Good Old Neon Posted December 14, 2007 Share Posted December 14, 2007 Your year in books Quote Link to post Share on other sites
the carlos Posted December 14, 2007 Share Posted December 14, 2007 The Book of Yaak-Rick BassThe Road-Cormac McCarthyLet My People Go Surfing-Yvon ChouinardIndian Creek Chronicles-Pete Fromm Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Reni Posted December 14, 2007 Share Posted December 14, 2007 1. Unbearable Weight: Western Culture, Feminism and The Body - Susan Bordo - Probably one of the best collections of essays of feminist theory I have come across. Bordo uses a Foucauldian approach in her work, and her analysis is vital and relevant. She doesn't get bogged down in what she calls the "stylish nihilism" of many postmodern theorists. One of the best books I have ever read, period. 2. A Thousand Splendid Suns - Khaled Hosseini - I have had an interest in Afghanistan, and particularly the lives of women in Afghanistan, since the mid 1990's. I loved his first book, The Kite Runner, and had high hopes for this one. It exceeded my expectations and I couldn't put it down. It is tragic yet redemptive, not unlike The Kite Runner. While this book was not based on any one woman, the narrative comes from the experiences of multiple women he spoke to when he returned to Kabul a few years ago. So, there is a lot of truth here. 3. Arc of Justice: A Saga of Race, Civil Rights, and Murder in the Jazz Age - Kevin Boyle - This is a historical monograph, but reads like a novel. It is about an African American doctor and his family who moved into an all white neighborhood in the 1920's. White mobs threatened his family and home, and in the chaos, one of his friends shot and killed a man standing outside. All of the men in the house were charged with murder. The courtroom narrative is engrossing (as all of it is) with Clarence Darrow leading the defense team. Brilliant book. 4. Water for Elephants - Sara Gruen - I don't read a lot of fiction, but this was just delicious. 5. Imperial Life in the Emerald City - Rajiv Chandrasekaran - a gripping, depressing and enraging look into the Bremer/CPA era in Iraq. The corruption and ineptitude is staggering. A MUST read. 6. Packaging Girlhood: Saving Our Daughters From Marketers Schemes - Sharon Lamb and Lyn Mikael Brown - a quick, engrossing read on the manipulation and grip that consumer capitalism has on our kids and their identities. 7. Speaking of Faith - Krista Tippett - the host of the NPR show, of the same name, explores how we can better dialogue and find rich, connection to each other through diverse faiths and practices. It is beautifully written. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Good Old Neon Posted December 14, 2007 Author Share Posted December 14, 2007 Great list Reni Quote Link to post Share on other sites
darkstar Posted December 14, 2007 Share Posted December 14, 2007 Really liked Water For Elephants, The Road.....ehhhhhh, thought it was a good book but I don't get all the fuss. Certainly a fine story and all just guess it doesn't hit me like it has so many others. Then again I also really liked A Castle In The Forest (Mailer's last novel), so maybe that says volumes (no pun intended) about my tastes. That is one screwy read. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
mountain bed Posted December 14, 2007 Share Posted December 14, 2007 Easily the the funniest thing I've read in the last few years was "Destined For Destiny - The (Unauthorized) Autobiography of George W. Bush". Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Reni Posted December 14, 2007 Share Posted December 14, 2007 mb - that title cracks me up - maybe I should plop it onto my wishlist Quote Link to post Share on other sites
mountain bed Posted December 14, 2007 Share Posted December 14, 2007 mb - that title cracks me up - maybe I should plop it onto my wishlist Oh yes you should! How can you not love a book that has a chapter titled "my clown-faced zombie of a wife"? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Good Old Neon Posted December 14, 2007 Author Share Posted December 14, 2007 Really liked Water For Elephants, The Road.....ehhhhhh, thought it was a good book but I don't get all the fuss. Certainly a fine story and all just guess it doesn't hit me like it has so many others. Then again I also really liked A Castle In The Forest (Mailer's last novel), so maybe that says volumes (no pun intended) about my tastes. That is one screwy read. Aside from McCarthy Quote Link to post Share on other sites
darkstar Posted December 14, 2007 Share Posted December 14, 2007 Aside from McCarthy Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Reni Posted December 14, 2007 Share Posted December 14, 2007 Oh yes you should! How can you not love a book that has a chapter titled "my clown-faced zombie of a wife"? done. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Hi my name is Lee Posted December 14, 2007 Share Posted December 14, 2007 Thomas Pynchon's - Crying of Lot 49: Just got around to reading it this year, and this is what I tell everyone - This is the novel that reminded me why I love to read in the first place. Maas's musings over the Jacobean Revenge Play was probably the funniest "thing" that I have ever read/heard/seen. Some of his references are joyously familiar to anyone who has any knowledge of literary history while other references are obscure enough to prompt further readings/appreciation. So much fun. Cormac McCarthy's - The Road: Certainly not one of McCarthy's best, yet it still stands out as one of the best I've read in a long time. I am always in awe of his cleverness, of how he can do so much with so little. Ishiguro - Remains of the Day: I really don't like British literature outside of a few notable exceptions. It's