A Couple of Books and a Shuffle

Why We Suck: Denis Leary: I love Denis Leary and so does my husband. I got this book for him for Christmas and he read it very quickly, laughing out loud the entire time. So I was expecting to do the same thing. I didn't. I think I would have found a lot of the things he talks about funnier if I'd been watching him or listening to him. As it was, I really only laughed out loud a few times. A lot of the time I felt that he truly believed that mothers with children should stay home -- which is fine if you are him and can afford it, and he did say something about mothers who HAD to work weren't included in this group, but still, I felt attacked for choosing to work and choosing to have children as well. I understand his humor -- I truly do -- and most Denis Leary fans will probably love this book. I was just probably a little "tetchy" about that subject.

Birmingham, 35 Miles: James Braziel: I read this as part of my apocalypse-themed reading, plus it's set in Alabama. In this future, the holes in the ozone layer have become so big that now most of the South is a desert, where the people dig for clay rocks to get money from the government -- it's "make work" and they know it, but it's work. The book goes back and forth in time, but I wasn't bothered by that. What did annoy me was the inertia of the main character, Matthew. In the novel, it's difficult to get to the "Saved World" (the world that's not been destroyed by the opening of the ozone layer) but Matthew has a visa that will allow him to go there. He spends most of the book avoiding leaving. Overall, I did like this book, but Cormac MacCarthy's The Road is a better apocalyptic novel, although I'm not sure the comparison is fair.

Friday Shuffle on Tuesday

1. The Ice is Getting Thinner: Death Cab for Cutie from Narrow Stairs
2. Washed Ashore: The Platters from Enchanted
3. Doginabag: The Fratellis from Costello Music
4. The Great Beyond: R.E.M. from In Time
5. Honey Bee: Lucinda Williams from Little Honey
6. Traveling Miles: Cassandra Wilson from Traveling Miles
7. Black Hole: She & Him from Volume One
8. Death and All His Friends: Coldplay from Viva La Vida
9. Harbor Lights: Boz Scaggs from Silk Degrees
10. Cry Baby/Piece of My Heart: Melissa Etheridge and Joss Stone
    

Learning to Read and an Early Shuffle

Stolen from Lazy Cow:

1. How old were you when you learned to read and who taught you? I was 4; my mom taught me. I don't remember NOT knowing how to read.
2. Did you own any books as a child? I owned many books -- Dr. Seuss, Harriet the Spy, From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler, the Borrowers books -- many books. Oddly, I don't have them anymore but I don't know what happened to them.
3. What’s the first book that you bought with your own money? I'm not sure. I think it was Jane Eyre. My parents always gave me money for books and my mother took me to the library every week.
4. Were you a re-reader as a child? If so, which book did you re-read most often? Oh, yes, I was a re-reader. I think it's a tie between Meet the Mob and Daybreak 2250 A.D. (also called Star Man's Son) by Andre Norton. I read each of these at least 20 times. My parents hated seeing me reading Meet the Mob all the time; they thought my interest in the Mafia was a bit strange. I also re-read Little Women at least 15 times and Jane Eyre.
5. What’s the first adult book that captured your interest and how old were you when you read it? It was Jane Eyre and I was probably 11 or 12. I was always fascinated by my dad's history book (he was in college when I was a kid) and I read it all the way through -- I thought it was just a bunch of stories. I think I was 7 or 8.
6. Are there children’s books that you passed by as a child that you have learned to love as an adult? Which ones? I never read either The Wind in the Willows or A Wrinkle in Time as a kid. I've read A Wrinkle in Time since and loved it but have yet to read The Wind in the Willows. I've also never read the Narnia books -- I've started The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe several times but can't seem to get past chapter one.

Early Friday Shuffle

Because I won't be in town or near a computer this weekend -- an early shuffle.

1. Run Devil Run: Jenny Lewis and the Watson Twins from Rabbit Fur Coat
2. Navigator: The Pogues from Rum, Sodomy and the Lash
3. By Myself: Carly Simon from Clouds in My Coffee
4. The Heart of the Matter: India.Arie from Testimony: Vol. 1, Life & Relationship
5. I Am Not My Hair: India.Arie featuring Akon from Testimony: Vol. 1, Life & Relationship
6. Ravens: Patti Smith from Gone Again
7. One Love: Bob Marley from Legend
8. Crazy People: The Wreckers from Stand Still, Look Pretty
9. Fax Machine Anthem: Beck from Guero
10. Around the Sun: R.E.M. from Around the Sun