Booking Through Thursday

What are you reading right now? What made you choose it? Are you enjoying it? Would you recommend it? (And, by all means, discuss everything, if you’re reading more than one thing!)

At the moment I am reading No Pity by Joseph P Shapiro. It was actually recommend by a friend. I love it so far. It discusses the disability movement and how disabled people are starting to take control of their own lives.

I hate to ay I am disabled but I have both bipolar and I am Deaf. The Deaf part  I feel is not  a disability, but the Bipolar part is a different story. My friend thought that it would be good for me to see how people are taking control of their lives no matter what disabilities or issues they are facing.

I feel that this is a very important book for people to read. For so long the issue of disabilities tend to get swept under the proverbial rug. There is also some gross misconceptions the non-disabled people have. This book does an excellent job of showing how the disability rights movement is gaining ground.

What are your rituals before writing?

A friend of mine who also loves to write and I were talking about how we couldn't just sit down and write. We each have our own routine that we go through to get our minds ready to write. I for one cant just sit down and write well. A professor once told me that it is akin to a marathoner. A runner cant wake up and run 10 miles. They have to warm up first. So it is with writing.

As for me I have to be properly caffeinated first. My brain simply wont work without obscene amounts of caffeine. I have tried giving up caffeine before but I would rather go through the seventh circle of hell then have to function without it, After all there is a reason it is called the nectar of the Gods. I prefer to think of caffeine in all of its varieties as a buffet table to pick and choose as a sort of a gift from the powers that be to help us through the more mundane things in life.

To get my brain in shape to write coherently I will often write in my journal first. I currently use Penzu. Once the words start flowing then I will switch to whatever writing project I am working on. That could be a poem or a short story that has popped in my head or anything in between.

If it’s a good writing day then I can write for hours. However if my brain for whatever reason is not cooperating that day then I tend to “rest’ and go read. It is funny how when you thinks the words have ran out then you start reading and another idea will come to you.

My friend said he goes through something similar. However he has no use for massive amounts of stimulants. I know I cant be the only one who needs caffeine to function.

I am now interested in what other people go through to get ready to pen that days masterpiece. I will have to go to the library and see if there are any books on what famous authors through the ages have engaged in.

I am now curious what do you my readers do to get ready for writing? Tell me in the comments below.

Armageddon In Retrospect

This is the last of Kurt Vonnegut’s work.This book was published after his death by his son.

For readers who have read Slaughter House Five, this book will strike a familiar chord.  The majority of this book is short stories takes place during world War Two. It provides detailed snapshots of various scenes. Sometimes the same scene will be repeated but with different viewpoints. He combines his  humor with dark subject matter skillfully.

There are some stories in there that makes me sad that there were only published after he died. There is one story. Wailing Shall be in All Streets” that in its short form is on par with his life’s masterpiece “Slaughter House Five”

This not to say the rest of the stories are not good, they are, but some are simply some of the best writing he has done. I felt that these stories should have received more praise than what they had.

One story was written in a fantasy mode and it blew my breath away after I read it. I am not sure why they did not publish these earlier but I for one am glad we got one last finial look at some of his best writings.

Booking Through Thursday

Today's question is suggested by Mae.

"I couldn't sleep a wink, so I just read and read, day and night ... it was there I began to divide books into day books and night books," she went on. "Really, there are books meant for daytime reading and books that can be read only at night."
- 'The Unbearable Lightness of Being, Milan Kundera, p. 103.

Do you divide your books into day and night reads? How do you decide?

I might be in the minority here but when I read that book and that passage my first thought was how strange. I am in the camp of where if I am reading a book I want to finish that book before going on to something else.

You’ve just dropped your favorite, out-of-print book into a bathtub, ruining it completely … What do you do now?

First I would say a few choice swear words. Then I would drag the book out and let it air dry. If it is too damaged then I would start looking anywhere I could think of to get another copy. If it comes to that beg the publisher to let me buy one more book.

I saw on a Sunday Salon post this past Sunday(I forgot who) about how one blogger was making her blog more personal because she wanted to expose “non-readers” to books. I whole heartily agree with this blogger. I have been pondering this for some time but was hesitant to implement anything that did not pertain strictly to books. So I am asking you for your opinion. Granted books and reading and writing are my passions so I doubt any posts would go far off the “”map” so to speak, from these topics. I will always label my posts so you can get to exactly what you want. So tell me in the poll below what you think.

 

The Sunday Salon

Did fall come early this year? Now the leaves are turning beautiful colors and it gets cooler faster when I go outside with my laptop to write.  Fall is good for having an excuse to stay in and curl up with a good book.

I am going back up north next Sunday so I will have to finish reading five more library books before then. I think I can do it. I will hunker down and do nothing but read this week.

At the moment I am reading The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo. I have to admit when I first saw the cover I thought it was a young adult book, but then I read the reviews and realized it was not. So much for my ability to judge a book by its cover.

Here is the link that I found that states that the novel Heart Of Darkness is going to be turned into a graphic novel. I am hesitant to pass judgment until I see the actual book but my first though was, how can such a substantial novel be turned into a glorified comic book? Can you tell I am not a big fan of graphic novels?

I have found that as I get older my body clock seems to be changing. I don't know why people didn't warn me about all the changes one encounters at 30. Used to be my best writing was at night. Now its early in the morning so I had to adjust my writing and reading schedule.

I have reviewed Push, A Purpose Driven Life and Pain killers this week.