So it looks like you’ll get an actual post faster than I anticipated…because I finished the batch of books due for a book review post!  Except it’s going to be mostly a quote post because I’m a little tired.  Plus these books just have some pretty fabulous quotes.  So enjoy!

1. My Horizontal Life:  A Collection of One-Night Stands – Chelsea Handler.  I actually owe you an apology for this one – I read it in the middle of the last batch of books to be reviewed, but completely forgot about it once I started writing.  Which is horrible because this is definitely a book to remember.  Spectacularly hilarious & I highly recommend it

“I was seven years old when my sister told me she’d give me five dollars to run upstairs into my parents’ room while they were having sex and take a picture.  At that age I had heard of sex but had no idea what it looked like.  I knew for sure that my parents were sexually active.  My father had impregnated my mother on six different occasions, all of which she decided to keep, so it was clear to my siblings and me that there was a definite attraction. ”

2. Dead in the Family - Charlaine Harris.  As you know, I already reviewed the first 9 books in this, the Sookie Stackhouse series.  I had only reviewed 9 because at that time, that’s all that had been released.  But lo & behold on May 4th the 10th book was released, and I received a gift card to Target, which I promptly spent on said book.  And it was just as fabulous and just as much fun as before   GO READ THIS SERIES.  Done.

“‘Dead things love you,’ Dermot told me, and I made myself keep smiling.  ‘Eric the vampire?  He says he does.’ ‘Other dead things, too.  They’re pulling on you.’  That was a not-so-welcome revelation.  Dermot was right.  I’d been feeling Eric through our bond, as usual, but there were two other gray presences with me every moment after dark:  Alexei and Appius Livius.  It was a drain on me, and I hadn’t realized it until this moment.  ‘Tonight,’ Dermot said, ‘you’ll receive visitors.’  So now he was a prophet. ‘Good ones?’  He shrugged.  ‘That’s a matter of taste and expedience.’  ‘Hey, Uncle Dermot?  Do you walk around this land very often?’ ‘Too scare of the other one,’ he said.  ‘But I try to watch you a little.  I was figuring out if that was a good thing or a bad thing when he vanished.  Poof!  I saw a kind of blur and then nothing.  His hands were on my shoulders, and then they weren’t.  I assume the tension of conversing with another person had gotten to Dermot.  Boy.  That had been really, really weird.  I glanced around me, thinking I might see some other trace of his passage.  He might even decide to return.  But nothing happened.  There wasn’t a sound except the prosaic growl of my stomach, reminding me that I hadn’t eaten lunch and that it was now suppertime.  I went into the house on shaking legs and collapsed at the table.  Conversation with a spy.  Interview with an insane fairy.  Oh, yes, phone Jason and tell him to be back on fairy watch.  That was something I could do sitting down.”

3. The Known World - Edward P. Jones.  This book is quite a switch from the other, more light-hearted ones I had been reading.  It was a little heavy, but nonetheless excellent.  It was difficult to get into at first, but eventually I did get caught up in the plot.  It’s a very unique account – a fictional story of a black slaveowner in Virginia.  Creates a very detailed and specific picture of life in the time of slavery.

“Fern Elston had chosen not to follow her siblings and many of her cousins into a life of being white.  She stayed in Manchester County where everyone knew what she was – a free Negro, though she was as white as any white person.  Part of why she stayed was Ramsey Elston, a free Negro who came from north of Charlottesville.  Had she gone anywhere else and passed as white, the color of her husband would have made her suspect.  While he was quite light-skinned, he was not as light as she was and it was most evident that he was colored.  She would have been a white woman in the rest of the world with a Negro husband, and that would have limited her world almost as much as their just living as a colored man and his colored wife.  And being a white wife might have gotten her husband killed.”

