Flippy - I Rant, You Read

Wednesday, March 16, 2005

evening

It’s Book Review Catchup Time

Since I’ve been sick, I’ve only wanted to read, not write about the books I’ve read.  So now I have three books to review.  Well, I’m gonna make this quick.

Stiff:  The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers by Mary Roach—I loved this book.  Fascinating information about what happens to your body if you donate it to science - plastic surgery, medical experiments, FBI experiments, cadaver use in school, etc.  The great part about it is Mary Roach’s sense of humor about everything.  And, if someone could freeze-dry me and then plant me, I’d be pretty happy.  I don’t want to rot away in a coffin.  Give away all the good organs, then freeze-dry me up, baby. Skipping Towards Gomorrah by Dan Savage—At first, I thought it was a bunch of stretched out info from one of his fabulous columns, but he started to hit his stride in Chapter 2 and became the snarky Dan Savage I know and love.  I loved this book, as I’ve loved all Dan Savage books.  You know exactly what you’re getting from him - humor, snark, left-wing politics, gay politics, with a dash of smoking pot before scarfing down huge Claim Jumper meals. The Rest of the Iceberg:  An Insider’s View on the World of Sport and Celebrity”  by Robert Smith - I thought this would be really interesting after getting into fantasy football this year and then seeing Robert Smith, formerly of the Minnesota Vikings on The Daily Show.  He seem cute and bright.  And why wouldn’t he write an interesting book?  Why wouldn’t he, indeed.  I know it’s an accomplishment to write your book yourself, but this book could’ve used a ghostwriter.  Some of the views into sudden sports celebrity were interesting, but they only accounted for a few pages of the book.  Mostly, it was about his injuries and his short-lived NFL career.  While the story was moderately interesting, the writing was pretty poor.  It wasn’t a total waste of time, but I wouldn’t rush out to read it.  If it’s sitting on your bookshelf, taunting you, then give it a try.

Sunday, February 20, 2005

late morning

Kindred Spirit - Hilary Liftin

I just started reading “Candy and Me (A Love Story)”  and it SPEAKS to me.  No, like seriously, I mean it.  Ever since I was a kid, I’ve loved candy.  All kinds.  Chocolate.  Fruity.  Hard.  Soft.  Gummi.  Sweet.  Sour.  You get the point.  I didn’t consume (nor want to) nearly the sugar volume of Hilary Liftin, but my joy was no less great.  I remember getting in trouble when I was little because my cousin brought me some gummi worms & pacifiers home from Germany (before gummi anything was popular here), and I ate them too quickly.  I had a big bag of them and apparently they were supposed to last me a while.  But, they were so very very good.  Even now, I’m not big on anything lasting too long.  Life is short, eat candy.

I’m also generally not happy with just your average candy.  For instance, Life Savers bore me, but find me some weird Japanese candy that has to be ordered from Japan with outrageous shipping prices and I crave it.  Hershey bars?  Zzzz.  I need Coffee Crisp from Canada or Cadbury oddities from the UK.  I always notice when new stuff shows up at the store.  Naturally, I get hooked on something when it’s a “Limited Edition”, never to be seen again—hear me calling, Dark Chocolate Kit Kat?