我思う故に我あり: Book Recap

Saturday, July 25, 2009

Book Recap

Do y'all remember, back in January, when I said I was going to keep track of all the books I read this year (for fun, not for class, because the class books don't really count), with a goal of 50? Yeah, much like my media blog, which has two entries, but a third now in progress, that didn't really happen. But I have been reading, so I'm going to do a little list of 2009's selections to date, in case anyone is curious about what I read when I'm reading for my own sake.

Um, they might not be totally in chronological order. I remembered as best I could.

Books of 2009, as of 25 July:
1. Autobiography of a Blue-Eyed Devil - Inga Muscio
2. Slaughterhouse-Five - Kurt Vonnegut
3. Anansi Boys - Neil Gaiman
4. The Zombie Survival Guide - Max Brooks
5. Neuromancer - William Gibson
6. The Opposite of Fate - Amy Tan
7. The Joy-Luck Club - Amy Tan
8. The Bonesetter's Daughter - Amy Tan
9. Takarazuka (Sexual Politics and Popular Culture in Modern Japan) - Jennifer Robertson
10. The Hundred Secret Senses - Amy Tan
11. The Kitchen God's Wife - Amy Tan
12. Cunt - Inga Muscio
13. Beyond Heaving Bosoms (The Smart Bitches Guide to Romance Novels) - Sarah Wendell, Candy Tan
14. Killing Rage - bell hooks
15. Fragile Things - Neil Gaiman
16. Polite Lies - Kyoko Mori
17. Looking for the Lost (Journeys Through a Vanishing Japan) - Alan Booth

Okay, so 17 isn't terribly impressive for it being the end of July, but remember that I did also have 12 books to read for my classes last semester. So, really, I've read 29 books so far this year.

Anyway, looking at the list, you will probably notice that I went on an Amy Tan kick there for awhile. I read her memoir and then decided that I needed to re-read all her novels (except for the one I don't have). Another thing that might be noteworthy is that 11 of the 17 are by women, 2 are by Neil Gaiman, 8 are non-fiction and 3 are about Japan (or an aspect thereof). The book I'm starting next is also non-fiction and also about Japan, but not written by a woman.

All of these books are recommended, but if you're curious about any particular one, I can do little reviews. Just drop a comment and I'll add it to my to-do list.

By the way, I changed my blog title. It's now 我思う故に我あり (われおもうゆえにわれあり, ware omou yue ni ware ari) which is the Japanese version of "I think, therefore I am."

Key Terms

Alex: One of my Willamette friends. We met when he started dating Annie and somewhere along the way became proper friends. He has the singular ability to annoy me with minimal effort and studied abroad with me in Japan.

Annie: One of my two best friends at Willamette, also my wife. We're both in choir and she's an awesome artist, as well as really good at Japanese. We studied abroad together, too, and are now roommates.

Ash: A fairly new friend, met through Ellie last year. He doesn't go to Willamette, but he's become a pretty key element of our varied and sundry weekend (and occasionally week day) adventures.

Atsushi: A 2009 TIUA student who got pretty tight with me and my group of friends. He's back in Japan now, but plans to come back to the States ASAP.

Building Bridges: A student-run program between WU and TIUA that's meant to help TIUA students make more friends. Annie and I are with three TIUAs - one guy and two girls.

Cat Cavern: The best of the three Willamette eating halls, and one of the two I go to. Unfortunately only open weekdays for breakfast and lunch, I never get tired of the quesadillas.

Christine: The director of Voce, the Willamette choir in which I sing alto. She's lovely, has a beautiful voice and is probably the best director I've ever worked with. Every once in awhile she gives these little, almost spiritual, speeches to encourage us to reach our full potential.

Dana: One of my two best friends from high school. She graduated from Eastern Washington University last year. We both love musicals and bonded over Harry Potter, back in the day.

Ellie: A Willamette friend I hung out with pretty much every weekend last semester and worked with in the Writing Center. She's in Ireland right now, studying abroad.

Goudy: The primary Willamette eating hall. Lunch is good, Saturday brunch is awesome, dinner... well, let's not focus on that. Also the location of and inspiration for my various food art projects. I'm sure the Goudy ladies love me.

Haseldorf: The older, smaller university apartment building. Annie and I have a two-bedroom apartment on the first floor. It's pretty sweet.

Josh: Nikki(1)'s fiance. He doesn't go to Willamette, but he and Nikki have an apartment in Salem, so we see each other a lot. He's Native and pretty involved in the community, through powwows and dance and the like.

JSP: The Japanese Studies Program at Tokyo International University (TIU). It was my study abroad program in fall of 2008.

川越市/Kawagoe: The city in Japan where TIU is located and I studied abroad. It's my Japanese town, basically, and I'm planning on going back one way or another in the next year.

Makoto: The guy in my Building Bridges group. He looks kind of Jrocker with his blonde hair.

Mariel: My little sister. She's 16, in high school and we have a lot more in common than we might seem to. When I'm home, we play video games together and shout at the screen a lot.

Miku: One of the girls in my Building Bridges group. She's really sweet and likes my English.

皆川たち/Minagawa-tachi: My former host family in Japan. I refer to them as Minagawa-tachi because 'tachi' is the suffix meaning more than one person. I was their last host student, they're really sweet, and I plan to visit them when I go back to Japan.

Molly: Another new friend met last semester through Ellie. She's a biology major and very fun - another person involved in the aforementioned varied and sundry adventures.

Montag: The rec area on campus, with a convenience store, ping-pong tables, pool tables, a TV and conference rooms my friends and I occasion to spontaneously co-opt for Very Important Meetings.

Morgan: One of the sweetest girls I know. We met through Japanese and have got to be pretty good friends. She's another friend studying abroad in the spring, but unlike Ellie, she's a JSP.

NAEA: Native American Enlightenment Association. It's the Willamette club of which I was the VP to Nikki(1)'s presidency. I am now officially retired from leadership.

Nikki (1): My other best friend at Willamette. She, unfortunately, couldn't study abroad with us. She's planning to go into environmental science and we spend as much time together as humanly possible when we're at school.

Nikki (2): My former Willamette roommate. We have virtually nothing in common except for food and general sense of humour, but we get along great. We lived together for two years and never had a fight.

Rina: One of my friends from the 2010 TIUA group. She's very genki and the second girl in my Building Bridges group.

Shiori: Another one of my friends from the 2010 TIUA group. She's slightly less genki than Rina, but no less awesome.

Sparks: The sports/gym facility at Willamette. My friends and I go sometimes either to play racquetball or to use the work-out equipment.

TIUA: Tokyo International University of America. WU and TIU are sister schools and there's a TIUA campus across the street from the Willamette campus. The 2009 group left in December and the 2010 group arrived in February.

Voce: The casual name for the women's choir at Willamette, of which Annie and I are part. We both sing alto and love it.

Saturday, July 25, 2009

Book Recap

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