A while ago I wrote a post about my secret for reading a book per week: don’t watch television. Right now I seem to be living the experimental control. Debates, election year analysis shows such as Campbell Brown and Rachel Maddow, election year comedy such as Stephen Colbert and Jon Stewart – these shows call to me every night! Every evening I say “tonight I am going to finish that book” and instead I find myself turning on the TV just to see what they are talking about. I’m even staying up late on Saturday nights to watch Tina Fey.
So this is how we’ve gotten to week #41 of the year but I have only read 35 books. Thanks for sticking around, even though it’s been kind of dull. I’ll do my best to pick up the pace – anyone want to recommend some short books?
Wednesday, October 08, 2008
8 comments:
We don't have cable which helps with reading but I'm with you — at the moment I'd rather be able to watch Jon Stewart. As for Tina Fey, it's almost painful to watch her when you realize how much is verbatim Palin and not a script!
Heh, for me it's the online version of this. I spend my time on Reddit's politics tab clicking through to read articles, watch show clips, etc.
I love Andrea Camilleri's books, set in Sicily. He's written maybe 8 or 10. They are delightful, and very short. Malcolm, whose reading tastes are not that similar to mine, started reading them because he is interested in Italy and he is completely hooked, in fact I think he will finish the series before I do. He has just been away working in France with his Italian collaborators and when they saw he was reading Camilleri they all pitched in with their own tales of admiration for this ocotgenarian writer. Apparently you can go on holidays to Sicily and go to the same places that Montalbano (the main character) memorably eats, etc.
Anyway, I love the series and the translations are superb. The first one is called The Shape of Water. You can read each one in an hour or two so should fit round your other interests pretty well.
Have you tried any novels by Nancy Peacock, like "Life Without Water"? I really enjoyed that one and it was a super-fast read without being too fluffy.
Some short books that I thought were rather good:
Cal by Bernard MacLaverty
Breath by Tim Winton
We Have Always Lived in the Castle - Jackson
oooh ooh ooh I forgot the best short book ever (not to build it up too much or anything): Tepper Isn't Going Out, by Calvin Trillin. Short, funny, very New York.
My favorite short book: "A Month in the Country." I forget who it's by, but it's a gem of a book about an English WW I vet who comes home shell-shocked and starts to repair the stained glass in a cathedral. Art heals the wounds of war. Really, really good novella.
This election year is downright addictive. No shame, no blame, for getting caught up in it -- I'm there with you! At our cable-free (heck, our TV-reception-free!) house, we've been doing crazy things like pulling up little slips of TV shows that are posted online -- just to stay up-to-date. Also, watching live streaming speeches online -- and debates -- and commentary... How can a person resist?
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