As I may have mentioned before, the library has a lock-out right now, so I stocked up on books the day before, but I’m reading the final one now… It’s quite sad.

Weight by Jeanette Winterson (151 pages) was a re-telling of the story of Atlas and Heracles. I wasn’t disappointed; Winterson’s prose continues to captivate. As usual, though, with her work, there wasn’t really a sense of a beginning, middle, or end. Like in Lighthousekeeping, it felt like dipping into a story and then surfacing just as unexpectedly. I loved her Heracles character, and the description of Atlas’s devotion to the world he supported and the dog (Laika) was heartbreaking. 4.5/5

I impulsively picked up The Anxiety of Everyday Objects by Aurelie Sheehan (278 pages)
when stocking up on library books The writing was interesting, the plot was pretty good, and one of the characters turned out to be lesbian-ish. It was an okay read, nothing marvelous, but not bad. 3/5

The Post-Petroleum Survival Guide and Cookbook by Albert Bates (197 pages) was something I’d meant to read since I first became more interested in peak oil, and I’ve read some great recommendations for it. Plus, the foreword is by Richard Heinberg. At first I dismissed the recipes, because a lot of the ingredients were only grown in very specific climates (no chiles for me after peak oil!), but after a while I realized most of them were vegan, so that’s handy. The recommendations were good, the instructions were clear, and I loved the quotes. One section confused me, though, since it claimed that very soon all vehicles could be converted so that they were dependent on oil. But the rest of the book is how to deal with these systems collapsing… strange. Overall, quite good, better than Peak Oil Survival. I think I’ll be buying it soon (It’s a library copy).

I’ve been requesting multiple Rita Mae Brown books from Bookmooch.com, as I was telling my mom. I told her it probably wasn’t a good idea since I hadn’t read any of her books yet, and she was aghast that I still hadn’t read Rubyfruit Jungle (she was the first person to recommend it to me, about a year ago, when she heard I hadn’t read it and said “And you call yourself a lesbian.” That comment was what sparked by lesbian reading obsession), so I picked it up (246 pages). It’s great! No wonder everyone raves about it. If I could describe it one word: gutsy. She makes no apologies, tackles not just lesbianism, but also polyamory, even touching on racism and incest as a taboo. Even for these times it’s gutsy, so writing it decades ago is epic. Loved it, I’m looking forward to reading her other ones. 5/5

I also finished a couple more books at work. (Slacking? Me? Never!) Amulet by Kazu Kibuishi (192 pages) is a kid’s graphic novel, and it was a quick read. The artwork was amazing, I’ll be looking for the graphic novels Kibuishi has done, and the plot was fabulous, too. Can’t wait ’til volume 2 comes out! 5/5

Don’t Get Too Comfortable by David Rakoff (240 pages) was another humor collection of essays that L recommended. It was interesting, and I loved reading something from a gay man’s perspective (I’m tired of straight narrators). The bored viewing of a Playboy shooting was particularly amusing. 4/5