It's Friday ... I'm Bored
Aug. 20th, 2004 10:17 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
hiddenmuseSince I was curious to see how my favorites would go over ... I submitted them to ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-community.gif)
thebookyoucrew the other day. Ultimately, I was rejected - but I at least tried. :)
Mainly I wanted to try and join because it was killing me to see people mis-spell the titles and authors of their favorite books ... Dumbliners by James Joyce stands out as a classic, also, authors such as Jonathan Heller (he wrote Catch-22 y'know), and Herman Woux.
Best yet - The Outsiders, written by C. Thomas Howell. (S. E. Hinton is having a conniption as I write this ... heh)
Since they'd been encountering a recent deluge of trolls and highly defensive sorts that got bitchy and easily rankled when a NO vote came down, I thought it best to be myself - and be respectful.
With that, I give you my list - along with a brief explanation of why the book made my cut:
1. And The Band Played On - Randy Shilts.
I've read this book (about the beginnings of HIV/AIDS in the gay community) an obscene number of times - usually a few times a year, because that's how engrossing it was.
2. The Giving Tree - Shel Silverstein
Most people read this (or had it read to them) as a child. I didn't read it until I was in college - and then, I did, because it was a Challenged Book. Challenged because certain groups thought it was sexist. Being a feminist, I went against that mindset, and actually liked the metaphor of the tree as a parental/maternal figure - giving to the boy until she could give no more, just like our mothers do.
3. The Botany of Desire - Michael Pollan
I was prompted to read this book after reading an interview with him in the San Francisco Chronicle magazine. The book is quite interesting, offering discussions of plants in our lives - Apples, Potatoes, Marijuana - and how each one affects a different aspect of desire.
4. Noonday Demon - Andrew Solomon
Very well-written book on depression from a first-person perspective. Solomon talks openly and realisticly about what it's like to live with the Noonday Demon shadowing your every move.
5. Beauty Outlaws (formerly Adíos Barbie) - Ophira Edut, ed.
This was an incredible book, filled with stories from women of all walks of life, sharing their experiences - whether its in attempting to lose weight, gain weight, stop shaving to become a "better" feminist, becoming a woman (one writer is a transwoman), or living life as a happily married bisexual - the stories are smart, moving, witty and at times, very poignant.
6. Closet Case - Robert Rodi
My first exposure to Queer Lit as I know it. I was 20 years old, and my life was never the same. :)
7. I'm Just Here For The Food - Alton Brown
Alton Brown. Need I say more? Okay ... so I can say more. AB has put together a great cookbook, that breaks the mold by offering more than just recipes. He offers the science behind how and why food cooks - what happens when it's cooking. Also, the recipes are really good.
8. Inferno - Dante
One of my first forays into reading The Classics. It's a very good book, and as dumb as it may sound, the "circle of hell" comments people make, now make more sense.
9. The Handmaid's Tale - Margaret Atwood
I'm not the biggest SciFi fan, so this is about as close as I'd get in that regard. It's hardly prescient ... but give it another 30 - 40 years, and we could risk seeing women divided into classes, with lower-class women being regarded as subliterate handmaids, whose only purposes are to be the housekeeper and breeder for a more well-off family - and just as was the case for slaves in the 19th century, you'd be stripped of your own identity, only to be re-named "Ofjohn" or "Ofbrian" - identifying you as being property Of John or Of Brian, mere chattel.
10. Seeing Voices - Oliver Sacks
An excellent book about Deaf culture in America - from Martha's Vineyard in the Colonial Era, when inbreeding (to keep bloodlines pure, it was believed) resulted in deafness, to the Deaf Prez Now protests at Gallaudet University (a University for the Deaf in Washington, D.C.), when students stood up and demanded a deaf president - which they did get, when I. King Jordan took office.
11. Great Tales and Poems of Edgar Allan Poe
Long before Stephen King and Tannanarive Due were scaring the pants off their readers, Edgar Allan Poe was succeeding in doing so with stories like "Fall of the House of Usher", "Cask of Amontillado", "The Tell-Tale Heart" and to some extent, "The Raven".
12. Eats, Shoots & Leaves - Lynne Truss
Excellent reading - even if Ms. Truss seems to backslide into "do as I say - not as I do" territory.
13. Fast Food Nation - Eric Schlosser
This book may be responsible for converting more people to vegetarianism than anything PETA could ever hope to do. At the least, it has made readers more cognizant of what goes into their meat - as well as their fast food.
