Books I've Read (or Listened To) - 6/03 to present
Submitted by openstacks on Wed, 06/16/2004 - 07:49
Tags:
- Microserfs (Douglas Copeland) - "It was quite good and the end was surprisingly moving, in a geeky sort of way.”
- Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (J.K. Rowling) - “Very good. The last 100 pages were far superior to the rest.”
- Naked (David Sedaris) - “This was enjoyable, but not life-affecting.”
- How Would You Move Mount Fuji? (William Poundstone) - “Quick, interesting read if you ever have to interview for a competitive corporate position.”
- The Master and Margarita (Bulgakov) - “This is a fantastic, brilliant piece of work.”
- Stranger in a Strange Land (Heinlein) - “A little more sexual than I would've predicted. Not bad, but not one of my favorites either.”
- Cryptonomicon (Neal Stephenson) - “This is real good. Inspired me to read The Code Book just to learn more about cryptography.”
- Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (J.K. Rowling) - “Yup, it's good. Not the best of the series, but a good, quick read.”
- What's Eating Gilbert Grape? (Peter Hedges) - “I'm sure watching the movie will kill this one for me. Great YA book.”
- Their Eyes Were Watching God (Zora Neale Hurston) - “Well-written story. Very real.”
- The Code Book (Simon Singh) - “Made fast work of this one. Interesting to see how much Neal Stephenson knows about this stuff. Puts a lot of Cryptonomicon into context.”
- The Meaning of Everything (Simon Winchester) - “Good stuff, although I would have enjoyed more insights into the research of individual entries.”
- The Color Purple (Alice Walker) - “Finished. Quick read, relatively satisfying.”
- Fast Food Nation (Eric Schlosser) - “Kind of knew what I was getting with this one, but always like to have my mentalities backed up with some research. A fairly quick read.”
- Half Asleep in Frog Pajamas (Tom Robbins) - “Good stuff. It's no Jitterbug Perfume, but what else could be?”
- Under the Tuscan Sun (Frances Mayes) - “I liked this well enough, although it took me longer to plow through than expected.”
- Jimmy Corrigan: The Smartest Kid On Earth (Chris Ware) - “Pretty good.”
- Understanding Comics (Scott McCloud) - Apparently, I failed to leave comments on this one, but it is quite well-done and I plan on scooping up Reinventing Comics in the near future.
- Down and Out in the Magic Kingdom (Cory Doctorow) - “Bitchun, dude.”
- Bobby Fischer Goes To War (David Edmonds, John Eidinow) - “Always intrigued by competitive boardgames and the people who play them at a high level...this is a good read.”
- Don Quixote (Cervantes - Grossman translation) [audiobook] - “This was a mammoth, yet entirely worthwhile undertaking. The audiobook performance is highly recommended.”
- Fahrenheit 451 (Bradbury) [audiobook] - “Listened to this about halfway through Don Quixote for a break. The performance is very stiff, but perhaps it befits the text. I found it a bit dull.”
- Da Vinci Code (Dan Brown) [audiobook] - “I listened to the audiobook of this. Entertaining, although a bit belabored at times.”
- The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime - “I tend to like things told from a child's perspective, so this was entertaining.”
- Dude, Where's My Country? (Michael Moore) [audiobook] - “I imagine it would have been a little better if Michael Moore had been reading, but still worthwhile.”
- The Fermata (Nicholson Baker) - “Definitely not for the younguns. I, of course, enjoyed it immensely.”
- A Short History of Nearly Everything (Bill Bryson) [audiobook] - “Good stuff. Great, at times.”
- A Tree Grows In Brooklyn (Betty Smith) [audiobook] - “This is one of my mother-in-law's (a children's librarian herself) favorite books. I can understand why.”
- Night (Elie Wiesel) [audiobook] - “Somber tale, yet pointedly well-written. This is one of those books you wish was more fictional than it is.”
- The Everlasting Story of Nory (Nicholson Baker) - “Although this was amusing enough, it took me way too long to read, which is not a good sign.”
- The Footprints of God (Greg Iles) [audiobook] - “If you can suffer the lengthy, somewhat meandering explorations of the nature and purpose of consciousness, it's a decent story and mostly satisfying.”
- Life of Pi (Yann Martel) [audiobook] - “A very fine survival tale with enjoyable Indian-flavored details.”
- My Name is Asher Lev (Chaim Potok) - “I always enjoy and identify with stories of the artist-in-bloom (not that I ever was one or anything) and this being the story of a young Jew coming of age doubles that identification for me.”
- Memoirs of a Geisha (Arthur Golden) [audiobook] - “Hard to know how much fact is worked into this fiction, but it's fascinating regardless.”
- Stardust (Neil Gaiman) - “I suspect I would have enjoyed this more ten years ago, but it was still enchanting enough to be read swiftly.”
