Back into the reading binge after the "secondary Christmas" at my parents' house over the weekend (makes it feel like it's a weeklong celebration)...got the following from my parents, any reviews/recommendations?
- The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, Douglas Adams. I read this - and the whole series, I think - years ago, probably before I was even able to grasp everything about it. There are certain books like that in my life that I've read but wouldn't necessarily seek out again to enjoy more fully now that I'm capable of understanding it better.
- Eye of the Needle, Robert Ludlum.
- Faithful, Stephen King and Stewart O'Nan. The tale of the 2004 Red Sox season. This one was a no-brainer.
- Friday Night Lights, HG Bissinger. Just came out as a movie last year, and I've heard nothing but good things about both the movie and the book.
- Mountains Beyond Mountains, Tracy Kidder.
- The Princess Bride, William Goldman. The first movie Viv and I ever bought together. We've since bought the DVD but still have the videotape, for sentimental reasons.
Currently I've started A Prayer For Owen Meany by John Irving. Definitely a "different" book. What's interesting is that it's based in the history of Exeter, NH, which isn't too far from here; I've been there a few times so the imagery sticks with me a bit better having seen it.
Also had a friend recommend The Meaning of Everything by Simon Winchester - the story of the Oxford English Dictionary. "Lots of word-geek stuff in it," my friend says. Well, if that ain't right up my alley, I don't know what is.
The laptop is once again dying. Hard-drive clicks of death, 30-45 minutes to start up, some weird blue logon screens saying the password for the AirPort is wrong, blah, blah, blah. Time for another visit to the Genius Bar, and another backup to the spare hard drive at home.
Other Christmas loot - two DVDs: "Ocean's Eleven" from my brother, who couldn't believe I'd never seen it, and "Faith Rewarded", the Red Sox 2004 season DVD from NESN (which I've heard is light years better than Major League Baseball's version). A small set of socket wrenches from my other brother (which I had asked for...it's a pain in the ASS...ok, wrist...to tighten the bolts on a bed frame with a screwdriver and monkey wrench!). The aforementioned books from my parents, as well as a gurgling cod pitcher from Shreve, Crump & Low that was for V and me jointly. And then the coup de grâce: an all-expenses-paid baseball trip with my parents and either V or my brother. They had originally wanted to take me to Baltimore, but upon finding out that I was already planning on going this summer, they offered the option of Chicago instead - either the White Sox in late July, or the be-all-end-all of baseball viewing: Red Sox-Cubs at Wrigley Field. Which just happens to coincide with my birthday. I think the choice is made.
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