Reading List for October

September was a total wash-out, what with Hurricane Ike and its aftermath, the financial meltdown on Wall Street and the stress that put on us (especially the wife), and capped off by my mothers death late in the month. They say bad things happen in threes, and I sure got three whoppers.

I'm finally able to pick up a book again....

1) Water for Elephants, by Sara Gruen. It's a story about a 90-year-old man remembering his days with a circus during the Great Depression. Man can only live by non-fiction for so long. Once in awhile, you have to escape, or you'll go mad.

2) Confessions of a Street Addict, by James J. Cramer. Yes, the "Mad Money" Cramer. A candid look at Wall Street. This guy has been driven his whole life. It's a wonder he hasn't keeled over from multiple heart attacks by now.

3) Rising Powers, Shrinking Planet: The New Geopolitics of Energy, by Michael T. Klare. Should be required reading by anyone working in the energy industry.

4) Great American Hypocrites; Toppling the Big Myths of Republican Politics, by Glenn Greenwald. Ammunition. Nauseating ammunition.

5) Playing President: My Close Encounters with Nixon, Carter, Bush I, Reagan, and Clinton - and How They Did Not Prepare Me for George W. Bush, by Robert Scheer. Very enjoyable read.

6) The Pornography of Power: How Defense Hawks Hijacked 9/11 and Weakened America, by Robert Scheer. The neo-cons should be rounded up and....

7. The Best of Houston: City of Sin 2008, published by The Houston Press. This annual guide to what's what in Houston is really fun and informative. You learn all sorts of totally useless things about Houston and the surrounding area. And life itself.

There is something so special about curling up on the couch with a good book (or magazine) and letting yourself be drawn into that special world of words and ideas. TV doesn't come close, that yapping, yammering piece of shit. Turn it OFF, already!!