- The Summons (John Grisham) [audiobook] - “This is pretty appropriate for a car ride, but nothing substantial enough for my limited actual reading time.”
- Eats, Shoots & Leaves (Lynne Truss) - “It's hard to take grammatical advice from an author who insists on ending sentences with prepositions.”
- The Hours (Michael Cunningham) [audiobook] - “This may not have been the best choice for a commute, as it is not particularly narrative-oriented. It would probably help to have some appreciation for Virginia Woolf, which I can't say I do, but the quality of Cunningham's prose is relatively high.”
- The 5 Minute Iliad (Greg Nagan) - “This was perfect for my limited attention span and loads of fun for sparking memories about books you were forced to read in school and then summarily voided from your memory.”
- The Outsiders (S.E. Hinton) [audiobook] - “For whatever reason, I never read this as a child, but I sort of wish I had. Puts a lot of adolescent issues into perspective.”
- The Great Gatsby (F. Scott Fitzgerald) [audiobook] - “Not really any better than I remember it being in grade school. Oh well.”
- Basic Eight (Daniel Handler) - “The popular description of this book as "Heathers meets Fight Club" holds some water, but it's an oversimplification. Quite enjoyable.”
- A Meal Observed (Andrew Todhunter) - “A perfect companion to the cruise I was on at the time. Made me anticipate every dining experience passionately (as well as providing much conversation fodder for the dinner table).”
- Survivor (Chuck Palahniuk) - “Really enjoyed reading Palahniuk for the first time, but the end of this story was something of a letdown.”
- How to Read a French Fry (Russ Parsons) - “Solid culinary advice, but not nearly as intriguing as the title might suggest.”
- Sex, Drugs and Cocoa Puffs (Chuck Klosterman) - “Klosterman clearly knows his hipster audience and has no qualms about taking shots at the things they hold dear. Funny at times; a touch agitating at others; sometimes both.”
- The Pleasure of My Company (Steve Martin) [audiobook] - “I think this would have been better without the annoying musical interludes between chapters that reminded me of the Anna Nicole theme song. Story was perhaps not as funny as I would have predicted, but about as quirky.”
- Universe in a Nutshell (Stephen Hawking) [audiobook] - “I understood at best 20% of this book, but it was fascinating to try.”
- Perfect Sound Forever (Rob Jovanovic) - “If you like Pavement, you'll probably read it and I have no reason to tell you not to.”
- Generation X (Douglas Coupland) - “Not nearly as good as Microserfs.”
- Pattern Recognition (William Gibson) [audiobook] - “Great premise, although the payoff is a bit weak considering the strength of the build-up.”
- Choke (Chuck Palahniuk) [audiobook] - “Although this was entertaining, I've probably had my fill of Palahniuk for the moment.”
- The Mother Tongue (Bill Bryson) - “An excellent exploration of the origins of language in general and English in particular. Loads of amusing insights.”
- Candyfreak (Steve Almond) - “Begins auspiciously, but I lost faith when the author revealed his ignorance of Lik-M-Aid, a fundamental source of sugar in my summer camp days.”
- Jeeves and the Mating Season (Wodehouse) [audiobook] - “Fairly light and delightful, as might be expected.”
- Schismatrix Plus (Bruce Sterling) - “Did not finish. Boring.”
- Wigfield (Sedaris, et al.) [audiobook] - “Entertaining, but trying a little too hard to be cleverly hip.”
- Dave Gorman's Googlewhack Adventure - “Not exactly brilliant, but not the worst writing I've read this year either.”
- I, Robot (Asimov) [audiobook] - “Actually quite good.”
- Chasing Vermeer (Blue Balliett) - “A bit on the disappointing side, given the buzz.”
- The Apprentice (Jacques Pepin) - “Fairly straightforward stuff. Occasionally insightful and engaging.”
- The Know-It-All (A.J. Jacobs) - “Good premise, but it drags a bit.”
- The Heart is a Lonely Hunter (Carson McCullers) [audiobook] - “Stunning. Good performance too.”
- America: The Book (Jon Stewart) - “Not really something to be read straight-through, but enjoyed over many trips to the bathroom.”
- Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim (David Sedaris) [audiobook] - “Blessedly read by the author himself. I can't imagine anyone else reading stuff this personal.”
- The Big U (Neal Stephenson) - “Good satire. Not on the level of his subsequent works.”
- Fork It Over: The Intrepid Adventures of a Professional Eater (Alan Richman) - “I didn't realize this was going to be a series of previously published articles and columns. Very good, but without the unifying feel of a linearly written tome.”
- Chocolate: A Bittersweet Saga of Dark and Light (Mort Rosenblum) - “Not as cohesive a narrative as I might have expected, but enjoyable nevertheless.”
- Fever Pitch (Nick Hornby) - “Reads more like a series of short essays than a continuous narrative.”
