As I Lay Dying by William Faulkner
fiction/literatue, (c)1930, 288pp
rating: ***

Despite being an english major, I never read any Faulkner as a college student or as a high school student. I've been trying to expand my literary horizons now that it doesn't feel like such a task to read "the classics", so I pulled As I Laying Dying off of my book ( Read more... )

Grendel by John Gardner
fiction/literature, (c)1971, 175pp
rating: *****

Grendel is a retelling of the "Beowulf" myth from the point of view of Grendel. It's pretty important to have read "Beowulf" before reading this book or you will be hopelessly lost. The majority of this book deals with life at Hrothgar's hall prior to the appearance of ( Read more... )

Out by Natsuo Kirino ( Read more... )

The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold ( Read more... )

Getting Stoned with Savages by J. Maarten Troost
nonfiction/travel, (c) 2006, 256pp
rating: ***

A couple of years ago, I read (and loved) The Sex Lives of Cannibals by J. Maarten Troost about his time living on Kiribati, an atoll in the South Pacific. I found it extremely funny and engaging and was looking forward to reading this new book.

( Read more... )

Book #4
A Brief History of Time by Stephen Hawking
nonfiction; 1988/1998; 197 pp.
date finished: 1/21/08

Did you know that Stephen Hawking hasn't updated his speaking-computer in 20 years because he identifies with that voice? True story. Other than that, universe = yay. It was also quite interesting to read a popular science book where the author isn ( Read more... )

I would normally not review three books in one post, but they are all by the same author and while they are unrelated, they all have a similar plot line. I've been reading Freedom at Midnight which is an excellent (though quite heavy) book about India's independence from the British Empire and have been alternating bits of that with escapist fluff ( Read more... )

Switcheroo by Olivia Goldsmith ( Read more... )

Caliban's Hour by Tad Williams ( Read more... )

Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe ( Read more... )