Joe's Top 5 for 2014

It has been a really good reading year for me.  I topped 12,000 pages for the year as hoped, and I read some amazing recommendations.  I now refer to my friend Chris L as the book whisperer because each of his two recommendations have been absolute gold... and one landed on this top 5.

I finished with 33 books, which seems like a good place to stop.  That number (33) makes me think of a few legendary figures...

Patrick Roy... Oh man, did he give me some great memories.



Larry Bird? Yes, please!



OK, so NOW I'm pumped! 

First, a brief rundown since my mid-point review and World Cup celebration.  I count the entire Lord of the Rings Series because I read 2/3 of it this year, and I leave the Last Lion series (I read 1/3 of it this year) to last year and it's top 5 finish, as well as its new spot on my all-time list.  My midpoint review takes me through books 20 (you can read that here), so here's a look at books 21-33 (excluding top five until the last part) in rapid-fire style:



Traditional Taekwondo, by Doug Cook.  It was mostly WTF (ITF all the way!), but it was an interesting read.  I'm always interested in the various methods and styles, and the motives for people who attain a high rank.  The fight for the soul of Taekwondo is as varied as expressed in A Killing Art (which I wrote about here.)

Soldaten, by Soenke Neitzel and Harald Welzer was a real interesting look at old transcripts from secret recordings made of conversations between German POWs during WWII.  It was a really interesting look at perspectives and how those change as the outcome changed.  An interesting look at human perceptions, which is always going to reel me in.

Forgotten Soldier, by Guy Sajer.  Another German soldier point-of-view story, and a look at the Eastern front.  After reading this book, I'm not sure there was a more brutal or savage war waged on planet earth that the Eastern European front of WWII.  What an amazing mess.  His stories of going on leave were fascinating because he saw first hand how severely the Allies were hitting Germany.  A chilling account of a brutal struggle in the muck and mud. A real strong candidate for top 5.

Empty Mansions, by Bill Dedman and Paul Clark Newell.  It's amazing how much money a person can spend on doll houses when billions are available.  Stunning, even.  A recluse with eccentric tastes and endless money leads to some really odd stories.  It also inevitably leads to a fight over her estate, which is a movie I'm all too familiar with.

President Me, by Adam Corolla.  When I need a laugh, I reach for comedy.  Politics can either make me laugh or cry. I chose to laugh.  Recharge read.

What would Ben Say? Poorer Richard's America, by Tom Blair.  An offering about what Ben Franklin would say about us today.  The quotes Blair draws from add credibility to his assertions, and it is absolutely always a pleasure to revisit Ben and his amazing charm.  The old-timey writing style was a bit off, but it was a fun read.

Beautiful You, by Chuck Palahniuk.  Amazing amounts of sex, off-the-wall scenarios, and a man gets destroyed in the package by a dildo missile set off by a sex-toy bonfire.  What's not to love?  It's Chuck at his nutty usual, which means it was fun.

Both Flesh and Not, by David Foster Wallace.  Someday, I will run out of DFW to read, so I have been trying to space it out.  I had read many of these essays before, but they are always entertaining, even when they are about things I have no clue about (like editing an essay compilation).  His Terminator 2 essay got me to re-watch the first two of those movies.

The Talent Code, by Daniel Coyle.   Another great recommended book.  This book explained why so many things we already know about improvement actually work.  It illustrates and explains the physiology of talent and improvement.  It seems to "prove" or illustrate, but also expand upon, so many things we suspect we already knew.  It's all about the "Myelin." Also, it so thoroughly solidifies my belief toward tenacity and grindstone teaching of children that I suspect I may become a degree more unbearable about it.

Unbroken, by Laura Hillenbrand.  This one was in my top 5 until just yesterday.  The story is unforgettable.  It was a fun read, and inspiring.  I plan to see the movie sometime this week. This was the most amazing story of survival I have come across in any book.  I cannot recommend it highly enough.  

The Top 5

5.  The Game, by Ken Dryden.  I already wrote this about The Game, and it remains true:  Ken Dryden's book is considered one of the all-time greats and it deserves that reputation.  What a fantastic book.  Very cerebral. Very well written.  A real treat for anyone at all interested in hockey.  His description of the instinctual parts of the game were fantastic.  He described fighting "age," but the biggest obstacle was actually developing new interests while aging and maturing.  In short, hockey becomes less important, so the drive goes before the legs do.  Just a great book.  

4.  Rant, by Chuck Palahniuk.  I wrote about this book here.  This one held its early spot against some real strong challenges.

3. Lord of the Rings, by J.R.R. Tolkien.  I read 2/3 of this series in 2014, so it counts!  I found it a great read and loved the style.  I heard from both sides of the fence on the style of Tolkien, but my verdict is that it's great.  I had seen all the movies, but I found that there was still much to take from the full story.  The macro message is clearer in the books and there were times when the build-up (for example, to Helm's Deep) was better than the action.  Tolkien shows the reader the whole picture.  

2.  100 Years of Solitude, by Gabriel Garcia Marquez.   My first introduction to a style labelled "Mystical Realism."  This was a recommendation from my friend, Mike.  We did a book trade, and I'm hoping he read the Pale King and loved it.  The style was like nothing I have read before.  Marquez added strategic elements of mysticism, but in a way that encouraged an artistic flourish without derailing or distracting the story.  The mystical elements skillfully supported the rugged realism in a very satisfying way.  The story of seven generations of one family in a remote and foolishly-placed town illustrated a snowball of repeated mistakes and misfortune that was both predictable and engaging.  The hopes and dreams of the characters and the choices they made were well supported by the occasional injection of mystical illustration.  It left me feeling like I had witnessed "earned misery," but the characters were sympathetic and charming.  Just a fantastic piece of art.

1.  Going Solo, by Roald Dahl.  Going Solo was amazing.  I had no idea the writer of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory was a genuine war hero and that he wrote the most witty, humble, and engrossing life story I have ever read.  This book kept me riveted to my seat.  It is short, but intense.  He states right at the start that he thinks the only things anyone wants to know about anyone else are the truly remarkable parts.  This book has zero fat on it.  Every storyline is completely engrossing and fascinating.  It is the leanest and most thrilling 200 pages I can remember reading.  He tries to save a woman dragged away by a lion in Africa, faces a few massive and poisonous snakes, tries to stop Germans from leaving an African town when war started, crash lands his fighter between two warring armies and nearly dies, becomes 1/5 of the entire surviving RAF pilot group that fought in Greece, and then fought in Haifa until his wounds and trauma forced them to send him home.

And, his trip home through bombed-out London and his eventual reunion with his mother was the absolute gut punch at the end.  Just a really great and uplifting read. And... it was the best book I read in 2014.