Saturday, March 31, 2007

Crooks I tell you!

As many of you know, I am into bookswapping online. This means that I list books that I don't want for people to "mooch" from me. I send the books and then I get points to pick books that I do want off the site. It's really awesome, actually.

So currently, to send a paperback book in the US it's costs $1.59. Not bad considering. It costs $2.07 to send a hardcover book.

I was just doing some investigation on this new price increase that the post office is starting on May 14.

What a bunch of crooks!!

As of May 14, it will cost me $2.13 to mail a paperback book. That's an increase of 54 cents! I can't believe it. For people like me who mail 25 books at a time that's something like $13 more dollars than I am paying now! (So lets just say I mailed 25 paperback books. It now costs me $39.75. On May 14, it will cost me $53.25!) I think that's unacceptable.

Urrgh.. now I am pissed off....

Come May, it might be time for me to stop swapping for a while, or at least down-size my inventory. It's not like I don't have enough books to read.. but still!


On another note, I was recently given a hard time about the amount of fiction books I read. I admit, it tends to be most of what I read. Looking at my trends, I decided that I would try to read a non-fiction book every third book. So two fiction, one non-fiction. This means I have to re-adjust my 101 books. I will update that soon. (Memoirs will also count as non-fiction)

Also, Dark is going well. Not totally what I expected, but good. Should be finished soon.

Monday, March 26, 2007

Change of opinion?

I finished John yesterday. It must say, it wasn't quite what I expected. I admire Cynthia for writing this book. I don't think there are many people in the world that would have the courage to say bad things about John Lennon. Granted, I don't think the book was written to bring him or his legacy down. She had every right to write and say the things she did. I do believe she is often a forgotten member of the Beatles making, especially in the early days. At times I felt sad for her. The things she had to put up with being the wife of such a famous man. It didn't really change my perception of John, but there were things that I found that were just cruel on his part. Maybe it's part of the fame, I don't know. She lead a very interesting life. I found it unsettling though, the last line in book was something to the effect that if she would have known what as teenager, falling for John Lennon would entail, she would have turned and run the other way. It just seems like she really regrets what has happened in her life. That made me sad.

One person of who my perception changed was Yoko. I had no idea that she perused him as much as she did. She was an evil woman in my opinion. To Cynthia and especially to Julian. Even to this day. I realize that this book was written from the perspective of a scorned ex-wife, but still I tend to believe most of what is said. I am not sure how Yoko can justify the way she treated (or even treats) John's first son. It's horrible. Anyhow, this book was good. It was a great change of pace and I enjoyed a new perspective on the Beatles history which has always fascinated me.


Next up:

Dark by Kenji Jasper

Thursday, March 22, 2007

More British Slang for Me!

Done with A Spot of Bother. It was enjoyable, but not terribly exciting. It wasn't a great follow-up after The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time which I loved so much. The character development was pretty great at least. I really liked how each little "sub-chapter" was told by a different family member. The book was a long, so the way it was broken up was nice for me. All in all, I would give it 6 and half stars. All the British sland and termonolgy was quite fun, though.

Next up:

John by Cynthia Lennon. I figure it was time for a little non-fiction. And in case anyone didn't know already, I am a bit of a Beatles freak. I am looking forward to this read.

Tuesday, March 13, 2007

More things found in books....

Today someone from bookmooch requested my copy of Beloved by Toni Morrison. I am not even sure where I got this book, I think from a box of random books at a garage sale I bought.

Anyhow, as I was getting it ready to go I found two copies of this picture inside the book:



Aren't they cute!? There is a date stamp on the back from 11/16/2004. I wonder what their names are...

I think I might seriously start a blog just for things I find in books!


On another note, A Spot of Bother is quite interesting. It wasn't what I thought it would be, but interesting. I am having a good time learning all the British slang that I don't hear often around here. The story line is good, the character development is good. It flows. I like the lay out, as it's divided up into nice little sections. Makes for smooth reading..... I have to admit, I am not enjoying it as much as The Curious Dog, but it's alright. Should be finished shortly.

Monday, March 5, 2007

Mildly Entertaining...

Just finished Are You Experienced? It was mildly entertaining. It kept my interest and was a fast read. I just kept wishing that Dave would just kick the crap out of Liz. He didn't have enough guts for me. He was a bit of a whiner. And I really hated the character of Liz. I just kept waiting for him to just let her have it, but he never did.

The other characters we met along the way were much more believable. And even more funny. I had a tough time (me being American and all) figuring out the currency denominations. I don't have any clue how much a rupee is in American dollars, but I got the jest.

There was far too much whining happening the whole entire story, which at times just made me roll my eyes. I mean, honestly, just leave the damn place if you are having just a horrible time, you know? *sigh* But this book does have me wanting to use British words like "Bullocks" in every day speech just for the heck of it...


Next up:

A Spot of Bother by Mark Haddon. I LOVED The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time.. so I thought I would give this a try!