End of Summer

Hello everyone,
Well, that wonderful season known as summer is coming to a close. The academic year has begun for many students already, and soon the beautiful fall foliage will be in full swing.
With the close of summer comes a very exciting milestone in my life--I have completed my Master's Thesis and have successfully defended it! The revision process was grueling at times, but I feel that I am better prepared for my future as a Ph.D candidate because of it. Though my Master's is completed for the most part, the remaining tasks left to me are more or less formalities. I have to ensure that the margin format for the thesis complies with the requirements for the graduate school, have it printed, and then the administration can approve the awarding of the Master's degree to me (I think the earliest that the degree can officially be conferred to me will be in October). But for all intents and purposes, I am done!

It is at this point I would like to turn to the scope of this blog. I apologize for not being able to post as many reviews as I would have liked to in the past couple weeks, but more reviews are on their way. Here are a few you can expect to see soon: The Story of Edgar Sawtelle by David Wrobleski, Dune by Frank Herbert, Snuff and Rant by Chuck Palahniuk, and Gargoyle by Andrew Davidson.

If you've read something great recently, please feel free to post your review of it on the blog. I'm looking forward to seeing all your recommendations and hoping to find something new to read.

By the way, Matty P, I am adding The Watchmen by Alan Moore to my list as per your recommendation :)

My Debut Post!

Steve twisted my arm, as well, so I've decided to write a little update on the blog. I'm doing it during a very quiet hour on my register shift at my bookstore, so I can't promise it will be lucid or well organized.

Instead of writing a single review, I think I'm going to borrow from previous entries and do my own little musing on summer reading, and what books I've been burrowing my nose in over the course of this dreary, rainy, humid Maine summer.

I've spent much of my summer this far delving into a genre that I have tended to neglect, or at the very least, only skim over in the past. That genre is graphic novels, which is surprisingly distinguished and fascinating with many of its offerings. There are, of course, an extensive number of titles which feature superheroes or other epically powered individuals, of course, but I've been pleasantly surprised with some of the works I've picked up. The first was one of the essentials, Watchmen by Alan Moore. I suppose I was pushed to pick it up because of the hype for the movie, but I found it to be really sophisticated and clever. Moore's got real talent, and it's impressive that something written so long ago, and with such a dated art style is still considered so relevant and fascinating to new readers. I also have checked out much of Greg Rucka's non-superhero stuff, specifically his Queen & Country and Whiteout graphic novels. Both are a bit gritty and violent, drawn in black and white, and lacking some of the artistic polish that other graphic novels seem to boast. However, I found myself really drawn into the two - Whiteout especially. U.S. Marshal Carrie Stetko is a really intriguing, ballsy, and realistic individual. This is made even more fascinating how Greg Rucka conveys her so fully despite the Whiteout graphic novels being rather slim and skimpy on length. I really don't know how to put her into words, but I really recommend anyone interested in checking her out. The books take place in Antarctica, and the sort of sparse and bleak setting makes itself known in the almost-dirty, messy style in which they are drawn. Really top-knotch stuff, comes highly recommended from me.

I've had a few other graphic novels make their ways onto my shelf over the course of the summer, but Rucka's and Moore's are the two which impressed me the most. The rest of my reading this summer has been a bit eclectic. I started my summer off with Atwood's The Blind Assassin. The woman is a genius when it comes to storytelling - the nuanced, highly structured (and still surprising) means of revealing information and furthering the plot of the novel are really top of the line. And to be honest, Irish Chase might be the most interesting and enjoyable narrator I've ever read in a story. Despite all this, though, the novel definitely isn't one of my all time favorites. Definitely a good one, but not my favorite. I enjoyed Alias Grace more. Still a great read, though.

I moved on to one of the most ambitious and epic reads I'd ever partaken in after that. This was Gone With the Wind, which I knew very little about. I've never seen the movie and only knew that Scarlet O'Hara was a bith of a spoiled brat. Sure enough, I had an accurate idea of what she was like. But the sheer scope of Mitchell's novel was almost suffocating. No matter how much I read, no matter how many pages I got through in one sitting, I still felt like I'd started some futile task, that the book would never end. I did get through it, but it took about a full month of reading casually. Much longer than other books.

