Compiled by Kendra Wise
| From Anonymous, history major, master gardener, and genealogy buff: |
| [Fiction]
Girl with a Pearl Earring - Tracy Chevalier. About a young
woman in a Dutch painting. I'm only partly into it but it is an intriguing
concept. So far well written and engaging. [Oral History] Epic Lives, One Hundred Black Women who made a difference - Janice Carey Smith Easy to read and good to let us all know women have achieved as well, from all races! [Oral History] Life is So Good - George Dawson with Richard Glaubman The account of the life of 101 year old George Dawson, a black man raised in the South and his life experiences. Really good as it shows a man who managed to be a real human without letting the rancor of how he was treated growing up affect his life. [Children's] Out of the Dust - Karen Hesse. A Newberry book from a couple of years ago but well worth an adult read. About a young girl growing up in the depression in the Dust Bowl. Done in free verse, very unusual. [Middle East/travel] Nine Parts of Desire, The Hidden Lives of Islamic Women. Geraldine Brooks. A friend recommended it. Again I am only into it a little but so far very good and certainly very timely for all of us. [Fiction/Irish] The Mammy, The Chiselers, The Granny - Brendan O'Carroll. Series about a working class woman in Dublin raising her brood on her own. Really funny and an easy read. [History] John Adams - David McCullough. Very well done and a very large tome but well researched and well written. Really reveals the man and the time and shows Abigail off as well and her powerful influence in their lives and American history. [Fiction] Miss Julia Speaks Her Mind - Ann B Ross. There is a sequel out to it now. Sort of in the style of Fannie Flagg about a woman whose husband dies and his mistress and the 10 year old son she doesn't know about show up on her doorstep. And later she sent... One more, Rosamunde Pilcher, especially The Shell Seekers. Still later she sent... One more author well worth reading is John Hassler, particularly Staggerford and A Green Journey. |
| From Anonymous, who's pushing the ee cummings envelope: |
| I have been reading a lot this year and so will give you two books for
your 2002 anthology. both give some insights into recent events, though
not directly. the first is a neglected novel by joseph conrad titled "under western skies." [eyes, it looks like -- GRG] conrad, a pole, never spoke a word of english till sometime around his 30th year. in a few short years he became a master of the language. an astonishing feat, rarely equaled. maybe nabakov. strangely enough the other novel, "rebellion of the hanged," is also written by a pole. b traven was a mysterious man who began publishing novels under his assumed name in the 1930's. no one, not his publishers even, knew anything about him except that he mailed his manuscripts from mexico. only recently has he been identified as a pole who began writing in austria and germany. he fled germany in the early 20's, a refugee from the resurgent german army who ended the brief flowering of artists and wackos after wwI. that was a fascinating era, though short. a little like san francisco in the 60's. at first, i think, he wrote from german to english. finally from spanish to english. his novels were and are widely known in europe, less so here, though everyone knows of 'treasure of the sierra madre.' though i don't feel the need to show you no stinking badges, i think these books are worth a read. |
| Geoff Gustafson, mild-mannered Intel Employee and kamikaze Boggle player: |
|
The Lord of the Rings. (editor's note for the un-Tolkiened: JRR
Tolkien; refers to a series of 3 books, which are, in sequence, The
Fellowship of the Ring, The Two Towers, and The Return of
the King -kjw). If you haven't read it N times, you haven't read it at
all. However, I was painfully critical of the movie having read the book
immediately beforehand, so I'd recommend reading The Two Towers early and
