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here's a brief overview on what i've been reading on the subway these days

my life - bill clinton - 5/10. i admire bill clinton. but this self promoting 1000 page autobiography rambles on forever and is a bit too much. in speech, clinton is well well spoken, maybe even eloquent. unfortunately, this is completely inapparent in his writing. finally his story is insincere. example (i'm humouring you) - "one day my dog died of cancer. thats when i decided that funding cancer programs was important". or "hilliary is a nice woman. thats why i decided that women's rights are important." how about, "i met my first mistress when i was govenor of arkasas. we would spend a lot of time in my office under my desk. thats when i decided that i wanted to move into the oval office and sit at that desk."

life of pi - yann martel - 8/10. martel is witty and entertaining. i think this one could become a classic. this could be the third best book (behind grapes of wrath, east of eden) i've read in the last like 2 years. i need some time to consider where it should go on my alltime list. in fact i think i need to make an all time list.

the shipping news - annie proulx - 4/10. don't ask why i was reading this or why i bothered finishing it. its about life in newfoundland.... which is not interesting. i got it because was $1 at a book sale, the cover proclaiming it won a pulitzer. it was also small and light in size thus easy to carry on the subway.

finally a couple of weeks ago a at used book sale outside my office, i got a signed copy of authur golden's memoirs of a geisha for $0.25. unfortunately, the inscription reads "to martha". i'll try to pass it on to a martha when i'm done with it.