Oops, forgot to write

I haven’t written anything for like a week (2 weeks? A month? Who knows anymore) because I got myself all busy with reading. I feel it a noble enough sacrifice. Today, however, I have a bit of a headache, and writing offers a lot more flexibility as far as thinking and letting your eyes wander.

Also, apparently I busted by website-generator thing around the time of my last post, so several pages were screwed-up for a bit, but they should be good now!

Anyway, what better to write about than the crap I’ve been reading. I thought about making these all affiliate links (not through Amazon though, god), but 1. It takes work to work sign up and B. It just ain’t that serious. Maybe some day. Anyhow:

Books

The Witches Are Coming - Lindy West

A good “cultural critique” without any academic stuffiness. Or anything even remotely resembling stuffiness. It has a very modern writing style – West is obviously a scholar of the internet – and it’s pretty hilarious for it.

Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? - Mindy Kaling

The amusing stories of a TV writer. A light, fun read. Though there was one joke about an old African schoolmate that wasn’t great. C’mon, Mindy, you’re funny without that.

Tomatoland - Barry Estabrook

A jaunt down the capitalist hell-hole that tomato farming apparently is (more than everything else). I appreciate that it didn’t pull too many punches. Occasionally a smidge sympathetic to some that don’t deserve it, but still left me wanting to switch to a farmers’ market.

The Sirens of Titan - Kurt Vonnegut

Interesting concept. Reminded me a lot of Hitchhiker’s Guide, but with less whimsy.

I don’t know. Theoretically, I like Vonnegut, but the treatment of women in this is… not good.

The Princess Bride - William Goldman

Having only seen the wonderful movie adaptation, it’s weird to read the book now. It’s great, but – blasphemy – I don’t think it has much of anything over the movie.

Americanah - Chimamanda Ngozi Adiche

A young Nigerian woman’s journey to America, and the accompanying shattered illusions about the land of the free. Not much I can say here that hasn’t already been said, but it tells a good story with absolutely terrific prose.

Almost Perfect - W.E. Pete Peterson

A brief history of a now-defunct word-processor. It chronicles the story of a business built from scratch by a bunch of whiteys, and the author with his ridiculous name is a self-professed Glenn Beck fan these days (grimace emoji). That said, if you’re an awful, awful, nerd like me, and amused by that old-school computer scene (these guys made millions before GUIs were things people had) then it might be interesting.

That’s all for now. Join me next week, when I’ll be ranking the 10 cheap-o Donna Andrews murder-mysteries I’ve read.