letting the details fade before you see the film. David Copperfield. (Charles Dickens) Interestingly published originally as a serial for a magazine. My edition included his notes where he was planning ahead on where to include things and made changes when we couldn't quite squeeze a topic in a given episode. Something like a prototype for television writing. Geeky stuff. The Mythical Man-Month by Frederick P. Brooks is a classic set of essays on software engineering that they made us read at school. It's written in lay terms, and provides fairly interesting insight into what it takes to make complex software. Genome: The Autobiography of a Species in 23 Chapters, by Matt Ridley. A layperson's description of some (decreasingly) recent developments in genetics. Describes a gene or two from each of the 23 chromosomes and discusses implications. Good if you don't know much about genetics like me, perhaps annoyingly simplistic for someone like Miguel. The Dancing Wu Li Masters, by Gary Zukav. Finally made it to reading this, which I've intended for 10+ years since my high school Physics teacher recommended. A very pleasant way to catch your basic physics knowledge up to 1970, and at least for me, it was stuck back in 1690. Also interspersed with a bunch of rot about Eastern Mysticism, but fairly sparse until the end. Terry Goodkind fantasy novels, starting with Wizard's First Rule. Voluminous but quick reads. Probably not going to win any writing awards, but contain some interesting plot and plot devices. Impressively independent of Tolkien's archetypes, the players are mostly human or occasionally creatures of his own invention. Warning: Typically one or two chapters will focus on something disgusting mixing sex and violence in gory detail. Not at all sure why, and I can't wholly recommend because of it. That's perhaps it for completions. Now if you want a list of all the books I _started_ ... ;) |
| From Anonymous. See comments below for more about her: |
| This is sad, but mostly I read journals at night. I can recommend "Seabiscuit" as a great book, about the racehorse and the lives of jockeys. (Editor's note: given that I have seen the stack of professional journals the above individual is "supposed" to read on a monthly basis, I am shocked that she reads anything else at all. The fact that this book made the list makes me want to pick it up pronto. -- KJW) Later, she wrote: I also liked the Little Train That Could (ha ha).....when I was three years old ;-) |
| From Anonymous, an engineer by trade but clearly someone with a repressed "Murder, she wrote" complex: |
| Seems I go for the light-reading category, mostly mysteries. Author: Takis and Judy(?) Iakovou. Light mystery series (3-4 books) involving a husband-wife team, he's Greek so lots of fun cultural insights Author: Earlene Fowler "Benni Harper" mystery series (7-8 books), light reading Each title is a quilt pattern - main character is a woman, an art museum curator in a small California Central Coast town - very fun books! Author: Allana Martin Light mystery series (4 books) featuring a woman who owns a store in a border town in southern Texas. Lots of Mexican culture included. Author: Kirk Mitchell. Mystery series (3 books) featuring 2 FBI agents - man and woman, both Indian but different tribes - so you get insights into their own tribes, and others they get involved in with their investigations. A little heavier reading (mood-wise, gets a little macabre sometimes) but still a fairly short non-taxing (mentally) read. Good characters. Jane of Lantern Hill by Lucy Maud Montgomery (I still read it a couple of times a year), the Bible (great human stories, good guidance, and hope) Here's a shameless plug for this list, just to keep you going... "I remember you doing this a couple of years ago and coming up with some pretty interesting stuff." --- Anonymous, MBA |
| From Anonymous, technical writer, voracious reader, extremely skilled literary counselor. |
| [As in, he's never given me a book to read that I haven't
loved, loved, loved. Even the weirdo ones.] ...so far here's my short list of interesting books read so far this
year... |
| From Anonymous, a nursing home administration escapee who now works a job with much less responsibility, which leaves her time to reorganize her immense collection of paperback suspense thrillers: |
| For kids: The books we discussed, such as
The Phantom Tollbooth,
and the Shel Silverstein books. Also, the
Narnia series (C.S.
