I'm just about to start the new Murakami and I doubt it will be finished by the end of the year. So here's this year's list. Tough year for reading. Had a vision problem earlier in the year and no attention span the rest of it.
If I finished the book, it's on this list. Three stars means it's better than average, four better than that.
1) Patton Oswalt - Zombie Spaceship Wasteland. 208 p. (too many footnotes)
2) Ian Rankin - Mortal Causes. 310 p.
3) Robert Kirkman - The Walking Dead v.3 Miles Behind Us.
4) Melissa Muller & Monika Tatzkow - Lost Lives, Lost Art. 248 p. ***
5) Geoffrey Cunningham, Carla Repice & The American Public - Office of Blame Accountability. (unpaged) ***
6) Kurt Vonnegut Jr. - When Mortals Sleep. 253 p. ***
7) Mindy Nettifee - Rise of the Trust Fall. 111 p. **** (best poetry)
8) Stuart Murdoch - The Celestial Cafe. 334 p. ***
9) Catherine Price - 101 Places Not to See Before you Die. 249 p.
10) Carolyn Turgeon - Mermaid. 244 p.
11) Keiji Nakazawa - Barefoot Gen v. 1. 284 p. ***
12) Robert Kirkman, The Walking Dead - Safety Behind Bars.
13) Tea Obreht - The Tiger's Wife. 337 p. ***
14) Kristin Downey - The Woman Behind the New Deal. The Life of Frances Perkins. 458 p.
15) Francisco Goldman - Say Her Name. 350 p. ****
16) Alexander McCall Smith - The Saturday Big Tent Wedding Party. 213 p. ***
17) Robert Kirkham. The Walking Dead V.4 The Heart's Desire. ***
18) Laura Hillenbrand - Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption. 473 p. **** (best non-fiction)
19) Dan Barry. Bottom of the 33rd. 255 p. ***
20) Portia Iverson. Strange Son: Two Mothers, Two Sons, and the Quest to Unlock the Hidden World of Autism. 391 p. ***
21) Keiji Nakazawa - Barefoot Gen v. 2. 234 p.
22) Dorianne Laux. The Book of Men. 91 p.
23) Dorianne Laux. Facts about the Moon. 96 p. ***
24) Jewely Hight. Right by Her Roots: Americana Women and Their Songs. 235 p.
25) Michael Morpurgo. War Horse. 165 p. ***
26) Keiji Nakazawa - Barefoot Gen : life after the bomb. v. 3. 257 p .
27) Alexander Theroux - The Strange Case of Edward Gorey. 68 p.
28) Ian Rankin - Let it Bleed. 287 p. ***
29) Donald Ray Pollock - The Devil All the Time. 261 p. **** (best fiction.)
30) Flint Whitlock - The Rock of Anzio. 479 p. ***
31) Dana Reinhardt - The Summer I Learned to Fly. 216 p. ***
32) Edward Gorey - Amphigorey. (unpaged)
33) Rachel McKibbons - Pink Elephant. 83 p. ****
34) Christine Sismondo - America Walks into a Bar. 314 p.
35) Denise Mina - The End of Wasp Season. 404 p. ***
36) Keiji Nakazawa. Barefoot Gen, Out of the Ashes v. 4. 281 p.
37) Richard Schickel. Harold Lloyd: The Shape of Laughter. 218 p.
38) Charles Lachman. A Secret Life: The Lies and Scandals of President Grover Cleveland. 481 p. *** for historical description. No stars for historical accuracy
39) Bob Mould. See a Little Light. 403 p. ***
40) Brian Selznick. Wonder Struck. 637 p. (mostly drawings) ****
41) Wilfred Santiago. The Story of Roberto Clemente. 200 p.
42) Anne Enright. The Forgotten Waltz. 263 p.
43) Roddy Doyle. Bullfighting. 214 p. ***
44) Ernest Cline. Ready Player One. 374 p. ****
45) Art Spiegelman. Meta Maus. 299 p.
46) Stephen King. 11/22/63. 849 p. ***
47) Craig Marks and Rob Tannenbaum. I Want My MTV. 607 P. ***
48) Christopher Payne. Asylum: Inside the Closed World of State Mental Hospitals. 209 p. (mostly pictures) ***
49) Darby Penney and Peter Stastny. The Lives They Left Behind: Suitcases from a State Hospital Attic. 205 p. ***
50) Charles J. Shields. And So it Goes: Kurt Vonnegut, a Life. 513 p.
