Final Update on 2012 and 2013: Year of the Big Book

I have officially hit my goal of 47 books this year (last year, plus one) and will give a few thoughts about the last few books I finished in 2012.  Although I am pleased to have hit my goal, I think next year will feature a much lower goal, with the caveat that I plan to read bigger books.

2012

I really enjoyed my reading this year, but I was disappointed not to have read more big books (more on that below) and that I read so few nonfiction books.  I will remedy that next year, but, that said, I did very much enjoy the books I read this year.  I read many books I never would have read before and more fiction books in one year than I have read in several.  That is all good and I am happy for it, but I do feel like I need to balance it more next year.  So, to top off my 2012 reading list, these are the books I finished since my ranking rough draft post, followed by my amended top 5 (we have a new entrant or two!):

* The Half-Made World, by Felix Gilman.  This was Dave's assignment to me and I liked it much more than I anticipated.  It is my first venture into the "steampunk" genre, although I am told it is a bit of a hybrid.  Having never read a "steampunk" book before, I have to take others at their word on that.  But, I really enjoyed the Creedmoor character in this book.  He was very "Han Solo" and kept the narrative hopping.  I really enjoyed the conflict between the orderly "Line" and the chaotic "Gun" as they struggled for the pace of progress. Some very cool visuals remain with me from this book and I plan to read the second book by Gilman in this "world" and have already downloaded it onto my Kindle.   This may be my surprise of the year.

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, by J.K. Rowling.  I have been reading these to Jacob out loud and the boy just cannot get enough.  We are already into the seventh and final book.  He refused to wait until the New Year.  I enjoy these books, but reading them to Jacob and Jen while doing voices and asking Jacob to recount the plot was the real joy.  I can see Jacob become enthralled with reading and stories as I read these books to him.  He asks questions and at times I have seen him staring at me with wonder as I read an exciting part.  Just yesterday he moved to the edge of his seat and got right into my lap as we read a particularly tense scene.  His face looked so focused and serious, yet concerned.  He was really engaged in the story and always wants another chapter.

The Revolution was Televised, by Alan Sepinwall.  This is a book about the 12 TV shows that the author believes to have revolutionized television storytelling. It was interesting to read about the shows I really like and had watched (Lost, The Wire, Mad Men, Battlestar Gallactica, etc.), but just boring to read about shows I have never seen and have no interest in seeing (Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Oz, etc.).

The Book of Five Rings, by Miyomoto Musashi.  I decided to read this book when I learned from Target Geronimo that this book has a strong following among Navy Seals. It is also short and allowed me to more calmly hit my goal.  It was interesting as pearls of wisdom along the lines of The Art of War by Sun Tzu.

Mrs. Dalloway, by Virginia Woolf.  I had a bad experience reading Virginia Woolf in college so I was hesitant to read this one at first.  It is a stream-of-conscience book, but very well written and enjoyable.  I always like books with different paradigm focuses and I loved how each person in the background revealed a story.  I particularly related to the story of a professional who attempts to help those in difficult positions and the complexity of assisting people who may not necessarily want help.  It was really well told.

New top 5
5.  The Half-Made World, by Felix Gilman.
4.  As I Lay Dying, by William Faulkner.
3.  A Sense of An Ending, by Julian Barnes.
2.  The Last Kind Words, by Tom Piccirilli.
1.  A Song of Ice and Fire, by George R.R. Martin (I am combining the three books here because I said so).

2013: The Year of the Big Book

My goal for next year will be the minimum of 25.  I found myself trying to pace myself with shorter books this year for the sake of my numerical goal.  This led to more fiction books than usual, but I did find myself shying away from books I badly want to read so that I would not lose pace.  To remedy that, I am simply setting a low annual number goal so that I can avoid pacing as a reason not to read long books.

I was granted a choice for one of my book clubs for February and chose The Pale King, by David Foster Wallace, which is one of the victims of my goal orientation (This book may also get me booted from book club... but, to be fair, injecting DFW into anyone's life can be a bastard thing to do to a person).  I will start that book tonight.  I also have designs on finishing the published books for the Song of Ice and Fire series.  I hope to read the William Manchester series on Winston Churchill; Infinite Jest, by DFW; Washington, by Chernow; Thinking Fast and Slow, by Daniel Kahnemann; and several other big books.

I propose we each pick at least one big book (1,000 pages, plus) to finish in 2013.  I may even keep a page number count.  I will certainly try to eclipse 25 books, but I want to take pacing out of the picture... and get back to my nonfiction roots once again.

Happy reading... and Happy New Year!

20 flavors of F--K Awful

1. I read Fifty Shades of Grey this year. It was not my idea.

2. There are 3 women, who all read this blog (I hope...), who early this year decided that they should simultaneously read Fifty Shades together, and I'm not completely sure why they did this, unless it was some sort of spiritual group punishment.  All three are very intelligent and well-read, and not surprisingly, they all hated it. And wanted somebody on this blog to read and review it.

3. Joe absolutely refused to read the book. In hindsight, this should be regarded as a smart move on Joe's part, and further proof that he is the brains of the blog. Don't ask what other body parts the rest of us represent.

Black Friday Book Breakdown

I was going to write about Black Friday and how horrible we are as people.  Then I realized that, in the spirit of starting things too early, I would prefer to just start my end-of-the-year book rating.  As usual, this super-priced version is both obscenely early and will never cost you, the reader, less (if you act now!).

(Just a taste of putrid degradation to get you in the mood)



(I think this clip says more than I was probably going to say if I were to really write about Black Friday... and my reaction:



Did I just embed a video clip within a parenthetical tangent?  You bet your ass I just did!  I even just threw in an aside right here to get fancy! I got game, y'all!)

So, anyway, here is my initial flushing-out for the big reveal at the end.  Again, I realize that many books of quality may not rank as high as some may feel they should.  But, this is a list of the books I enjoyed this particular year.  This first draft of my ranking (and top 5) included some tough decisions.  But, what I went with was how I felt after reading the books.... and, by all accounts, "Winter is Coming."

Lincoln hits "true North"

I watched Lincoln on Friday at the movie theater on opening night and loved it.

Team of Rivals, by Doris Kearns-Goodwyn is the third-best book I have ever read and the task of turning it into a movie seemed daunting.  This movie does the book justice by wisely focusing on two political fights (to pass the 13th Amendment and to end the Civil War) and how they impacted each other.

Daniel Day-Lewis portrayed Lincoln very well and managed to reveal emotions even with the way he stood or held himself.  He took the posture of a man in contemplation when needed and even with internal turmoil as he struggled with the loss of his son at a time when he did not have the luxury of personal grief.

The movie is at least 95% dialogue, and yet is absolutely gripping and full of tension.  As great as Day-Lewis was as Lincoln, Tommy Lee Jones still nearly stole the movie with his portrayal of Thaddeus Stevens.  

Team of Rivals revealed so much of Lincoln's personality and this movie captured so much of that.  For example, Lincoln loved to linger in the war room by the telegraphs and tell stories.  The movie showed Lincoln in that role as an entertaining spinner of yarn even during the most stressful of times.  It was his storytelling, in fact, that often gave him release.

