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    the year in books (so far)

    Just a quick heads-up for any of you interested in what I've been reading lately: the 2008 books-log page, which had been languishing for the last few months, is now up-to-date. I'm mostly not writing capsule reviews this year—just too much other stuff going on —but if you just want a raw list of the 47 books I've read so far this year, well, it's there for you. (My LibraryThing page has also been brought up to date, for those of you who prefer that system.)

    Anyone have any recommendations for worthwhile books I should try to tackle before the year is out?

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    Wednesday, November 19, 2008
    9:47 PM

     

    Comments:
    Wow, I forgot all about "Jennifer Government." Haven't read that in quite awhile...love it, though.

    For a quick recommendation, I'd check out Roberto Bolano. I read "The Savage Detectives" this summer, and it shot up the list of my favorite books of all-time. I'm anxiously awaiting payday this week so I can pick up his last novel, "2666" which was published this year.
     
    Oh, yeah, that Bolano book looked super-interesting. (I think I read a New Yorker profile on him a while back, right as Savage Detectives was coming into print.) I'm going to go plug that book into my Amazon Wishlist right now. (Tis the season.)
     
    In response to your comment about Humphrey Bogart resembling Barack Obama: I actually Googled some images of Bogart and squinted at some of them...I can sort of see what you're saying. It's a stretch, but not totally crazy.

    I can only imagine how Obama's campaign would have been had his slogan been: "I Stick My Neck Out For Nobody," instead of "Change We Can Believe In."
     
    You know, to be totally honest, I'm still not sure if I'll reccomend this one or not, but a couple weeks ago I walked into a book shop in Andersenville, where I had been visiting a friend of mine, and I decided to try something out. What I did was, I looked for a novel I hadn't heard anything about but seemed most interesting, bought it, and read it. It was Wittgenstein's Mistress by David Markson. I read through it, and am probably going to post to my blog about it Monday. The closest thing as a reccomendation or positive review I'm willing to give (at the moment, and besides my blog post) is this: It's worth thinking about.

    Ask me in a few weeks though. I just ordered The Piano Teacher by Elfriede Jelinek, I'm still waiting on it to arrive. I figure you might already have read this. There is, I hear, also an excellent film adaptation of it, directed by Michael Haneke. You might also have seen this, but otherwise, I'll be prepared to give my opinion before the end of the year.
     
    I read Wittgenstein's Mistress, it is a wonderful (and very strange) book. But I have neither read The Piano Teacher nor seen the film.
     
    I posted to my blog about WM. According to the USPS, the Jelinek novel is arriving today. I must admit, I'm quite excited about it. I'll let you know what I think.
     
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