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| How THB's used hospital devices were put to good use this holiday season |
2016 Book List
Note: Kindle version unless otherwise
noted. Non-fiction unless (novel) is appended.
Department
of Clarification (only a year old): THB read and included How
We Decide, by Jonah Lehrer (read in hardback) in the 2015 list (Top Picks,
no less), not realizing that the book had been recalled due to accusations of
plagiarism. No wonder there’s no Kindle version! In any case, THB
unintentionally hedged when he included the following summary (quoting his own
work without attribution was one of Lehrer’s flaws): “…you’re six years smarter
now than Jonah was when he did the compilation.” THB is now seven (or is it 8?)
years smarter?
Department
of Analysis: For you
analytics, THB is here for you as 13 of the 14 top picks are non-fiction, six
by women. The top two books are connected in that Strangers in Their Own Land
(read in late December) several times indirectly references A Field
Philosopher’s Guide (read in January, written earlier), and each starts with a
focus on the environment before becoming something much larger.
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| Does cataract surgery make it easy to read? You bet! THB is reading "books on paper" again |
The chart at the bottom give just dry statistics, showing as
always a balanced reading between fiction and non-fiction. THB included some
recommendations on documentaries (or mockumentaries) that go well with some of
the books (or vice versa). Overall, THB thinks he spends about 60-65% of his
time reading non-fiction: its slower and in general it’s easier for THB to give
on a novel going nowhere. Given the political nature of 2016, a tough year for
women, the turmoil of the Middle East, and eco-catastrophe running amok, this
may have been even more of an extreme non-fiction year.
And, many of the books in the Recommended Category could just as
well been in the Top Books Category. While there were more Not Recommended
books this year, there was also a very high quality level among the top 56
books.
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| Where THB did a lot of reading |
Top picks (14)
Strangers in
Their Own Land: Anger and Mourning on the American Right, Arlie Hochshild: Louisiana is the
focus of this five year research program, with an emphasis on the environment
and how individuals and the state react to the damage being done: much shorter
lives, much less spent on health and education services (with huge tax
incentives given to big corporations), larger state debt, and anger and
resentment over the fading hopes of attaining the American dream. A well thought out insight to how D J Trump
became president. THB’s conclusion: many
Red states are being led to destitution by major corporate interests and voting
in people that are impoverishing their lives, and there’s nothing the Blue
states can do to stop it (in fact, the anger and resentment of the loss of the
American Dream is moving traditionally Blue states Red). Will alignment of the
three branches of government and these same corporations move more of the Blue
states closer to destitution as well?
A Field
Philosopher’s Guide to Fracking: How One Texas Town Stood up to Big Oil and
Gas, Adam
Briggle: Yes, the author is a field philosopher (what the hell is that?) and
got involved in a city overrun by wells being fracked for natural gas
extraction next to residences, public parks and near schools, which resulted in
a ballot measure to ban fracking inside the city limits. Not good: pollution,
noise, destroying the water aquifers, sick locals. Big money vs local
indignation; health vs mineral rights. Briggle lays out the issues between
precautionary (heavy analysis before action) and proactionary (nothing gets
done without acting) viewpoints (this must be the philosophy part). THB wishes
we were more precautionary when it comes to innovation (see the 40 Years On
post), and here are Briggle’s 3 commandments (and ones that THB heartily
endorses):
1.
Those most vulnerable to the
unintended harms must give their consent to the risk, or at the very least be
compensated for any harms done
2.
There must be a robust monitoring
system and learnings established
3.
The original innovation must be
readily renovated based on learnings
A great story, a light touch with the philosophy lectures, a state
sorely tilted to letting oil and gas companies have their way with the citizens,
and a terrific outcome (sure to be appealed,
Note: In May 2015, Texas passed a law that disallows local governments like
Briggle’s from banning fracking). For the fictional version, read Heat and Light (see Recommended
category)
Spinster:
Making a Life of One’s Own, Kate Bolick: The essence of the book is captured right at the end:
“Are women people yet? Are we finally ready for a young woman to set out on the
long road of her life as a human being who inhabits but isn’t limited by her
gender?” An intriguing mix of feminism and one woman’s story of reaching for a
fulfilling life not based on marriage. Skip the (very short) part of her
discussing a dream with her therapist (THB’s worst doubleheader).
Lab Girl, Hope Jahrens: a memoir by a geobiologist. The
struggles of being a woman in a male dominated field, struggling with bipolar,
finding two life partners while disassociating from her family. The science
descriptions are fascinating as well while not dwelling on the eco-catastrophe
of the last 70 years of global warming. Goes well with Spinster and Paris, He Said.
