a year of books

books read from 09/10 until the end of the year:

my little war, louis paul boon (3.6)
the book of words jenny erpenbeck (4.5)
without randie lipkin (3.0)
anastasia: the riddle of anna anderson peter kurth (4.3)
the quest for anastasia: solving the mystery of the lost romanovs john klier and helen mingay (4.6)
the sound of water: haiku translated by sam hamill (4.7)
one man’s moon” translation by cid corman (4.2)
classic haiku: a master’s selection yuzcoru miura (4.3)
into the wild jon krakauer (4.8)
fifty days of solitude doris grumbach (3.0)
hanged at auschwitz sim kessel (4.5)
helter skelter: the true story of the manson murders vincent bugliosi (4.5)
harry potter and the sorcerer’s stone jk rowling (5.0)
harry potter and the chamber of secrets jk rowling (5.0)

highest rating is five.


if you’ve read any great books this year, tell me all about them. i’m constantly looking for something new to read. or, do you have opinions on bukowski, burroughs or virginia woolf? if so, those are on my list of books to read so i’d love to hear what you thought.

Louis Paul Boonalexander supertrampaloneanastasiaauschwitzbook pornbook whorebookscharles mansonchicagocollegeconcentration campsdoris grumbachfavoritefifty days of solitudehaikuhangedharry potterhistoryinto the wildjenny erpenbeckjk rowlingjon krakauerlibrarylistlistslonelinesslongmarathonmass murders
10th Jan 2011✧17:031 note

"…the way he sat down so carefully to keep the crease in his trousers, he was more like a dandy than a terrorist. they ties dis hands behind his back and took him to the gallows where…oh, i almost said: “where his last necktie was waiting for him,: but that sounds kind of…of…"

~   louis paul boon, my little war
louis paul boonmy little wari'm sorry i'm blowing up your feed with the quotes from books i'm readinggallowsmorbidnecktietidaydandyterrorist
14th Aug 2010✧23:18

"we always knew proske as someone who’d rather die than have to say black when something looked white to him. of course he didn’t have a subtle enough intelligence to realize that there might be such a thing as dark black and pale black."

~   louis paul boon, my little war
louis paul boonmy little warquotebelgianbook
14th Aug 2010✧23:12

"and albertine, who’d been laughing herself silly the whole way, turned to him once and said, reluctantly: good day. and then, once: i’m losing all my teeth from hunger. and the next day: it always hurts, and here too…and she put her hand on her heart…but apart from that she went on laughing and keeping our spirits up and saying: folks, one day the war really will be over and those gray live will all be crushed, and then we’ll learn how to swing with our old legs, although i’m afraid there’ll be two of me by then, i already feel like i’m splitting in two. and she pushed her heart again, she pushed at it more and more."

~   louis paul boon, my little war
louis paul boonmy little warworld war iiheartswing dancewarvictim
14th Aug 2010✧23:08

"where did all these voices come from all the sudden? and then the siren sounds the all-clear and all the children start dancing like peace has come. and that’s how you can tell that even the children are starting to live from day to day, from hour to hour."

~   louis paul boon, my little war
quotebookbook whorelouis paul boonmy little warchildrendancinglivingcarpe diem
14th Aug 2010✧22:53

i’m officially addicted

to the library. it probably wasn’t the best idea moving in right next door, because every time i look out my window to see the gargoyles, i’m reminded of just how many books are being held inside those walls. currently, i have ten books checked out. two are non-fiction, the other eight are fictitious.

currently i am reading my little war by flemish author louis paul boon. its one of only a few books written by him to be translated from its original flemish. it was first published in 1947, but wasn’t translated for us until this year. i’m only thirty pages in so far, but it seems wonderful. 

people ask me how i find books in that library, eight stories full of thousands of books. i have no secret; i simply find a floor (today was the seventh floor, literature and language) and walk through the aisles until a name catches my eye. i wish i could live in that library, but the chairs are very comfortable and the guards aren’t too inviting.

harold washingtonchicagodowntownloopbook whorebookslibrariesreadingmy little warflemishbelgiumlouis paul boon
12th Aug 2010✧19:11
Opaque  by  andbamnan