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Moab is My Washpot
Moab is My Washpot (audio) by Stephen Fry Published: 1997 Narrated by: Stephen Fry I’ve read a few articles here and there of Stephen Fry’s, but this is the first of his actual books, fiction or non-fiction, that I’ve read. Even so, I knew I was going to love it going in, as I’m already a huge fan of his. I’ve spent countless hours watching his comedy, documentaries, and interviews, and I can easily spend an evening listening to him give his opinions on any topic. He uses language in a way that can elevate fart jokes to fine art. This is his autobiography, covering the first twenty years of…
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As I Lay Dying
As I Lay Dying by William Faulkner Published: 1930 I tried to read this once before, but I eventually gave up after some confusion. I had the same issues this time around to begin with, but I decided to persevere. The plot is fairly simple, actually. It’s set in the fictional county of Yoknapatawpha, Mississippi, and it follows the family of newly deceased Addie Bundren as they try to uphold her wish to be buried in the town of Jefferson. Never has a book been so simple and yet so bloody confusing. The plot is straight-forward, and the writing isn’t too hard to follow, especially compared to some other stream-of-consciousness…
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Nineteen Eighty-Four
Nineteen Eighty-Four (audio) by George Orwell Published: 1949 Narrated by: Samuel West This novel has haunted me since high school. Even if I didn’t tend to bother with homework, I still always enjoyed my assigned readings, but for some reason I managed to only read half of this. I’ve been meaning to return to it for over a decade now, and I’m very glad I finally did. I have the 2012 Back to the Classics Challenge to thank for the extra push! I loved this a lot more than I thought I would. I knew I’d enjoy it, and it would be good for me to read, but I didn’t…
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The Dresden Files #1: Storm Front
Storm Front by Jim Butcher Published: 2000 Harry Dresden is a wizard and a private investigator living in modern-day Chicago. That’s all you really need to know about this, to be honest. It’s a pretty great concept. He finds himself under suspicion for the string of murders he’s been asked to investigate and needs to find the killer to prove his innocence. I had heard this described as Philip Marlowe with magic, but I’d probably describe it more as Veronica Mars with magic. Still fun, but Chandler’s hard to live up to. I will say I was interested throughout the entire story, and I do really like the world he’s…
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The Sign of Four
The Sign of Four by Arthur Conan Doyle Published: 1890 This is the second of four Sherlock Holmes novels. The only one I’d read previously was the third, The Hound of the Baskervilles, so it appears I’ll be reading these in the most bizarre order I can manage. This does make a few references to A Study in Scarlet, I believe, but it doesn’t seem like the order in the series matters all that much. After annually receiving a mysterious and incredibly valuable pearl in the mail for the past six years, Mary Morstan was delivered a letter asking her to finally meet the unknown sender. He had some information…
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Beyond Religion: Ethics for a Whole World
Beyond Religion: Ethics for a Whole World (audio) by Dalai Lama XIV Published: 2011 Narrator: Martin Sheen I really like the Dalai Lama. I never thought I would, to be honest, but the more I read from him the more I see he’s someone with a real grounding in reality and science. I suppose my vision of him has been skewed somewhat by middle-class, new-agey white folk selling cancer-healing crystals at $60 a pop, but there’s definitely sincerity and real intelligence behind his advice. […] as the peoples of the world become ever more closely interconnected in an age of globalization and in multicultural societies, ethics based in any one…
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Hogfather (Discworld #20)
Hogfather by Terry Pratchett Published: 1996 This is the 20th Discworld novel, and in it the Hogfather has gone missing. It’s absolutely imperative that the children get their presents on Hogswatch morning, so Death takes up the mantle (or in this case, the red and white suit stuffed with a pillow). The fate of the Discworld may depend on him. I always forget how much I love Terry Pratchett, and then I finally get around to reading another of his books, and I LOVE TERRY PRATCHETT. I thought I only read the beginning of Hogfather in high school, but about 200 pages in I finally realized I’d already read the…
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A Christmas Carol
A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens Published: 1843 Narration: Tim Curry I expected to read a lot during the holidays. I was visiting my hometown, where I only really keep in touch with one friend, and I figured I’d be able to blast through quite a few books during my downtime, considering all of my time would be down. Unfortunately, I become obsessed with achieving Steam holiday objectives and barely read at all. I did get through a couple of books, though, and A Christmas Carol was one of them. I grew up watching the Alastair Sim version of A Christmas Carol nearly every year with my dad. It’s the…
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Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas
Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas by Hunter S. Thompson Published: 1971 I must have watched this movie half a dozen times in my last year of high school, against my will. I enjoyed it at first, but enough is enough you stoner high-schoolers. We don’t need to watch this at every social gathering. It’s been over a decade now, so I felt it was safe to have a peek at the novel. I actually don’t remember much of the movie anymore (somehow), and I went in thinking this was entirely fiction. After reading the Wikipedia page just now, I see that it’s actually an autobiographical account of two seperate…
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Snow Crash
Snow Crash (audio) by Neal Stephenson Published: 1992 Narrator: Jonathon Davis Hiro Protagonist, a sword-wielding hacker, and Y.T., a 15-year-old skateboarding courier, struggle to stop the spread of Snow Crash, a digitally and visually transmitted…ancient herpes…from space. This book is a staple in geek culture. People just love it, and in a way I can see why. The technology described in Snow Crash was way ahead of its time. It was published before the first graphical web browser was even invented and managed to describe what would eventually become Google Earth. It also features an internationally networked virtual environment accessed through the use of a headset, a trope that is…