Books read in 2006 - click on the titles for my posts.
War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy
Confederate General from Big Sur by Richard Brautigan
Labyrinths by Jorge Luis Borges
American Pastoral by Phillip Roth
Tales of My Melancholy Whores by Gabriel Garcia Marquez
The Bear Went Over the Mountain by William Kotzwinkle
Master and Margarita (Vintage Paperback Edition) by Mikhail Bulgakov
House of Sleeping Beauties by Kawabata
Saturday by Ian McEwan
Beowulf by Seamus Heaney
White Oleander by Janet Fitch
Homage to Catalonia by George Orwell
The Trail by Franz Kafka
A Brief History of the Dead by
The Inferno by Dante
Anansi Boys by Neil Gaiman
Chronicles, Vol 1. by Bob Dylan
The Life of Pi by Yann Martel
Friday, May 4, 2007
Books Read in 2005
Click on the book title to read a review (I'm currently updating my reviews).
If on a Winters Night a Traveler by Italo Calvino
The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway
To Have and Have Not by Ernest Hemingway
The Foundation Trilogy (re-read) by Isaac Asimov
Our Man in Havana by Graham Greene
Wild Sheep Chase by Murakami
Hard-boiled Wonderland and the End of the World by Murakami
Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoevsky
I’m a Stranger Here Myself by Bill Bryson
The Fountainhead by Ayn Rand
Be Cool by Elmore Leonard
Outlet by Taguchi
The Club Dumas by Perez-Reverte
Ocean Sea by Baricco
The Woman in the Dunes by Abo
The White Castle by Pamuk
The Island of the Day Before by Umberto Eco
Trout Fishing in America by Richard Brautigan
Legends of the Fall by Jim Harrison
Selected Poems by Pablo Neruda
History of God by Karen Armstrong
The Three Musketeers by Alexandre Dumas
Castle of Crossed Destinies by Italo Calvino
The World According to Garp by John Irvine
A Prayer for Owen Meaney by John Irvine
If on a Winters Night a Traveler by Italo Calvino
The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway
To Have and Have Not by Ernest Hemingway
The Foundation Trilogy (re-read) by Isaac Asimov
Our Man in Havana by Graham Greene
Wild Sheep Chase by Murakami
Hard-boiled Wonderland and the End of the World by Murakami
Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoevsky
I’m a Stranger Here Myself by Bill Bryson
The Fountainhead by Ayn Rand
Be Cool by Elmore Leonard
Outlet by Taguchi
The Club Dumas by Perez-Reverte
Ocean Sea by Baricco
The Woman in the Dunes by Abo
The White Castle by Pamuk
The Island of the Day Before by Umberto Eco
Trout Fishing in America by Richard Brautigan
Legends of the Fall by Jim Harrison
Selected Poems by Pablo Neruda
History of God by Karen Armstrong
The Three Musketeers by Alexandre Dumas
Castle of Crossed Destinies by Italo Calvino
The World According to Garp by John Irvine
A Prayer for Owen Meaney by John Irvine
Hard-boiled Wonderland and the End of the World by Murakami
Inspired by “Wild Sheep Chase”, I picked up “Hard-boiled Wonderland” and double wow! I thought this was even better and I won’t even make an attempt to describe the twisting vaguely sci-fi (in a cyberpunk kind-of-way) plot. An incredibly innovative novel that is really two stories tied in together. Simply fantastic.
NOTE: For both of the Murakami books, I used the Vintage International editions and would highly recommend any Vintage edition as they do a wonderful job of presenting international authors for the American palette.
Visit Amazom
NOTE: For both of the Murakami books, I used the Vintage International editions and would highly recommend any Vintage edition as they do a wonderful job of presenting international authors for the American palette.
Visit Amazom
Wild Sheep Chase by Haruki Murakami
After reading “Snow Crash” and “Neuromancer” last year, it peeked my interest in Japan. They were written back in the eighties when the Japanese were supposedly taking over the whole. I moved on to a few Japanese hardboiled detective novels (including the excellent “Samurai Boogie”). But then decided to read some actual REAL Japanese authors and came across Murakami.
Wow! This is not your Kawabata “Snow County” but rather a thoroughly modern and magical book. Surreal. Captivating. Quirky. Whatever you call it it is a great read that is unlike anything you’ve read.