And even though the length was positively staggering, this was one of the richest, most fascinating books I'd ever read. A totally different view of the south, during and after the Civil War. Soem of the language was a bit disturbing to read as a liberal-minded, 21st century reader with black friends, but I managed to keep it in perspective and realize that Mitchell herself came from a family of plantation owners with their own views on slavery and the fall of the south. Definitely interesting, though, to get a distinctly southern point of view during Reconstruction. Epic in scale, that's for sure - and finishing it was one of the most rewarding experiences to me as a reader - very rarely do I find such a rewarding end to a book.

Alright, that's it for now. I have a couple other books I read and can discuss. Hopefully I can do a little bit more analysis about those when I come to them. I realize this was a verbal vomit session that didn't really dig into anything in particular.

Cheers, folks.

The Habitual Media Retail Stalker

Thanks Steve for twisting my arm on this...

...and, yes, it is the middle of summer, and yes I am socially dysfunctional because, as usual, I'm reading five books in a quasi concurrent fashion, and I am an habitual media retail stalker as I constantly purchase more books than I need, but with my reading habits in a state of perpetual flux, it's become a necessity. People always ask me how I find the time, not to read five books, but to read at least one, and are always surprised at my response, that it's easy. The answer is simple: I don't watch appointment controlled programmed television;the more mindless garbage, that passes for TV these days (or has it always been that way, and we don't see it because we look at the past with rose colored glasses), you eliminate from daily viewing, the longer hours you have to use to indulge the comfort of text. It's not to say I don't watch shows, I do, I happen to view them at my own leisure through my DVR, or Netflix. I also limit my time on the phone, and don't spend useless hours hanging out in bars. It's mind boggling the amount of hours an average person spends in a week, and are used up on these aforementioned activities. Think of it...

Anyway, sorry for the digression, and back to this summers reading menu. Right now, I'm invested in "The God Delusion," by Richard Dawkins, "Freethinkers," by Susan Jacoby, "The Fabric of the Cosmos," by Brian Green, "The Murder of Ivan Vavilov," by Pete Pringle, and just finishing up 'A Nation of Wimps," by Hara Marano. Fun and exiting, eh? Well, I guess the letters of my DNA are GEEK instead of GTAC...

The weakest of the quintet, and one I thought would be richer is A Nation of Wimps. The premise appears solid: today's youth lack a strong backbone because of over-parenting by mom and dad, but although Ms. Estroff presents strong examples, she seems to meander and stray, spending too much time on administrative and co-ed collegiate problems, from the theme she sets forth at the begininng. All in all, the book gave me some insight into various social problems faced by one segment of society, but I expected more.

In contrast, Susan Jacoby's Freethinkers offers an illumination on the history of American secularism, how it shaped the birth of this country, and the battles that have been fought against attacks by a variety of fundamentalist religious groups. It never ceases to amaze me how many people believe that our government was founded on the basis of religion, when the driving forces belonged to free state government without influence from the tyranny of any church, and a capitalist market that allowed any man, no matter of social standing at birth, to ascend the societal ladder. It's a must read, for anyone interested in history, or looking for interesting commentary on human reason. Plus, if it piques your interest, Ms. Jacoby's "An Age of American Unreason," a New York Times best seller is more than worth the time.

More insights forthcoming...

- J. Rinaldo

Summer Reads

Since the middle of summer has officially passed, I was wondering what everyone has been reading while they were enjoying the beach, the sunshine, vacation, etc. You can also include what you have on your reading list that you'd like to have finished reading by the end of summer, if you'd like.

I'll start with what I've read so far. For those of you that don't already know, most of my summer has been spent revising and re-writing my thesis, so I have not been able to get as much pleasure reading in as I would have liked.

What I'm reading: The Story of Edgar Sawtelle by David Wroblewski

What I've read (and will post reviews of soon!): Rant and Snuff by Chuck Palahniuk, Pillars of the Earth and World Without End by Ken Follett, Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini

What I Want to Read: Dune by Frank Herbert, Catch 22 by Joseph Heller, Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoevski, The Anglo-Saxon Chronicles by Bernard Cornwell (consisting of: The Last Kingdom, The Pale Horseman, Lords of the North, Sword Song), and The Sunne in Splendour by Sharon Kay Penman.

What are all of you reading? Even if you aren't a contributing author to this blog, I invite you to share your post with us.