Tim Learn's Blog
January 30, 2019
January 2019
God damn! I burst into it this year on the o...
January 2019
God damn! I burst into it this year on the other end. Last year I trounced 15 books my first month for my largest reading total to date. This time I did a modest 7, but cranked out 35,000 words on my writing project. I’m not entirely good at recalling my much older works, but I think is one of my best word counts to date. I could be wrong as the Chewy books only took on average two months to write, but they were also substationally smaller in comparison.
Books Read
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1) John Irving—The Cider House Rules
I chose this one because I wanted to copy last year’s start when I finished World According to Garp. I liked it enough to do this one that was sitting on my bookshelf for free from a colleague. Unfortunately, unlike his other works, this one didn’t land well. Maybe I expected more, recalling good things from the movie, but here the book didn’t match up. For one, all the events just happened—there was no tension or failure for the character’s desires. Everything went according to a script, while his other novels didn’t have that feel. Still, it was hyper-described, but the characters just felt quirky, not interesting.
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2) Chuck Palanuik—Rant
I tossed one of his others down last year, so I went after this e-book that has been on my device for a while. At first it was strange—no surprise for Chuck. Eventually, as I got into it, the multiple perspectives was interesting, not to mention how each chapters has a solidity to it like its own world. As a whole, I wouldn’t say there’s much to say about the story—that is to nail down the exact plot. But the pieces together give an amazing image that is uniquely its own.
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3) Yu Jeong Jeong—The Good Son
This book was highly rated, so I thought it would be fun, and although the middle had some good tension and writing, overall a lot of missteps were in this book. For one, the whole first section is just the main character ruminating in his head. With little to no interaction with the outside world, this part dragged. Then it picks up when people start bothering him about his missing mother. The slow build and reveal of the plot was interesting, but again was shattered by the lackluster ending.
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4) John Lott—War On Guns
I read this to get a different perspective on the gun debate. At first, this book comes on strong with a lot of gusto, but with a sharp eye you can see that he comes with big claims—all claims you expect him to eventually support—but you soon realize he’s all hype and no content. Half the book is reference material, but surprisingly, all the referencing are supporting the resources he got that proves the media has an anti-gun slant. Okay, point taken. The media doesn’t like guns, but none of the resources supports his claims that guns make America safer, or any of the other ideas of his. In fact, many times he slams anti-gun right advocates for certain thinking and behavior only to do the same thing pages later. He’s a whirlwind of contradiction and a masterful propagandist.
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5) D.H. Lawrence—Lady Chatterley’s Lover
I did this as a reread because my student’s parent recalled it was too sexual. I didn’t, so I wanted to refresh myself. Yes, there’s sex. Yes, they say fuck and penis sometimes, but the actual sex scenes usual reflect Constance’s thoughts and feelings, never Fifty Shades of Gray description of the actual act. This isn’t porn, though some may think so. If anything, this was so famously banned because the main character is a strong woman defying the patriarchal world. At the time, and still to some people, a strong woman is appalling. Nonetheless, now that I’m older the imagery and sensation of finding a new world inside isn’t as striking, so it has dropped in that regard.
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6) Jon Krakauer—Into The Air
Again—a reread for my students. Like before, I loved it again even though it hasn’t even been three months. The build and mystery just pulls you in, including the sense that everyone gets reading books like these: you can’t help putting yourself in their shoes and wondering—could I survive it? Ultimately, a good book about a horrible event.
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7) William Gibson—The Neuromancer
This is the book that started steam-punk and kicked Sci-fi back into high gear in the 80’s. I’ve heard of it many times, so quick rented it from the library. Although the writing is crazy with its focus on the minutest points of detail and every page is riddled with indecipherable street if not technological slang, the book’s plot is very elusive as well as a longing connection with the protagonist. All that being said, I didn’t hate it, and it was a fast read, but it didn’t leave me going wow.
Progress on 2019 goals
1) Finish American Snowflakes: 145,000 words
2) Chewy Noh (graphic novel): I hope the full book will be drawn soon!
3) Student Story workbook: In progress
4) Spring Reading:
Hopscotchx1: Not yet!
Hopscotchx2: Not yet!
5) Read 75 books: 7
6) Get into next book—Chloe: Not yet!
Next Month’s Agenda
Next month I should be able to mark off a lot of the above—my student book, American snowflakes and so on. I have a trip to Hawaii so it may slow me down a bit, but I hope not.
January 3, 2019
Year in Review (Reading) 2018
Year in Review (Reading) 2018
Unlike other past years, this year my writing was cut back in certain ways, though I still wrote a lot. In consequence, my read skyrocketed. Well, this is not just due to my shifted writing duties, but also to a better management of my time. Mainly, I read more before sleeping, instead of watching something. Last year, I dipped down to 75 books after a big year of 81. This year I busted all records with 135. I could’ve easily pushed that up to a much higher number had I not picked up writing again halfway through the year. But I’m not sad about it.
Clearly, my page count is up with more books read, though not by much. This is mainly as a result of a huge graphic novel binge I got on after visiting the States. I took down a lot of Walking Dead—the whole series up to date—and part of the Saga saga. With one or two other ones in the mix, my numbers dropped. Not bad as I’m hoping to see Chewy graphic novel soon as well. Besides that, I had two giants on my must-read list.
