Thursday, May 20, 2010

Rainy Days

The weather this week has been kind of drizzly and glum, but still better than the May snow showers from last week. I actually like the rain--the only way it would be better is if I could stay home and veg out on the couch. Instead, I'm hard at work (don't think too hard about this statement. I can be hard at work and blogging at the same time!). The weather must be keeping the criminals at home, because it's been a little slow at the office. I've been spending the week expanding a reading list that's already unreasonably long.

I finished The English Patient this week by Michael Ondatjee. My review is posted on Goodreads, but it's a little lame. I keep thinking my reviews will get better, but so far, no dice. Anyway, the book was great. Lots of different points of view and perspectives on World War II. Also, some morphine addiction. Between Infinite Jest and this book, one would think that I'm into drugs. If you've seen "The Hurt Locker," I think you would like this book. There's a lot of bomb disarming that's pretty interesting. Now I'm on to Flannery O'Connor short stories, which I like, but they're a little depressing. I'll have to follow up with something that's more positive about human nature. Suggestions?

Thursday, May 13, 2010

Nooooo!

Well, shoot. Amazon is moving the free downloads to a new list. Before I read the article, I was mad, but apparently, they're just splitting free downloads from the bestseller list. My main fear at this point is that publishers will not see the value in providing the free downloads as a promotion. What will all of us cheapskates do?

Wednesday, May 12, 2010

School's out for summer (at least until summer classes start)

I'm not technically done with class until the end of this week, but I'm done enough that I've been able to read a surprising amount of smut is a short amount of time. I hit the Kindle freebie jackpot last week when there were two historical romances on the bestseller list for $0.00. I read one on Saturday, and one on Sunday, and felt as if all was right in the world.

My major accomplishment is that I finally finished Infinite Jest. This has been a project almost a year in the making, and for those of you who have seen this beast, you know why. The book is almost a thousand pages long with 300 endnotes, but worth it. I have been reading it in fits and starts, mostly because it takes some time to get into, and I don't have a lot of time to spare with my oh-so-fun school reading. The book is about addicts, entertainment, and tennis (in a nutshell). It's no surprise that I have a hankering to take up tennis now. I've also found myself wondering how people give up controlled substances, because from the book, it sounds terrible and way hard. I can't even give up cookies, which is probably why they are the hardest substance I consume.

Next on the reading binge includes The English Patient, some kind of Christian-esque contemporary romance I've been reading on the treadmill, and whatever else comes my way.

Anyone else with big summer plans or summer books waiting to be read?