Currently Reading:

Good Poems, for Hard Times,  I’ve not been so excited to read a book in soooooo long! I’d recently started reading the first one Again because I loved it so much…and was so sad when I found out there was a new one out and wouldn’t be able to afford it, well a dear dear friend got it for me as a surprise!!!  Garrison Keilor picks poems that rock my world…..they’re so direct, and simple, and powerful.  His introductions in both books are well worth the cost of admission.

Li Po and Tu Fu, Arthur Cooper

This is a fascinating edition, that has a 100 page introduction out of a 250 page book!  It deals with culture, calligraphy, language, translation methods, poetic methods…etc…etc… it’s great!  There are also massive notes on every poem, a half page to a page on each.  I got way into the introduction, however, oddly enough, find the translations hard to read so far.  This book has great calligraphy of several poems in it though that’s really neat.

Blue Wizard Is About To Die! : Prose, Poems, and Emoto-Versatronic Expressionist Pieces About Video Games, Seth “Fingers” Flynn Barkan

Found this one at my favorite book store Megabooks, couldn’t get over how cool the title was.  Bought it for my roommate, but it found its way into our bathroom reading bin so I’m reading it one trip at a time.  Wow it’s great!!!  A must read for anyone who’s played videogames.

The Picture of Dorian Gray, Oscar Wilde

Havn’t read this one yet but..I saw the League of Extrorindary Gentleman haha..and wanted to.

The God of Small Things, Arundhati Roy

Mickey loaned me this one.  Just started it.  Seems like it’ll be very different and perspective expanding.

1984, havn’t started this one yet, but I want to….

Read:

Through Painted Deserts, Donald Miller

Thanks to Morgan for loaning me this!  I love Donald Miller’s work, it was easy to tell this was his first book though.   Also…I’m sure he’s way different now but, I  learned I could never hang out with him he would annoy the crap outta me!  That said…his discoveries that life is not about commercialism, that God is found in nature, that life is a dance…that happiness can be found when you have nothing, are all very inspiring and encouraging.  A good read if you’ve read his others first and have a bit of a bohemian spirit in you.

Selected Poems, T.S. Elliot

Leslie sent me this one, I’m excited to give ol’ T.S. a shot.  This stuff is…very smart.  I had difficulty understanding it.  But it kept my attention anyway.  Some really neat stuff.  A book I might have to take a class on to get even 20% of the depth of it all.

Zen Guitar, Philip Toshio Sudo

Music should connect heart-to-heart.  Not heart-mind-mind-heart.  We all have a song inside of us, it could be very simple, but that is what we need to share, not copy anyone else.   Poorly stated, but I could go on and on, this book is full of wisdom for any musician, or anyone at all.  I would recommend it to anyone in the musical realm. 

One Hundred Poems from the Chinese, Kenneth Rexroth

A continuation of my exploration into this wonderful poetry/culture, features the works of Tu Fu.  Not sure I like these selections as much so far, but a long way to go.

This book introduced me to a few new poets I like, and had brief but informative notes.  I think I liked the translations but…maybe not the selections quite so much, still good though.

The Illustrated Man, Ray Bradbury

Claire gave me this book, thanks so much!  It’s a great collection of science fiction short stories.  I forgot all about my poems for a week or so, because I was eager to read it.  The shortness was nice for my schedule allowing me to grab a story here and there.  Each one got more and more intense…small seemingly meaningless stories but, somehow they built on each other to give you a glimpse of bradbury’s mind.  I guess intense is the best word I could use to describe most of these.

Twenty Love Poems and a Song of Despair, Pablo Neruda

I picked this one up because the book itself was NEAT, it has those pages that don’t line up, and illustrations by Picasso…thanks Megabooks!  Anyway, an interesting read…kind of, I still am not deep enough to fully grasp this poetry, I guess…maybe I need some emotional adjusting.

Bogombo Snuff Box, Kurt Vonnegut

Thanks to Michelle for this one!  A wonderful collection of short stories Vonnegut wrote for magazines in the 50’s and 60’s.  The introduction alone is worth the time.  Definitely a curiosity piece for Vonnegut fans, but then, I am one J  The closing essay blew my mind…wow, what a neat description of what it is to be a Middle Westerner.

The Message Remix, Eugene Peterson

Ok so I’ve only read part of this, but since I don’t have a copy right now I’m putting this on the read list, I will be reading this on and off indefinitely!  Yeah dude! This book is really chill, face on me! (as the nashvillians would put it)  Seriously though…I’ve enjoyed and been refreshed by this gracefully worded take on the Bible.  It’s so cool to see things you’ve seen all your life and glossed over, in words you’d actually say and have meaning nowadays!