Check it out on Amazon
Wow! This is not your Kawabata “Snow County” but rather a thoroughly modern and magical book. Surreal. Captivating. Quirky. Whatever you call it it is a great read that is unlike anything you’ve read.
Check it out on Amazon
Our Man in Havana by Graham Greene
A few years’ ago, I spend some time traveling in Cuba and discovered an incredible and beautiful country. Reading the Hemingway novella’s brought back many thoughts of my time in Cuba, and so I picked up “Our Man in Havana” more out of the Havana part than anything else. But what a great book – and now I want to read some more Greene.
The book description – “Mr. Wormold, a vacuum cleaner salesman in a city of powercuts, becomes a spy to earn extra income.” – hints at the comic and satirical nature of the book. A wonderful spoof on the whole ludicrous spy business – and a quick read.
Buy on Amazon
The book description – “Mr. Wormold, a vacuum cleaner salesman in a city of powercuts, becomes a spy to earn extra income.” – hints at the comic and satirical nature of the book. A wonderful spoof on the whole ludicrous spy business – and a quick read.
Buy on Amazon
The Foundation Trilogy by Isaac Asimov
I first read the Foundation stories back in Sci-Fi school days, and loved them. Going back and re-reading them, I found the series still holds up - and I was once again quickly plunged into the world of the Galactic Empire. Told in a straightforward, action story manner, the trilogy raises some very complex questions of self-determination, free will, and the nature of humans to forever repeat our mistakes – “Violence is the last refuge of the incompetent.” Classic sci-fi that transcends the genre.
Buy on Amazon
Buy on Amazon
Hemingway Re-Visisted
The Old Man and the Sea
I had read Hemingway’s big novels (For Whom the Bell Tolls, The Sun Also Rises, et.) in school, but wanted to re-visit some of his novellas. The story of an aged Cuban fisherman and his titanic struggle with a giant marlin, is simply but powerfully told and is an agonizing tale of courage, defeat and triumph.
Buy on Amazon
To Have and Have Not
After reading this novella, I saw the movie again and two have almost nothing in common. The book is a much sadder or darker piece – “harshly realistic” the book jacket says. Where the Old Man and the Sea captured some of the best aspects of the human spirit, here we see the more complex side. A bit disjointed with some stray storylines that never seem to fit, but overall a worthy read.
Buy on amazon
I had read Hemingway’s big novels (For Whom the Bell Tolls, The Sun Also Rises, et.) in school, but wanted to re-visit some of his novellas. The story of an aged Cuban fisherman and his titanic struggle with a giant marlin, is simply but powerfully told and is an agonizing tale of courage, defeat and triumph.
Buy on Amazon
To Have and Have Not
After reading this novella, I saw the movie again and two have almost nothing in common. The book is a much sadder or darker piece – “harshly realistic” the book jacket says. Where the Old Man and the Sea captured some of the best aspects of the human spirit, here we see the more complex side. A bit disjointed with some stray storylines that never seem to fit, but overall a worthy read.
Buy on amazon
If on a Winters Night a Traveler by Italo Calvino
Impossible to describe but this is Calvino’s masterpiece (in my humble opinion). A loosely intertwined series of ten stories told with a beauty and richness and leaves you wanting more. So takes Calvino’s advice and “Relax. Concentrate. Dispel every other thought. Let the world around you fade.”
I had read this a few years ago and it was one of those books that always stayed in my head. I'd randomly think of different sequences or descriptions. So after many fond remembrances, I decided to re-read it (always a tricky proposition).
After it more than held up. While lacking some of the magical fascination thats comes from the first reading, it gained a depth and complexity. And I gained a deeper appreciation for the intracacy and genius.
Check it out on Amazon
I had read this a few years ago and it was one of those books that always stayed in my head. I'd randomly think of different sequences or descriptions. So after many fond remembrances, I decided to re-read it (always a tricky proposition).
After it more than held up. While lacking some of the magical fascination thats comes from the first reading, it gained a depth and complexity. And I gained a deeper appreciation for the intracacy and genius.
Check it out on Amazon
Thursday, May 3, 2007
The Best of the Rest (pre-2005)
I won’t review each and every book I’ve ever read – and honestly I don’t think I can remember every one. I know I read a whole bunch of Encyclopedia Brown and Hardy Boys books when I was young, plus too many required readings to ever remember them all.
