Reading List: Winter 2008

Here's what I read Winter Term (January-May). A lot less than expected considering I had internet for the nearly the entire time unlike the summer. Then again, there's a lot more comics bloating it to mass.

the golden age*, james robinson and paul smith
all-star superman vol.1*, grant morrison and frank quitely
catch-22, joseph heller
superman: whatever happened to the man of tomorrow?*, alan moore and curt swan
batman: year one*, frank miller
batman: the dark knight strikes again*, frank miller
jla: earth 2*, grant morrison and frank quitely
y the last man vol.1: unmanned*, brian k. vaughan and pia guerra
y the last man vol.2: cycles*, brian k. vaughan and pia guerra
y the last man vol.3: one small step*, brian k. vaughan and pia guerra
y the last man vol.4: safeword*, brian k. vaughan and pia guerra
y the last man vol.5: ring of truth*, brian k. vaughan and pia guerra
y the last man vol.6: girl on girl*, brian k. vaughan and pia guerra
jla/jsa: virtue and vice*, david goyer and geoff johns and carlos pacheco
catwoman: the dark end of the street*, ed brubaker and darwyn cooke and mike allred
special topics in calamity physics, marisha pessl
crisis on infinite earths*, marv wolfman and george perez
extremely loud & incredibly close, jonathan safran foer
u.s. war machine*, chuck austen
chronicles: volume one, bob dylan
the age of reason, jean-paul sartre
the outsider, albert camus
preacher book 1: gone to texas*, garth ennis and steve dillon
preacher book 2: until the end of the world*, garth ennis and steve dillon
preacher book 3: proud americans*, garth ennis and steve dillon
preacher book 4: ancient history*, garth ennis
preacher book 5: dixie fried*, garth ennis and steve dillon
preacher book 6: war in the sun*, garth ennis and steve dillon
preacher book 7: salvation*, garth ennis and steve dillon

*comic books

Chapter Headings II: Special Topics in Calamity Physics

#1: Othello
#2: A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man
#3: Wuthering Heights
#4: The House of the Seven Gables
#5: The Woman in White
#6: Brave New World
#7: Les Liaisons Dangereuses
#8: Madame Bovary
#9: Pygmalion
#10: The Mysterious Affair at Styles
#11: Moby-Dick
#12: A Moveable Feast
#13: Women in Love
#14: The Housebreaker of Shady Hill
#15: Sweet Bird of Youth
#16: Laughter in the Dark
#17: The Sleeping Beauty and Other Fairy Tales
#18: A Room with a View
#19: Howl and Other Poems
#20: The Taming of the Shrew
#21: Deliverance
#22: Heart of Darkness
#23: One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest
#24: One Hundred Years of Solitude
#25: Bleak House
#26: The Big Sleep
#27: Justine
#28: Quer Pasticciaccio Brutto de Via Merulana
#29: Things Fall Apart
#30: The Nocturnal Conspiracy
#31: Che Guevara Talks to Young People
#32: Good Country People
#33: The Trial
#34: Paradise Lost
#35: The Secret Garden
#36: Metamorphoses

Authors: Marisha Pessl

"Marisha Pessl grew up in Asheville, North Carolina, and now lives in New York City. Special Topics in Calamity Physics, her debut novel, won the 2006 John Sargent Sr. First Novel Prize."
If all authors were as smoking hot as Marisha Pessl, I would read more books. And by read more books, I mean stare intently at the back cover for hours on end, and cease being a functional human being.

Putting a Good Book Down

I've been reading the Iliad.

I can't take it any more at the moment. I'm going to take a break. I realize at this point, that while there are parts that I like, I'm just reading it for tone. No plot, character, even dialogue is getting through.

Sadly, I've come to realize it's going to be one of those books I admire and respect, but can't love. And I do admire and respect. It's got an amazing structure, for one.

But the thing is, I thought the Odyssey was amazing. It actually touched me. I'll write how it touched me some other time, but...

The Iliad... this is my second go at reading it. I first read the first 8 books back in September/October for a course before abandoning it as unneeded to get by. Now 8 more books. So I do plan on reading those last 8 books, just not at the moment.

Next in the queue, though, is Marisha Pessl's Special Topics in Calamity Physics; should be much more palpable. I can already taste the palp.