In the
Darkroom, Susan
Faludi: The story of Faludi’s father, who late in life transitioned to a woman
and moved back to the place of his/her birth, Budapest. Faludi integrates her
family history with Hungarian history and her father’s life: living through the
Holocaust, turning his back on his parents, emigrating to Denmark, Brazil and
America, starting a family, his divorce, and finally bringing us to her
father’s death and the virulent resurrected extreme right, anti-Semitic Hungary
of 2015. Especially poignant as THB was reading the book through the last weeks
of the US presidential election.
The
Shepherd’s Life: Modern Dispatches from an Ancient Landscape, James Rebanks: A year of raising
sheep in the Lake District of England. Elegantly told in short chapters,
presenting the value in doing a job well while illustrating the numerous
nuances in something as “straightforward” as shepherding on a small farm in a
long-established tight-knit and competitive community. What is more rewarding
than a sense of accomplishment?
Strangers
Drowning: Grappling with Impossible Idealism, Drastic Choices, and the
Overpowering Urge to Help, Larissa MacFarquhar: Right up THB’s alley: philosophy, human
nature, comments on fiction, and extreme behaviors (yes, do-gooding is an
extreme behavior). A few chapters appeared in the NY’er. If you’re thinking
about charity or having to make a choice of saving someone you love vs two
(three? four?) strangers drowning in shallow water, read this book.
Barbarian
Days: A Surfing Life, William Finnegan: A memoir, Bill is about 3 years younger than
THB, and his descriptions of a wanderlust and surfing life sound current and
forceful, immediate. THB had read the early days in the NY’er, and the
background of several other articles THB had read resonated as well. Won the
2015 Pulitzer Prize.
Do No Harm:
Stories of Life, Death, and Brain Surgery, Henry Marsh: irreverent look at (British)
neurosurgery, hospitals, and a variety of ailments. Quick read and in some
chapters you’ll recognize various illnesses that you know someone has suffered
from or identify as something you suffer from, and many chapters where you’ll
identify with administrative snafus. Watch the documentary!
The
Unraveling: High Hopes and Missed Opportunites, Emma Sky: Somehow, a young British woman with experience
in the Middle East working for NGOs gets embedded with the US military at the
highest levels as a political officer (i.e., someone telling truth to power) in
Iraq during the period where Saddam is ousted and there's an attempt to nation
build. She's co-opted: there's a truism that you shouldn't bother doing well
that which shouldn't be done at all. As a reader, it is great to see what the
US was attempting and how someone believed it might succeed.
Night Draws Near: Iraq’s People in the
Shadow of America’s War, Anthony
Shahid: Published in 2005, a terrific summary of just before and the immediate
aftermath (1-2 years) after the Iraq war was started. Shows a deep
understanding of how the Iraqis went from appreciating the overthrow of Saddam
to quickly seeing the US as a conqueror / occupying force rather than as a
liberator and thus unleashing sectarian strife.
Brazillionaires:
Wealth, Power, Decadence, and Hope in an American Country, Alex Cuadros: If you have any
interest in Brazil (which, after 19 posts, THB hopes you have some), are going
to Brazil or have been to Brazil, you’ll like this expose of the top .00001%.
THB is both happy and sad he didn’t read much of it before spending 3 weeks in
Rio: it would both have really informed much of what was seen (other than the
actual events) and been very depressing. There’s even a reference equating D.
Trump to one of the personalities covered by Cuadros.
Descent,
Tim
Johnston (novel): A teenage girl is kidnapped and her younger brother, hit by
the kidnapper’s car while riding his bike, is left behind. A crime thriller
with the ubiquitous happy ending except everyone involved has been badly
damaged.
The
Return: Fathers, Sons and the Land in Between, Hisham Matar: A story of the
son’s emotional life after his father disappeared into Qadaffi’s Libyan prison
in the early 1990s and never re-appearing. Between the idea and reality falls
the shadow, beautifully written. Even more, it ends with the revolutionary
overthrow of the regime and thus we are all left to wonder what the future will
bring now that the Arab spring is in chaos.
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| The newly marked parking slot for our beach guests |
Recommended
(42): Enjoyed, listed
in no particular order (well, actually mostly in the order read)
All
Involved, Ryan Gattis
(novel): Told in chapters individually
narrated by mostly Latino gangbangers, it’s a story of the 1992 riot in LA
immediately after the acquittals of police involved in the Rodney King beating.