4. Generation Me:  Why Today’s Young Americans Are More Confident, Assertive, Entitled – and More Miserable Than Ever Before. – Jean M. Twenge, Ph.D.  This is a PHENOMENAL book.  Go buy/read it now.  Seriously.  ASAP.  It’s dead-on accurate and she has done an excellent job of backing up her research while presenting a relatable account of the more recent generations (specifically in contrast to the Baby Boomers).  Outstanding.  Loved it.

“Today’s young people…take these changes for granted and thus do not face this problem [of being overwhelmed by the pace of cultural change].  Instead, we face a different kind of collision: Adulthood Shock.  Our childhoods of constant praise, self-esteem boosting, and unrealistic expectations did not prepare us for an increasingly competitive workplace and the economic squeeze created by sky-high housing prices and rapidly accelerating health care costs.  After a childhood of buoyancy, GenMe is working hard to get less.”

5.  Gather Together in My Name – Maya Angelou.  This is the continuation of Maya Angelou’s autobiography (following I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, which I actually have yet to read…).  Her life story is, beyond a doubt, incredible.  It’s difficult to believe she can have gone through so many different and dangerous experiences, especially given the image I have of her from the Wake Forest orientation video.  She is truly an incredible woman, and hearing her incredible story is only made easier by her gifted writing and way with words.

“My head stayed high from habit, but my last hope was gone.  Every way out of the maze had proved to be a false exit.  My once lively imagination would not come up with one more fantasy.  My courage was dwindling.  Unfortunately, fortitude was not like the color of my skin, given to me once and mine forever.  It needed to be resurrected each morning and exercised painstakingly.  It also had to be fed with at least a few triumphs.  My strength had fallen away from me as the pert features fade from an aging beauty.  I didn’t drink and had run out of pot.  For the first time in my life I sat down defenseless to await life’s next assault.”

Um well and on that note…time to scrape up some fortitude and head into work.  Another day, another dollar…and the start of another book

Here it is!  Finally!  Another book review post!  Because I know you’ve been desperately anticipating one.  Ok, maybe “desperately anticipating” is a little strong.  Maybe waiting for one.  Maybe not.  Maybe you just happened to notice that I’ve updated.  Maybe you’re reading this weeks later, or not at all.  But whatev.  Because we’re going to move on with the post.  I don’t think there’s one over-arching theme for this collection of books…maybe love?  But that’s kind of cheap, because most books are about love.  At any rate, here we go.

1.  The Meaning of Sex: Christian Ethics and the Moral Life – Dennis P. Hollinger.  Well, I actually enjoyed this book.  I didn’t really expect to enjoy it, seeing as how I disagreed with more than half of what the author was saying, but it was so well-written and intellectually stimulating that it didn’t matter that I disagreed with various points.  True, it was frustrating to be like “I’m with you so far, but I’m not sure I’m reaching the same conclusion as you” but it certainly helped me articulate my own views that much better because of my disagreements.  This book not only discusses the obvious issues of premarital sex, sex within marriage, and homosexuality, but also asks ethical questions about things like reproductive technologies, polygamy, masturbation, celibacy, our over-sexed culture, etc etc.  Again, while I ended up not seeing eye to eye with the author on most points, I really appreciated the way he approached his arguments.  It was all very logical, and he made sure to present a variety of arguments – not just the one he agreed with.  Furthermore, he looked at sexuality in the context of its purpose and how we as humans tend to distort that purpose and take a good thing and mess it up (which I agree with).  His arguments were, for the most part, not incisive or angry or even self-righteous.  So while I disagreed, I could respect his opinion.  Which was nice.  Definitely a good read if you’re interested in a sound debate.

2.  The Fifty Greatest Love Letters of All Time – ed. David Lowenherz.  First of all…yes, this is the book Carrie Bradshaw is reading in the Sex and the City movie.  Secondly, I loved it.  I really enjoy reading other people’s letters (I guess I’m nosy like that…oh hello internet…).  I also really enjoy the time when letter-writing was an art.  I borrowed this book from Lovell, and she asked me to pick a favorite letter after I finished, and while I couldn’t achieve that task (indecisive to the maximum) I do believe my favorite section of the book was the “Fire and Ice” one.  It had the most interesting and passionate letters, I believe.  The “Tender” letters were sweet, but didn’t quite stir me the way the F&I ones did.  But on the whole, this was a quick enjoyable read that looks at a variety of types of loves and a variety of great loves throughout the ages.  You should definitely pick it up at some point.

