All Things Book

Living in Korea, although admittedly frustrating upon occasion, has been great for a hundred plus reasons. One of the reasons my life is so enjoyable on this side of the globe is the fact that I have a significant amount of free time to do as I please. Although I am quite possibly one of the laziest human beings to have graced this planet, I do occasionally put my free time to good use, and lately I have focused the majority of it on reading. Ever since my early teenage years, I have been an avid reader of all things fiction (and occasionally non). When I went to university, however, I had very little time to read the books that I deemed read-worthy, and when I graduated from university and found myself in the forces of the real world (some might call it a "career") I found even less time to do one of my favorite things. But now that I'm in Korea, my free time abounds and I have spent it reading book after book, cover to cover. I have read well over twenty books in the past year and I feel more well-rounded and intelligent because of it. (And, yes, I like to toot my own horn every now and then.)

I decided to make a short list of the books I have read recently for my fellow book-lovers. If you haven't read these books yet, I highly recommend checking them out of your local library. Some of them are even own-worthy.

1. Anna Kerenina (Leo Tolstoy)
I cannot even begin to explain how good this book is. Tolstoy's development of his characters throughout the story is insanely genius. The 940+ pages may be a bit daunting at first, but I promise it's worth the time it takes to get through it. Read it.

2. East of Eden (John Steinbeck)
If you can handle the occasional curse word (sorry, Mom), I highly recommend this book. Steinbeck allegorically tells the story of Cain and Abel and it's definitely good food for thought. I read it a month ago and I'm still talking about it.

3. On Love (Alain de Botton)
Once again, this book has its profane moments, but it's worth a read. It's basically de Botton's philosophy on love in a novel-like setting and it's strangely accurate and thought-provoking.

4. Traveling Mercies (Anne Lamott)
I read this book for the first time a couple of years ago and I have read it twice since then. I'm currently on my third time reading it, if that tells you anything. It's a memoir, but it's not the self-righteous, "This is what I've learned; look at me, I'm so great" sort of book that most memoirs turn out to be. It's a controversial book, at best, (within most Christian circles) but I learn something new every time I read it.

5. Siddhartha (Hermann Hesse)
I have become a devoted fan of Hesse's writing. The man was either a genius or a lunatic, some might say he was a bit of both. I don't care. His work is amazing and Siddhartha is my favorite book of his so far.

6. Generation X (Douglas Coupland)
I've heard that Coupland actually coined the term "Generation X" when he wrote this book. Whether or not it's true, the book is a good read for anyone who falls within the Generation X bracket, or anyone who wishes to understand it.

Six is an odd number to stop at, but I just realized I'm writing book reviews here, which I had no intention of doing. I'm just bored at the moment and apparently feeling particularly wordy.

On a completely different and unrelated note, Christmas has apparently come to visit my blog. I realize red and green, when together, seem to scream "Christmas!" but I have been an admitted lover of both of these colors for a very long time. I rarely use them together when dressing or decorating, however, simply because I want to avoid the all-too-predictable comments, such as, "You look like a Christmas tree." Thank you very much. But I finally decided to do away with the Christmas stereotype (or my fear of it) and deck my blog out in red and green. I'm embracing my favorite colors together and I feel strangely liberated.