Lincoln was a brilliant man with amazing insight into people who was also absolutely unflappable.  But, he was also prone to deep, yet private, melancholy.  He never showed weakness, and therefore lived his sadness privately and quietly.  The movie shows him carry that weight while navigating treacherous political and military waters.

The story that stays with me from the movie was Lincoln trying to win Stevens over to moderate his radical stance for the sake of progress.  He told the story of a compass and how it always shows "true North" without fail.  But, Lincoln explains, it will never show you what mountain ranges or swamps lie between you and "true North."  His point was that you can sink in the swamp a couple of miles into your journey by seeking only "true North," or you can compromise by taking the occasional Westerly route and actually reach "true North."



(this clip shows Stevens compromising in the best way possible by making it seem as though he were NOT arguing that all men, including black men, are equal in every way... he did this creatively and effectively.)

Lincoln turned rival Stevens into a solid supporter of the Amendment and won his respect.  This scene and the resulting scenes with Stevens holding the line even on issues with which he disagreed left a powerful impression.  And, it accurately showed Lincoln as Kearns-Goodwin so thoroughly described him: thoughtful, persuasive, and cunning.

I think about the book and remember just how lucky this country was to have its greatest and most resilient president during its most dangerous crisis.  This country has never faced anything as difficult as the Civil War in its history and may never face anything as trying again.  Yet, somehow, at that moment, the best person for the job lived in the White House.

I recommend this movie to anyone.

The people you meet....

I know almost nobody in the book/publishing business. Ultimately, this is for the best, because it allows me to talk about books on the blog without having to worry about skewing my reactions one way or another.  I want to be free to praise or destroy whatever books I choose, and not have to think, "geez, is this gonna be okay for whoever?".  Also, there are a couple of authors that, if I knew them and had a way to contact them, well....there would be restraining orders in my name already. (Seriously, Mr Chabon, just put me as a minor character in one book. Just one!..etc, and so on.)

well well well

Hey!

It turns out, i can finish a book or two after all.  Now that some other things have cleared up, i.e. my massive summer basement re-finish project, and the longer job search project, I have been able to actually read a couple things.  Well, make that finish a couple things.

The Count of Monte Cristo is such an epic tale of revenge.  I feel very cheated to have watched the Jim Cazviel/Guy Pierce movie because even though i knew the story, I kept reverting to those two.  And that movie just did a terrible job of trying to cover the book.  Sadly, I really like both of those actors generally, and I think they'd actually be much better at those roles now that they're a little bit more age appropriate for the parts.

And yes Dave.  I read a book on soccer.

More soon.

Revisiting Old Ben

I went through my highlights and notes from my most recent reading of Benjamin Franklin's Autobiography.  I made a ton of notes and highlights (134 in all, according to my Kindle) and share them below with comment.  I pared them down... but probably not nearly enough.  Considering how short this book is, it is amazing how many portions stood out.

I have stated many times that this book has impacted me personally more than any other.  With this post, I seek to give you a taste of the lessons learned from good old Ben.  The video above is a compilation from the HBO Series Adams and includes some great Franklin-isms.

REFLECTIONS ON HIS LIFE

"That felicity, when I reflected on it, has induced me sometimes to say, that were it offered to my choice, I should have no objection to a repetition of the same life from its beginning, only asking the advantages authors have in a second edition to correct some faults, change some sinister accidents and events of it for others more favorable... But, though this were denied, I should still accept the offer."

I love this quote and hope that I can say the same at the end of life.  I would certainly take the offer at present.  I think this passage is another example of his light and jovial style of writing and Franklin's whimsical wisdom.

North vs. South

I read Better off Without 'em by Chuck Thompson. Then, as I was slamming the book as an oversimplification (and kinda defending the South), the South reminded me what it is. People are now lynching chairs in their yards as a political statement. 

So, even though Northerners and Southerners seem to have a mutual distaste of ACTUAL secession, there is always something that will send each side back to their trenches to start sniping at each other. This news sent me back to mine for a few days.

Here I was defending them, and then this. So, I'm slightly altering my review from before. Although ultimately my opinion has not changed of the book, it can be a challenge to be fair when I read about chair lynchings.

Only in the South. But, it's really just another sibling rivalry fight among family. We are one country and you can't choose your family, but that doesn't mean you don't sometimes want to strangle family.
Political hate books are terrible even when the author is on "your team." They are all just a different form of terrible even if you agree or enjoy the book, if that makes sense. I picked this book because I thought it would be funny (it was, at times) and because I tend to find much of Southern politics frustrating. Laughing about your frustration might seem enjoyable.

The author does not provide new information, but he he does give anyone who wants to rag on the South plenty of statistics, anecdotes and other information to use when trying to prove objectively whatever negative he or she may want to prove about the South. Some of that was even interesting (such as just how much more money Southern states take than they contribute in Federal money).

Ultimately, it's a song to the choir and, although Thompson tries to really address actual secession as a possibility it's status as a farce becomes clearer still. He should have just made it a rant / joke book, but trying to make the issue academic just felt like a stretch.

If you already know that race remains an issue in the South, that they love football, that they have an obesity problem, that their schools are terrible, their politics angry, that they receive way more federal money than they pay, and that their BBQ is delicious, then you really won't learn anything new. You may, however, get some useful background to use in an argument. But, again, I think we all agree on those things anyway. The argument has always been that Southerners are not bothered by any of that and Northerners think it should bother them.

The author admits early on that neither side really wants secession and that it is completely impractical and an objectively bad idea.  Yet, he decides to undertake the "academic" approach of flushing out a possible secession.  He cobbles together a little "round-table" made up of a few professors and students from Georgia, discussed the issue over beers at a bar and got nowhere.  Had he just admitted the conclusion (as he did); and turned the book into information about the region and anecdotes from his tour of the South (he also did this); made some jokes (he lamely did that); and just left the "round-table" out, it may have been an informative and possibly entertaining book.

The best "ah-ha" moment was when the author explained why Texas would remain in the North and the professor pointed out that Texas would never be told where it would go.  Instead, Texas would force a bidding war to do best for Texas.  I had been screaming that at the author and was glad the prof chimed in.  Again, the exercise of exploring secession was pointless and agitating.

The moral of the story is that even angry people on both sides don't "really" want to split the country. And, I think we're comfortable just being frustrated with each other sometimes.

And, then Texans start lynching chairs and I wish I would have loved this book.

2-Hit Wonders

Back in the day, back when buying CDs was the best way to find music, before you could just go online and buy single songs and/or listen to a band's whole discography in order to decide if they were worth it or not, that "second hit" meant a lot.  Yes, there were songs that you just liked so much, that you would buy the whole album with the risk that the track you loved would be the only track worth listening to. (A gamble that I have lost many times, my friend.)  (Looking at you, Maroon 5) But there were the songs you liked, but you needed to hear a second song, just to make sure that the artist was consistently good enough to spend the money.  Because if there were two different songs I liked, then statistically it was more likely that I would like most of the tracks that artist made. (Also a gamble I've been know to lose, but not nearly as often.) (Looking at you, Goo Goo Dolls) (Yeah, I have crap taste in music. Deal with it.)

