Archives for Category "Books"
November 2, 2007
Books on Fire
The Economist had a short but compelling review of "Books on Fire", in translation from the French -- it's a look at centuries of deliberate or careless destruction of books. I thought this paragraph sums up so well a dangerous, authoritarian, and theocratically-minded subset of American society that we've become all too familiar with in recent years:Books educate people and educated people ask awkward questions of those who govern them. The educated, in short, are considered ungovernable. Better to keep people ignorant of the past and to concentrate their minds upon the fanciful utopia that lies ahead.The Economist, in its usual wry way, had an amusing title for this review: Libraries: Nasty, Dangerous Things.
<=> | in: Books / Civil Rights & Feminism
January 15, 2007
2006 Book Readings
My book reading was not satisfactory this past year for a few reasons. First, I think I missed a few in this list, as I wasn't keeping track as well as I should have been. Second, even so, I didn't get through as much I was hoping to. Around about August I fell into a big slump. And third, of course, is that I spend so much time reading for work and reading the various periodicals I get on the Metro, that at night sometimes I don't feel like doing much beyond watching Fresh Prince (see previous post).Of the list below, I think my favorite was Omnivore's Dilemma.
1001 Nights of Snowfall by Bill Willingham - 3.5
The Last Light of the Sun by Guy Gavriel Kay - 3.8
The Perfect Thing by Steven Levy - 4.5
Saving Graces by Elizabeth Edwards - 4.2
A Journal of the Plague Year by Daniel Defoe - 4
It Can't Happen Here by Sinclair Lewis - 4.5
[draft manuscript] by S. Vitale
[undisclosed] by [undisclosed] - 3.5
A History of the World in Six Glasses by Tom Standage - 3.25
Down Came the Rain by Brooke Shields - 3.8
The Omnivore's Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals by Michael Pollan - 4.6
An Inconvenient Truth by Al Gore - 5
Harvest for Hope: A Guide to Mindful Eating by Jane Goodall - 4
Uncle Tom's Cabin by Harriett Beecher Stowe - 4.25
A Fire Upon the Deep by Vernor Vinge - 4.25
Song for Arbonne by Guy Gavriel Kay - 3.8
Taking Charge of Your Fertility: The Definitive Guide to Natural Birth Control and ... Reproductive Health by Toni Weschler - 4.25
The Number by Lee Eisenberg - 2.25
The Party's Over: Oil, War, and the Fate of Industrial Societies by Richard Heinberg - 4.75
In Cold Blood by Truman Capote - 3.5
Spin by Robert Charles Wilson - 3.5
You're in Charge - Now What? by Neff & Citrin - 3.75
Parable of the Sower by Octavia Butler - 3.8
Tigana by Guy Gavriel Kay - 4.25
Cyanide Canary by Hilldorfer and Dugoni - 3.5
Metaphors We Live By by Lakoff and Johnson - 4.8
Close Range by Annie Proulx - 4
Why I Hate Saturn by Kyle Baker - 2.9
The Lions of Al-Rassan by Guy Gavriel Kay - 4.25
Gilead by Marilynne Robinson - 4
Serenity: The Official Visual Companion - by Joss Whedon - 3.85
The Rebel Angels (1st of the Cornish Trilogy) by Robertson Davies - 3.75
Bird by Bird by Anne Lamott - 3.5
Forty Signs of Rain by Kim Stanley Robinson - 2.75
Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell by Susanna Clarke - 4
Smart Couples Finish Rich by David Bach - 4
I Am Spock by Leonard Nimoy - 3.6
The Year of Magical Thinking by Joan Didion - 3.75
Your Money or Your Life by Dominguez & Robin - 3.8
<=> | Comments: 6 | in: Books
January 2, 2006
Books in 2005
Well, I had hoped to do a lot more reading in 2005 than I ended up doing. At one point, the plan had been to try to read 52 books (I'm not counting reading that I do for work in this discussion.) I used to often end up near 52 books during the course of year, but no longer. Probably the result of much less time for reading coupled with the fact that I'm drawn toward longer non-fiction books these days.Anyway, I'm going to aim for 52 books again for 2006 and see where things end up. The sidebar has been reset and I got a big fat non-fiction book for christmas (Wilentz's The Rise of American Democracy reviewed by Foner in The Nation.) I'd put it on my wishlist after reading that review and my mother snagged it for me. It is, indeed, a BFB. And will take me a while to get through, since it's too large for carting onto the Metro.
