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Sep. 30th, 2010 03:19 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
snogged[Poll #1626020]
Voluntary Madness: Vincent's first trip to a mental institution—to which the writing of Self-Made Man drove her—convinced her that further immersion would give her great material for a follow-up. The grand tour consists of voluntary commitments to a hospital mental ward, a small private facility and a boutique facility; but Vincent's efforts to make a big statement about the state of mental health treatment quickly give way to a more personal journey.
Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance: Phaedrus, our narrator, takes a present-tense cross-country motorcycle trip with his son during which the maintenance of the motorcycle becomes an illustration of how we can unify the cold, rational realm of technology with the warm, imaginative realm of artistry. As in Zen, the trick is to become one with the activity, to engage in it fully, to see and appreciate all details--be it hiking in the woods, penning an essay, or tightening the chain on a motorcycle.
Yakuza Moon: Tendo, the daughter of a yakuza (mob) boss, grew up in 1970s and '80s Japan, living through the booms and busts of life on the wrong side of the law. Her first published work, Shoko uses unpracticed but appropriately blunt prose to memoir her exceedingly arduous life; readers will appreciate her restrained but powerful details, especially during some of the harsher scenes. From age 12 onwards, Shoko's life was enveloped in drug addiction, poverty, psychological and sexual abuse, miscarriage, attempted suicide and the deaths of many close family members, set against a backdrop of Japan's ultra-secretive yakuza society. Admiration and a detached style keep Tendo from exploring any resentment she might harbor toward her criminal father, which may prove off-putting for some, but feels entirely honest given the emotional trauma Tendo suffers, and is as revealing for what it includes as for what it doesn't. Emotionally complex and thoroughly heart-rending, this book is recommended for anyone searching for a more thorough and personal understanding of Japanese society, and its darker corners, than is offered by more popular Japanese imports (movies, comic books) featuring similar subject matter.
Dead In The Family: Sookie Stackhouse struggles with paranormal politics in her entertaining if slow-moving 10th outing. When Claudine's triplet, Claude, appears at her doorstep, Sookie reluctantly allows him to move in. The government threatens two-natures with mandatory registration, and tensions run high in the local Were pack. Then Eric's maker, a Roman named Appius Livius Ocella, arrives without warning, bringing along Alexei Romanov, whom he rescued from the Bolsheviks and turned into a vampire. Though the action often builds too slowly, the exploration of family in its many human and undead variations is intriguing, and Harris delivers her usual mix of eccentric characters and engaging subplots.
Voluntary Madness: Vincent's first trip to a mental institution—to which the writing of Self-Made Man drove her—convinced her that further immersion would give her great material for a follow-up. The grand tour consists of voluntary commitments to a hospital mental ward, a small private facility and a boutique facility; but Vincent's efforts to make a big statement about the state of mental health treatment quickly give way to a more personal journey.
Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance: Phaedrus, our narrator, takes a present-tense cross-country motorcycle trip with his son during which the maintenance of the motorcycle becomes an illustration of how we can unify the cold, rational realm of technology with the warm, imaginative realm of artistry. As in Zen, the trick is to become one with the activity, to engage in it fully, to see and appreciate all details--be it hiking in the woods, penning an essay, or tightening the chain on a motorcycle.
Yakuza Moon: Tendo, the daughter of a yakuza (mob) boss, grew up in 1970s and '80s Japan, living through the booms and busts of life on the wrong side of the law. Her first published work, Shoko uses unpracticed but appropriately blunt prose to memoir her exceedingly arduous life; readers will appreciate her restrained but powerful details, especially during some of the harsher scenes. From age 12 onwards, Shoko's life was enveloped in drug addiction, poverty, psychological and sexual abuse, miscarriage, attempted suicide and the deaths of many close family members, set against a backdrop of Japan's ultra-secretive yakuza society. Admiration and a detached style keep Tendo from exploring any resentment she might harbor toward her criminal father, which may prove off-putting for some, but feels entirely honest given the emotional trauma Tendo suffers, and is as revealing for what it includes as for what it doesn't. Emotionally complex and thoroughly heart-rending, this book is recommended for anyone searching for a more thorough and personal understanding of Japanese society, and its darker corners, than is offered by more popular Japanese imports (movies, comic books) featuring similar subject matter.
Dead In The Family: Sookie Stackhouse struggles with paranormal politics in her entertaining if slow-moving 10th outing. When Claudine's triplet, Claude, appears at her doorstep, Sookie reluctantly allows him to move in. The government threatens two-natures with mandatory registration, and tensions run high in the local Were pack. Then Eric's maker, a Roman named Appius Livius Ocella, arrives without warning, bringing along Alexei Romanov, whom he rescued from the Bolsheviks and turned into a vampire. Though the action often builds too slowly, the exploration of family in its many human and undead variations is intriguing, and Harris delivers her usual mix of eccentric characters and engaging subplots.
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no subject
on 2010-09-30 08:25 pm (UTC)no subject
on 2010-10-01 01:56 pm (UTC)no subject
on 2010-09-30 08:42 pm (UTC)no subject
on 2010-10-01 02:04 pm (UTC)What's it about?
no subject
on 2010-10-01 06:32 pm (UTC)no subject
on 2010-09-30 09:22 pm (UTC)no subject
on 2010-10-01 02:07 pm (UTC)Tell me why it rocks?
no subject
on 2010-10-01 03:14 pm (UTC)It's a book about a history student and a physics professor teaming up to go back in time and prevent Hitler's birth.
It rocks because it's so funny.It's the most perfect satire on university life I've ever seen.
no subject
on 2010-09-30 09:35 pm (UTC)Right now I've been reading:
Transition by Iain M Banks (Sci fi)
- Weird, not a linear narrative. I thought it was good.
Vanish by Tess Gerittsen (A Rizzoli and Isles book)
- sort of about the sex-slave trade in the USA but in a thriller. Quite good if you like that sort of thing.
Killing Floor by Lee Child (A Jack Reacher book)
- Not sure I like it really, but hubby got me to read it. It's a very boy-book. :-)
no subject
on 2010-10-01 02:16 pm (UTC)no subject
on 2010-09-30 10:50 pm (UTC)no subject
on 2010-10-01 02:17 pm (UTC)no subject
on 2010-10-01 02:54 pm (UTC)no subject
on 2010-09-30 11:06 pm (UTC)Do you like mystery's?
no subject
on 2010-10-01 02:16 pm (UTC)And yes, I like mysteries.
no subject
on 2010-10-01 04:56 pm (UTC)Umm...Julie Kramer is a Minnesota author who just had her third book published. I like her books, but then again, I'm biased cause she's from MN. :)
She's on FB if you want to look her up.
no subject
on 2010-10-01 03:20 am (UTC)no subject
on 2010-10-01 02:17 pm (UTC)Still...Nick constantly pushes me to read it so I at least want to try sometime...even if it is only 50 pages.