JR: Done
Don Quixote: Done
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As hard and slow as Recognitions was, JR, Gaddis’ follow up to his debut, was rollicking. True, the start was trying, shifting views with little or not notice, not to mention little full narration or sentence work, but once I got the hang of it, it was amazing. One of the funniest and wittiest books I’ve read in a long time. Three weeks in, I couldn’t put it down, and had it done before week three was done. The other book on my list fit the bill of trudging lit. Don Quixote, though interesting and well-paced, dragged much of the time. Don, himself, usually spewed heavy-handed morals from books, while the more interesting parts were those who had the misfortune to bump into him. This book took the whole duration I allotted it to finish.
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Although I tried to stick to a balanced reading like years before, this time I was mainly focused on clearly my to-read shelves—both tangible and electronic. The first two months shot me off to a good start, taking down 15 books a month for January and February. I pulled a one from the kindle, one from the shelf method, depleting both to a nice manageable sum by March. Through the semester, I kept hacking at it, bringing my shelf down to eight left, and kindle to one screen, or twelve books. Then summer hit.
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With my trip to the states, obviously, my book count rose. I gained many for my shelf, raising it up to twenty. My digital one grew with mainly newer titles, and then I found out my hometown library had a digital service to check out books from anywhere in the world. I subscribed, and started filling up. Although I only get to check a book out for a week or so—which really puts the pressure on, especially for 700 paged books—I found myself slacking on the other e-books in my reserves. This leaves me with 18 books on the real shelf, and somewhere around 16 on my kindle.
In the end, the reading surprised me and made the year feel slower than usual, though I’m still overwhelmed that another year has come which means another reading challenge. Already I feel the stress of it and the excitement.
January 2, 2019
Year in Review (Writing) 2018
Year in Review (Writing) 2018
Again, I’ve taken a different approach to writing this year. While I haven’t finish a fiction book, per se, I have put a lot of work into one, and have complete a non-fiction book for my students.
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First, I’m now more than three-fourths done with my next project—American Snowflakes. It is a much longer and more introspective work, so it’s taking more time. Furthermore, I’m constantly doing extensive rewriting—reworking the sentences, diction, and dialogue, not to mentions structure to capture a better flow and word usage. One—though odd—complaint about Brief Lives was that the language was too simple. I didn’t see that, but I’m ramping it up for this one to probably hear something on the other spectrum once it’s done. So life goes.
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Secondly, at the beginning of last year, I compiled many off shoot lessons I’ve been doing and made an essay book. This doubled as a compendium of Korean mistakes when it comes to basic English grammar. I feel these errors are unique to this country and must be further focused on. Other counties might be different. Oddly enough, I don’t know how much pointing out these glaring flaws actually helps. Nonetheless, I finished it, and it turned out quite well.
Lastly, here, last year, I spoke about my two girl students who were writing their own manuscripts. Around mid-year, one of the dropped out—the one that claimed she wanted to be a writer. The other one, who had no such aspiration, has continued it and is almost near the finish line. I can’t wait for her to do so, so we can do mass edits and more.
Despite the constant negativity, I have sent out sections of Brief Lives to many magazines as short stories for publication. So far, every one says NO. Which is no different to every agent out there for the book as a whole, or my writing as a whole. Ah—consistency!
Plans for 2019
Plans for 2019
My sentiments are usually the same when it comes to this: I want to push myself, but choosing something to high can be daunting. I had to explain this to my daughter as it came to New Year’s resolutions. But, here are mine:
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Finish writing two books again this year
Last year, I complete absolutely zero, in respect to fiction. Although, true, I have American Snowflakes nearly done, I’d like to pound it out, revamp a lot of the writing, and tighten it before I closed the book on it. Then there’s my next project: Chloe, that’s already begging to get started. It will be substantially smaller than AF, but still will be time-consuming. Crossed-fingers.
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Complete my next student book
I enjoyed and was impressed what I was able to do last year with my writing / Korean Mistakes book, and would like to replicate that with one that is a little more creative for my students to change up the monotonous tone of essay after essay. Besides, my daughter might take to it as well—I hope.
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Tackle two big books: Hopscotch (x2) and another Gaddis
All right, the Gaddis might change as I’ve gotten his two biggest ones out of the way, but as for this spring, it is one hundred percent Hopscotch—a book that has to be read twice in different orders to create a new story both times. I discovered this oddity mid last year and have been itching to start it.
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Read 75 books
After a blockbuster 135 books last year, I’m not starting at the measly 50 I’ve been used to. I know I’ll hit that mark way too fast. So here’s where I’m going first.
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Sadly, my students are still chugging away at their books, but still I hope one of them will complete it. I’d like to give my last great group that much.
January 1, 2019
December in Review 2018
December 2018
My break started mid-month so I was able to toss myself into my writing getting 20,000 words done on my WIP alone, not to mention a whole slew of shorts for other projects. On top of that, I added nine more to the book total to end the year at a nice rounded 135. Whew!
Books Read
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First up, The Overstory, the read for my book club. I didn’t know what to expect going into this, it being elected by others. Maybe that’s one reason I ended up liking it so much. The story was odd, and promoted the environment, but it didn’t feel tree-huggy. Although I loved all the disparate parts and storylines, I did feel like it was supposed to come together a little bit more in the end. I caught the overall arcing theme, but at points if came off more Douglas Coupland / Generation X type writing than high lit (it was nominated for some awards, but lost.) Still, loved it.