In any event, here is the (too small) 2005 reading list. I may have missed one or two, but it's close to complete. Onward to '06!
Books Read in 2005
Stiff by Mary Roach - 3.5
Preacher: Gone to Texas by Garth Ennis - 3.5
Preacher: Until the End of the World by Garth Ennis - 3.5
Preacher: Proud Americans by Garth Ennis - 3.5
Preacher: Dixie Fried by Garth Ennis - 3.5
Preacher: War in the Sun by Garth Ennis - 3.5
Preacher: Salvation by Garth Ennis - 4
Preacher: All Hell's A-Coming by Garth Ennis - 3.5
Preacher: Alamo by Garth Ennis - 3.5
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time by Mark Haddon - 3
Hammer of Eden by Ken Follett - 3.1
Good in Bed by Jennifer Weiner - 3.8
300 by Frank Miller - 2.75
The Russia House by John Le Carre - 2.25
Calculating God by Robert J. Sawyer - 2.9
The Impossible Bird by Patrick O'Leary - 2.5
Sandman: Preludes and Nocturnes - by Neil Gaiman - 4
Sandman: The Doll's House - by Neil Gaiman - 4
Sandman: Dream Country - by Neil Gaiman - 4
Sandman: Season of Mists - by Neil Gaiman - 4
Sandman: A Game of You - by Neil Gaiman - 4
Sandman: Fables and Reflections - by Neil Gaiman - 4
Sandman: Brief Lives - by Neil Gaiman - 4
Sandman: World's End - by Neil Gaiman - 4
Sandman: The Kindly Ones - by Neil Gaiman - 4.25
Sandman: The Wake - by Neil Gaiman - 4
The Star Fraction - by Ken Macleod - 3
All In My Head - by Paula Kamen - 4
Under the Banner of Heaven - by Jon Krakauer - 3.75
Bones of the Moon - by Jonathon Carroll - 4
Left Behind - by Lehaye & Jenkins - 1.5
A Cure for Gravity - by Joe Jackson - 3.75
The Plot Against America - by Philip Roth - 4
Too Soon Old, Too Late Smart - by Gordon Livingston - 3.5
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - by J.K. Rowling - 4
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince - by J.K. Rowling - 4.25
Winning by Jack Welch - 4
High Tide in Tucson by Barbara Kingsolver - 5
Cadillac Desert by Marc Reisner - 4.25
The Long Emergency by James Kunstler - 3.8
In her Shoes by Jennifer Weiner - 3
The Bean Trees by Barbara Kingsolver - 4
Rising Tide by John Barry - 4
Pigs in Heaven by Barbara Kingsolver - 2.9
The Gate to Women's Country by Sheri S. Tepper - 4.25 Healthy Aging - by Andrew Weil - 3.5
One True Thing - by Anna Quindlen - 4
<=> | Comments: 4 | in: Books
December 31, 2004
Books Read in 2004
[This is a backdated entry pulled over from the old version of Medley...]Books Read in 2004
Allen, David -- Getting Things Done -- May
Allen, David -- Ready For Anything -- August
Barber, Benjamin -- Jihad vs. McWorld -- July
Clarke, Richard A. -- Against All Enemies: Inside America's War on Terror -- March
Dean, Howard -- You Have the Power -- September
Dean, John -- Worse Than Watergate -- May
Doctorow, Cory -- Eastern Standard Tribe -- September
Dubus III, Andre -- House of Sand and Fog -- February
Edwards, John -- Four Trials -- July
Esquivel, Laura -- Like Water for Chocolate -- May
Fitch, Janet -- White Oleander -- May
Gibson, William -- Pattern Recognition -- January
Goldberg, Natalie -- Writing Down the Bones -- May
Hedges, Chris -- War is a Force that Gives us Meaning -- August
Hyman, Mark and Liponis, Mark -- Ultra-Prevention -- June
Ishigoru, Kazuo -- The Remains of the Day -- February
Kingsolver, Barbara -- Prodigal Summer -- May
Klein, Naomi -- No Logo -- June
Lehane, Dennis -- Mystic River -- January
Lubrano, Alfred -- Limbo: Blue-Collar Roots, White-Collar Dreams -- August
Mahfouz, Naguib -- Akhenaten: Dweller in Truth -- September
Mayes, Frances -- Bella Tuscany -- February
Mayes, Frances & Jason Wilson, Eds. -- The Best American Travel Writing -- March
Mayes, Frances -- Under the Tuscan Sun -- February
Mehta, Ved -- Dark Harbor -- November
Mieville, China -- Perdido Street Station -- March
Miller, Frank -- Sin City -- September
Nuland, Sherwin -- The Mysteries Within -- July
