April 2006 Book Reviews

I seem to be reading a lot about mental illness and the pressures of modern life lately. I'm not sure what that's about. Possibly Adam's influence? He picked out To Hell with All That for me. Or is there a sudden flood of publishing in this area? Why would that be? Interesting thought to ponder...

Before launching into this month's reviews, I wanted to make a comment on the various blog pages you may be reading this on. I'm publishing the book posts in two places; you may want to select one or the other.

The Grand Tour: book reviews, vacation pics, and assortment of random things that interest me (and hopefully, you). All book-related content is repeated in the book archive.
Book Archives: just books. Lists, reviews, top 10 lists. A better choice if you'd prefer to not see where I went hiking this past weekend.
Crochet to Go: just crochet-related topics.

On to the list:
1. Oh the Glory of It All, Sean Wilsey, Rating: 3.0
I've had numerous people recommend this book. Sean Wilsey is the son of a San Francisco socialite, and (by my calculations) about 35 years old. The book gets off to a running start, detailing the excesses and idiosyncracies of his highly colorful parents. By the half-way point, however, the book has lost its focus. What's the subject? Sean's life? His mother? Boarding schools of the 1980s? Ultimately there's enough good material here to make it a worthwhile read, but you'll have to wade your way through all the surplus writing.
2. Never Let Me Go, Kazuo Ishiguro, Rating: 4.3
The writing in this book is stunning--Ishiguro is definitely one of the better writers out there today. I'd prefer to not reveal the topic (and would caution against reading any reviews of the book). Ishiguro slowly parcels out information, and it's best if you don't really understand what is special about the characters before he's ready to tell you. (One of my coworkers saw the book on my desk and said, "Oh, is that the book about the [deleted]?") Anyway, it's extremely well written, quite moving, and well worth your time.
3. Library: An Unquiet History, Matthew Battles, Rating: 3.9
It's my understanding that this is one of the standards in the world of writing about libraries. It's packed with interesting tidbits, as well as mountains of uninteresting tidbits. This is definitely not for everyone. I'm glad I read it, but it wasn't easy to finish.
4. Girlfriend 44, Mark Barrowcliffe, Rating: 3.5
Witty and trite, this is chic lit written by a man. Originally published in the U.K., the edition I read was packed with Britishisms (not necessarily a bad thing). The humor at times seems excessive, detracting from the plot. One of the better books in the genre.
5. I Capture the Castle, Dodie Smith, Rating: 4.4
This book is charming and somehow timeless, despite being over 50 years old. There's a fairly faithful movie adaptation out there, but stick with the book--the male actors in the movie don't live up to the promise of the literary characters. It's a teenage coming-of-age story and a romance, but don't let that stop you from reading it. The author is better known for writing One Hundred and One Dalmations.
6. My World and Welcome To It, James Thurber, Rating: 4.3
I need to read more Thurber--he's hilarious! His writing is definitely not P.C., but I supposed that's a major part of the charm. This book is a collection of some of his best New Yorker writing.
7. To Hell with All That: Loving and Loathing Our Inner Housewife, Caitlin Flanagan, Rating: 4.0
Flanagan writes for a variety of publications on various aspects of modern womanhood--having children, having a nanny, balancing work and house cleaning, our desire to be Martha Stewart and CEO, etc. She's very good at calling it like it is. I can't say that I'm going to change anything about my lifestyle as a result of reading her book, but I did find it very interesting.
8. Fragile Innocence, James Reston, Jr., Rating: 2.9
This book is popping up everywhere. Terry Gross interviewed Reston a few weeks ago, and Entertainment Weekly ran a long review. Reston writes about his daughter, who has an unknown disease that has left her without the ability to speak or function above a 9-month-old level. It's intriguing. It's also very flawed, in my opinion. Reston carefully documents the name of every doctor and teacher, but never mentions any at home help (yet makes it clear that he and his wife work full time, and believe it's impossible to leave the child alone). He also makes huge statements and completely fails to back them up in any way. His nervous breakdown gets 2 paragraphs, leaving one to wonder if it was just a figure of speech, or an actual episode? I felt that times that the book was a padded version of his daughter's medical record.

Women Writers

Here's another meme that has been making the rounds of the book blog circuit. I actually like it more than the last one (all female writers). I definitely want to check a lot of these books out. I do wonder who put the list together, though--they included one of Rachel Ray's cookbooks. That's a great work of literature?

Notes: Bold=have read, italics=intend to read, and ???=never heard of (I'm being honest here, and questioning individual books--I have heard of most of the authors).