3.  A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier – Ishmael Beah.  Ummm freaking EXCELLENT book.  Also horribly tragic and disturbing, but a necessary read.  This memoir tells the story of Sierra Leone’s Civil War and its specific effects on the young men of the country – many of whom were forced to become boy soldiers.  It’s horrific to think of the amount of trauma these kids (and they were just kids) went through and the terrifying crimes they were forced to commit against each other and themselves.  There is no way to read this book and not care about the state of affairs in Africa, and to take seriously the devastation Civil War can impart, no matter how small a country.  However, what is even more amazing than the horrors Beah survived is the fact that he survived them.  He got out.  And was rehabilitated – no small feat.  I don’t even know what all to say about this book, except that I think we all have a responsibility to read stories such as these – no matter how astounding and devastating they are – because they are stories that have earned the right to be told, to be heard.

4.  Everything Is Illuminated – Jonathan Safran Foer.   This was a re-read, but one I’d been wanting to re-read for awhile.  It definitely did not disappoint.  In fact, it exceeded my expectations as I guess it fell in my estimation over time.  There was a lot of the book that I forgot – mostly because I didn’t realize it had been so long since I’d read it.  Still, it almost made me cry at the end.  I had only remembered the Brod storyline, and had forgotten how intense the main storyline was.  Yet even tho the multiple storylines are wonderful, the best part of this novel is the way Foer plays with words.  He truly is a gifted writer, capable of creating vivid images and giving new meaning to our everyday language.  The novel begins in the form of an epistle, and is framed as the exchange of stories between two men – one in the Ukraine, and one in the United States.  It becomes clear through the letter writer, Alex, and his stories, that Jonathan has journeyed to the Ukraine to discover what happened to his Jewish grandfather during World War II prior to his escape to America.  Jonathan’s storyline is more complex, relating the history of the town of Trachimbrod.  Difficult to describe, but definitely should be read.

5.  The Screwtape Letters – C.S. Lewis.  This was also a re-read, and another excellent one.  Lewis is, of course, an outstanding writer.  The premise of this book is that a senior demon, Screwtape, is writing letters of advice to his nephew, Wormtail, about the best way to secure a human soul through temptation.  It’s a really unique representation of spiritual warfare, and one only a writer as deft as C.S. Lewis could properly handle.  If you haven’t read it, you should.

6. The Voice That is Great Within Us: American Poetry of the Twentieth Century – ed. Hayden Carruth.  So, I’m still working on this book.  I made it through ten more poets, and definitely enjoyed the majority of them.  This batch of poets included Stanley Kunitz, Kenneth Rexroth, Robert Penn Warren (of All the King’s Men fame, which is an EXCELLENT book), Richard Lattimore, Theodore Roethke – fabulous poet – Robert Fitzgerald, Charles Olson, Winfield Townley Scott, Elizabeth Bishop, and J.V. Cunningham.  All were excellent, but I’d have to say I most enjoyed Roethke & Olson.

And that was it for this time around…happy reading again

I know that you’ve been missing my book review posts.  It’s ok.  Today, you shall finally have one.  And hopefully at least one of these books will appeal to you   After my last book post, I actually spent some time rereading the Harry Potter series, but I believe I’ve sung its praises more than enough times to review it here for you.  So we’ll just pick up after that

1.  The Sacred Romance – Brent Curtis & John Eldredge. So, I really really really enjoyed this book.  The general idea is that our lives are part of a larger narrative than just the individual story of our lives.  In this narrative we encounter both the Hero, who desires to romance us (God) and we are also attacked by Arrows, that try to keep us from living our lives as fully as we can.  These Arrows can be large, direct wounds that cripple us, or they can be small Arrows lodged deep inside that we carry daily and live with.  Unfortunately, since it’s been like a full month since I’ve read this book, I can’t remember all the details; but, I do remember that pretty much every part I read was dead-on applicable to my experiences so far.  It was one of those books where I’d read a paragraph and have to put it down to really process what I read.  And it truly does help you appreciate the way things have a way of weaving together, the good & the bad.  At any rate, I highly recommend it.