Cat’s Cradle, Kurt Vonnegut

Wow!  A great book…Kurt Vonnegut has a lot to say about religion, human character…all sorts of things, all couched in an easy to read novel form.  Neat neat neat!

African Poems and Love Songs, Peter Pauper Press, Africa…

This one didn’t have as profound an effect on me as the Jade Flute, but still well worth the .45 cents I spent on it…a neat glimpse of this culture!

Transformations, Anne Sexton

Wow…what a neat surprise, a forward by Kurt Vonnegut, clever illustrations, colored in and underlined by a previous owner!  Another great Megabooks find (south on 8^th ave. anyone in Nashville!).  I bought it because I’d heard of the author, not knowing what it was about…it turned out to be Grimm’s fairy tales, with dark and twisted new interpretations.  It made me laugh, it made me squirm, not for kids but a pleasurable and easy read!

The Jade Flute – Chinese Poems in Prose, Peter Pauper Press, Li Po, Tu Fu, etc…

Wow!  I highlighted the ones I especially liked…and found several of them came from those two authors, I’m Definitely getting more of their work…ends up, there’s a book on Amazon that’s a collection of both of their stuff!  Anyway…for some reason this stuff rocks my world.  It’s so simple, and contemplative and well expressed.  They don’t need extra words like I do, just simple beauty, it’s inspiring, and brings me peace.  I also love the look of the book, it’s a tiny volume that could fit in your pocket, with awesome prints that would be worth the price themselves to cut out and hang on the wall.  And I got it for 40 cents trade in at Megabooks.

Galapagos, Kurt Vonnegut

The most/only disappointing Vonnegut read so far.  The book was just filled with little things that made it hard to read…and was rather plodding, redundant, and just plain boring…how very odd.  I guess at the time it was written maybe it had some great stuff to say about humanity but, it all seemed old hat today…

Rainer Maria Rilke – Selected Poems – Translated by Albert Ernest Flemming

Did you know that the unicorn was created out of a foal who gazed upon the utmost purity of the Virgin Mary and thus sprouted a horn and became the perfect creature that it is?  Lol I finally finished this one, not sure I was ready for it…it took me three tries with months in between.  Some really really good ones, mostly stuff that was too murky and deep for me to navigate.  Part of it could be translation issues? Part of it is me just liking accessible stuff…heck I always skipped great literature and read young adult novels.

Loving Through Heartsongs - Mattie J. T. Stepanek

Brandi gave me this…it’s helping me get over my Oprah bias.  Wow, just pulling this out gets STRONG reactions from people, there’s a lot of folks that really hate this kid!!!  Weird…it’s been a very pleasant read so far.  I guess it is odd to think that all of this came from a little kid, but at the same time sometimes it Only seems like it could have.  Either way there’s some neat simple stuff here I guess.

The Four Agreements – Don Miguel Ruiz

Interesting.  A lot of good stuff here.  I love the parts about how we’re programmed into a losing situation by basing our self worth on the approval/disapproval of others.  And the parts about living like a child.  I wonder though…the author bases everything on being happy, on loving self, on doing what we want first…and I’m so close to this place, but I still see it as backwards…I believe we can be happy and love ourselves, but we have to be plugged into a higher source and ultimately doing those things for something outside of ourselves…or maybe it’s all the same thing?!

Searching for God Knows What, Donald Miller

Harder to read that Blue like Jazz…probably because it delves into deeper topics.  On second glance though it has some neat stuff to say about relationships with eachother and with God, and scripture and…the like.  Rather deep, not so easy to read, but a good read if you’re into that stuff.

The Celestine Prophecy, James Redfield

You’ve gotta wonder a little bit about a book that has a recommendation by an M.D. on the cover “I couldn’t put it down.”  Sure enough it was quite a brain trip, at times more research paper than novel…  That said, it made for some great conversations and thoughts over the past few weeks.  Strangely it mirrored some events in my life, and discoveries lately so it helped me think about things.  The way it was structured kind of led you to believe you were ‘discovering’ the insights along with the character in the book so that was neat.  It was a little goofy…like, you make your eyes go out of focus to see everyone’s mystical energy…don’t get me wrong I think there’s a lot to this ‘energy’ bit that we don’t’ understand, but…making our eyes go out of focus to see it? Come on now, that’s how you do magic eye puzzles.   And then it made me sad b/c at the end of the book the author talks about how we should pay people to explain the insights to us, and then ends the book with a plug for his $30 newsletter…there’s this grand buildup of ‘spiritual evolution’ that leads to the point where we’re all enlightened enough to…pay this guy more money lol!  Anyway if you’re interested in metaphysics, post modern theology, and the like it’s an interesting read.  It had some stuff about interpersonal relationships that is really helpful I think.

