Monday, April 27, 2015

Go Tigers!








In the fantasy version of my blog people were so distraught when I raised the subject of "what I am currently reading", but did not actually say what I am currently reading, that I was besieged by irate Western Union Telegrams. I received so many telegrams asking me what I am currently reading that I am now sort of friendly with the Western Union Telegram boy and am planning on going to his high school baseball game this weekend (Go Tigers!). I also learned about his sick sister and his family's struggles on their small farm near Faribault. Everything seems to hinge on this year's beet crop. Did you know that many cultures believe that if a man and woman eat from the same beet they will fall in love? If I had known that useful fact I would have been sneaking portions of my beets into my wife's food back when I was 17. Although everything worked out, beets or no, eventually.

But aren't we drifting rather far afield from my fake subject? I believe we are. I believe we were pretending that everyone is dying to know what I'm reading, and that everyone around here prefers to communicate with telegrams, and that they grow a lot of beets in the Faribault area. And that the Faribault Tigers are three and one thanks to their star pitcher, a Western Union Telegram boy, who has yet to allow an earned run all season. Go Tigers!

Hmm. We drifted again. There must be a strong northwesterly wind again on my blog. My blog is frequently beset by gusty winds!


 Here are the books I am currently reading:


Golden Son, sequel to Red Rising. Not exactly dystopian, Sci Fi class struggle revolutionary military soap opera. Yes, it's all a bit breathless, but pretty good on the occasions I understand what's going on.


Chuang Tzu: The Inner Chapters. Speaking of not understanding what's going on! This is a 2300 year old collection of Taoist blog posts! Yes, blog posts! Exactly like mine, only slightly more so. Which of ours is better? There is no better. We are the same, but different, but the same because we're different, but different because we're the same.


Sisters, an appealing YA graphic novel memoir. It's about sisters! Actually, I finished it in something close to one sitting somewhere in the vicinity of writing this post, so I think it counts as "What I'm Reading."

The Sellout. A breathless, very funny satirical snark on matters of race. I spotted it while feeding items onto the library check in machine. It made me laugh very quickly so I proceeded to carry it around with me for a couple hours at work, reading it every chance I got. However, it turns out that critics of stature are pretty crazy about this book so there's a wait list. I am on the wait list now. That wait list is a killer for me though, I rarely make it through books that are so admired, and so there's a good chance I will never read this book again.

Father Goose. The memoir of an inventor and ultra light pilot who started flying with geese and then teaching them new migration patterns. This inspired the lovely movie Fly Away Home. The girl character and thus the whole main plot of that movie though is all made up.


Cats and Other People. I am slowly reading it to my wife at night. In the 60's and 70's there were a lot of memoirs about life with a cat or cats. It's a forgotten genre I am interested in. Most of the ones I've read so far involve single men living in New York and the story of their relationship (mostly) with one cat. This one is about a woman on the East Coast and all her relationships with all the cats in her life ever. 

Those are all the books I can remember and piece together from my list of items checked out. The odds are that in the next few days I will come across one or two books and say "Oh yeah. I forgot to include this one."  Nevertheless, being able to report six books is, I feel, a very respectable showing, and should be enough to stem the flow of irate imaginary telegrams, which, after all, is the reason for this accounting.


2 comments:

  1. Thank you. Sisters has been a hit at my house.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. My pleasure. I'm glad your house likes it. Drama and Smile, you know, by the same author, are equally good.

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