White tears

White tears / Hari Kunzru, 271 pgs.

Seth is a "nobody."  Socially awkward, almost friendless but into recording and music.  He is befriended by Carter, a trust fund kid who wants for nothing.  They end up in New York and open a recording studio.  It is difficult for Carter to focus on anything but his rare record collection, Seth is trying to run a business.  When Carter becomes obsessed with a recording that Seth made on the street, he loses touch with reality a bit and Seth is left to deal with a parade of interesting and odd people who appear.  A second story is interwoven as one character tells a story of his youth and obsession with blues records whose road trip in the 50's is re-enacted by Seth and Carter's sister.  Symbolic and trippy, it is impossible at times to tell what is real and what is a hallucination.  Not an easy read but interesting.  Not totally sure I understand it but no regrets.

This land was made for you and me (but mostly me): billionaires in the wild

This land was made for you and me (but mostly me): billionaires in the wild by Bruce McCall and David Letterman 105 pgs.

Who wouldn't want to see a miniature golf course on the Galapagos Islands? or an indoor runway?  Of course you CAN have those things if you are a billionaire.  Bruce McCall and David Letterman have written this guidebook for crazy ideas only possible for  the super rich.  Sure, a lot of it seems insane but then you take a look at some real life examples and start wondering.  I know this book is supposed to be funny but I hope it doesn't give anyone any ideas since they are all pretty bad.
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Gossip Girl

Gossip Girl by Cecily von Ziegesar p. 199

Serena van der Woodsen has been kicked out of boarding school and is returning to the Upper East Side of Manhattan. Her "friends" are not so receptive to her return, except for Nate Archibald that is. He is thrilled to see her. The last time he saw her was when they had sex. Did I mention that Nate was her best friends boyfriend. Blair Waldorf is not happy about Serena being back because she is jealous of her and doesn't want to lose the spotlight. Everyone at school is spreading vicious rumors about Serena but its mostly out of jealousy. The guys are spreading the rumors because they want to sleep with her. She decides to find new friends. Enter Dan and Jenny Humphrey and Vanessa Abrams. Vanessa has a crush on Dan, Dan has a crush on Serena, and Jenny wants to be just like her. Serena starts partying with them which doesn't sound bad except they aren't rich so it looks bad for Serena according to her Upper East Side friends. Throughout all this there is Gossip Girl. People send her tips about the Upper East Siders and she "blasts" them on the internet. This is just the beginning of it all.

I first read this book when I was a teenager and wanted to reread it to see the difference between the television series and the book. There are a lot of differences. The show is a lot better than the book. Very interesting show, but the book does give you some background information. They changed most of it for the show though.