The action takes place mostly in or near Lynwood, where THB worked one summer
in the mid-60s (as the area was transitioning from white immigrants from the
Dust Bowl to ethnically black and Hispanic).
Lucky, Alice Sebold: the story of
Sebold’s rape during her first year at Syracuse University and the subsequent
trial of her rapist. The event and emotional toll told in vivid detail. You may
recognize Sebold: she’s the author of Lovely Bones.
Shadow
Divers: the True Adventure of Two Americans Who Risked Everything to Solve One
of the Last Mysteries of WWII, Robert Kurson: Wreck divers find a U-Boat off New Jersey coast in
1992 and then over the next 5-6 years solve the mystery of what happened and
when.
Skyfaring: A
Journey with a Pilot, Mark Vanhoenacker: The perfect book to read on long-distance
flights. Meditations on flying, specifics about airplanes, emotions of
places-locations, and an unusual look at teamwork.
The Odd
Woman and the City: A Memoir, Vivian Gornick: Odd is right, and intriguing, and very much NY
city.
Joan of Arc:
A History, Helen
Castor: Short and snappy, more the “what” than how Joan had her moment in 15th
C France. Joan the Maid was a true anomaly, with the (very confusing) context
of the French infighting and the English occupation. Castor’s Blood and Roses is also in the 2016
Recommended category.
Paris, He
Said, Christine
Sneed (novel): THB thinks of this book as a fictional discussion of the
feminist movement and a great companion/sequel to Spinster. A struggling (lapsed?) artist in NY becomes involved with
a much older French gallery owner (with locations in NY and Paris) and moves
with him to Paris and resurrects her career aspirations.
Fates
and Furies, Laura
Groff (novel): A "his perspective/her perspective" with all truths
told from her perspective novel. Lots of momentum, exciting events, hot sex,
crimes, success, Oedipal fantasies. Not as moving (or as long) in the quietude
of the writing as A Little Life, more a very good example of a great summer
beach read.
The Prize: Who’s in Charge of
America’s Schools? Dale Russakoff: Zuckerberg
goes big with a huge grant for Newark’s school, partnering with then mayor Cory
Booker and governor Chris Christie. Many lessons of how hard it is to bring
energy, enthusiasm and creativity to teaching those most in need of learning
the basics. Much content appeared in the NYer originally.
Red Sparrow, Jason Matthews (novel): Book 1 of 2 of the KGB
vs the CIA brought right up to the minute, Putin's in charge (he's ex-KGB). In
other words, the cold war is alive and well.
Palace of Treason, Jason
Matthews (novel): Book 2 of 2. The CIA infiltrates Russia’s equivalent, a fast
paced summer read by a retired CIA operator.
Seven Days in the Art World, Sarah
Thornton: From events in the mid-aughts highlights a day at: an auction, MFA
level critique, art fair, the awarding of an art prize, Artforum magazine, studio
visit and the Venice Biennale. Lots of big money and many people involved and
intertwined. Excellent overview (and not at the lower level THB collects!).
My Name is Lucy Barton, Elizabeth
Strout (novel): A very little A Little Life, like 3 hours worth. More a
novella, pretty short. A lot of impact for few words.
Superforecasting: The Art and
Science of Prediction, Philip Tetlock and Dan
Gardner: A very good magazine article expanded to medium size book. Shadows A Field Philosopher’s Guide to Fracking: try,
fail, analyze, adjust, try again (emphasis on “try again” equal to practice,
practice, practice).
High Dive, Jonathan
Lee (novel): a fictionalized version of the lives of a few people leading up to
the hotel bombing unsuccessfully targeting Margaret Thatcher, pretty much
without Thatcher (a good thing).
Conquerors: How Portugal Forged the First
Global Empire, Roger Crowley. A sprightly
version of how Portugal went via the sea between 1493 and 1515 and: routed
foreign lands with not that many soldiers, using better weaponry; traveled with
a lot of prejudice and not much knowledge; undercut the competition in the
spice business; and just missed out in creating a global war with Islam. Lots
of sea battles with a focus on a few not-well-known conquistadors.
