me like books

I like books.  I love to read.  I used to love my job because it allowed me to focus on books and the love of reading.  I don’t get to do that for my job anymore for reasons that would get me fired for expressing publicly.  So, I will post my book thoughts on my blog. 

What's the best book I've read recently?

Defending Jacob is still stuck in my head from last spring.  It raises a lot of interesting questions.  How well to parents really know their children?  If I was a parent with a disturbed kid, what is my obligation to protect that kid?  What is my obligation to protect society?  If Jacob had been allowed to grow up, he would have turned into the psycho in Gone Girl.  Lots of crazy in these last two book club selections.

What's the best book I've read ever?   Let’s continue the list:

1)      I have to mention the Outlander series by Diana Gabaldon again.   In fact, I am currently re-reading the series in preparation for the upcoming television series.  Say it with me, people:  This series better not suck.  Part of me is excited that something I enjoy so much is about to be shown to a lot of people.  Part of me is worried other people won't love it as much as I do.  I think that's why I never really told people about the books.  Aside from the fact that they're very difficult to explain, I think I would be upset if someone else didn't love it as much as I did.

2)       I know it's corny, but I love the Little House on the Prairie series.  I've read the original books.  I've read some of the new series.  I've watched the TV show more times than I can count.  I think my affection for Anne of Green Gables stems from a similar place. There is something about that simpler time that is appealing.

3)       I have always loved Star Wars.  Not the newest trilogy.  The original, 1977/1980/1983 movies.  From that, Timothy Zahn wrote a series that picks up after Return of the Jedi.  Heir to the Empire is fantastic, and he reinvigorated the franchise's novels, in my humble book geek opinion.  There have been many series spun off from what Zahn started.  Disney takes the reigns of Star Wars soon.  Say it with me:  If the Mouse screws up my childhood, I'll be upset.

4)      For fear of my English degree going up in flames, I am almost ashamed to admit that I love, love, love Janet Evanovich’s Stephanie Plum novels.  They are pedestrian.  They are total intellectual comfort food.  They are silly.  They are goofy.  They are formula.  They are the baggy sweatshirt and pajama pants that I wear on the weekends.  I love them.  I laugh out loud every time I read one.  I read five of them in eight days.  She is a bounty hunter the way I would be a bounty hunter.  Very "trample the weak, hurdle the dead."  None of us are really bad-asses.  We're all just getting by.  Her other novels show hints of the same elements, but they can't compete with Stephanie Plum. 

Dumb as a box of hair

How difficult is it to follow instructions? 

I felt like a previous failed co-worker might be due to my inability to explain things.  Maybe I assumed too much prior knowledge.  Maybe I assumed too much common sense. 

So, now I over-explain things.  The current failed co-worker ignores things and then wonders why I have to either do them over, or why things work for him and not me.

That lock on the drawer?  Know why it doesn't always lock or unlock?  Because you keep using the wrong key.  How many times do I tell you?

The sticker gun doesn't work?  Then stop taking it apart.  If I load it, leave it alone.  You've obviously shown you can't figure it out, so leave it alone.

The network printers?  Don't turn them off.  When I tell you not to turn them off during testing, don't turn them off during testing.  When I tell you to take out the cartridge so people can't print during testing, take the cartridge out so people can't print during testing.

When I tell you not to eat at your desk, don't eat at your desk.  Not only are you attracting rodents and insects, half a dozen people ask me what you do all day because they only see you stuffing your face.

Can't find a teaching job?  Try passing a content area test.

Good.

Lord.

Banned Book Week

Ok, so I guess it is Banned Book Week.

I was looking at a feature in the paper highlighting books challenged or banned in (I assume) school libraries.

If you didn't like a book simply because you didn't like it (boring, stupid story, too long, too short, bad writing), you would simply return it and move on with your life.  

If it offends your sensibilities, return it.  Move on.

I am more offended that you think your beliefs are more important than mine, and that you should be allowed to inflict your views on others.

Just turn it in, and move on. 

Captain dog sez,  "It Has Been Too Long Since My Human Has Blogged."

What's the best book I've read recently?

It might have to be Defending Jacob by William Landay.  I don't really have any compelling reason other than it was a mystery that I couldn't figure out within the first 50 pages.  I chose it for book club because (I believe) it is on the Texas Library Association's Lariat reading list.  That's a list of good books for adults.  They have lists for every reading level from age 2 through high school, and this Lariat list is a recent, welcome addition.  I know a room full of librarians discussed it and deemed it worthy, so I chose it for book club. 

It has been creeping us out all summer.  It is even interfering with our current selection, Gillian Flynn's Gone Girl.

What's the best book I've read ever? 

That's a tough call.  In order for me to consider it superlative, it has to be engaging.  When I think about what I look for in a book, it really boils down to my level of engagement.  Huh.  Amazing that years of analysis lead to that simple declaration:  I like books that are interesting to me.

Now, how or why is a book interesting to me? 

I guess I can briefly analyze a couple of my favorites.

1)  Margaret George's The Autobiography of Henry VIII:  With Notes by His Fool, Will Somers started me down the road of massive historical fiction tomes.  I'm not really sure why.  I only took enough history as an undergraduate to fulfill my degree requirements, and I took those classes in the backwater of junior college.  I can say I remember not a bit of the content of the class beyond having the same professor for both classes. 

But, reading history because you want to is very different from reading history because you have to.  Of course, I had heard of Henry VIII.  I had heard of Katherine of Aragon (but more from studying Spanish than history).  I have a pulse.  I am aware of the world.

Tudor England wasn't interesting to me until I read this novel.  Yes, the title suggests nonfiction, but it is a novel.  It is fan-flippin'-tastic, and it started mild obsession about 10 years ago.

2)  Outlander series by Diana Gabaldon is the definition of compelling.  It is one of the few books/series that I can reread.  It has a little bit of history, but at its core is an interesting story.  Maybe not entirely original in that it is a boy meets girl, boy marries girl story.  But, it is original in its setting and its machinations.  There is time travel.  There are magic stone circles.  There is historic context and conflicts.  It is not without its flaws, but it is pretty darn interesting.

I guess I could go on and on, but this gives me a reason to come back sooner :).