Lewis) is excellent - especially reading them aloud to the kids. Other
recommended kids books are the
Wrinkle in Time
series by
Madelene L'Engle (I think I spelled her name right);
Anne of Green
Gables series;
The Boxcar Children,
Nancy Drew, and
Bobbsey Twins
series;
Charlotte's Web;
Little Women;
Where the Red Fern Grows; and
My Side of the Mountain. For more mature readers: In the trashy novel department, I'll have to go for Vows by LaVyrle Spencer. Great all-round story and romance! Plus, it actually has a plot other than just the sex. Other books by the same author are also good. And, should you like books with romance and plot, books by Nora Roberts and Catherine Coulter usually come through as well. In the thriller department, a few recommendations would include: Lightning, by Dean Koontz. Great story, fairly easy read, and not so scary you can't read it if you are by yourself. Intensity, Dean Koontz again. This book is like one of those movies that go on and on and on, following the charactor continuously through a given period of time and whatever happens to that individual. Not a book that can be interrupted many times, as it flows better if you just sit down to read it cover to cover (should you have the time). Also, it has that almost painful quality of just when things start to get better they get worse again, and again, and again. The Dark Half. Definitely one of the better novels by Stephen King, in my humble opinion. In the suspense department, you can never go wrong with Mary Higgins Clark, or Brenda Michaels. In fact, with Brenda Michaels you get that lovely quality of the romance with the suspense, and again it doesn't focus on the sex. Hmmm.... The Griffin and Sabine series by Nick Bantok. These are a series of books written in the style of two people writing back and forth. They are visually interesting, with postcards and letters that you can actually take out of envelopes to read. Kitchen Table Wisdom. I forget who this book is by, as it is my mom's and I don't have it to review the author just now. I'll see if I can get it to you. It is similar to those Chicken Soup for the Soul books, only the stories all come from the same woman who is a doctor, and she talks about the lessons she has learned from her various experiences. That is what I have for now. I didn't want to keep you waiting any longer, and should I think of any more I'll be sure to let you know! |
| Anonymous splits her days between being a mom, coach, athlete, and a world-class surimi researcher (you know surimi as imitation krab). |
| [She
took me to her work once and all I really remember is this huge walk-in
freezer filled with whole frozen fish -- big ones like tuna and flounder
and halibut and sharks -- that were so hard they could have been used for
croquet. It was weirdly Alice-In-Frozenland-esque. We were only in there
for a couple of minutes but it was so cold my jeans froze solid. ] Hey, I have two books for sure to add to your list, but I keep forgetting to check the name of the author [John Darnton -- GRG]. The first one is The Experiment and the other Neanderthal by the same guy. I will get back to you regarding the author (She did get back to me and it's John Darnton). I read both books in about 4 days, which considering I was pregnant and had Anonymous to take care of, gives you an idea of how "into the books" I got. The Experiment sets up a realistic "what if" scenario regarding cloning a double for spare parts and keeps you on the edge of your seat. Neanderthal, is more sci-fi, but still entertaining and keeps you interested with each turn of the page. It is a little more difficult to write a synopsis for this one without giving too much away. The books read somewhat like Michael Creighton, although I think they are better written than Creighton. I am sure if I devoted enough brain power, I could think of some more books to read, but these will have to do for now. The only other book I have read recently, and I didn't make it all the way through was "How to be your dog's best friend" by the Monks of New Skete and I wouldn't exactly recommend that for easy reading, but if you are in need of a good dog training book, this would be one to check out. |
| From Anonymous, purveyor of fine salsa recipes (write me if you want to learn more about that): |
