Books/Volunteer work

Thought I'd write about some books I've been reading or read recently. I enjoy reading alot and highly recommend people do so. Finding subjects and topics of interest makes it very easy.

Some books I read this last year, this summer, and currently that I enjoyed (or disliked)-

The Lords of Discipline (Pat Conroy)- Pat Conroy is a very different author. He is very vivid in his descriptions and his characters are often very funny. This book chronicled the journey of a cadet in a military academy in South Carolina. The characters in this book are fantastic and this book is my favorite Conroy book. It's a story of hardship and overcoming color boundaries. A bit long but rewarding and enjoyable.

What is the What (David Eggars)- A biography of Achek-Deng, a lost boy from Sudan. This book followed the account of the lost boys, thousands of refugees no older than 15. These boys overcame lions, militants, starvation, extreme heat, and hippos as they journeyed for years across Sudan on foot. Very eye opening for me.

The Road (Cormac McCarthy)- Fantastic post-apoc book. It follows a man and his son as they journey across the ravaged United States. They face rebel problems, food shortages, and weather hardships. I really enjoyed this book. It is written in a strange fashion (as most CM books are) but nonetheless he paints a vivid picture of this bleak future. A movie is coming out soon as well.

Pillars of the Earth (Ken Follet)- A very long book that follows the building of a Cathedral in medeival Europe. I had mixed feelings on this book. The characters are very real and I felt like I really understood all of them. Further the time period (and historical significance) of this era is pretty interesting as well. There were a few aspects about this book that I wasn't thrilled about- there was a semi lack of direction at times. But overall I enjoyed it and thought it described the political and economic constructs during this period well.

Brave New World (Huxley)- Another futuristic book that was spawned from the wild imagination of Huxley (written 50-60 years ago?). I thought that this book was great and showed a very strange future for the world. It shows a very technologically advanced civilization inhabited by 'savages'. A cool short story that is very creative.

Genghis: Birth of an Empire (Conn Iggulden)- I really enjoyed this book (and the sequel, Lords of the Bow). Genghis Khan is a super badass and this historical fiction provides an interesting outlook on Khan and his life. I feel that Khan revolutionized modern warfare with his tactics (almost can be compared to German blitzkrieg hundreds of years later). I thought these books were great.

Blink (Malcom Gladwell)- Interesting psychology book that describes the unconscious movements of our mind. The author explains 'thin-slicing', or how our brain can both react and understand many unknown connections in our lives. For instance, it explained an instance in which an art curator autmotically knew that a statue was fake (despite near perfect replication) based on only a glance. After many tests and controversy the statue was indeed a fraud. This is just one example in which Gladwell explains those 'gut' feelings that we have. Interesting and pretty fun.

Collapse (Jared Diamond)- This book sought to explain the collapses of civilizations world wide and provided a framework (economic, political, enemies, weather) on how these civilizations fell. I thought that the premise of this book was interesting and that there were parts that were fascinating (Easter Island for one). But the bottom line was that this book was written in a dull fashion and was a bit boring. I finished it but it was a bit difficult.

The Blind Side (Michael Lewis)- A very cool book (if you enjoy football) that explains the Left-tackle position and the evolution of the game (following Bill Walsh and the West cost offense and Lawrence Taylor). It also follows Michael Oher, a freak LT prospect growing up in rural mississippi. A great read for any football fan.

Those are some of the books I read last year and over the summer. I'm skipping many of them (Silence of the Lambs, Underboss, The Winner (Baldalcci), Urban's Way, etc etc etc due to being tired. Don't get me wrong, many of these books were good reads, just nothing of tremendous acclaim. I'm currently reading World War Z by Max Brooks, a post apoc zombie book. It's okay, not fantastic. It's written very strangely, with dozens of accounts of the zombies from all facets of life (jobs, locations, etc). It isn't one continuous story so meh. Other books that I recently picked up were "World Without Us', a book that shows us what the world would be like (environmentally, etc) after humans perish. Should be interesting. Also picked up 'The Time Machine and Invisible Man' by H.G. Wells. Not much to say here, just two good short stories by a genius.

I also finally got my volunteer work settled. I'll be doing hours at the Indian Cultural Center. I still have to get a min. 10 hours this semester for my multi-cultural class so blah. This month is going to be a fuckin bitch come to think about it...long research paper in my queer psych class (doing awful in it btw, havent discussed anything), long paper in my China class, project in both my tech class and multicultural class. Ugh.

A nice outlook I have on school (and many aspects of my life) is that 'most of it doesn't matter'. Those people that get super super super stressed over stupid classes or a retarded quiz just don't make much sense to me. In the grand scheme of things, these classes, these As or Bs don't really matter that much. Maybe I have a skewed outlook on life since academics have never really been a high priority but meh. While grades CAN change some aspects of the future (a friend of mine failed Organic Chem 2, therefore denying him entry into vet school)I still am not convinced that putting good grades above all else is the way to go. The underlying outlook that I hold is this- have a balanced life, enjoy youth while you can (friends, social experiences, etc) and don't worry as much about school. I also think about those who are super cheap while in college shouldn't be worrying as much now- that $200 bill is going to mean diddly shit when you're making 150k a year (some of my friends will make this much for sure).

And maybe that school outlook I hold is due to poker. I don't know. Am I fortunate? Yes, very. I'm very very fortunate that I'm able to do this as a semi-professional for good money. I'm given an opportunity that few my age are able to experience. But even without poker I'm fairly sure that I'd still hold this slacker outlook on life. The real world scares me and I don't want to grow up.