2007 The Year in Books

Figured I’d end the week by ending my year in review material. Tonight I’ll be taking a look at some of the books that I read throughout the year. I think I still need to write my New Year’s Resolutions but at least that is more looking forward than looking back.

I was really, really lazy in terms of reading this year and I’m pretty ashamed of it. I didn’t make any headway into Crime and Punishment and the number of books I read was pitifully small. I kind of long for the days when I would ride the train to work where I would have an hour a day with nothing to do but read. I still read some interesting books but I’m hoping that this year will be much more productive on this front. Here is a sampling of what I finished this year.

“Before She Met Me” by Julian Barnes: Julian is a pretty well respected British author who typically gets shortlisted for the Booker Prize but never wins. This was one of the better novels I read this year as it focuses on a couple that derails as a husband becomes more and more obsessed about what his wife did before they were a couple. It’s a pretty fascinating topic. The past is the past but your impression of someone can change by finding out one small fact from their history.

“Holidays in Hell” and “On The Wealth of Nations” by P.J. O’Rourke: As much as I am pretty much an unwavering liberal democratic I really enjoy reading P.J. O’Rourke. He is spot on with his analysis and follows the golden rule of journalism that when you need to know what is going on you don’t talk to government officials; you talk to bartenders and cab drivers. Holidays in Hell is one of his classic books about the wonders of going to war torn regions and trying to figure out just how they got that way. On The Wealth of Nations is a treatise on the Adam Smith book and is only interesting if you are really, really into economics. I struggled with it, if that’s any indication.

“Paddy on the Hardwood” by Rus Bradburd: The true story of a college basketball assistant coach who decides to take a head coaching job in Ireland where he can focus on being a writer and playing the fiddle. I wish I was courageous enough to chuck it all and try something that cool. Well, that and have a job in Ireland waiting for me.

“Wisdom of Crowds” by James Surowiecki: A business book that people should read though I’m not entirely sure that I agree with it. The idea is that while individually people make poor guesses collectively they are extremely intelligent. Place a jar of jelly beans on the table and have people guess how many are in there and the average of all the guesses will be more accurate than any individual guess. The idea here is this is what drives things like Wikipedia and social networking and tagging to be extremely powerful tools. Very interesting concept and one that questions the idea of experts.

“Wikinomics” by two authors whose names I forgot to write down: The worst business book I read this year. They tried to take The Wisdom of Crowds and build a business model around it. The problem is their examples were really flawed, even Wiki has to ask for donations. What’s worse is that at one point they repeated a sentence. Literally, the same sentence was printed word for word twice in a row. When even the copy editors didn’t bother to read the book it is a very bad sign.

“The Black Swan” by Nassim Nicholas Taleb: The last of my trilogy of books I read for work and the one that most concerns me. Essentially, it states that much of what I’ve been trained to do (use mathematical models to predict the future) is completely foolish and a horrible waste of time. Instead, you should make small bets on risky outcomes because change (and unexpected returns) occurs quickly and unpredictably. There was no 10 year plan predicting the invention of the wheel. It just happened. The book is rather dense and I didn’t quite grasp it until he discussed it in terms of equations but pretty fascinating if you deal with any type of forecasting or investing products.

“Love Monkey” by Kyle Smith: If I can get my novel written in the less than nine months I have left before I turn 35 I would like to think that it will be similar to, if not superior to, this book. It wasn’t a bad book about a single guy making his way through the world. It just didn’t match up to what Nick Hornby and Mike Gayle have written on the subject. Also, I hold it against the author that this book became a TV series starring Jason Priestly.

“Veeck as in Wreck” by Bill Veeck: All baseball fans should read this book just for the stories as to how baseball was run in the old days. Everyone who does anything close to marketing a product should read this book because it explains exactly how to know your customers and make money on a shoestring. True, I’m a little biased because Veeck owned the Sox and is one of my heroes but this is a forgotten classic.

“The Road” by Cormac McCarthy: First suggestion, do not read this book while on vacation like I did. For one thing, you won’t be able to put it down. But mainly because it is so dark and depressing that it will cloud your mind throughout your entire trip. I’ve read post-apocalyptic books before and my mom describes what I read as dark and serious but this was beyond anything that I had experienced before. It also is one of the most elegant books I have ever read. Cormac is lyrical in his writing and the way he structures his sentences are just stunning. It’s as if how the words are laid on the page add to the bleakness of the story. About as close to a masterpiece as I have read in ages. Just because Oprah told you to read the book doesn’t mean that it is going to be fluff.

“Soon I Will Be Invincible” by Austin Grossman: On a lighter note, here is a novel about what it would really be like to be a super hero or a super villain. Apparently the obtaining of quality henchman is surprisingly difficult. Also, the paperwork involved in gathering all of the components of a death ray requires a level of bureaucracy that your typical criminal lacks. Good novel for comic book geeks.

“Smile, You’re Traveling” by Henry Rollins: A collection of Henry’s tour diaries and travel journals. Sometimes it is just pages of Henry going “Town sucked. Show sucked. I hate everything.” Adjectives are not exactly his strong suit. Still, I love the fact that he just travels the world doing his thing. I really think that he believes in his heart that he should have died years ago when his best friend was murdered while standing right next to him and he has decided to not waste a moment of his life. That’s something I aspire to (and why I write in my notebook daily “No Wasted Moments”.)

“The First Part of Henry IV” by William Shakespeare: Yep, I read my Shakespeare play for the year and am now halfway through the Henriad. Always great to read a Falstaff play especially when one character questions when was the last time Falstaff was able to see his knees. It’s always good when Shakespeare comes close to breaking out the Yo Mama jokes. I’ve read a Shakespeare play a year for probably twenty years now and am finally at the point where I don’t have to look at the definition guide on every page to figure out just what is going on.

“Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows” by J. K. Rowling: I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, if it was a Ravenclaw going up against Voldemort the series would have been finished in two books. And that’s just because he would want to let Voldemort think that he might win before finishing him off. Freaking Gryffendors thinking everything is about them.

“A Lion’s Tale” by Chris Jericho: I am allowed one pro wrestling book a year. This year it was the autobiography of one of my favorites “Lionheart” Chris Jericho. It’s an interesting book because it goes up to when Chris enters the WWE and then ends. It focuses on when he wasn’t famous. As a wrestling fan, I enjoy reading about how he was trained and how he broke into the business. Stories about wrestling in Mexico and Japan are amazing if all you have seen is Monday Night Raw. Even as an autobiography it is a great book as it is the story of someone who chased their dreams and made it to the top.

“Kitchen Confidential” by Anthony Bourdain: Probably my favorite book of the year. I’m not a foodie and I’m a horrible cook but I love reading Anthony’s discussion of how the restaurant business really works. This (and the BBC version of Kitchen Nightmares) should be required reading for anyone even thinking of opening up a restaurant. You’ll also never order fish on a Monday again. Those are the types of lessons one must learn in life.