2.  There Are No Children Here: The Story of Two Boys Growing Up in the Other America – Alex Kotlowitz. So.  This book was very good…but very, very heavy.  And wearing.  But still, very well written and insightful, as well as a revealing look at the derth of the environmental problems that keep people living in poverty and violence.  While many of the stories in the book were shocking in and of themselves, the aspect I found the most shocking was simply that, while this book was published in 1992 or so, I don’t believe much has changed.  I am still hearing stories like this.  Or, where there has been progress, it has not been the amount of progress you would expect for over 20 years (while the book was published in the early 90s, the research & interviews took place in the mid-1980s).  I do believe any socially responsible person should most definitely read this book.  It is a travesty that anyone has to live in this environment, and I see the effects of extreme situations like these in the kids I work with.  However, because I work with kids who are facing such difficult experiences, it was extremely hard to read this book.  I mean, it just kind of reinforced how deeply mired we are in these societal problems, and how complex the solutions are.  Which further illustrates how difficult it is to enact change in individual lives…which is pretty much my job lol.  It was extremely emotionally exhausting…but, I pushed through.  And it was worth it; I would just advise reading it when you have time to get righteously angry and everything else in your life is going relatively well lol.  Otherwise, it’s a bit much.

3.  Love in the Time of Cholera - Gabriel Garcia Marquez.

This book completely lived up to the hype.  Ok, well, as much hype as there is about classic Latin American literature.  But in terms of it being my first Gabriel Garcia Marquez novel, he totally lived up to the hype.  And the book was great.  Beautifully written, and extremely sensuous.  I loved his approach to the love story, and I thought it was a completely believable account of people’s behaviors.  However, it was another book that required a lot of effort to read.  I’ve heard it described as a “journey” to read, and I have to agree with that representation.  It was quite the journey, and one that definitely weighs heavily on your emotions.  It wasn’t like a tearjerker or anything (at least, I didn’t think so) but it certainly carried a healthy dose of melancholy with it.  Beautifully written.

4. The Sookie Stackhouse Novels (1-9) – Charlaine Harris.  So, after alllllll that heavy reading (even tho it was all extremely good and thought provoking) I was pretty much done.  I was ready for a break.  I had been ambivalent about reading the Sookie Stackhouse novels/beginning the series because while I love the show that’s based on the books, True Blood, I knew the books would be different.  And I didn’t want to hate the books, or begin to hate the TV show.  But, for my birthday, I decided I would begin the series and just give it a chance, as well as give myself a break from the heavier side of writing.

It became a long break.