Dictator, Robert Harris (novel, third in
a trilogy): In Harris’ own words, this is the story of the final fifteen years
(THB: seems like it covers 30, so much goes on) in the life of the Roman
statesman Cicero, imagined in the form of a biography written by his secretary,
Tiro. Tiro, a slave made a free man by Cicero, did exist and did write
such a book. THB: The book covers the rise of Caesar, his death, and the immediate
years afterward. Published in 2015, THB feels like he read this book
before…déjà vu? Another book just like this one read years earlier? And, try Fatherland by Robert Harris; it is a terrific
book (THB did read that one years ago, not imagined he read it)
Francis
Bacon in Your Blood, Michael
Peppiatt: A unique memoir by a young student who had a 30+ year friendship with
Bacon after he became famous painter. Lots of boozing and philosophizing by a
guy who loved to drink with a wide range of people and loved to throw around
his money.
The
Association of Small Bombs, Karan Mahajan (novel): The arc of aggressors and
victims involved in the Khasmiri separatist movement, total at a very intimate
level (as opposed to a lot of philosophical dialog). Felt very accurate as to
the motivations and reactions of those involved.
The
Iceberg, A Memoir, Marion
Coutts: The last two years of her 52 year old husband in his battle with a
brain tumor, and the second and third years of their only son. They live in
London, so this is a British version of the health system, mostly akin to the
US model. Extremely articulate, dense, almost poetic, and openly honest.
The
Adventurist, J.
Bradford Hipps (novel): Gosh, a good book written by a former programmer, and a
novel at that. Four months in the life of a software manager (hmmmm, THB was
one of those; this guy is way more technically competent than THB ever was),
dealing with the company’s struggles, the recent death of his mother, the
failing health of his father, a close sister taking care of dad, and
intra-company infatuations and machinations. Real life on all fronts.
Heat and Light, Jennifer Haigh (novel); a great fiction companion
to one of THB’s top 2016 books, A Field Philosopher’s Guide to Fracking
by Adam Briggle. Both involve small towns infected by fracking: small towns
fighting big oil and gas. Lots of local color, plenty of the locals impacted,
the fight of instant money versus long-term health, one true and one obviously
based on the truth.
Underground: The Tokyo Gas Attack and
the Japanese Psyche by Haruki Murakami (translated). The attack
was in 1995, this non-fiction book was published in English in the late 1990s.
THB is just now getting around to reading it, the only book by Murakami read by
THB (Murakami is a big time bestselling author in fiction). Though Murikami
does speak English, it’s translated, and THB doesn’t read many translated
books. The first 2/3 of the book is a series of interviews Murakami conducted
with the victims of the sarin gas attack by Aum Shinrikyo (cult or religion?)
and the other 1/3 is interviews with members of Aum. No interview is
particularly compelling; collectively they make quite a statement about the Japanese
and their views as victims and as perpetrators, and real insight into how the
Aum members are cultivated into becoming terrorists.
Shelter, Jung Yun (novel): A grim two weeks in the life of three generations of
a Korean family living in US: brutal home break-in, marital break-ups,
emotionally repressed individuals, poor child-rearing skills (including child
abuse), police as actual people, and a small amount of kindness by a few
non-main characters. Hard to recommend, yet THB couldn’t stop reading either.
The Fever, How Malaria Has Ruled Humankind for 500,000
Years, Sonia Shah: Published in 2010, maybe not the best book for
THB to lead off a trip to Rio while Zika is the coming scourge of
mosquito-borne diseases. Malaria is very debilitating, often lethal (especially
in young people), and seemingly intractable. And, things haven’t got better
since this thorough historical analysis: the CDC estimated 215 million cases in
2015 and 483,000 deaths (mostly children in Africa). Eliminating mosquitoes is
not the answer, pesticides are not the answer, on-going perseverance to reduce
infections is ineffective in poverty areas, and global warming flooding coastal
lands is going to be a huge problem.
The Dig, John Preston (novel):
fast read based on true events in mid-summer 1939 England when a local estate
owner decides to have burial mounds investigated.
The
North Water, Ian
McGuire (novel): Short enough to be consumed in less than one long flight; gory
1850s tale of a disgraced doctor aboard a doomed whaling ship.
Putin
Country: A Journey into the Real Russia, Anne Garrels: THB tortures himself again with a
journalist’s story of an area with few foreigners, sort of the Omaha of Russia,
having spent time over a 20+ period of years. The same story of intimidation, corruption,
and lack of human rights, and local pride as fostered by “growing stronger”
through sanctions.
Ways to
Disappear, Idra
Novey (novel): Another light, breezy noir-ish novel set in Brazil. Good
companion to Brazillionaires.
The
Rope, Kanan
Makiya (novel): Insider’s view of events early in the Iraq invasion; don’t miss
the Personal Note after the book where Makiya explains who everyone is/was in
the novel (in fact, read it first and afterwards).
