3 posts tagged “books”

I went to the local library recently to see if they had Blood Meridian and Modern Baptists from my summer reading list. While both of those books were checked out, I did find some other good ones to tide me over until they are returned.

I got:

Villa Incognito by Tom Robbins

Child of God by Cormac McCarthy (while I wait for Blood Meridian)

The Dying Animal by Phillip Roth (not on the original list, but I liked "The Conversion of the Jews" in class, so...)

Plain and Normal by James Wilcox (while I wait for Modern Baptists)

I abandoned Fear of Flying for the moment.  I just can't get into it.  I'm about to do the same with the Kushiel book, because it's way more flowery than is to my taste right now.  I didn't remember them being that way, but I guess they were.  I have plenty of other stuff to read anyway, so it's no loss.

I've been drifting since the day of my last final.  This past semester was very heavy for me, with 16 hours.  I carried five courses thinking that two of them would be 'crip' courses, but much to my chagrin, one definitely was not.  I was talking to TC the other day (when I got my wild on, at the poetry reading and Literary Society meeting) and mentioned that I had expected two of the courses to be 'crip' courses and he said he wasn't familiar with that term.  I was shocked.  What did you call them when you were in school, TC?  According to Urban Dictionary, a crip course is a course you take because it's easy.  A word of warning, that link will take you to the exact definition at Urban Dictionary.  If you've never been to Urban Dictionary before, before you start looking around, be aware that some of the definitions are... decidedly... raw.  It's a very interesting site, nonetheless.  So, you've been warned. 

So, back to my tale of crip courses that weren't.  The two I expected to be fairly easy were Keyboarding (which of course, was) and Oral Communications, which required more work sometimes than my 4 credit hour course.   I have to say, that sucked.  I always try to pad my course load so that I'm getting the courses I need but also so I won't have any super hard *or* super easy semesters.  I certainly don't want to be bored.  Well, this semester turned out to be difficult to balance with the kids and M and the house and my volunteer work.  Forget having any friends.  I haven't talked to ML since before Christmas, and I haven't talked to S since early February.  I've only had sporadic contact with Girlie, even.  Needless to say, I did a poor job of balancing my priorities this semester, and I have to clean up behind myself because of it.  However, I'm proud of my marks, if nothing else.

I keep getting off track.  I've been drifting since the end of classes.  I don't know what to do with myself.  I've made a book list, and started on it.  I started reading Fear of Flying first, but I'm finding it very uninteresting, apart from a juicy quote I wrote down and will probably (maybe) share with TC (if I can get him to share an observation about people).  I may abandon it for Spite Fences or Blood Meridian or Modern Baptists.  I actually have another book to read, called Kushiel's Chosen.  It's part of a series, and full of sexual tension and situations, so a good, light read.  Maybe I will read that one first to kind of decompress the folds of my mind.  I've also made a list of things that need doing in the house and need to get busy on that if we're ever going to move.  And I've really missed being in the kitchen baking and cooking so I want to do a lot of that.  I found a delicious (looking) recipe for 'grip and rip' cheese bread that I really want to try making.  I bet it would be scrumptious with a good red wine.  And that's another thing, I would love a glass of good wine.  *sigh* 

Obviously, tonight is a night for tangents.  My bed is calling.

Writing Your Life Story by Bernard Selling (I bought this at the poetry reading and want to put it to work)

Unconditional Parenting by Alfie Kohn

Nonviolent Communication: A Language of Life by Marshall B. Rosenberg

Stranger Music: Selected Poems and Songs by Leonard Cohen

Love Life by Bobbie Ann Mason

The Love Song of J. Edgar Hoover by Kinky Friedman

When Jonathan Died by Tony Duvert (this received much praise overseas and was shunned here because of subject
matter, so I look forward to reading it)

Fear of Flying by Erica Jong (this received a glowing review by John Updike, so I'm especially looking forward to reading it)

Spite Fences by Trudy Krisher

Modern Baptists by James Wilcox

Blood Meridian by Cormac McCarthy

The Namesake by Jhumpa Lahiri

Reading Lolita in Tehran by Azar Nafisi

Another Roadside Attraction, Even Cowgirls Get the Blues, Still Life with Woodpecker, Half Asleep in Frog Pajamas, Fierce Invalids Home from Hot Climates, and Villa Incognito all by Tom Robbins

Possibilities:

Something Wicked This Way Comes by Ray Bradbury

Stranger In A Strange Land by Robert Heinlein (for the 3rd - I think - time.  I love this book)

I'll keep the list updated.  I'm sure I'll find more that I want to read, and I'm sure I'll breeze through these in short order.  I consume books.  On Spring Break, I read 5 novels and studied for several tests as well.  So, I know this list looks long, but I don't think I'll have trouble getting right through it.  And I just remembered that Tom Robbins has something new out that I haven't read.  I'm going to add that.  OK, so I was wrong, the new book isn't out yet, but he does have a lot that I haven't read, so I'm adding him to the list.