I started the books on a Thursday, and had read all of the 9 that are currently released by the following Saturday.  I could not put them down.  I had been thinking of True Blood (and thus the books) as the adult version of Twilight…and by adult I mean basically some soft-core action and involving people who are actually grown.  While this is true, I think these books are simply better.  The plots & mysteries are better, and Sookie is a much more kick-ass heroine than Bella.  I mean, shello, she actually thinks for herself. Praise God.  Also, she’s funny and not melodramatic.  And instead of constantly *being* saved, she’s always saving everyone else.  Much much better.  Also, she is not totally and unhealthily obsessed with one man.  Granted, there were some points when it was difficult to count up Sookie’s various love interests (I think at one point there were 6 different men who were ready to be exclusive with her).  But actually, I was surprised by how little of the series was focused on the romance aspect.  I mean…the first couple of books were guiltly delicious, don’t get me wrong.  But I was most impressed by Harris’ seemingly seamless blend of the genres of romance, mystery, and science fiction.  I can’t wait to read the 10th one (altho, I hope the series does end soon…I can’t keep being dragged back & forth between Bill & Eric…).  As for the differences between the TV series & the books…definitely obvious.  But good changes on either part.  The TV show works, and the books work.  The only um, concern? I have is the Bill-Sookie-Eric triangle, because I feel like the show (so far) definitely biases you towards Bill, whereas I’m kind of on Eric’s side in the books.  But hey, since Stephen Moyer and Anna Paquin are engaged, I guess I can forgive them that.  It is, at least in this case, nice to have the visuals of the actors to match with the characters.  But both the books and the show maintain their humor and light-heartedness at the same time that they weave compelling mystery and gratifying action sequences.  With beach season approaching, I definitely recommend these to enjoy in the sun.  Phew.  That was a long one to write on, but to be fair, it was nine books.

And there you have it!  That’s what I’ve been up to reading-wise the past couple of months.  Happy reading to all for the coming summer season (after all, where did spring go??)

…more books to talk about!  To be fair, half of the books were complete page-turners, and the other half were really super short.  As I’m now taking a reading break and just re-reading Harry Potter (and I know I don’t have to tell you how I feel about those books) I might as well go ahead and fill you in on what I just finished reading…

1.  Committed: A Skeptic Makes Peace with Marriage – Elizabeth Gilbert.  This is Liz Gilbert’s second book, her first being eat pray love, one of my all-time favorites.  This book was by no means a disappointment.  I had a really difficult time putting it down, actually.  While still a memoir, this book is slightly more philosophical and sociological than her previous best-seller.  Having both been through terrible divorces, Liz & her lover (met at the end of epl) decide they will never remarry. 

Unfortunately, when the Dept. of Homeland Security blocks Felipe from ever entering the United States again (where Liz’s home and his business are) the only option they really have is…marriage.  So, Liz Gilbert writes this book in a cathartic manner, and we see her attempts to understand marriage – both sociologically and personally.  It is excellently written and I pretty much adore her, so I love absolutely everything she says.  Frighteningly, some of her concerns with marriage are things I have thought myself – and things I know my friends have thought.  So in that sense, it provides interesting social commentary as well.  Oh, also, I want to be Elizabeth’s Gilbert’s best friend.  Thanks.

2. Angela’s Ashes - Frank McCourt.  So, sometime when I was in middle school, my sister or mother or someone read this book…and all I know is ever since then, I have been told that I *have* to read this book.  It took me literally almost 10 years, but I finally got around to it.  And it was worth the wait.  While an incredibly sorrowful tale, McCourt’s writing is just…phenomenal.  You can really hear each person in his life talking to him.

Additionally, I love how he manages to write from the perspective of the age he’s speaking from.  When he’s six years old in the story, the thought process represented is really that of a six year old.  It doesn’t feel so much like looking back as experiencing.  And obviously, the personal triumph he makes over his life’s circumstances is impressive on a number of levels.  Also, I obviously adore any man who as a child fell in love with the words of Shakespeare…it’s kinda my thing.

To briefly summarize, Frank McCourt was born in NYC, America, at the beginning of the Great Depression.  His parents were both Irish immigrants who had a one-night stand of sorts…and since they were Irish Catholic, had to marry.  From there his parents had 4 additional children Stateside.  After the youngest dies, the family is forced to return to Ireland due to financial constraints.  Unfortunately, while McCourt’s father is an excellent dad relationally, he is a raging alcoholic and does not provide for his family; he drinks while the children starve.  Things do not improve much in Ireland in the wake of the Irish famine…and from there the story continues.

