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August 27
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Mark
is currently reading:
Conan of Cimmeria: The Coming of Conan the Cimmerian (Book 1)
by Robert E. Howard
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Mark
is currently reading:
The Tibetan Yogas of Dream and Sleep (Paperback)
by Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche
bookshelves:
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my rating:
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Mark
gave
to:
The Legend Of Sleepy Hollow And Other Selections From Washington Irving (Hardcover)
by Fox
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my rating:
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read in August, 2008
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July 30
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Mark
gave
to:
Bad Haircut: Stories of the Seventies (Paperback)
by Tom Perrotta
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Mark said:
""Bad Haircut" is an excellent collection of stories, ten in total, by Tom Perrotta. Each story is around twenty pages and each takes place in the seventies, during the childhood and teenage years of one protagonist, "Buddy".
...more
"Bad Haircut" is an excellent collection of stories, ten in total, by Tom Perrotta. Each story is around twenty pages and each takes place in the seventies, during the childhood and teenage years of one protagonist, "Buddy".
The stories are written in an autobiographical manner, in the same easy, dialogue-heavy prose in which Perrotta writes his novels.
While this collection doesn't quite match the emotion and humor of his novels, it is very entertaining and fast reading. Some of the stories are humorous, some are more serious, and all contain elements of comedy and drama. ...less
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August 08
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Mark
gave
to:
Riding the Rap (Paperback)
by Elmore Leonard
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my rating:
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read in August, 2008
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July 25
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Mark
gave
to:
Sri Isopanisad (Hardcover)
by A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami
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my rating:
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Mark said:
"The four-star rating here is kind of random. I'm not sure how one goes about assigning a star rating to a religious text, so four seems as good as any number.
This book was given to me by someone who follows the teachings of Krsna as a general in...more
The four-star rating here is kind of random. I'm not sure how one goes about assigning a star rating to a religious text, so four seems as good as any number.
This book was given to me by someone who follows the teachings of Krsna as a general introduction to Krsna Consciousness. It is a very quick read, complete with a glossary and a guide for pronunciation of Sanskrit words, and I would certainly recommend it to anyone curious about Krsna Consciousness....less
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July 21
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Mark
gave
to:
Youth in Revolt: The Journals of Nick Twisp : Volumes I, Ii, Ii/Youth in Revolt/Youth in Bondage/Youth in Exile (Hardcover)
by C.D. Payne
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read in July, 2008
Mark said:
""Youth In Revolt" consists of three fictional books, "Youth In Revolt," "Youth In Bondage," and "Youth In Exhale," though I don't believe they were ever published separately. There were, I'm informed, some sec...more
"Youth In Revolt" consists of three fictional books, "Youth In Revolt," "Youth In Bondage," and "Youth In Exhale," though I don't believe they were ever published separately. There were, I'm informed, some sections trimmed from each book, however (available in a separate volume), and thank Christ for THAT. The first hundred, hundred-fifty--OK, first BOOK--is rather enjoyable, entertaining, and very clever. But for me, it became very repetitive and unentertaining after that point.
Part of the problem--a huge part of it--is the unlikeable nature of the main character, Nick Twisp. The entire five-hundred-page book is made up of journals taken from a time period of about six months, July to New Year's. He's funny, to be certain, and the satire and social insights in C.D. Payne's writing are not lost on me, but his routine gets tiring rather quickly.
Nick's focus is on a girl he meets at the beginning of the story, Sheeni Saunders, who is actually even more obnoxious and unlikeable than Nick, which is no small feat. Nick's attempts at winning Sheeni over are met with all sorts of whacky opposition, including his parents and other relatives, one-note and occasionally annoying friends, the FBI, the police, various teachers, etc. Don't get me wrong, there are some really good scenes in this book, and as I said, the first third is rather good; it just all gets very tiring after a while.
I'm sure it's possible to write a novel with an unlikeable kid such as Nick Twisp as the main character, but there was nothing particulary compelling about the story or any of the other characters, and certainly not in the writing style itself, that would provide something else of interest.
Of course, everybody and their brother seems to love this book, and Michael Cera and Steve Buscemi are starring in a film version, so maybe I'm just completely off on this one. Either way, I wish they'd put each "Book" out on its own. And if they had, I'd have picked up the first one, enjoyed it, and likely never read the others....less
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June 20
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Mark
gave
to:
Joe College (Hardcover)
by Tom Perrotta
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my rating:
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read in June, 2008
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June 16
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Mark
gave
to:
Cell (Paperback)
by Stephen King
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my rating:
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read in June, 2008
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May 27
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Mark
gave
to:
The Abstinence Teacher (Hardcover)
by Tom Perrotta
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my rating:
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read in May, 2008
Mark said:
"Tom Perrotta's books are the kind that, as cliche as it sounds, I can't put down. I'll relax in my chair, ready to play video games or shut my eyes for a bit, or watch a movie, and see the book sitting there on my desk, and open that instead, and st...more
Tom Perrotta's books are the kind that, as cliche as it sounds, I can't put down. I'll relax in my chair, ready to play video games or shut my eyes for a bit, or watch a movie, and see the book sitting there on my desk, and open that instead, and stay up past my normal bedtime, in order to keep reading.
The teacher the title references is a woman in her early forties, a Health teacher, who is forced to take on a newly-begun Sex Ed program which comes from a fundamentalist, right-wing group, and which emphasizes abstinence. She begins to develop feelings for her daughter's soccer coach around the same time--until she finds him conducting a group prayer with the entire team, after a game.
The book isn't a political or social study about fundamentalist Christianity vs. the modern American school system, though obviously that is one of the main subjects. As with Perrotta's other books which deal with social issues, the characters are at the center of attention. The soccer coach is treated just as respectfully as the Sex Ed teacher, and they find they have quite a lot in common, though possibly not enough to get past their extreme ideological differences.
After finishing "The Abstinence Teacher," I ordered the other two Perrotta books that I haven't read, and am definitely looking forward to getting them in the mail to read immediately....less
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I want to apologize for the all the recommendations from me today. I only pressed the send button once--I'm not sure what happened.