Good Poems, a collection from the Writer’s Almanac radio series by Garrison Keilor

I’m in love with this!  What great, simple American reflections.  The introduction is amazing even…Keilor’s discussion of poetry, and what makes it good, is really right up my alley.  This book was Awesome! It’s hard to pick out favorites, depending on my mood I can see myself enjoying almost all of these poems a lot.

The Little Prince, Antoine De Saint-Exupéry

            It’s true, I find more truth in works of fiction.  This book is amazing, simple, touching, and true.  It’ll only take you half an hour to read.  It’s half an hour that could not be better spent.  Thanks Noah for enriching my life by letting me borrow this!

On the Road – Keruac

“…never dreaming the raggedy madness and riot of our actual lives, or actual night, the hell of it, the senseless nightmare road.  All of it inside endless and beginingless emptiness.  Pitiful forms of ignorance.”  On The Road, Jack Kerouac, p. 253-254

That’s about it really.  I’ve heard so many people tell me how great and free and fun this book is.  It honestly was really hard to get through and sad for me.  It was especially hard as I’d been compared to a character who leaves wives and children all over the country, is a crazy addict, a bad friend, and a womanizer…maybe those are all things I have the potential to be I don’t know but all the same, this book was hard for me to read.

Blue Like Jazz, Donald Miller

Wow!  A down to earth book about, all kinds of things…just all kinds of good things about life and, love and…wow.  This guy believes in Jesus but, this sure doesn’t read like a ‘Christian’ book.  He shares my perplexity with a lot of aspects of Christianity, and at the same time shines a down to earth light on things that just…is great to read, and makes sense in your gut and makes you feel whole.  It hit me a lot where I was already at, and helped me understand, so maybe that’s why I loved it so much, but…it’s really well written so I would strongly recommend it to anyone on that merit alone! And, it might just rock your world like it did mine!

The Gunslinger  -- Stephen King

King is one of my favorite writers for movies (Green Mile, Shawshank Redemption…), this was the first book of his I’d read.  It painted an amazingly vivid picture.  Sometimes I want to run ahead, to know more information than he’s providing.  It definitely had a great style to it. I can see that a certain kind of person (my friend noah for instance) would find this to be the greatest book ever, it’s really good!  But…for me it was a little mysterious, I’m dumb I like stuff spelled out for me, and video games that are super easy…and paint by number haha, ok no not really I painted outside the lines.

Bluebeard, Kurt Vonnegut

            A fictive autobiography of an unsuccessful artist.  This novel, not only intertwines with Vonnegut’s other books, it has a lot of really profound stuff to say about war, art, and human nature.  It’s really just the story of an old dude…but it’s an extremely satisfying read.  I highly recommend it. Maybe my favorite fiction book this year, and it’s not really about all that much!

One, Richard Bach

Really interesting thoughts on metaphysics, religion and the power of choices, all couched in novel form.  A really interesting way to learn some things and expand your mind!

Deadeye Dick, Kurt Vonnegut

To the as-yet-unborn, to all innocent wisps of undifferentiated nothingness: Watch out for life.

            I have caught life.  I have come down with life.  I was a wisp of undifferentiated nothingness, and then a little peephole opened quite suddenly.  Light and sound poured in.  voices began to describe me and my surroundings.  Nothing they said could be appealed.  They said I was a boy named Rudolph Waltz, and that was that.  Deadeye Dick, Kurt Vonnegut, p. 1

            This tales is bleak, and sad.  A story of life…and people, and how sad and empty and hateful it can be when people turn their backs on eachother.  It doesn’t have shining profound moments like most Vonnegut books, it’s not about that.  It’s a tale of life the way it is, or can be steady and sad.  A good read as always, and it fits into Vonnegut’s catalogue nicely, it’s always amazing to see his characters step in and out of each book as bit parts in the background.  This man had a lot of foresight to plan something like that out!

This book motivates me to infect those around me with encouragement, and makes me realize the power of the times when I haven’t.  It’s funny how fiction can teach me stuff like that more powerfully than nonfiction sometimes.

