The Secret Speech

Highly entertaining. Presumably well researched. Decent writing.

But I'll be perfectly honest, I didn't like this one as much as I liked Child 44. In Child 44, the main character is pursuing a worthy goal (save his wife who may or may not love him and save himself by solving a series of murders). In The Secret Speech, he is trying to save a snotty little brat he adopted who unreservedly loathes him. But then again, I hate kids, so of course I would hate a book about rescuing one.

No favorite quotes, all quotes require too much context to convey the desired effect.

Klosterman IV

Let's be honest here, the man can write. 'Nuff said.

Favorite Quotes:

All the "Questions" asked in the first part of each "Things That Might Be True" essay.

"My editor found it slightly bizarre that I liked Billy Joel, since he was living under the impression that I sat in a bomb shelter listening to Warrant and snorting cocaine off an Ouija board."

Killing Yourself to Live

AAAAHHHHHH I love Klosterman's writing style. Even though what he writes about (rock and roll because he is a rock critic) does not really interest me, I loved this book. He's such a fantastic writer. I just wish I was familiar with his allusions, it would make the book so much more meaningful, but that's my fault, not his.

If he wrote a plumber's manual, I would read it. That's how good his writing is.

AND, guess what? NO GRAMMATICAL ERRORS. At all. In any of his books.

Why Am I Laughing?

Because I appreciate the irony in me reading a spirituality book. "Why Is God Laughing?" by Deepak Chopra was, unfortunately, a bit subpar. I feel like Chopra might be a bit of a hypocrite, but if you want a more detailed explanation, ask me about it so I can babble through my logic in person (and thereby insure that no one has a written record of my jumbled thought process).

The Darwin Awards

I'll be honest, I thought it would be better. It was okay, but the author was kind of mean about the whole thing.

Worst of all, I feel like some of the things mentioned in the book are things I wouldn't have the common sense to know not to do.

Downtown Bowel

"Downtown Owl," by Chuck Klosterman. Read it. It's brilliant.

I swear I could have been reading about Walworth, complete with the ignorant senior citizens sharing their misinformed opinions at Ray's Pitstop, the embellished football stories of old, and the drug and alcohol abuse.

I can say with 100% certainty that Chuck Klosterman is a superb writer with a refreshingly honest perspective.

Favorite Quotes:

"We all believe that we are a certain kind of person, but we never know until we do something that proves otherwise, or until we die."

"What she said: 'What kind of play was it? I used to watch the Packers with my dad. Was it a flea-flicker? I love flea-flickers. If I were a football coach, my team would run a lot of flea-flickers. The flea-flicker would be the key to our offense.'
What she was attempting to convey through means that made no sense: By espousing an exaggerated affinity for a specific NFL gadget play, I am displaying an awareness of how football is played (which is central to the conversation we are presently conducting) along with a willingness to watch football on television (in case that quality is important to you when looking for a romantic partner). However, by playfully claiming that I would employ said ludicrous gadget play all the time (were I somehow an NFL offensive coordinator), I am indicating that I'm still a girl in the traditional, conventional sense and no threat to you masculinity. It's win-win."