51) Nile Rodgers. Le Freak. 318 p. ***
52) Robert Greenfield. The Last Sultan: The Life and Times of Ahmet Ertegun. 408 p. ***
53) Dr. Seuss. The Bippolo Seed and Other Lost Stories. 72 p. ***
54) Jon Sands. The New Clean. 108 p. ****
Showing posts with label books 2011. Show all posts
Showing posts with label books 2011. Show all posts
Wednesday, December 21, 2011
Wednesday, November 16, 2011
One Paragraph at a Time
Time to get a bit nostalgic for another post. I Want My MTV is a lengthy, oral history of the first decade of MTV, when music was the focus. Like many of videos of the era, it's assembled in very brief snippets that make it seemed edited by someone with a short attention span.
The chapters are easy to follow, it flows in loose chronological order and we get to read sentences by many of the major players of the time. Stewart Copeland hates Sting, Martha Quinn wonders why and Adam Curry hates everyone.
The chapter on the winner of a weekend with Van Halen is sad and shocking as is the chapter on the video that ended a career.
The book depicts a lot of egos, sex and drugs. Plenty of coke was consumed. There's still a lot of he said, no he did not about the network's race controversy in the pre-Thriller era. I'm surprised a few of these stories came to light as, even thirty years later, they're rather eyebrow raising. Makes me wonder what the author/editors could not, or would not print.
If you were there during MTV's heyday and want to relive the times, or want to find out the history of a station that did change the way music was marketed, it's rather compelling reading.
The chapters are easy to follow, it flows in loose chronological order and we get to read sentences by many of the major players of the time. Stewart Copeland hates Sting, Martha Quinn wonders why and Adam Curry hates everyone.
The chapter on the winner of a weekend with Van Halen is sad and shocking as is the chapter on the video that ended a career.
The book depicts a lot of egos, sex and drugs. Plenty of coke was consumed. There's still a lot of he said, no he did not about the network's race controversy in the pre-Thriller era. I'm surprised a few of these stories came to light as, even thirty years later, they're rather eyebrow raising. Makes me wonder what the author/editors could not, or would not print.
If you were there during MTV's heyday and want to relive the times, or want to find out the history of a station that did change the way music was marketed, it's rather compelling reading.
Wednesday, July 27, 2011
Get this before it gets you
In 2008 Donald Ray Pollock, a former plant worker from Chillicothe, Ohio, released a book of short stories titled Knockemstiff. A book that was grim, heartless, cruel, but painfully true to its characters of small town Ohio.
This month Pollock has followed it up with The Devil All the Time a novel set in the same area of southern Ohio and West Virginia with characters who are drawn up with unflinching brutality and honesty. It's a book of killin', stealin' and whorin' and Pollock masterfully stays on the side of telling us about the gore without graphically showing it. The book is not without many moments of shocking and gruesome behaviors though.
These stories have been told before by lesser writers - orphaned children, drifters, shady preachers but Pollock knows these characters and reveals them to us with uncliched prose. He spins a tale that is fantastic in not what he tells, but in how he captures and concludes the story. In other, less hectic times I would have read this book on one sitting. It took two. Best book of fiction I've read this year.
This month Pollock has followed it up with The Devil All the Time a novel set in the same area of southern Ohio and West Virginia with characters who are drawn up with unflinching brutality and honesty. It's a book of killin', stealin' and whorin' and Pollock masterfully stays on the side of telling us about the gore without graphically showing it. The book is not without many moments of shocking and gruesome behaviors though.
These stories have been told before by lesser writers - orphaned children, drifters, shady preachers but Pollock knows these characters and reveals them to us with uncliched prose. He spins a tale that is fantastic in not what he tells, but in how he captures and concludes the story. In other, less hectic times I would have read this book on one sitting. It took two. Best book of fiction I've read this year.
Thursday, May 26, 2011
There's been another murder
The swelling in my eyelid has gone down significantly, but the size of the chalazion is still about the same. Surgery should be tomorrow.
Since the eye feels better it has been a little easier to read. Managed to fit a book in this week.
You do not think of Columbus as being much of a crime capital, at least violent ones but David Meyers and Elise Meyers Walker found quite a few doozies from the last hundred years or so of Columbus' history. From digging up graves for medical research to the murder of Dimebag Darrell at the Alrosa Villa, the book encompasses many years.
