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maribouJonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell, by Susanna Clarke
Really a wonderful novel, one of the best I've read all year. Sort of Dickens mixed with Austen mixed with Victorian scholarship (complete with lengthy footnotes), only its own thing moreso than any of those.
(206/200)
Book Business, by Jason Epstein
A brief but engaging memoir of his time in the book business (as a Random House editor). More interesting to me for its perspectives on the past than on the present/future, but I was delighted to find an old fogey type who actually gets the internet angle of book retail - something that Venerable Publishing Types tend to misunderstand.
(207/200)
Five Men who Broke My Heart, by Susan Shapiro
Oh, this was funny and honest. And what more can one ask from a memoir? Also a breezy read, as books written by magazine writers often are. It's on my recommendation shelf at the bookstore right now, since I think it'd be excellent post-prandial holiday reading.
(208/200)
Reefer Madness, by Eric Strosser (unabridged audio)
This was a very interesting discussion of the American underground economy which focused on marijuana, migrant strawberry pickers, and the rise of the porn industry. The author was possibly not the best reader they could've chosen, but I sort of like to hear what an author thinks is important to stress in their own sentences, you know? This was good enough to make me look forward to reading Fast Food Nation.
(209/200)
Wolves and Honey, by Susan Brind Morrow
An amazingly lovely book, delicate and penetrating. Loosely woven around the lives of two men, longtime friends of the author - one a trapper and the other a beekeeper. Full of appropriate classic quotations and thoroughly literary. It took me a while to get into it, but I was highlly enamored by book's end.
(210/200)
A Human Being Died That Night, by Pumla Gobodo-Madikizela
A psychologist and member of South Africa's post-apartheid Truth Commission spent several months visiting (and interviewing) Eugene De Kock, one of apartheid's most brutal assassins. An extremely compelling argument about the uses of forgiveness and the humanity of evil. A fascinating story, clearly and intelligently analyzed.
(211/200)
A Song to Sing, A Life to Live: Reflections on Music as Spiritual Practice, by Don Saliers and Emily Saliers
I picked this up because Emily Saliers is 1/2 of one of my favorite bands, The Indigo Girls. It's a very companionable book. Not too pushy, not too intellectually demanding but not written too far down to be interesting either. Some valuable stories and insights. Worth reading if you're very interested in music, spirituality (esp. Christianity), and/or The Indigo Girls.
(212/200)
Tales of the Knights Templar, edited by Katherine Kurtz
This was a gym book. I have come to the conclusion that it is impossible for me to tell what I would think of a given gym book had I read it in any other context, but it was a good gym book. And I suspect at least some of the stories'd be worth perusing for anyone with an affection for historical fantasy.
(213/200)
A Walk Through the Woods, by Bill Bryson
I was surprised to be disappointed by this book. I loved A Short History of Nearly Everything and this .. just didn't quite measure up. It was still a worthy read - the funny dialogues and anecdotes were very good. But I found the factual bits surprisingly dry. At least some of them. I caught myself mentally wandering off more than once. Ah well.
(214/200)
Really a wonderful novel, one of the best I've read all year. Sort of Dickens mixed with Austen mixed with Victorian scholarship (complete with lengthy footnotes), only its own thing moreso than any of those.
(206/200)
Book Business, by Jason Epstein
A brief but engaging memoir of his time in the book business (as a Random House editor). More interesting to me for its perspectives on the past than on the present/future, but I was delighted to find an old fogey type who actually gets the internet angle of book retail - something that Venerable Publishing Types tend to misunderstand.
(207/200)
Five Men who Broke My Heart, by Susan Shapiro
Oh, this was funny and honest. And what more can one ask from a memoir? Also a breezy read, as books written by magazine writers often are. It's on my recommendation shelf at the bookstore right now, since I think it'd be excellent post-prandial holiday reading.
(208/200)
Reefer Madness, by Eric Strosser (unabridged audio)
This was a very interesting discussion of the American underground economy which focused on marijuana, migrant strawberry pickers, and the rise of the porn industry. The author was possibly not the best reader they could've chosen, but I sort of like to hear what an author thinks is important to stress in their own sentences, you know? This was good enough to make me look forward to reading Fast Food Nation.
(209/200)
Wolves and Honey, by Susan Brind Morrow
An amazingly lovely book, delicate and penetrating. Loosely woven around the lives of two men, longtime friends of the author - one a trapper and the other a beekeeper. Full of appropriate classic quotations and thoroughly literary. It took me a while to get into it, but I was highlly enamored by book's end.
(210/200)
A Human Being Died That Night, by Pumla Gobodo-Madikizela
A psychologist and member of South Africa's post-apartheid Truth Commission spent several months visiting (and interviewing) Eugene De Kock, one of apartheid's most brutal assassins. An extremely compelling argument about the uses of forgiveness and the humanity of evil. A fascinating story, clearly and intelligently analyzed.
(211/200)
A Song to Sing, A Life to Live: Reflections on Music as Spiritual Practice, by Don Saliers and Emily Saliers
I picked this up because Emily Saliers is 1/2 of one of my favorite bands, The Indigo Girls. It's a very companionable book. Not too pushy, not too intellectually demanding but not written too far down to be interesting either. Some valuable stories and insights. Worth reading if you're very interested in music, spirituality (esp. Christianity), and/or The Indigo Girls.
(212/200)
Tales of the Knights Templar, edited by Katherine Kurtz
This was a gym book. I have come to the conclusion that it is impossible for me to tell what I would think of a given gym book had I read it in any other context, but it was a good gym book. And I suspect at least some of the stories'd be worth perusing for anyone with an affection for historical fantasy.
(213/200)
A Walk Through the Woods, by Bill Bryson
I was surprised to be disappointed by this book. I loved A Short History of Nearly Everything and this .. just didn't quite measure up. It was still a worthy read - the funny dialogues and anecdotes were very good. But I found the factual bits surprisingly dry. At least some of them. I caught myself mentally wandering off more than once. Ah well.
(214/200)