Alcott, Louisa May--Little Women
Allende, Isabel--The House of Spirits
Angelou, Maya--I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings
Atwood, Margaret--Cat's Eye???
Austen, Jane--Emma
Bambara, Toni Cade--Salt Eaters???
Barnes, Djuna--Nightwoodde???
Beauvoir, Simone--The Second Sex
Blume, Judy--Are You There God? It's Me Margaret
Burnett, Frances--The Secret Garden
Bronte, Charlotte--Jane Eyre
Bronte, Emily--Wuthering Heights
Buck, Pearl S.--The Good Earth
Byatt, A.S.--Possession
Cather, Willa--My Antonia
Chopin, Kate--The Awakening
Christie, Agatha--Murder on the Orient Express
Cisneros, Sandra--The House on Mango Street
Clinton, Hillary Rodham--Living History
Cooper, Anna Julia--A Voice From the South??
Danticat, Edwidge--Breath, Eyes, Memory??
Davis, Angela--Women, Culture, and Politics
Desai, Anita--Clear Light of Day??
Dickinson, Emily--Collected Poems
Duncan, Lois--I Know What You Did Last Summer
DuMaurier, Daphne--Rebecca
Eliot, George—Middlemarch
Emecheta, Buchi--Second Class Citizen???
Erdrich, Louise--Tracks???
Esquivel, Laura--Like Water for Chocolate
Flagg, Fannie--Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe
Friedan, Betty--The Feminine Mystique
Frank, Anne--Diary of a Young Girl
Gilman, Charlotte Perkins--The Yellow Wallpaper??
Gordimer, Nadine--July's People??
Hamilton, Edith—Mythology
Highsmith, Patricia--The Talented Mr. Ripley
Hooks, bell--Bone Black??
Hurston, Zora Neale--Dust Tracks on the Road
Jacobs, Harriet--Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl
Jackson, Helen Hunt--Ramona
Jackson, Shirley--The Haunting of Hill House
Jong, Erica--Fear of Flying
Keene, Carolyn--The Nancy Drew Mysteries
Kidd, Sue Monk--The Secret Life of Bees
Kincaid, Jamaica--Lucy
Kingsolver, Barbara--The Poisonwood Bible
Kingston, Maxine Hong--The Woman Warrior
Larsen, Nella--Passing
L'Engle, Madeleine--A Wrinkle in Time
Le Guin, Ursula K.--The Left Hand of Darkness
Lee, Harper--To Kill a Mockingbird
Lessing, Doris--The Golden Notebook??
Lively, Penelope--Moon Tiger??
Lorde, Audre--The Cancer Journals??
McCullers, Carson--The Member of the Wedding??
Markandaya, Kamala--Nectar in a Sieve??
Marshall, Paule--Brown Girl, Brownstones??
Montgomery, Lucy--Anne of Green Gables
Morgan, Joan--When Chickenheads Come Home to Roost??
Morrison, Toni--Song of Solomon
Mursaki, Lady Shikibu--The Tale of Genji
Munro, Alice--Lives of Girls and Women
Murdoch, Iris--Severed Head??
Naylor, Gloria--Mama Day??
Niffenegger, Audrey--The Time Traveller's Wife
Oates, Joyce Carol--We Were the Mulvaneys
O'Connor, Flannery--A Good Man is Hard to Find
Piercy, Marge--Woman on the Edge of Time
Picoult, Jodi--My Sister's Keeper
Plath, Sylvia--The Bell Jar
Porter, Katharine Anne--Ship of Fools
Proulx, E. Annie--The Shipping News
Ray, Rachel--365: No Repeats
Rhys, Jean--Wide Sargasso Sea??
Robinson, Marilynne--Housekeeping
Sebold, Alice--The Lovely Bones
Shelley, Mary--Frankenstein
Smith, Betty--A Tree Grows in Brooklyn
Smith, Zadie--White Teeth
Spark, Muriel--The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie
Spyri, Johanna--Heidi
Strout, Elizabeth--Amy and Isabelle
Tan, Amy--The Joy Luck Club
Tannen, Deborah--You're Wearing That?
Ulrich, Laurel--A Midwife's Tale
Urquhart, Jane--Away
Walker, Alice--The Temple of My Familiar
Welty, Eudora--One Writer's Beginnings
Wharton, Edith--Age of Innocence
Wilder, Laura Ingalls--Little House in the Big Woods
Wollstonecraft, mary--A Vindication of the Rights of Women
Woolf, Virginia--A Room of One's Own

Top 50 Movie Adaptations

I ran across this list on one of those new book blogs. Take a peek--it's very quite interesting. Devil in a Blue Dress? Check. Jaws? Check. But The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie? Am I supposed to know what that is? Must be a British bias.

