Leebot 2008 Books Read

1. Into Thin Air: A Personal Account of the Mount Everest Disaster by Jon Krakauer.

Fascinating and a good vacation/airplane read.

2. The Eyre Affair by Jasper Fforde.

Though I don't typically read mysteries or fantasy, this was a very entertaining and imaginative read.

3. Manic: A Memoir by Terri Cheney.

Early reviewer book, a fast but compelling read. The author really has a knack for taking the reader right into the working of her mind when she is slipping into a deep depression, and conversely, a manic state of mind.

4. Three Cups of Tea by Greg Mortenson

This is a keeper! Very thought-provoking true story about how one man's life path turned toward humanitarianism, and the amazing things he's been able to accomplish.

5. Eat Pray Love by Elizabeth Gilbert

6. Age of American Unreason by Susan Jacoby

This book deserves a much more thoughtful review here than I can give at the moment, as I'm short on time, but in a nutshell I enjoyed this book very much. She provides an insightful and at times, personal historical overview of information and critical thinking skills in the lives of ordinary Americans. I enjoyed her first book when it came out, and I also enjoyed this one which had some very similar themes to Al Gore's book "Assault on Reason."

7. Complications: A Surgeon's Notes on an Imperfect Science by Atul Gawande

This is a compilation of essays by surgeon Atul Gawande's, who writes for Slate.com and The New Yorker magazine. In some instances he's expanded his essays for the book. I love reading about various scientific disciplines, and this book is a fascinating eclectic assortment of topics, tied together with a central theme of the foibles of the practice of medicine.

I was traveling and this book was excellent to just pick up and read an essay here and there as time permitted. The reader can easily skip around, as each essay stands on its own. I enjoyed the variety of topics, from an insider's view of medical conferences, to "good doctors who go bad," to the use of intuition as a diagnostic tool, and many other essays -- each of which was quite interesting. I love discovering a new favorite author! I have one other book by this writer which I am looking forward to beginning soon.

8. The Ghost Map: The Story of London's Most Terrifying Epidemic and How it Changed Science, Cities, and the Modern World by Steven Johnson

This was fascinating -- the type of "narrative" non-fiction that I really enjoy. The story is of a 1850's cholera epidemic in London, and how one doctor in particular put his inquiring mind to work to identify the source and cause. He was willing to think outside the scope of conventional theory, but his work combined practical science with sociological patterns as a cornerstone of epidemiology.

9. The Lost Continent: Travels in Small Town America by Bill Bryson.

Charming and entertaining read -- Bill Bryson's first book about his travels along back roads and small towns (some of which aren't even on the map).

10. Are You Somebody? The Accidental Memoir of a Dublin Woman by Nuala O'Faoilain.

This esteemed Irish writer/producer and memoirist died several weeks ago, so I read one of her books I've had on my shelf for ages. I loved it and it's a keeper! She writes so passionately, and is clearly a seeker who rose above her alcoholic/abusive childhood to live life -- as much as possible -- on her own terms.

11. The 3rd 100 Best Things I've Sold on eBay by Lynn Dralle.

Self-published so there may not be a touchstone for this book, but this was a really fun interesting read if you love antiques and collectibles (and especially if, like me, you sell on eBay).

12. The Sea for Breakfast by Lillian Beckwith.

The second book of Beckwith's series. I love her humorous sketches of the Hebrides Islands and its inhabitants, and this was a beautiful book to look at it as well. I had this title on my wish list at Paperbackswap, and what should I receive but the original 1960's hardback with colorful illustrated dust jacket and pen and ink drawings at the start of each chapter!

13. My Antonia by Willa Cather.

My husband and I read this book aloud to each other. I had long been meaning to read something by this author and am embarrassed to admit that I had not before now. Her descriptions of Nebraska -- the landscape and the seasons - were so vivid.

As I read books like the last two, I remember what really wonderful literature is like -- easy to forget when one falls into the trap of reading too much contemporary stuff. (Our book club selection last month was our choice of Sisterchicks novels . . . now that was a painful experience and I could not manage more than the first few chapters.)

14. Honeymoon with my Brother: A Memoir by Franz Wisner.

Premise is interesting -- a travelogue written by a man whose fiancee called off their wedding just days before. He decided to go on the honeymoon anyway -- with his brother. That began an extended period of travel for the pair; two years and several continents later, this book was the result. This is the book for my August book club.

Although there were some enjoyable spots, I found the writing very uneven and in dire need of editing. At times the author seemed self-conscious and self-absorbed, although he was not without his more poignant and insightful moments. His best writing could be found in his e-mails sent to grandmother LaRue, as well as the final chapters about Africa.

15. 1776 by David McCullough.

I've had this book on my TBR pile for ages, but finally cracked it after DH and I watched the HBO series "John Adams" based on the book by the same author. This book focuses mainly on the events of 1776. The narrative was gripping and I could see why the book had won a Pulitzer Prize. Love the amount of rich detail that far beyond what I'd learned in school history classes and am looking forward to reading more by this author.

