What are YOU reading? Give us your book report (don’t worry, you won’t be graded on it). Email books@newspress.com or write to Book Report, c/o Santa Barbara News-Press, P.O. Box 1359, Santa Barbara 93102-1359. Please include your name and phone number.
Matt Dolan, 22
Santa Barbara
“Finding Bix: The Life and Afterlife of a Jazz Legend”
by Brendan Wolfe
This book is about legendary jazz cornet player Bix Beiderbecke (1903-31). This is one of those books trying to get down to the bottom of who he really was by asking everyone who may have known him or knew someone who knew him.
Dana Ochoa, 59
Santa Barbara
“Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance”
by Robert M. Pirsig
This book is a really cool travel journal about a summer motorcycle trip undertaken by a father and his son. My son and I are reading it. I’ve read the book before, but my son has never read it. I really like this book because it puts a perspective on values. It’s morality and motorcycles.
Kevin Brine
Montecito
“Early Madhyamika in India and China”
by Richard H. Robinson
This book taught me more details about the history of Chinese Buddhism and philosophy. It was written by a professor who taught a class in the history of Buddhism, which I was in at the University of Wisconsin. This is a very influential book in Buddhist studies.
Patsy Lakey, 22
Santa Barbara
“The Prophet”
by Kahlil Gibran
It’s a book of poems. They’re based on the archetypes of human nature and life and existence. I find the book very beautiful because it gives you a whole new symbolic perspective of looking at the world. I think a lot of people could relate to it.