Even though technology has pretty much wasted that method for my musical searches, I still abide by the same method for books.  I tend to believe that a lot of authors can catch lightning in a bottle, and write one good book, and I've read plenty of "second" books by an author who has wowed me once, but fails to do it again.  But the second "great" book means that the writer has a style, a technique,  or a way with prose, that connects with me.  And that I will like most of what that author writes.  Once I love a second book, that author has usually won a fan for life.  Put Erik Larson on that list, because "In The Garden of Beasts" was a terrifically written book.

DON'T CALL IT A COMEBACK......

But I am 10 books ahead now.....

BLAOW!  HOW YA LIKE ME NOW!

Dirt off my shoulder

Allow me to re-introduce myself, my name is JOE, yo, J to the O, E;
I use ta read books by the shelf, see;

I guess even back then you could call me;
CEO of the 2, 5, blog HO; 

Jump out the lead down into the mire;
I've long been this blog's number one supplier;

Writing more than posts that were bearing my name;
I got the back-up bloggers in this game yankin my chain;

That's right JOE, yo, not DAV, but simil-ar to the letters no one can do it better;
I check letters like a word inspector;

My homie A. Jones said finish the check list;
So that's what I'm gonna do, take it back from some Texans;

Let me tell you dudes, what I do to protect this;
Shoot at you actors like movie directors.

This ain't too groovy dawg.

Best blogger alive.

I'm back.

I just got to brush some dirt off my shoulder and, like Diego Maradona, I'm gonna redirect the goal.

The lead was in sight and I got out of my lane.  I set a goal of 47 books this year and took a two-book lead on my pace.  I got distracted when Dave slowed his pace to a wane and I smelled the lead.  I nearly caught him when he refocused.  It sure seemed like I had plenty of time, so I wrote on the blog and slowly crept up.  Now I sit 2 books off pace and Dave's posting in spurts.

 Long George R.R. Martin books slowed my pace and my sabotage backfired.  That's alright though, cause I can accept redirection to my lane.  I'm going to zero in on 47 books for the year and grind on that.

Then Dave goes and posts three-straight.  It's one thing to protect your lane, but another to invade another.  That's some provocation right there!


What the hell bro?  Well guess what?  Now this is happening:



That's how I roll.


So, I'm here to re-introduce myself and take that lane, Jack; cause you know me.
I'm here for my throne like Stannis; And you can call that my plan, bitch.

Get that dirt off my shoulder!

Holy S--T

From the book "The Battle of The Tanks", a history of the Battle of Kursk in WWII between the Germans and the Soviets....



Paul Hausser's II SS Panzer Corps had also been busy during the few precious hours of darkness that early July offered. Fierce fighting continued in some areas as both sides used the cover of the night to improve their positions. At the tip of Das Reich, for example, acting Panzer Grenadier company comander SS-Untersturmfuhrer Kruger spent six hours leading his unit in hand-to-hand fighting during which he was twice wounded. Remaining with the company, he continued to lead his men as they wrestled with several T-34s (Russian tanks). Darting forward with a magnetic mine grasped between muddy hands, Kruger was grazed by a round, which ignited a smoke grenade in his pocket and set his trousers on fire. Ripping the flaming cloth from his legs, he continued his attack on the T-34 in his underwear and succeded in knocking out the tank.

Just a daily reminder why I would be terrible in war, because if I get down to my underwear, I'm letting the tanks win.

 

August is the new June (Dave's mid-year review)

I'm a bit late on this, but then I think every year I'm a bit late on this. And then I wonder what I'm going to write about, because I always wonder what I'm going to write about on my mid-point review.  And then I just start writing.  So here we go, I guess.

As I look at my list of books read, what sticks out at me is this...I've read a lot of good books, but not a whole lot of great ones. Right now, if I had to pick a top book, it would be a battle between "Sabbath's Theater", "The Sense of an Ending" and "As I Lay Dying".  And, in all honesty, though I really like those three books, I'm not sure any would make the top ten in 2010 or 2011. On the other hand, when I tried to make a preliminary top ten list, I narrowed it down to 20 books, and had trouble kicking out candidates.  A lot of good books, not a lot of great ones.  Maybe that changes over the next few months, I've got to finish my barely-touched assignments, which are usually good for a couple of top picks.  Some other interesting (to me) topics about the books I read this year.....

Game of Thrones is just like The Wire...sort of- Mostly in the similarities of how Joe, Alan, and I consume the books/seasons.  When I'm reading a series of books, or watching seasons of a TV show, I am not someone who needs to watch season after season, or read book after book.  Even when I'm really into a show, I like to have some time in between "episodes" to digest what's going on.  Unlike Joe and Alan, who both have a habit of, when they get into a story, trying to finish that story as quickly as possible. I think most people are like Joe and Alan, and I might be the weird one, but I'm not saying one way or the other is right, just that this is how I am, and how they are.  When I started watching "The Wire", I loved Season One. Loved it, and told Joe repeatedly how awesome it was. By the time I finished season One, he was about to start it.  Fast forward a few months, I was getting ready to watch season Two, and Joe was finishing season Four and telling me what to expect.  I think of this when I think that, in the span of six weeks, Joe has read the first two Game of Thrones, catching me, and is now reading the third book. Or the fact that Alan read the first four books back to back earlier this year.  And I'll have the third book read by the end of the year, but only because James assigned it to me.  I don't know why this interests me, but it does.  I'm different sometimes, and I can't explain it to you.

Frustration

Last Year, one of the bookclubs I go to decided to start a Big Book choice, by which we decided a "big" book to read, and had a few meetings, placed at certain checkpoints in the book, to gather and discuss.  And last year's choice was War and Peace, which I don't know if you've ever heard of it, but I was impressed, and I had a couple of things to say about it. Those Russian writers, they're so good. Russia must be a magical wonderland to develop brilliant creative types like that.  Anyways, I did really enjoy War and Peace, so much so that, in an effort to show thanks and prove just how smart I really am, I rated it Number One in my favorite books of last year. This year, the "Big" book  chosen was "A Suitable Boy" by Vikram Seth.  It was to touch on many of the same themes as War and Peace, except that it was focused on 1951 India and was about 300 pages longer.  I started reading, and got to the "page 900" meeting, and then stopped reading. And then meetings got moved, and I kept not reading it, missed the last meeting, and, while professing that I would finish the book by the end of the year so it will count and I really want to finish it but it wasn't a good time but I'm totally gonna don't you worry about that.......I forgot about it for a few months. And that's when Joe stepped in.

Joe's plan was to have me finish the book now, in an effort to try to "slow me down" so he could gain ground in the overall race for books read while he was reading every Game Of Thrones book ever. (For those who think I'm paranoid, Joe basically told me this was his plan. Just because I'm paranoid doesn't mean I'm wrong) So Joe ladled on the guilt like a good Indian mother...or an American mother....all mothers, really.  And I capitulated, and started reading the book again, and finished the last 580 pages in 2 weeks, because fuck that guy. (Look, I love Joe like a brother, but also like a brother I do not handle sibling-led power struggles well. He knows that now.)  So I have finished "A Suitable Boy", and am ready to talk about how I felt about it.

Don't expect find ASB on the top of this year's list.

Clash of Kings - Political Thriller

The above video is a trailer for the second season of Game of Thrones on HBO, which follows book 2 of his series called "A Song of Ice and Fire."  That second book, A Clash of Kings, is the focus of this post.