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Then I quick took one of the internet libraray, Murakami’s Strange Library. Maybe it’s because I read Killing Commendatore last month, but I wanted to go another round with him, and…it was okay for a book under 100 pages. It was classic Murakami all the way and could’ve made a killer novel if he had expanded on it. So-so overall.
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After that, I tried out a Middle Grade fare, The Wild Robot. So many people were geeking out about this, and everywhere on my visit to America this past summer, this book was up high for all to see in kid displays. I thought, hey, maybe there’s something here. Nope. I was wrong. This is a shoddily put together story about a robot on an island that slowly makes friends. The story doesn’t kick into full gear until 50 pages from the end in a 250 page book. If that were all, I’d say, hey this can be entertaining for kids based on the simplicity of the story, but the way the author wrote it was in now way simple. His vocabulary would confound a fair amount of young readers—including my daughter who loves to read. So…yuck!
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On my way to work, I took down another Murakami, What I talk about when I talk about running. It was also short, and even though it didn’t tap one hundred percent into how Murakami got to be Murakami world famous writer, we are offered glimpses into how it all started at least. What I loved was to hear him gush about certain things he loved about not only writing but also books, especially my fav—The Great Gatsby. So, all in all, I liked it.
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Another internet library book then fell in my lap with no expectations—Erotic Stories for Punjabi Women. Though not super erotic and the fact that it followed the basic story plotline you’d expect for this kind of book, it surprisingly was entertaining and informative on a group of people I didn’t know much about—the Sikhs. Added to it were a mystery, love story, and light sex humor. Just a plain, fun book.
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Then I finally finished my big fall reading project: Don Quixote. This is hard to capture really, just based on its size and power, but I enjoyed it even when it did slog at times. In my opinion, I enjoyed the literary aspect of the first one more and how each small story interrelated with each other and the grand overall theme of Don Quixote. The second book felt more like parody, so enjoyable, but not as rewarding. I liked it, but hard to recommend.
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Strangely, my next book is from a real library, Into Thin Air. Always heard about it, then found it on the shelf, so thought what the hell. It was awesome. Like a lot of non-fiction books I enjoy, it has a main storyline like a novel, interspersed with informational tidbits of mountain climbing and other such endeavors. And, just like The Martian and other adventure stories, I couldn’t help but put myself in the danger. Wonderful read!
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Almost as the last books foil, this non-fiction Us vs. Them: The Failure of Globalism was next on my list. The author knows what he’s talking about and gives a good look at the rise of nationalism today, with conjecture as to why Donald Trump and his like are growing more popular, but some of the book just doesn’t quite hit as well as I was hoping.
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This last one was for my students, and a reread. Brave New World. I read this twenty years ago, and only remember loving the third chapter. It still rings true. Although I’ve read more of Huxley’s non-fiction and loved it since, BNW wasn’t a bad revisit. He did thoroughly think up this world and comparing it to now, if not twenty years ago, I find it eerie how dead on he was at times. As my feelings sometimes resembles the dissenting voice of this book, I found more in it emotionally than my younger self possibly did.
Progress on 2018 goals
1) Finish Brief Lives / Query / Synopsis: Done / 2 letters / halfway: Done
2) Chewy Noh (graphic novel): Done (with outline)
3) Student workbook: Done
4) Spring Reading:
J.R.: Done!!!
Quixote: Done!!!!
5) Read 135 books: Done!!!
6) American Snowflakes: 100,000 words done…
Next Month’s Agenda
That’s it. The end of another year. I…hit a lot of highs—135 books read. Some months had 15 book totals—crazy for me. Others were lows—though I did a lot of writing, very few books—zero fiction—were completed. In my mind, it’s a transition year, a deepening of my content. I hope for something good to happen soon.
December 1, 2018
Month in Review: November
November 2018
Busy month with some time off, but sadly did not produce the word count like I wanted, unlike all the Novel Writers out there for this month. I did get a lot of headway into the plot to make next month more easy sailing and hope with my class soon ending to see more.
Books Read
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First up, an audio book, Looking for Calvin and Hobbes. I chose this because I was a big fan, like many. While right away the author explains how much a recluse Watterson is and how he eschewed the public at all costs, the likelihood of an interview with him would probably not cross this book didn’t damper my expectations. What was really thrilling was the detailed account of why he was this way and his personal attack against an unknown corner of the marketing and creative world that resounds very much like the book-publishing world. Fun and wistful.
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Then I gleefully traipsed into Natural Born Heroes, the follow up to Born to Run. Although it came with the same narrative sense of a novel like its predecessor, the threads he wove this time were a bit tangled and slow moving. I enjoyed all the research the author did about various odd balls in the world of fitness and healthy eating, and just like Born to Run, have changed my lifestyle because of it. So although not the ‘wow’ book like before, it is definitely interesting in many aspects.
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Finding a YA book at my local library, I decided to read We Are Okay. It starts out light and has a nice flow as well as writing style, but quickly it gets to be the normal, everything-has-meaning-and-is-greater-than-it-really-is that all YA books assume. Along with that common peccadillo, the plot was barely there and for the hell of it they tossed in some lesbianism for—well—why the fuck not. YA—what can I say?
