I've been reading

Acquired

*** bought 20 August 2005, off avalon.ph

Pure Drivel by Steve Martin

About a Boy by Nick Hornby
-- bought because my previous copy had a movie cover; gave that copy to Luz; this copy currently lent to Alekos

Microserfs by Douglas Coupland

Dead-eye Dick by Kurt Vonnegut


*** 4 September 2005, at the National Bookstore, SM Megamall

Summerland by Michael Chabon


*** 18 September 2005, Bounds Bookshop

Eight Stories by Alfred A. Yuson

Angela's Ashes by Frank McCourt

A Confederacy of Dunces by John Kennedy Toole

The Horse Whisperer by John Evans

(great, great buys... I got all of these books, two of which are Pulitzer Prize winners, for less than 500 pesos)


*** 24 September 2005, again off avalon.ph

Batman: The Dark Knight Returns by Frank Miller

On the Road by Jack Kerouac


Read

A Little Princess by Frances Hodgson Burnett
-- yep, the Sarah story, bought the book sometime last year at Booksale at Megamall for Icay, (who's incidentally celebrating her birthday tomorrow); good read.

Songbook by Nick Hornby
-- borrowed from one of my bosses, finished in one sitting; Hornby might be a better essayist than he is a novelist; was laughing out loud in the office couch during the part where he argues why Marvin Gaye's Let's Get It On is a terrible, terrible song for when you're having sex.

No Shoes, No Shirt, No Problem by Jeff Foxworthy
-- bio slash joke collection from the redneck comedian; I bought this book for something like twenty bucks from Booksale Megamall last year; never found Foxworthy that funny (he goes for too many easy laughs), but the book does have the some poignant and hilarious moments.

A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius by Dave Eggers
-- great and patently original writing, but it kind of falls apart in the second part (he does warn you about it in the preface); he writes with a lot of anger, partly because of a sense of loss, and partly because of that sense of entitlement (followed by frustration) that every twentysomething feels; the anger leaps out of the pages and by the end of the book, I want to take someone's head off with a baseball bat.

Pure Drivel by Steve Martin
-- a bunch of essays written by the veteran comedian originally for The New Yorker, the essays have that same manic energy that was a trademark of his early stand-up and cinema work; some of the essays work and are just simply hilarious, but others come off as too eager to please; everything is hit-or-miss, with a few more hits than misses, which is the same thing you could say about his last few movies as well

Dead-eye Dick by Kurt Vonnegut
-- a very oddball story, but I loved it well enough to consider buying more Vonnegut books off avalon.ph, I just can't decide whether to go with Slaughterhouse Five or Hocus Pocus

Summerland by Michael Chabon
-- a nice little fantasy story, and it worked well for me because of the baseball angle; despite the fantasy theme, the tone plays like Kavalier and Clay, and it's just as grand; already bought Chabon's short story collection Werewolves in Their Youth off avalon.ph

Microserfs by Douglas Coupland
-- liked this one better than Generation X; it's definitely funnier, and doesn't feel as contrived (although it still does feel a bit contrived)

Batman: The Dark Knight Returns by Frank Miller
-- many people point to this as one of the two greatest comic book stories ever, alongside Alan Moore's Watchmen, which certainly makes it the greatest Batman story ever; however, I've always held a special place in my heart for...

Batman: Year One by Frank Miller
-- originally Frank Miller's re-telling of Batman's origin, it was so good that it became part of the official Batman canon; a lot of elements made it into Batman Begins, which would explain why that movie was so fucking brilliant.


Reading

On the Road by Jack Kerouac
-- so far, so good; tell you all about it next time.

Eight Stories by Alfred A. Yuson
-- just finished the first story, which was alright; can't seem to get into his work though.

- posted by jaemark @ 9/26/2005 02:52:00 PM