I read a lot of books. Or at least I think I read a lot of books. Reading 28 books in one year is more than average but probably not by that many standard deviations. I might make it a resolution to read a book a week, which would be a fun challenge. Anyway, here are some of the 28 books that graced my nightstand this year with some comments.
(Oh and for those wondering I did not read a book on pro wrestling this year. Haven’t had that happen in a long time.)
Henry V by William Shakespeare: I have continued in my tradition of reading one Shakespeare play a year and have now completed the Henriad. I like this play, mainly because I like any play that features a lot of battles and patriotic speeches. Funny how I never recall hearing about King Henry threatening to rape and pillage a town if they did not surrender in some of my previous studies nor do I understand why half the play is in really bad French. If there is one thing that I am proud of it is the fact that I can read Shakespeare without needing to look at the notes every two seconds.
This is Where I Leave You by Jonathan Tropper: I started reading Tropper last year after hearing many comparisons to Nick Hornby. This is easily his best book about a family coming together after death and divorce and then splintering again. Funny and compelling and one that I recommend.
Generation A by Douglas Coupland: I’ve read pretty much everything that Douglas has ever written including a few really bad books. This one falls in the middle of the pack for him. The overarching story about bees disappearing from the Earth and how that is interrelated with anti-depressants and stories is rather interesting. The continual interlacing of short stories into the novel completely ruins the flow though.
Bro on the Go by Barney Stinson: Life lessons for today’s active bro. In a word: awesome.
Eating the Dinosaur by Chuck Klosterman: I’ve mentioned it many times before but it always bears repeating: I would really like to have Chuck Klosterman’s job. He just sits around and writes pieces examining pop culture from this detached, slightly cynical viewpoint. It would be like someone actually paying me to blog. Let’s face it, I could write long essays discussing the merits of Ralph Sampson and ABBA as well.
Shutter Island by Dennis Lehane: Read the book before the movie comes out. This is a great thriller that actually keeps you guessing the entire time as to what reality really is. Occasionally it is nice to read a book that you just cannot put down and this is one of those books. Really highly recommended.
Juliet, Naked by Nick Hornby: In what can be considered almost a companion to High Fidelity Nick delves once again into the world of music fandom. What does it mean to know everything about an artist? What does it say about me that I will speak for hours on end on the merits of Jeff Buckley and will go and see a band just because his former drummer is playing in it? Why are people drawn to defining their life via the creations of someone that they will never meet and who didn’t have them in mind during the process of creation? Great book.
And Another Thing by Eoin Colfer: The sixth book in the Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy trilogy and the first written since the death of Douglas Adams. I had really mixed emotions about this book given that I copied most of my writing style from Douglas Adams. On the one hand, I was happy to see the characters one more time and appearing in a book with an actual plot for once. But it just didn’t have the same humor and pure joy of the absurd that Douglas’ work had and I really wasn’t a fan of the ending. Arthur Dent deserves a better fate in the universe.
Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer: Teaches you one important lesson: Do not go into the Alaskan wilderness alone. Ever. Especially if you’ve decided to change your last name to Supertramp.
Geek Love by Katherine Dunn: This book is about circus geeks as opposed to geeks like me. That almost amounts to false advertising. Any novel that has at its core a couple that ingests as many chemicals as possible in order to have children that could serve as circus geeks is bound to be interesting and this one is definitely unlike any other that I can recall. It’s not for everyone but I guarantee that you will never forget it.
Sexing the Cherry by Jeanette Winterson: Probably the best book I read all year due to some amazing language. The book is incredibly poetic and the words just seem to float from place to place as the characters drift through time. A hauntingly beautiful book that Kim introduced me to.
This is Water by David Foster Wallace: I miss DFW. His death cost my generation its most talented writer. He left us this, his graduation speech from a few years ago. Present it to your favorite graduate to make him think. Really, really think.
I Love You Beth Cooper by Larry Doyle: Yes, the movie sucked. But the book is surprisingly decent. Not great, but decent. Any resemblance between this novel and my high school years is purely coincidental. For one thing, I don’t recall Hayden Panniterrie attending my high school.
A Short History of Nearly Everything by Bill Bryson: I may have read this book for the title alone. It’s actually a very readable analysis of the broad issues of science from the beginnings of the universe and the structure of matter to evolution and what makes us who we are. It’s not technical and Bryson is a joy to read so if you want to find out more about this world that we find ourselves in this is a good place to start.
10th Best Album of the Decade: The New Pornographers “Challengers” (2007): You have to love Canadian supergroups made up of people from bands you have never heard of. Neko Case is the most popular person in the group and not too many people other than me know about her. They are simply the best power pop group around right now. No one can touch them. Plus, as this video shows, you just can’t match the cuteness that is Kathryn Calder.