The book continues each of the many story lines covered in A Game of Thrones, but A Clash of Kings excels in its treatment of the power struggle for political control of Kings Landing.  Specifically, this book absolutely owns the struggle between Tyrion and Cersei to fill a political vacuum.  The ruthlessness of the struggle below the surface was phenomenal.  It simmered for most of the book until the boil hit late.  You can see a portion of that in the clip above when Tyrion says "you will know the debt is paid."

I LOVED that scene in the book.  Without spoiling the plot, Cersei escalated the simmer to a boil and all the underlying struggles came flowing out.  I read that chapter twice.  I have heard various criticisms that A Clash of Kings floundered in just about every other storyline, but I disagree with that criticism on the whole.  It is a fair critique when applied to a few story lines (specifically Danaerys), but I think many other stories seem lesser only by comparison.

Events at the Wall were intriguing and Arya's adventure was wrought with danger and thrilling at times.  Even Sansa's time at Kings Landing became compelling at times.

I also got a lot of unintended comedy relief by watching everyone try to cover for the completely horrible judgment of the young King.  It was just so entertaining to watch the power struggle be jolted from left field because of random impulsive (and stupid) acts by the monarch.  I chuckled many times when the entire playing field for power would shift like an earthquake simply because "the dolt no one can criticize" decides to do something extreme and ridiculous.  Everyone just kind of sighs, works to fix things, and then gets back to the struggle at hand.  That was just so much fun.

I also enjoyed the story of Theon and how he became "the dog who caught the truck."  I loved watching him walk the line between allegiances, his attempt to be bold, and then his attempt to guard his legacy.  It was exactly like the dog that caught the car.  "What do I do with this thing now that it is finally mine?"

Tyrion continued his Omar ways through wit and solidified his position as my favorite character.  He has a different style, but Tyrion uses what he has to create havoc.  I love his style and he is not to be trifled with.

And, with that thought, I leave you with more footage of Joffrey being slapped (this never gets old).



Finally, I must mention the Blackwater Bay battle.  That battle was breathtaking.  It was described through the eyes of various participants and included a massive maneuvering feat for a medieval water battle.  It involved some brilliant tactics and was wonderfully described. 

The book leaves off without cliffhangers, but with many dark storm clouds brewing.  It makes me want to immediately start the next one, which I can tell is aptly titled as A Storm of Swords.

The One and Only Dream Team

I just finished Jack McCallum's book, Dream Team, how Michael, Magic, Larry, Charles, and the greatest team of all time conquered the world and changed the game of basketball forever.

I remember the Dream Team like it was yesterday.  I still have a few of the old McDonalds commemorative cups around somewhere.  As a young basketball fan at the time it was the best possible idea to put all of the very best ballers together to re-establish our dominance.  As a side-effect, however, it grew the game and led basketball to global popularity.

It was fun reading about the stories behind the scenes (how Jordan refused to play if Isiah Thomas was on the team and how no one blamed him as one example) and how the players interacted.  I remember watching every game they played and I never turned it off just because Team USA was up 50.  The whole tournament was a coronation!

It was a farewell to Magic and Bird for their previous greatness and a worldwide affirmation of the unquestioned status of Michael Jordan as the world's best basketball player.  Charles Barkley provided comedy relief "(I don't know nuthin bout Angola, but I know Angola's in trouble") as well as the only international incident (a vicious elbow thrown that started a "should we send him home" debate).  You have to love Chuck.

I had USA Basketball shorts and we played hoops all summer long while talking endlessly about the star power on that team.

There was a famous scrimmage that became known as the "greatest game nobody saw" and the book documents it from a VHS tape of that scrimmage that survives.  It was fun to hear about how Magic stubbornly refused to yield the torch to Jordan and then see how helpless he was to deny the younger MJ.

It was a trip down memory lane and reminded me how much fun it was when that team was formed and then crowned.  Nothing put that memory into perspective more than a brief summary of the subsequent Dream Teams, none-of which deserved the name.

What the Heck is Going On?! (Midpoint Review)

I am late on my annual mid-point review, which will then lead to our annual argument over whether this effort is worthwhile or not.  Either way, I carry on.  

This year's installment even includes highly-rated sci-fi and fantasy.  What the heck is going on?

So, with that in mind, I have categorized the books to reflect this crazy year of reading.  As usual, I give my preliminary top 5, marked with a star.  I will also note my assignments.

I READ SCIENCE FICTION?

Stranger in a Strange Land, by Robert Heinlein -- So much for my opening premise.  I didn't really like this book.

The Martian Chronicles, by Ray Bradbury -- Not nearly as dated as you would think.  An enjoyable collection of stories about Mars.  I finally read Ray Bradbury and it was just before he died this year.

I READ FANTASY?

* Game of Thrones, by George R.R. Martin (Kindle) ASSIGNMENT -- I have already posted about this.  I can't believe I loved a fantasy book.  And I have already started book two.  (P) Imp Daddy!

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, by J.K. Rowling (Out loud to Jacob) -- I am not sure how many more of these Jacob will be able to make it through.  They are getting longer and, although he loves them, I might be testing the edges of his patience.  On the other hand, Jacob is still into book 5 and it's almost 900 pages, so it's all good.  I know what to expect from these books.

CLASSICS

* The Gambler, by Fyodor Dostoyevsky (Kindle) -- I finally read it!  My quota for dead Russian authors was met again this year!

* As I Lay Dying, by William Faulkner (Kindle) -- Seriously messed up book that gets funnier and funnier as you go.  That makes no sense unless you have read this book. "Shoulda done brought them cakes."


FICTION


Sabbath's Theater, by Phillip Roth (Kindle) -- I think we've covered this topic enough.  I even broke down its smut empirically.

* The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay, by Michael Chabon (Kindle) ASSIGNMENT -- I understand why many would not like this book, but I loved it.  It was very well written.  Actually, it was so well written that it often felt like poetry.  It took me way too long to read because it can be tiring to read.  It will wear you down because of the language and the story.  There are some really drastic time-changes and some surprising developments.  It deals with some very intense concepts.  For some reason I did not think to consider the dynamic of "survivor's guilt" until late in the book when it was revealed and suddenly put so many things into perspective.  A phenomenal work.  It deserved the Pulitzer it won.

Room by Emma Donoghue (Kindle) -- A very interesting concept.  It was pretty good.  There isn't much more I can say about it.

* The Sense of an Ending, by Julian Barnes (Kindle) -- I loved this book.  It does a fantastic job of illustrating how different individuals process their own histories.  I also love a book that will purposely choose the mundane over the extraordinary.  I distinctly remember thinking "this is where the author will jump the shark and create some messed up and very unlikely plot twist to try to wow me..." and it never happened.  The "reveal" could have been a cliche, but Barnes took the more realistic path.  It is more likely that someone got all worked up over something insignificant to everyone but that character.  Barnes had the stones to pull that off.

BEHAVIOR SCIENCE

The Power of Habit, by Charles Duhigg (Kindle) -- I love these books, but they are getting a little cliche.  Still, my post earlier holds up.

What Every Body is Saying, by Joe Navarro (Kindle) -- Interesting, but the act of reading people's body language will probably cause them to indicate discomfort.  So, interesting, but ultimately unhelpful.

