(no subject)

[primroseburrows]

Yesterday Hannah and I went to the mall so she could return some stuff and get some more stuff. While she did that, I went to the book store (a shock, I know).

The good news: They were having a sale!
The bad news: They were having a sale!

Yep, buy four, get one free. I usually don't fall prey to these, but I was there for a loong time (because, of course, I was with my Hannah, and well. Long time.), and so I found five books, despite the fact that Waldenbooks is not famous for its variety (No Women's Studies, no GLBT section, teenytiny History and Science sections).


Here's what I bought:

The Talisman by Stephen King and Peter Straub, which I'd planned to get anyway because my old paperback copy got destroyed and mr_t00by wanted to read it on his trip.

Reading Lolita in Tehran, A Memoir in Books by Azar Nafisi. I've wanted to read this one for a while, since I heard an interview with the author on NPR (I think Fresh Air or The Connection, I don't remember which).

Harriet Tubman, The Road to Freedom by Catherine Clinton. I've always wanted to read a bio of Harriet Tubman, because although I know what she did, I know almost nothing about who she was. She's a hero of mine, and I'm embarrassed at how little I know about her life.

To the Mountaintop, Martin Luther King, Jr's Sacred Mission to Save America, 1955-1968 by Stewart Burns. This seems like it will be a different approach to a MLK bio. I like the idea of focussing on his reasons for doing what he did, as opposed to an emphasis on what his actions did for others (which is equally important, just done more often). It looks like there'll be an focus on the spiritual as well, and I like the idea of hearing Christian ideologies as viewed by someone who actually lived what he believed.

Please Stop Laughing at Me by Jodee Blanco. Ten years ago I couldn't have opened a book like this. A year ago I picked it up in a store and immediately put it down, thinking it'd be too much for me to read. Yesterday it was the first book I started to read out of these five. I figured it'd bring up memories, and it does, but it's a detatched kind of thing for me, now, which is good. Time and perspective can be wonderful therapy.

So, I'm determined not to buy any more books until I've finished these five books, as well as The Mayor of Castro Street: The Life and Times of Harvey Milk, by Randy Shilts, which I'm currently reading. Harvey's another hero of mine, and I love anything Randy Shilts wrote, and I know I'm going to want to go back and re-read And the Band Played On: Politics, People, and the AIDS Epidemic, which I haven't read in, oh, ten years or so.

Comments

[bookshop.livejournal.com]

I actually rented And the Band Played On--the HBO version, from the library 2 days ago and was planning to watch it this weekend (ack, no time, work sucks, etc). I'm really excited about it though because I've always wanted to see it but never have for some reason.

I also checked out the Mayor of Castro St. once but never read it, naturally. I miss out on all the good stuff. :)

Please keep me up to date on the MLK bio. I've been thinking about reading one of his lately myself but had no idea where to start.

[primroseburrows.livejournal.com]

I saw the TV movie of And the Band Played On. It's probably the reason I picked up the book--I knew it was going to be on and wanted tor read the book first (that's actually how I became a Stephen King fan, reading The Stand because I wanted to watch the miniseries). I recommend the movie. Alan Alda plays one of the docs involved, and the character is a right bastard, and Alan plays him sooo well.

Have you seen the movie The Times of Harvey Milk? If you can possibly see it, do it. Bring Kleenex, it's very moving.

[patchfire.livejournal.com]

Mayor of Castro Street's excellent. Go check it out again. :-)

And I just saw the HBO movie of And The Band Played On for the first time a few months ago. Another good one is Common Threads: Stories From the Quilt. My library has a dearth of good books, but I can find decent documentaries and movies - wtf is up with that?