My biggest problem when it comes to finishing books is that I keep starting books, and have several going at once. Sometimes I pick up a book and put it aside if it doesn't immediately capture my interest.

Then there are the oodles of "other" non-book reading I do -- my weekly subscription to The New Yorker, several other magazines, numerous online blogs and news sites . . . Yikes!

So this book is one I've been reading off and on for months and I finally finished.

16. The God Delusion by Richard Dawkins.

This was a very dense and slow-going read, but definitely fascinating. Although there are areas of disagreement, I appreciate Science and rational/logical thought, and Dawkins explains some scientific principles in a way that gives me greater depth than I had before. I also appreciate his reasoning and how he lays out his arguments. Much food for thought here and I was glad for the intellectual challenge.

Hi, leebot!
I have the same problem with starting too many books since joining LT. I never met a group read that I didn't like. :) It seems like I slowly move through them all until I feel like I'm not making any progress and just concentrate on one. Anyway, it's nice to have so many wonderful choices out there.

Thanks for your review of the Dawkins book. That is one that I had shied away from. I did have a copy of the Blind Watchmaker years ago. I like to read science books, and am planning to read the Darwin books when I catch up on the other long books that I am slowly reading.

Happy Reading!
--BJ

Thanks BJ! With the Dawkins book, I found I really had to take it in doses and alternate some lighter reading.

17. unSpun: Finding Facts in a World of Disinformation by Brooks Jackson & Kathleen Hall Jamieson.

Jamieson is one of my favorite "frequent guests" on Bill Moyers' Journal. I decided to read this book and was lucky to snag a copy from Paperbackswap.com. Very good read about tactics in political ads and campaigns -- and also very timely. (Wish that a lot of folks would read this one . . .sigh . . .)

18. The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho.

This was a monthly book club read. I wasn't as taken with this book as I know lots of others are; while it was charming telling of a common theme, the writing didn't quite do it for me. There are treatments of this story that I think are much better.

19. The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Diaz.

This was the 2008 Pulitzer Prize award-winner for literary fiction, and wow! was it an amazing read. I finished it last night (it's the November selection for my neighborhood book club) and it will take me awhile to sort out my thoughts and reactions to this.

I tend to be very picky about what fiction I read and what I like most about this book is Diaz's command of language and his well-developed characters. I fell in love with Oscar's character from the start, a very sympathetic nerd who lives in a world of science fiction and fantasy, whose heart's desire is to find a lady love. I KNOW this guy, even down to his stilted courtly-knight language. (And to be honest, I was a female version of him in a way, during my high-school years. I admit that when Oscar affectionately refers to his sister as a "Bene Gesserit witch," I was a bit chagrined that I immediately recognized the literary reference.

This novel also interweaves the dark history of the brutal Dominican Republic Trujillo dictatorship, and those passages were difficult to read.

I'm still trying to work out the ending in my mind, and what I think about it. I think our book club discussion will be very interesting.

20. The 100 Best Things I've Sold on eBay by Lynn Dralle.

The first in her series of three books, and a nice light read to balance out some of the heavier stuff. As a seller of antiques and collectibles, I love reading stories about antiques and people who sell them. The author combines stories and photos about interesting items she's sold with a retrospective biography of her beloved grandmother, whose own antiques business started the author down that same path.

21. The Teapot Dome Scandal: How Big Oil Bought the Harding White House and Tried to Steal the Country by Laton McCartney.

With stories like this, who needs fiction? It's all here: greed, corruption and bribery, plunder of government-controlled resources for private gain, sex, murder, a vengeful dame named Roxie, a single intrepid Senate investigator with moxie, a house of cards that come tumbling down for the baddies . . . wow, what a great read!

I first learned about the Teapot Dome Scandal when I had to write a term paper about in junior high school. I initially thought the topic sounded deadly dull, but this convoluted tale with all its intricacies really appealed to this Nancy-Drew-loving kid.

Now, umpty-ump years later, I really enjoyed reading this book as it went into far greater detail of course than anything I'd studied in school, and over the past eight years, the similarities to the excesses of the Bush Administration were not lost on me. I suspect most Americans know next to nothing about this time in history, though if we did perhaps we wouldn't have been so anxious to repeat the errors, as the saying goes.

22. Soldier's Heart: Reading Literature Through Peace and War at West Point by Elizabeth D. Samet.

This was an excellent read, though perhaps the title could well be called "A Teacher's Heart" as the writer's passion for her subject and tremendous caring for her students shines through. Reminded me of "Reading Lolita in Tehran" -- how good literature can always provide a framework to explore aspects of our life that sometimes defy understanding. Samet's deep level of insight, combined with her superb writing style made this one hard to put down!

23. More 100 Best Things I've Sold on eBay by Lynn Dralle.

Another fun read in Dralle's trilogy. Can't wait for the next one!