Welcome to the second edition of “What I’ve Been Reading,” where I share with you, well, what I’ve been reading – and where you can feel comfortable sharing with the rest of the world what you’ve checked out of your local library to help you drift off into someone else’s world. Recommendations are welcome and any thoughts on the books I’ve been reading, of course, are welcome also. Maybe we can even get some discussion going.

On the Road (1957, The Original Scroll)
Author: Jack Kerouac
Synopsis: “Though Jack Kerouac began thinking about the novel that was to become On the Road as early as 1947, it was not until three weeks in April 1951, in an apartment on West Twentieth Street in Manhattan, that he wrote the first full draft that was satisfactory to him. Typed out as one long, single-spaced paragraph on eight long sheets of tracing paper that he later taped together to form a 120-foot scroll, this document is among the most significant, celebrated, and provocative artifacts in contemporary American literary history. It represents the first full expression of Kerouac’s revolutionary aesthetic, the identifiable point at which his thematic vision and narrative voice came together in a sustained burst of creative energy. It was also part of a wider vital experimentation in the American literary, musical, and visual arts in the post-World War II period.”
Star Rating: * * * *

Plainsong (1999)
Author: Kent Haruf
Synopsis: “In the same way that the plains define the American landscape, small-town life in the heartlands is a quintessentially American experience. Holt, Colo., a tiny prairie community near Denver, is both the setting for and the psychological matrix of Haruf’s beautifully executed new novel. Alternating chapters focus on eight compassionately imagined characters whose lives undergo radical change during the course of one year. … Walking a tightrope of restrained design, Haruf steers clear of sentimentality and melodrama while constructing a taut narrative in which revelations of character and rising emotional tensions are held in perfect balance. This is a compelling story of grief, bereavement, loneliness and anger, but also of kindness, benevolence, love and the making of a strange new family.”
Star Rating: * * * * 1/2

The Sportswriter (1986)
Author: Richard Ford
Synopsis: “Ralph Bascombe, the brooding antihero here, is not a Walter Matthaustyle, cigar-smoking sportswriter. Rather he resembles John Updike’s Rabbit Angstrom (sans cynicism). Bascombe has decided in his ‘mid-life crisis’ years to write heartwarming articles for a glossy sports magazine, and in the literal world of sportswriting, he has found a way to avoid life’s ‘searing regret’ without sacrificing its mysteries. In fact, Ralph is comfortable all around, living an ordinary, invisible existence in the ‘muted and adaptable’ landscape of a New Jersey suburb. He has two lovely children, buddies in the Divorced Men’s Club and occasional romps in the sack with a buxom nurse. Then comes a crisis, with a narrative that becomes an odyssey through an extraordinary Easter week of death and renewal that brutally challenges Ralph’s fragile optimism.”
Star Rating: * * * * *

A Piece of My Heart (1976)
Author: Richard Ford
Synopsis: “Ford’s mesmerizing first novel is the story of two godless pilgrims. Robard Hewes has driven across the country in the service of a destructive passion. Sam Newell is seeking the missing piece of himself. When these men converge, on an uncharted island in the Mississippi, each discovers the thing he’s looking for–amid a conflagration of violence that’s as shocking as it is inevitable.”
Star Rating: * * * *

The Ghost Writer (1979)
Author: Philip Roth
Synopsis: “A middle-aged writer recalls his younger self. At 23, Nathan Zuckerman has had four stories published and a small, flattering Saturday Review up-and-coming-author profile… As genuine and polite as he seems, Zuckerman has already hurt his family with his autobiographical art and ruined his relationship with adultery and honesty. Visiting his reclusive idol…, the writer watches himself watching himself and attempts to confront his work and life. Instead he finds himself turning reality into metafiction. … Philip Roth is the master of the uncomfortable, and his alter ego a connoisseur of self-involvement, self-loathing, and self-examination.”
Star Rating: * * *

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February Edition

I read a great article this morning titled “Ten rules for writing fiction,” where they asked a handful of authors their “personal dos and don’ts” and I have to share it. I’m only going to post here a small bit of the article, but for anyone that is serious about writing fiction, the entirety is a must read. Here is part one of the article and here is part two. There is some great advice here.

Neil Gaiman
1 Write.
2 Put one word after another. Find the right word, put it down.
3 Finish what you’re writing. Whatever you have to do to finish it, finish it.
4 Put it aside. Read it pretending you’ve never read it before. Show it to friends whose opinion you respect and who like the kind of thing that this is.
5 Remember: when people tell you something’s wrong or doesn’t work for them, they are almost always right. When they tell you exactly what they think is wrong and how to fix it, they are almost always wrong.
6 Fix it. Remember that, sooner or later, before it ever reaches perfection, you will have to let it go and move on and start to write the next thing. Perfection is like chasing the horizon. Keep moving.
7 Laugh at your own jokes.
8 The main rule of writing is that if you do it with enough assurance and confidence, you’re allowed to do whatever you like. (That may be a rule for life as well as for writing. But it’s definitely true for writing.) So write your story as it needs to be written. Write it honestly, and tell it as best you can. I’m not sure that there are any other rules. Not ones that matter.