Japanese Death Poems – Written by Zen Monks and Haiku Poets on the Verge of Death – Yoel Hoffman

I’ve quoted this a lot in my blog, and written a few into my planner.  It starts with a great history/poetry section by the editor.  It really helped me understand some things about Haiku and Japanese culture that enabled me to understand the poetry better.  But it still came down to the basic reason I bought it.  Anyone who can sum up their life and death in 17 syllables deserves my attention!  It was really neat to see a lot of truth that’s outside my western mindset.  A good read!  I’m passing this one on to a friend Daniel.

Black Majesty - John W. Vandercook

A biography of Henry Christophe the first king of an independent Haiti.  This books is a vivid portrait of a powerful man.  Written in powerful language, some of which wouldn’t be politically correct today, it tells of a slave who rose to king.  It shows the problems and corruption that come with power, even for the noblest of souls.  And it gives a glimpse into the fascinating and confusing history of Haiti.  I found this book in a used bookstore in Greenville N.C. books on Haiti are hard to find!  The engravings in the book are Amazing.  Anyway, a very pleasant read for the curious.

Illusions, The adventures of a reluctant Messiah, Richard Bach

Wow! I’ll share some quotes from this sometime.  I wanted to hug Enoch for giving me this book.  It’s a novel, but it’s the most amazing book of…’how to look at the worldedness’ at the same time.  I don’t believe everything it says but, it doesn’t even want me to!  And some of it is just…gracefully profound.  It’ll change your life.

Breakfast of Champions, Kurt Vonnegut

Wow!  Kurt’s gone and done it again.  Read it…its’ just chock full of truth about our culture, all set in an easy and fun style to read.  I love this guy!

White Noise – Don DeLilo

It starts slow, very very slow.  I didn’t’ honestly ‘get’ the book until I read the dust jacket when I was done.  I think it’s very successful at achieving what, the writer on the dust jacket at least thinks the author is trying to achieve, which is to portray the mind numbing emptiness of our TV/radio/advertising filled culture.  The writing style will do that to you.  That said, by halfway through section two I was hooked and read the rest in one sitting, it left me feeling very depressed and kinda sad to see the world the way the author does.  It was a powerful book and in that sense ‘good’. 

A New Kind of Christian – Brian D. McLaren

“The fact that thinking and analyzing seem to be synonymous suggests how successful modernity has been at marginalizing all other forms of thought—imagination, intuition, pattern recognition, systems thinking and so on.” – p 17.  This book very thoughtfully and analytically laid out the idea that we shouldn’t restrict ourselves to thought and analysis.  Obviously the logical foundation is a little shaky!  It had some good stuff to say though, not sure I’d recommend it to anyone, unless you’re a pastor who’s struggling with modernity.  Other than that, have a good convo with one of my friends or myself and you’ll have what you need to know!  I’d come up with this stuff on my own a long time ago and didn’t’ know it was a revolution…but then, it did say some stuff well.  I have mixed feelings about it.

Two Against the North – Farley Mowat

A mind bludgeoning collection of lists and adjectives.  Two boys act stupid, go north in the cold and snow, survive and come home.  There I’ve saved you reading it! Unless you love lots of adjectives and lists…then, this book is a priceless treasure!

Chronicles of Narnia – C.S. Lewis

What can I say, my parents named me after this guy, then handed me this series to read.  I didn’t have TV as a kid so I read all the time, probably read this whole series 15 times.  Now my lovely momma gave them to me in one hardback volume, and in the author’s preferred order.  I’m moving slowly, but excited to read them in the ‘real’ order for the first time.  It’s a lovely edition with great chapter art and the works.  I read most of this in the bathroom…lol, some stuff in the Last Battle really resonates with where I’m at in life right now.

Bunny Suicides – Andy Riley

This book is genius.  Just amazing.  It’s the kind of thing that makes you want to stop writing or coming up with ideas because, these are better than anything you could ever think of!  Really, even if you’re not into dark humor (which is my favorite kind hee hee) this book is just too funny.  I read it while standing in borders though, I need to invest some more time to study its artful mastery!!!

Next:

More poetry? Stalled, someone give me some ideas

Books on Haiti

The Outstretched Shadow by Mercedes Lackey

Travel books by  --  Paul Theroux

Urban living books by -- John Perkins

No compromise – Melody Greene

the Power of One.

The Babel effect - by Daniel Hecht.

Blindness - by Jose Saramago

Iron John by Robert Bly

Anything Vonnegut I can get my hands on.

Stuff by Garrison Keilor