I've got a couple of hours, and my supplies ( Diet Mountain Dew and An Arturo Fuente Cigar) Without further adu, and a couple of months late, here are my favorite reads of 2012
16. As She Climbed Across The Table by Jonathan Lethem- This is Lethem very well done; trippy, intellectual, and sorrowful. I couldn't even begin to explain the plot, but I could kind of put it this way....imagine if Kubrick's 2001 was an earthbound relationship drama. (Boom, Dave, you've done it again)
15. The Windup Girl by Paolo Bacigalupi- I love this book because it's a post-apocalyptic sci-fi book, but the "apocalypse" is a different vein than I've ever read, and because while very few people in the book are truly dirty, by the end, nobody comes away clean.
14. Ballad of The Whiskey Robber by Julian Rubinstein- Joe and Alan both hounded me to read this book. Rightfully so, because this read about a Transylvanian hockey-playing Robin Hood is hilarious, poignant, and quickly devoured.
13. Summer Meditations by Vaclav Havel- (Assigned by Joe) Vaclav is a smart dude, and this book, written during his presidency (the first democratically elected president of Czechoslovakia after Communism) is like reading a modern version of political philosophy from the American Revolution. Vaclav has a vision, and that vision is a democracy that is open and inclusive. He continually references a "higher responsibility", and it is impossible to read this book and not be impressed.
12. A Storm of Swords (A Song of Ice and Fire #3) by George R.R. Martin- (Assigned by James) HOLYSHITHOLYSHITHOLYSHITHOLYSHITHOLYSHITHOLYSHITHOLYSHITHOLYSHITHOLYSHITHOLYSHITHOLYSHITHOLYSHIT- my reaction to the last half of the book
11. The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger- Dear Jannah; Look, I know that we discuss movies and books a lot, and I typically smash whatever choices that you love, sometimes without even knowing what you think first...
----A FEW MONTHS AGO------
Dave- You know what movie is fucking overrated and shitty? Gone With The Wind. God, I hate that movie.
Jannah- (in a quiet voice) Dave, that's my favorite movie
UNCOMFORTABLE SILENCE
Dave- Who wants something to drink?
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But I will say this....you were completely right about Time Traveler's Wife. I bow before your excellent taste.
10. The Night Class by Tom Piccirelli- talked about this book here.
9. The Art of Fielding by Chad Harbach- Among other great reviews this book won, I add this...I bought Moby Dick because of this book. In a couple of years, I might even read it! I loved this coming of age book about Baseball, relationships, and dealing with yourself.
8. Everybody Loves Our Town by Mark Yarm- As a fan of grunge music, I loved this book about the Seattle music scene, taking place between the Grungebirth in the mid-8o's and the explosion and oversaturation of the early 90's. As with most oral histories, the sheer amounts of stories will entertain you for a long while, even if you are not familar with all the musicians mentioned.
7. 1861: A Civil War Reawakening by Adam Goodheart- A different look at the beginning of the Civil War, through the eyes of some lesser-known historical entities. Also a good book to recommend for anybody who tries to tell you that Slavery had nothing to do with the civil war. (They're out there)
6. In The Garden of Beasts by Erik Larsen- talked about this book here
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5. Brilliant Orange by David Winner- The best Soccer book I've ever read (and I've read quite a few the last couple of years). Great read because it examines Holland's obsession with soccer, and the correlation between the "Dutch" brand of the game, a beautiful, finesse-driven style, and Dutch culture. Ever since I started watching international soccer a couple of decades ago, I loved watching the Dutch play, because win or lose (and in big games, it was "lose") they played with a panache that was fun to watch. So I also shared the author's horror at Holland's cynical, rough, and at times, dirty run at the 2010 World Cup, which can be summed up in the following video.....
4. The Sense of An Ending by Julian Barnes- A terrific look at how our memory can define, defy, and destroy our lives. How we often remember things one way, and sometimes realize it was never that way, and we are only victims of our own slant. A boy sees his life go one way, and later in life, sees that it went in another way completely, and it was only because he was stuck in his own paradigm that he was blinded from another truth.
3. As I Lay Dying by William Faulkner- I do not know how you can write a book this depressing, and at the same time, make it laugh-out-loud funny. This was my first Faulkner book, and I had heard for years that he was conflicted about growing up in the south, but conflicted does not even scratch the surface of this book. So many times I felt sorrow for a character, and moments later, was slapping my forehead at the idiotic move said character tried to pull. I loved reading this book, almost as much as I was shamed by the number of familar personalities I grew up around.
2. The Minotaur Takes A Cigarette Break by Steven Sherrill- This was one of my choices for book club, a devastating look at the mythical Minotaur living in the American South. And here's how great the writing was: everybody who read this book, pointed to the numerous moments of Awkward that seemed to mark the present life of the Monster, and related to that awkwardness. If you can make anybody relate, and therefore root for a character, that is a fucking fantastic book.
1. Sabbath's Theater by Philip Roth- talked about this book here. By Far, the best book I read last year, even though I didn't realize it right away. But I still think about this book, almost a year after reading it, and I can't seem to shake it. This seems to be repeating itself with The Pale King, so we'll see for next year.
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