer: 3. How many job interviews have I gone on recently?answer: zero. How many hours a week have I spent filling out applications and emailing resumes? answer: 20. In some universe all of those hours should add up to a prize? My prize? More frustration and  more hours of time to fill. There isn't even any good tv to watch right now. August is like a vast wasteland in the entertainment world. All of the summer shows have wrapped up and the fall shows haven't started yet. Thats why I've started to invent challenges for myself to keep from sitting on the floor of my apartment staring at the walls all day because believe me, some days thats as exciting as it gets.  Last week my challenge was starting this blog, this week its to run in the park every morning and do yoga every night, next its going to be to cook only vegetarian meals, the week af...