| Hi, Kendra: I admire your enthusiasm; it is catching. As they say, so many books, so little time. Three submissions for for your list. "Annals of a Former World" by John McPhee (1998). Talk about making geology exciting. He begins with his fascination about the plate tectonics revolution in the 1960s and it took him 20 years (1978-1998) to write this travelogue/ biography/ history of the "lithic and human kind." He is a genius at description and his fascination is contagious. "Annals" is four books in one and even though I have only read the first book I hope this winter holds enough warm nights by the fire for me to complete it, notwithstanding the library fine because I refuse to return it until I am done (one month renewal limit at my library). A provocative quote from Mr. McPhee to pique your interest: "If by some fiat I had to restrict all this writing to one sentence, this is the one I would choose. The summit of Mt. Everest is marine limestone." "The Risk Pool" (1988), "Nobody's Fool" (1993), "Straight Man" (1997), and "Empire Falls" (2001) by Richard Russo. Russo is my favorite fiction writer this year. He tells a great story, full of flawed characters for whom he has much affection, and with more than a touch of humor for life's ironies. It's the sign of a good author when you don't want the book to end. Honorable mention: "Seabiscuit, An American Legend" by Laura Hillenbrand (2001). When's the last time you read a good horse story, not to mention a great horse story? This is one. I think this horse was as famous as the President in the 1940s and some of the colorful cast of characters were from Northern California. There are a couple of descriptions of races in this book so riveting I had to remind myself to breathe. (Editor's note: Two votes for "Seabiscuit." What are you waiting for? As further incentive, keep in mind that both of the people who recommended it are too busy to read junk.) |
| From Anonymous, our above-quoted critic and the only person I know who craves Belgian mayonnaise as much as I do: |
| OK, that last email jolted me out of my inertia (and guilt for reading so
many Oprah booklist books!) I've kept my list short. Looking forward to
receiving the compliation. Memoirs of a Geisha, a novel by Arthur Golden. An incredibly vivid portrayal of a little girl's journey from a small Japanese fishing village to becoming one of the most famous geishas in Kyoto. Lyrical writing, luscious descriptions. Reasonable Creatures: Essays on Women and Feminism by Katha Pollitt. Funny, witty, provocative essays. The book was released in 1994, with most of the essays being written in the early 1990s. It's fascianting to pick up the book now and revisit some of the hot button issues of a decade(!) ago such as "family values," surrogate motherhood, and Newt Gingrich. Autobiography of a Face by Lucy Grealy. A touching autobiography of a woman who lost a third of her jaw to cancer when she was 9. A fascinating read. The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference by Malcolm Gladwell. An interesting analysis of how social phenomenon spread like viruses. A thought-provoking look at how society works. |
| From Anonymous, another ee cummings fan and the ONLY person from my graduate program who even deigned to respond to my pesky emails: |
| Kendra, hey i am sure i could recommend plenty more, but right now all i have time for is the last one i just finished. "The Red Tent" by Anita Diamant. Excellent story about Jacob and his wives told from the perspective of his one daughter Dinah. A must read for all women, and men alike. Its about 300 pages long, and I couldn't put it down. Hope all enjoy. Just to prove that biostatiticians aren't boring, here's contributions from Anonymous: "Girl With The Pearl Earring" by Tracey Chevalier - Great book about the subject in one of Vermeer's famous paintings. Beautiful writing and a good story. "Girl in Hyacinth Blue" by Cathy Vreeland - Another book about a Vermeer, though this is a fictional painting. Told in a sequence of stories beginning just after WWII and tracing back to the painting's creation. I didn't like the ending very much, but some of the stories were beautiful. One of my favorite books this year. "Imagining Argentina" by Lawrence Thornton - Set during Argentina's military dictatorship, about a playwright and the gift he discovers in himself after his wife is abducted by the regime. It's *not* a comprehensive history of Argentina's "dirty war", but an optimistic novel about the power of imagination and hope. It's been one of my favorite books for almost 10 years. |
| From Anonymous, below, wins the "most willing to go out on a limb for someone he's just met" award. |
| [Not a week after I met him at a dinner party, I
pelted him with the same email you all got. He gamely stepped up to the
plate. Way to go!] Kendra, a nautical theme from a landlocked sailor in Colorado. Remind me to tell you of our adventures inspired by the second book. (editor's note: I haven't asked about these adventures yet, but if you're curious, email me and I'll find out). Sobel, Dava, "Longitude: The true story of a lone genius who solved the greatest scientific problem of his time." This is the story of how John Harrison designed the first chronometer, or very accurate clock. This clock was the missing link in navigating the worlds seas and accurately identifying a ships location using celestial bodies and a chronometer. An easy read written for non-historians, but provides a great introduction to the concepts behind celestial navigation and ultimately modern GPS. There is drama, intrigue and hooliganism. Pardey, Lin and Larry, "Cruising in Seraffyn." The true narritive of a young couple who built a wooden sailboat in the 70's and sailed it around the world, working and learning as they went. One of the original armchair cruising books. What makes their story different, is that they demonstrated that such an amazing adventure is not only for independently wealthy people, but for resourceful people of below modest means who are willing to take the chance to have an adventure of a life time. Their boats have been modest and utilitarian and their motto is "Go small, but go now!" No sense in waiting until retirement, especially since there is no guarantee that you'll last that long. |