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With all due respect to my fellow contributors here at RowThree, is there anything more irrelevant than top ten music lists in the world of today? With the wonder of the internet, there is SO MUCH music out there that a top ten list can’t possibly be a “best of” list since no one out there can hear everything that the world offers. Or more likely I’m just being lazy and kind of a pussy. However, that isn’t to say one can’t make a list of music that they really liked on the year. That includes me. I’m less in tune with the music world of today as I was, say five years ago. But I still manage to check out a helluva lot of tunage throughout the year that I get to listen to nearly uninterrupted all day, every day. So here is a list (in alpha order) of some of the music I really, really dug over the past 12 months.

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Is it really the end? It seems like I blinked and this year was gone. Having a new baby in the house will do that I suppose. It seems these Top Ten lists get closer together every year. *sigh*. Sad old man disease is creeping in. Save your pity. I can still put a ten together with the best of them. On with the show…

Here’s ten of what I consider my favorites of 2009.

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You may remember last year, I compiled a list of the best albums of 2008. This year, I decided to waste more of my precious time to compile a list of my favorite albums of 2009. It was another strong year for music and with so many choices, I had to go with my gut on these. Depending on the day and my mood, this list could have easily turned out much different, but I think these are the albums that will undoubtably be on my playlist for years to come.

If you feel I’ve overlooked an album from this year that is dear to you, perhaps I never had the chance to listen to it. Comment below and share your refined taste in music with the world. Enjoy. Rock on.

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I managed to read quite a few books this year. My list of favorite books that I read over its course is a bit more diverse than last year, managing to mix the must-read classics with high political fantasy, modern pop lit, and even a non-fiction argument against the existence of god, a book that convincingly goes so far to say that belief in a personal god qualifies as a delusion. As always, feel free to recommend me any books to add to my ever-amassing collection of “must reads” that are piling up next to my already full bookshelf. If only I could be like Larry in The Razor’s Edge, loafing around for years in exotic countries reading for ten hours a day, maybe I would be able to get through them all within a couple of years.

Don’t forget to check out last year’s list also. Like I mentioned, it’s not quite as diverse, with Cormac McCarthy making the list an unprecedented four times.

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This is probably the first year that I’ve listened to enough current music that I feel comfortable making a top ten list. Some of my favorite bands released new records that I loved, a few released records that I don’t love as much as I wanted to, and I found a bunch of new bands that took me by surprise, overwhelmed me, and wouldn’t let me go. This list reflects both the bigger bands (though still not big by mainstream, stadium-going standards) and the local bands that I’ve grown to love – I’ll admit my bias for mixed-gendered bands with a focus on female vocals right now, because you’ll notice it anyway.

Click through for my top ten albums of 2009, some honorable mentions, and a rundown of some of favorite live shows of the year.

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Too entertaining not to copy and paste. Thanks Wired.

1 Sea mammal blowhole. Any animal that spends appreciable time in the ocean should be able to extract oxygen from water via gills. Enlarging the lungs and moving a nostril to the back of the head is a poor work-around.

2 Hyena clitoris. When engorged, this “pseudopenis,” which doubles as the birth canal, becomes so hard it can crush babies to death during exit.

3 Kangaroo teat. In order to nurse, the just-born joey, a frail and squishy jellybean, must clamber up Mom’s torso and into her pouch for a nipple.

4 Giraffe birth canal. Mama giraffes stand up while giving birth, so baby’s entry into the world is a 5-foot drop. Wheeee! Crack.

5 Goliath bird-eating spider exoskeleton. This giant spider can climb trees to hunt very mobile prey. Yet it has a shell so fragile it practically explodes when it falls? Well, at least it can produce silk to make a sail. Oh, wait — it can’t!

6 Shark-fetus teeth. A few shark species have live births (instead of laying eggs). The Jaws juniors grow teeth in the womb. The first sibling or two to mature sometimes eat their siblings in utero. Mmm … siblings.

7 Human stomach. People can digest a lot — except for cellulose, the primary component of plant matter. Why don’t we have commensal bacteria in our guts to do it? They’re busy helping termites.

8 Slug genitalia. Some hermaphroditic species breed by wrapping their sex organs around each other. If one of said members gets stuck, the slug simply chews it off. What. The. Hell?