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Desiring something uplifting, I read the Bill Gates backed Factfulness. Toted as the book for clear thinking in the modern world, I had high hopes for this book, which may be why it didn’t exactly hit the mark I was hoping. Still, nonetheless, it was a shockingly concise and good book, one in the vein of Rational Optimist—a book I can never recommend enough. Both parade the idea of looking to the future with hope, which I like, but the fact that the author sits staunchly in his belief of global warming did offset me a bit. Overall, good
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Then I tackled another library book Evicted. I particularly wanted to see what it was about as it took place in Milwaukee, a city I resided in for nearly three years. True, the neighborhoods it describes are none of the ones I sauntered through, still the environment was not entirely foreign to me, and a lot of the landmarks, streets, and buildings hit home. Along with amazing research and an unbiased view, I loved what this author did to show the faulty way or renting and homing sector of America now works, and how it needs a major overhaul.
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Another fast listen was The Girl with the Back Tattoo. It’s Amy Schumer’s book about stories in her life and her rise to fame. I didn’t know she was on Last Comic Standing, which was interesting. And of course, her ideas and beliefs are riddled throughout the book, sometimes abrasively so. Her humor was fun, but not the out loud type, and at the end of it, I found it loosely redolent of Olivia Munn’s narration in both voice, cadence, and expression. It really makes me wonder if most modern American women have coalesced into similar sounding automatons. I hope not.
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This next one, with all the hype surrounding it, really had me going, at least for the first 100 pages. The Three Body Problem petered out after that. The beginning had strong characterization, conflicting plot that revealed so much in the actors, and strong science that could be extrapolated to our own world. And then it sank into your normal run of the mill Aliens take over the world, traveling at light speed, other planets have problems too sort of book. I will not be reading the follow up, nor am I that enthusiastic for the possible Amazon series if they ever get the rights from China.
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After my boss in Chicago told me about it, I found this one in the bargain bin on the internet and decided to give it a try. Ella Minnow Pea (LMNOP) has a basic premise and follows it pretty straight. I loved the language, and anyone who loves good vocabulary and word play with get a kick out of it, but the overall reasoning for the slow loss of letters here is ludicrous. The idea that languages naturally change and lose letters is much better done in ‘A Void,’ and comes of with much more intellectual sparkle than this did. Supposedly it got itself a little bit of notice when it came out, so good for it.
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My last listen this month was Leah Rimini’s Troublemaker. This was one hundred percent not in the normal voice of current America girls if anyone’s ever heard her speak. I loved how it melded both her rising career which really painted her as nothing more than a normal everyday person, and mixed that with the introduction of Scientology to her life, showing it infiltrate everything and how she didn’t exactly fit even way at the beginning. I’m a sucker for this strange religion and its obvious cult like aspects, or at least those that pertain to the monolith that is paraded around with Tom Cruise as its figurehead. Those guys are crazy.
Progress on 2018 goals
1) Finish Brief Lives / Query / Synopsis: Done / 2 letters / halfway: Done
2) Chewy Noh (graphic novel): Done (with outline)
3) Student workbook: Done
4) Spring Reading:
J.R.: Done!!!
Quixote: 750 pages (close to finishing!)
5) Read 125 books: 126—over my total!
6) American Snowflakes: 80,000 words done—sad, I wanted more!
Next Month’s Agenda
I want to toss down enough words to hit 100,000 on my new project and maybe start another workbook for my students. My book count will probably die somewhere in the 130’s before the start of the new year. With that I hope to get this book done. My next one’s already boring a hole through my head to be written.
October 29, 2018
October in Review
September 2018
Working hard so far with a little inspiration. Still somehow in the mix of it was able to read more than my normal monthly average, so glad there too. With a vacant weekend coming up, I should be able to tackle even more writing.
Books Read
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First off, I tackled another Sedaris book, this time: Let’s Explore Diabetes and with Owls. Although I’ve recently been on a kick of his, digesting a book a month practically and have one more lined up for each month for the rest of the year, this one was mediocre, but still better than Dress Your Family Up. I particularly like the more relevant and current essays, dealing with Obama, Hillary, and Trump. You get to really see his humor and observations show how ridiculous America really is sometimes. The little vignettes were sometimes off, but at other times dead on funny, despite having none of his usual fodder in them.
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Then I got into Zadie’s Smith White Teeth, which claimed to be the biggest and best debut ever. Frankly, I didn’t get it, and luckily, I’m not alone. Many others questioned why this launched her, finding her overrated and a bit hackneyed. Being an American too, many things—as in her similes and such—didn’t resonate as well as maybe with a Brit, but from the Brits that did read it, they said the writing and gags were stale—common Brit go-to. Like most modern lit, I found the details heavy, the plot lacking, and the characters flat based on quirky anecdotes. Did not live up to the hype.
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Having seen a friend gushing over his first Stephen King book, I decided to dive into the master of horror again too, having not read him since my Insomnia reread roughly six years ago. This time I took on more recent fare: Under the Dome. First off, I had no idea what I was getting into. This book is huge, but thanks to his writing it did fly fast, and once the characters were established, skimming and speed-reading was not hard task. Unfortunately, despite the plot and premise being interesting, the tension and resolve eventually gave out and I was severely disappointed with the ending and the whole cause of the debacle. I got his point: Humans suck! But it was delivered in a less than climatic way.