Showing posts with label year in review. Show all posts
Showing posts with label year in review. Show all posts
Thursday, January 07, 2010
Wednesday, January 07, 2009
What I read in 2008
For this part of the year in review I am going to peruse the books that I read during 2008. I finished 29 books over the course of the year (book being a loose definition here as you will soon see), which is actually higher than typical over the past five years or so. It is still a lot less than I would like and I have set a goal to read 40 books this year, which will match the total I read in 1998. And yes, I have documented every book that I have read since 1998 often indicating exactly how long it took me to finish the book. Doesn’t everyone do that? Anyway, here are some synopses of a portion of my reading list.
“God Save the Fan” by Will Leitch: Written by my fellow Illini and founder of Deadspin this is a look at sports from a fan’s perspective. It is essentially just an expansion of the Deadspin web site, in which no sports figure is safe. If you are an athlete and got drunk at a party Deadspin will have the pictures. If you are, say, Hannah Storm and decided to host SportsCenter dressed like Julia Roberts in Pretty Woman than will be discussed. I think it is some of the funniest and most on point writing about sports out there right now.
“The Polysyllabic Spree”, “Housekeeping vs. the Dirt” and “Shakespeare Wrote for Money” by Nick Hornby: These three books are collections of Nick Hornby essays on his reading habits. Every month he would list the books that he had purchased, the books that he had read and write an article for The Believer discussing all of them and how they influenced his day to day activities. Basically just like this blog post except better written and with more references to soccer.
“Born Standing Up” by Steve Martin: I am a big Steve Martin fan and have been for a long time. I’ve always been surprised at just how good of a writer he is. His style is very laid back and laconic and it brings a bit of dreaminess into everything that he writes. This is his memoir on his time in standup comedy and how he walked away when he was selling out arenas and never looked back. Fascinating story about how someone goes about creating art.
“Schulz and Peanuts” by David Michaelis: Consider this to be the counterpoint to the Steve Martin book. Now my love for Peanuts and Snoopy is well known (a Snoopy painting is the highlight of my decorating scheme) so I was interested in reading about how all of the characters came to be. And you do get to find out though it takes you about 300 pages of background until Charles Schulz actually draws Snoopy. I’m not sure I needed to know about every family member and how they influenced his life. It does change the way you read the strip as you find out that Charles Schulz was depressed, reserved, extremely insecure and not that nice of a guy. I’ll stick with my comic strips.
“The Bro Code” by Barney Stinson: Words to live by. Literally. A book that can be summed up in one word: Legen…. Wait for it…. Dary.
(I’m not making it up. It’s a real book.)
“How to Talk to a Widower”, “The Book of Joe”, “Everything Changes” by Jonathan Tropper: Every year I find myself reading a bunch of books by one particular author. What is interesting in this case is that I’m still not sure if I like Jonathan Tropper’s work. It is Nick Hornby light and half the time you get a sense that you are reading the script for a below average romantic comedy. There are moments of pure brilliance (the phrase “the pilot missed the sky” was breathtaking) but every book seems to have one moment of wackiness that makes you realize that what you are reading is fiction. Books are meant to be an escape but there is always something in his work that makes me go “No way that could ever happen in real life.”
“Henry IV, Part II” by William Shakespeare: The Back to the Future, Part II of Shakespeare plays. The similarities are stunning. Both follow up extremely successful ventures and have minimal plots of their own. In fact, the stories only exist to move our characters ahead in the plot so we could get to Part III or Henry V where all of the fun stuff happens. Luckily, like the movie the play has some fun scenes with hoverboards and Biff gets a few good lines in so as Shakespeare plays go it’s not that bad. Oh, and he dies at the end but it’s not a tragedy.
“Outliers” by Malcolm Gladwell: Another in a long line of magic beans and superpowers books by Gladwell in which he explains how people are successful in this world. Turns out it is mainly blind luck. When you were born, where you were born, the number of letters in your last name, they all matter more than anything you ever do with yourself. Well, except for the fact that you apparently have to spend 10,000 hours doing something to be an expert at it. Let’s see: I blog half an hour a night, have made 1,000 posts in 4 years, so I’ll be a good blogger in….I really don’t want to do that math.
“Hitman” by Bret “The Hitman” Hart: Every year I allow myself to read one wrestling book. This still creates a degree of awkwardness in my life. When I bring a woman to my apartment she doesn’t notice the artwork or the impressive and eclectic music collection or the diplomas on the wall. Nope, her only thought is “This guy has a whole shelf dedicated to books on pro wrestling?” Sigh. Some guys have to hide porn; I have to hide books about Ric Flair.
