make lists of things that interest me, and perhaps share them here, but only if i feel like it, and in the process, write an extremely long and unwieldy-to-read goal, thereby amusing myself

continue to do this, as much as possible!

in no particular order, and i reserve the right to add to this list in the future… (

(and Warning… there are some downright silly books in here. Read at your Own Peril.)

1. Haroun and the Sea of Stories
2. To Kill a Mockingbird
3. A Tree Grows in Brooklyn
4. Little Women
5. A Christmas Carol
6. Interpreter of Maladies
7. God of Small Things
8. About a Boy
9. The Edge of Reason
10. Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Jeans
11. All of JRR Tolkien’s novels
12. The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole, Aged 13 3/4
13. A Wrinkle in Time
14. The Long Darm Teatime of the Soul
15. Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy (all books in the series)
16. Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency

1. paying credit card bills (yuck)
2. dusting
3. laundry
4. sweeping the floor
5. putting away the clean clothes after laundry
6. sorting through the pile of random papers left over from the application frenzy, and throwing away/shredding what I don’t need to keep
7. making a dental appointment
8. flossing (actually i enjoy flossing when i do it, but am lazy to actually get the floss out of the box. again, go figure.)
9. throwing away old clothes
10. sorting through mail
11. mailing ANYthing
12. returning videos
13. getting the oil changed
14. calling my aunt and uncle in connecticut (i’m sure they’re pissed by now)
15. taking out the trash/ the recycling
16. deciding what papers should be kept and what should be thrown away
17. paperwork in General
18. filling out the fellowship application form
19. leaving the house in a timely manner

1. The Kite Runner – Khaled Hosseini (done)
2. Freakonomics – (just started)
3. Anil’s Ghost – Michael Ondaatje (started)
4. The Nurture Assumption – Judith Rich Harris (a maddening book that makes sense in a scary way… so far)
5. Until I Find You – started a couple weeks ago, but at a standstill right now…

again, will be updating this entry from time to time…

1. realm
2. omigod
3. thankyousomuch
4. desi
5. southasian
6. diaspora
7. diasporic (which spellcheck tells me isn’t even a word; if that’s true i’m in trouble on my grad school apps)
8. paradigm
9. continuum
10. geezlouise
11. arre! (actually a gujju and hindi word, pronounced something like “a ray” with a rolled “R”)
12. podcast
13. lady
14. woman
15. buddy
16. pal
17. sis
18. weetabix (more on this later, in the 100 things that make me happy goal)
19. internet
20. tendency
21. like (but i am like, trying to eradicate this from my vocabulary)
22. eradicate
23. actually
24. prettyexcited
25. donchuthink?
26. y’know?
27. hey lady!
28. wow (i got teased so much for my ‘wow’s at all times)
29. Idunno
30. enthusiastically
31. allofasudden
32. annoyed

in no particular order, here are books that i’ve read in ‘05. (probably) from time to time, i will edit this entry, as more books come to mind, so if you have nothing else to do, or even if you do, feel free to check back.

here goes:

1. Living to Tell the Tale – Gabriel Garcia Marquez
(part one of his memoir) that reminds me. I want to now read part two of his memoir. I forget the title

2. What Should I do With My Life – Po Bronson
I will refrain from describing this, as I have already talked about it elsewhere, and don’t want to bore anyone too, too much

3. Gasping for Airtime – Jay Mohr
contact me if you want my opinion on this book.

4. Children Playing Before a Statue of Hercules – ed by David Sedaris
Through this book I became acquainted with a number of short story writers. a must read

5. Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim – David Sedaris
Incredibly Funny. If you have a crazy family, or if you like to be cheered up by books, or if you enjoy satire, what are you doing reading my silly list? Go read Sedaris. Enough said.

6. Coffee Will Make You Black – April Sinclair
Achingly funny. I suspect this novel is more than a little autobiographical, as I was assigned to read it for a creative non-fiction writing class. One of the best assigned-reading books I’ve ever “had” to read

7. Bone Black : Memories of Girlhood – bell hooks
as the title suggests, a memoir. after reading this, am ashamed that it took me SO long to discover bell hooks. shame on me.

8. Olivia Joules and the Overactive Imagination – Helen Fielding
yes, a bit of a guilty read, but then, how else does one learn their lessons? I was disappointed in Ms. Fielding, as I found this book irritating, kind of racist (even though trying not to be), and nowhere near as good as the Bridget Jones books. Actually, so far what I have liked best amongst all of HF’s writings is a short story that was published in a collection entitled Speaking with the Angel. I wish she would write more things in this vein. Sigh. oh well.

9. Waiting – Ha Jin
Wow. He captures the pain and joy of being a fallible human being so well. i know the above sentence is a cliche, but, what to do?

10. The Bridegroom – Ha Jin
wow. wow.

11. Candy Freak – Steve Almond
not a good book to read if you have sugar cravings as high as mount everest. Stay away, i tell ya! This man will have you desiring chocolate bars you never KNEW existed!

12. Oryx and Crake – Margaret Atwood
eerie, eerie book! scary. (well, for me, but then again i’m a big old scaredy-cat.) and un-put-down-able. my mind was in a weird zone for a few days after reading this.

13. Daughter of Fortune – Isabel Allende
cool. I liked it…. fun read. i liked reading about SF from the perspective of folks who came during the gold rush… since i moved there right before the Internet Rush

14. Me Talk Pretty One Day – David Sedaris
Monsieur Sedaris, il est tres drole, n’est-ce pas?

15. Don’t Play in the Sun – Marita Golden
Her book is an exploration, as her subtitle states, it is her journey through and about the color complex. At times she relates very personal experiences, incidents from childhood, things that she has been told by parents, friends, relatives—especially her mother. At other times, she focuses more on conversations regarding experiences of colorism with current friends, acquaintances and interviewees. A third thing she does is to explain the historical and cultural context of notions of color. Both of these, the second and third techniques, are reminiscent of an ethnography: relying as they do on interviews, transcribing of conversations, and research that is carefully explained to the reader.

16. The Wonderful Tale of Henry Sugar – Roald Dahl
Actually, I own this book and reread all the time. It’s one of my “comfort books”. This past July I read the title story to my dad as he lay in his itchy uncomfortable hospital bed, and my dad, the most impatient man I know, actually listened to the whole story!

17. The Body of Johah Boyd – David Leavitt
My first book by him… it was given to me by a friend. V. Interesting. A bit twisted, in a cool way.