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A quick library read: Nora Ephron’s I Feel Bad about My Neck and other essays got my attention because I heard so much about her. I had no idea what big blockbusters she was known for until reading this. That said, the first couple of essays in the book didn’t really hit home. They were mostly short pieces that quite possibly a larger female audience would relate to, if not an older one. However, as the book progressed, she began to reveal more of her personal life, her famous friends, like in New York and so on, and that brought my attention to it much more. It felt like a female David Sedaris, if that’s possible. Still, the beginning dragged and it was hard to redeem itself entirely.
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Another quick Korean library read was Be Prepared. This is from the same creator of Anya’s Ghost, so immediately I understood why there was so much Russian culture dripping throughout. Unlike the former, Be Prepared is grounded in reality, based on her own experience. In this way, I’m glad she showed her creativity in her first outing, unlike a whole slew of illustrators nowadays that parade some sad, emotional arc from the childhood to gain fame. On top of this, the drawings were still wonderful and vibrant, so I enjoyed it.
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Book Club Book of the Month: Audition. I suggested it because I loved Murakami’s In the Miso Soup. I thought the social commentary was insightful, if not dated from an American standpoint, but still very relevant for many Asians. However, with this, his most notorious book on the international stage, I didn’t enjoy it quite as much. The writing was impeccable and colorful, not to mention with what detail he illustrates his most poignant scenes (the sex scene and the final twist), but the message is lost in there somewhere and doesn’t come up quite as readily as his other work.
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Then onto Baldwin’s The Fire Next Time. I listened to this shorty, and loved the immensely strong language and diabolic sentences. Baldwin has always been known for his fierce writing, but up until now I had little chance to enjoy it. Though a lot of it deals with his childhood, religion, and racial discrimination, it never felt lacking with power, nor the fact that I knew he was gay and the subtleties he mentioned clearly referenced such things. I also enjoyed the well-rounded approach he had to the hate that existed in his time. While the blacks hated whites, and vice versa, he constantly dissected both sides’ argument and delved into deeper understandings of why and how both react this way. Amazing.
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Finally, the book I was waiting for Murakami’s Killing Commendatore. I didn’t know this at first, but this was a homage to Great Gatsby, which really did turn up my enjoyment of this thick novel quite a bit. In fact, not knowing it might have detracted from it, mainly because the book is slow and starts where most of his fare starts: with a broken relationship. All the key and quintessential Murakami themes and motifs float throughout this tome, but unlike some of his bigger attempts in the past, I feel he succeeds strongly here, while 1Q84 and Kafka on the Shore missed it. The only drawback was somewhat repetition in key facts that surface throughout the book. A good edit, chopping off 100 pages, could’ve easily cleaned that up; otherwise, I loved it.
Progress on 2018 goals
1) Finish Brief Lives / Query / Synopsis: Done / 2 letters / halfway: Done
2) Chewy Noh (graphic novel): Done (with outline)
3) Student workbook: Done
4) Spring Reading:
J.R.: Done!!!
Quixote: 550 pages (close to finishing!)
5) Read 125 books: 117
6) American Snowflakes: 70,000 words done
Next Month’s Agenda
Only now that I look at it, I’ve actually only added about 10,000 words, and since I’m aiming for around 150,000, I’m chugging along, but not as fast as I’d like. I’m about halfway to my goal, but I was hoping to much further along so that when I hit the winter break I can pump the rest out. Already I have a new project growing in my head and on paper (in the preliminary stages) but the way I feel about it makes it hard to stay focused on my current project. I hope I can knock a lot out this next month and stay track on my reading.
September 27, 2018
Month in Review: September
September 2018
Back into my semester, I tried to get more writing done, but have slowed down a bit, as you can see with a measly 10,000 word count added to my total. The reading has only appeared to be smaller than usual because I’m devouring every single Walking Dead comic I can find. I dream and breathe it, and find it refreshingly different from the TV show. But I did start Don Quixote.
Books Read
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First up, I read Pnin, by Nabakov. I read Lolita ages ago in university, finding him well versed, but a bit dry for my taste. About three years ago, I read his nominal classic Pale Fire, and loved it. As for this small book that I was inspired to read because of Reading Lolita in Tehran, it falls somewhere in between. Sometimes funny, sometimes slow and dry, overall it was an okay read but not phenomenal.
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I moved on from there to a read I’ve wanted to do for a while: Lorrie Moore’s A Gate at the Stairs. She was the creative writing head at my university and I’ve only ever read her short story about how to be a writer. I figure I’d give this a shot as it is one of her few full length novels out there. Sadly, I was underwhelmed. It is exactly what you expect from an amateur writer, delving into wistful word play and peculiar daydreams. Beyond that, it held up the usual scrutiny to high-detail that a lot of modern work does, sacrificing, meanwhile, the plot. It only gets good right near the end, and even then it feels heavy handed. Yuck!
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The whole time I read other books, I listened to I Can’t Make This Up, by Kevin Hart. I’ve always loved his small bits with Conan on his show, and his attitude is infectious. The book, although dull and not very engrossing to start with, really kicks into gear when he starts describing his rise from everyday Kevin to the superstar he is now. It was enlightening to see that fame doesn’t come as expected, but sudden and without warning.