I wanted to like Historic Columbus Crimes, but it's a slender volume lacking a lot of details. It is a labor of love, written by a father and daughter and when a chapter starts with the sentence, "On an otherwise unremarkable Monday, Mrs. Addie Sheatsley, a few hours after serving lunch to her husband and four children, crawled into the coal furnace of her Bexley home and shut the door behind her." You want to cheer them on.
Unfortunately that's the most colorful phrase in the book. In that particular story we find that the authors did not investigate the story of the story with great enthusiasm. Leaving out such details of the actual address, when other addresses are given in other chapters. I did not expect the authors to try and solve some of the crimes, but a bit of follow up would have added some depth to the text.
If you want to know more about an ax murder on Norwich or a vicious gunfight at Broad and High after some serious tabloid snark go for it, I'll give Taggart a shot instead.
Since the eye feels better it has been a little easier to read. Managed to fit a book in this week.
You do not think of Columbus as being much of a crime capital, at least violent ones but David Meyers and Elise Meyers Walker found quite a few doozies from the last hundred years or so of Columbus' history. From digging up graves for medical research to the murder of Dimebag Darrell at the Alrosa Villa, the book encompasses many years.
I wanted to like Historic Columbus Crimes, but it's a slender volume lacking a lot of details. It is a labor of love, written by a father and daughter and when a chapter starts with the sentence, "On an otherwise unremarkable Monday, Mrs. Addie Sheatsley, a few hours after serving lunch to her husband and four children, crawled into the coal furnace of her Bexley home and shut the door behind her." You want to cheer them on.
Unfortunately that's the most colorful phrase in the book. In that particular story we find that the authors did not investigate the story of the story with great enthusiasm. Leaving out such details of the actual address, when other addresses are given in other chapters. I did not expect the authors to try and solve some of the crimes, but a bit of follow up would have added some depth to the text.
If you want to know more about an ax murder on Norwich or a vicious gunfight at Broad and High after some serious tabloid snark go for it, I'll give Taggart a shot instead.
Thursday, May 5, 2011
Another Day of Now What
It’s been kind of sad, watching the internet hate fly around the past couple of days. There’s nothing approaching closure going on, not while troops are still on the ground, looking for more thumb drives in homes with no internet or phone access.
What I’ve really been doing is watching the story take on Jessica Lynch-like spin.
WB had a couple of poems about the death of Bin Laden last night. I thought the over/under would be three. The Chet claims to have written one before his death, we will not know if he will not read it.
Before the night started a friend mentioned reading my blog last month and with the April 2011 project ending this blog was back to the “thoughts.”
I never once said this place would be specializing in anything, admitted that it would be all over the place from the beginning. I have kept it drama free for over two years since the craziness of Live Journal and I am proud of that accomplishment. Themes are tough, be they poetry, music or otherwise.
Scott Woods has a new chapbook out called, "The Livingston Avenue Suite,” which he read at his latest 24 hour marathon. I was not there when he read it so I’m excited to read it this weekend. I took a peek, holy crap there’s a Chinese Astrology chart in there. What did he do to it I wonder? Quantities are limited.
I do have some thoughts about the new My Morning Jacket record. Want to give it another spin before fully forming them. There may be writing this weekend, also working on the Arts Fest set.
First up, while it’s sunny, fixing the chip in the windshield.
What I’ve really been doing is watching the story take on Jessica Lynch-like spin.
WB had a couple of poems about the death of Bin Laden last night. I thought the over/under would be three. The Chet claims to have written one before his death, we will not know if he will not read it.
Before the night started a friend mentioned reading my blog last month and with the April 2011 project ending this blog was back to the “thoughts.”
I never once said this place would be specializing in anything, admitted that it would be all over the place from the beginning. I have kept it drama free for over two years since the craziness of Live Journal and I am proud of that accomplishment. Themes are tough, be they poetry, music or otherwise.
Scott Woods has a new chapbook out called, "The Livingston Avenue Suite,” which he read at his latest 24 hour marathon. I was not there when he read it so I’m excited to read it this weekend. I took a peek, holy crap there’s a Chinese Astrology chart in there. What did he do to it I wonder? Quantities are limited.
I do have some thoughts about the new My Morning Jacket record. Want to give it another spin before fully forming them. There may be writing this weekend, also working on the Arts Fest set.
