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A Year of Reading
The slow-news time betwixt Christmas and New Year’s Day was created by media conglomerates to publish thousands of “Best Of” lists. I stink at creating them since I’ve always had a years-long backlog of music, movies, and books that I haven’t quite gotten around to. To remedy this, for books at least, a few of years ago I decided to read at least one book a month. Granted, that’s far below the number consumed by my bookworm friends, but gimme a break — my job consists of reading the internet non-stop and my old eyes get tired.
I’ve decided to share my booklist with you, the highly literate Ricochet member. Here’s what I read in 2016, in order:
- Sick in the Head: Conversations About Life and Comedy, Judd Apatow
- Don’t Thank Me All at Once: The Lost Pop Genius of Scott Miller, Brett Milano
- Coolidge, Amity Shlaes
- The Art of Peace, Morihei Ueshiba
- Why Is the World So Dangerous?, Herbert Meyer (booklet)
- A Curmudgeon’s Guide to Getting Ahead: Dos and Don’ts of Right Behavior, Tough Thinking, Clear Writing, and Living a Good Life, Charles Murray
- The War of Art: Winning the Inner Creative Battle, Steven Pressfield
- The Obstacle Is the Way: The Timeless Art of Turning Trials into Triumph, Ryan Holiday
- The Brothers Karamazov, Fyodor Dostoyevsky (Have you read it yet? You really must.)
- People’s Republic, Kurt Schlichter
- Based on a True Story, Norm MacDonald
- The Haçienda: How Not to Run a Club, Peter Hook
- Reasons to Stay Alive, Matt Haig
- Substance: Inside New Order, Peter Hook
- Almost Interesting, David Spade
Not only did I hit my book a month goal, I blew by it with 15 titles total. Granted, three of them were super short, but the Dostoyevsky more than made up for that. Three were about the inner workings of comedy, three about music, three about politics, two fiction, and four were philosophy/self-help.
Now I want to know: What books did you read this year? Any I should add to my 2017 list?
Published in General, Literature
On looking over my 2016 list, I’m dismayed by my tendency to self-torture. I read a book about the Stasi (Stasiland: Stories from Behind the Berlin Wall, an excellent volume by Anna Funder) and five – five! – books about the Clintons. Must do better.
Thanks, anonymous – Trustee from the Toolroom was great!
I agree that plays ought to be seen, but I can’t wait and can’t afford for them all to be produced! So I read them instead.
Also, some modern plays give me confidence to persevere with my own writing, on the grounds that if *they* can be produced…
Here’s my list. I should note that many of them are Audible books. I have a long commute, so I pass the time by listening to audio books.
(1) Thomas Jefferson – The Art of Power – by Jon Meacham
(2) Shame – by Shelby Steele
(3) The Black Echo – by Michael Connelly (the first Bosch book – I then proceeded to listen to the next 12 books in the series in 2016, but I won’t list them)
(4) A Disgrace to the Profession – by Mark Steyn
(5) Disney War – by James B. Stewart
(6) Why Mahler? – by Norman Lebrecht
(7) Stradivari’s Genius – by Toby Faber
(8) Endangered – C.J. Box (Yes, I’ve also been reading all the C. J. Box “Joe Pickett” series; I also read another 2 of the series during 2016)
(9) The War that Ended Peace – by Margaret MacMillan
(10) Any Other Name – by Craig Johnson (Yes, I’m reading the Longmire series also and I read another 2 in the series during 2016)
(11) By Its Cover – by Donna Leon (Yes, I’m reading the Commissario Brunetti series also)
(12) Ike’s Bluff – By Evan Thomas
(13) The Identity Man – by Andrew Klavan
(14) The Black Widow – by Daniel Silva (Yes, I’m reading the Gabriel Allon series)
(15) Inside Delta Force – by Eric L. Haney
(16) The Sea Wolves – Lars Brownworth
(17) A Great Reckoning – by Louise Penny (Yes, I’m reading the Inspector Gamache series)
(18) The Generals – by Winston Groom
(19) The War on Cops – by Heather MacDonald
(20) Spider Woman’s Daughter – by Anne Hillerman (Yes, I’ve read all the Tony Hillerman books)
(21) The Great Good Thing – by Andrew Klavan
(22) The Intimidation Game – by Kimberley Strassel
I freely admitted that I only included books that I thought a general Ricochet audience would be interested in. I see now that I’m going to have to demonstrate my bona fides to maintain my street cred. A tiny sample: Perils of Pleasure – Julianne Long; Cold-Hearted Rake – Lisa Kleypas; Do You Want to Start a Scandal – Tessa Dare; The Viscount Who Loved Me – Julia Quinn.