A few Seconds of Panic, by Stefan Fatsis (Kindle) -- A forgettable season of Denver Bronco football, but I did get some dirt on Bradlee Van Pelt and can call him a whiner all I want because I have proof.

I Want My MTV, by Craig Marks (Kindle) -- Behavior science?  Yes.  How David Lee Roth and other 80s hair-band singers get women to sleep with them.  It's a pretty detailed account, actually.  I remembered almost every video and I learned how exactly Billy Squire was ruined by his own horrible dancing. That was fun.

42 Fallacies, by Michael LaBossiere  (Kindle) -- A fun refresher course in logic.

As Goes Texas, by Susan Collins (Kindle) -- Behavior Science?  Well, it will teach you how to be a stubborn and unreasonable jerk.  Sorry, but it's true.  "How Texas Bullies the Rest of Us and Yet Wants to Secede Because that isn't Good Enough" would be as good a title.

The Reason for God, by Timothy Keller (Kindle) -- A great application of logic to religion that does an admirable job of being even-handed.  Most books in the area on both sides (anti and pro religious alike) tend to ultimately just sling arrows.  This is the closest to even handed I have found.

NONFICTION


Hiroshima, by John Hersey -- Dated and ultimately not very good.

Belle De Jour, by Anonymous (Kindle) -- Really, this is about what it is like to be a prostitute in England (where it is legal) sprinkled with fairly graphic sex stories and tales of interesting "logistics."

Let's Pretend This Never Happened, by Jenny Lawson (Kindle) -- Funny at times. Otherwise it was just OK.

I suck at Girls, by Justin Halpern -- Not as good as his first book, but some good laughs.  "One minor head injury from eating his own shit" is a phrase I will absolutely use.  As in, "D.J. Williams and Elvis Dumervil are one minor head injury from eating their own shit." That feels right.

SEAL Target Geronimo, by Chuck Pfarrer (Kindle) -- SEALS rock.

Don't put me in Coach, by Mark Titus (Kindle) -- Funny.  It was a good break to read this book.

Fear and Loathing on the Campaign Trail '72, by Hunter S. Thompson -- Great read.  HST is nutty.  And not much has changed as far as elections go.

The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid, by Bill Bryson (Kindle) -- A very good memoir / comedy.

Game of Thrones

I finally caved and read Game of Thrones, by George R.R. Martin, which I now know is the first book in the "A Song of Ice and Fire" series.  More accurately, I feared for my safety and decided to read it before one of the dozen people needling me to read it thought to do something rash.

The first book was amazing, and my family can rest easy without fear of reprisal.

*** SPOILER ALERTS BELOW ***

Forza Erotica

Yesterday, the Italian soccer team prepared to face Ireland in the European Championships. After two hard fought draws against tough competition (Croatia and Spain), Italy needed a convincing win against the Irish to advance into the knockout stage.  And, with the exception of the home country, and most of New Jersey, most of the world was rooting for Italy to fail.

The thing about the Italian soccer team is not that they're bad. It's that...well...they're very Italian.  The players all look like those stereotypical Italian assholes you see on movies, especially the goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon, who, besides being maybe his generation's best keeper, also looks like somebody who would try to run you over in his Lamborghini while taking your girlfriend out for a ride......

He might be watching the ball.....or he might be planning to impregnate your daughter.

What's New?

Not much around the blog.  I guess that means I'll post.

(Crickets)

Fine. I'll post.  But I am sure my partners in blogging will respond as expressed below:



The moral of the story?  You can't trust the system. (especially when that would include some sort of rotating schedule of posting... moving on).

So, I have been in a reading funk and only recently came out of it.  Honestly, my exercise bike broke and I do lots of reading on it, so I was all out of sorts.  Now I have a new bike, so giddyup.  (So, really, I just found my routine again).  On to the update.

I read SEAL Target: Geronimo about the killing of Osama bin Laden, which was fun until I remembered that my first kindle broke that day.  But then I remembered I ended up toasting the news as Prof. Rozek would with some cognac (mixed with Coke because I'm not the badass Prof. Rozek was).  This book was an interesting look at how the operation was carried out and was written by a former SEAL who admitted that he was going to be vague in some descriptions because the information is classified.   Even with the inevitable editing, it was fascinating.

I Suck at Girls was the follow-up from Sh*t my Dad Says.  I loved that book so I felt duty-bound to read the follow-up.  The line of the book?  When discussing the intelligence of a friend of the author's, the dad says this:  "He's a minor head injury away from eating his own feces."  That right there was worth it.  OK, this book was also a blatant stat-padder.  Sue me.  It counts.

Let's Pretend This Never Happened was a memoir of the "blogger-turned-memoirist genre that has exploded in the aftermath of the first wave of popular bloggers.  It was very funny at times, but also got really old because her narrative does not change.  She's weird.  She wants you to know she's weird and "different" than others.  She does have enough sense to mock that narrative at times, but keeps going back to it.  I tend to feel we were all different flavors of awkward growing up and that there really isn't much variety other than how we dressed or talked.  But, she did get her arm stuck in a cow's vagina once, so it had some laughs. 

That leads to my current list, which is going to lead to some number drops soon. 

Alan chose Sabbath's Theater for book club and I will finish it in time for Saturday's meeting.  It's pure unadulterated smut, but it is also well-written and intelligent when it isn't graphically describing unmentionables.  To make this empirical, I put my kindle search engine to the task of quantifying the smut for you.  The results?

Uses of the word c***  : 56
Uses of the word c*** : 42

Which word is which?  Well, one rhymes with foxhunt and the other crows in the morning and the results would undermine the people who say this author does not favor women.  I have yet to finish this, but it's already creepy and good at the same time, so why belabor the point?

As Goes Texas is about how... uh... influential Texas is.  Also about it's history... how it operates... and just a lot of crazy Texas stories about crazy Texans doing crazy Texan things (politically).  *

*The rest of this paragraph has been edited to avoid upsetting our "at least one" Texas reader.  Needless to say, the paragraph would have likely led to references to nutty Southern things and probably would have furthered my reputation as an unrelenting Yankee and demeanor of all things Southern.  I'll just save everyone the trouble and say you can probably guess why this book makes me giddy.  Let's move on.

Kavalier and Clay is a great book and I have languished on it.  Dave assigned it to me, I love it every time I read it, but I keep talking myself out of reading it because it really requires tranquility and I don't get much of that.  Also, it's in paper form and I love Mother Earth too much to contribute to deforestation.  I am 130 pages in, love every word of it and for reasons I cannot explain, cannot seem to make progress.  I DID however, purchase it on Kindle and then return Dave's paper copy to him, so I sense progress in the near future!  I will suffer for my cause! 

Finally, I passed over the 50% mark in Order of the Phoenix with Jacob and sense progress.  Jacob was not interested in reading because he made a friend down the street and always wanted to go play.  Now, that friend has found a cooler and older friend and I can read to him again!  His loss, my win.  

My post, and I think I threw that gauntlet ON THE GROUND!!!

Habits

I read a lot of behavior science books and try to incorporate them into daily life.  This one was pretty good. 

