Two Weeks of Summer

Since getting off college from exams, I've managed a few things. Obviously, I got drunk after exams. It would be rude not to. I kind of needed it at that stage. But that's aside the point. I did other things.

I'm happy to report, I did some writing. I'm in the middle of a fun project that got interrupted by my desire to read. I'll have more about that project at some stage soon. I did sign someone up to read it, though. It just isn't finished yet.

See, I haven't had a chance to read for a while. College exams and the dreadful workloads that attack us throughout the year sort of make things like that impossible. Too much else to read and to write. I'm surprised I managed to do other things, like Drama and the previous Sooper Sekrit Project. But I did. I just didn't have time to read.

I made up for it over the past week, though. I started off with something light: I Suck At Girls. It was a funny book, an autobiographical piece by Justin Halpern. Less of his dad and the shit he says, but still enjoyable. Following that, Storm Front. I've had it for a long time. I got it in a bargain basket at work. They only happen around Christmas time, and I promise I didn't get last Christmas. Yeah... that long ago. I loved it, I'll review it, etc. You know the drill. After that, I read The Enchantress by Michael Scott. Again, loved it. Even emailed the author to tell him pre-review why I loved it.

I thought, that's it. That's my reading done. Back to writing. Then I picked up a book today about Screenwriting. Well, I read it. All of it. I loved it.

It's something I've been interested in for a long time. I've only ever written one screenplay before now, a twenty minute zombie apocalypse film called Dead Dreams. It was a fun piece, but nothing ever happened with it. Not to worry.

Recently, I've been getting ideas for stories. I say stories, because I see them as both films and novels. I suppose I'll write both. It can't hurt, anyway. Maybe, someday, I'll even get involved in the business. It interests me and terrifies me in equal measure.

Aside from all of this and continuing to work in the bookshop, I've only really done one other thing of note, and that was tea/coffee with my best friend earlier this week. Fun as it was, it's not exactly the most exciting summer so far.

It's relaxing, though, and I suppose I can get by with that. One or two blips along the way, thanks to my college and its requirements for teaching placement, but other than that I can just lay about and read and write all day. Heck, I think I deserve a break! Two weeks of summer has seemed like a long time, though. I need to get busy again, soon, or I'll crack up. Even the couple of hours between finishing the book today and going to vote were driving me insane.

God help me for the rest of the summer...

Review - Sh*t My Dad Says

What do you get when you send a twenty-something year old man back home to live with his dad who doesn't give a damn about what people think? That's right, Sh*t My Dad Says. The book came into existence when people began to realise how funny the Twitter page was and everyone wanted to know more. So Justin Halpern wrote the book about his dad.

It's one of the few biographies I own, and probably the only one I've finished. In my defence, I'm more of a fiction person and when I got half way through the only other biography I started I picked up another book instead. However, in this case, I couldn't put the thing down! I sat in my kitchen the night I bought it and I just read it all. Very few books can keep me that interested to just sit in my kitchen and ignore everyone walking past me. Normally someone distracts from the reading, but not with this book!

So, what's it all about..?
Okay, so Halpern lost his apartment, his girlfriend and he'd started a new job that let him work from anywhere. He tells that part much better. He goes back home because his parents are the closest living people he knows at the point in which he is homeless. He moves in, starts work, and has to get used to his dad's one-liners all over again. He eventually moves out, pursues writing in LA and then we get this book, some time later. That's the jist of it. Of course, the book is also full of the fun little details of his growing up, mainly the ones where his dad could be seen as embarrassing or hilarious. Thankfully, he only comes off as hilarious. So many people have read this book and thought, "I wish that was my dad." I don't, but I'd damn-well like to know the man!

Is it worth the read?
It's worth the read, the time and the $8.97 Amazon are charging for the edition I've linked to above. You'll laugh, a lot. Unless you think his dad is just an asshole, in which case you have to try sympathise with the other people, which is a lot harder to do when the book is about this guy saying ridiculously funny things in his day-to-day life, making small but meaningful differences to people's lives and mainly being the focus of attention. Even though Justin tells the tale, it's his dad who takes the spotlight.

Is it really all that funny?
I laughed. A lot. I mean, I laughed so much my family got annoyed. Of course, if you want a sample, go to twitter.com/shitmydadsays and you'll see that his dad is hilarious. And the book is actually even funnier than that! As well as being oddly moving.

Who would like this book?
Anyone who doesn't mind a small bit of foul humour. Seriously. It's funny, it's not too big, and you'll love the relationship between Justin and his dad. I know I did, and I know I'm not alone in that, so it's an almost 100% guaranteed truth. The book is split into anecdotal chapters, each divided by yet more quotes that didn't find their way into the stories in the book. You can read it all in one go or take it chapter by chapter. People feel better for reading this book. It's absolute genius in its simplicity.

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Additional house-keeping note: I bought and read a book last weekend even though I wasn't supposed to, so there will be one more review, next week. After that, unless I have time to review the novels on my course, there will be no further reviews until June 2011. I will be posting a Summer Reading List and will be looking for suggestions. You may leave them here.