(no subject)

[cblj_backup]

Well, I am back from a morning doctor's visit, or rather have been for a while but had catching up to do. Apparently my Vitamin D levels hover between ten and thirteen and should be hovering around thirty to thirty five. Small wonder I hate the sun, apparently it's totally useless to me.

Anyway, I got jabbed for one last test before they start giving me the big gun prescription vitamin suppliments, so now I have a ninja bandaid on my arm.

At the doctor's office I finished reading Priceless by Robert Wittman and John Shiffman, which is a memoir of Wittman's time with the Art Crimes unit of the FBI, mostly as an undercover operative. It's a little disjointed, like it's not sure what it's supposed to be doing, but the stories are fascinating and it's a good adventure book -- a mixture of crime, art history, and police procedural. One of the cases Wittman worked on was the Gardner theft, late in the game, and that part of the book got a little technical and political, but all round it's a good read. Excellent recommendation for fans of heist flicks and true crime. :)

SO, now I'm faced with the question of what to read next. I have two books checked out from the library and one I'll pick up when I return Priceless: "The Sushi Economy", which is about globalization and its impact on the spread of sushi as a delicacy, "A Night In The Lonesome October" which is presumably about October, and "Confessions of a Justified Sinner" which is, according to Wikipedia, part-gothic novel, part-psychological mystery, part-curio, part-metafiction, part-satire, part-case study of totalitarian thought.

I have to admit I'm eyeballing A Night In The Lonesome October suspiciously. Zelazny and I have not traditionally got on well.

Anyway, between that and being a bit low on blood (and Vitamin D), I think it's time to let the Cafe drive for a while.

[Poll #1740746]

Comments

[twirlynoodle.livejournal.com]

I have to admit I voted for the October book purely on how you sold it, which made me hope it really IS about October, though common sense tells me it's probably some high-minded navel gazing, especially if the cover is a distressed photograph of a bare tree with the title in a widely-spaced minimalist font.

No book can be more October than Something Wicked This Way Comes. I can't read it at any other time of year; it feels wrong.

[iamshadow.livejournal.com]

You do know that Bradbury wrote another book called The October Country, right?

[bummble.livejournal.com]

I would recommend Zelazny, except that it really is *much* more fun to actually read it in October - and, hard as it is to believe, it is *even more* October than Something Wicked This Way Comes!

I LOVE A Night in the Lonesome October - and while I like other Zelazny books as well, this one isn't typical of his writing, I think.

[copperbadge.livejournal.com]

Apparently it really is about October, or several days in it anyway :D It has a fairly adventurous cover, I'll have to take a photo :D

[nutmeg3.livejournal.com]

Iirc, that's the Zelazny everyone says is amazing, so I say go for it. And grilled cheese with a nice side of wildebeest sounds good to me. (I'm also chronically low on D, but I've been taking it daily for about a year now, and that seems to have helped.)

[xturtle.livejournal.com]

Ditto the grilled cheese and the wildebeest. Also the vitamin D. I was so low I was getting hypoglycemic episodes and passing out on my office floor.

[contrarywise]

"A Night in the Lonesome October" is a fun read. IMO, the best way to read it for the first time is in October, one chapter a day. My ex and I read it together that way the first time, which was quite fun. If you don't go that route, it's a quick read, so you could finish it quickly. Since the chapters are fairly short, it makes for good commuter reading, too.

I must say that "Confessions of a Justified Sinner" is a great title.

[fiveforsilver]

I try, but I never manage to read it like that. Either I forget or I keep reading ahead. It's a great book, though.

[minkrose]

Hooray Priceless! I saw it recommended in a recent ALA journal and I really wanted to read it. I am really trying to read more books lately (since I haven't been reading anything new in months). Glad to hear your take on it, since I definitely meant to recommend it to you (and maybe I did, and forgot).

[copperbadge.livejournal.com]

It's possible. Someone did, anyhow :D

[bare-bear.livejournal.com]

WOOHOO! Looks like sushi (and WILDEBEEST of course) is winning! :D

[sandrayln.livejournal.com]

I'd be interested to hear which Zelazny didn't agree with you. Much as I love some of his works - i.e., a lot - there are a few that are... enh. And there are also a few that make no sense whatsoever if you're not pre-prepared for them - in at least one case because it's a sequel that isn't ever listed as a sequel.

That said - "A Night in the Lonesome October" is lovely. As another poster said above, it's not his typical writing, and it's not his typical warrior-poet narrator either.

