Two Forms of Judgement Day

Hey All,

Two weekends ago, a friend called me out for not stating on this blog what I truly feel about the books I'm reading; I’ll try to heed that advice.  That friend is also the person who recommended Anna Karenina, and he graciously gave me a copy that same night.  Thank you, Curtis; I still need you to sign it.  And also, f*&k you, Curtis, for recommending that behemoth of a book.  Saam Hashemi, you too get my one finger salute for recommending Of Human Bondage, for, as I learned this week, it too, is monstrous.  I'm having a hard enough time with Helter Skelter, I can only imagine what I'll be like when up against Leo Tolstoy and W. Somerset Maugham.  The one redeeming virtue for those two books is that they were written by people who wrote for a living, and not lawyers (as is the case with Helter Skelter), so I imagine neither of them will be as difficult to get through.  I hope.

Other friends have encouraged me to put up more posts.  Thank you, and fair enough.  I'll try to keep up with the demand.  In my defense, I will note that because Helter Skelter is so tedious to read, like any good procrastinator, I avoid it, and therefore have little about which to write.  There are sometimes days wherein I don't read a single page of the book.  Fortunately, though, Mr. Charles Manson finally appeared, and the book did, as a few people told me it would, get a lot more interesting.  Yet again, though, I've lost interest.

Sorry, Jocelyn (McEachern, who recommended this book), but it's boring at times.  Most of the time, in fact.  It is just detail after detail, as if the author, who is the man who prosecuted Charles Manson, needs to show the world what a great job he did in getting Manson convicted of murders he never - by his own hand, anyway - committed (I have no doubt that Manson was behind the murders for which he is accused.  But he never actually killed anyone, he just got other people to do it for him).

I admit, reading this book makes me want to know more about Charles Manson (though I imagine that by the time I'm done, I'll know a fair bit).  I'm tempted to go online and read about him, and to try to find interviews with him so I can hear him speak (what is the voice behind - or in front of, I suppose - this sick, warped mind?).  Maybe watch some documentaries or movies with and about him.  Not that I want to be part of the Manson Family (as they’re called); it's that he's such an intriguing character that I cannot help but want to know more.  I am holding back on doing that, though, as I don’t want to ruin what will come forth in the book, such as the details of the trial and how the case was made by the attorneys (I'm in the midst of that right now).

Because I'm reading Helter Skelter at a pretty slow pace, I'm behind schedule for my reading.  I'll be alright, though, as I plan to follow it up with a really light read. I think I'll need to. Any suggestions on what book should be next?  I still haven't decided if there will be a set plan on how I read through the list, or if I'll just go with what I feel like as I finish one book and start another. 

Here is the list as it stands right now:

1. The Power of One by Bryce Courtenay (Debbie Murphy)
2. Linchpin by Seth Godin (Kim Gardner)
3. Orange Crush by Tim Dorsey (Dan Pelosi)
4. The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho
5. Invisible Monsters by Chuck Palahnuik (Katelyn Foster)
6. Devil in the White City by Erik Larson (Keltie Neville)
7. Helter Skelter by Vincent Bugliosi and Curt Gentry (Jocelyn McEachern)
8. Josephine B Trilogy by Sandra Gulland (Erica Zeman)
9. Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen (Kristine Sorrento-Evans)
10. The Cave by Jose Saramago (Ines Ortiz)
11. Beautiful Boy by David Sheff (Nicole Callahan)
12. Confessions of a Shopaholicby Sophie Kinsella (Okame Musume)
13. Stroll by Shawn Micallef (Kris Williamson)
14. Songbook by Nick Hornby (Andrew Eaton)
15. My Sister’s Keeper by Jodi Picoult (Amy Bea)
16. Conversations with God by Neale Donald Walsh (Teena May Smith)
17. Still Alice by Lisa Genova (Aaron Stewart)
18. The Wind-up Bird Chronicles by Haruki Marukami (Mark Van De Ven)
19. The Englishman's Boy by Guy Vanderhaeghe (Chaz Sullivan)
20. Stranger in a Strange Land by Robert A. Heinlein (Scott Harmer)
21. Rant by Chuck Palahniuk (Graham Dalseg)
22. The Stranger by Albert Camus (Danny Gorman)
23. The Book Thief by Markus Zusak (Chris Roy)
24. The Golden Spruce by John Vaillant (Philip Wilson)
25. ‎Three Cups of Tea by Greg Mortenson and David Oliver Relin (Martina Smith)
26. The Shock Doctrine by Naomi Klein (Tim O'Connor)
27. Homage to Catalonia by George Orwell (Mariona Blanch)
28. Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy (Curtis Maloley)
29. Night by Elie Wiesel (Shauntel Jaclyn-Ann Daley)
30. The Aquariums of Pyongyang by Kang Chol-Hwan and Pierre Rigoulot (Robyn Nepean)
31. Of Human Bondage by W. Somerset Maugham (Saam Hashemi)
32. City of Thieves by David Benioff (Ann Sheldon)

-Bryan