On A Break

My brother-in-law broke my brain. I call uncle.

Years ago, we entered into a movie war. I assigned five, he assigned five. I don’t think either of us made it past two. His choices were the worst: Super Troopers and Mars Attacks. Watching these movies was akin to watching paint dry while my skull turned into a desiccated husk from the fumes. I, on the other hand, assigned Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind and Heavenly Creatures. 

Clearly, only one of us has taste. And it isn’t him.

After reading five, FIVE, of his book choices, I think it is pretty clear that he is not capable of making rational decisions when it comes to literature either. I love him, don’t get me wrong, but if he says he likes something, I pretty much run squarely in the other direction. Sure, he has some vintage movie posters that are quite good, and yes, he managed to pick some lovely names for children, but on the whole, he is not to be trusted.

So, that being said – I’m on a break.

The roughly second half of the List is filled with super thick, prize-winning, non-fiction, fiction, Russians, and Cormac Bloody McCarthy. It will not kill me, but it is going to try. I am going to spend my spring break doing some light reading from the local library. Yes, my friends, I will not even be reading purchased books, but borrowed ones! True crime, religious mystery, Alphabet agency fiction, and something with vampires! Then, when the kids go back to school, I will get back to the List, starting with a Pulitzer Prize winner chosen by my favorite guy to make fun of on Facebook. Here are the last two choices before my hiatus.

#28 – The Walking Dead
Recommended by PGR

I don’t get the whole zombie craze. If the entire world is about to be taken over by zombies, I don’t want to survive. Who the hell would want to live in a world absolutely filled with fear? Not I. I don’t want to eek out a survival, constantly worrying about the state of my sanity and my soul. Thus, a comic book about zombies was pretty low on my reading list. Thanks to damn Youngest, I have now read the first compendium and I will not be going back for more. Ugh. Just ugh.

#29 – Dragons of Autumn Twilight – Weis & Hickman
Recommended by PGR

Meh. It is a perfectly adequate book. There are no real stakes because the characters stubbornly refuse to die. It borrows so heavily from Tolkien that I feel like he should have gotten a writing credit. It is actually based on Dungeons and Dragons and I never could quite get the hang of role playing games. Too much work, not enough reward. There are more in the series and I’m pretty sure my husband owns them all, but I will not be reading on down the line. In fact, I should actually penalize Youngest and made him read a book of my choosing because books that are part of a series were forbidden. Now that would be entertaining.