Just ordered some more books. Someday I swear I’ll kick the book-ordering habit and use my library. Bookcloseouts.com:
The Religion War by Scott Adams The Man Who Tried to Get Away by Stephen R. Donaldson Watership Down by Richard Adams The Things They Carried by Tim O’Brien
I’ve always wanted to read an O’Brien book, and specifically the one I ordered, so I’m excited for that. Scott Adams’ last existential book, God’s Debris (highly recommended, was suprisingly intriguing, so I’m ready to read The Religion War right away. (And, yes, I’m talking about that Scott Adams.) I’m a Stephen R. Donaldson completist, so the only book from his mystery series that I have yet to own was a must. And I plan to read Watership Down to my children time and again, so that purchase is pretty justifiable.
I very nearly bought David McCullough’s book about John Adams. McCullough is supposedly the power hitter in the line-up of active writers in the genre of American history. I’m just not sure I’m ready to read a 751 page book about one man. Perhaps I’m most concerned that it would become a habit.
Comments (2)
I found the Tim O’Brien book amazing; it’s a collection of short stories, and they all feed into each other really well. The order of the stories is striking - the way certain revelations are revealed create resonance as the stories continue forward. I’m surprised we never read the title story in high school - some of my youth were familiar with the story from school. It’s a story that came up quite a bit in my MFA program this year, particularly as an example of how modern literature uses a lot of lists, and how people are infatuated with reading them. Enjoy, buddy!
I saw a documentary on The History Channel about the relationship between Aaron Burr and Alexander Hamilton today. Amazing, interesting, and deep…what a story. That is the best argument I’ve seen yet for the 500+ page book on one guy or one thing. If my reading list wasn’t already so long I might go out and look around for one…