Hitting the books this break!

At the beginning of winter break, I made it a personal goal of mine to read a real book--cover to cover. Back in high school, before I had a computer, before I had an iPod, before I had a smartphone, I read books like a chain smoker smokes cigarettes. I don't have a Kindle or Nook (as cool as they are, it's one more piece of technology that I don't need. Plus, call me weird, but I like to have the hard copies of books) so I hauled myself down to the Half-Price Bookstore and started my search.

I know it's wrong, but I judge books by their covers. I mean, who doesn't? In all honesty, if a book has an awesome cover, I am ten times more likely to purchase it. For this reason, when I saw this book:


I was immediately drawn. Not just because I vaguely recognized the title and author, but also because the artwork looked pretty badass. So I bought it. Along with "Survivor" by Chuck Palahniuk (one of my favorite authors. "Invisible Monsters" is one of my favorite books of all-time), and "The Hunger Games" by Suzanne Collins (just to see what all the hype is about).

At first, it was hard to believe that "Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas" is an autobiographical piece, simply because the things that Raoul Duke and his attorney do in that book are crazy. But I loved it. Thompson has a raw, tell-it-like-it-is style of writing and doesn't hold anything back. When I finished, I was determined to go watch the movie, which I've heard does the book justice. And who better to play the role of this psychotic, kooky journalist then Johnny Depp?

Another thing that I loved about the book, was what drew me to it in the first place, the illustrations. Ralph Steadman's illustrations looked like they were taken straight from Duke's drug-addled brain and put directly into the book. From the (what appeared to be) blood splatters splayed across random pages, to the bizarre and almost abstract interpretations of the characters, his grotesque images fit perfectly with the plot's gritty and chaotic nature. Sometimes I would find myself getting lost in the vignettes and have to snap my focus back to what was happening.

I would definitely recommend this book to anybody who is looking for something twisted and entertaining.

As for the other two books? I'm currently about 8 chapters deep into "The Hunger Games" and so far, it has yet to disappoint. It's like a modern day teen-appropriate mix between "The Giver", "1984", and "Battle Royale". I want to have it finished before the movie comes out, and at the rate I'm going, that shouldn't be too hard.

Hopefully, when I go back to school, I'll be able to keep up my reclaimed booklove. It's definitely better and way more productive than constantly refreshing my newly transformed Facebook Timeline. I like to think about it this way, which would you be less embarrassed to tell people: "I spent all night reading this awesome book" or "I spent all night toggling between Facebook and Twitter"? You be the judge.