@exjon Have you read Newhart’s I Shouldn’t Even Be Doing This? I think you’d enjoy it.
Really enjoyed it. Newhart is the most underrated comic of his generation.
Upon your recommendation, I just signed up for Goodreads. Much easier to keep track that way.
I’ve not read Master and Man or Buddenbrooks yet, but second your suggestions of Silence and To Kill a Mockingbird. Those serious about their faith should also read Interior Castle.
Fiction:
1. Alamut, by Vladimir Bartol
2. Complicity, by Iain Banks
3. A Short History of Tractors in Ukrainian, by Marina Lewycka
4. Saturday, by Ian McEwan
5. Cloudsplitter, by Russell Banks
6. The Radetzky March, by Joseph Roth
7. Broken April, by Ismail Kadare
8. That They May Face The Rising Sun, by John McGahern
9. The Jungle, by Upton Sinclair
10. July’s People, by Nadine Gordimer
11. Season of Migration to the North, by Tayeb Salih
12. Anna Karenina, by Leo Tolstoy
13. August Is A Wicked Month, by Edna O’Brien
14. The Last September, by Elizabeth Bowen
15. A Tale of Love and Darkness, by Amos Oz
16. Story of the Stone, by Cao Xueqin
17. Brideshead Revisited, by Evelyn Waugh
18. The Brothers Karamazov, by Fyodor Dostoyevsky
19. The Nine Tailors, by Dorothy L. Sayers
20. The Island of Dr. Moreau, by H.G. Wells
21. Embers, by Sándor Márai
22. Decline and Fall, by Evelyn Waugh
23. Le Petit Prince, by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
24. A Green Journey, by Jon Hassler
25. Mr. Midshipman Hornblower, by C.S. Forester
26. Lieutenant Hornblower, by C.S. Forester
27. Hornblower and the Hotspur, by C.S. Forester
28. Borges and the Eternal Orangutans, by Luis Fernando Verissimo
29. Imagining Argentina, by Lawrence Thornton
30. Night Flight, by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
31. Hornblower and the Atropos, by C.S. Forester
32. Great House, by Nicole Krauss
33. Bamboo and Blood, by James Church
34. Beat to Quarters, by C.S. Forester
35. The Man with the Baltic Stare, by James Church
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La Biblia (Spanish is very slow going for me)
1. Libro Primero de Los Reyes
2. Libro Segundo de Los Reyes
3. Libro Primero de Las Crónicas
4. Libro Segundo de Las Crónicas
5. Esdras
6. Nehemías
7. Tobías
8. Judit
9. Ester
10. Libro Primero de Los Macabeos
11. Libro Segundo de Los Macabeos
12. Los Salmos
13. Lamentaciones
14. Job
Nonfiction
1. James Buchanan, by Jean H. Baker
2. To Purge This Land with Blood: A Biography of John Brown, by Stephen B. Oates
3. Christianity, Islam, and Atheism: The Struggle for the Soul of the West, by William Kilpatrick
4. The Abolition of Man, by C. S. Lewis
5. The Education Apocalypse: How It Happened and How to Survive It, by Glenn Harlan Reynolds
6. Unchecked and Unbalanced: How the Discrepancy Between Knowledge and Power Caused the Financial Crisis and Threatens Democracy, by Arnold Kling
7. The Grace of Silence: A Memoir, by Michele Norris
8. The Fall of the Roman Republic: Six Lives, by Plutarch
9. Trust: The Social Virtue and the Creation of Prosperity, by Francis Fukuyama
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Faith
1. The Reed of God, by Caryll Houselander
2. Awake My Soul: Contemporary Catholics on Traditional Devotions, edited by James Martin, SJ
3. Diary of Saint Maria Faustina Kowalska: Divine Mercy in My Soul, by Saint Maria Faustina Kowalska
4. The Seven Storey Mountain, byThomas Merton
5. The Life of Saint Teresa of Ávila by Herself, by Teresa of Ávila
6. Please Don’t Remove Margreat’s Glasses!, byJosh Baker
7. Fatal Rhythm, by R.B. O’Gorman
8. Literary Converts: Spiritual Inspiration in an Age of Unbelief, by Joseph Pearce
9. Introduction to the Devout Life, by Francis de Sales
10. Remembering Belloc, by Schall
11. The Urgency of the New Evangelization: Answering the Call, by Ralph Martin
12. Riding the White Line: Pedestrian Crossings, by Mick Humbert
Plato
1. Apology
2. Crito
3. Phaedo
4. Symposium
5. Republic
6. Parmenides
7. Euthyphro
Re-posting comment from Taleena’s Russian reading post: Here’s what I read and plan to read:
I will re-read anything C.S. Lewis – I’ll start with The Screwtape Letters. I may re-read Father Elijah – well written and parallels what is happening today in Israel and with the Pope of late. It keeps you on the edge of your seat.
