Oscar Wilde’s tomb (which I have seen at Pere Lachaise Cemetery in Paris) had been starting to degrade because of kisses! Apparently, it’s some kind of tradition to leave lipstick marks on the tomb, and that’s precisely what many tourists do when they arrive.

But it turns out that grease from the thousands of lipstick kisses seeped into the stone sculpture and caused a bunch of problems. So cemetery officials decided to clean it and then protect it with a glass barrier.

Personally, I think it would be gross to kiss a tomb that so many other people have planted their lips on, but I guess that’s just me. The article I read said that visitors are now kissing a nearby tree instead of the tomb. Yuck! What happened to leaving flowers???

It should come as no surprise that I think books make wonderful gifts. All you have to do is find out what kind of books the intended recipient enjoys reading, and then select something from that genre. With enough planning, you can even make the gift more special by ordering a signed copy or attending a signing event to get that coveted autograph from a favorite author. When it comes to personalized gifts for dad, mom, or your significant other, you can’t go wrong with a signed book.

If Dad isn’t a particularly avid reader, you can always get something like a custom picture frame, personalized hoody, or even work gloves with a slogan or motto on them. In short, why not go the extra mile and personalize your gift instead of just getting it off the shelf? Personalized merchandise is always noticed and appreciated!

Liked:

• I liked the general idea of the book, the “what-if” imaginings of the true origins of Homer’s hero and various alternative versions of Odysseus’ famous adventures.

Disliked:

• I found the utter randomness of the stories to be quite tiresome. There was no order or logic to the presentation, and while that might have been the case with the original as well, the fact remains that this wasn’t the original. It simply wasn’t palatable to me to leap back and forth in time, shift between the POV of a number of characters, etc. The effect was rather disorienting, and didn’t allow me to get comfortable with the book.
• The stories were way too short, incomplete, and fragmentary for me to enjoy. Again, I realize Mason was probably intent on mimicking the original, but come on. If you’re going to re-imagine the Odyssey, at least make it meatier than this!

Rating:

I checked out The Lost Books of the Odyssey: A Novel from my library because of the buzz I’d heard about it. Unfortunately, I was very disappointed in the final product, despite having studied my fair share of the classics when I was a student. I can’t imagine anyone other than hardcore Greek mythology enthusiasts enjoying this one. I give it 2 stars out of 5.

Someone should definitely start a coupon site for books! I mean, they have these sites for clothes, right? For example, if I want to find wet seal coupons, all I have to do is type a few keywords into Google and I’m in business. I can click right through to a site that has tons of relevant coupons for Wet Seal apparel that I can buy for my younger cousins. The coupons are easy to use, don’t require me to sign up for anything, and best of all, yield real savings. That’s the kind of convenience that online shoppers have come to expect these days, and I can tell you that I truly appreciate the discounts.

Now… when is this going to happen for books?

Best of 2010 (Jan-Jun)

• The Mystery of Edwin Drood by Charles Dickens
• Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell
• The Help by Kathryn Stockett
• The Man of My Dreams by Curtis Sittenfeld
• Open by Andre Agassi
• Caught by Harlan Coben
• Bleak House by Charles Dickens
• The Forsyte Saga by John Galsworthy
• Romancing Miss Brontë by Juliet Gael

Worst of 2010 (Jan-Jun)

• The Prince of Tides by Pat Conroy
• A Dog Named Christmas by Greg Kincaid
• Fast Food Nation by Eric Schlosser
• South of Broad by Pat Conroy
• Treason by Ann Coulter
• Ash Wednesday by Ethan Hawke
• Three Cups of Tea by Greg Mortenson
• John Adams by David McCullough
• Twelve Times Blessed by Jacquelyn Mitchard

A second favorite reading spot is outside on the deck. I love going out there in the spring or fall, and sometimes in the summer if it’s not too terribly hot. It’s great to be able to read out in the fresh air, and my Kindle never gives me any problems in sunlight, which is a plus. There’s nothing like spending the afternoon out on the deck with a tall glass of iced tea or lemonade and an engrossing book!

And finally, I simply love reading in bed. I read myself to sleep nearly every single night (except those few times that I’m so dead tired I drop off as soon as my head hits the pillow). This has been a habit of mine since junior high, and I don’t think that will ever change! There’s no better way for me to unwind after a long, hectic day than by reading for a little while right before I sleep.

But now that the Internet and Google are here, I’m wondering how many people still rely on the so-called “expert” opinions of those who write books. If you wanted to find the best wrinkle cream, would you still turn to a book, or would you simply type a search query into Google and consider the opinions of bloggers and other random strangers? How about for a more significant purchase like a car? Would you still trust a blogger’s opinion on that?

Personally, I find myself leaning on the Internet more often than not, but I do buy reference books for the important (i.e. expensive) stuff. I guess that’s as good a balance as any.

So what’s left? Would netbooks portable enough for their purposes? I mean, they’re not exactly ideal, but at least they have a bigger screen than a phone and they have far greater capabilities than a dedicated reader.

Who knows. I think if you’re really interested in reading digital texts, you’ll spend money for the proper device!

But since I was almost finished with something on my Kindle, I decided to take this instead of my iPod with me when I went to work out today. After about 5 minutes of trying to read on a treadmill, I had to give it up because of a massive headache I was developing. And then I had to finish my workout without any music or anything to listen to. Ugh.

I just don’t know how people do it. The constant motion and bouncing around while exercising is more conducive to getting a major migraine than to enjoying a good novel. Needless to say, I won’t be trying this again!