My sister had a birthday recently, and I got her the children's picture book "Mars Needs Moms" by Berkeley Breathed, of "Bloom County," "Outland," and "Opus" comic-strip fame. Of course, being the sort of brother I am, I read it first.

It was really wonderful; a tear-jerker. My sister called after reading it and told me that the first line of the book is from "War of the Worlds," and the last line is from "To Kill a Mockingbird."

I bought two copies. Don't tell my wife, but she's getting one for Christmas!

I just bought the coolest copy of F451. It is 3/4" high and is the complete text of the full size edition. Even has Mr. B's picture on the back cover.

Now all I need is a 100x magnifying glsss to read it. Not sure how I'm going to get him to sign it for me either.

I'm re-reading 'Children of the Vampire' by Jeanne Kalogridis. It's an intelligent, entertaining and sometimes erotic variation on the Dracula legend. It's the second book in a fine trilogy. I think it's rather superior to Anne Rice's novels.

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I'm sure looking forward to the shipment of books from grasstains! What riches!

Umm... err, I uh, like only sent two books. See, that way I could say I sent some books (plural) and make it sound like SOOO much more than only one (1) book. When it's actually only one (1) book more than one (1) book. I'm frugal.

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quote:

Originally posted by grasstains:
Umm... err, I uh, like only sent two books. See, that way I could say I sent some books (plural) and make it sound like SOOO much more than only one (1) book. When it's actually only one (1) book more than one (1) book. I'm frugal.

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LOL! Two books IS riches!

Well into the Benny book. So far, so good.
BUT, I'm listening to the audiobook of "Something Wicked". The end of chapter 28, in which Will and his Dad climb up to his room, is one of the best things ever written by a human being. Now that I'm about Will's Dad's age, it really hits me.

The Halloween Tree, and why not!

Finally finished Enders Game. I enjoyed it a lot but was a little bogged down by the extended discussions on strategy. The end rocked though. I'm well into Red Badge Of Courage and its very good. Some of his metaphors remind me of Bradbury.

"Red Badge" is one of the very few books (3-5) I've ever had to quit reading because of emotional reasons. It hit me pretty hard. I remember something about moss growing on the northern side of tree trunks and the protagonist getting seperated from his group of soldiers (I think he ran away) and then, almost comically, accidentally falling into line with another group of soldiers.

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Certain books impact me in such a way as to be life altering. This seems to be one. Not only showing the rigors of war but the emotional feelings and the truly human flaws that sometimes in extreme circumstances emerge. Bradbury's books in particular have that ability to sweep you away with them and not question at all the validity of what your reading. It is so like some narcotic induced dream when I read a book that I am enthralled with. What I mean is, you are there. A freight train could derail and land inches from me when I read a good book and I'd never know of my peril. Red Badge is just such a book. I am a fan of The Civil War so I'm really into it but I've rarely read a book on the war or its aftermath that effected me so. I gotta say I'm enjoying it immensely regardless of the grave subject matter. Did anyone watch Ken Burns new film on WW2 on pbs this past week. I love all of his productions too. Anyway, I think for this years "scary" book in honor of my fav. holiday, I am going to dive once again into The October Country.

I did watch some of the WWII documentary. It was still being played tonight, too. It's good stuff. Imagine the time it takes to compile such a... a, umm, well... What is it? To compile all that stuff. There.

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Missed the TV special (no TV). But our local AM radio station, KSCO, had a special series in the afternoons last week dedicated to the war in ythe Pacific. Monday concentrated on 1941, beginning with Pearl Harbor; Tuesday on 1942, etc. In the studio each day they had guests who had been there! People phoned in to talk with them and some vets called in too, offering their own stories. One of the hosts, Michael Olson has a book out now: "Tales From a Tin Can: The USS Dale from Pearl Harbor to Tokyo Bay".

How was the Ken Burns thing?
The other host of the abovementioned radio show (Charlie Friedman, a Navy vet himself)watched it and was disappointed by the choice of background music. Too gloomy, he said. He's a collector of 78s and very knowledgeable. He made a comment I really liked, something to the effect that, "we had such great music those Nazis didn't stand a chance!"

Now, what thread is this again?

Finished October Sky (aka, Rocket Boys), and ironically 50 yrs. have passed so quickly:
http://www.usatoday.com/news/education/2007-10-03-sputnik-education_N.htm

What flights will man have taken by 2057?

I'm about halfway through The Friendly Persuasion, by Jessamyn West, and finding it very different from the movie.

One of my Russian-speaking friends tells me that "Спутник" ("Sputnik") means "companion", or, more accurately, "travelling companion". Kinda cute, I thought.