book-love...

I find television to be very educating.  Every time somebody turns on the set, I go in the other room and read a book.  ~Groucho Marx

I have been reading a lot lately.  When I say a lot I mean I have read a new book every couple days, sometimes more on the weekends.  My appetite has been voracious.    It is amazing what no television can do for your life....you should really try it by getting rid of your TV or detoxing for an extended period of time, real talk...)

A good book should leave you... slightly exhausted at the end.  You live several lives while reading it.  ~William Styron, interview, Writers at Work, 1958

I have become so emotionally invested in the books I have been reading lately.  Even dreamed about some of them, and act like a crack fiend needing to get back to them. (i.e. the 1000+ page book I read in 2 nights).  I get sad when I am get to the last 100 pages of a book.  I am not being figurative, I really do get to feeling some kinda way.  4 of the books I read this month made me actually cry.

If there's a book you really want to read but it hasn't been written yet, then you must write it.  ~Toni Morrison

 A few of the books I read have disappointed me with their endings.  Either the endings were far fetched, or the author left no sort of conclusion that satisfied me.  This realization has kick started me to wanting to improve my writing, and be the author that writes books the way that I want to read them.  

A book must be an ice-axe to break the seas frozen inside our soul.  ~Franz Kafka

Reading so many books has also made me want to write more.  I have been pumping out poems left and right, usually inspired from a  line or a scene in what I am reading.  I haven't posted a lot of stuff because for the first time in my poetry career I have been writing performance pieces (that don't necessarily translate well to the page) with ease.  My new focus on literature and art has made me a better performer, a better listener,just better...

A house without books is like a room without windows.  ~Heinrich Mann

 

Here are some of the books I have read over the last month or so... if you are my friend on facebook, check out my Visual Bookshelf:

Reading Lolita in Tehran: A Memoir in Books, Azar Nafisi (a must-read for book and history lovers!)

The Hour I First Believed: A Novel, Wally Lamb(read this thick monster of a book in 2 days, such a page turner... this is one of the books that made me cry...)

Eyes to My Soul: The Rise or Decline of a Black FBI Agent, Tyrone Powers (this book made me want to fight the power!)

The Book of Sarahs: A Family in Parts,Catherine E. McKinley

The Unthinkable Thoughts of Jacob Green : A Novel, Joshua Braff

Trading Dreams at Midnight: A Novel, Diane McKinney-Whetstone

Nina: Adolescence, Amy Hassinger

Currently Reading: Apprentice to the Flower Poet Z.: A Novel, Debra Weinstein

Currently Re-reading: Racism 101, Nikki Giovanni

I am also open to any suggestions you might have of some good reads, leave them in the comments if you do!

Peace y'all....

Quick Tip: Thrift Stores are my best friend, you can't beat $0.25-0.50 for books (I don't like library books, I like to own my books, because I am also a re-reader)