9 Quadrupeds. Let’s say you’re a four-footed animal. Now let’s say you get a wound on your back, or an itch, or a bug wandering up there. Tough luck, kid. You probably can’t do much about it. Hope there’s a low branch around.

10 Narwhal tusk. The unicorn-like protuberance on a male narwhal’s head is actually a tooth that erupts through the front of the jaw and keeps on growing, up to 9 feet. Narwhal: “Doc, I have a toothache.” Dentist: “Indeed.”

Ever since they skyrocketed to fame in the 90s, the British rock band Oasis has been surrounded by as much controversy as praise.

While they have sold over 50 million albums as a band, along the way the two Gallagher brothers who front the band have been lambasted with allegations of being arrogant, childish, wild, and insanely overrated as musicians. The last point I will disagree with wholeheartedly as I feel Oasis is already a legendary rock band and can do nothing to tarnish that. They have fallen in popularity since the mid-90s, but their past two albums have had quite the resurgence and are still one of the most popular and recognized bands in the world today.

So, I figure this is an appropriate band to start our artist and band Rank ‘Em threads, in which we simply showcase a band or artist by ranking our favorite songs (sometimes nearly impossible, but still fun to do) and discuss everything that comes to mind about the band in the comment sections.

15. Underneath the Sky
14. Some Might Say
13. Lyla
12. Stop Crying Your Heart Out
11. Slide Away
10. Half the World Away
9. I Hope, I Think, I Know
8. Talk Tonight
7. D’You Know What I Mean?
6. Champagne Supernova
5. Go Let it Out
4. Don’t Look Back in Anger
3. Live Forever
2. Acquiesce
1. Wonderwall

What Oasis songs do it for you? What do you think of the band and their eventual legacy? What was their highest and lowest points? What are you thoughts on the Gallagher boys?

Oasis Albums
Definitely Maybe (1994)
(What’s the Story) Morning Glory? (1995)
Be Here Now (1997)
The Masterplan (1998)
Standing on the Shoulder of Giants (2000)
Heathen Chemistry (2002)
Don’t Believe the Truth (2005)
Dig Out Your Soul (2008)

Normally I’m a movie guy. Because of that obsession, it is increasingly difficult to keep up with all of the great new music that is released each year. As I look over others’ top ten lists on the year I realize how much I missed. I also never claimed to be a musical genius. Still, I know what I love and I do keep tabs on what Chris Robinson calls “the song.”

2008 has to be the oddest year yet, in terms of my personal tastes and trying to stretch my musical muscles a little bit and challenging myself. By mid summer I was pretty much sick of the folky, indie-rock movement (snooze). But who would’ve thought that a lot of my favorite music on the year would be from bands that showcase a female singer with poppy, bubblegum melodies and beats? And while none of them appear on this list, I’ve also flirted with some Hip Hop this year (13 and God, Why?, Citizen Cope, Forss, Person X, etc.) and even some danceable electronica.

As I look over the list below, I realize that it isn’t all that creative and fairly derivative; maybe even cliched, but hey, that’s cause they’re GOOD! So anyway, after thinking about it too much and weeding out some albums that probably should have made it, here are my top ten albums of 2008…

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Since I don’t read many new release books (I’m a used book store junkie and I like my books broken in before I read them), I will have to settle with the ten best books I read this past year. I’m keeping this list limited strictly to fiction, mostly because it is difficult for me to compare a collection of George Orwell political essays or narrative histories of Muhammad to the likes of these kind of stories. I read a lot of great books this past year though and as you can tell, I read quite a bit of Cormac McCarthy who makes the list an earth-shattering four times (Mr. McCarthy, get in touch and I’ll tell you how to collect your prestigious award).

Now, remember kids, reading is FUNdamental. Feel free to comment below about your favorite books you read in the past year.

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Well, folks, its the end of another year. Hard to believe it is 2009 already, which means it has been 9 years since the Y2K end-of-the-world phenomenon, which I remember vividly and still recall the smug smirk on my face when the clock struck midnight and the world didn’t collapse in on itself due to our reliance on technology (mom, what a waste of $200 on that bottled water!). But I digress.

I’ve always enjoyed reading lists. I’ve always enjoyed making them. Nobody ever fully agrees with them, but I’ve never felt that was the point of them. That would be pretty boring to constantly looking through lists and being able to say, “By golly, this is the exact same list as mine. Bravo!” So, if you see a certain person or publication you like or enjoy recommending you something, you will be more inclined to check it out, and oftentimes you never would have checked it out and ultimately ended up loving it had it not been for that list. This has been the case for me often.

Without further ado, here is the ten best albums of 2008 according to moi. Click on the album name to go to their page, click on their individual songs to listen to them or see their official video.

Feel free to discuss your picks below.
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