gute Laune

fyeahpoliscipanda:

“Make the right ideological declarations or your head gets chopped off!”

(Source: le-petit-pizza)

An entire chapter written in Power Point.  And then the last chapter proposes we may one day drop short vowels entirely. I LOVED THIS BOOK, I swallowed it whole, practically.

For the record, I still haven’t finished this book. Between Sweet Valley and this one, I am pretty sure I read another book, I just can’t remember which one it was. It seems odd that I would go three months without reading, but maybe I did?

REGARDLESS, at some point during the dry spell, I visited Chicago for the first time, and fell in love with the city. My boss recommended this book to me prior to leaving, and I read it when I got back, and I put it down for a while to read my next book, but then I picked it up again, stopped reading it when Daniel left me alone for a week and got creeped out, and haven’t picked it up again just yet. 

BUT ENOUGH ABOUT ME. This was my first attempt at a historical novel, and my goodness, does this guy know how to tell a story. I learned so much about architecture, the birth of a wild city, and a harrowing serial killer, much scarier than anything by today’s standards. This book only fueled my love for all things Chicago. I ended up renting a 3 Disc documentary on the city, and have a goal of reading more about Al Capone next year.

Book Number Three was Sweet Valley Confidential. I looked all over Portland for this book, I couldn’t find it anywhere. Elizabeth and Jessica Wakefield were pretty much my Harry Potter. Thankfully, I had two older high school aged sisters, so I knew most of what I read in those books was bullshit. Still, I READ AND HAD EVERY SINGLE ONE. The special editions, the weird ancestor spinoff, I EVEN tried to like Sweet Valley Jr. High. For the life of me, I can’t find my collection anywhere. I remember trying to sell it once in North Bend, and the bookstore owner basically scoffing at me, like, who would buy this shit?

This book was SHOCKING. I was so disappointed in Pascal’s treatment of Enid, and sort of grossed out and disappointed in who the twins ended up with. It all seemed too unrealistic they could all live happily ever after, ALMOST as unrealistic as the one I read years ago where Liz was SO hungry, she ate TWO WHOLE SLICES OF PIZZA. 

Just Kids by Patti Smith, the second book I read. And just like with the first, I did not want it to end. She was so graceful, so conservative in her tellings of brushes with greatness. Meeting the legends of her time, telling stories about them like an outsider, never questioning her place. I am also always in awe when a true artists lets us inside, to catch a glimpse of their daily lives. I LOVED reading about the shitty food she ate, and her pure adoration of it, like it was the tastiest shit ever.

The Year of the Book. Man, I read some awesome books this year. My goal is to post and even write about some of them as we move full steam ahead towards the end of 2011. I have chosen this goal for many reasons: Mostly, I am proud of myself for taking the time to read so many. Also, I am pretty sure I will soon buy an iPad, and the way I read might change forever.

This book was a Christmas present to myself. I was taken with the main character, learned a lot about the art world, and, of course, was deeply moved by Steve Martin’s grace and innate ability to breathe so many layers into the simplest moment.