no suicides permitted
END OF THE YEAR BOOK AND MOVIE ROUND UP!!!!!
BOOKS!
(letters indicate books that I'd already read, which I'm not counting for my total number)
(...also I eventually started keeping track of when I finished them, and then sometimes when I started them. These lists were all kept in a sticky note, I'm a fiend for sticky notes.)
1. The Code of the Woosters - P.G. Wodehouse
-Predictably pleasant!
2. The Road - Cormac McCarthy
-"Harrowing" is the main word to describe this book. It was good, but mainly made me want to cleanse my brain with post-apocalyptic books that don't make me want to kill myself.
3. The Boys in the Band - Mart Crowley
-I got this from the library because I liked the cover. The cover remained the best thing about it.
4. Breakfast With Scot - Michael Downing
-This has a movie that I am not super interested in seeing. No, maybe I'll see it because the NHL was like "yeah, go ahead and use our logos for a movie with a gay former NHL player!" Unless they didn't and I'm confused. Whatever. J and z made fun of me at this point for (apparently) only reading gay books.
5. Clay's Way (fucking awful) - Blair Mastbaum
-I got this before I went to Hawaii because I was interested of the idea of people who live there being bored of it and wanting to be somewhere else, since I would be experiencing it as a tourist. Butttt then it sucked. I liked two parts at the beginning, one where the main dude peed out of his bedroom window and again when he said that he liked smelling sweaty and gross because it reminded him that he'd had fun earlier.
6. The Dangerous Lives of Alter Boys - Chris Fuhrman
- This was pretty sweet. I still have to see the movie, which stars my favorite Culkin!
7. Record Palace - Susan Wheeler
-Harold Washington was a character in this book. This book was awesome for that and other reasons.
8. Scott Pilgrim vs. The Universe - Bryan Lee O'Malley
-Still ridiculously excited for the movie based on the involvement of Edgar Wright and (again) my favorite Culkin, despite Michael Cera's continual plot to ruin book adaptations...
9. Youth in Revolt - C.D. Payne
-...such as this one. To be fair, his horrible miscasting (as a fucking 14 year old, couldn't they at least move his age up for the movie a bit?) looks like it isn't the only weird direction they took in this adaptation. Ehhhh...I might still see it if the reviews aren't terrible. It does have Zach Galifianakis, who is a marvelous man and a prodigious lip-syncer.
10. Vile Bodies - Evelyn Waugh
-Still gotta see the movie again. More love for the old-timey madcappery of wealthy Brits.
a) The Fellowship of the Ring - some dude
-I read most of this out loud to Justin. We spent most of a whole day on the apartment stairs reading and drinking water and wine and whittling (lol) and getting stepped over by their upstairs neighbor who apparently had a shit ton of laundry to do. ;______;
11. Welcome to the Monkey House - Kurt Vonnegut
-Wooooooo.
12. Sammy Keyes and the Cold Hard Cash - Wendelin Van Draanen
-Dammit, I still love this series and will continue to read it forever.
13. The Golden Apples (reading since my birthday) - Eudora Welty
-This was pretty slow, which I can like in books, but it didn't have much of a payoff for me. Well, it was a collection of some shortish stories, some of which I liked better than others. Idk, it was alright.
14. The Vast Fields of Ordinary - Nick Burd
-This was damn fine for a gay coming of age novel. I think I talked about it on here.
15. The Demon's Lexicon - Sarah Rees Brennan
-This wasn't as good as I thought it could be based on her fanfiction, but I still enjoyed it.
16. My Booky Wook - Russell Brand
-Still lolling about him and Katy Perry.
17. The Handmaid's Tale [8/23] - Margaret Atwood
-I love when I'm reading books that are so awesome I'm just going "WHAT WHAT WHAAAAAAT" the whole time I'm reading them. I made my mom read this as a palette cleanser after she read Twilight. Still embarrassed.
18. Girls! Girls! Girls!: Essays On Women and Music [9/6]
-I was surprised to discover this on the bargain shelf at the bookstore of my not-really-into-that-kind-of-thing community college. A really good collection, interesting and varied.
b) The Two Towers [9/7] - some dude
-Better than ever.
c) Girl, Going On 17: Pants On Fire [9/10] - Sue Limb
-Ditto what I said about Sammy Keyes. FOREVER.
19. Bartleby and Benito Cereno [9/28] - Herman Melville
-Herman Melville is awesome. I'm finally reading Moby Dick and it is The Best.
20. The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (graphic novel adaptation) [9/30]
-Doo doo doo...well, the movie was really different.
21. Faker [10/8] -Mike Carey/Jock
-This was alright, I remember liking the art.
22. Space For Hire [10/14] - William Nolan
-Got this for a quarter because I liked the cover. A space detective story written in the 60's that was kind of fun. The casual sexism and racism wasn't even too bad except for one terrible, terrible rape joke.
23. Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead [10/18] - Tom Stoppard
Fucking great. I think I started reading this early in high school, and then realized that I should probably read Hamlet first. Did I like it better than Hamlet now that I finally read both? No comment. (sorry Wilbur)
24. King of the Screw-ups [10/21-10/24] - K.L. Going
-I've read a couple of her other books and they've all been about guys who aren't very (academically) smart discovering they can kind of do something. I liked Fat Kid Rules the World better.
25. Savage [10/24-11/1] - Jacques Jouet
-This is the one where Paul Gauguin is an avant-garde fashion designer and no one wants to buy his clothes. I would have gotten bored if this were any longer, but it held my interest primarily because I have long been amused by Gauguin's dickishness.
26. The Baron in the Trees [11/4-11/24] - Italo Calvino
-One of those books that feels like it was specially tailored to my tastes. Made me really outraged that I can't live in the trees in Enlightenment-era Italy.
27. Boy Girl Boy [11/14-11/26] - R. Koertge
-This sounded interesting on the jacket. It was ok.
28. Cycler [11/?-12/5] - Lauren McLaughlin
-This is about a girl who turns into a boy for a few days every month, and then the boy develops a separate conciousness. Unfortunately, the girl was boring compared to the boy and nothing really made sense.
29. Re-cycler [12/5-12/11] - " "
-...so why did I read the sequel? I dunno. I guess I was hoping it would get more into gender identity stuff.
30. Mississippi Jack [12/??-12/27] morn - L.A. Meyer
-Once again, what I said about Sammy Keyes and the "Girl, Something Something: Something Something" series. These series are all intended for teens and have great, strong, female protagonists and that is awesome, ok??? Whatever, I love Y.A. books and I love the Bloody Jack series because I love the British Royal Navy and gender-bending and gay butlers. I'm making my mom read it because I know she'll love it, although I don't actually know her opinion on gay butlers. I would guess she is for them.
31. archy & mehitabel [?/??-12/28] morn - Don Marquis
I was reading this for the better part of the year. I'm glad I ended the list with it.
TOP 5:
1. The Baron in the Trees
2. Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead
3. The Handmaid's Tale
4. archy & mehitabel
5. Record Palace
So that's 31 books read and 3 reread.
Goal for 2010: FIFTY BOOKS. Starting with good old Moby Richard. Marry me, Queequeg!!!!
BOOKS!
(letters indicate books that I'd already read, which I'm not counting for my total number)
(...also I eventually started keeping track of when I finished them, and then sometimes when I started them. These lists were all kept in a sticky note, I'm a fiend for sticky notes.)
1. The Code of the Woosters - P.G. Wodehouse
-Predictably pleasant!
2. The Road - Cormac McCarthy
-"Harrowing" is the main word to describe this book. It was good, but mainly made me want to cleanse my brain with post-apocalyptic books that don't make me want to kill myself.
3. The Boys in the Band - Mart Crowley
-I got this from the library because I liked the cover. The cover remained the best thing about it.
4. Breakfast With Scot - Michael Downing
-This has a movie that I am not super interested in seeing. No, maybe I'll see it because the NHL was like "yeah, go ahead and use our logos for a movie with a gay former NHL player!" Unless they didn't and I'm confused. Whatever. J and z made fun of me at this point for (apparently) only reading gay books.
5. Clay's Way (fucking awful) - Blair Mastbaum
-I got this before I went to Hawaii because I was interested of the idea of people who live there being bored of it and wanting to be somewhere else, since I would be experiencing it as a tourist. Butttt then it sucked. I liked two parts at the beginning, one where the main dude peed out of his bedroom window and again when he said that he liked smelling sweaty and gross because it reminded him that he'd had fun earlier.
6. The Dangerous Lives of Alter Boys - Chris Fuhrman
- This was pretty sweet. I still have to see the movie, which stars my favorite Culkin!
7. Record Palace - Susan Wheeler
-Harold Washington was a character in this book. This book was awesome for that and other reasons.
8. Scott Pilgrim vs. The Universe - Bryan Lee O'Malley
-Still ridiculously excited for the movie based on the involvement of Edgar Wright and (again) my favorite Culkin, despite Michael Cera's continual plot to ruin book adaptations...
9. Youth in Revolt - C.D. Payne
-...such as this one. To be fair, his horrible miscasting (as a fucking 14 year old, couldn't they at least move his age up for the movie a bit?) looks like it isn't the only weird direction they took in this adaptation. Ehhhh...I might still see it if the reviews aren't terrible. It does have Zach Galifianakis, who is a marvelous man and a prodigious lip-syncer.
