So I think something I'm about to do right now is entirely a meme somewhere out there. I think it happens on Wednesdays. But I am just wanting to talk about feelings and my life and books, and I am not trying to make a "format" right now. I am just checking in, because it was MIDTERM WEEK and it was all very scary (as much as it can be at art school). I had one whole test and two whole projects. To be fair, I had to completely 3D model (virtually) an entire to-scale city alley. I was scared, but it turned out ok. Don't worry.
Anyway, I have very recently become a person who reads more than one book at a time. This is very very recent and I'm still kind of uncomfortable with it, but it's also kind of nice. Especially when weird parallels between books come up. That shit's magical. And I've been trying to make ebook reading a regular thing in my life. I mean I guess I've been trying for a while, but now it's actually happening.
Books I Just Finished:
Silence Once Begun by Jesse Ball: I finished this book last week, but I feel like it still counts because I am STILL stuck thinking about it. I'm really into books with experimental formats, so this was right up my alley. It's about a crime in Japan that happened a while ago and a confession that was given by someone who seems like they did not do it. Most of it is written in transcripts. There are some pictures. It's pretty cool. What's getting me the most right now is some of the random little stories and memories that were told by people being interviewed. I want to connect them all, but there's so much going on!
Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn: I didn't think I would like this book. I really didn't. There was just so much hype. And I don't really read sort of mysteries at all. And there was mention of a big twist halfway through. Like the TWIST OF ALL TWISTS. So I was just like it can't be that twisty. And it wasn't really all that twisty, considering I had had to try to come up with what it could possibly be. But it was still pretty twisty and well done. I just had a lot of fun reading this. After every chapter I was like "oh shit" and had to keep reading. Not the best book of my life, but I'm glad that I read it. It was good. OH, also it was the first ebook I've read all the way through as an ebook. Taking big steps.
Books I'm Reading:
Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides: I started reading this book about an intersex man with a read-a-long on Unputdownables. At first I really didn't like it and I was kind of bitter about it. I wasn't interested in the grandparents' stories and the parents' stories. For some reason stories about the 1920's just do not interest me, I don't know why. Those parts go on for maybe 300 pages. I just wanted to read about the intersex character's life, let's be real. But it finally got to that part! And I'm finally getting interested! (The interest actually started during the Detroit race riots part, but close enough). The read-a-long is kind of not happening anymore, so I'm wondering if I should just finish it on my own. I think I have 100 pages left.
Tampa by Alissa Nutting: Kind of late to this party, but it's so controversial that I had to read it. If you don't know, it's about a 26-year-old jr. high teacher who has a sexual obsession with 14-year-old boys. I don't know, pedophiles are interesting, because what is going on in their heads? And I'd never seen the genders swapped like this.
Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov is a favorite of mine, so I'd though I'd give a contemporary pedophile story a shot. Don't worry, I don't expect it to compare quality-wise. It's interesting so far, kind of graphic and startling. But what's more startling is how flat the characters feel so far. Hoping it gets a little better.
The Troop by Nick Cutter: I think I'm only 14% in according to Kindle, so I don't think I can say that much about this book just yet. I really like horror, though, and the "Lord of the Flies" kind of trapped on an island situation intrigued me. So far the "monster" seems a little cartoony in comparison to the other characters, but I feel like I might be kind of used to that in horror. Looking forward to reading more of this, though.
Books I Want to Read Next:
S. by J.J. Abrams and Doug Dorst: This book is beautiful. SO BEAUTIFUL. And so intimidating. If you haven't seen it before, it's a big volume called Ship of Theseus that is meant to look like an old library book. And the insides are riddled with notes in the margins and stuck in notes and shit. Like things fall out of this book. Even a napkin! So there are multiple stories going on here. The actual book (Ship of Theseus) then the communication between two characters in the margins. This is right up my alley. I love stuff like this (like Mark Z. Danielewski books). Also I like J.J. Abrams, because LOST. I just hope I have the time to dedicate to it. I'd better, because I borrowed it from a friend!
Also: Anything by
Lydia Davis, please?? I had no idea who she was until my boss gave me an article about her in the New Yorker. He knows that I like short fiction and she sounds absolutely perfect in how she does hers. Fragments and focuses on mundane things that are actually really heavy. Kind of alt-lit-y, if she were a 20-something. Here are some of her
stories. I need this in my life.
I'm surprised I wrote so much. That's all I have to say for now. Have you read any of these books? How many books do you read at a time?