But here are some of my favorites from year’s past in some completely random categories:
Favorite Childhood Book:
Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH by Robert C. O'Brien
I cannot tell you how many times I read this book, but it must be at least a dozen times. But far and away my favorite book from when I was a kid. This is a moving story of a family of field mice living under a rosebush on the Fitzgibbon farm and how they are saved by an extraordinary group of rats.
Classics:
The Three Musketeers, Twenty Years After, and The Man in the Iron Mask by Alexandre Dumas
The Three Musketeers is one of my all-time favs and is discussed more in my 2005 reads. Everything you could one in a great story from adventure to laughter. And reading the trilogy in their entirety I didn’t want the story to end. Loved them all!!
Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas
Another favorite from Dumas – what a great writer. Despite all the names (and name changes) this is a fantastic adventure story.
Don Quixote by Miguel Cervantes
The characters Don Quixote and the faithful Sancho Panza have been so burned into our cultural zeitgeist that it is almost difficult to go back and read the original. But I’ve read this twice and enjoyed it even more the second time around. Especially in part two, where Cervantes delves into the conflict between what is culturally and socially acceptable and the freedom of individuals to believe and act apart from those norms. A complex, funny, and ultimately tragic story.
Frankenstein by Mary Shelly
I was really blown away by what a powerful book this was, especially given how much Frankenstein is a part of popular culture. But the book remains a masterpiece that the films have never really captured.
Siddhartha by Herman Hesse
The classic story based on the life of Buddha.
Modern Classics:
One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez
Magic-realism I think they call it, but an absolutely fabulous story. Tracing 100 years in the life of a village, Marquez provides a portrait of the human experience.
1984 by George Orwell
A true modern classic than is probably more meaningful in the post-9/11 today than when it was written. If you hated rats before, you’ll really hate them after this.
A Confederacy of Dunces by John Kennedy Toole
First you read this it is really something unexpectedly wonderful. The characters and language are unique and memorable.
The Pearl and Cannery Row by John Steinbeck
Two wonderful stories from Steinbeck that deftly explore humanity.
Catch-22 by Joseph Heller
The classic satire on the murderous madness of war – and how does a sane individual survive in an insane world.
The Importance of Being Ernest by Oscar Wilde
Hilarious! Gotta love Oscar.
The Name of the Rose by Umberto Eco
This is the book that introduced me to Eco and I’ve most of his books since. Probably the most straightforward of any of his book and a great read.
Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe
A relentlessly unsentimental rendering of Nigerian tribal life before and after the coming of colonialism.
Science Fiction and Fantasy:
Since Sci-Fi and Fantasy used to be my chief reading pleasure, I don’t even know where to begin, but here some of my all-time favs:
Sword of Shannara (and every Shannara book since) by Terry Brooks
This is probably my all-time favorite fantasy book – apologies to Tolkein. I’ve reread it a few times and it never fails to suck me in. While the rest of the books never quite measure up, they are still well worth it.
Dune by Frank Herbert
Another great one that I’ve read numerous times plus seen the movie a few times too. Read all of the Dune books and really enjoyed them. Just a fabulous series – saw it once described as the Lord of the Rings of Sci-Fi. True.
Enders Game by Orson Scott Card
Just read this one a few years back and blew me away. The other books in the series never really come close to Enders Game.
The Hobbit and the Lord of the Rings Trilogy by J.R.R. Tolkein
With the release of the movie, I went back and re-read the entire series and it was even better than the first time around. And the movies are excellent too!
Starship Troopers by Robert Heinlein
I had tried to get through other Heinlein books (Stranger in a Strange Land, etc.) with no success, but this was a fantastic story. The movie sucked!
Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams
Still laugh every time I read this. Classic. The rest of the series is also extremely funny.
The Stand and The Shinning by Stephen King
Read the Shinning back in Junior High and it scared the shit out of me. The Stand was one of my mom’s favorite books, and so I borrowed it one time in college, and have never returned it. Incredible read.
Dark Tower Series by Stephen King
Not finished yet, but have really enjoyed each one that I’ve read.