Reich, Robert -- Locked in the Cabinet -- May
Russo, Richard -- Nobody's Fool -- January
Russo, Richard -- Risk Pool -- January
Russo, Richard -- The Whore's Child -- February
Satrapi, Marjane -- Persepolis 2: The Story of a Return -- September
Shields, Carol -- The Stone Diaries -- March
Surowiecki, James -- The Wisdom of Crowds -- August
Suskind, Ronald -- The Price of Loyalty -- February
Thompson, Craig -- Blankets -- February
Trippi, Joe -- The Revolution Will Not Be Televised -- July
Whedon, Joss -- Fray -- January
Wilson, Joseph -- The Politics of Truth -- May
December 31, 2003
Books Read in 2003
[This is a backdated entry pulled over from the old version of Medley...]Books Read in 2003
Angelou, Maya -- I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings -- July
Baldacci, David -- Absolute Power -- January
Blumenthal, Sidney -- The Clinton Wars -- June
Boylan, Jennifer Finney -- She's Not There -- September
Brock, David -- Blinded By the Right: The Conscience of an Ex-Conservative -- June
Brown, Dan -- The Da Vinci Code -- December
Card, Orson Scott -- Children of the Mind -- January
Card, Orson Scott -- Ender's Shadow -- January
Card, Orson Scott -- Shadow of the Hegemon -- April
Clark, Wesley K. -- Waging Modern War -- October
Clinton, Hillary Rodham -- Living History -- June
Conason, Joe -- Big Lies -- September
Cornwell, Patricia -- Black Notice -- September
Dean, Howard -- Winning Back America -- December
Diamant, Anita -- The Red Tent -- September
Diamond, Jared -- Guns, Germs, and Steel -- March
Didion, Joan -- Fixed Ideas -- July
Donaldson, Stephen R. -- Lord Foul's Bane (The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant the Unbeliever, Book 1) -- February
Franken, Al -- Lies and the Lying Liars Who Tell Them -- August
Fuhrman, Joel -- Eat To Live -- September
Gallagher, Carol -- Going to the Top -- January
Greeley, Andrew M. -- God Game -- August
Hilgartner, Beth -- Cats in Cyberspace -- July
Hillenbrand, Laura -- Seabiscuit -- July
Ivins, Molly and Lou Dubose -- Bushwhacked -- October
Kahn, Peter -- The Human Relationship with Nature -- January
Kidder, Tracy -- House -- January
Krugman, Paul -- The Great Unraveling -- October
Lessig, Lawrence -- The Future of Ideas -- February
Levi, Primo -- The Monkey's Wrench -- August
Martel, Yann -- Life of Pi -- April
Maushart, Susan -- Wifework: What Marriage Really Means for Women -- May
McCullough, David -- John Adams -- March
McCullough, David -- Truman -- December
McKinley, Robin -- Beauty -- June
Mendelson, Cheryl -- Home Comforts: The Art and Science of Keeping House -- February
Moore, Alan & David Lloyd -- V For Vendetta -- October
Powers, Tim -- The Anubis Gates -- September
Raul, Alan Charles -- Privacy and the Digital State: Balancing Public Information and Personal Privacy -- July
Rowling, J.K. -- Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix -- June
Rushdie, Salman -- Step Across This Line: Collected Nonfiction 1992-2002 -- February
Russo, Richard -- Empire Falls -- November 2003
Satrapi, Marjane -- Persepolis: The Story of a Childhood -- July
Schorr, Daniel -- Staying Tuned -- January
Schwartz, Ronald B. -- For the Love of Books -- August
Smiley, Jane -- Horse Heaven -- May
Sobel, Dava -- Galileo's Daughter -- April
Strunk and White -- The Elements of Style -- April
Tepper, Sheri -- The Visitor -- May
Tolkien, J.R.R. -- The Lord of the Rings -- March
Ullman, Ellen -- Close to the Machine: Technophilia and its Discontents -- January
Van Susteren, D., et. al. Eds. -- Howard Dean: A Citizen's Guide to the Man Who Would be President -- December
Vonnegut, Kurt -- Cat's Cradle -- January
Wellstone, Paul -- The Conscience of a Liberal -- December
Wilson, E. O. -- The Future of Life -- May
Zimmer Bradley, Marion and Diana L. Paxson -- Priestess of Avalon -- October
