A lot of folks were reading on the subway this morning – up to a third of all the people on the car, which is definitely more than usual. I also saw someone skirting the line between creepy and curious trying to discover what her neighbour was reading. Pure awesomeness. I was observing rather than reading because when I take transit to work, I commute with my hubby. Here are some of the books I saw being put to their proper use today:Three Day Road by Joseph Boyden. We have this at home and have had it so long that we bought it when it existed only in hardcover. My hubby finally got around to reading it, and really enjoyed it, but not until it was well into its incarnation as a softcover. Boo. I should have included the whole "buying it in hardcover but then neglecting it until it's in softcover" on my post on book crimes.
No One Belongs Here More Than You by Miranda July. I've seen this one everywhere and it may be brilliant but I can't read a book with a bright pink cover. Or a book written by someone with such a ridiculous name.
Interesting Times by Terry Pratchett. This one was a well-thumbed library book; I love the sound the plastic covers they put on hardcover library books make when you turn the pages, but I love owning books more, so my library book reading is very scanty. Anyway, Pratchett is supposed to be hilarious….yet, this guy didn't once during his subway reading even crack a smile. Is the book a dud or was the reader some kind of colonizing alien doing research into human culture before leading a humourless invasion into our libraries to destroy all our pleasure in life? Will these new intergalactic overlords force us to read only Margaret Atwood? Just contemplating a life of Atwood is making me feel like organizing a resistance movement...
NB: So yeah, I don't know if this new "feature" (featurette? NO. I hate that stupid "word"!) will ever appear again, or if it does, how often. My idea for The Reading Lamp arose out of checking out other people's reads on the subways, so Curious/Creepy makes sense. But I suspect it might also be on the wrong side of lame. We'll see.
2 comments:
i swear there was a saying about books and covers...never thought it was suppose to be that literal though.... ;)
Me and a friend are trying to get a book club going, any recs on a good book for that sort of thing? so far ive scoped out 'kafka by the shore' or 'the diamond age' but I'd rather a sure winner for the first week,
Crazy that you should mention the Stephenson book...because I'm reading it RIGHT NOW. I'm really enjoying it, and everyone I know who's read it has also really liked/loved it, so it might be a good place to start.
If you want some Murakami, though, skip Kafka on the Shore and read Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World, which is truly a rockin book.
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