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/550996.Father_Elijah
Finished The Book of Honor by Ted Gup – remarkable, recommend highly. I have quite a few books that I picked up at library sales this past year – many classics, Agatha Christie. I love novels written in the 1940’s and earlier – they are fiction written with style and class of that era, along with insight into the struggles during WWII. I also found a book called A Night of Watching by Elliott Arnold 1967. It is about The feat of the Danish Underground in 1943 when in 2 weeks all 8,000 Danish Jews disappeared – how they escaped.
I want to read @andrewklavan ‘s book The Great Good Thing – I purchased but did not get time to read past intro, so next on list. Also Under The Tuscan Sun, as I plan my spring garden. We The People, Great Documents of The American Nation by Jerome Agel.
Also a great book called Navigating Change – a Field Guide to Personal Growth by W. Gary Gore. He was a client of mine.
I would wager that is a driving force behind many amateur* writing attempts, whether they be scripts, novels, or music.
(* And by “amateur” I mean “for the love of” – nothing else.)
Well then… allow me to extend an invitation to the Ricochet Book Group.
With a reading list that runs longer than The Brothers Karamazov.
Cloudsplitter, That They May Face the Rising Sun, A Tale of Love and Darkness and Embers are all excellent. You should read Hornblower at some point in your life. And if you are a fan of Jorge Luis Borges, Borges and the Eternal Orangutans is a treat.
That’s a great insight, jzdro. Most people (even theatre nerds like myself) will admit that it’s often difficult to visualize plays from the page…especially with playwrights that give zero stage directions like David Mamet (and Shakespeare!) But seeing multiple interpretations – like you mention – allows the reader/viewer to discover something new each time. It’s why theatre is always referred to as a “living art.”
Absolutely true. And I would wager that has also been the driving force behind many professional careers as well.
Here it is:
I saw your reading list, Isaac. Holy smoke, how do you find the time for all that?
I watch very little TV and always have a book with me, so I would read on the train (now on the bus), in any waiting room I find myself in, etc. Also, I had a 5th grade teacher who realized I was going to blow through the course materials well before the end of the year so she signed me up for a speed reading course – a gift that has stayed with me for life. I usually aim at reading one fiction book and one nonfiction book a week. I’ve been busy this last year, so this is actually a drop off from prior years. What the list doesn’t reflect is my “failures,” the books I started at the beginning of the year and haven’t finished yet – City of God by Augustine and The Histories by Herodotus. I should finish this year.
I take a book with me everywhere too, but I’m still at about a quarter of your reading. Very impressive.
Thanks. I guess I should acknowledge that my kids are all grown and my wife is also a reader. There is not much we enjoy more than sitting together reading.
As an actor-musician friend of mine said, we don’t stay in the business because we think we’re better than everyone else, but because we’re aware that there are people in work who aren’t.
I LOVE what your actor-musician friend said. I have written it down; I know I will refer to it many times in the future.