3.  Man’s Search for Meaning – Victor E. Frankl.  To continue my vein of somewhat-depressing-but-truly-inspiring-stories-of-personal-growth-and-triumph-in-extreme-adversity, I read this book, recommended to me by Lovell.  Frankl’s psychological memoir of living through the concentration camps in the Holocaust is incredible.  His worldview is truly profound, and his analysis is articulate and thorough.  There are so many just plain and simple good rules for living in this book…it’s all about how when everything is stripped away from us, literally everything, we still have the freedom to choose how we respond.  Ironically, this is a lot of what work is about for me.  It was kinda scary to be mentally comparing concentration camps to my program…whether from the perspective of the clients or the staff.  But in actuality, I guess it is a lesson that spans across a variety of crises: we can only control our own reactions.  We have no control over other people or circumstance.  The main premise of the book is that man can find meaning in life through either achievements, relationships, or suffering.  The paradoxical comfort in this is that even if no other way is open, there is always at least suffering.  And suffering can always at least bring meaning and personal growth.  Truly amazing perspective.

4.  Identity – Milan Kundera.  So uh apparently I was rereading this book.  It was a strange experience tho to keep thinking “Did I finish this book before?” but I couldn’t remember how it ended.  But once I finished it I was like “Oh yeah.  I did read this book already.”  I had just kind of forgotten.  This is not a criticism of the book – I was in a strange place when I read it the first time, and it’s a strange book, and is even intended to read somewhat like a disjointed dream sequence.  But anyway.  This was heavy on the existentialism.  After the emotional drain from the previous two books, it was kind of depressing to read about the uncertainty and meaninglessness in human relationships.  It’s an interesting little story tho, and I do adore Kundera’s writing.  His ability to portray human relationships and dialogue is seemingly effortless.  He really captures the tension in romantic relationships well, especially in terms of the boundaries between independence and love.  Specifically in this novel, he’s dealing with the question of whether or not we ever really know the person we are in relationship with…and how relationships can change our perspectives of our own identities.  How do we maintain our individual identities in the face of the blending found in relationships and the changes that relationships create in our lives?  Heavy shit.  And ironically, it ties back to Elizabeth Gilbert’s book concerning marriage…hm.

So, there you have it.  Lots of provocative thoughts and ideas from these books, but I do need a bit of a break.  So it’s time for some pure, quality entertainment.  However, if you are wanting to ponder some deep-seated questions about people and relationships, I definitely recommend any of these books.  All are quick reads (even the longer ones, just because they’re so good) and all are guaranteed to make you think.

Well, time for a book review post!  As I gathered together the books I’ve read since last time, I realized that 4 out of 5 of the books I just finished reading provide some form of satire or societal critique.  So, it’s been an entertaining reading season, and probably explains why my cynicism has increased just slightly   I think I’m going to try out the quote-style book review once again, because there are some truly fabulous quotes that just need to be repeated.  Annnnnd…begin.

1. Love in a Dead Language – Lee Siegel. 

This book is…difficult to explain.  It’s kind of like 3 or 4 books in one.  It’s a fictional story (even though the author inserts himself as an active, albeit it minor, character) of a professor who falls in love with one of his students, and is murdered.  In honor of his lover, he has been translating the text of the Kama Sutra, and providing commentary.  After he dies, the completion of the translation and the other matters of the academic estate are left to one of his doctoral candidates, who then annotates the professor’s translation/commentary.  Sooo yeah.  There’s a lot of playing with language, which is awesome, and in some places it’s just ridiculous; definitely a funny & entertaining read, even if occasionally confusing.
“We were, nevertheless, not so happy that she had convinced Isaac that being a poet was a good career choice.  In Vatsyayana’s time the profession promised fame, fortune, the love of women, and the respect of men, not to mention a higher birth in the next life.  But no longer; we live, as everyone has surely noticed, in tawdry times in a banal world.”

2. Catcher in the Rye – J.D. Salinger.  Ah, Holden Caufield.  I guess I heard a lot of hype about this book, because I wasn’t completely bowled over or anything by it.  I guess at the time it was written it was most likely a truly transformative writing style – very innovative.  And it is incredibly stream-of-consciousness, and Holden is an engaging character, whether or not you like him (which I found him pretty sympathetic).  Good read.

