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Bossypants
Bossypants by Tina Fey Published: 2011 Narrated by: Tina Fey I started watching 30 Rock this last fall (I’m way behind, I know), and as everyone probably does after they start watching, I’ve become obsessed with Tina Fey. I’d heard rave reviews of her new book, the audio version of which was nominated for a Grammy, so I knew I had to read it. To say I’m an overrated troll, when you have never even seen me guard a bridge, is patently unfair. It’s a fairly quick tour through her life, keeping it fun and humourous. It begins in her younger years, growing up awkward, and continues through to her…
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Work vs Play
Tom said to himself that it was not such a hollow world, after all. He had discovered a great law of human action, without knowing it – namely, that in order to make a man or a boy covet a thing, it is only necessary to make the thing difficult to attain. If he had been a great and wise philosopher, like the writer of this book, he would now have comprehended that Work consists of whatever a body is obliged to do, and that Play consists of whatever a body is not obliged to do. And this would help him to understand why constructing artificial flowers or performing on…
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The Adventures of Tom Sawyer
The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain Published: 1876 Narrated by: Patrick Fraley Apart from an abridged version of his Mediterranean travel memoir, I hadn’t read anything by Mark Twain before this. He wasn’t part of the curriculum in my high school, which is a bit of a shame as it would be a great novel to encourage kids to read. Although my book is intended mainly for the entertainment of boys and girls, I hope it will not be shunned by men and women on that account, for part of my plan has been to try to pleasantly remind adults of what they once were themselves, and of…
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The Postman
The Postman by David Brin Published: 1985 Narrated By: David LeDoux I know most people seem to have hated Kevin Costner’s adaptation of The Postman, but I remember really loving that film. I hadn’t realized it was based on a novel by David Brin. The setting and the main characters are similar, but the stories turned out to be quite different. The story takes place in our world, but after it’s been ruined by nuclear war. This left all technology disabled and all society scrambling. Gordon Krantz is just trying to survive, traveling from town to town and acting out scenes from Shakespeare for food and supplies. He stumbles across…
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Hello world!
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Weird Things Customers Say in Bookshops
Weird Things Customers Say in Bookshops by Jen Campbell Published: 2012 I got this for Christmas, and I had planned to read a few pages here and there over the next month, but I ended up reading it in one sitting. I’d seen it written about throughout the year and was excited to get my hands on it. I love both bookstores and laughing at people, so it’s really a perfect fit. Jen Campbell worked in a bookstore for many years, and decided one day to start quoting some of the bizarre things she kept hearing on her blog. She also posted quotes sent in from other bookstore employees. Eventually…
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Bill Bryson’s African Diary
Bill Bryson’s African Diary by Bill Bryson Published: 2002 I felt a bit guilty picking this up at a used book sale, as the full cost of the book is donated to CARE International when you buy it new, but I’ve donated to a few charities this year. My karma is intact. Stop judging me. To help spread awareness for the organization, Bryson was asked to visit their facilities in Kenya and tour Kibera, the second largest urban slum in Africa, and this is his diary of the trip. The organization works with local communities to try and provide relief for these areas. What he sees is the kind of…
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Ghost in the Wires
Ghost in the Wires: My Adventures as the World’s Most Wanted Hacker by Kevin D. Mitnick Published: 2011 Narrated by: Ray Porter If you were a geek in the 90s, you probably remember seeing Free Kevin plastered randomly throughout the web. This was in protest of Kevin Mitnick’s overblown charges when he was finally arrested for his computer crimes after a several year run from the FBI. I didn’t really know the story of how it all went down, so I picked up his recent autobiography. The begins in Kevin’s childhood as he steals a sheet of blank bus transfers and writes his own tickets, allowing him to roam the…
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The Death of Socrates
The Death of Socrates, Jacques-Louis David (1787) Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
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2012
This was my first full year writing here, so I get to do a proper wrap-up this time around! The Blog I honestly thought I’d get sick of this by now, but here we are a year and a half in. I’ve read more since starting, and it’s forced me to sit and think about what I’ve read before moving on. I’ve also found myself reading books I otherwise might not have picked up, and my attitude towards the classics have shifted from feeling like I need to read them to genuinely wanting to read them, so it’s actually become a rewarding hobby. As far as new things to come,…