2010 Reading
In order to hold myself accountable to my 2010 Resolution to read a new book every week/biweekly, I’m going to be posting the list of books I’m reading here. A number of books are in progress – I typically read at night, and find that when I read nonfiction closer to bed, it (sometimes dramatically) impacts my ability to sleep. Thus, I’ll get through lighthearted narratives or fiction much faster than many other works.
Pura vida!
- Zorba the Greek, by Nikos Kazantzakis
I obviously got a little bit behind on reading this, and will have to play catchup in the coming weeks. I really enjoyed this book, though – it’s quirky and seems placid at best on the surface, but when I finally finished it I found I’d really enjoyed it. It left in me a sense that I had, simultaneously, things I need to think deeply about, and things that I should, like Zorba, cast off in favor of a life worth living. Recommended. - The Guinea Pig Diaries: My Life as an Experiment, by A. J. Jacobs
I’ve always liked A. J. Jacobs’ writing style, a way of taking a topic that often is, at best, a mild curiosity (such as living for a whole year biblically, or reading the encyclopedia) but incorporating observations and personal experiences to pull the book away from its tome-y topic and into something more interesting and, perhaps, applicable to daily life. While I don’t think this book was as good as his others – it rehashes many of his Esquire stories with small updates, and often leaves a pervasive feeling that he wasn’t as interested in this book as his others – I still enjoyed it. Semi-recommended. - The Lost Symbol, by Dan Brown
If you’ve read any of Dan Brown’s other books, you’ll have a pretty good idea how this novel is going to play out. I was surprised to find his usual romantic inclinations between Langdon and his cohort were downplayed, and it cast a more consistent focus on the mystery as opposed to anything else. I must admit there were a few (counter)twists I didn’t quite see coming – it’s nice to read a book where you don’t know one character is actually such-and-such about 100 pages before it’s revealed. Semi-recommended. - Airframe, by Michael Crichton
I wanted to read a book that had planes as a part of it; got this awhile ago. I enjoyed it, but it hasn’t left me with a strong impact afterwards. Good if you’re a fan of Crichton’s work – the slice-of-time style he wrote with was interesting, though it did leave the majority of characters largely undeveloped. Semi-recommended. - Neverwhere, by Neil Gaiman
Quite enjoyable, I thought, and I liked the twist is takes with everyone’s idea of what London – or any city – is in the places we don’t (want to) see. Recommended. - Sh*t My Dad Says, by Jason Halpern
This book, while pretty short, was awesome. Reminded me of A.J. Jacobs’ books, only more biographical. Definitely recommended. - American Gods, by Neil Gaiman
Just as good if not better than Neverwhere, quite enjoyable. Took about a month to finish due to busyness in life, but definitely recommended. - In progress: Rework, by Jason Fried and David Heinemeier Hansson
- American on Purpose: The Improbable Adventures of an Unlikely Patriot, by Craig Ferguson
I enjoy The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson, so it’s natural that I enjoyed his autobiography as well. I’ve gained an increasing interest in reading autobiographies by people I find interesting – especially those whose lives are/were so fundamentally different from mine, and this book was definitely enjoyable. He has a down-to-earthness that I imagine many celebrities have but is never publicized, and, in any case, the frankness with which he writes about his life, as well as the (occasionally dark) humor struck upon within it, combined to create something I really enjoyed reading. - In progress: Cheating Death: The Doctors and Medical Miracles that Are Saving Lives Against All Odds, by Sanjay Gupta, MD
- In progress: Transcend: Nine Steps to Living Well Forever, by Ray Kurzweil Ph.D. and Terry Grossman M.D.