“You could tell he wasn’t tired at all, though.  He was pretty oild up, for one thing. ‘I think that one of these days,’ he said, ‘you’re going to have to find out where you want to go.  And then you’ve got to start going there.  But immediately.  You [Holden] can’t afford to lose a minute.  Not you.’  I nodded, because he was looking right at me and all, but I wasn’t too sure what he was talking about.  I was pretty sure I knew, but I wasn’t too positive at the time.  I was too damn tired.”

3. The Mermaid Chair – Sue Monk Kidd

So.  This book is the only one that wasn’t somewhat satirical.  It was also probably the one I enjoyed the least out of this batch. I like Sue Monk Kidd – I *loved* The Secret Life of Bees.  But I don’t know, I just found this one kind of meh.  Predictable; not in terms of plot (which is pretty interesting) but just in terms of message I guess.  And delivery/voice.  Same old thing.  True, it’s an interesting premise – a woman falling in love with a monk, plus the additional mystery of what’s going on with her mother and how her father died – but it really just kind of fell flat for me.  It was also a little too romance-novel-esq…mushy.  But there were still some enjoyable parts, and the ending was a little surprising in some ways.  An easy read to pick up and put down from time to time, I think (what my former yoga instructor called “a good bedside book”).

“After I’d learned how my father had died, there was a lifting away of sorrow.  I can’t explain that, except to say there’s release in knowing the truth no matter how anguishing it is.  You come finally to the irreducible thing, and there’s nothing left to do but pick it up and hold it.  Then, at least, you can enter the severe mercy of acceptance.”

4.  Mumbo Jumbo – Ishmael Reed.  I enjoyed this book quite a bit; it really pushed me to think and examine it in a literary way (as had Love in a Dead Language).  Reed’s composition of the novel was stimulating and drew from a number of different means of presentation.  The novel presents the “Jes Grew” movement in the 1920s and the ensuing conspiracy by the “Wallflower Order” to depose it.  Essentially it looks at the way Western Civilization seeks to control its members of society and, specifically, the relations between blacks & whites throughout history.  Highly satirical and definitely requires that you pay close attention to what you’re reading.“What it boils down to, LaBas, is intent.  If your heart’s there, man, that’s 1/2 the thing about The Work.  Even the European Occultists say that.  Doing The Work is not like taking inventory,  Improvise some.  Open up, PaPa.  Stretch on out with It.”

5. Nightlight: A Parody – The Harvard Lampoon.  I absolutely LOVED this book.  Like more than words can say.  As most of you know, I’m a bit ambivalent when it comes to the Twilight saga…this book picks up on all of those aspects which caused me to take issue with the books.  And it’s just so dead-on and hilarious.  Please go read it.  I can’t say it enough.  Also, you’re going to have multiple quotes on this one cause it cracks me up…It’s enjoyable whether or not you’ve read the Twilight books, or seen the movie, but it’s even more amazing if you have read the books…

“Why did I have to beware?  Was Edwart going to hurt me?  What hadn’t he hurt me yet?  Was I not worth the trouble of hurting?  No.  I was being insecure.  I was worth a lot of hurting, elaborately planned to take place in an old ballerina room with easily shattered mirrors to complete the gloriously gory spectacle.  If Edwart didn’t think I was worth that, I’m sure some other vampire would.”

“‘So is it awkward if I ask what our status is?’ I asked quickly.  Not that I cared either way.  I just wanted to know, you know?  ‘Not at all.  We’re a couple now.’  Hmm. I wondered how I’d express that on Facebook.  I’d have to change it from what it was before: ‘It’s complicated with a vampire.’  But then I realized that worked pretty well with the new scenario.”

Anyway, that’s what I’ve been reading for the past monthish.  Onto new books…happy reading all!