Weeks 7-19
May. 15th, 2006 09:51 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
taerowynSo I'm a little behind on updating my year of books so here goes:
Week 7
7. Fateful Harvest : The True Story of a Small Town, a Global Industry, and a Toxic Secret by Duff Wilson: An Erin Brokovich like story all about the pesticide industry...makes me scared of eating veggies, but sadly, not scared enough to always buy organic cause, hey...student loans. Very well written...one of those newspaper expose into book type deals and very engrossing.
Week 8
Week 9
8. Elementary Particles by Michel Houellebecq and Frank Wynne : Not quite what what I was expecting and it wasn't til I realized that the background of the cover was skin that it made a bit more sense to me. Delves in to science, relationships, sex, philosophy and a whole host of other issues. Not my favorite read ever, but a trip I don't regret taking.
Week 10
9. The Riddle of the Wren by Charles DeLint: Good old DeLint. His books are always so original, but they all have a similar feel so that even if you've never read the one in your hands, it still feels like returning home. Same fantastic blend of different cultures mythologies...just...yeah!
10. Dealing with Dragons by Patricia C. Wrede: Picked up in a used bookstore as a "Remember-When" book. Don't know when I first read it...10? 12? Just cute, simple sassy, refuse to fit the mold, heroine style fantasy. The kind I grew up on. Shut up!
Week 11
Week 12
11. Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers by Mary Roach: One of two well-hyped books this week. This was definitely the better. Laugh out loud funny book, but not something to be read at meal times. I can't recommend it enough. My favorite blend of science, humor and curiosity. Too good!
12. The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd: Not to say that this wasn't good...just didn't hit on my science nerve so inherently had to lose out. Was definitely a page-turner though and I'm glad I finally got around to it (Thanks![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
eeyorekdm!)
Week 13
13. 12,000 Miles in the Nick of Time: A Semi-Dysfunctional Family Circumnavigates the Globe by Mark Jacobson: Besides the science writing, my other love is the travel writing. Fun! Loved the description of place as well as family dynamic. Kind of a "What might have been" if my family had done the international travel a few years later than we actually did.
Week 14
14. Neuromancer by William Gibson: Hard to believe that this is actually the first time I read this. I liked it...though not as much as I feel I should have (I think I liked Pattern Recognition more). Probably had my impressions skewed by seeing the Matrix and other such pop cultureness before reading this so it didn't seem quite as cutting edge as I'm sure it did when it first hit.
15. Pure Drivel by Steve Martin: It wasn't drivel, but it sure as hell was funny.
16. Learning to See Creatively by Bryan Peterson: This has been on my wish lsit for years, so imagine my happiness when I found it in a used bookstore. I don't know how it will affect my photography, but since I already catch myself looking at things differently, I can only imagine it will be good.
Week 15
Week 16
17. My Year in Meat by by Ruth L. Ozeki: I really can't recommend this highly enough. Kind of a fiction version of Fast Food Nation meets and insiders guide to the making of Supersize Me if one or both of them were set in Japan. Um...yeah...that in now way does the book justice. Just understand that it kicks ass and you should totally go out there and read it. Now. What are you waiting for? Go!
Week 17
18. I'm a Stranger Here Myself by Bill Bryson: Good, of course...it's Bryson. I was a little disconcerted to find it was a series of columns and not a cohesive book, but it was still enjoyable like all Bryson is.
Week 18
19. Going Solo by Roald Dahl: I had no idea that he'd written a sequel to Boy until I found this in a used bookstore. It was a very happy discovery. All about his time in Africa and with the RAF during WWII. So engrossing, both as a personal history and as a look into a world that no longer exists (for better and/or for worse).
Week 19
20. My Kind of Place by Susan Orlean: I enjoyed this. There are a few places where her literary turns become a wee bit anvilicious, but overall it was an enjoyable read. As I've got more of hers on my shelf to get to, that's definitely a good thing.
21 The Fairy Godmother by Mercedes Lackey: This was a re-read. Something made me think of part of the plot recently and as I was "trapped" in the apartment all weekend I decided to go for a refresher. Just as good as the first time.
Phew....remind me to do these things more often so there's less to type.
Week 7
7. Fateful Harvest : The True Story of a Small Town, a Global Industry, and a Toxic Secret by Duff Wilson: An Erin Brokovich like story all about the pesticide industry...makes me scared of eating veggies, but sadly, not scared enough to always buy organic cause, hey...student loans. Very well written...one of those newspaper expose into book type deals and very engrossing.
