GHIII and a plethora of pages

Yesterday I picked up GHIII for PS2. What a fantastic game! My confidence of the GH title has been restored after some disappointment resulting from the extremely high price and short list of songs from 80's edition.

The minor tweaks in game play are so subtle that they take nothing away from experience from previous games but allow easier completion of some of the games faster runs. The added forgiveness of the game is necessary coupled with the upped difficulty of this game. The song list is great and new competitive features make it the best guitar game available.

Despite my night with Guitar Hero last yesterday and the unbelievable string of night meetings I have had to attend I have managed to get a lot of reading done. Here's an update:

The Picture of Dorian Gray had a fantastic premise although I felt the story line could have used a little more.

Northanger Abbey at least exposed me to Jane Austen's writing style, which I would imagine will be nice when I read some of her master works but this was a chick book from the beginning- blah.

Crime and Punishment - The best book I've read since Pillars of the Earth and Maybe even Dracula- a must read. I was so interested in this book and the mine of Raskolonikov that I edited an entry on the Crime and Punishment wikipedia page.

Frankenstein - the REAL one, really surprised me. I knew that what the story really was had transformed from what it started as but the original was a fast read and a great look at the desire for want and companionship.

Hard Times - Another Dickens book. Easy to follow, easy to read. My only caution of this book is how much the words are distorted in the speech of "thome of the charactherth".

Sons and Lovers - An Oedipus for the 20th century. The further removed I am from having read this the more I reflect on the characters. The development of the characters is really all this book is about.

Treasure Island - Good story, very fast read, enough said.

My recent string of reading has paid its first dividend. I got a Final Jeopardy literature question correct. I've always been terrible at the Jeopardy lit questions. Watch out Ken Jennings.

If you want any more description about any of the books, just let me know.

Its the Michigan-Michigan State game on Saturday and the game is on ABC. I don't have anything to do like last Saturday so I am looking forward to a great day of football watching.

Bookstore Euphoria

I periodically go through phases of heavy reading. My last reading fit was mostly a Dan Brown love fest. I read Angels and Demons and Da Vinci Code and Deception Point in a couple of weeks. I switched authors at that point and didn't get past page 40 of the next book. I'm pleased to say though that I am in the midst of another reading spell. I'll give you some background on how it came to pass.

Perhaps my favorite thing to do is walk around Borders or Barnes & Noble.

Before I got any further...

Borders (BGP) USED to me my favorite bookstore. Being an Ann Arbor business it was important to me to support it over its big brother (BKS). I'd grown up around Borders and loved the deals and promotions they offered. After being asked several times to join the Borders Club, I acquiesced. After I joined, every time I made a purchase- coffee, DVD, book - anything, I would get holiday rewards points. It was, oh, 5 or so percent of each purchase that would go into an account which you could use between thanksgiving and new years. Since I would spend a few dollars nearly every week just by picking up a bargain book or coffee as I perused the store, by the end of the year I had built up 50 or 60 dollars for gifts.

A gift card for my grandma, a book for my dad and maybe a few other books for Christmas giveaways.

Borders ended their holiday rewards program so you can no longer build up a Christmas fund as I have for several years. Now the Borders reward program gives you a 5 dollars off if you spend 50 dollars in a month. Not very "rewarding".

I grudgingly began to go to Barnes & Noble, I didn't like that but it was closer to my house and was still a fun place to walk around. (If this is beginning to sound like "You've Got Mail" with Meg Ryan and Tom Hanks- bear with me.) After a multitude of inquiries I finally gave in and PURCHASED a Barnes and Noble membership. I got a cute little membership packet and a coupon and emails every week - much as I still do from Borders. With Barnes and Noble though, I get money off with every single purchase. I might even be paying more than I would at Borders but seeing your membership "investment" pay dividends each time I but something just gives me that warm fuzzy feeling.

Back to discussing my current fit of reading.

What may have been the final nail in the borders coffin for me was when I came across the Barnes & Noble Classics Collection. A hundred or so classic titles make up a collection that would make anyone proud. One of the reasons I enjoy bookstores so much is they make me think, reminisce and dream. A part of that is the feeling you get when you look at all the books and imagine what all the stories could be.

The process of reading a book for me begins with the perusing at the book store. Carefully considering the summary, flipping through the first chapter- this is my favorite part. I always have a smile on my face when I have made my selection and go to the counter. The actual reading, ironically enough is my least favorite part of the process. It takes time, effort, more so than even working out! However, when I am finished, having the pleasure of knowing that I completed a book and that I will be forever smarter for it is a wonderful feeling. That "ecstasy", if you will, is what pushes me back to the bookstore to get another book. It's a self perpetuating pleasure that causes these reading fits of mine.

Before I lose the optimism that comes with these reading fits I thought it appropriate for me to write down what this current fit has entailed.

A Tale of Two Cities - The Charles Dickens classic. What stuck with me from this novel was the murderous mob mentality of the French commoners. The Jaques, Madame Defarge and the guillotine. I did feel it moved a bit slow and found Dickens a touch loquacious - a peeve of mine - but a fine work worthy of its status.










The Prince - The Machiavelli "manifesto". Nothing like what I expected. A blunt, immoral manual on the conquering and maintaining of principalities. A fantastic, quick read which left me with visions of global domination matched only by Stewie Griffin.











Candide - Voltaire. The "Forrest Gump" of the 1700's. A fast moving tale of the naive Candide weaving historical fact with the shortfalls of humanity. Another quick read with some comedy mixed in.

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Tonight its back to the bookstore for me for another Barnes and Noble Classic. You can bet that I'll be armed with my membership card and save 10%.

You too should check out the Classics collection here