Bathroom Reading

Let's be honest, we all read on the can. Okay, fine. If you don't want to admit it, I will. I read on the can! It's a great place to read, and here's why:

1. Peace and Quiet.
2. Depending on how regular you are, ifyouknowwhatImeanandIthinkyoudo, you can read quite a bit in a short amount of time.
3. Saves you from reading the back of the shampoo bottle for the eight billionth time.

G, my boyfriend, owns nearly the entire Uncle John's Bathroom Readers library, and if you've ever been to a Chapters and glanced past these tomes of interesting tidbit information, you'll know that there are quite a few in the series. So I know I'm not the only one here who enjoys reading whilst enthroned, so to speak. Perhaps it's just further evidence that we're meant to be together? A couple who reads in the bathroom together stays together? Can't say we've done that yet, but who knows what's on the horizon!

Lately I've been reading A Series of Unfortunate Events sans pants. My mother bought me the series as a grad gift after I whined one day in the local Costco. That's right, I'm not ashamed to admit it. I still shop with my mom.

I'm on Book 10, The Slippery Slope, and recently came to a part that made me love this series even more.

Excerpt:

"Busheney," Sunny said, which meant something along the lines of, "You're an evil man with no concern whatsoever for other people."
"Shut up!" Count Olaf roared.

If you're unfamiliar with the series, Sunny is the youngest of the Baudelaire orphans, and a baby. Her dialogue mainly consists of made up words that are then translated into longer and often funnier sentences by Lemony Snicket.

Busheney = "an evil man with no concern whatsoever for other people". Is it a coincidence that Busheney is a pretty obvious contraction of the names Bush and Cheney? C'mon, I'm not the only one who had a chuckle over that, right?

Now, if you'll excuse me, I must go to the washroom.

Review: Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison

I started my TBR challenge with Ralph Ellison's Invisible Man simply because it was the first to arrive from the library. And I sorted of cheated. I took out the books on tape. I got my comeuppance, though—the last bloody tape was messed up! Therefore, I didn't actually get to finish the book. The last thing I remember is something about eating yams on the street.

In any event, Ellison's classic novel about the plight of the African American male in early-twentieth century America was pretty good. I didn't hate it. I didn't always understand it, but the story was fascinating enough. I'm not in a huge hurry to finish it, even though there was no closure, but eventually I'd like to find out just why he is an Invisible Man, preferably if I can get the same audio tape. Whoever it was that read the story had a lovely, deep baritone voice. I think the reason I was so captivated was because he did such an amazing job of reading the story.

2008 To-Be-Read Challenge

In 2007 I took up the To-Be-Read Challenge but ended miserably. I completed two out of the twelve that I set myself to read. How embarrassing! Part of the reason was that I actually forgot about the challenge until October. That’s right, I actually forgot about it entirely until G. mentioned it. However, I still managed to read a whopping 30 books in total last year, which is still quite a few considering I spent the first part of the year in school.

This year, I’ve decided to go with a theme with the books I’ve chosen. I’ve been interested in The Great American Novel ever since I read John Steinbeck’s East of Eden. So, in honor of that great book, I have picked 12 novels that have been written by American authors in the past two centuries:

1. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain
2. Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut
3. The Sound and the Fury by William Faulkner
4. Catch-22 by Joseph Heller
5. Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison
6. The Sun Also Rises by Ernest Hemingway
7. Animal Farm by George Orwell
8. The Fountainhead by Ayn Rand
9. Beloved by Toni Morrison
10. The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath
11. A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith
12. Fear of Flying by Erica Jong

I’ve tried to put an equal mix of male and female writers but it’s hard to be even. It looks like a pretty good list, though. Some of these have been on my master list for years and years.

Introduction Post - Well, Hello There!

Hello, welcome to my new blog Get Thee to a Punnery. I've wanted to start a book blog for ages and ages so I finally bit the bullet. No more procrastination; the time has come for me to write.

Here's the thing - I read quite a bit. According to the Associated Press, one in four Americans didn't read at all in 2006. I wish a) I had a more current statistic and b) that it was a Canadian statistic but this will have to do.

My goal in writing this blog is to discuss the books I read and other aspects of reading culture. I think literacy is tremendously important and I will always be an advocate for it. I also think I don't reflect very much on books. A lot of what I read is interesting but once I'm done the book I generally move onto the next one. By writing reviews I'll also help formulate my own thoughts on the books that I'm reading as opposed to pushing them to the back of my mind.

Currently I'm reading the following books: I am America (And So Can You!) by Stephen Colbert, The Tipping Point by Malcolm Gladwell, and Not Wanted on the Voyage by Timothy Findley. You can see why I don't really think much about books after I have finished reading them. I generally have several others on the go at the same time!

If you've just come across my blog, welcome to it. I hope you enjoy what you see!