Week 8
Week 9
8. Elementary Particles by Michel Houellebecq and Frank Wynne : Not quite what what I was expecting and it wasn't til I realized that the background of the cover was skin that it made a bit more sense to me. Delves in to science, relationships, sex, philosophy and a whole host of other issues. Not my favorite read ever, but a trip I don't regret taking.
Week 10
9. The Riddle of the Wren by Charles DeLint: Good old DeLint. His books are always so original, but they all have a similar feel so that even if you've never read the one in your hands, it still feels like returning home. Same fantastic blend of different cultures mythologies...just...yeah!
10. Dealing with Dragons by Patricia C. Wrede: Picked up in a used bookstore as a "Remember-When" book. Don't know when I first read it...10? 12? Just cute, simple sassy, refuse to fit the mold, heroine style fantasy. The kind I grew up on. Shut up!
Week 11
Week 12
11. Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers by Mary Roach: One of two well-hyped books this week. This was definitely the better. Laugh out loud funny book, but not something to be read at meal times. I can't recommend it enough. My favorite blend of science, humor and curiosity. Too good!
12. The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd: Not to say that this wasn't good...just didn't hit on my science nerve so inherently had to lose out. Was definitely a page-turner though and I'm glad I finally got around to it (Thanks
eeyorekdm!)Week 13
13. 12,000 Miles in the Nick of Time: A Semi-Dysfunctional Family Circumnavigates the Globe by Mark Jacobson: Besides the science writing, my other love is the travel writing. Fun! Loved the description of place as well as family dynamic. Kind of a "What might have been" if my family had done the international travel a few years later than we actually did.
Week 14
14. Neuromancer by William Gibson: Hard to believe that this is actually the first time I read this. I liked it...though not as much as I feel I should have (I think I liked Pattern Recognition more). Probably had my impressions skewed by seeing the Matrix and other such pop cultureness before reading this so it didn't seem quite as cutting edge as I'm sure it did when it first hit.
15. Pure Drivel by Steve Martin: It wasn't drivel, but it sure as hell was funny.
16. Learning to See Creatively by Bryan Peterson: This has been on my wish lsit for years, so imagine my happiness when I found it in a used bookstore. I don't know how it will affect my photography, but since I already catch myself looking at things differently, I can only imagine it will be good.
Week 15
Week 16
17. My Year in Meat by by Ruth L. Ozeki: I really can't recommend this highly enough. Kind of a fiction version of Fast Food Nation meets and insiders guide to the making of Supersize Me if one or both of them were set in Japan. Um...yeah...that in now way does the book justice. Just understand that it kicks ass and you should totally go out there and read it. Now. What are you waiting for? Go!
Week 17
18. I'm a Stranger Here Myself by Bill Bryson: Good, of course...it's Bryson. I was a little disconcerted to find it was a series of columns and not a cohesive book, but it was still enjoyable like all Bryson is.
Week 18
19. Going Solo by Roald Dahl: I had no idea that he'd written a sequel to Boy until I found this in a used bookstore. It was a very happy discovery. All about his time in Africa and with the RAF during WWII. So engrossing, both as a personal history and as a look into a world that no longer exists (for better and/or for worse).
Week 19
20. My Kind of Place by Susan Orlean: I enjoyed this. There are a few places where her literary turns become a wee bit anvilicious, but overall it was an enjoyable read. As I've got more of hers on my shelf to get to, that's definitely a good thing.
21 The Fairy Godmother by Mercedes Lackey: This was a re-read. Something made me think of part of the plot recently and as I was "trapped" in the apartment all weekend I decided to go for a refresher. Just as good as the first time.
Phew....remind me to do these things more often so there's less to type.
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
(no subject)
Date: 2006-05-16 03:05 am (UTC)I'm really going to try to read a lot this summer, have acquired many hand me down books so will let you know if I find any good ones.
(no subject)
Date: 2006-05-16 03:11 pm (UTC)I like the way he writes, though it can be hard to penetrate at times. And yeah, I'm sure reading this book after ideas were later used in movies and television is a bit different than reading it before cyberspace became all the rage. There are some things pretty dated about it, such as the lack of cell phones, or various historical differences that have come to pass.
You might like the Bridge Trilogy. It's set just a few years in the future (well actually, I think the first novel was set in 2005 or so, but what can you do), and I enjoyed it more than the Neuromancer trilogy.