In short, you can change habits.  You don't think you can, but you can (if you want to).  This is a helpful skill to master at any time for any purpose.  The information should not be as big a surprise as the method to create change (again, if that is what you want badly enough to take meaningful action).  Self diagnosis takes a special focus, and this book can provide tips, but, like anything, it can't make you get off your butt and do it.

I would not put this book among the best of this type, but it was still interesting.  It has a greater focus on one topic than most others. 

Still, I cannot help but think about how Ben Franklin just keeps getting copied.  We have added studies to it over the past two-hundred-plus years, but I'm not sure that has done more than better illustrate a point you could get by... well... reading Ben Franklin. 

Ben just keeps one step ahead.

Quick Breakdown

I've read six books since I last posted.  So, I figured now was as good a time as any to give a quick comment on each book since my last breakdown (you know, the one where I complained about having chosen a bad batch of books).

I've covered the first 10, so here are my thoughts on the last six:

As I Lay Dying, by William Faulkner:  This book can be disturbing (profoundly disturbing), but the more I read it I began to laugh.  The Southern drawls, the complete dysfunction and the utter ridiculousness of characters really mark this book.

The book picks up as a family prepares for the death of the matriarch.  She quickly dies as expected and then this mixed-up and developmentally-challenged family sets out on an adventure to bury her as promised in another city.  Although the story starts out very dark, the sheer nuttiness of the characters turns it into a macabre comedy.

By the end, I found myself laughing as they tried to fix a broken leg with cement.  In a related note, the South always votes red.  Never forget this.

The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid, by Bill Bryson:  A personal memoir through the 1950s, complete with some hilarious personal stories.  What I enjoyed was the author's hindsight about developments in our nation during it's "heyday."

For example, when discussing the invention of television, he stated:  "Then some other innovative genius produced special folding trays that you could eat from while watching television, and that was the last time any child - indeed, any male human being - sat at a dining-room table voluntarily."

Once he called Fig Newtons the "only truly dreadful cookie ever made," I immediately knew I was reading the memoir I would have written had I grown up in the 1950s.

Don't Put Me In Coach, by Mark Titus:  A funny read by a four-year bench warmer for the Ohio State college basketball team.  It's a fun read about pranks, basketball and snark.  It was fun, but I'll never look at Greg Oden the same way again now that he was victimized by Mr. Titus' ruse (I just can't bring myself to describe what Titus got him to do on this blog).  Just a fun read.

The Gambler, by Fyodore Dostoevsky:   I have been meaning to read this for years.  Just a great read.  It's about a person with a gambling problem, but it has some twists that make it so much more complicated than that.  It was everything you would expect by an author who cannot be matched for the creation of deep characters.  Dostoevsky plumbs the depths of the human mind to show not only how a mind functions when victimized by addiction, but also illustrates the rationalization, superstition and the vulnerabilities of each person to temptation.

The Sense of an Ending, by Julian Barnes:  What you end up remembering isn't always the same as what you actually witnessed.  That's the premise of this book.  And it's very, very, very well done.  If you have read one thing I've written, you would have to be daft to not know I love books that dabble with paradigm shifts or, better yet, slow paradigm reveals.  This is one of those books.  Different characters have different takes on memory, but one I liked said "History is that certainty produced at the point where the imperfections of memory meet the inadequacies of documentation."

There is something just wonderfully human about watching a person's own past change from a simple set of facts in his mind into something completely different with the addition of differently-corroborated impressions and documentation.  The slightest thing changes the entire story. And (SPOILER ALERT), I just love that it was all over something pretty small, really.  It seems like this new paradigm (in the minds of some) should cause the main character to feel guilty, but really it just informs him on a set of coincidences that are merely interesting.  (Think about if for a sec... kinda weird, no?).

The Reason for God, by Timothy Keller.  I'm always interested in reasoning and logic books.  I was told this one tackles the logic behind religion, which has always been of interest for me.  The book is very well done and effectively places "both" sides of the debate into the same logical position.  The book does a better job of showing that neither side can claim logic than it does anything else, but it is very well reasoned and quite convincing. 

Whether you care about the religious debate or not, anyone who is genuinely curious about the even-handed application of logic would probably find this book interesting and well reasoned.

Ok, so someone had to write again this month.  There you go. 

assignments

So I didn't officially announce assignments earlier.

Joe knows, but here it is in writing.

The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien
As we've discussed, time for you to get the bar by which nearly all fantasy books are judged to into your library.

Alan

Neuromancer by William Gibson
I'm taking a flyer on this since I don't know you that well, so I figure to give you a fun read and good old futuristic stuff.

Dave

I was going to assign Clash of Kings. But I see you've gotten that one. So I now you move to #3 a Storm of Swords. Then slowly we can drag Joe in.

James

Getting Ready for Crazy

I read Fear & Loathing on the Campaign Trail '72, by Hunter S. Thompson this week to prepare my nerves for the beating they are about to take as we approach election time.

What better way to inject much-needed cynicism than to absorb from the master cynic?

HST followed the 1972 campaign, but most of the book is about the Democratic nominating process as the party prepared to face Richard Nixon in the general election. Somehow, HST tells a captivating story of the race that will lead to the winner getting the living hell beaten out of him by Richard Nixon. That "winner" was George McGovern.

McGovern had to weather challenges from Hubert Humphrey (HST hates this man with a burning passion... and it shows), George Wallace (yes, THAT George Wallace... and he WON Florida in 1972... won it big... he later got shot while campaigning before he won too many delegates), Ed Muskie (HST absolutely tortured poor Ed Muskie) and a cast of many, many flawed candidates.

While as many as 11 candidates campaigned for the nomination, some familiar themes developed that reminded me of an important lesson: Nothing much has changed in politics in the last 40 years. See if any of these themes sound familiar:

- The party kept waiting for a "savior" candidate to swoop in and snatch the nomination from a weak bunch (in this case Ted Kennedy);

- Senators suspending campaigns so they can fly back to Washington to save the world (this time from escalation bombings of North Vietnam);

- A decision by the candidate who lost California that the "winner take all" format was unfair only weeks after embracing that reality;

- A young adviser shows great political acumen years before his career ends when he is caught in a shameful adulterous scandal involving a boat (Gary Hart);

- Dirty, dirty tactics to close a gap (a button that said, "Acid, Amnesty, Appeasement, vote McGovern" came courtesy of Hubert H. Humphrey);

- You are NOT going to believe this, but a shocking number of people predict horrific consequences to the country if candidate X were to somehow either become or continue to serve as President of the United States. I know! (Take a moment to compose yourself if you need it, I'll wait.)

- Losing candidates court favors in exchange for "pledging" his or her delegates to the candidate who makes the best pitch, er... would make the best president; and finally...

- Appearances by the same types of candidates we see every year: "the inevitable nominee" (Muskie early on, followed by several candidates as they surge, then McGovern), the "only Democrat who can beat Nixon" (Muskie again); the "Crazy candidate" (Wallace... I mean, he tried to block school doors with his body to stop integration... and he WON FLORIDA); the "Old Guard guy who won't go away" (Humphrey, who actually ran against Nixon in '68 and wanted a rematch); and finally, the left wing candidates (John Lindsay, Shirley Chisholm and "Mad Sam" Yorty) who somehow think they can win.

I think everything listed above happened in one form or another in 2008. It's surreal. And, it takes the sheen off of the whole process. But, that is exactly why this book was fun. HST mocks the entire process, tells some great stories and exposes the charade for the farce it can be.

