Books I Read, March and April 2008
By potatobiker on Jun 3, 2008 in Textual Innuendo
Uh, yeah. How long did it take me to do this? No time to do in-depth reviews, but I’ll get back to it. For now, here are some quick thoughts.
What: Free For All: Oddballs, Geeks, and Gangstas in the Public Library by Don Borchert
Why I read it: It’s about library patrons.
What I thought: Cute, but maybe not totally worth publishing without a few more weirdos and stories. We’ve had crazier.
What: The Invention of Morel by Adolfo Bioy Casares
Why I read it: Sawyer told me to.
What I thought: AWESOME. Read it. It’s short.
What: VALIS by Philip K. Dick
Why I read it: Locke told Ben to read it. Ben said he already had. Locke said, read it again, maybe you missed something.
What I thought: Honestly, I don’t even remember it now. Maybe I need to read it again, too.
What: God’s Problem: How the Bible Fails to Answer Our Most Important Question–Why We Suffer by Bart D. Ehrman
Why I read it: Cuz I’m totally into this kind of stuff.
What I thought: Excellent. Written well, quite concise. Uses examples. Point is that all the answers the Bible provides about the specific question of suffering are inadequate or even contradictory, proving that even the writers of the Bible didn’t agree on an answer. Of course, that makes the book seem dissatisfying: If there IS a god, there is no adequate answer for what the hell he’s doing. Really liked this one.
What: Pagan Christianity?: Exploring the Roots of Our Church Practices by Frank Viola, George Barna
Why I read it: Thought it was going to be about where Christians got christmas trees, etc.
What I thought: It wasn’t really about that. It was directed at Christians, trying to show them what the Bible REALLY says about church and Christianity. It was actually pretty good. The version I read had additions (the authors answer reader questions) that weren’t in the previous release, so that was helpful. Only complaint is that it was a directive to open church meetings. But, well, if you believe that’s what god really wanted, you’re gonna preach it. So it was totally excusable as part of the nature of christianity.
What: Skim by Mariko Tamaki, Jillian Tamaki
Why I read it: New graphic novel.
What I thought: A quite good illustration of confusing teenage sexuality.
What: The Head Trip: Adventures on the Wheel of Consciousness by Jeff Warren
Why I read it: Felt like it.
What I thought: Loved it. FUNNY as hell and totally informative. There’s this part where Buddha talks to him, but he has a Jamaican accent…good stuff. Who knew a study in the stages of consciousness could be so fun and actually stick with me?
What: Survivor: A Novel by Chuck Palahniuk
Why I read it: Because I’m becoming a big ol’ Palahniuk fan. What’s with that??
What I thought: Totally whacked out greatness.
What: Maniac Magee by Jerry Spinelli
Why I read it: Wanted to read some kids classics, but honestly, most of them bore me. So I went for Newberys instead. Picked this one first cuz it’s so dang popular.
What I thought: Pretty great, actually. It’s really a commentary on racism, which I didn’t know, but still is fun and sad and pretty terrific without being too preachy.
What: Rabbit Hill by Robert Lawson
Why I read it: Newbery.
What I thought: BORING. BORING.
What: The Higher Power of Lucky by Susan Patron, Matt Phelan
Why I read it: Newbery.
What I thought: Cute and sweet. Not terrific.
What: The Giver by Lois Lowry.
Why I read it: Newbery. One of the most well-known.
What I thought: AMAZING. Loved everything about it. Read it. Crazy surreal world/future/village/utopian setting. Read it.
