What I'm reading

I used to love reading, but got out of the habit after I discovered booze and porn and anime and ... well, you get the picture. Recently I've begun reading for pleasure, and I do most of it during my weekday commutes. A book also comes in damn handy when you go shopping with your wife. Here's what I'm reading these days:

The Countess of Stanlein Restored, by Nicholas Delbanco. A short, well-photographed work that documents that complete restoration of the Countess of Stanlein (ex-Paganini) cello, considered the ultimate example of what a perfect cello should be. The cello was restored by New York-based luthier Rene Morel and owned by former Beaux Arts Trio cellist Bernard Greenhouse. Beautiful photographs, plus a quick primer on Antonio Stradivari. Though I'm a violinist whose intimately familiar with how string instruments work, I'm still finding this all very educational so far.

Me Talk Pretty One Day, by David Sedaris. A gift from my friend Yuki roughly five years ago, I finally got around to reading this, and wished I hadn't waited so long. This is a series of vignettes from the author's childhood and young adulthood, and it's fucking hilarious. Reading this on the subway has led to my convulsing in laughter, which has led to my fellow commuters giving me plenty of space -- an added benefit.

Beyond Taijiquan: The Supremacy of the Taiji Mind by Wong Choon Sing. Though the premise of this book -- a modern Taiji student, in a dream, meets a legendary Taiji master from ancient times and gets to learn the inner meaning behind the Taiji forms and their applications. Though the premise wears thin quickly and grows annoying -- the dialogue has the student constantly obsequiously asking, "But master, what does XYZ mean, and how does one abc," with the master "smiling beneficently" and responding, "That is a very good question. Many people do not understand that blah blah blah." Annoying, but the book does have good information. I found this book while browsing in a small Chinatown bookstore for something else, and it was going to be a gift to my cousin Stan. Now he's just going to have to wait a little while.

Feast of Crows by George R.R. Martin. The fifth gargantuan volume of Martin's A Song of Fire and Ice series continues the saga of the struggle for power in a fictional world. Though this is fantasy, all the characters are incredibly three dimensional and real, and the magic is not the focus of the story: the motivations, Machiavellian schemes and caprices of the characters are. This series is absolutely fantastic. I'm not kidding. Go read it all now.

Krakatoa, by Simon Winchester. A history of the events that led up to the eruption of Krakatoa, one of the deadliest volcanos in the past millenium, and how Krakatoa influenced the subsequent course of history on a widescale basis. It's slow going so far, but shows promise.