Book Lists

This is also from Elese--a meme ("unit of cultural knowledge") that's been circulating lately. Here are the general guidelines:
Look at the list of books below. Bold the ones you've read, italicize the ones you might read, cross out the ones you won't, underline the ones on your book shelf, and place parentheses around the ones you've never even heard of.

I feel like I'm doing pretty well--28 read (out of 39). It also gives me some ideas about what to read next...

The Da Vinci Code - Dan Brown
The Catcher in the Rye - J.D. Salinger
The Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy - Douglas Adams
The Great Gatsby - Scott F. Fitzgerald
To Kill a Mockingbird - Harper Lee
The Time Traveler's Wife - Audrey Niffenegger
His Dark Materials - Philip Pullman
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince - J. K. Rowling
The Life of Pi - Yann Martel
Animal Farm: A Fairy Story - George Orwell
Catch 22 - Joseph Heller
The Hobbit - J. R. R. Tolkien
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time - Mark Haddon
Lord of the Flies - William Golding
Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen
1984 - George Orwell
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - J. K. Rowling
One Hundred Years of Solitude - Gabriel Garcia Marquez
Memoirs of a Geisha - Arthur Golden
The Kite Runner - Khaled Hosseini
The Lovely Bones - Alice Sebold
Slaughterhouse 5 - Kurt Vonnegut
The Secret History - Donna Tartt
Wuthering Heights - Emily Bronte
The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe - C.S. Lewis
Middlesex - Jeffrey Eugenides
Cloud Atlas - David Mitchell
Jane Eyre - Charlotte Bronte
Atonement - Ian McEwan
The Shadow of The Wind - Carlos Ruiz Zafon
The Old Man and the Sea - Ernest Hemingway
The Handmaid's Tale - Margaret Atwood
The Bell Jar - Sylvia Plath
Dune - Frank Herbert
Sula by Toni Morrison
Cold Mountain by Charles Frazier
The Alchemist by Paulo Coehlo
White Teeth by Zadie Smith
The House of Mirth by Edith Wharton

Book Blogs

My best friend, Elese, who you'll probably recognize from previous Europe posts, is currently getting her masters in library science in Chapel Hill, NC. I saw her this weekend in San Diego (more on that later), and requested a list of her favorite book blogs. I'm really only reading about crochet these days, and am feeling rather out of balance. Here's her list:

Some book blogs:
Pages Turned
http://pagesturned.blogspot.com/
(having just skimmed all of these sites, this one seems the most promising)

BookWorld
http://bookworld.typepad.com/book_world/

Blog of a BookSlut
http://www.bookslut.com/blog/

50 Books
http://50books.blogspot.com/

Book Lust
http://storms.typepad.com/booklust/

A few library blogs:
Librarian.net - this is kind of the mother of library bloggers. she doesn't post as frequently anymore but everyone seems to read her.
http://www.librarian.net/

LIS Career
http://liscareer.blogspot.com/

Tales from the Liberry
http://liberry.blogspot.com/

Gypsy Librarian
http://gypsylibrarian.blogspot.com/

One of the frequent features that I noticed is a "what I'm reading next" list--I'll have to posting one.

March 2006 Book Reviews

March was a better than average month--lots of books, many of them quite good.

1. A Time to Run, Barbara Boxer, Rating: 3.1
I read the first draft of this in my Chronicle days, and was pleased by how well the final version was "directed" and edited. The effort is certainly admirable; the book is just okay. It's certainly not bad--just a bit forgetable.
2. Between the Bridge and the River, Craig Ferguson, Rating: 4.0
Entertainment Weekly gave this a decidedly lukewarm review, but I disagree with their comments--it's very funny, often laugh-out-loud funny. The kind of book that you quote from aloud whenever there's someone around to listen.
3. It's Superman!, Tom de Haven, Rating: 3.3
Another Chronicle book (actually, these first three all are), I was really excited to get my hands on this. Unfortunately, it's boring. You'd think the life of Superman would have lots of twists and turns, but I kept waiting for something exciting to happen. Too bad.
4. The Thorn Birds, Colleen McCullough, Rating: 4.6
This is my second time through this book. My mom recommended it when I was in high school--she had read it for the first time while in labor with me. It's trashy and could be considered a romance novel, but as vacation books go (I bought this copy in a thrift shop in Hawaii, having finished all the books I brought with me) you really won't find much better.
5. The Bill from My Father, Bernard Cooper, Rating: 4.1
This was recently reviewed on NPR--a memoir by a man whose father billed him for the cost of his upbringing (2 million dollars). Please be warned that the section of the book dealing with this incident is at most 2 pages. However, everything else is extremely interesting, funny without being cruel, emotional without revealing too much*. It's great.
*With the exception of his relationship with his life partner. Please avoid this book if you're uncomfortable with men admiring and touching each other.
6. You're Wearing That?, Deborah Tannen, Rating: 2.1
Subtitle: Understanding Mothers and Daughters in Conversation. Which is exactly what this book is about--how moms and daughters communicate, what they say and what they actually mean. This author rubbed me the wrong way--I just didn't buy her credentials and "supporting evidence." She raised interesting points, but the book overall is not a success.

