I love this!

(Image from the Mahatma X Files - formerly The Left End of the Dial)

When I was a sophomore in high school, I read most of H.P. Lovecraft's work. This brought on some sleepless nights, believe me.

These days I don't read the horrors very often. But with the network writers on strike and the television programming execs shoving more and more 'reality' shows on the box, the public library is definitely a better alternative.

I picked up 3 novels yesterday after dropping off Cormac McCarthy's "The Road." I'll write about his novel later, but for now let's just say that a post-apocalypse story like this is a little disturbing on several levels.

Anyway, I have "The Rake" by William F. Buckley Jr., a blend of suspense and satire (according to the jacket, anyway) based on a story about politics. Then there's Joe Haldeman's "The Accidental Time Machine" that I started last night. Finally, there's "Dizzy City" a story of a WW1 deserter turned con man by Nicholas Griffin.

Why so many books? As I said above, television really has become a vast wasteland, but besides that, I work only 3 days this week, then I'm off on vacation until after New Years.

Maybe if I had another concussion, I could spend the vacation watching daytime television. No highs, no lows, just 'the zone'.

Current reading list...

I see a lot of blogs that have a header announcing what music the writer is currently listening to, and I gave a few seconds thought to including something similar here. But most of the time I'm listening to blues or jazz over the local cable net, rather than something specific. I like the diversity.

So, I thought it might be fun to include an occasional reading list. Books take far longer to read, giving the list a longer life span.

Here's the current stack:

Prodigal Child by E. David Moulton. Yes, that David Moulton! I'll have a post about this soon, because although I've finished reading the book, I need to go through it again before finishing the piece. And as is all too common, I've been procrastinating.

Aftermath - The Remnants of War by Donovan Webster. I've been reading about WW1 and listening to various history-related podcasts revolving around the Great War. Webster's book details some of the areas that are still cordoned off due to the enormous amounts of live ammunition littering the ground. The war that ended on the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month in 1919 is still killing people in France.

Invasion of the Party Snatchers by Victor Gold. "How the holy-rollers and neo-cons destroyed the GOP." For those of us left-of-center politically, this one is full of wonderful quotes.

Armed and Dangerous: The hunt for one of America's most wanted criminals by William Queen and Douglas Century. When one author's name is in larger print than the other, if fairly screams 'ghostwriter'. I haven't started this one yet.

Atlas of World Military History edited by William Brooks. Naturally, this isn't a book to read cover to cover. I'm using it for reference to events before, during, and after WW1. Fascinating stuff and wonderful illustrations.

Oh, there was a mystery that I breezed through in a couple of evenings. And there was a sci-fi book in the stack too, until I read the bit about how the long war had rid Earth of aliens with tentacles growing from their heads, leaving it to only true humans. Of course, they discovered that disguised aliens were living among them, leading to heavy-handed searches for them, while those 'assimilated' aliens knew the real danger was posed by aliens without tentacles. At that point, I decided the whole thing was just too damned silly.

Regardless, it's still a better use of my time than that glowing idiot box over in the corner.

I been tagged...OT

Dave Moulton tagged me to list 5 things none of you know about me. Now, I'm looking ahead to a quiet Friday evening sacked out on the bed with a book from the library. I guess it's no secret that I spend a lot of time in the library, but this time I'll write about what I like to read, and how I got that way. And like Dave, I'll put this in chronological order, but there's a common thread to all of it.

Before getting to that, here are 5 people I'd like to hear from:

The ultimate 'test to failure' of a department store bike: http://www.bikeofdoom.com/

Christine "Peanut" Vardaros, assuming she has time for this given her racing schedule:
http://christinevardaros.blogspot.com/

Captain Parkus is on temporary duty at the Messenger of Doom: http://messengerofdoom.wordpress.com/

And yes, I know it's winter in Sydney, but what better time to write about painted people on bikes: http://sydneybodyartridehq.blogspot.com/

And finally, our own peripatetic Paul Tay. Skip the paint, Paul, and stick with the Santa suit! http://pimpthistownvotepaultay.blogspot.com/

The first tag:
I remember distinctly three books from grade school. In third grade, I read a book about 2 chipmunks who traveled the country from end to end. I don't recall the name of the book but I remember the sense of wonder and fascination that it brought. Sure, we had television, but a book relied more on my imagination and I could imagine things far more vividly than that black and white screen.

In fifth grade, I read a biology book on the human body. I remember being interested in the digestive and circulatory systems, but the sex stuff...not so much. Cutaway views of human anatomy are fascinating, but hardly sexy.

In sixth grade, I stumbled across Edgar Rice Burroughs. I read Tarzan, but the one that really snared my interest was A Princess of Mars. The idea of Deja Thoris wandering Barsoom clad in nothing but her jewels and weapons...well...did I mention my over-active imagination?

I read tons of sci-fi books for years afterward. Some few brought back that sense of wonder, but for the most part, it was simply a way to pass the time.

Second tag...
When I was about 15, my best friend and I haunted the local library. It was a long walk. But an older girl worked there and Mac and I both were infatuated. But she was an 'older woman' and all, probably about 18 or 19 and far out of our league.

We read a lot that summer.


Third tag...
In college, the quietest place to study was the fourth floor of the library. Studying in a dorm was nearly impossible. For that matter, sleep was almost impossible too. Most students didn't want to go to the top of the library building. It was very quiet and maybe a little creepy up there. I liked one corner as it was far from the elevator and any noises. One evening, my friend Laurie and I were comfortably ensconced in my corner when a librarian marched in and told us we were being too quiet! I had to wonder what else went on in that corner.


Fourth tag...
When I lived in Stoneboro, Pennsylvania, a couple of local ladies had a huge yard sale every summer. They scoured all the other yard sales and brought back box after box of books, which they sold for 25 cents apiece or 5 for a dollar, for paperbacks, and a couple of dollars for hardbacks. I knew that come winter I'd have nothing to do, so I bought sacks of books to squirrel away.

In one of those sacks, I came across an old hardback of poetry. I'm not a poetry fan so I gave it to my ex-wife. Big mistake. I found out later that it was a privately printed edition of lesbian love poems, a book that was illegal at the time it was printed, and as a result it was very rare and very valuable. I wonder if she knew?

Final tag...
As I mentioned above, I went through a sci-fi phase. And like most guys, I like the occasional techno-thriller. Most recently, however, I've been on a true crime kick. The latest is "Bind, Torture, Kill: The inside story of the serial killer next door". Way back in college, I majored in psychology and I've always been interested in abnormal psych. BTK didn't fit into the usual patterns for serial killers, or more clearly, he fit some but not others. While I read about
sociopaths, I don't ever want to encounter one.


So there you have it!