reading list

reading list update

Wednesday, December 2nd, 2009

the evolving self – robert kegan
the river why – david james duncan
the wind’s twelve quarters – ursula k. leguin
east of eden – john steinbeck
the yiddish policeman’s union – michael chabon
[arrival in watsonville]

other stuff i read but didn’t succeed in posting at the time

Tuesday, July 14th, 2009

in roughly reverse chronological order, stepping back to where i left off on my reading list:

cryptonomicon – neal stephenson
a wild sheep chase – haruki marukami
legends of the fall – jim harrison
hell’s angels – hunter s. thompson
the tortilla curtain – t.c. boyle
[san diego]

son of a witch – gregory maguire
wicked – gregory maguire
[bloomington]

plains of passage – jean m auel
tihkal – alexander and jane shulgin
[colorado for the holidays]

servant of the bones – anne rice
dreams of my father – barack obama
the kite runner – khaled hosseini
[reconnecting with bloomington]

sometimes a great notion – ken kesey
[lingering in oregon]

Prometheus Rising – Robert Anton Wilson

Sunday, September 30th, 2007

a history of god – karen armstrong

Wednesday, July 25th, 2007

harry potter and the deathly hallows – jk rowling

Sunday, July 22nd, 2007

atlas shrugged – ayn rand

Sunday, July 15th, 2007

drinking coffee elsewhere – zz packer

Wednesday, May 9th, 2007

change your brain – timothy leary

Wednesday, April 11th, 2007

prozac nation – elizabeth wurtzel

Saturday, March 24th, 2007

me: i finished prozac nation!

friend: did you like it?

me: yes

me: i think in the middle i decided that it actually made me feel Less depressed because i have so clearly not been that low before. it was very empowering or something to read about some feelings i recognize and others that i don’t.

in some ways the end is more depressing because its abotu our pill popping culture.

which is more what i think i expected the whole thign to be about, and its somethign i think about a lot.

but it was good, and thought provoking.

friend: i agree

i read it b/c i thought the same thing, but it’s so much more insight into the world of depression

it’s amazing to imagine ever feeling like that even though everyone says you shouldn’t

me: yeah.

i have had days where i am physically unable to get out of bed, though, and i know what it is like to know that you should act a certain way and then act differently anyway.

there are things i recognize in the feeling.

so it’s interesting to see someone else explore them so honestly and articulately.

friend: it’s interesting to realize that as low as i’ve been i’ve never been that low. i feel lucky i’ve never been there, but it’s scary to know that you could

me: i feel like i have enough of a sense of self-confidence and worth that i would have to really make myself fall anywhere near that low, but i also think that i could do it if i tried, and i have to choose not to, and i feel confident in the fact that i am not in very much danger of wanting to try, but it is powerful to have the reminder that the potential is there, and hear someone else talk through it.

yeah. scary but also comforting. i think it’s good to realize that it’s a part of being human, not just in our own heads alone.

or at least a part of being human right now in our culture.

which is why i really think its interesting.

modern culture clearly does something to the chemical structures in our brains.

friend: well said

me: thanks :)

friend: :)

the electric kool-aid acid test – tom wolfe

Sunday, March 11th, 2007