Living in New York you always get the benefit of designated reading time. My commute to work is roughly 30 minutes, so with doing that everyday I tend have some time to finish a few books here and there. I’m big on balance so if it’s an emotional roller coaster of a book, I’ll probably couple it with a graphic novel that I’ll read simultaneously. These days everything is getting turned into a movie, so sometimes its nice to know the source material. I go back and forth depending on what book it is whether it’s better to have read it before the movie or after. Sometimes it’s nice just watching a movie and thoroughly enjoying it without having to think, “man, the book was better.” I normally don’t pedal my books and try to get everyone to read them, but in the past few years I’ve built up a good reserve of books that I think make for a decent list. So here goes nothing.
Books I’ve Read Recently:
Beat the Reaper, By Josh Bazell: This books awesome. And without trying to spoil too much of it, I’ll only offer to key points. One; it’s about a doctor with a sordid past that leads to some great action and drama. That’s it, that’s all you’re getting out of me in terms of plot. Two; by reading this book I officially read one of the most beautifully tragic sentiments I’ve ever read. I don’t want to ruin it, but the sap part of me, which takes up about 73% of my body weight give or take, had to pause and admire what was really being said. It’s one of the best things I’ve ever heard one human say about another, even if they are fictional characters. Rumors have this being turned into a movie pretty soon with Leonardo DiCaprio taking the lead as the doctor, and honestly I hope it happens. It will be great.
Ready Player One, By Ernest Cline: I’m pretty sure it’s common knowledge by now, but Will Smith was the first pick to play Neo in the movie franchise The Matrix. He turned it down to do the Wild Wild West. This is important because his reasoning made sense. Without every seeing the movie, or find someone that’s never seen it, and try to explain to them what it is. And when you do you’ll realize how insane and non coherent it sounds. I bring this is up cause this is how me telling you about this book would come off. At best I can tell you it’s a dystopian future, based around an online living environment… Wait this is starting to sound like The Matrix. It is not, trust me. Just know it’s a ton of fun, filled with a ton of nostalgia. If you’re a gamer, you’ll love this book, if you’re not, you’ll still like this book and if anything it might help you understand your gamer spouse or significant other a little better. This one is also slated to be put on the silver screen. I have no idea about the details just please don’t ruin it.
Slam, By Nick Hornby: I’m well aware this one isn’t flying under anyone’s radar and also that I probably caught this train late, but it was damn good. It’s about a youthful kid, who loves to skateboard, essentially getting his youth taken away, by even more youth. He has a chance encounter with one girl in his whole life and as we all know, accidents happen. What got me with this book, was just the real unromantic view for which Hornby paints this sort of situation. It’s salvaged with some easy sentiment of how special new life can be. No it’s quite real in its attempt establishing real emotions to having your youth essentially taken from you. And oddly enough I found myself envious. It was one of those moments where given one life, and one chance at everything, I of course want to take the smart route and wait, and plan these sort of things, but given the choice of 3 lives to lead, I’d probably choose early fatherhood as one. There’s a beautiful struggle in it all and a bond between those parents and that kid that’s unique to that situation. You did it together and you conquered what seemed unconquerable. Where if I was to have a kid now there’s just no suspense. The kid would be fine. I would be fine. I don’t know. Hopefully that makes sense. Read it, see if you agree.
Apathy and Other Small Victories, By Paul Neilan: This book is a great inbetweener. By that I mean great to read in between two heavier books you plan to read. It’s really short, which works for its style. It’s a raunchy, humorous tale about a degenerate. It falls in line with books like “Choke” except it’s mindful enough to know to make it quick. The asshole guy, with nothing to gain or lose is only funny for so long before he becomes annoying. This book never reaches that annoying state. It’s short, it’s funny, and worth the week it’ll take you to read it.
Rook, By Daniel O’Malley: I just finished this book about 5 months ago. It’s awesome. It’s X-men meets Bourne Identity, meets X-Files. Seriously, I said it was good. Not that this should miraculous at this point in history, but it’s protagonist is a very strong heroin. This is one I certainly hope makes it to the cinema reel, if not for anything else, at least to give what I think is a wonderful female role to aspire to. She’s not depicted to be dainty, or unrealistically proportioned and yet still carries a ton of attractiveness in her character. By the end of the book I was in love with the lead. Read this its way fun.
I have some more books and graphic novels to share, but for now I’ll leave you with this. There are two books I’m dying to get to read soon. One is the “I Wear the Black Hat”, by Chuck Klosterman, as it’s a dissection of the current state of pop culture and our infatuation with anti heroes, which is something I find very intriguing as well. The other is “Save the Cat”, by Blake Snyder. Allegedly the writer exposes the blueprint to any and all successful Hollywood movies. He removes the blindfold and reveals some interesting tropes and clichés you might not have been aware of. I’ll share my thoughts once I do read them.
About Matt Cargile
Matt Cargile is the Editor in Chief of rookerville.com. He also works in finance, but refuses to read any news printed on pink paper. He is a child at heart with adult means. His childhood dream was to either become a magician or the leader of the next great empire and somehow both these things make complete sense. He's contradictory in nature, but is always consistent.
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