More books I've read in 2008

Wow, I've actually been doing a little reading. "Deaf Sentence" is about a retired college professor, who's losing his hearing. He has to deal with an aging parent, a nutjob co-ed and some jealousy about his wife and her work. As David Lodge points out, blindness is always tragic, but deafness is usually comic. I'm losing my hearing -- well, actually, I think it's more technically correct to say that my tinitus drowns out a whole spectrum of sounds, but the result is the same -- I can't hear. I enjoyed this book because I could relate to the professor and feel slightly superior as well, since I think my coping mechanisms are better than his. (Although you might have to ask some of my family, friends and co-workers -- the people who put up with all my "huh"s and "beg your pardon"s and my non-sequiturs cuz I guessed wrong on a couple of missed words and responded inappropriately. Anyway it's a very funny book up until the very end when a trip to Auschwitz and the death of a parent turns things suddenly somber.



I also read "Wonder Woman: The Circle". I think Gail Simone is one of the best writers in comics today and I loved her run on "Birds of Prey" and was really looking forward to seeing what she could do with Wonder Woman. Well, she doesn't disappoint. I've been reading Wonder Woman for a long time and this is the first time she didn't seem at least a little bit silly. Artwork is uneven -- impressive when the Dodsons handle it, less so when Bernard Chang takes over for a couple of issues. My favorite part of this book was when when Wonder Woman visited her partner in the hospital and presented him with a nectarine pit and a bracelet of thorns:
(Click to enlarge unless you have really really good eyesight.)

I also read some nonfiction:
"In Defense of Food" is one of those rare life-changing books. I'll write more about it later after I've had time to digest it, so to speak. For now I'll just say, "Eat food, not too much, mostly plants". It's as simple and as complicated as that.

And I never read it cover to cover but by skipping around I've surely covered "New Rules of Lifting" by now. Great stuff, which is going to help me defeat my brother in the great body-fat competition that kicks off 2009.