From the category archives:

Books

End-of Year Lists, Part Uno

January 1, 2006

In keeping with the New Year’s theme, I’ve decided to share my lists of media consumed, as tabulated at del.icio.us this year, starting with books (in reverse chronological order). For pithy summaries and opinions, please see del.icio.us.

  1. A Whole New Mind. Daniel Pink (2005)
  2. Reefer Madness: Sex, Drugs, and Cheap Labor in the American Black Market. Eric Schlosser (2004)
  3. Poison Penmanship: The Gentle Art of Muckraking. Jessica Mitford (1979)
  4. Running with Scissors: A Memoir. Augusten Burroughs (2002)
  5. Watching Movies: The Biggest Names in Cinema Talk about the Films that Matter Most. Rick Lyman (2002)
  6. A Million Little Pieces. James Frey (2003)
  7. Never Coming to A Theater Near You. Kenneth Turan (2004)
  8. Created by: Inside the Minds of TV’s Top Show Creators. Stephen Prigg?? (2005)
  9. Moonlight Chronicles. Dan Price (2005)
  10. How to Make a Journal of Your Life. Dan Price (2005)
  11. Radical Simplicity: Creating an Authentic Life. Dan Price (2005)
  12. Bringing Down the House: The Inside Story of Six M.I.T. Students Who Took Vegas for Millions. Ben Mezrich (2002)
  13. The Opposite of Fate: Memories of a Writing Life. Amy Tan (2003)
  14. Stranger Than Fiction: True Stories. Chuck Palahniuk (2004)
  15. Created in Darkness by Troubled Americans: The Best of McSweeney’s Humor Category. Dave Eggers, Ed. (2005)
  16. Blood and Champagne: The Life and Times of Robert Capa. Alex Kershaw (2002)
  17. Hayao Miyazaki: Master of Japanese Animation. Helen McCarthy (1999)
  18. A Sense of Place: Great Travel Writers Talk About Their Craft, Lives, and Inspiration. Michael Shapiro, Ed. (2004)
  19. In Buddha’s Kitchen: Cooking, Being Cooked, and Other Adventures at a Meditation Center. Kimberly Snow (2003)
  20. Lucky: A Memoir. Alice Sebold (1999)
  21. The Badass Girl’s Guide to Poker: All You Need to Beat the Boys. Toby Leah Bochan (2005)
  22. Sleepaway: Writings on Summer Camp. Eric Simonoff, Ed. (2005)
  23. The Way of the Wanderer: Discover Your True Self Through Travel. David Yeadon (2001)
  24. Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers. Mary Roach (2003)
  25. Hypocrite in a Pouffy White Dress. Susan Jane Gilman (2005)
  26. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. J.K. Rowling (2005)
  27. Garlic and Sapphires: The Secret Life of a Critic in Disguise. Ruth Reichl (2005)
  28. You Have the Power: Choosing Courage in a Culture of Fear. Frances Moore Lapp?? & Jeffrey Perkins (2005)
  29. The Heart Aroused: Poetry and the Preservation of the Soul in Corporate America. David Whyte (1994)
  30. Crossing the Unknown Sea. David Whyte (2001)
  31. A Cook’s Tour: Global Adventures in Extreme Cuisines. Anthony Bourdain (2002)
  32. Dan Eldon: The Art of Life. Jennifer New (2001)
  33. Freakonomics: A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything. Stephen D. Levitt & Stephen J. Dubner (2005)
  34. Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking. Malcolm Gladwell (2005)
  35. Dream Brother: The Lives and Music of Jeff & Tim Buckley. David Browne (2001)
  36. The Art of Possibility: Transforming Professional and Personal Life. Rosamund Stone Zander & Benjamin Zander (2000)
  37. If Chins Could Kill: Confessions of a B Movie Actor. Bruce Campbell (2001)
  38. The Impossible Will Take a Little While: A Citizen’s Guide to Hope in a Time of Fear. Paul Rogat Loeb (2004)
  39. The Skeptic: A Life of H.L. Mencken. Terry Teachout (2002)
  40. Trickster Makes This World: Mischief, Myth and Art. Lewis Hyde (1998)

I think that may be the most books I’ve read in a year since college. Definitely done in fits and spurts, but most were worth the time. Even tried out some fiction this year, surprisingly, and am planning for more. With two bookshelves full of unread books, I should have a lot to choose from…

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Happy Happy Link Link

October 27, 2000

Worked sick at home again today. Lots of bug fixing—I’m really glad I decided to get DSL for my last few months here. Also took some time to surf a little tonight, and found the following delights which I share with you…

  • Religion Selector—A part of the SpeakOut activism site, this questionnaire offers a slightly different twist on the usual “what’s your ________ name”-style web activity. By answering about a dozen questions on various aspects of religious belief, and rating their relative importance, you will get a list of what world religions most closely match your beliefs. Each of the 26 listed faiths has a page of explanation for those who aren’t familiar with it, and a list of sources for more information. I discovered, somewhat to my surprise, that Neo-Pagan came in first, with a 100% match, and New Age came before either of the Buddhist options. Guess I’m a bit more airy-fairy than I thought.

  • Lynda Barry’s 100 Demons—The good news is that she’s only on 15 or so, so there’s lots more to come. She’s always been a great storyteller (look for Ernie Pook’s Comeek in your local hip weekly paper), but this series is another level up for Barry—full-color, each one focused on a single topic, and startlingly personal. A new Demon appears every other Friday in Salon, and I hope when the series is done she can find a publisher to print the whole thing in full color, because I know my inkjet prints will disintegrate someday. And finally…

  • Into the Forest—Not a link so much as a recommendation. I read this book and had a chance to hear Jean Hegland a few years back when the Calyx edition of this novel came out; it’s one of the few books that I’ve read in a single sitting, and I’m not sure I have words to do it justice. It is a frightening and yet ultimately hopeful vision of the future as seen through the eyes of two teenage sisters who find themselves in the woods at the beginning of the meltdown of civilization. And while that sounds like the jacket blurb for dozens of sci-fi novels, this book works on deeper levels, tying in ecology, practical survival strategy, and the complicated emotional landscape between siblings among other things. Worth repeated re-reads.

And that, I think, is plenty for one day. Off to dreamland…

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