Just finished: Leave Me Alone, I'm Reading

Wow, who knew the Beany Malone books were laden with stoic Catholic martyrdom? Perhaps you had to have grown up Catholic to see it. Or grown up anything.

I have a dozen new titles on my "to read" list; also, I want be be Maureen Corrigan when I grow up.

Except, maybe not. The odd thing was, when she wrote about books I'd read, I didn't recognize them at all. Perhaps that's only to be expected: she wasn't reviewing them, she was focusing on particular aspects that related to her experiences. Still, it unnerved me a little. When I write about a book, my highest hope it to recreate it somewhat in my words. I suppose no one can truly do more than recreate their own reading experience, but reading experiences so widely divergent just seem odd, especially when it's a beloved book. Corrigan touches on this herself, when she mentions how stunned she is that pompous academians also love the academia-skewering Lucky Jim. (Which is the first on the aforementioned to read list.) I think it's Sturgeon's Law that says there is nothing so great it won't be admired by assholes?


Currently reading: New Rules by Bill Maher, which is cracking me up.