The Twelve Days of Gheorghemas: Day Seven

On the seventh day of Gheorghe-mas, Big Gheorghe gave to me:

Seven Books for Reading

Six Top Episodes of Ted Lasso

Five Beers and Tunes

Four Resolutions

Three Gheorghemas Gifts to Give Yourself

Two Stones of Weight Loss (Your Mileage May Vary)

and Running Gags with Quatro Kitties

I don't think I'm making any specific resolutions for 2022 . . . if there's one thing we've all learned in the past few years, it's that things are too unpredictable to decide on anything for your future self. Although I will resolve to remind Rob to read more and get off social media-- if there's one thing we all know, it's that social media is a disastrously absurdist shitshow that in no way represents any kind of reality. I stay off it completely and utterly-- I don't even post my sentence on Facebook because I won't go there (some bot might post my sentence on Twitter, not sure).

I also resolve to never get a Peloton . . . so I guess I am making some resolutions. Anti-resolutions? I'm glad Zman lost weight and Rob is in good shape but I like going to an actual gym. It inspires me when I see other people working out, I get bored easily and like to switch up what I'm doing, and I like ogling women. But I really should have invested in Peloton stock: everyone I know has ponied up for one of those contraptions.

Rob should definitely read Deacon King Kong and those Soccer IQ books. And he should definitely be less angry at the state of the world; if you stay off social media and stop hating unvaccinated people . . . and wow do a lot of my fellow teachers like to hate on unvaccinated people-- and instead, you look at people as the victims of misinformation, political wedge issues, polarization, and too much competing information, you'll realize there's not much to hate. And that the call might be coming from inside the house. Anyway, on to the books . . .

I'm proud to say I read 52 books this year-- so far-- the first time I've read over fifty since I've been keeping count. I might get to 53 but it's going to be tough going, I'm in an 800 page Neal Stephenson sic-fi tome. Staying off social media helps my reading (although I think I'm addicted to online chess . . . an addiction that replaced my addiction to low stakes Texas Hold'em . . . stupid internet.)

Here are my seven favorites I read thsi year:

1) The Final Girl Support Group by Grady Hendrix

Read everything by this guy. He's the post-modern Stephen King. Final Girl Support Group is the most recent, but I also highly recommend Horrorstör . . . a haunted house story set in an IKEA. He does a great job with Southern culture and page-turning macabre fun.

2) Shakespeare in a Divided America: What His Plays Tell Us About His Past and Future by James Shapiro

This book is such a brilliant idea: Shapiro analyzes eight American Shakespeare productions in eight different periods of American history. Each production reflects the politics and predilections of the times-- and they often evoke our darkest sins in a way that we can handle and discuss: incest, suicide, adultery, racism, sexism, class warfare, democracy, tyranny, etc. Far more fun than going on social media and debating current politics.

3. Hidden Valley Road by Robert Kolker

One of the best books on mental illness ever written.

4. Action Park: Fast Times, Wild Rides, and the Untold Story of America's Most Dangerous Amusement Park by Andy Mulvihill (with Jake Rosen)

THE best book on Action Park ever written. Careens between the zaniness of Gene Mulvihill's insane vision for the park, nostalgic memories of his son working at the park, the actual danger and mayhem that happened in the park, and the rides and their designers. 

5) The Anthropocene Reviewed: Essays on a Human-centered Planet by John Green

Excellent essays (and five-star reviews) on things as various as air-conditioning, Canadian geese, lawns, Rick Ankiel and Jerzy Dudek. 

6) The Last Policeman by Ben H. Winters

An asteroid is going to hit the earth and pretty much end civilization and people are reacting as expected, aside from Henry Castle-- a detective on the Concord, New Hampshire police force. As the world falls apart around him, he continues to chase clues and solve mysteries. I read all three books in the series and recommend them all, BUT if you're looking for something apocalyptic, then go watch Mad Max: Fury Road . . . if you want a slow burn and a really perspicacious look at how things might fall apart before the apocalypse, search no further. 

7). Nomadland: Surviving America in the Twenty-First Century by Jessica Bruder

Read this book then watch the movie.