So, I have now been properly steeled to deal with the zany world of primary elections and later the general election. I am prepared to bite my tongue, try to be diplomatic, and (when sufficiently annoyed) lose my composure over this silly stuff. I may even go hunting for Chicken Little.

Most of all, it puts me in a mood to douse the flames of "seriousness" that surround these elections while wholeheartedly supporting my candidate.

I Like What I Like

I know we are supposed to broaden horizons and whatnot, but sometimes you just need comfort food. It's time for me to get back to my comfort zone.

I've read 7 books (with number 8 scheduled to fall tomorrow) so far and I'm not thrilled with my selection so far. I had embraced the idea of reading some different and new things to start this year and I have re-shelved a few of those books to be revisited (or not) later.

The Martian Chronicles and Room were probably the two best, but they will probably earn no better than a solid 3.5 out of 5 for me. Belle De Jour may also be a three as one of my annual "train-wreck" specialties, but, again, I'm picking the best of a sorry lot. A Few Seconds of Panic included some fun inside Denver Bronco info, but it was too centered on kickers, so... yeah.

And after that the bottom falls out.

Hiroshima was written not long after the bomb was actually dropped. It started out very interesting, but it then turned into a "sort-of" description of what happened to survivors in the aftermath and treating the mysterious "extra" effects post-bombing as, well, mysteries. It started as a story of people who survived the blast, and then turned into a primitive medical description. It tries to end on a positive that these folks "survived," but we just know too much about the cancer rates of their grandchildren to really fall for that now. It's an old book my dad had I've long meant to read, but it does not age well.

Stranger in a Strange Land just stunk for me. It's like the Sci-Fi version of Catch-22 for me, which will make Dave curse me, but it's also true. I just could not get either and I had to talk myself into finishing both. For some reason, Dave loves these two books and I have a mental block on whatever it is both of these books tried to do.

SO, I'm going into picky mode. I'm going on a run of old stand-by genres and familiar authors until further notice. Sometimes, you just know when it's time to narrow the horizon.

Dave's sick and he didn't write me back

Transcript of my text message conversation with Dave today with my grammatical errors fixed.

Me: "Joe's bringing his brother and seester-in-law, do you want to ride up with me tomorrow night? I promise not to be late. Alan" Joe and Dave and I are all on a trivia team together and Dave is our all star, I am the captian and someday I hope to answer a question, but so far I have come up with a really great name and have assembled the team.

Dave: "If I go that's fine. Sick as #@*% today. We'll see how it goes tomorrow." Dave is obviously not feeling well, could it be an over indulgence at a super bowl party? Maybe the flue, maybe typhoid, at this point I do not know, I just don't want to get sick.

Me: "I'm sorry! Hope you feel better and seriously let me know if you need sick supplies, I may leave them on your porch tho." Again, I don't want to get sick thus leaving the supplies on the porch. I would have brought him Gatorade if he was dehydrated from pooping too much, diarrhea kills so many people worldwide and we do need Dave for trivial and I like him. It is obvious that I am a kind and good hearted friend though, unlike some people whose names will not be mentioned. Speaking of that unnamed person when I later told Joe that Dave was sick he immediately started to worry about our trivia standing without a thought to Dave's well-being or electrolyte balance.

Dave: "Whiskey and porn always helps" Me too!!! Oh my goodness, a commonality, although truly I think that if you're a guy these two things just make you feel better. Dave did forget beef jerky and cheese, with enough of the aforementioned items one would never really need to leave the house.

Me: "I have some whiskey and I'll make some porn asap" Note again what a kind and generous friend I am, while Joe is on the phone calling everyone he knows in case Dave can't make it to trivia I am thinking about what I can do to help the poor guy. I am all by myself here and I could use some help holding the camera if anyone has a few minutes. My biggest concern really is that Dave is using this sick day to pound out another book, Dave if you're too sick to go to trivia you're too sick to pump up your numbers. That's very similar to my mom's old saying of, "get your lazy ass up and your nose out of that book and do something you little bastard" except different.

Dave didn't write me back, I am sure he's just feeling better.

Fallacy News

You can't make this stuff up.

I went to a new sandwich place in town and brought my Kindle. I'm reading a book called 42 Fallacies, which has been a great refresher on the basics of logic and argumentation. The book illustrates fallacies in all forms.

This particular sandwich shop chose to play Fox News on its two TVs. They also cranked up the sound pretty loud, so I couldn't ignore the show completely.

It was like listening to my 42 Fallacies book in audiobook form. Specifically, I listened to Megyn Kelly's mid-day show. I lasted 15 minutes.

I want to form a gang

Saturday was Frankie's 6th birthday party, it was at Chuckee Cheese, and the huge rat with the massive vampire like teeth only made two little kids in our party cry. Two of the people who came with their little girl were my old friend Loren Thomson and his wife (who is also a good friend) Tiffany. I've known Loren since we were crawling around on the dirt side yards between our single wide trailer houses in the Triangle K trailer park on the outskirts of Sturgis S.D.

Loren and Tiffany came over that night and we ordered Chinese food, while Loren and I made fun of each other the kids played and Tiffany curled up on the couch in misery, not sure what this was about but there was mention of severe cat allergies and my three cats.

I tried to get Loren to come to trivia night (he made fun of it and made some reference to my masculinity and the fact that I love yoga, have cats and play trivia and I called him a Neanderthal) but I do not think he is going to come. In our talks my book clubs came up and the fact that two of the trivia team are in book clubs with me and they have ereaders. It was just a passing mention of the fact that Joe and Dave both have ereaders but Loren piped up and said, "I bought Tiffany a nook and she never uses it, do you want it?" Now, I know many people who have both Nooks and Kindles and I've poked fun at them all. I've told them how I want the paper book so I can keep it on a shelf and loan it to my friends and read it in the bath. I've said numerous times I just don't want an ereader, I love books too much, I like to lay covered in books, I like them scattered around the house, I like a couple in the car and all the bathrooms and by my bed and on the coffee table in the living room. I love to have shelves of books some of which I've read some I have not. I like people to take a look at my book collection and form some kind of favorable impression because they are not all romance(Dave) and knitting(Joe) books. I like to have books around that I love and can use to shim up a couch leg or throw at the cat or to burn in the case of nuclear winter.

The truth is I wanted an ereader. I didn't care if it was a Kindle or a Nook, I just wanted one. I always have, I finally got one and I'm happy. Or I was until Kirsten brought in her Nook that was color and had voice books for my kiddo and you could turn it and the text turned as well and was totally touch, now I want that nook. The truth is I was just cheap, of course I wanted a Nook, I wanted a nook so badly, show me a man who doesn't like technology and gadgets and I'll show you a guy the world is leaving behind sad and alone wishing he still had a typewriter and a travel agent.

Sooo, Dave, you have a nook, let's form a gang and make fun of non ereader owning folks and if we run out of them we can find technical faults with the Kindles.

I am so happy!