First up, while it’s sunny, fixing the chip in the windshield.
Wednesday, May 4, 2011
Not your Father's Brady Bunch
The amount of time I've spent reading has been abysmal. I did finish a new one by Brendan Halpin and Trish Cook.
Notes from the Blender is a book for the young adult audience, but that does not mean people of a certain age will not get something out of it.
Declan is your typical high school who likes Scandinavian death metal and violent video games. Neilly is the girl of his dreams who has just been dumped by her boyfriend and best friend. Unknowing to both of them, their parents have been dating and are about to get married. They're all moving into a home together.
Halpin and Cook write this quickly paced book with great wit and throw in some surprisingly touching moments. Their characters avoid acting cliched and one, a vegan punk rocker named Ulf Lovhammer, is quite memorable. For the life of me I cannot understand how Halpin's work does not get put to screen, large or small. I'm not familiar with Cook's work, but Halpin's assembled a small number of well crafted books, including my favorite, Forever Changes.
Notes from the Blender is a book for the young adult audience, but that does not mean people of a certain age will not get something out of it.
Declan is your typical high school who likes Scandinavian death metal and violent video games. Neilly is the girl of his dreams who has just been dumped by her boyfriend and best friend. Unknowing to both of them, their parents have been dating and are about to get married. They're all moving into a home together.
Halpin and Cook write this quickly paced book with great wit and throw in some surprisingly touching moments. Their characters avoid acting cliched and one, a vegan punk rocker named Ulf Lovhammer, is quite memorable. For the life of me I cannot understand how Halpin's work does not get put to screen, large or small. I'm not familiar with Cook's work, but Halpin's assembled a small number of well crafted books, including my favorite, Forever Changes.
Friday, February 25, 2011
Got that Michael Caine Look Going
It took three weeks after the exam, but my reading glasses finally arrived yesterday afternoon. They look just like this, but they're solid black.
It's a pleasant feeling not having to strain my neck looking cockeyed at the screen or putting the glasses on the tip of my nose to be able to read, anything. It's a huge relief at work because I'm dealing with smaller fonts and the numbers I need from books are small also.
I'm very happy that I'm capable of reading books at a decent pace again.
This one's been sitting on my shelf for a few weeks. I got it for my Scottish Wife, but she has not read it yet, so I took it upon myself.
It's not a literary opus, no great work of fiction or memoir, but a series of blog and journal entries Stuart Murdoch of Belle & Sebastian made in the mid 2000's. He's a funny, touching and spiritual writer. Even knowing about the Mike Piazza song I did not realize he was a baseball fan.
The strengths of the book are his descriptions of Glasgow. He's embedded in the city. It's more than love. It's his soul, weakness and inspiration. He lives in the area I stayed in during my visit and the number of landmarks he names and spends his time in was an impressive match to many of the places I'd been, and want to go back to so badly.
The is a good amount of music in the book. You get a good, fair impression of the band during the making of albums and touring. He gives fair statements about how tiring and repetitive the business can be.
It's not a memoir, but a chatty look at the life of a working musician during a set time in his life. It's worth seeking out.
It's a pleasant feeling not having to strain my neck looking cockeyed at the screen or putting the glasses on the tip of my nose to be able to read, anything. It's a huge relief at work because I'm dealing with smaller fonts and the numbers I need from books are small also.
I'm very happy that I'm capable of reading books at a decent pace again.
This one's been sitting on my shelf for a few weeks. I got it for my Scottish Wife, but she has not read it yet, so I took it upon myself.
It's not a literary opus, no great work of fiction or memoir, but a series of blog and journal entries Stuart Murdoch of Belle & Sebastian made in the mid 2000's. He's a funny, touching and spiritual writer. Even knowing about the Mike Piazza song I did not realize he was a baseball fan.
The strengths of the book are his descriptions of Glasgow. He's embedded in the city. It's more than love. It's his soul, weakness and inspiration. He lives in the area I stayed in during my visit and the number of landmarks he names and spends his time in was an impressive match to many of the places I'd been, and want to go back to so badly.
The is a good amount of music in the book. You get a good, fair impression of the band during the making of albums and touring. He gives fair statements about how tiring and repetitive the business can be.
It's not a memoir, but a chatty look at the life of a working musician during a set time in his life. It's worth seeking out.
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