14. Backlash - Susan Faludi
One of the books that gave me the impetus to call myself that dreaded F-word: Feminist. This book admitted that the 2nd Wave Feminists burned a lot of bridges, and turned a lot of women off to the idea of feminism.
15. Monster - Sanyika Shakur (né Kody Scott)
Before reading this book, all I'd known of gangs was what I'd heard in the news, and what I'd seen in the film Colors. After reading this book, my sheltered midwestern white girl's existence was rocked. The book was disturbing and scary - it was unreal to read Shakur's stories of removing a cast from his shooting arm while in prison, so he could take out a rival gangster after being released.
16. Sexwise - Susie Bright
I love this woman. She's sexy, incisive, funny - and you've gotta love any book that includes an essay called "Dan Quayle's Dick".
17. Think Pink - Lynn Peril
I am a junkie for anything vintage or classic - I love reading old advice guides for teens, anything of that ilk. Lynn Peril's book takes advertising and advice guides from the '40s to the '70s - all directed at females - and dissects the hell out of them.
18. Passing For Thin - Frances Kuffell
I got this book because it tells the story of a woman that has lost over half her body weight - and how it felt for her to have to make the transition from the "Fat World", where she'd existed since childhood - her weight being over 330 lbs. at its highest, to the "Girl World", where every other girl exists - and where she is now. When your weight and body have become a security blanket and comfort, it feels awkward to have to let them go - and Frances Kuffell tells of that feeling so well, and so eloquently.
19. Even Cowgirls Get The Blues - Tom Robbins
It's Tom Robbins. He's crazy, quirky, the book is not the easiest read - but it has its share of fun, outrageous characters. Also, after the debacle that was this book being turned into a film - there's no chance of any other Tom Robbins novels being translated into films anytime soon.
20. Killed - Great Journalism Too Hot To Print - David Wallis, ed.
Censorship in journalism - from George Orwell to P.J. O'Rourke. Whether it's an article about Dr. Strangelove, The Body Shop's less-than-ethical ways, or a scathing review of Mitch Albom's The Five People You Meet In Heaven ... these are stories that didn't see the light of day - until now - because editors were afraid to print such controversial matter.
thebookyoucrew the other day. Ultimately, I was rejected - but I at least tried. :) Mainly I wanted to try and join because it was killing me to see people mis-spell the titles and authors of their favorite books ... Dumbliners by James Joyce stands out as a classic, also, authors such as Jonathan Heller (he wrote Catch-22 y'know), and Herman Woux.
Best yet - The Outsiders, written by C. Thomas Howell. (S. E. Hinton is having a conniption as I write this ... heh)
Since they'd been encountering a recent deluge of trolls and highly defensive sorts that got bitchy and easily rankled when a NO vote came down, I thought it best to be myself - and be respectful.
With that, I give you my list - along with a brief explanation of why the book made my cut:
1. And The Band Played On - Randy Shilts.
I've read this book (about the beginnings of HIV/AIDS in the gay community) an obscene number of times - usually a few times a year, because that's how engrossing it was.
2. The Giving Tree - Shel Silverstein
Most people read this (or had it read to them) as a child. I didn't read it until I was in college - and then, I did, because it was a Challenged Book. Challenged because certain groups thought it was sexist. Being a feminist, I went against that mindset, and actually liked the metaphor of the tree as a parental/maternal figure - giving to the boy until she could give no more, just like our mothers do.
3. The Botany of Desire - Michael Pollan
I was prompted to read this book after reading an interview with him in the San Francisco Chronicle magazine. The book is quite interesting, offering discussions of plants in our lives - Apples, Potatoes, Marijuana - and how each one affects a different aspect of desire.
4. Noonday Demon - Andrew Solomon
Very well-written book on depression from a first-person perspective. Solomon talks openly and realisticly about what it's like to live with the Noonday Demon shadowing your every move.
5. Beauty Outlaws (formerly Adíos Barbie) - Ophira Edut, ed.
This was an incredible book, filled with stories from women of all walks of life, sharing their experiences - whether its in attempting to lose weight, gain weight, stop shaving to become a "better" feminist, becoming a woman (one writer is a transwoman), or living life as a happily married bisexual - the stories are smart, moving, witty and at times, very poignant.
6. Closet Case - Robert Rodi
My first exposure to Queer Lit as I know it. I was 20 years old, and my life was never the same. :)
7. I'm Just Here For The Food - Alton Brown
Alton Brown. Need I say more? Okay ... so I can say more. AB has put together a great cookbook, that breaks the mold by offering more than just recipes. He offers the science behind how and why food cooks - what happens when it's cooking. Also, the recipes are really good.