10. Vile Bodies - Evelyn Waugh
-Still gotta see the movie again. More love for the old-timey madcappery of wealthy Brits.
a) The Fellowship of the Ring - some dude
-I read most of this out loud to Justin. We spent most of a whole day on the apartment stairs reading and drinking water and wine and whittling (lol) and getting stepped over by their upstairs neighbor who apparently had a shit ton of laundry to do. ;______;
11. Welcome to the Monkey House - Kurt Vonnegut
-Wooooooo.
12. Sammy Keyes and the Cold Hard Cash - Wendelin Van Draanen
-Dammit, I still love this series and will continue to read it forever.
13. The Golden Apples (reading since my birthday) - Eudora Welty
-This was pretty slow, which I can like in books, but it didn't have much of a payoff for me. Well, it was a collection of some shortish stories, some of which I liked better than others. Idk, it was alright.
14. The Vast Fields of Ordinary - Nick Burd
-This was damn fine for a gay coming of age novel. I think I talked about it on here.
15. The Demon's Lexicon - Sarah Rees Brennan
-This wasn't as good as I thought it could be based on her fanfiction, but I still enjoyed it.
16. My Booky Wook - Russell Brand
-Still lolling about him and Katy Perry.
17. The Handmaid's Tale [8/23] - Margaret Atwood
-I love when I'm reading books that are so awesome I'm just going "WHAT WHAT WHAAAAAAT" the whole time I'm reading them. I made my mom read this as a palette cleanser after she read Twilight. Still embarrassed.
18. Girls! Girls! Girls!: Essays On Women and Music [9/6]
-I was surprised to discover this on the bargain shelf at the bookstore of my not-really-into-that-kind-of-thing community college. A really good collection, interesting and varied.
b) The Two Towers [9/7] - some dude
-Better than ever.
c) Girl, Going On 17: Pants On Fire [9/10] - Sue Limb
-Ditto what I said about Sammy Keyes. FOREVER.
19. Bartleby and Benito Cereno [9/28] - Herman Melville
-Herman Melville is awesome. I'm finally reading Moby Dick and it is The Best.
20. The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (graphic novel adaptation) [9/30]
-Doo doo doo...well, the movie was really different.
21. Faker [10/8] -Mike Carey/Jock
-This was alright, I remember liking the art.
22. Space For Hire [10/14] - William Nolan
-Got this for a quarter because I liked the cover. A space detective story written in the 60's that was kind of fun. The casual sexism and racism wasn't even too bad except for one terrible, terrible rape joke.
23. Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead [10/18] - Tom Stoppard
Fucking great. I think I started reading this early in high school, and then realized that I should probably read Hamlet first. Did I like it better than Hamlet now that I finally read both? No comment. (sorry Wilbur)
24. King of the Screw-ups [10/21-10/24] - K.L. Going
-I've read a couple of her other books and they've all been about guys who aren't very (academically) smart discovering they can kind of do something. I liked Fat Kid Rules the World better.
25. Savage [10/24-11/1] - Jacques Jouet
-This is the one where Paul Gauguin is an avant-garde fashion designer and no one wants to buy his clothes. I would have gotten bored if this were any longer, but it held my interest primarily because I have long been amused by Gauguin's dickishness.
26. The Baron in the Trees [11/4-11/24] - Italo Calvino
-One of those books that feels like it was specially tailored to my tastes. Made me really outraged that I can't live in the trees in Enlightenment-era Italy.
27. Boy Girl Boy [11/14-11/26] - R. Koertge
-This sounded interesting on the jacket. It was ok.
28. Cycler [11/?-12/5] - Lauren McLaughlin
-This is about a girl who turns into a boy for a few days every month, and then the boy develops a separate conciousness. Unfortunately, the girl was boring compared to the boy and nothing really made sense.
29. Re-cycler [12/5-12/11] - " "
-...so why did I read the sequel? I dunno. I guess I was hoping it would get more into gender identity stuff.
30. Mississippi Jack [12/??-12/27] morn - L.A. Meyer
-Once again, what I said about Sammy Keyes and the "Girl, Something Something: Something Something" series. These series are all intended for teens and have great, strong, female protagonists and that is awesome, ok??? Whatever, I love Y.A. books and I love the Bloody Jack series because I love the British Royal Navy and gender-bending and gay butlers. I'm making my mom read it because I know she'll love it, although I don't actually know her opinion on gay butlers. I would guess she is for them.
31. archy & mehitabel [?/??-12/28] morn - Don Marquis
I was reading this for the better part of the year. I'm glad I ended the list with it.
TOP 5:
1. The Baron in the Trees
2. Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead
3. The Handmaid's Tale
4. archy & mehitabel
5. Record Palace
So that's 31 books read and 3 reread.
Goal for 2010: FIFTY BOOKS. Starting with good old Moby Richard. Marry me, Queequeg!!!!