Death

My friend Gina mentioned this famous Australian book I had never even heard about. I was kind of embarrassed about that. This was almost as bad as me failing the Oprah Australia test.

Anyway, the book is The Book Thief by Marcus Zusak.  I found it yesterday when we walked to the library.

The narrator of the story is Death. How awesome is that? I've read only a few pages, but am already liking it. I can't help but imagine The Grim Reaper from Sims 3.  That would be cool if there really was a Grim Reaper. I'd love it to be the Sims guy, but if he looked like Brad Pitt, that would be okay too.

I got one other book. I picked up something random from the children's section. When I got home I saw it was written by Tony Abbott. Who knew the Leader of the Opposition was writing novels for children?

He's not....as far as I know.

This other Tony Abbott is American.  He was born in Ohio.  

I read Firegirl. It's about a girl who's severely burned, and the way she's treated by her classmates.   It's one of those stories that shows the best and worst of humanity. 

While we're on the subject of books.....

I'm done with Stephen King.   One link led to other links yesterday, and I saw that he totally trashed Stephanie Meyer.  Now I KNOW there's a wide range of opinions about that woman.  Some folks love her.  Some folks hate her.   Some folks are just tired of hearing about her, Bella, Edward, Jacob, etc.   I respect that people have different opinions, and I see nothing wrong with sharing one's opinion....if it's done in a decent and rational way. But he said She can't write worth a darn.  What?  Does he think he's the all-knowing God of literature now? Does he get to decide who can write, and who can't?

Why couldn't he have simply said.  I don't like Stephanie Meyer's writing. He could even say I think it's total crap.  It's harsh, but at least he wouldn't be acting as if his opinion is fact.

It makes me angry, because Stephen King himself has gotten shitloads of criticism, and I've defended him before. It annoys me when people assume he's a bad writer because they've seen a movie based on his book. Or they assume he's a bad writer because he churns out so many books, and he's popular. Yeah. If you write too many books and you're too popular, than you must be an awful writer.

Anyway, I'm boycotting Stephen King.  It's kind of a loss for me because I like his stuff. But I've already read most of it (close to all of it). Hopefully his upcoming books won't be that awesome. It will make my boycott easier. Or maybe he'll apologize, and my faith in him will be restored.     Whatever. There's a LOT of other books I can be reading instead.