And, while he supported the invasion, Makiya also makes it clear that the
Iraqis own the aftermath of what the USA put in motion.
A Rage
for Order: The Middle East in Turmoil, From Tahrir Square to ISIS, Robert F. Worth: While THB
used to think the Middle East was an intractable problem (peace in the Middle
East? You have got to be kidding…the Cubs will win the pennant before that ever
happens), it is now 10 times worse as each nation implodes in its own way (and
the Cubs may win the pennant!). Good companion to The Rope.
All the
Living, C.E. Morgan
(novel): pub’d in 2009; short, not too many characters, as told by a young
woman who moves in with a young rural farmer now on his own after his older
brother and mother are killed in a car accident.
Black
Hole Blues and Other Songs from Outer Space, Janna Levin: An iconoclastic review of the
building out of a scientific experiment to measure gravitational waves
emanating from deep space, which in the end “proves” that black holes exist.
More about the personalities involved, akin to any major corporate project that
seems too expensive and doomed to failure, yet this one is sponsored by the
government and while expensive, succeeds soon after the buildings/measuring
devices are completed.
The
Natural Way of Things, Charlotte Wood (novel): Lord of the Flies in modern times,
women stranded, two young males and a female as the overseers in a remote
Australian fenced in asylum.
Hillbilly
Elegy, a Memoir of Family and Culture in Crisis, J.D. Vance: Vance’s
grandparents relocate from the hollers of Kentucky to Middletown, Ohio, after
WWII, along with many other (white) hillbillies. Jay dot Dee dot manages to
“escape” by joining the Marines (instead of going straight to Ohio State) and
ends up graduating from Yale law school. Vance describes how many hillbillies shy
away from working, creating family dynamics that foster low incomes, poor
parenting skills, poor health, and short stints of education. His answer to
ending this cycle: integration across class structures so that the
“hillbillies” are exposed to means of life other than poverty (and government
interventions really won’t work). There’s a very good documentary companion: Country Boys (six hours, available on
DVD from Netflix), following two teenage boys over a number of high school years.
Note: from studies, ethnic
integration is also the best cure available for moving poor students into
higher education.
American
Heiress, the Wild Saga of the Kidnapping, Crimes and Trial of Patty Hearst, Jeffrey Toobin (audio):
Recommended if you want to relive or get a review of what radicals were like in
the 70s; neutral if you to learn what happened to Patty (who fell in love with
the sequential authority figures in her life starting in her late teens).
How to
Get Filthy Rich in Rising Asia, Mohsen Hamid (novel): fast, sweet story of a
couple of kids aging into old age in modern India. The Reluctant Fundamentist is on this list, not near as good.
We Are
Not Such Things: The Murder of a Young American, A South African Township, and
the Search for Truth and Reconciliation, Justine Van Der Leun: A very thoughtful,
low-key story, more memoir than thriller, of trying to understand South Africa
post-apartheid. THB recommends that if you travel to S. Africa, this is an
excellent companion to trying see beyond the obvious.
You Will
Know Me, Megan
Abbott (novel): what happens when a family gets too caught up in the older
child’s dream of a sports championship.
Blood
and Roses, One Family’s Struggle and Triumph During
the Tumultuous Wars of the Roses, Helen Castor (paperback): A review of the
political turmoil of England in the 1500s as seen through the Paston letters as
the family tries to move from lower middle class to upper middle class.
Max Gate, Damien Wilkins
(novel): The weeks before and after the revered British author Thomas Hardy
died as told for the most part by one of the live-in-the-attic maids many, many
years later. Charming...does anyone have a good bio of Hardy or James Barrie
(Peter Pan) to recommend?
The Undoing Project, Michael Lewis
(hardback): forty years ago, two Israeli psychologists, Amos Tversky and Daniel
Kahneman, produced a series of papers that altered the view of decision making,
creating behavioral economics. Think of them as the Steve Jobs of their time,
creating the intellectual equivalent of the I-phone for the disruption of
assumptions in everyday ways we (wrongly) plod along until our context is
changed and puts us on a corrected course. Lewis gently describes their
unlikely to mesh personalities in an unusual partnership as well as each of
their back stories. And, wouldn't you know, how a woman got between them (also
underplayed by Lewis).
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| THB recommends a reading hat; Mabry "pipe" in background |
Neutral (22):
Something of
value, not enough to actively encourage reading (or listening)
Between You
& Me: Confessions of a Comma Queen, Mary Norris: Not enough gossip about life at the New Yorker and a
bit too much grammar talk (or is it grammar-talk?)
