Favorite Books and Current Reads

[noodles]

[Kinokokao]

So I checked out these behemoths from the library for class and am now reading through them for fun:

Encyclopedia of the Languages of Europe
Cambridge Encyclopedia of the World's Ancient Languages

There's some seriously dry but seriously fun stuff in here.

[Maxine MagicFox]

I think you beat me on this one, Kino. Unless it was really interesting... I don't see myself reading about languages. I would love to learn them to speak, but... otherwise... the history and such isn't something I generally care about. XD

[Kinokokao]

[Kinokokao]

I have been reading the Audacity of Hope by Barack Obama.

Man. He had my vote before, but damn! It's really good. This morning I read:

And students can insist that their institutions focus their fund-raising efforts more on improving the quality of instruction than on building new football stadiums. (pg 195)

while sitting in the shadow of the stadium construction that's tearing my town apart:

The wheels were set in motion on the stadium project when OSU alum Boone Pickens made the single-largest gift in school history in 2003. His $70 million gift ($20 million of which was earmarked for stadium expansion) spurred the "Next Level Campaign", which generated more than $100 million in gifts and pledges and involved more than 2,500 individuals, making it the single-most successful campaign in OSU history.

Pickens capped the fundraising effort in 2005 with his momentous gift of $165 million that will not only benefit Cowboy football, but will aid with the development of OSU's planned multi-million dollar athletic village. The gift is the largest ever received by a university athletic department. (from the NCAA site; I just googled 'boone pickens stadium project')

Yeah, that bullshit "athletic village?" It's right in the center of town. The campus bought out miles worth of prime rental real estate -- including my parents' first home and many other young, college families and long-time residents.

Ugghh... So glad I'm moving out of this hell-hole!!!

[Akarshi]

[Seniwac]

ewwwwwww

[madonna]

[Archaic Sage]

[Maxine MagicFox]

*agrees* And then your whole school becomes entirely dominated by that sports program. The whole thing becomes nothing about academics anymore but whether or not you are on the football team. Schools down in Georgia were fucking AWEFUL for this. They even gave those children free passes to be away from class - not for any special reason, but just that they didn't have to go at all.

*Rolls eyes* I don't mind sports and it's great when a community gets together to make sure that there is a sports center and a gymnasium. But, there is a point where it is carried much MUCH too far.

[madonna]

[Kinokokao]

[Vapour Trail]

Currently reading The City of Collective Memory: Its Historical Imagery and Architectural Entertainments by M. Christine Boyer. It's hella pretentious in presentation, but I'm enjoying it so far regardless.

[Maxine MagicFox]

Currently Reading: Terry Goodkind's Wizard's First Rule

Not sure I like the story but the main character, Richard, is awesome. Story seems very Tolkien-ish, though. More importantly, though, I love how the author fucks with the MC's (and the reader's) mind with the many many moral dilemmas. At first I was like "wait... you aren't going to try to make me feel SORRY for the bad guy, are you?" Fortunately, he's not, but, the redeeming qualities are there, and in other villains, too. He's not trying to make you cry for the bad guy but still make the villains appear HUMAN.

[Kinokokao]

I can't believe I didn't see you started reading the Sword of Truth series. Lemme know how it turns out for you~ If you like Wizard's First Rule I highly recommend Stone of Tears (the second book). When I started that series I actually read Stone of Tears first because that was the one my school's library had.

[spoiler]
Where are you in the story?
[/spoiler]

Also:
I have acquired Volume V of The Story of Civilization!!! YAY! I'm getting closer and closer to my goal of getting all eleven volumes <3 It's this series of history books by Will and Ariel Durant that have been out of print foreverz, so I'm slowly collecting them used whenever I can find them. The library book sale had one, and my store just got another.

I read Ouran volume 11 today. I wish the volumes came out faster! I hardcore love this series... I've put a stop to pretty much all my manga buying... but I just had to buy Ouran... <3