Assignments (updated)

In the past, I have assigned some of my favorite books. I then watch in horror as those books are not enjoyed the same way I enjoy them. So, this year I am adopting Dave's strategy for assignments, which is to pick books the assignees would not otherwise read. My assignments for 2012:

Dave - Summer Meditations, by Vaclav Havel. (Vaclav Havel died in 2011, and this book is a collection of his thoughts before he took over the presidency and his thoughts on how to manage a country after it had been carved up over the previous century). Also, I assign The World Without Us, by Alan Weisman. Have fun! None of my assigned books could kill a large animal or replace a cinder block, unlike the last few years! You're welcome.

James - I do not imagine you would ever read Chuck Klosterman unless I assign it. I debated between Downtown Owl and The Visible Man, but I think you will enjoy Downtown Owl more. So, I assign it to you, but I grant you the right to switch it for The Visible Man if that sounds more appealing.

Alan - I will give you a choice as well (but partly because I'm not sure if you have or have not read either of these). Team of Rivals by Doris Kearns-Goodwin or Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoevsky. I also choose these because I have them in paper form and can lend them to you. If you have read them both, I'll be assigning you to read a Jon Ronson book.

So there you have my assignments. Happy reading in 2012.
**************************************************************************************

So, yeah, I figured we could all just appropriate Joe's post and put all our assignments on here. I'm resourceful/lazy like that. Also, since, James and Alan are sort of strangers in all this, they don't have to assign each other anything....unless they want to, in which case...have at it.

Joe- The Half-Made World by Felix Gilman: because you hate westerns and sci-fi, so a combination has got to be good, right? Also, The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Klay because, despite my recommendations and shouts of affection, you will never read Chabon unless I make you, dammit.

James- 1776 by David McCullough. McCullough is one of the best historians I've ever read, and 1776 is a short, but sweet, look at one year in Washington's military; a year that started badly but would end in a huge 'victory" for the Revolutionaries. (I own this, and can lend it to you)

Alan- I know we talked about you reading Slaughterhouse 5 by Kurt Vonnegut, and I'm just making it official. Great, Great book. I hope you will like it, and if you don't, I'll never fucking speak to you again.



(Kidding.)


It's Friday night and I just finished Geraldine Brooks's March. This was
probably not the most exciting way in which to spend the start of my weekend but
at least at this moment I am ahead of Dave by a book.

Speaking of Dave, my assignment to you is Winston Churchhill's The Second World War. Now I know that it says on the box that it is complete in 6 volumes and it may seem slightly unfair of me to assign you this rather lengthy treatise of over 2400 pages (especially after you gave me Slaughterhouse Five at 215 pages) but, I think you will like it, and let's face it you're a bit of a machine and this levels the playing field. Just kidding!!!! I want you to read Pillars of the
Earth by Ken Follet, it's a little lengthy but one of my favorite books of the past few years. Trashy fiction maybe but it will keep you engrossed and you'll love it as much as I did I hope.

Joe- You get the The Dark Tower by Stephen King, not all that deep and I read it in high school and remember loving it. I think by assignment is the only way you might pick it up and Dave just finishing the 7th in the series reminded me of it. I believe you need more fiction in your life. I may reread the series myself it’s been a long time since I was in the land of the gunslinger.

James- We have not met, Dave’s correct in that but I want you to read the Social Animal by David Brooks. David Brooks is a New York Times columnist who swings a little right of Barack and me but I thoroughly enjoyed this examination of the psyche and what shapes character and personality. I hope you like it as much as I did.

Dave's Sweet Sixteen

Hey!  It's New Years again!  2012!  Mayan Apocalypse! British Olympics! Presidential Election! This year is going to suck!  So, let's look at the past year in books, a year that I read a personal best 77 books, and destroyed my fellow blogger's total here. (That's a warning, Alan.  Know what you're getting into.)  Every year, during the year, I think that the quality of books is not up to previous years, and then by December, I look at the best of list and think "best year ever!" And so, join me as we look at the top 16 off the best year of books I've ever had.  Why 16? Because it's my blog.

16. The Devil In the White City by Erik Larson
One of those "Non-Fiction which reads like Fiction" books, it's the story of the 1893 Chicago's World's Fair, the "White City" of the title, and H.H. Holmes, viewed by some as America's first Serial Killer, who operated just blocks from the Fair's entrance.  While Holmes story provides most of the thrills, I found myself more involved with the architects and their struggles. In fact , my favorite character was Fredrick Olmstead, the landscaping architect who hated flowerbeds, and had a breakdown seemingly every time he appeared.

Joe's Addendum for 2011

Since my bowl preview, I have read four more books, bringing the final total to 44 for the year. The final top five remains unchanged. But, a few words on the last four I read would make sense. I set my personal record for a year with 44, which was the goal. That would make 45 my goal for next year.

- Bedwetter, by Sarah Silverman. This one goes in the Comedy Conference. I'll put it in a second-place tie with Bossypants. This book was similar to Tina Fey's book in many ways because it was more autobiographical than stand-up comedy. Still, when you wet your bed until you are about 16, that makes for some serious material. A funny and light read.

- Ballad of the Whiskey Robber, by Julian Rubenstein was awesome. The Whiskey Robber is Attila Ambrus, a Transylvanian pelt smuggler, janitor, pro hockey goalie, escapee and bank robber who is scheduled to be released back into Hungarian society in 2016. Thanks to Chris Leger for the recommendation. Just a great and fun read.

Truth is way stranger than fiction and this story proves it. The story takes place in the late 80s and into the late 90s. It's a true story and crazier than you could ever imagine. Ambrus was on the front page (unknown as to identity) as a grainy bank robber in a security camera and, in the same day, shown on the sports page pathetically trying to mind a professional hockey net (he sucked at that... very badly) while again getting beat by double digits. It's like Keystone Kops meet the drunk hockey robber and the story is as mad-capped as anything I've ever read. He left presents for the police chief, scheduled his robberies so he would be featured on "Kriminales," the Hungarian equivalent of "America's Most Wanted," and even had his lawyer hold a press conference next to a cardboard cutout of himself (he became a famous and cult-hero escapee in Hungary). Nonfiction Conference tied with The Corner and Homicide. This was the only late read that threatened to change my final top 5.

- Secrets of Mental Math, by Michael Shermer and Arthur Benjamin. A rigorous course in mental math calculation. I learned a lot of tricks to make mental calculations much faster. As with any book of this type, some of it was a review of things I already do (tips are just not hard to figure), some was interesting and new (much faster multiplication of big numbers), and some of it was just so advanced that I absorbed it, acknowledged the logic of it and decided that I will probably just use a calculator for five-digit multiplication and five-digit square roots, thank you very much. Seriously, this book shows you how to do it in your mind if you are willing to use mnemonics to keep the numbers straight. Again, fascinating, but not something I feel like investing in. That said, I absolutely will invest in the formula for calculating the day of the week of any date in history and two- and three-digit mental multiplication. Although the book was short, the practice problems were arduous. Great practical use tips. Behavior Science Conference, third place.

- Playing Piano in a Brothel, by Terry Frei. A journey through the sports journalism career of Terry Frei. He has covered an impressive array of sports and crossed paths with some great figures of sport. It is a compilation, so it can be hit and miss, but his information on the Colorado Avalanche, his critique of journalism and boxing made the book worth it. I finished this one just before midnight. Non-fiction, fourth place (that's a good conference).

Happy New Year! I am now planning my assignments for the year.