| From Anonymous, a reminder that illumination of the mind is not all there is to life: |
| So, I've been reading about Visual Basic programming. I read a little bit
out of a Martina Navratilova biography last week. Before that I read a
book about the boy who was raised as a girl in Canada because of a botched
circumcision. It was unbelievably interesting. Otherwise, it had been
realty listings and mortgage loan applications. Culturally, my life is
lagging behind its former self. On the happiness level, however, I'm off
the scale! |
| From the Great White North (Bozeman, Montana), Anonymous weighs in: |
|
For fun - Elizabeth Peters'
Amelia Peabody books For work - The carcass charateristics of Dorper and Suffolk sired wethers, by H.H. Meyer, T.M. Spezzano, and J.M. Thompson (She says she's just kidding on the last one, but she DID send it to me as a response, and since I don't cut out recommended reading... if you're interested in reprints of the latter, contact me and I'll put you in touch with her.) |
| From me, your class-act editor Kendra Wise: |
|
Extending the Table: A world community cookbook. Joetta Handrich
Schlabach More-with-Less Cookbook. Doris Janzen Longacre Both of these cookbooks are small in format and rich in content, which includes, along with a lot of very good, very easy recipes, a philosophy of cooking, eating and sharing that focuses on the nutritional, social and environmental consequences and outcomes of the act of cooking and eating. A thoughtful look at the hunger and food crisis and what we can do here to help alleviate it. Love in a Dead Language: Lee Siegel This book is nominally about a professor of East Indian studies who is obsessed with India. Probably the most innovative fiction book I've ever read. Extensive footnotes are a kick and absolutely essential to the book. The Island of Lost Maps: Miles Harvey This book was a random pick-up at Powell's and has turned into an obsession. It's a "true story of cartographic crime," about the crime spree of the world's most successful and prolific thief of antique maps and atlases, who was arrested in 1996. But it's also a marvelous story of the history of maps and mapmaking, the psyche of collectors, the world of art and antiques dealers, what makes a person a career thief, obsessions, and the influence of maps on history and the present day. Better-written than nearly anything else I've read, the story moves. If someone tried to borrow this book before I was done I'd cut both their hands off and keep reading. Cadillac Desert: Mark Reisner For those of you who wonder why LA and Vegas, which started out as tiny towns in the desert, got to be the sprawling behomoths they are, this book will tell you. Its well-narrated, methodical listing of how water is used (and wasted) in the U.S. West is a frustrating look at how politics, people and business are squandering the West's most important resource. The Best American Travel Writing, 2000. Bill Bryson, editor Worth the $15 bucks it costs just to read "Confessions of a cheese mule" and "The toughest trucker in the world." Amazing travel writing, some heartbreaking, some awe-inspiring, some just plain funny. All excellent. Wicked: The life and times of the wicked witch of the west. Gregory Maguire Dorothy was a clueless pawn used by the dictatorial Wizard of Oz to destroy the political dissidents who opposed his tyrannical regime. Who was the leader of the opposition? The Wicked Witch of the West. Inventive, interesting, and dark as befits a tale of oppression, corruption and power. Middle Passage, Charles Johnson. Think of a cross between Huck Finn, Moby Dick and The Count of Monte Cristo, but make the story about a black man who stows away on a ship only to find out that it's heading back to Africa to pick up a cargo of slaves. |
| And finally, from Miguel Hall, who finally gave in to my wheeling, harassing and nagging and sent me his list: |
|
Snow Crash,
The Diamond Age,