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A quick buy and read was Russo’s The Destiny Thief, a collection of essays. I recently read The Straight Man for a book club, and liked it enough, so I ventured into this one. Though repetition occurs slightly, for the most part his essays read much like his fiction—a little bit of humor, a lot bit of heart. I enjoyed how he described the ups and downs of being a writer and how he suffered and became one back in the 60’s and 70’s. Much like the Kevin Hart one above, it shows tenacity is a needed trait for success.
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With Kevin Hart done, I dove quickly into Suck It, Wonder Woman, by Olivia Munn. I thought this would be light and easy to listen to on the way to work, which it was, but over all I was left with not such a great image of Munn herself. Although many of the stories she tells are eye-opening, compelling, and interesting, her personality as a whole—which shines through in her voice and cadence—is a bit lacking. Though I know she means well, at certain points she came of sounding, well, dumb, like a valley girl, despite coming from Oklahoma and having lived part of her life in Japan. You’d think the worldliness of her experiences would show through in her a bit more. Still, fun.
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Then I dove into Cannery Row. I’ve always heard about this but stayed away after the trauma of Mice and Men, and the depressing Tortilla Flat I read years ago. Steinbeck has a horrible problem with having his protagonists changing whatsoever. Every book the characters are the same at the beginning, and the same at the end—except usually, sadder. This one at least isn’t so dreary. I enjoy the personification done for each character, but the famous quote from it regarding how the traits of success are usually immoral, but revered, doesn’t really fit into the story in my mind. I don’t know what the hell he was trying to say with that. Otherwise, it was fun compared to his other downers.
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For the return of my book club, we elected Little Fires Everywhere. Celeste Ng is supposedly the author of the moment. She won a short story prize and a lot of attention for her first book, and even more for this one. Personally, I don’t see why. The story, overall, is hackneyed, dealing with the ills of suburbia. Art is the redeemer. Mia is a saint, while the other soccer moms are close-minded sheep. That being said, the read was easy and well done. Furthermore, she does capture the small-thinking of these little burgs extremely well, but the plotting is less than spectacular. You can enjoy this one, but it will quickly be forgotten years from now.
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Recently I’ve heard a lot about a little book, Speak. So I got it through the library—finally. It took a day to finish and…not bad. I can see where the detractors might attack it. Yes—the end is too neat. Yes—her redemption is not likely. Her scars would last much longer from the rape that occurred to her, but in a way, dealing with the same topic as 13 Reasons Why, it was much more realistic and powerful with the portrayal. You really feel for Melinda by the end and find peace with what happens—even if in real life that rarely happens, me too or not.
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All the while, I read Dharma Bums. Again I read Kerouac’s On the Road ages ago, loved it, so thought I’d like this as many have praised it. I was wrong. Like one commentator said: not enough Dharma, too much bum. The whole book is pretty much Jack gushing about the friend that got him into Buddhism and all of them acting like their enlightened. Hippies in America thinking the rest of the world has it wrong—not exactly being woke to true Buddhism, but that’s all they had back then, and unfortunately, what many university / high school students still buy into.
Progress on 2018 goals
1) Finish Brief Lives / Query / Synopsis: Done / 2 letters / halfway: Done
2) Chewy Noh (graphic novel): Done (with outline)
3) Student workbook: Done
4) Spring Reading:
J.R.: Done!!!
Quixote: 350 pages
5) Read 125 books: 109
6) American Snowflakes: 60,000 words done
Next Month’s Agenda
I hope to write much more—aiming to finish at least 90,000 to 100,000 words by winter break. I want to crush this book out faster. I know what I want to do. Now I just have to sit down and write it.
August 28, 2018
August Recap
August 2018
I’m now back to my usual schedule after my long trip. It took some time for my sleeping pattern to get to normal, but my reading didn’t hurt at all. Unfortunately, it’s been sluggish getting back into my writing. I’m at about the 1/3 mark for my longest writing to date, and I now where I want to go, but I just can’t sit down and do it. Otherwise, big reading this month: 20 books! First that high ever, although it is due to a large amount of graphic novels that have just caught me and won’t let go.
Books Read
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The first book was a quick read on the plane back that my daughter bought and wanted me to do so too. Graveyard Shakes. At first, I thought it was going to be better than it was. The story starts right away with conflict as a father needs to kill a child every 12 years to keep his son alive, but soon after this tale falls apart. The end is happy, but not satisfying, and the plot gets no more torqueing than the immediate one at the start.
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At the same time, I tackled a read everyone was raving about: Sing Buried Sing. Many have compared it to Faulkner’s As I lay Dying, which I can see, with the down south tone, the multiple voices, including ones that transcend death, and the jumping of consciousness with a little magical realism. That being said, the story fell flat in certain places. We get a lot of repeating of the characters stories, a lot of unnecessary details, and little plot beyond a certain point—and that is usual expected. Not bad—but no Faulkner.
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I quick read another Joyce Bio: Joyce. Unlike the earlier one, this didn’t delve as detailed into his life. You got the overlay, but was particularly interesting was how it picked apart his novels and famous outings. We get certain scene by scene breakdowns which help identify major themes, which can help out new readers to Joyce. Overall, not bad, but in color and less photo-copy looking would have been better.