- Library: An Unquiet History (Matthew Battles) [audiobook] - “Did not finish. My attention span for historical stuff is not what it used to be.”
- A Cook's Tour (Anthony Bourdain) - “My kind of travelogue, replete with copious culinary adventures.”
- The Broker (John Grisham) - “Hadn't planned on reading this. Good premise, but not much payoff in the end.”
- Haroun and the Sea of Stories (Salman Rushdie) - “Didn't realize this would really be a children's story, although it is certainly more sophisticated and allegorical than average.”
- Freakonomics (Steven Leavitt and Stephen Dubner) - “Not the most cohesive piece of non-fiction ever, but filled with interesting observations based on looking closely at statistics.”
- Eragon (Chris Paolini) [audiobook] - “Long and only the first part of an apparent trilogy. I'm sure I'll listen to the rest.”
- Box Office Poison (Alex Robinson) - "Amazing what you can do with the graphic novel format.
- Breakfast of Champions (Vonnegut) - "A little underdeveloped for my taste."
- Start Late, Finish Rich (David Bach) [audiobook] - "Loads of good personal finance advice. Highly recommended."
- Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (Rowling) - "Great set-up for the finale."
- Rich Dad, Poor Dad (Kiyosaki) [audiobook] - "A little contrived, but there's some decent financial advice hiding in there somewhere."
- Learn to Earn (Peter Lynch) - "Really good setup that ultimately doesn't deliver any useful information."
- Julie & Julia (Julie Powell) - "Not as fun as reading the original blog, but still entertaining."
- The Polysyllabic Spree (Nick Hornby) - "I generally love books about reading. This is a compilation of monthly columns that I wish had been twice as long."
- Still Life With Woodpecker (Tom Robbins) - "This was not my favorite Tom Robbins book, but worthwhile."
- Ragtime (E.L.Doctorow) - "It took me three tries to get through this, due to real-life distractions, but it was well worth the effort."
- Beloved (Toni Morrison) - "Probably not the best choice for a beach vacation. I preferred Song of Solomon."
- All Tomorrow's Parties (William Gibson) - "Another one of those books that has an intriguing premise with no payoff."
- The Princess Bride
- Ambient Findability - Peter Morville
- Heat - Bill Buford [audiobook]
- How to Listen To and Understand Great Music [audiobook]
- Gastronaut
- The United States of Arugula
- /The Tao of Pooh/
- Never Get Your Dog Stuffed - Alan Alda
- Brodeur - Beyond The Crease
- Michael Chabon - Summerlands - Gosh, this took forever to read and was completely anti-climactic by the end.
- Nasty Bits - Anthony Bourdain
- Skinny Legs and All - Tom Robbins
- Currently Reading
Author Comments:
No rating system yet, but I'll add in my comments. These books are listed in approximate order of consumption. Suggestions are always welcome.
I had some trouble with Nory as well.. Probably my least favorite of his books.
I haven't read the Lynne Truss book, but I thought it was more about errors of punctuation than grammar. Corrosive errors like using quotation marks for emphasis instead of to indicate quotation.
Yes, you are correct. I was thinking of punctuation as being one of the elements of written syntax (and therefore grammatical), which admittedly may be a slight misinterpretation. The point is really the same though; all elements (grammar, punctuation, spelling, vocabulary, etc.) play into a writer's credibility.
On the other hand, while I suppose it's necessary that there be hard and fast rules of grammar and punctuation, I tend to agree with the opinion that errors are forgivable providing they don't mislead the reader as to the writer's intended meaning. Having said that, I stand by my opinion that quotation marks shouldn't be used merely for emphasis.
I have mixed emotions here. On the one hand, I am very fast and loose linguistically myself and have no problem deriving and/or creating meaning from unconventional prose. However, my eye has always been quick to spot the abandonment of convention (whether intentional or simply erroneous), so I maintain a strong appreciation for the "stickler" mentality. Did I just use quotes for emphasis?
There are at least five legitimate ways to use quotation marks. Their primary use, of course, is to indicate quotation. Example: "I'm the monster's mother," Ripley said.
Another use is to indicate that words or phrases are being mentioned instead of being used.
Example of use: The Hudson is shorter than the Mississippi.
Example of mention: "The Hudson" is shorter than "the Mississippi".
A third use is to indicate that a word is being used in a non-standard way. Example: Some sub-atomic particles have "charm" and some are "strange".
A fourth use is to indicate that the word the writer is using is not the word he/she would choose to use. Example: Unlike most guys, I do not consider Pamela Anderson a "babe".
A fifth use is to suggest that the writer means the opposite of the word used. Example: Himmler was a "good" Nazi.
Are you using the quotes around stickler in one of these ways?
I think I was veering towards the fourth usage, although I have to admit that stickler is as good a word as any in that context.
The Outsiders (S.E. Hinton) is a great favourite of mine. Suggestion: see the movie
Done: Number 75.