Cryptonomicom - Neal Stephenson I thoroughly enjoyed all three of these books. Snow Crash and The Diamond Age are science fiction, but the most you could say about Cryptonomicon is that some of the characters are geek (another vote for Snow Crash and the Diamond Age!) How The Mind Works - Steven Pinker At the beginning of each semester at MIT, there was a rush to get into 9.00, the introductory psychology course. I never quite understood what all the fuss was about, but after reading several of Pinker's books, and realizing that he was the professor for that course, I'm kicking myself. This book is very fun and easy to read, and you'll be smarter after reading it. Aha! He does stand up to his dad's challenge! Where Did I Come From? - Peter Mayle If your parents never had The Talk with you, get this now. This is probably the book I've read the most times. Catch-22 - Joseph Heller One of my favorite books. It's so good its title has entired the lexicon. Moby Dick - Herman Melville Yeah, I know it's a classic, and I avoided it for years for that reason, too, but it's actually very good. Ender's Game - Orson Scott Card Hands down the best book ever written about a six year old who saves all of humanity from invading bug-like aliens. No really, it's good. Cat's Cradle - Kurt Vonnegut It's got everything: love, religion, and the destruction of the world. The Grapes of Wrath - John Steinbeck Wow. A book that actually made me cry. The Hitchiker's Guide to the Galaxy - Douglas Adams. Everybody should read it. A Scanner Darkly - Philip K. Dick. Set in the future (1992, that is), this is a mindbending, darkly comic story involving the dueling dual personalities of a narcotics agent/drug dealer. |
| Flying in the face of finality, from Anonymous: |
| My choices haven't changed much since the last list. By far and away, my favorite book remains The Power of One by Bryce Courtenay. This book is good on a biographical, action/adventure, social/cultural and spiritual level. It made me sadder than any book I've ever read to finish. Any book by Lauren's van der Post is a good read. An English African, he touches the soul of the continent and brings feeling to the dilemmas faced as colonial times ended. The Earth Abides by George R. Stewart ranks high on any list I might offer as are most of the books by Kenneth Roberts (for some reason the Lively Lady carries the fondest memories for me). The Man Who Killed the Deer by Frank Waters provides the cultural reservoir that the likes of later authors (Tony Hillerman for example) drank heavily from. Frank Waters was an observant cultural anthropologist who "discovered" the southwest cultures before it was "popular" and wrote simple and elegant fiction. Good reads...at least the three I've been able to find (including The People of the Valley and The Woman at Otowi Crossing). Winter Brothers and Sea Runners by Ivan Doig will always be on my shelf and are hard for me to loan out. These are very different books from each other, the first being a true action-adventure and the second a peaceful, meandering look at a life 100 years past as Doig reads and writes about the journals of an "ordinary" man during the settlement days of Port Townsend, Washington. I'm finding it sorrowful that "new" fiction doesn't allow me to suspend belief like some of the older books I've read. My children keep trying to help me explore new worlds, but it seems to be that author intrusion often spoils the mood of the literature for me. I keep trying though. |
Compiled by Geoff Gustafson
| From Anonymous, a master of Columbian education, and lovely mother of the world's most precious child: |
| Well, I don't know if I'm qualified to contribute
suggestions, since Kendra doesn't know me and I don't think I'm a very
interesting person to most people. But here's a few I've read in the past
year or two that I really enjoyed: [solved that problem, gave you your own
list :) -- GRG] Pilgrim at Tinker Creek by Annie Dillard--fascinating observations of nature. It reads like a series of lessons in biology/botany, written in a very engaging way. There's some weird mystic stuff in there, but other than that it's really interesting. It won a Pulitzer Prize back in the 70s. The Power Broker (The Fall of NY) by Richard (or Robert?) Caro. Follows the rise to power of Robert Moses, the man responsible for building most of NYC's bridges, parks, beaches, parkways and playgrounds. Probably most interesting to people who've actually lived in or visited NYC and know it well. It's a fat tome--1100+ pages. And books by Florence King, whose National Review columns are very funny. I'm finishing up Reflections in a Jaundiced Eye and hope to start on Confessions of a Failed Southern Lady soon. She's more witty than funny, actually, and she is decidedly Un-P.C. |
| From Anonymous, whose web pages look much sweeter than most: |
|
The Gold Coast by Nelson Demille Plum Island by Nelson Demille Note: In order to enjoy Nelson Demille, you have to enjoy reading from story from the main character's (a guy's guy.. a budweiser drinking hard-ass bruce willis type of guy) perspective. I still haven't read "Charm School", but it's next. The Winner by David Baldacci This is a great book if you've ever thought about the lottery being a "fixed" thing. Oh wait, there's also: Airframe Michael Crichton Runaway Jury John Grisham |
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