- The Unlikely Disciple: A Sinner’s Semester at America’s Holiest University, by Kevin Roose
In the vein of A.J. Jacobs, Roose wrote about his life adventures doing something unusual – in this case, going from secular Brown (and all the political beliefs therein) to spending time at Liberty University, the late neoconservative Christian Jerry Falwell’s pride and joy. Although his writing does tend to be a bit on the younger side – and, to me, the influences of A.J. Jacobs seems all too clear – I like A.J. and so naturally I enjoyed this as well. Roose does spend an inordinate amount of time focused on homosexuality and the problems therein at Liberty – I suppose being insulated away from such discussions in my travels abroad, it stuck out a bit more to me than usual – it’s not a couple mentions, but almost a subplot (if you can call it that) coursing throughout the latter 75% of the story. I don’t mind such things, but I did find myself thinking “again?” as the topic would be brought up – the story, in that sense, maintains a journal-like quality, as though he wrote it in chunks throughout his time at Liberty and never quite got the whole thing consolidated into a non-journalized narrative. But, for many, that will just add to the story. Semi-recommended. - Anansi Boys, by Neil Gaiman
Enjoyable book, in a similar vein to the way the Gaiman’s other books were enjoyable. This one didn’t engage me as much as American Gods did, though it’s hard to follow that book up. Anansi Boys felt almost like a side story that developed out of American Gods as opposed to anything else. Semi-recommended. - In progress: Between the Bridge and the River, by Craig Ferguson
- Ender’s Game, by Orson Scott Card
I’ve always enjoyed this book – Card has a simplistic style of writing that nevertheless deeply invests you into his character’s thoughts and feelings. While I don’t buy his idea that children as young as six think and talk the way he conveys, I’m willing enough to suspend that and enjoy the book for what it is – very good. Recommended. - Speaker for the Dead, by Orson Scott Card
- Xenocide, by Orson Scott Card
- Children of the Mind, by Orson Scott Card
In Card’s later three books, he gets far, far more philosophical – but, at least to me, there isn’t a great deal of depth to the philosophy he discusses. It’s almost as though he had an idea of what he wanted to write, and the product only contained his ruminations as opposed to conclusions. Speaker for the Dead is more enjoyable, for me, than the others – while the concepts are interesting, he increasingly spends time dwelling in his characters thoughts as opposed to actions, to the point where in Xenocide most of the book seems to pass before anything really happens. Children of the Mind spends so much time rehashing the previous books (perhaps in an effort to stand alone) that it comes off as less enjoyable than the denouement for the trilogy it was meant to be. His frequent jumps into Portuguese or other languages, as though readers could understand what he wanted to say intuitively, were kind-of annoying – perhaps it was meant to provide some sort of realism to the colony, but, for me, it only seemed to distance me from a connection with the characters. The books are still good, no question, but they don’t have the qualities that made Ender’s Game so great. Semi-recommended. - Ender’s Shadow, by Orson Scott Card
The difference in Card’s writing talents from Ender’s Game to Ender’s Shadow is quite palpable, and provide this work a life that seemed almost absent from the latter three books in the Ender’s series. It also makes for an interesting counterpoint to Ender’s version of events – recommended. - Shadow of the Hegemon, by Orson Scott Card
I quite enjoyed this book, reveling in Card’s seeming command of military history and strategy. A fair bit more seems to happen here than in the end of the Ender Quartet, but the philosophy is still there, beneath the surface. The very feel of the book is more mature, more expansive, and the writing more commanding – when I put this book down, I wondered at what the Ender Quartet would look like, should Card have written it now, with all his current experience, as opposed to a decade ago. Recommended. - Shadow Puppets, by Orson Scott Card
Another enjoyable entry into Card’s Shadow Series, though by now the series feels like it’s begun to follow a pretty defined pattern – for a book involving actions on a global stage, most of the book involves exploring the characters motives, and their analyzing of other characters motives, for chapter upon chapter until finally things hit a crux and events actually happen at the end of the book. This in itself is not bad, but I did find myself at times halfway through a chapter wondering if something was going to happen, or if it was just 10 pages on a character’s motivations. Semi-recommended. - Assholes Finish First, by Tucker Max
Pretty hilarious and definitely in the same vein as the first. I was surprised at how hefty it is – and at how he appears to be turning the debauchery corner in his fame years. Don’t know if it’s age, fame, or what, but the book’s definitely hilarious (in the same way a clown car full of midgets is awesome – that’s my only warning), and if you’re into that sortof thing, recommended. If you’re not, well, the Bible’s always good for some light reading. - In progress: Peace is Every Step, by Thich Nhat Hanh
- In progress: Shadow of the Giant, by Orson Scott Card
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