Anyway, if you want to get a true view inside the world of pro wrestling this is probably the best one. Bret pulls absolutely no punches about what goes on behind the curtain discussing everything from drug use to what goes on back at the hotel. I’ve described it as an “unauthorized autobiography” because one of the people who comes off worst is Bret who drops any façade of being a superhero and shows himself as a flawed man. Fascinating and tragic at the same time.
“The Wordy Shipmates” by Sarah Vowell: I was really disappointed by this book. Sarah missed the boat (hah, see a pun) with her latest book on the Puritans. It was much more scholarly than I would like and seemed to be missing an introduction. Still, as long as she writes sections in which she daintily removes snow with her ballet flats from a plaque that is set in the sidewalk I will read whatever she writes.
“The Zombie Survival Guide” and “World War Z” by Max Brooks: Are you prepared for the zombie onslaught? Have you determined the most effective ways to defend your office in case you are forced to make a last stand against the living dead? You haven’t? Well, then these books are for you. From a literary perspective you really owe it to yourself to read World War Z, which works as a horror novel, social satire and strategy manual for when the G’s come for you.
“Then We Came to the End” by Joshua Ferris: Every writer struggles with the choice between writing in the first person or the third person. Joshua decided to throw that all aside and write in the first person plural so the entire book is written with “we’s” and “us’s” and it takes you a good fifty pages to not want to bang your head into the wall because of it. A great book about an ad agency during a period of downsizing and what really goes on in an office. Great for anyone with a white collar job that involves mainly sitting around and wasting time until you can go home.
“Barrel Fever” by David Sedaris: I think it took me something like five years to finish this book. I have no idea why it took that long. It’s not a long book, nor particularly challenging. I’d just start reading it, get about a third of the way through, flip through and read a story, and then never bother to finish it. Some books are like that.
“The Ghost in Love” by Jonathan Carroll: The story opens with a ghost and a dog having a conversation. It gets weirder from there. Ever wonder what it means to be alive? Or what our purpose really is? Or maybe just how love manifests itself in the universe? Those are the questions that Jonathan tackles in his works. He may not always succeed in bringing you to the answer but the journey is one you will never forget. He is simply my favorite author that no one knows about.
Wednesday Night Music Club: Since I mentioned it twice already this week I felt that I should post a video by the group She & Him. You typically worry about any act that features an actress but this one beats expectations. First off, it is Zooey Deschanell who not only starred in The New Guy but played Trillian in the Hitchhiker’s Guide movie and looks so amazing in the party scene at the beginning that it hurts my eyes to watch it. On top of that she has a really fun singing voice and M. Ward does a great job with the music. Lots of people have this as the album of the year and I have to say they have a point.
“God Save the Fan” by Will Leitch: Written by my fellow Illini and founder of Deadspin this is a look at sports from a fan’s perspective. It is essentially just an expansion of the Deadspin web site, in which no sports figure is safe. If you are an athlete and got drunk at a party Deadspin will have the pictures. If you are, say, Hannah Storm and decided to host SportsCenter dressed like Julia Roberts in Pretty Woman than will be discussed. I think it is some of the funniest and most on point writing about sports out there right now.
“The Polysyllabic Spree”, “Housekeeping vs. the Dirt” and “Shakespeare Wrote for Money” by Nick Hornby: These three books are collections of Nick Hornby essays on his reading habits. Every month he would list the books that he had purchased, the books that he had read and write an article for The Believer discussing all of them and how they influenced his day to day activities. Basically just like this blog post except better written and with more references to soccer.
“Born Standing Up” by Steve Martin: I am a big Steve Martin fan and have been for a long time. I’ve always been surprised at just how good of a writer he is. His style is very laid back and laconic and it brings a bit of dreaminess into everything that he writes. This is his memoir on his time in standup comedy and how he walked away when he was selling out arenas and never looked back. Fascinating story about how someone goes about creating art.
“Schulz and Peanuts” by David Michaelis: Consider this to be the counterpoint to the Steve Martin book. Now my love for Peanuts and Snoopy is well known (a Snoopy painting is the highlight of my decorating scheme) so I was interested in reading about how all of the characters came to be. And you do get to find out though it takes you about 300 pages of background until Charles Schulz actually draws Snoopy. I’m not sure I needed to know about every family member and how they influenced his life. It does change the way you read the strip as you find out that Charles Schulz was depressed, reserved, extremely insecure and not that nice of a guy. I’ll stick with my comic strips.
“The Bro Code” by Barney Stinson: Words to live by. Literally. A book that can be summed up in one word: Legen…. Wait for it…. Dary.
(I’m not making it up. It’s a real book.)
