“We've been livin’ in hovels.
Spendin' all our money on...”
(Drum taps)
“Brand new novels!”
A short while back, a friend e-mailed me lamenting the fact that she hadn’t found any good books to read lately. She followed that by innocently asking, “What have I read recently?”
As the son of a librarian (as well as an unemployed person who is determined to spend more time reading than watching TV; a pledge which network programmers make easier each season), this is a loaded question.
Looking at the foot-and-a-half tall stack of books next to me, and recognizing that many of them are probably over due at the library, I know I need to weigh my response carefully, for fear of overwhelming people…
Screw it. I’m just going to put out a long list of stuff in chronological order (as in, “in sequence of how I remembered them”) and leave it to other people to crawl through. If you’re a bibliophile, this post’s for you. If not, well, hopefully I’ll say something well enough on Sunday to counterbalance today’s defect.
I will proceed after a medium notice on demarcations:
I try to tackle most of the books I get shortly after I get them. If I don’t, they take the risk of being buried beneath the steady stream of incoming tomes (though I’ve seriously cut down on my DVD spending, I’m still hard pressed NOT to buy a book if the title or price is right. With the exception of a few splurged meals and photocopy costs, almost all my spent income this past quarter was poured into paperbacks). Between the instantly read and the quickly forgotten, there is a third category of perpetually reading. I usually have a half dozen books that I’m partially through. Either I the book hasn’t fully grasped my attention yet, it’s too thick for me to digest just a few passages at a time, or I simply keep misplacing it and rediscovering it. Titles followed by an asterisk* are unfinished books. Otherwise assume I’ve completely read the book.
“Gunpowder Empire” and “Curious Notions" by Harry Turtledove are two books in a series of alternative history. The premise of such novels is that in other dimensions, history turned out differently than they did around here, be it the Roman Empire never falling or Germany winning WWI and subjugating America. I enjoyed the blend of time travel ethics with fast-paced actions (because those who jump dimensions always seem to get caught up in the action).
“The C.S. Lewis Hoax” by Kathryn Lindskoog is an interesting look at what happened to the great Christian writer’s literary estate after he passed away. Despite what the title may suggest, the focus of her investigation is Walter Hooper the man who was charged with distributing Lewis’ materials after his death. The author charges that the man grossly mishandled his position by misstating how he gained control of certain stories and even introduced forgeries into the Lewis cannon. The book is currently out of print, though Lindskoog wrote several follow up exposes.
“All the Presidents’ Pets” by Mo Rocca is a off-kilter read that combines historical facts about the First Pets and a quasi-political thriller that shows Rocca trying to dig up the goods on conspiracy to silence Barney, Bush’s terrier. It mocks the press corps, presidential history, and general Washington life. Having previously paid money to hear Rocca speak, which included the slideshow that depicted his fascination with little-known presidential trivia that got him a job on “The Daily Show,” I had a good idea what to expect and enjoyed the meta-humor.
“Stories from a Moron”* by Ed Broth, is written in the same vein as “Letters from a Nut” by Ted Nancy. They are said to be by the same person using different pseudonyms (and both have forewords by Jerry Seinfeld). The general premise is that madcap writings are sent to publications under the guise of a serious contributor who doesn’t realize “Tourettes Sign Language” isn’t the best thing to submit to “Vermont Life” magazine. The logic is waaay out there, and I can only handle so much per sitting, but it’s entertaining to keep reading to see what he’ll try next (especially as various stories are slowly adapted and resubmitted, like the addition of fencing references to the story “Conjugal Cal” that is resent to “Fencers Quarterly Magazine.”).
“Lost Continents”* by L Sprague de Camp is an interesting review of the Atlantis legend and how it has been treated in history, science, and literature. I’ve largely skipped over sections detailing continental drift and focused on the detailed breakdown of various Atlantean myths, tracing it from Plato through the 1970, when the book’s copyright was updated with the slight addition of some extra materials.
“Cyrano de Bergerac” by Edmond Rostand (and translated by Anthony Burgess) is the source for what has become a classic sitcom formula. You know the trick where a clumsy, oafish pretty boy is fed lines by a smoother, uglier wordsmith to woo a girl they both like? That premise came from this 1897 French play. As always, you’re best to go with the original over the imitation, though “Roxanne” runs close.
“Graham Crackers” by Graham Chapman (compiled by Jim Yoakam) is self-described collection of fuzzy memories, silly bits, and outright lies by the deceased member of Monty Python. I enjoyed the skits and reminisces written by probably the least known member of the famous British comedy troupe, who died one day before the 20th anniversary of the team forming.
“The Picture of Dorian Gray”* by Oscar Wilde has gotten a bit misplaced since I first started reading it. It is be-smudged with calamine lotion since it was one of the books I read to burn time while drying when dealing with my previous bout with poison ivy. It started well, but just got bumped down the stack.
“And So It Goes” by Linda Ellerbee is a tome I’ve already talked about that is filled with anecdotes that illustrate how crazy journalism can be.
“Lucy’s Bones, Sacred Stones, and Einstein’s Brain”* by Harvey Rachlin is my current start-and-stop book for meals. It survey’s of history through the spotlighting of various artifacts from the Code of Hammurabi to the Shroud of Turin. The vignettes are interesting, though slow to chew through.
“To Rein in Hell: The Exile of Khan Noonien Singh” by Greg Cox is the third in a series that fills in the gaps in the Star Trek cannon to explain how most people missed the “Eugenics” wars in the 1990s and why Khan was so irked by the time Star Trek 2 rolled around.
“Return to Titanic” by Robert Ballard and Michael Sweeney is fairly self-explanatory title. Almost 20 years after discovering the location of the world’s most famous ship, the oceanographer leads an expedition to go back to the underwater burial ground and re-survey the wreck. Ballard seeks to educate the public and document much damage has occurred to the ship over the last two decades. He makes a case arguing careless divers and artifact scavengers have hurt the site, which he believes should be treated as a museum. The book also contains a re-telling of the ship’s history and of the various teams that searched for her grave.
“Out of the Silent Planet” and “Perelandra” by C.S. Lewis are two-thirds of the famous Space Trilogy by the same author of the Chronicles of Narnia. I was given a copy of the books a long time ago and discarded them partly through chapter one. Being quite a bit older, I decided to revisit the series and have enjoyed the allegory about good versus evil as played out on an interstellar stage. The final entry, “That Hideous Strength”* is next on my to read list.
Of course, I’m still working through “Battlestar Galatica: Warhawk,” the sequel to “Armageddon” by Richard Hatch and the ghostwriter who really wrote the book. Separate from the Sci-Fi channel remake, it imagines what happened 20 years after the original series (and ignores whole “Galatica 1980” debacle). It’s schlocky, half-brained fun.
