Monthly Archive for July, 2008

I really enjoyed the book, Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim by David Sedaris but I thought that Me Talk Pretty One Day was far superior and made me laugh so hard I almost peed in my pants a couple times. His stories about his brother Paul, aka The Rooster are my favourites. From one obnoxious cursor to another he just kills me. I started reading his books because Jenn went to see Mr. Sedaris live and she was crazy excited about going and so I took a look at his stuff and I am so far glad I did.

In June I was looking at a 1001 list of books you are supposed to read before you die. I enjoy these lists, they are all over the place, of course I like seeing how many books I’ve read whether it is a list from published books claiming what you should read, or internet lists, banned lists, I basically like lists. The book Under the Skin by Michel Faber caught my eye. I have read his book The Crimson Petal and the White. Being that the novel is 896 pages long and I did not bend the spine or even crease the cover in any way shape or form it catches my eye on the shelf on a regular basis, I don’t remember much of the detail but I know it is the story of a prostitute in 19^th century London. I was in the book store one day and they had Under the Skin in trade paperback on blow out, this was years ago I’d say 2003 because the inside cover of The Crimson Petal and the White says that I read it in October 2003, I bought it knowing that because it has sort of a boring cover that I would probably never read it but wanted to own it because I had enjoyed the other book.

When I saw it on the 1001 list, the rest of the list ceased to exist for me and I grabbed it off the shelf saved the list to my documents and checked to see where I was in my current book to determine how long it would be before I could start it. If I could read more than one book at a time I would. The book I was reading at that time was The Catcher in the Rye, J.D. Salinger. [The Catcher in the Rye being a perfectly fine book by all standards in my opinion but finds itself on the banned list]

The cover of Under the Skin displays a quote review from The Wall Street Journal which claims it to be “Original and unsettling… an ANIMAL FARM for the new century.” Having also read Animal Farm, by George Orwell for the first time this year, it was my first read of 2008 actually; I found the rather extreme quote intriguing.

To read this book I had to deviate from my own reading list but I was willing to do it because I buy too many books to stick to only one list. I have reading lists and books I want to buy lists ALL over the place. In fact, something I really enjoy is flipping back through old journals and day planners where I always come across abandoned lists and survey them with nerdy excitement seeing what I ended up getting and reading and what can be moved to the new lists and what stays abandoned.

Under the Skin turned out to be an extremely engrossing book but for only 311 pages it took me ages to finish. It was one of those books that while I had it in hand with my eyes firmly on the page I could not put it down but once I found a way to put it down I had trouble picking it back up again. Each time. I am glad I read it, I talked to Adam about it a lot while reading it and explained the whole story to him, whether it should be on the 1001 list I don’t really care, I don’t put much stock in the lists other than to grab the odd book off them and see if I have read anything notable. In regards to its having been compared to Animal Farm, I can see how it is relatable but think it’s a stretch. The book does still have me thinking though, it was pretty good.

I’d have to say my favourite book so far this year has been Tori Amos Piece by Piece by Tori Amos and Anne Powers. I started listening to her music in 1994 my first introduction to her was her second album Under the Pink; I now own her complete library. I have had tickets to see her live twice but only made it to the concert once. The book was released in January 2005 to coincide with the album The Beekeeper. The Beekeeper is a fantastic album and in reading the book Piece by Piece I can now experience the album in a whole new way and do, I haven’t stopped listening to it again since I read the book. It lets you dive pretty deep into her life. It lets you peek into her thought process when she is writing songs and you find yourself on a whirlwind tour through the album and through conversations she has with music journalist Anne Powers, an intimate and what feels like a pretty complete portrait of her life is presented. I ate it up and love her even more now.

I also read Dry by Augusten Burroughs which I enjoyed, although it is sad and centers on his addictions. It made me want to get off the pot for about five minutes, but that would make my shrink too happy and we can’t have that now can we. I personally liked Running with Scissors a lot more. And I also read The Undomestic Goddess by Sophie Kinsella, I normally reserve her books for after I finish a heavy non-fiction read because I consider her to be fluff but for a fluff writer she is really good and I own all of her books and have read all but one. I don’t read what I consider to be fluff very often but when I do I am extremely picky about it.