Recommended Reading

Thanks Amazon. Thanks for the recommendations, but between you and me, you suck at recommending things for me to read!

Amazon always sends me these "we recommend..." or "we think you'd like..." emails. I always want to scratch my head and say, why? Why do you want me to read these Amazon?

No, I don't want to purchase
The Lady as Saint: A Collection of French Hagiographic Romances of the Thirteenth Century
Laboratory Investigations: AP Environmental Science
Wrapped in Pride: Ghanaian Kente and African American Identity (Ucla Fowler Museum of Cultural History Textile Series, No. 2)
Lucia Etxebarria Amor, curiosidad, prozac y dudas
The Scandal of the Speaking Body: Don Juan with J. L. Austin, or Seduction in Two Languages

Nope, Not Interested.

I suppose the reason my recommendations are so off has something to do with me buying presents and textbooks for classes online. It really throws off my "recommending database."

According to some friends, apparently Netflix and YouTube aren't so great at recommending movies or videos respectively. Way to go fancy algorithms. You'll never fully capture how human minds (or shopping habits) work!

LeVar Burton

Remember the guy from Reading Rainbow, LeVar Burton? Of course you do...if you had a meaningful childhood. Well, he came to Shippensburg Thursday night. I was super excited to meet him and hear what he had to say.

He talked a lot about his role on Roots, Star Trek, and Reading Rainbow. He said if you had to tie him down and whip him to pick his favorite, he'd pick Reading Rainbow. That made the crowd clap. He he.

He also talked a lot about religion or rather his disdain for it, and his belief that there is no "capricious energy" in the universe. I believe his philosophical bent was perhaps not appropriate for this audience, but if he wants to promote his own agenda, whatever.

Every time he opened his mouth, his voice reminded me of his show. I grew up with that voice. It's just so soothing, and distinctly LeVar Burton. It made me happy.

All day I have had that theme song stuck in my head; I can go twice as high, take a look, it's in a book...Reading Rainboooooooow. Meeting Levar was like reconnecting with my childhood. And he ended his talk with "But you don't have to take my word for it."

The Coast of Chicago

The Coast of Chicago by Stuart Dybek was my latest read. I really liked this example of literary fiction. This compliation of short stories was very poetic and well-written. They flowed and spoke to a true part of human nature and experience. Actually, I liked all the stories but the one entitled Nighthawks, which I felt like was trying too hard to imitate Edward Hopper's painting shown above (which I actually got to see on exhibit at the National Gallery in Washington DC). Other than that section, I would highly recommend The Coast of Chicago for a good pleasure read. I will leave you with one of my favorite lines although it isn't exactly representantive of the whole, "I would sit out of sight beneath the dining-room table, my plastic cowboys galloping through a forest of chair legs, while I listened to Mrs. Kubia talk about Marcy." A beautiful way with words.

I'd like to visit Chicago someday. It is on my must-visit list.

Jane Austen

This weekend was Jane Austen weekend for me. I not only watched Sense and Sensibility, Pride and Prejudice, but also had a real 18th century English teaparty. It twas delightful! Yummy blueberry tea and British jargon are the way to do teaparties, let me tell you. (No stuffed animals were invited)

As for the movies: I believe I liked the filmography much better in Pride and Prejudice. The scenes were fresh and beautiful. Also, I'm a big fan of Kiera Knightly. Oh, and Mr. Darcy.

Sense and Sensibility though, I like the story-line much better. Kudos to Jane Austen. There seems to be more twists and turns and romanticism in her later novel. That darn Mr. Willoughby!

Booksthatmakeyoudumb

Booksthatmakeyoudumb is an interesting study of the correlation between SAT scores and favorite books listed on facebook. Virgil Griffith created it and posted it online. Interestingly enough, the books I most enjoy fell near the higher end of SAT scores, and books I really despise fell toward the lower end. The data is quite intriguing to peruse, but I do have some problems with it. First, the data is collected through the favorite books at a specific institution where the mean SAT score is reported, so my relative 'smartness' is filtered through Shippensburg's SAT scores which are actually a heck of a lot lower than my personal scores. Second, the books you list as your favorite books may just be what feel like you have to write down for social and/or other reasons. For example, indicating you like a certain classic could make you appear more well-read simply because it is popular, but you really think it is crap. Also, I love how listing "The Holy Bible" is akin to being dumber than the people who list "I don't Read."

Anyways, just go visitBooksthatmakeyoudumb an decide for yourself.

On a related note, I just read One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez this past Christmas vacation. It is full of poetic writing, style, and a fast paced, uniquely thought-out action. I had meant to read it for the longest time, because I heard it was so good, and I was not disappointed. I loved it, although I have not added it to my favorites in my facebook profile yet. Now I'm glad to know I enjoy books that do not make me dumb, but rather smart, very very smart. One Hundred Years of Solitude was the second 'smartest' book in the booksthatmakeyou dumb study. Yay me.

PS. I don't honestly believe that reading books of any type or caliber can make you dumb. In fact, if you feel dumber after reading a book, it means that you got smarter because you learned more about yourself, about writing in general, and about how to craft a story better than that moron's that you just read.

Summer Reading List

What are the books that I've read this summer you ask? Well, let me tell you...at least a few of them.

The House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros: One of my new absolute favorites. Small story narrative form. Quick read about an immigrant living in Chicago. Makes the reader do a lot of critical thinking and webbing to intuitively tie the stories together. She has to be one of my new favorite authors too.

The Heart is a Lonely Hunter by Carson McCullers: Excellent read. Exploring loneliness and relationships with other people in a disjointed life.

Twilight by Stephenie Meyer, a popular youth thriller about vampires, a perfect example of writing that has become annoying after a college education in writing. The author assumed too much power as the narrator and the action delayed till way too far back in the book. I only read it cause it was sitting on the coffee table, and I'm a sucker for books. Michelle graciously let me have the free tattoos that came with the book. Wouldn't I like to have the name, Edward, proudly displayed on my arm? Only when people as me if that is the name of my boyfriend, I can tell them, no, it's the name of the hot vampire in the book I read this summer, duh. (oh and the vampire totally reminds me of Neil from So You Think You Can Dance, pasty, yet beautiful)

The Birth of Venus by Sarah Dunant was an OK read. I enjoyed the story, especially since we had just the studied the Renaissance and visited the city of it's setting, Florence, but I take issue with the writing. I found way too many typographical/grammatical errors for my taste, and the writing was somewhat less challenging than I normally prefer to read. Oh, and shout out to Pico. He got one mention, and this pacified me.

Our Sister Killjoy by Ama Ata Aidoo from Ghana: Also another great read. Beautifully poetic and insightful. An overflow from my globalization seminar last semester, but it was definitely worth reading.

I also read some crap for the class we had (like critical texts by Walter Pater + modern scholars and The Merchant of Venice by Shakespeare, parts of Nada by Carmen Laforet which I will finish reading sometime this semester, upon the recommendation of Mary, La Celestina by Fernando de Rojas which unfortunately I haven't finished reading yet either, and the first 5 pages of I Claudius by Robert Graves; that is--before I wanted to poke my eyes out with boredom.