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In the airport, I picked up Calypso, by Sedaris. I hadn’t read anything from him in a while, especially after trying to read the one where he quit smoking in Japan and found it boring. I tried this as I was reread Me Talk Pretty One Day with my students, enjoying it greatly. This one, although not like the former one with its funny stories, it was enjoyable and somehow had a theme tying it altogether. Overall, a nice add to his oeuvre.
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Then I read It’s Kind of a Funny Story. I’ve heard about this book for a while, too, mainly because the author killed himself. The story is about Craig, a boy who is depressed and tries to kill himself, but ultimately checks himself into a mental ward for help. The author did the same, from which he wrote this. Although the writing was light and fun, and the story never dried up, I wouldn’t give it the rave reviews many have attached to it. Like many critics have mentioned, he seems to suffer from young, white boy disease, rather than full-blown depression, and he doesn’t really grew up much by the time we get to the end. He just gets a girlfriend.
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Another book on everyone’s lips: Strange the Dreamer. I was hoping good things here—especially as long as the book was. There’s a lot of creativity about it at first, until it becomes and expected plot twist in a long drawn, overly described, heavily repeated mess. Close to 200 pages could’ve been chopped. Despite liking many things in this part one to a series, I doubt I will join it for the even longer ride it has next. This is mainly due to the cliffhanger ending that finally ratchets the plot up a bit. For some reason this is the trend nowadays in YA—make the story good only when you finish the book to get readers back. Boo!
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I tossed another Saga collection down then. I still like many elements here, but after taking a break found it hard to rustle up that enthusiasm I once had for it. I hope to get to the rest, but that may not happen.
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Wanting more Sedaris, I reread Dress Your Family up in Denim and Corduroy. I first read this when I moved to Chicago and got turned onto Sedaris, devouring all of his works up to that date—2004. I recall loving all of his work then, but now, in hindsight, I’d have to say this one wasn’t as good as I remembered. His other books were better, and I have Naked on board for a reread and wonder if it’s as good too.
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Then I tackled Manhattan Beach. After reading her Visit from the Good Squad earlier this year, I wanted to read this one badly. Her previous book was creative and well done. Sadly, I can’t say the same here. She has interesting scenes and even characters, but much of it is drawn out, overly detailed, and does little. It, again, could’ve been chopped down to a more digestible size. Sad.
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I was happy to jump into Bright Lights, Big City—a book that has got notice for ages. He was part of a literary brat pack with Brett Easton Ellis, and reading it, I can see why. The story is unique—being in 2nd person –and captivating. Eventually, he delves into why the character is the way he is, but all of it comes of beautifully and believably. It was a short, fast read, but sadly it appears the author hasn’t done much sense, and suffers like many to stick to a genre or time frame that limits their creativity. For him, it’s the 80’s.
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Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry was next. It’s a famous book, one that I didn’t know much about. Apparently, it is part of a long series done over decades by the author. This one stands somewhat in the middle of the long line of books. What’s odd about this book is that it takes place roughly around the same time as Manhattan Beach, so the stark difference in writing and content is startling. The young protagonist who is the narrator does an amazing job at tying you into it even if it is well along in a series. Many complained about lack of character growth, which I don’t understand. It was fun, fast, and had the classic set-up all stories want.
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Finished with one middle grade read, I moved onto another—Wolf Hollow. This book is actually the third by the author, but her first two books—written two decades ago and then a decade ago—garnered little attention, so many are calling this her debut. Although it is her first one for kids, the story follows a classic form, and draws you in quickly. The voice of the narrator is smooth, even though it wastes a lot of time every so often—then again, this is for kids. I liked it a lot.
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Jumping from MG to adult fiction can be jarring, especially if the prose and vocabulary are that diametrically different as in Tobias Wolff’s Old School. I knew of this author for his This Boy’s Life, which I didn’t know was considered memoir. On the other hand, Old School is straight up fiction—his first, despite being an professor at Stanford since 1997. I thought this guy had much more underneath his belt before that, but I guess not. Still, it was an amazing read, full of fun. The one down note was the anti-climatic ending that many bitched about. I agree, it was a sour way to end such a riveting narrative.
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Then I hit The Walking Dead Graphic Novels. I’ve watched the show up until the most recent ones and wanted to see how steadfast the creators were to the original. Many things play out the same, while others are batty strange. I’m enjoying this series immensely.
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Lastly, I started Joe Hill’s graphic series Locke and Key. Initially, you need to give this tale a wide berth. There are many elements that need to be taken in, not to mention the abnormal story-telling. But as each character enlightens you, the fun of this colorful book comes out. Interesting start.
Progress on 2018 goals
1) Finish Brief Lives / Query / Synopsis: Done / 2 letters / halfway: Done
2) Chewy Noh (graphic novel): Done (with outline)
3) Student workbook: Done
4) Spring Reading:
J.R.: Done!!!
Quixote: Not started
5) Read 100 books: 99—this total will probably be boosted up!
6) American Snowflakes: 50,000 words done
Next Month’s Agenda
Next month, I hope to get some headway on my novel, as well as have Don Quixote started, if not finished. I’ll keep plugging away at my read books—which appears to be growing exponentially. All in all, I see a busy month ahead.