And a few other great ones:
The Demolished Man and The Stars My Destination by Alfred Bester
Rendezvous With Rama and 2001: A Space Odyssey by Arthur C. Clarke
War of the Worlds by H.G. Wells
Forever War by Joe Haldeman
Snow Crash by Neal Stephenson – Neuromancer may have started the cyberpunk trend, but Snow Crash established the genre.
Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? by Phillip Dick
Basis for the movie Blade Runner (which is a great movie).
The Chronicles of Thomas Convanent the Unbeliever (and others) by Stephen R. Donaldson
The Once and Future King by T. H. White
The stories of King Arthur.
General/Other:
Me Talk Pretty One Day by David Sedaris
This is a truly hilarious book. Sedaris is too funny.
Into Thin Air by Jon Krakauer
A gripping account of a disastrous 1995 Everest expedition.
The Perfect Storm by Sebastian Junger
Oh god, I never want to die my drowning. An excellent and harrowing account of the loss of the Andrea Gail in October 1991.
The Bourne Identity (and subsequent Bourne books) by Robert Ludlum
Went through my spy/espionage phase between the Bourne series and then Tom Clancy. But this still holds up as a gripping sotry.
Hunt for Red October by Tom Clancy
Of all the Clancy books, this is far and away my favorite. A great action and spy story. The movie was very good as well.
Enemy of the People and A Doll's House by Henrik Ibsen
Two excellent plays that seem even more relevant today then when they were written more than 100 years ago – especially Enemy of the People and its message of truth vs. politics.
Billy Budd by Herman Melville
Melville’s great story about the conflict between humanity and duty.
On Liberty, the Subjection of Women and Utilitarianism by John Stuart Mill
Not really a novel, but a great book that everyone should ready. Mill was elequent proponent for limited government and personal freedom.
The Man-Eater of Malgudi by R. K. Narayan
A complex and often very funny battle between good and evil based loosely on Indian myth.
And the worst book I ever read
Moby Dick by Herman Melville
Far and away the worse thing I’ve ever read – I read the whole dam thing. Monotonous with a intricacy of detail that is mind numbingly dull. You have about two chapters of any action and the rest is filled with intense details about ships and whale blubber!
I won’t review each and every book I’ve ever read – and honestly I don’t think I can remember every one. I know I read a whole bunch of Encyclopedia Brown and Hardy Boys books when I was young, plus too many required readings to ever remember them all.
But here are some of my favorites from year’s past in some completely random categories:
Favorite Childhood Book:
Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH by Robert C. O'Brien
I cannot tell you how many times I read this book, but it must be at least a dozen times. But far and away my favorite book from when I was a kid. This is a moving story of a family of field mice living under a rosebush on the Fitzgibbon farm and how they are saved by an extraordinary group of rats.
Classics:
The Three Musketeers, Twenty Years After, and The Man in the Iron Mask by Alexandre Dumas
The Three Musketeers is one of my all-time favs and is discussed more in my 2005 reads. Everything you could one in a great story from adventure to laughter. And reading the trilogy in their entirety I didn’t want the story to end. Loved them all!!
Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas
Another favorite from Dumas – what a great writer. Despite all the names (and name changes) this is a fantastic adventure story.
Don Quixote by Miguel Cervantes
The characters Don Quixote and the faithful Sancho Panza have been so burned into our cultural zeitgeist that it is almost difficult to go back and read the original. But I’ve read this twice and enjoyed it even more the second time around. Especially in part two, where Cervantes delves into the conflict between what is culturally and socially acceptable and the freedom of individuals to believe and act apart from those norms. A complex, funny, and ultimately tragic story.
Frankenstein by Mary Shelly
I was really blown away by what a powerful book this was, especially given how much Frankenstein is a part of popular culture. But the book remains a masterpiece that the films have never really captured.
Siddhartha by Herman Hesse
The classic story based on the life of Buddha.
Modern Classics:
One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez
Magic-realism I think they call it, but an absolutely fabulous story. Tracing 100 years in the life of a village, Marquez provides a portrait of the human experience.
1984 by George Orwell
A true modern classic than is probably more meaningful in the post-9/11 today than when it was written. If you hated rats before, you’ll really hate them after this.
A Confederacy of Dunces by John Kennedy Toole
First you read this it is really something unexpectedly wonderful. The characters and language are unique and memorable.
