Oh Boy, Oh Boy, Oh Boy!

My mother and I picked five books to read together this year.  They were:   Ulysses by James Joyce, The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck, To The Lighthouse by Virginia Woolf, The Death Of The Heart by Elizabeth Bowen, and Midnights Children by Salman Rushdie.  I have read them all but Midnight's Children which I should finish that by the end of this month. 

Over Thanksgiving we agreed upon five new books to read next year:  Portrait of an Artist as a Young Man by James Joyce, I, Claudius by Robert Graves, Deliverance by James Dickey, House of Mirth by Edith Wharton, and The Heart of the Matter by Graham Greene. 

It was fitting that we picked these books over the Thanksgiving holiday because I am so thankful that my mother will read these books with me.  She is so smart and insightful that when reading these difficult books, I am able to understand and interpret much of what is going on in the books.

Saleem Sinai was born on the stroke of midnight on August 15, 1947 the exact moment India gained independance from British rule.

Salman Rushdie mirrors the life of India with the life of the Midnight Children.  Using magical realism, the reader is caught up in the story of Saleem Sainai and the history of India.

Though I am not finished yet, I feel like I am reading a great book.  I have just been introduced to the Midnight Children.  Saleem's injury to his finger has exposed his switching at birth.  And the cracks grow larger.

Charlie said:  What's funny is that I was not a metal head.  When I was young I was actually scared of Iron Madden because of their satanic illusions.  For some strange reason, that doesn't seem to bother me at all with Dead Weather.  I am drawn to the strong acid biting guitar and the energetically blues vocals.

Dead Weather's first album, Horehound, was one of my favorite albums of 2009.  My friend Seth lent me the album and I immediately became a Jack White fan.  I like almost every song on Horehound, particularly the songs "I Cut Like a Buffalo", "60 Feet Tall", and "Hang You From the Heavens".  Like Horehound, Sea of Cowards rocks hard.  Each song is driven by a biting guitar and sometimes snarly lyrics.

Though I did not love this album as much as Horehound the tracks that stuck out to me were "Blue Blood Blues", "Die By the Drop", and "I Can't Hear You". 

On the Tina/Charlie Promote it, Lend it, Deny it scale, I, while banging my head, give it a Promote it.