Lurid &
Cute, Adam
Thirlwell (novel): interesting style, just too long in the head of the
narrator, an over-drugged spoiled 30 year old married Chilean male living with
his parents.
The Loved
Ones, Mary-Beth
Hughes (novel): dysfunctional family, a child that died early, husband with a
crooked brother, lots of drugs and drinking and sex, a lost young adolescent
girl, set in the early 70s in New England and London.
Missoula:
Rape and the Justice System in a College Town, Jon Krakauer: A bit too
repetitive with one very important thing to say: a few men are responsible for
many rapes, so it is very important for women to come forward and authorities
to take them seriously.
The Run of
His Life: The People v. O.J. Simpson, Jeffrey Toobin: The book the TV series is based on. Bad
prosecutors, poor jury management, a lousy judge, infighting among defense
attorneys, a racist and incompetent police department allows the defense to
play the race card and a very guilty celebrity.
The Tsar of
Love and Techno, Anthony
Marra: The perversion of family life in Russia from the 1930’s up to the late
1990’s.
Hunters in
the Dark, Lawrence
Osborne (novel): Written in the same style, The Forgiven is a much better book.
Farthest
Field: An Indian Story of the Second World War, Raghu Karnad: India’s role in
WWII as seen through the lives of three related men (and less so their
sisters). A bit too much personal and not enough overview for THB.
When
Breath Becomes Air, Paul Kalanthi: A young neurosurgeon finds out
he has stage 4 lung cancer and dedicates a large portion of his remaining time
to authoring this book. It’s become a (posthumous) big bestseller (it is very
short, more long magazine article length) and one that THB struggled with: are
doctors more valuable to society than other occupations? Does dying become a
justification for putting religion and science on the same level? Are you in a
loving relationship when you work 100-120 hour weeks and your wife is also a
doctor? Should a doctor with a serious illness be back in the OR? Well written,
and the memoir up until he’s diagnosed is nicely done.
I Hate the Internet, Jarett Kobek (novel): Actually, a pretty
interesting take on the internet being the ultimate advertising and dissing machine,
the plot line isn’t so terrific.
Mortal Sins: Sex, Crime, and the Era
of Catholic Scandal, Michael D’Antonio: The tracing of the
pedophilia scandal of the Church’s priest from the mid 1980s through to 2013 or
so. Basically, it shows how the church protected its employees over its
customers. Judge Emilie gets a mention at the end of the book!
Noonday, Pat Barker (novel): Barker moves on to WWII and
the London blitz (with plenty of remembrances of WWI and the interim between
the wars.
Ordinary Grace, William Kent Krueger (novel): A then 13 year
old looks back at a series of deaths in a small Minnesota town in 1961.
Exposure, Helen Dunmore (novel). This is a chic lit
semi-spy novel set in post WWII London. Not a lot of spying, it’s all about the
relationship between a husband and wife, both working, with three kids, and the
trauma they go through when the husband is accused of passing secrets from the
Admiralty to the Soviet Union. THB considered stopping about 40% through, then
made it to the end. All ends well.
What’s the Matter With Kansas, How
Conservatives Won the Heart of America, Thomas
Frank: An oldie from 2004, really a magazine article’s worth of content and
lots of history of Kansas’ politics. In sum: starting in the early 90s, the
pro-life movement turned Kansas red and the moderate Republicans got eaten up.
Then spending on education dropped, and average wages slowed below inflation
rates.
Under the Harrow, Flynn Berry (novel): a murder mystery where the
killer isn’t really introduced until the last 5 pages. Hmmmmmm….
The Reluctant Fundamentalist, Mohsen Hamid: For those of you who pay really
really close attention, this is a re-read from 2013 for THB. Having recently
read a short story by Hamid in the NY’er, THB decided to give this one another
go, having remembered NOTHING about it. Only takes a few hours, more a novella
than novel.
City of Secrets, Stewart O’Nan (novel): Slim, takes place in
Palestine between WWII and the creation of Israel, and focuses on a small cell
intent on getting rid of the British.
Silence, Shusau Endo (novel, translated and paperback): the source for the
upcoming Scorsese movie, it’s a somber story of faith set in mid 17th
C Japan while the Japanese government is
trying to eradicate Christianity by hounding priests and local converts.
Paradise Lodge, Nina Stibbe (novel): another novel in the mode
of Love, Nina, a truly great book. If you don’t want to read Love, Nina, then this book moves up to Recommended.
