Monday, November 15, 2010

Temporary re-reading hiatus

I re-read books a lot.  It comes down to a couple reasons.  One of the top ones is that I'm cheap.  The library is an option I suppose, but it's not one I usually use.  I prefer to have my own copies.  I don't write in them, which would be a reasonable excuse for wanting my own copies.  I just like having my own.  Logic doesn't always come into play with my reasons.

I also like re-reading because I like the books I'm reading again.  If I like a movie, I can watch it over and over again (see: Forgetting Sarah Marshall, Dogma, Zombieland).  Books are the same way for me.  Some are short and sweet stories that I use as a literary palate cleanser, like The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (abridged).  I know that play well enough I can mostly recite it.  I know there are a lot of books out there but I am hardly planning on reading everything out there so I may as well enjoy what I am reading.

And then of course there are books I read awhile ago that I liked and want to talk about on this blog.  World War Z falls into that category.  I don't know what I would have re-read it quite so quickly if I didn't have this blog but I wanted to write about it, so I re-read it.

Both Brother and Friend have lent me a few books, so I will be reading some all new stuff.  In addition to World War Z, Brother lent me Doctor No by Ian Flemming.  I've mentioned Brother isn't a big reader, but he is a Bond fan and he enjoyed this one so I thought I'd check it out.  Then Friend sent a package, c/o Agent Thursday Next (my friend and I are geeky), containing a copy of Galapagos by Kurt Vonnegut I'd lent him a while back as well as 2 new (to me) books: The City & The City by China Mieville and Special Topics in Calamity Physics by Marisha Pessl.

The Mieville book is actually another Friend's book, he who recommended Kitchen Confidential to me.  A while back we were sitting at dinner and he was telling me about this amazing book and how it's kind of odd and I had to check it out because odd is kind of up my alley.  I was going to take it home with me and I, of course, forgot because I have the same memory as a goldfish.  My forgetfulness was in my other friend's favor, as he got to borrow the book first.  He also said it was a good read so I'm looking forward to it.

The Pessl book makes me a bit nervous, because "physics" is in the title.  I know some people find physics amazingly interesting, like my friend who had an except from a Richard Feynman lecture read at her wedding.  I am not part of that group.  I also know (hope!) this isn't actually about straight physics.  I trust my friend wouldn't steer me wrong.

So that's on my book reading schedule.  Of course I tend to pick what book I'll read next by my mood, so all "upcoming reads" items are subject to change at a moments notice.  And of course I have a Bryson re-read thrown in there as well.  Just can't get away, what can I say.