2004 Book List (Kind of...)

Well, I was originally going to list all the books that I read in 2004 here today. Until I looked at the list and figured that doing so might be interesting to me but certainly not to anyone else. And there are more than a few books on the list that I would never want anyone to know that I’ve read (there hidden in one of those lower shelves on my bookcase as well). But since I am otherwise out of ideas on what to write about tonight I figured that I’ll just list a couple of the more interesting books. Consider it a reading list.

“The Professor and the Madman” by Simon Winchester: Great reading for those of you who want to find out how they put together the Oxford English Dictionary. Yeah, that is a pretty limited audience.

“Dubliners” by James Joyce: See, every January I try to read an incredibly challenging book and this was last year’s effort. If you’re going to make an effort to read Joyce start here, at least these stories have plots. Right now the only major work of Joyce I have left to read is Finnegan’s Wake, which is not on my list since I’ve been told it will take a good two years to read if you do it right. (Oh and this year’s challenge by the way is Kerouac’s “On the Road”. Was in a beatnik type of mood.)

“The Devil and the White City” by Erik Larson: The true story of the 1893 World’s Fair in Chicago and the simultaneous creation of the nation’s first serial killer. And you thought that my blog changes topics on a dime.

“The Road to McCarthy” by Pete McCarthy: The author has provided me with one of those unbreakable rules in life “Never walk pass a bar with your name on it.”

“About a Boy” by Nick Hornby: When I finally write my novel in the next year or so I hope that what I write is one tenth the quality of what Nick Hornby has done. If I can do that I would be happy with myself. Combine this with High Fidelity and Fever Pitch and I’m not sure if you could ever find someone with a better grasp on what it is like to be a twentysomething slacker with no real idea on what to do with his life. Me in a nutshell, basically.

“Mr. Commitment” by Mike Gayle: In the concert review I explained how every time I see Pieta Brown something good happens to my life. Well, every time I read a Mike Gayle novel my life turns upside down. Without fail I will get an email within a week of opening the book that changes everything that I thought I understood about life and relationships. Which is why I still have one more of his books to read, I’m scared to death of opening it. Anyway, for those who are interested in a guy’s Bridget Jones, this is your man.

“Positively Fifth Street” by James McManus: Some day I’ll explain how even though I view everything in life in purely statistical terms I am an unbelievably crappy poker player. Until then, best book on what it is really like in Vegas during the World Series of Poker.

“Peace Kills” by P.J. O’Rourke: Despite the fact that I am moving farther and farther to the left I still am a fan of P.J. O’Rourke. I wish all Republicans viewed the world like P.J., which is honestly. If you haven’t read this book yet you really should. You’ll get a much better view on what we are doing in the Middle East right now and whether it will ever work out or not.

“The Tipping Point” by Malcolm Gladwell: Read this for work. To correct something I heard as they discussed this book at a meeting, the idea isn’t that all you need is a few people to act a certain way to create a major change. You need a few very specific people, well respected, well connected trendsetters, to make a change and be vocal about it. There is a big difference.

“The Dogs of Babel” by Carolyn Parkhurst: A great, unbelievably depressing novel. Read it on the plane one night, which was probably a really bad choice. If there is one thing that I’ve learned in the past year is if the novel has a “recommended questions for book clubs” section in the back, expect the characters to die in the most tragic ways possible. Even with that, a recommended read.

“America (The Book)” by Jon Stewart: Dude, it’s got naked pictures of the Supreme Court justices. Do I need to say anything more?

“The Life of Pi” by Yann Martel: A great example of one of those undeniable rules of life: once you’ve figured out how to survive on a life raft that you are sharing with a Bengal tiger, then come the meekrats.

“The Know-It-All” by A.J. Jacobs: Guy reads the entire Encyclopedia Britannica and writes a book about it. Why didn’t I think of that one? Would have to be easier than reading all of the books on Cliff Notes in alphabetical order.

“Titus Androndicus” by William Shakespeare: Sex! Murder! Cannibalism! The first recorded “Your mother” line in the history of English Literature! If you ever wondered what a teen slasher movie written by Shakespeare would be like, this is your choice.

Happy readings. Next post in a couple of days. Later.