Metal Bööks för Metal Möments in Life

I didn't exactly grow up a "metal fan" in the typical sense. I mean don't get me wrong, I can run with some GnR but Mötley Crüe, Winger, Trixter, and Warrant never really did much for me. It probably was for the better, I can't really drop the f-word casually enough to blend seamlessly into the metal sub-genre. But hear me out, I totally get the appeal. Beyond that I'm not even sure how anyone from rural middle America could possibly not love metal, it is everything great and despicable about American popular music, and possibly American culture in general. So if you can handle hearing the f-bomb used as every part of speech in the English language, then this is not such a bad look at Metal, or rural America. If you like to challenge yourself, possibly increase your level of intellect, and come out of a book smarter on the tail end, then this might not be the book for you.

Tommy Lee, please don't hold this against me.

More Collected Works of Various Authors, Many from the Glorious Nation of Iceland

Book 32 in my quest was McSweeney's 15 and in keeping with my previous ruling, I will not give a review of a book comprised of various writings, by various authors. I will, however, give you a brief list of some of the topics covered int the 299 pages of McSweeney's 15. Here's a taste: the quasi-invention of the cinema, dealing with sickness and dealing with kids, children being hit in the head with hammers and the ensuing birthday party mayhem, gigantic eagles, and last but not least a moral tale of our collective hands-free future with Chicago buried shoulder deep in honey.

It's good reading, and for the record, assuming there would be no human casualties I would be in favor of Chicago being covered in honey, even with the fore-knowledge that this would ultimately lead to an invasion of man-eating bears.

31 and dragging

I have apparently hit my late summer slump, I don't know if it is the return of the post-rain heat or if I am just tired of reading but I am slipping behind. Don't worry though, I won't go this far and fall short. That being said, I did finish an amazing book the other day and I set a new mark on my reading journey. For the first time this year, possibly in my entire life I read 2 consecutive books by the same author.
This time I read The Botany of Desire. I loved it, Pollan is really easy to read, and comes at food and plants from a little different viewpoint than I am used to. This is one of those books that I feel like I would ruin if I got into too much detail, but I will give you the overview. The book covers four different plants and how each of these plants meet a human desire. Like I said, this is a unique way to look at plants. First Pollan looks at the apple and its ability to satisfy our desire for sweetness. He probes the story of Johnny Appleseed (who was a real person) and uncovers a bit of a less Holy version than I was taught as a child. Second we look at the Tulip and Beauty, and we see that when beauty and commerce are combined anything - even a TULIP - can become a commodity to be traded at ridiculous values. Third comes marijuana as the plant that satisfies our desire for intoxication. I'm not really pro-mind altering drugs but this was fascinating. The author looks at Cannabis Sativa in its native form and at the current plant smoked by the youth of our nation, a much more potent version of the plant. Lastly, we are asked to examine the potato. I love potatoes, I'm not going to pretend otherwise, but this challenged me to enjoy some other varieties other than the typical french fry russet (sidenote: I got some South American purple potatoes, and they were great, far less starchy, but they tasted a lot more like the earth). Anyway, I think this is a valuable read for the gardener, farmer, or amateur agronomist living in your soul. It may not change your life, but it will challenge you to appreciate the life of the plants that make your life enjoyable.

P.S. I feel in the interest of full disclosure I should let everyone know the following for your consideration in processing my review.

I subscribe to several seed catalogs as well as bee keeping catalogs even though I live in an apartment in central Tucson. I may be predisposed to enjoying plant books.

3/5ths finished

I finished this book a few days ago, but I have been so busy reading my next book that I forgot to update the blog, so here goes.

There are only a few currently active writers that I must buy their books as soon as they come out. That short but highly prestigious list would include; Erwin McManus, Malcolm Gladwell, and now Michael Pollan. Last year I read his book The Omnivores Dilemma it was fabulous. A simple blend of information, data, and thought provoking conversation on our food and where it comes from. That being said, I suppose I assumed that he was a one hit wonder, My assumption was wrong as I tore through In Defense of Food I realized that I was capable of listening to this man fill two books with very similar material. Not only that I felt some angst that there wasn't more to read. I can't give a better review than that, and to say that as soon as I finished In Defense of Food I moved on to his other creation The Botany of Desire, which you can very soon expect a write-up for.

I find his writing to be whimsical and scholarly at once, while holding my attention and asking me to dive deeper into the subject on my own time. I don't know what more I could want from a writer.

Knockin' on the door of 30

So I have previously expounded on my love of Garcia Marquez, so I will save you a reprise. The Leaf Storm is a little tricky to follow, that's not all that uncommon for Marquez, but I found this to be more difficult than usual. The story once again settles around a borderline fantasy world where strange circumstances abound. I will definitely be re-reading this sometime in the future. The story line was good, not great, but once again the writing style sucked me in from the start. I swear I would read a seed catalog if it was run through the mind of Marquez. I will be 3/5ths of the way through my book reading expedition upon the completion of my next book, which should be sometime today. So I feel like I am beginning to see the end, and it is starting to feel like I may actually make it. Well I better get to reading, 30 here I come.

Soul Cravings

So I am a tiny bit behind pace, but I am going to attempt to remedy that as soon as possible. I have to start by saying that I am a huge fan of Erwin McManus, I love his writing, I love his way of speaking, I love his fashion sense(at least for a man his age). This however was my least favorite of his books. It was good, it just wasn't great. The hard thing for me was that the thing I love about McManus' writing style is the way he develops his ideas and lays out in great detail his thoughts and ideas. Soul Cravings doesn't allow for this. It is a book made of about 65 chapters of 2-5 pages each, they are just snap shots. Great thoughts, but only little glimpses of what could be very huge topics. The surface is only scratched and most of the time I found myself wanting more, I could always use more of what McManus has to say and this time I didn't get it. This did complete my reading of the collected works of Erwin McManus. This is a little disappointing but I can always have hope that there will be more to read in the future.

here are some films that accompany the book