[copperbadge.livejournal.com]

I tried reading the first of the Amber series, but by two thirds of the way in I had no clue what was going on and didn't really care -- not many likeable characters and I'm pretty sure at least one of the few likeable ones dies like, ten pages in or something.

[carmy-w.livejournal.com]

Priceless sounds like I would like it! It also sounds like it would translate well to the screen, ala "Catch Me If You Can."

LOLling at Wildebeest!

[copperbadge.livejournal.com]

It's not really linear, so I don't know how well it would translate directly to screen, but you could certainly make a film out of his life...

[rhi]

I would read A Night In The Lonesome October (hopefully it's the illustrated version?). In fact, I may put it on my reread pile. The sheer number of crossovers in it is glee-inducing.

[megaleena.livejournal.com]

You can't beat a good crisp sandwich for tea. I have 4 flavours tonight for a crisp sandwich extravaganza!

[firynze.livejournal.com]

Ninja bandaid! That's awesome.

[abby1000.livejournal.com]

Zelazny and Pasta, a great combo....

[copperbadge.livejournal.com]

HAH! Well, it IS winning at the moment...:D

[laughingacademy.livejournal.com]

I adore A Night in the Lonesome October. I picked it up thinking it was just a Holmes pastiche, and discovered this amazing whacked out crossover -- it's like a jam band consisting of the greatest monsters, madmen, and murderers (fictional and historical) of the 18th and 19th centuries.

That said, Confessions of a Justified Sinner sounds interesting.

[tzikeh.livejournal.com]

You knew I'd vote Byron's, right?

BTW, how do you determine your reading list?

[copperbadge.livejournal.com]

OM NOM ONION STRAWS.

I don't really determine my reading list, it just sort of happens to me. :D Finding the books is a combination of reccs from friends, stuff I stumble across on the internet, and "that looks like an interesting title" while I'm looking for other stuff. Right now I'm working through a backlog, but generally every time I make a hold-request at the library I try to get one "frivolous fiction/beach reading" novel, one "serious" nonfiction (like management books or cultural criticism or something else difficult), and one somewhere in the middle, like a biography or some hardcore serious literature. Keeps things balanced :D

[(Anonymous)]

Have you ever read anything by Jasper Fforde? He's an English/Welsh author who writes books...about books. Sort of. Very very clever, almost every sentence is a pun/manipulation of literary ideas. Impossible to describe, but the more well read you are, the cleverer the books are.

As for your question, the justified sinner one sounds intruiging. In a wonderful way.

[muchadoabouthim.livejournal.com]

Ooh, Jasper Fforde's books. I find them very amusing. You should indeed read them if you have not.

[pippinsalanna.livejournal.com]

Well I've voted for Sushi, but that's simply because my major in school is Aquaculture and Fisheries. I wish that everyone knew more about where our seafood comes from so if you want to ignore that one vote as the fanaticism of a fish nerd, feel free.

[sesmo.livejournal.com]

Shouldn't you be voting against sushi then?

[she-obstipui.livejournal.com]

As a Scottish romanticist and longtime lover of Hogg, read Confessions. Really.
You wil not regret it, and I would love to hear your reactions.

[copperbadge.livejournal.com]

LOL well, first reaction, I didn't realise it was written in the 19th century...

[dreamwaffles.livejournal.com]

Now I feel a little guilty because since classes have ended I have been reading only brain-fluff books, except for Tuning the Rig.

That one's by Harvey Oxenhorn, and the more you've sailed in your life, the more hilarious it is. It's a chronicle of his voyage on the Regina Marie in the 80s. I'm very fond of it!

I have a list of books to read. Many of them have been suggested by you. I loved Made to Stick, I'm actually planning on buying it when it's in paperback and applying it (carefully) to my undergrad thesis. (the 'careful' part is because I'm a science major, and we have PROCEDURES for things.)

Lonesome October

[dagonst.livejournal.com]

Crossover fanfic comedy gold. The rest of Zelazny is kind of meh, in my opinion; I know I've read Amber, or most of it, but couldn't tell you anything about it. But the Lonesome October book is wonderful.

[derien.livejournal.com]

We just re-bought "A Night In The Lonesome October" because we read it years ago and gave it away and have both been wanting to read it again. I voted for it, because even though I thought it did not meet the potential of what it could have been, I recall liking it a LOT. I'm pretty sure it had Sherlock Holmes in drag playing fiddle with gypsies, which I want to write fanfic about.

[songspinner9.livejournal.com]

I want ninja bandaids! I had crime-scene tape bandaids in my classroom, 'cause of the detective theme I have. Funny how many of the kids wanted those, and now I've run out...