July 31, 2018
End of Month: July 2018
July 2018
Most of this month has been spent traveling, visiting family, stocking up on clothes and American food. Still, I was able to get to much more reading than I thought. Because of this, I’ve pushed my reading to 100 books for the year—way beyond what I’ve reached before, though this month is a little rigged as I tackled quite a bit of graphic novels. With all of this in mind, my writing has stalled.
Books Read
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These first five books I read in Korea, stating with: A Scanner Darkly. This was upon recommendation from a work friend of mine. He’s a big fan of Philip K. Dick and I enjoyed his other works so looked forward to this, especially as he said the movie is almost identical. I was obviously shocked at how different it is from Dick’s more famous work. It appears to be an account of his own troubles with addition but with that usual Dick twist on things that makes you question everything. I enjoyed it for the most part, but it was definitely dark with the subject matter.
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Then I read Henry James’ Daisy Miller. I always wanted to know what was up with James—an American that threw off his New World roots to embrace England. I’m glad I tackled a smaller read. This book was tough and I’d have to say didn’t age well. His writing is stodgy and stiff. I did not enjoy it and the emphasis on manners was too much.
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Following this, I did Capote’s Breakfast at Tiffanys a small book on my list for a while. I know one day I’d like to jump into his In Cold Blood, but as for now this little tome will do. His writing wasn’t as bad as I was expecting, especially after Miller. True, the story lacked that entire draw that I’d like, but it didn’t stall or fall entirely flat. I was surprised at how it varied from the movie.
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This one was an audible. It took longer than it would have if I read it, but I like it. It made me think. I’ll Be Gone in the Dark was scary, only because you always picture yourself in these situations, wondering what you’d do. All the small connections and near misses get to you as well. The interesting way these Internet sleuths work and can now realize certain passions are astounding. I liked it.
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My last Korean read was Fight Club writer’s Pygmy. It’s written in a difficult style that right away turned many off, or so I noticed in the reviews. Personally, I didn’t mind. I’ve read enough to decipher these kind of literary tricks, and actually found the system he made to express his main protagonist’s thoughts not very difficult at all. Many times, it followed the rules of other languages that throw out the present tense ‘to be’ conjunction. It was normal for this author and fun.
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Then I was to America and picked up my brother’s copy of Blackhole. This was a reread, but I recalled loving this book so much years ago. Turns out it still has an attractive essence to it, but not as shining and new. The drawings fit it one hundred percent, edging on eerie and scary. The small way all of the stories fit together and the uniqueness that this story provides still makes it a good read.
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To get some normal reading done, I read the non-fiction work, How We Learn. This was an impulse buy for e-book and I was surprised. It gave the history of learning but also the common misconceptions. It demarcates many ideas into sections and is very helpful to construct new ways to not only learn on one’s own but also to help build lessons that facilitate students. Well done.
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For the next one, my brother suggested I get into BKV—a graphic novel writer that has a big following. The book—Saga—a series toted on many blogs and on many must reads. I got through the first four in this series, with hopes to finish it soon. That adds four total books, but I’ll only mark it as one here on my review. Each book tells one section of the story, and the beginning is a little tough, but catches up fast. It is complex and fun. I highly recommend.
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With my discovery of the library here, I found a little book I was wondering about—I Believe in a Thing Called Love. A story about a girl who uses K-dramas to get her love seemed like a fit for my students. It could well be, and compared to its contemporaries, it was okay. So often, these books are hackneyed with poor dialogue. This one wasn’t too bad. It still felt misplaced and it hit all the key aspects to what would be considered rom-com, but I can see this being better than many others.
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My brother again made me read this graphic novel—4 Kids Walk into a Bank. He said it was different and unusual and well drawn. It was. The story had interesting ways to jump into each of the five chapters and the characters were very distinct, especially the Jewish kid. I loved the progression of the story and the images, but the ending was a little strange. It felt like Tarantino dialogue in comic form.
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I picked this up for a student—James Joyce: A Graphic Novel. It did an amazing job depicting this author’s life and personality. You can really see that to become famous like he did takes a lot of luck and other people. He was a genius, and ridiculous, but the people around him were very important. He would never have become what he was without them, despite him not caring an inkling for those that did help him out.
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Lastly, I struggled through Without you, There is no Us. It is the true account of an English teacher teaching in North Korea. It should be compelling, and I enjoyed how much Korean detail she put into it, but a lot of the things she said about her student didn’t click as things solely distinguishing of North Koreans. Their love for their country—almost to a fault—is rampant in all countries. Their belief that their country is the best is prevalent everywhere. Their lack of basic knowledge is common even in America where freedom and Internet does exist. It’s hard to knock North Korea for producing citizens with similar habits to ours. The one thing that is scary is the way the whole country is years behind the rest of the world.
Progress on 2018 goals
1) Finish Brief Lives / Query / Synopsis: Done / 2 letters / halfway: Done
2) Chewy Noh (graphic novel): Done
3) Student workbook: Done
4) Spring Reading:
J.R.: Done!!!
Quixote: Not started
5) Read 100 books: 79
6) American Snowflakes: 45,000 words done
Next Month’s Agenda
Next month, I will be back at home, to a regular schedule. I hope to get working again to lose my American weight, and toss down much more on my new writing. I am happy with the book load and the library downloads now available to me. My reading list has now greatly expanded due to both.
