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Three Cups of Tea
by lz in Reading Archive on 29Jun2008
Climber fails to climb K-2, gets lost on his way down the mountain and wanders into a remote village where the people treat him well. Climber vows to return and build a school for the village, returns to US, raises money through various letters and phone calls, discovers that computers...
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Breathtakingly beautiful, simply amazing, read it, read it, read it! I am exhausted right now and will likely not do it justice, but this is the best book I've read in months. Story is of an ancient languages (Greek, Latin) teacher who simply gets up and walks out of his...
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Drown
by lz in Reading Archive on 18Jun2008
Autobiographical stories from the author's youth growing up in the Dominican Republic, migrating to the US at age 9. The complexity of his father's abandonment and eventual return (and eventual re-abandonment). The stories show a real side of immigration, never a false note ringing. Good writing, evocative. Diaz won a...
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The Rider
by lz in Reading Archive on 17Jun2008
I'm becoming a bit of an armchair bicycle racer, soaking up the Tours, ogling the speedy and sleek riders. This book feeds right into that desire to get up close and personal with the racers, without having to expend any sweat or feel the cracking pain. Krabbe does a fantastic...
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Not Buying It
by lz in Reading Archive on 13Jun2008
I'm overdosing on these "giving up material things" books; a recent post in one of my favorite financial blogs pointed me in this direction, and Levine's book was a welcome addition, more serious than the woman who gave up stuff for a month, then moved on. Basic premise was that...
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I guess you really needed my bike seat and tube for your own hobo bike. I wonder if your bike is made of stolen parts and if it keeps you as warm at night as my nice cozy apartment. It's not that comfortable to lay your head on, as I've...
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After Dark
by lz in Reading Archive on 10Jun2008
I'm not sure why I haven't burned through the Murakami canon yet, considering how much I loved The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle. After Dark is a collection of stories all occurring between midnight and dawn. Quick snippets of life, fragments, and they move on to the next character. Nothing is wrapped...
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Give It Up
by lz in Reading Archive on 10Jun2008
Interesting concept- the author gives up one of her essentials for a month, picking a different item to eliminate each month of the year. Obvious ones like alcohol, coffee, chocolate, television, dining out and cellphones. Not so obvious choices like elevators, shopping, newspapers, taxis, cursing, and multitasking. By the end...
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I, Claudius
by lz in Reading Archive on 09Jun2008
Everywhere you turn, people are comparing what's happening in the US with the fall of the Roman Empire. And that got me thinking about a book I read long ago, which gave a portrait of those decadent times in an extremely readable format. I decided to read this one again,...
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Crisp and brilliant short stories by Raymond Carver. What remains unsaid brims below the surface, creating tensions and setting the mood. The title comes from the final story, where a man finds that his perfect marriage is marred by his wife's infidelity one night four years ago. The book is...
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