“How to Talk to a Widower”, “The Book of Joe”, “Everything Changes” by Jonathan Tropper: Every year I find myself reading a bunch of books by one particular author. What is interesting in this case is that I’m still not sure if I like Jonathan Tropper’s work. It is Nick Hornby light and half the time you get a sense that you are reading the script for a below average romantic comedy. There are moments of pure brilliance (the phrase “the pilot missed the sky” was breathtaking) but every book seems to have one moment of wackiness that makes you realize that what you are reading is fiction. Books are meant to be an escape but there is always something in his work that makes me go “No way that could ever happen in real life.”
“Henry IV, Part II” by William Shakespeare: The Back to the Future, Part II of Shakespeare plays. The similarities are stunning. Both follow up extremely successful ventures and have minimal plots of their own. In fact, the stories only exist to move our characters ahead in the plot so we could get to Part III or Henry V where all of the fun stuff happens. Luckily, like the movie the play has some fun scenes with hoverboards and Biff gets a few good lines in so as Shakespeare plays go it’s not that bad. Oh, and he dies at the end but it’s not a tragedy.
“Outliers” by Malcolm Gladwell: Another in a long line of magic beans and superpowers books by Gladwell in which he explains how people are successful in this world. Turns out it is mainly blind luck. When you were born, where you were born, the number of letters in your last name, they all matter more than anything you ever do with yourself. Well, except for the fact that you apparently have to spend 10,000 hours doing something to be an expert at it. Let’s see: I blog half an hour a night, have made 1,000 posts in 4 years, so I’ll be a good blogger in….I really don’t want to do that math.
“Hitman” by Bret “The Hitman” Hart: Every year I allow myself to read one wrestling book. This still creates a degree of awkwardness in my life. When I bring a woman to my apartment she doesn’t notice the artwork or the impressive and eclectic music collection or the diplomas on the wall. Nope, her only thought is “This guy has a whole shelf dedicated to books on pro wrestling?” Sigh. Some guys have to hide porn; I have to hide books about Ric Flair.
Anyway, if you want to get a true view inside the world of pro wrestling this is probably the best one. Bret pulls absolutely no punches about what goes on behind the curtain discussing everything from drug use to what goes on back at the hotel. I’ve described it as an “unauthorized autobiography” because one of the people who comes off worst is Bret who drops any façade of being a superhero and shows himself as a flawed man. Fascinating and tragic at the same time.
“The Wordy Shipmates” by Sarah Vowell: I was really disappointed by this book. Sarah missed the boat (hah, see a pun) with her latest book on the Puritans. It was much more scholarly than I would like and seemed to be missing an introduction. Still, as long as she writes sections in which she daintily removes snow with her ballet flats from a plaque that is set in the sidewalk I will read whatever she writes.
“The Zombie Survival Guide” and “World War Z” by Max Brooks: Are you prepared for the zombie onslaught? Have you determined the most effective ways to defend your office in case you are forced to make a last stand against the living dead? You haven’t? Well, then these books are for you. From a literary perspective you really owe it to yourself to read World War Z, which works as a horror novel, social satire and strategy manual for when the G’s come for you.
“Then We Came to the End” by Joshua Ferris: Every writer struggles with the choice between writing in the first person or the third person. Joshua decided to throw that all aside and write in the first person plural so the entire book is written with “we’s” and “us’s” and it takes you a good fifty pages to not want to bang your head into the wall because of it. A great book about an ad agency during a period of downsizing and what really goes on in an office. Great for anyone with a white collar job that involves mainly sitting around and wasting time until you can go home.
“Barrel Fever” by David Sedaris: I think it took me something like five years to finish this book. I have no idea why it took that long. It’s not a long book, nor particularly challenging. I’d just start reading it, get about a third of the way through, flip through and read a story, and then never bother to finish it. Some books are like that.
“The Ghost in Love” by Jonathan Carroll: The story opens with a ghost and a dog having a conversation. It gets weirder from there. Ever wonder what it means to be alive? Or what our purpose really is? Or maybe just how love manifests itself in the universe? Those are the questions that Jonathan tackles in his works. He may not always succeed in bringing you to the answer but the journey is one you will never forget. He is simply my favorite author that no one knows about.
Wednesday Night Music Club: Since I mentioned it twice already this week I felt that I should post a video by the group She & Him. You typically worry about any act that features an actress but this one beats expectations. First off, it is Zooey Deschanell who not only starred in The New Guy but played Trillian in the Hitchhiker’s Guide movie and looks so amazing in the party scene at the beginning that it hurts my eyes to watch it. On top of that she has a really fun singing voice and M. Ward does a great job with the music. Lots of people have this as the album of the year and I have to say they have a point.
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)