too polished for me to relate to. It's own cleverness undercuts its purpose. With this novel, Ishiguro took me into the heart of all those things I hate and exposes its faults from the inside. Besides McCarthy, I have never read an author so dedicated to the life and authenticity of his characters; the narrative is so authentic that it makes the boring life of a butler interesting, touching, and funny. Faulkner's - As I Lay Dying: The American Joyce, only half as pretentious. Camus - The Plague: Still as pertinent as it was some 50 years ago. It's like he looked into the future and saw Pittsburgh, was able to get into the heads of everyone I know, and write everything he saw down verbatim. And now, the worst things I've read this year Ian McEwan's "Saturday": Who wants to read about a character that has absolutely no character flaws whatsoever? Perowne is one of those guys that drives a Mercedes and knows it. At the end of the day when he takes off his shoes, he basks in his own aroma. He's the epitome of what political correctness has done to society. He doesn't change; at the end of the novel, he's still is bland, rich white self. Makes me curious why his "Atonement" is doing well in theaters. Flannery O'Connor - Wise Blood: Where did all the wit go? Steinbeck's East of Eden: Ok, I admit, it wasn't that bad. I was just dissapointed. Too much "uninteresting" for the amount of "interesting." Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Hi my name is Lee Posted December 14, 2007 Share Posted December 14, 2007 Aside from McCarthy Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Lammycat Posted December 14, 2007 Share Posted December 14, 2007 Books I really enjoyed that left an impression: Water for Elephants, Sara GruenThe Secret Life of Bees, Sue Monk KiddThe New Bill James Historical Baseball Abstract, Bill James (first time I've read it cover to cover).A Miracle of Catfish, Larry Brown (just started it but it's right up there with his best. It just came out and was submitted to his publisher three days before he died two years ago).The Old man and the Sea, HemmingwayGonzo: The Life of Hunter S. Thompson, Jann Wenner and Corey SeymourThe Joke's Over, Ralph SteadmanThe Baseball Economist: The Real Game Expose, J.C. Bradbury Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Good Old Neon Posted December 14, 2007 Author Share Posted December 14, 2007 Definitely! "The Road" made me think of my dad the entire way though, it was very touching. Conversely when I was that young having to see my dad, who I had since thought as the "knower of all truths," baffled by hard times was an element of the book I particularly related to. I can relate strongly to that aspect of the book as well. My dad was not only brilliant, he was as strong as an ox and tough as nails to boot. Two years ago, he was diagnosed with alcohol induced dementia Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Somnambulist Posted December 14, 2007 Share Posted December 14, 2007 3. The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Azzurri Posted December 16, 2007 Share Posted December 16, 2007 Your year in books Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Beltmann Posted December 16, 2007 Share Posted December 16, 2007 I re-read The Scarlet Letter every year, but I keep on loving it. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
kathyp Posted December 16, 2007 Share Posted December 16, 2007 Not necessarily from 2007 - Love is a Mixtape by Rob SheffieldJPod - Douglas CouplandThe Braindead Megaphone - George SaundersThe Exes - Pagan Kennedy (Better than Jonathan Lethem's You Don't Love Me Yet, as far as rock band fiction goes.)Jesus Land -Julia SheeresSlackjaw - Jim KnipfelMy Happy Life - Lydia Millet Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Lammycat Posted December 16, 2007 Share Posted December 16, 2007 Love is a Mixtape by Rob SheffieldI forgot about this one. I read it a few months ago and thought it was a pretty decent book. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
jc4prez Posted December 16, 2007 Share Posted December 16, 2007 Don't usually read current books but did pick up the Road and loved every page of it. I just finished reading Carl Sagan's "Cosmos" some of the info is dated but still a great read. I have a lot to read over break; I'm currently reading Virgina Wolf's "A Room of One's Own" and also reading Howard Zinn's "peoples history of The United States 1943-Present". Quote Link to post Share on other sites
caliber66 Posted December 16, 2007 Share Posted December 16, 2007 I re-read The Scarlet Letter every year, but I keep on loving it.The one book I was assigned to read in high school that I didn't finish. Just couldn't do it. Perhaps I'll give it another try fifteen years later... Jesus Land -Julia SheeresI enjoyed that one. Pretty grim. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Sir Stewart Posted December 17, 2007 Share Posted December 17, 2007 The one book I was assigned to read in high school that I didn't finish. Just couldn't do it. Perhaps I'll give it another try fifteen years later... Did you get past The Custom House? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
caliber66 Posted December 17, 2007 Share Posted December 17, 2007 Did you get past The Custom House?Frankly, I don't remember. There was the one lady who was boning the preacher, and she had a kid (Pearl, right), and she had to wear the 'A' on her clothes, and then everything else is a big red blur. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
ction Posted December 17, 2007 Share Posted December 17, 2007 I read just about everything by George Pelecanos and Ken Bruen in 2007, and they are now both up there among my favorite authors. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.