I've been working my way slowly through a collection of F. Scott Fitzgerald Short Stories. I decided after reading half-way through a biography of the author that I wasn't familiar enough with him although we had read "The Great Gatsby" in high school. I may have to reread that as well.

Previously published under this “Read” link:

Currently on my reading pile...
…as opposed to on my "to read" list which is much longer! Reading has always been a pastime for me. My parents shared their books with my siblings and me since we were very young.

Books on Buddhism

Moby Dick by Herman Melville

I read a lot of magazines, only some of which I have subscriptions for—The New Yorker, Vanity Fair, Smithsonian, Launch (a CD-ROM mag), Interview, PC Magazine and Maximum PC (formerly Boot). I'm letting some of these run out in favor of some new ones: Sunset Magazine, Cook's Illustrated, 100 Greatest Books Ever Written (leather bound editions by Easton Press), Time/Life Books: What Life Was Like. Not sure I can afford the last two but the introductory offer from Easton Press is leather bound Moby Dick for $10, hardly something I could pass up.

Now that I've seen the movies Trainspotting and Gods & Monsters, I am reading the corresponding books, Trainspotting by Irvine Welsh and Father of Frankenstein by Christopher Bram. Trainspotting is unique because it recreates for you the sound and style of the Scottish dialect, which is almost a puzzle to decipher. Father of Frankenstein is almost verbatim from the screen. I believe the experience of reading could have been better and more interesting had I waited to read the books first. At least this way I know what the payoff is like.

Finally read Jeff Noon's VURT, good but unlike Gibson's Neuromancer (which I was told it was similar to and also took me years to approach), most of the characters I liked weren't in the action. Followed up with The Automated Alice, which interested me as a fan of Carroll's work but ended up disappointed because while it repeated some ideas from the Vurt and Pollen cycle, it is merely a written joke. I'd like to finish with Pollen but apparently after the initial publishing of the hardcover here in the States it went out-of-print. Anyone willing to send me a copy for review?

Also am reading Gulliver's Travels by Jonathan Swift after seeing a very good television adaptation starring Ted Danson (of "Cheers" fame, can you imagine?).

— March 9, 1999