In the Country of Men, Hisham Matar (novel): if you read The Return: Fathers, Sons and the Land in Between (a top
pic), you
should give this novel a shot as well. I don’t think reading this one first
will get you to The Return. A 9 year old boy lives through the start of the
suppression in Libya, and somehow everything bad revolves around something he
feels responsible for.
How Everything Became War and the
Military Became Everything, Tales from the Pentagon, Rosa Brooks: How did Brooks, the daughter of a
60s political activist, muckraker and writer (Barbara Ehrenreich), end up
writing a softly told story that justifies the military running the entire
country? Brooks is an attorney, law professor, Pentagon insider, and human
rights supporter. Since the military is basically the biggest part of the
government with the most international reach (it's not like we fund the State
Department) and domestic clout (think Homeland Security), what the hell, let's
just make it official.
In the
Something Else category (9):
The Tragedy
of Macbeth, William
Shakespeare (play): In anticipation of the Berkeley Rep performance starring
Frances MacDormand as Lady Macbeth (the play is way better in the reading than
in this staged version).
Collected
French Translated Poetry, John Ashbery (hardback): by THB’s fave poet (yes, THB does have a
fave poet, Ashbery’s work highly recommended), bought mostly to read Rimbaud (a
Dylan inspiration). Not all that great.
The People
vs O.J. Simpson: the 10 part
FX television series, a terrific exploration of race, criminal justice, and LA
in 90s. Based on the book by Jeffrey Toobin, The Run of His Life
O.J.: Made
in America: a 10 hour
documentary by ABC/ESPN of OJ’s entire life and how he fit into a changing
America. Toobin shows up again as a talking head. Worth watching both series,
and reading the book.
Gaslands and
Gaslands 2 (documentaries), directed by Josh Fox:
illuminating many of the huge issues with fracking. The companions to
THB’s top book reco: A Field
Philosopher’s Guide to Fracking
Step Into
Liquid (surf movie, 2003): By a son of the guy who did Endless Summer, the companion guide to
Barbarian Days: A Surfing Life.
The English
Surgeon (documentary): Henry
Marsh, the neurosurgeon, spends much time in Ukraine, the companion to Do No Harm: Stories of Life, Death, and
Brain Surgery
Chinatown
Dreams, The Life and Photographs of George Lee (soft cover paperback): Short essays to accompany the pictures taken by George Lee, a
resident of Santa Cruz and Monterey from the 1920s to late 1990s.
The Death of
Contract, Grant
Gilmore: THB wasn’t quite sure where to list this short book; it’s a series of
lectures from 1974 by a legal scholar about the actual “death of contracts” in
such arcane terms as to be unintelligible to anyone but another legal scholar.
THB read all the way to the end so can give you a spoiler alert: Contract is
dead.
Not
Recommended (and high likely not finished – 20):
The Springs
of Affection: Stories of Dublin, Maeve Brennan (fiction, short stories): A reco of Kate Bolick (Spinster),
a collection of old NY’er stories. Too old (too quaint?), as told through the
eyes of semi-autobiographical child in Ireland.
Among the
Ten Thousand Things, Julia
Pierpont (novel): Exactly half way through the book wraps up the characters
lives and ends, then for some reason starts up again. THB did not move forward.
Dad is a shit, mom is melancholy, teenage kids are uncommunicative…how did THB
make it half way?
Pretty Is, Maggie Mitchell (novel): two
kidnapped teenage girls grow up and reconnect. THB doesn’t get connected
enough.
Immunity, Taylor Antrim (novel): Sci-fi? A
whiff of the apocalypse? Drugs? Ultra-wealthy? Virus gone wild? Dull…
Once An
Eagle, Anton Myrer
(paperback novel, 1278 pages!): This is
a must read for any young military person, and THB had tried before and failed.
A 19 year old baseball phenom, Steph Curry, fresh out high school, passes up a
shot at West Point to enlist in the infantry to serve in WWI in France, and
shows exceptional skills in leadership (the best of mind and heart), leading
his troops to victory and earning promotions and medals. NO WAIT: Not Steph Curry, Sam Damon is his name. THB made it 500 pages this time, then got
bogged down in marriage, long interregnum between the great wars, and watching
the W’s on their way to a record season.
Muse, Jonathan Galassi (novel): cartoonish characters in the
publishing business. THB may actually go back and try again, though the chances
of that are pretty slim. If you are in publishing (and especially if you are
responsible for this book), you should be ashamed and probably are entranced.
