xmas reads

xmas day and boxing day are two days that i completely indulge. i eat xmas cookies for breakfast, drink hot chocolate by the gallon, lay around in my pjs until i begin to suspect i've gone a bit smelly, and i devour books that have nothing whatsoever to do with my dissertation. when the 27th hits, i'm back to 'work'; those two days of biblio-indulgence usually get me through till reading week.

here's what i've managed this year:

1. lawrence scanlan's the horse that god built: the untold story of secretariat the world's greatest racehorse

what can i say, i'm on a racehorse kick (see #6 below). ever since i've thought seriously about writing on 19th-century Turf culture (cf. a proposal i sent off last week for a month-long fellowship in california), i've been reading books about racing history, and lots of dick francis mysteries. not too impressed with this one though. it reads more like a bunch of articles (badly) written for sports illustrated, a publication that scanlan obviously holds in high journalistic regard. ick.

2. franklin w. dixon's (aka the stratemeyer syndicate's) the hardy boys: hunting for hidden gold

nostalgia much? in this one, frank and joe escape from chicago gangsters, survive a plunge from a steep cliff into an icy river, disarm a masked gunman on the roof of an abandoned saloon, and narrowly escape being shot while climbing into a booby-trapped helicopter. oh yeah, and they fend off a pack of hungry wolves in a cave using only flashlights. and they manage to put away a big time crime boss named, wait for it ... big al. not bad for a xmas day's work, huh?

3. scott mccloud's understanding comics: the invisible art

mccloud offers a theory of the form, written as a comic book, of course. if you're interested at all in graphic novels, i can't recommend this one enough.

4. nick hornby's high fidelity

this one and #5 kind of go together. #4 reminds me of a friend that i miss horribly, who, incidentally, gave me #5 as an xmas present this year (along with a few other appropriately rock 'n roll accessories. lovin' the ernie ball shirt, babe!).

5. the rough guide book of playlists: 5000 songs you MUST download

didn't read this one from cover to cover, but browsed through it for a few hours, making notes about stuff i want to download as soon as i'm on a decent connection. the list includes the recommended playlists for 10 000 maniacs, and the jesus and mary chain. i have to vociferously disagree with the recommended chet baker playlist, however. how could they leave out "the thrill is gone" from on green dolphin street? and chet's "but not for me" from the album of the same title is a much better cut, in my opinion, than the one listed from chet baker sings.

oh gawd. i sound like i should be working at championship vinyl. and fronting a band called barrytown/sonic death monkey/the futuristics/backbeat.

it's only 12:45 here in bookland. i think i have enough hours left in the day to make my way through most of #6: dorothy ours's man o'war: a legend like lightning. yeah, another horsey book. might need to go for a run first, though. just so i can pull my own secretariat move: "she's moving like a treMENdous MACHINE".