8. Inferno - Dante
One of my first forays into reading The Classics. It's a very good book, and as dumb as it may sound, the "circle of hell" comments people make, now make more sense.
9. The Handmaid's Tale - Margaret Atwood
I'm not the biggest SciFi fan, so this is about as close as I'd get in that regard. It's hardly prescient ... but give it another 30 - 40 years, and we could risk seeing women divided into classes, with lower-class women being regarded as subliterate handmaids, whose only purposes are to be the housekeeper and breeder for a more well-off family - and just as was the case for slaves in the 19th century, you'd be stripped of your own identity, only to be re-named "Ofjohn" or "Ofbrian" - identifying you as being property Of John or Of Brian, mere chattel.
10. Seeing Voices - Oliver Sacks
An excellent book about Deaf culture in America - from Martha's Vineyard in the Colonial Era, when inbreeding (to keep bloodlines pure, it was believed) resulted in deafness, to the Deaf Prez Now protests at Gallaudet University (a University for the Deaf in Washington, D.C.), when students stood up and demanded a deaf president - which they did get, when I. King Jordan took office.
11. Great Tales and Poems of Edgar Allan Poe
Long before Stephen King and Tannanarive Due were scaring the pants off their readers, Edgar Allan Poe was succeeding in doing so with stories like "Fall of the House of Usher", "Cask of Amontillado", "The Tell-Tale Heart" and to some extent, "The Raven".
12. Eats, Shoots & Leaves - Lynne Truss
Excellent reading - even if Ms. Truss seems to backslide into "do as I say - not as I do" territory.
13. Fast Food Nation - Eric Schlosser
This book may be responsible for converting more people to vegetarianism than anything PETA could ever hope to do. At the least, it has made readers more cognizant of what goes into their meat - as well as their fast food.
14. Backlash - Susan Faludi
One of the books that gave me the impetus to call myself that dreaded F-word: Feminist. This book admitted that the 2nd Wave Feminists burned a lot of bridges, and turned a lot of women off to the idea of feminism.
15. Monster - Sanyika Shakur (né Kody Scott)
Before reading this book, all I'd known of gangs was what I'd heard in the news, and what I'd seen in the film Colors. After reading this book, my sheltered midwestern white girl's existence was rocked. The book was disturbing and scary - it was unreal to read Shakur's stories of removing a cast from his shooting arm while in prison, so he could take out a rival gangster after being released.
16. Sexwise - Susie Bright
I love this woman. She's sexy, incisive, funny - and you've gotta love any book that includes an essay called "Dan Quayle's Dick".
17. Think Pink - Lynn Peril
I am a junkie for anything vintage or classic - I love reading old advice guides for teens, anything of that ilk. Lynn Peril's book takes advertising and advice guides from the '40s to the '70s - all directed at females - and dissects the hell out of them.
18. Passing For Thin - Frances Kuffell
I got this book because it tells the story of a woman that has lost over half her body weight - and how it felt for her to have to make the transition from the "Fat World", where she'd existed since childhood - her weight being over 330 lbs. at its highest, to the "Girl World", where every other girl exists - and where she is now. When your weight and body have become a security blanket and comfort, it feels awkward to have to let them go - and Frances Kuffell tells of that feeling so well, and so eloquently.
19. Even Cowgirls Get The Blues - Tom Robbins
It's Tom Robbins. He's crazy, quirky, the book is not the easiest read - but it has its share of fun, outrageous characters. Also, after the debacle that was this book being turned into a film - there's no chance of any other Tom Robbins novels being translated into films anytime soon.
20. Killed - Great Journalism Too Hot To Print - David Wallis, ed.
Censorship in journalism - from George Orwell to P.J. O'Rourke. Whether it's an article about Dr. Strangelove, The Body Shop's less-than-ethical ways, or a scathing review of Mitch Albom's The Five People You Meet In Heaven ... these are stories that didn't see the light of day - until now - because editors were afraid to print such controversial matter.
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2004-08-20 11:59 am (UTC)Ya know, i really hate it when authors star in movie adaptations of their books. *rolleyes*
no subject
Date: 2004-08-20 03:42 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-08-20 12:08 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-08-20 03:43 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-08-20 06:11 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-08-20 12:20 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-08-20 03:44 pm (UTC)I did okay.
no subject
Date: 2004-08-20 04:18 pm (UTC)Now this post is just for showing off my cool new Red Hot Chili Peppers icon. Hehehe
no subject
Date: 2004-08-20 05:43 pm (UTC)