The Pearl and Cannery Row by John Steinbeck
Two wonderful stories from Steinbeck that deftly explore humanity.
Catch-22 by Joseph Heller
The classic satire on the murderous madness of war – and how does a sane individual survive in an insane world.
The Importance of Being Ernest by Oscar Wilde
Hilarious! Gotta love Oscar.
The Name of the Rose by Umberto Eco
This is the book that introduced me to Eco and I’ve most of his books since. Probably the most straightforward of any of his book and a great read.
Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe
A relentlessly unsentimental rendering of Nigerian tribal life before and after the coming of colonialism.
Science Fiction and Fantasy:
Since Sci-Fi and Fantasy used to be my chief reading pleasure, I don’t even know where to begin, but here some of my all-time favs:
Sword of Shannara (and every Shannara book since) by Terry Brooks
This is probably my all-time favorite fantasy book – apologies to Tolkein. I’ve reread it a few times and it never fails to suck me in. While the rest of the books never quite measure up, they are still well worth it.
Dune by Frank Herbert
Another great one that I’ve read numerous times plus seen the movie a few times too. Read all of the Dune books and really enjoyed them. Just a fabulous series – saw it once described as the Lord of the Rings of Sci-Fi. True.
Enders Game by Orson Scott Card
Just read this one a few years back and blew me away. The other books in the series never really come close to Enders Game.
The Hobbit and the Lord of the Rings Trilogy by J.R.R. Tolkein
With the release of the movie, I went back and re-read the entire series and it was even better than the first time around. And the movies are excellent too!
Starship Troopers by Robert Heinlein
I had tried to get through other Heinlein books (Stranger in a Strange Land, etc.) with no success, but this was a fantastic story. The movie sucked!
Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams
Still laugh every time I read this. Classic. The rest of the series is also extremely funny.
The Stand and The Shinning by Stephen King
Read the Shinning back in Junior High and it scared the shit out of me. The Stand was one of my mom’s favorite books, and so I borrowed it one time in college, and have never returned it. Incredible read.
Dark Tower Series by Stephen King
Not finished yet, but have really enjoyed each one that I’ve read.
And a few other great ones:
The Demolished Man and The Stars My Destination by Alfred Bester
Rendezvous With Rama and 2001: A Space Odyssey by Arthur C. Clarke
War of the Worlds by H.G. Wells
Forever War by Joe Haldeman
Snow Crash by Neal Stephenson – Neuromancer may have started the cyberpunk trend, but Snow Crash established the genre.
Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? by Phillip Dick
Basis for the movie Blade Runner (which is a great movie).
The Chronicles of Thomas Convanent the Unbeliever (and others) by Stephen R. Donaldson
The Once and Future King by T. H. White
The stories of King Arthur.
General/Other:
Me Talk Pretty One Day by David Sedaris
This is a truly hilarious book. Sedaris is too funny.
Into Thin Air by Jon Krakauer
A gripping account of a disastrous 1995 Everest expedition.
The Perfect Storm by Sebastian Junger
Oh god, I never want to die my drowning. An excellent and harrowing account of the loss of the Andrea Gail in October 1991.
The Bourne Identity (and subsequent Bourne books) by Robert Ludlum
Went through my spy/espionage phase between the Bourne series and then Tom Clancy. But this still holds up as a gripping sotry.
Hunt for Red October by Tom Clancy
Of all the Clancy books, this is far and away my favorite. A great action and spy story. The movie was very good as well.
Enemy of the People and A Doll's House by Henrik Ibsen
Two excellent plays that seem even more relevant today then when they were written more than 100 years ago – especially Enemy of the People and its message of truth vs. politics.
Billy Budd by Herman Melville
Melville’s great story about the conflict between humanity and duty.
On Liberty, the Subjection of Women and Utilitarianism by John Stuart Mill
Not really a novel, but a great book that everyone should ready. Mill was elequent proponent for limited government and personal freedom.
The Man-Eater of Malgudi by R. K. Narayan
A complex and often very funny battle between good and evil based loosely on Indian myth.
And the worst book I ever read
Moby Dick by Herman Melville
Far and away the worse thing I’ve ever read – I read the whole dam thing. Monotonous with a intricacy of detail that is mind numbingly dull. You have about two chapters of any action and the rest is filled with intense details about ships and whale blubber!
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