A Cure
for Suicide, Jesse Ball
(novel): 2/3 a good story, last third just one long not-too interesting run on
sentence of a story.
Finale:
A Novel of the Reagan Years, Thomas Mallon (novel): Not near as good as Watergate,
mostly because Reagan was boring (and Nancy and her neurosis really boring) and
Nixon had Watergate.
Give
$mart, Philanthopy that Gets Results, Thomas Tierney and Joel Fleishman: Name dropping and
no content (and THB means, no content)
Chelsea
Girls, Eileen Myles
(memoir or novel…doesn’t matter): How does someone so drunk and drugged and sex
starved get to publish a book? By being a “well-respected” poet?
The
Devils of Cardona, Matthew Carr
(novel): too convoluted, too many characters, lots or random violence, all in
the 1500s when Spain is trying to eradicate every and non-Christian worship.
Animals,
Emma Jane
Unsworth (novel): OMG, how did THB find two books starring drunk and drugged
women narrators???? Somehow, he did…alas.
The
Sympathizer, Viet Thanh
Nguyen (novel): A prize winning book about Vietnamese settling in US after the
war ended and seemed to THB to be horribly bloated (maybe one has to be in the
right frame of mind to assemble the grill?)
The
Vanishing Velazquez: A 19th Century Bookseller’s Obsession with a
Lost Masterpiece, Lauren Cumming:
Not much information, and certainly not enough to stretch out to book length,
about a famous painting and a guy in the 1850s who found and promoted it.
Lord of
Misrule, Jaimy Gordon
(novel): About horse racing, in a jazzy vernacular way, and way too complicated
for THB in attempting to follow the many and various characters and horses
while trying to understand the lingo of a down and out nowhere racetrack.
The
Whole Harmonium: The Life of Wallace Stevens, Paul Mariani: A
famous 20th century poet who was also a full-time insurance company
manager. Unfortunately, the author spent way too much time interpreting the
poems and not enough time on Stevens’ life. THB suspects there wasn’t much to
report on (at least nothing of note, after all the guy was an insurance company
employee).
The Year
of the Runaways, Sunjeev Sahata
(novel): Dull, dreary, no connections with or between the characters.
Martial
Bliss: The Story of the Military Bookman, Margaretta Barton Colt (paperback):
This book got a glowing review in the NYT, and it contained an unbelievable
number of names dropped, book stores visited in Britain, vacation stops, and
lots of the everyday mundane small business issues, over and over. The key to
running this bookstore: buying used books low and selling high. The end of the
store: the internet.
Dancing
With the Tiger, Lili Wright
(novel): all clichés, all the time
Love, Sex and Other Foreign Policy
Goals, Jess Armstrong (novel): THB somehow fell
into buying another silly British farce (or is is satire)...whatever, too silly
to finish
Total Books: 100
The sort:
-
14 Top
Picks: 13 non-fiction. 1 fiction
-
42 Recommended:
22 non-fiction, 18 fiction
-
20 Neutral: 7
non-fiction, 12 fiction
-
4 Something
Else books: 2 non-fiction, 2 fiction, 5 documentaries
-
20 Not
Recommended: 4 non-fiction, 15 fiction
-
50 novels,
50 non-fiction
Total
books
|
Non-Fiction/
Fiction
|
Top
Picks
|
Recommend
|
Neutral
|
Something
Else
|
Not
Recommendd
|
|
2016
|
100
|
50/50
|
14
Total
13/1
|
42 Total
23/19
|
19 Total
13/7
|
4 Total (+5)
2/2
|
19 Total
4/16
|
2015
|
84
|
47/37
|
14
Total
8/6
|
36 Total
22/14
|
11 Total
5/6
|
4 Total
3/1
|
19 Total
9/10
|
2014
|
95
|
48/46
|
8 (+2) Total
4/4
|
36 Total 22/14
|
29 Total 12/17
|
2 Total
2/0
|
18 Total
6/11
|
2013
|
91
|
46/45
|
12 Total
5.5/6.5
|
42 Total 24/18
|
21 Total 12/9
|
3 Total 1.5/1.5
|
13 Total
3/10
|
2012
|
77
|
36/41
|
8 Total
4/4
|
26 Total
9/17
|
29 Total 19/15
|
3 Total
all N-F
|
11 Total
6/5
|
2011
|
53
|
22/31
|
10 Total
4/6
|
25 Total
13/12
|
11 Total
5/6
|
-
|
7 Total
All Fiction
|
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