summer reading
 

ive really lucked out on my current job - 4 hours a day, M-F. Minimum wage is $7.25, and im making $8.50. all i do is sit there and sell books. ill sell anywhere from 1-13 books. the most ill ever do is pick up a box, or run the CC machine

So ive had plenty of time to read. sometimes its been unbearable, some books better than others. sometimes im energized sometimes im not. yesterday was fuckin Killer but i had 20 some odd ounces of Coffee today so that helped

Anyway, I thought id share some of the books ive read. Maybe some of you would find some of interest. Id love for anyone else to, to share anything theyre reading. I never get into reading cuz i never go to book stores or libraries. theres thousands of books and im to pick one? i cant even order in a restaurant. These books my cuosin has lent me in some cases.

BUT, im taking night classes and i finally bought my gov't book today. so i wont be able to read so much, but its ok cuz thatll give me good reason to study this semester.

Re: summer reading
 

Where?

The Innocents Abroad
 

The Innocents Abroad - Mark Twain

Readers Digest edition, 430 pages.

Type: old ass book

Time: roughly 20-25 hours

Synopsis: Mark Twain goes on a trip to Europe mainly, some parts of the middle east. He talks about people on the ship, people in the countries, things he buys etc etc.

Excerpt: "They have a grand mausoleum in Florence, which they built to bury out Lord and Saviour and the Medici family in. It sounds blasphemous, but it is true, and here they act blasphemy. The dead and damned Medicis, who cruelly tyrannized over Florence..."

Thoughts: ^^i added the above because its interesting how he pokes and prods at people. He has no problem referring to certain races as ugly, inferior, or stupid. Here he is totally dissing the Medicis who had a huge part in shaping Italy. LOL. ANYWAy over all, this book was so painful to read. but i took the 1 1/2 weeks to read it cuz i figured if i started why not finish? I thought there wuold be some cool ass interactions with people but it never happened. Its cool though how much he saw, and how he can write about so much. Also. its written with words like 'countenance' and 'betwixt'

***Note: im not THAT much of a dousche of a reader. its tiny print, big pages, LOTS of em, and on top of that i was reading it during my busiest week. so id read, be interrupted, then end up rereading LOL

Running With Scissors
 

Running with Scissors - Augusten Burroughs

320 pages

Type: Autobiographical, psychological, crazy

Time: 1-2 hours

Synopsis: Burroughs writes about his childhood, his alcoholic father, crazy poet of a mother, and having to move in with his mother's psychiatrist, and meeting HIS crazy family.

Excerpt: I dont have the book.. but here is one part that i could remember, more or less
"I walked into the living room with Fern's head buried in between my mother's legs...... It dawned on me - Fern was a muff diver. And she was diving in my mother's muff"

Thoughts: ^^thats exactly how the book is. its hard to believe that all this could happen to this one kid, that people DO these kind of things. my first thought was 'they GOT to make a movie of this' ... and they are ;)

King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table
 

King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table

My version was Reader's digest 'for young readers.' LOL. anyway, couldnt find a link

Type: ...myth?

Time: 1-2 hours

Synopsis: Legends/stories of King Arthur, Sir Launcelot, Sir Galahad, among others

Excerpt: I don't have the book right now. But you've all probably heard abou this stuff, or read it in school

Thoughts: neat stuff, although i would get tired of the 'smote him' 'betwixt' 'thrust it in twain' 'countenance. BUT the stories are pretty fuckin cool. even tho it said for young readers, it was in that old fashioned kind of type. I guess the way it was supposed to be..?

funniest first sentence ever:
"Christmas crept into Pine Cove like a creeping Christmas thing: dragging garland, ribbon, and sleigh bells, oozing eggnog, reeking of pine, and threatening festive doom like a cold sore under the mistletoe."
from The Stupidest Angel: A Heartwarming Tale of Christmas Terror by Christopher Moore

Dibs in Search of Self
 

Dibs in Search of Self - Virginia M. Axline

220 pages

Type: Biography, psychology

Time: 1-2 hours (im not done yet, but almost)

Synopsis: About a Kid (Dibs) who won't play with any of the other kids in school, wont talk to his parents, and is all alone. It is written by Axline, who is the psychologist who worked with him. You learn alot about him, trying to find out why he is the wya he is, how his family is, etc...

Excerpt: "Cats live in this house, the fighting man has a cat, a real cat. And here is the duck. THe duck has no pond and the duck wants a pond. You watch. Two ducks, there are. Here is the big duck and it is brave. Here is the littel duck, but not so brave. The big duck may have a nice safe pond someplace. But this little duck does not have a pond of its own and it does want its own pond. But now these two ducks have met and they are standing here together and theya re both watching the truck drive up outside the window"

Thoughts: An amazing book. it's hard to believe, this child is only 6. He starts off not saying a thing, no one can reach him. Then all of a sudden he starts waking up. He is speaking during play therapy, hence ^^^^ the convo about the ducks. you can see the childishness in his speech, but then u see theres so much more meaning behind it. The doctor who wrote this had permission from the mother to record al interviews, all the play times, which is where these come from.

Re: Re: summer reading
 

CA

You are one fast goddamn reader. I might have to check out the Twain book.

I'm reading The Case for Mars by an aerospace engineer named Robert Zubrin. It's about how exploration and colonization of Mars is possible in the near future.

^^^twain was difficult but i dont at all regret reading it. i guess its just one of those things that u SHOULD read. anyway, its fuckin dope how he can talk about SOOOOO much. mainly europe, yeh, but im sure he coulda gone on and on about tons of other places.

Mars eh? let me know how that one turns out. outerspace type shit generally doesnt turn me on so much but that sounds kinda neat!

i like to be well rounded, so that just may be something i shuold look into. ya know,, just some FYI.