Friday, December 28, 2007

2007 in Review

Well after a long hiatus, I'm back. Think I overwhelmed myself by trying to go back and do review for everything I read. Simply too much. So as 2007 draws to close and the bright shinny new year is upon us, it is chance to take a final look back and then start anew. What's that saying about never looking back? Anyway, here we go.

My goal - a rather arbitrary one I'd admit that was made in the reflection turning 40 - was to read 500 books by the time I'm 50. To date - December 28, 2007 - I'm at 225 (includes 183 read for pleasure and another 42 read in school/college). This year's total was 20 books - a little shy of my goal, but with all the travel and other crisis of daily life, not bad.

Here they are in the approximate ranking from best to worst. It is a little misleading because I loved so many of the books I read this year. Some great discoveries, very pleasant surprise, and some good classics. The original plan was to read the basics - the classic foundations of western literature (hence the Iliad and the Odyssey), but I took a few diversions here and there.

Iliad (Translated by Robert Fagles) by Homer
The Odyssey (Translation by Robert Fagles) by Homer
Cat's Cradle by Kurt Vonnegut
Meditations of Marcus Aerlius (Translated by Gregory Hays) by Marcus Aurelius
Gilgamesh by Gregory Hays
Persian Fire by Tom Holland
Joan of Arc: Her Story by Regine Pernoud and Marie-Veronique Clin
The Trojan War by Barry Strauss
A Confederacy of Dunces by John Kennedy Toole
Bel Canto by Ann Patchett
Man in Black by Johnny Cash
The Road by Cormac McCarthy
The Power and the Glory by Graham Greene
The Histories by Herodotus
Watermelon Sugar by Richard Brautigan
The Abortion by Richard Brautigan
Motorcycle Diaries by Che Guevera
Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell by Susanna Clarke
Nada by Carmen Laforet
The Rings of Saturn by W.G. Sebald

So instead of going through the entire lists, I'll review some of my favorites and comment of some of the others.

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