February 2006 Book Reviews

1. Birds Without Wings, Louis de Bernieres, Rating: 4.3
The writing in this book is gorgeous. I frequently found myself stunned by the imagery contained in a single sentence. Seriously. The plot is just okay, and wanders a bit, but to see some really fine examples of someone who knows how to craft a sentence, read this book.
2. The Constant Princess, Philipa Gregory, Rating: 3.2
This is the latest from the woman that wrote the trilogy Bonaparte's wife that I read a few months back. It's no better or worse than her other books (in other words, pretty interesting, slightly formulaic). This one covers the life of Katherine of Aragon, the first wife of Henry the Eighth.
3. Freakonomics, Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner, Rating: 4.0
It's hard not to find this book interesting--it's wide ranging and comes up with fascinating conclusions. Considering it's a book on economics, it's a real page turner.
4. Dark Star Safari, Paul Theroux, Rating: 2.3
I haven't made up my mind about Paul Theroux yet. I really want to like him. I actually want to like any writer that covers lots of ground and tells about it in a compelling way. This book is not a success. Theroux really comes across as a snob (as he always does; it's just intensified this time), and the book feels forced. I didn't actually finish it, but I'm including it because I got pretty darn close before deciding life's to short to read frustrating books.
5. Honey Don't, Tim Sandlin, Rating: 2.0
I love Tim Sandlin. His Grovont trilogy is absolutely hilarious. This, his most recent book, is not. It's actually pretty lame. It makes me sad.

January 2006 Reviews

I was absolutely thrilled that someone gave me a hard time about lagging on this post. Brooks, my (probably) only reader, this one's for you. I have grand plans to reinvigorate the blog when I have more time. Believe it or not, I'll be finished with my crochet book by this time next week. Just think of all the time I'll have to write the great american online novel, organize the content, come up with witty comments... Or, realistically, post pictures of my friends' kids. Adam and I are taking a trip to Hawaii at the end of the month, so there will likely be a lot of pictures from Maui and the big island soon.

Getting down to business, here are January's books.

1. Hitler's Niece, Ron Hansen, Rating: 3.5
This book got mountains of press when it came out back in 2000. So much that when I ran across the book at the library, I was able to recall that, for a moment, it was all that anyone was talking about. I also have the sneaking suspicion that I've read more of his books (I checked on amazon and nothing looks familiar, but I'm sure I'm just forgetting), and I worked with his wife in my Chronicle days (The Distant Land of My Father, which I didn't love but many others did). It's very well done, and if you're interested in World War II, I'm sure it's a must-read. To be totally honest, I was bored by it, but I think I'm just not the audience. I also struggled to accept what the author was presenting as the truth (or at least a version of it)--it's clear from his notes that the source material is sketchy, and I didn't really see how he was drawing the connections he did.
2. Falling Angels, Tracy Chevalier, Rating: 1.9
You may recognize Chevalier's name--she wrote The Girl With a Pearl Earring. That book deserves some credit for a novel idea (if not great execution); this book manages to be fairly pointless.
3. She Got Up Off the Couch, Haven Kimmel, Rating: 3.8
Haven Kimmel mines her family for book material. As David Sedaris has shown us, this is often a very funny, successful way to go. Kimmel is not David Sedaris, but her stories and observations are interesting and occasionally have the power to make you chuckle.
4. Patrimony, Philip Roth, Rating 3.0
Reading this book is like staring into someone's apartment with a telescope. The person isn't interesting or attractive or sexy; but it's all there for you to see. I had a hard time putting it down, and felt almost dirty for not stopping. It's an extremely detailed account of the (slow) death of Roth's father, and it certainly makes you feel like you're right there.
5. The House on Mango Street, Sandra Cisneros, rating: 3.0
Interesting, and from what I understand a rather important book, but it's clearly intended for a younger reader.

December 2005 Book Reviews

1. A Walk in the Woods, Bill Bryson, Rating: 2.2
I really like Bill Bryson--don't let this low rating scare you away from him. Do choose another one of his books to read, however. This book is about hiking the Appalachian Trail, which apparently wasn't quite big enough of a subject for Bill--he fills in the gaps with the history of various towns, complaints about the people he meets, and occasional rants about the government, America, and stupid tourists. Generally speaking, Bryson is very funny and informative, but he's just a little off his game here.
2. The Art of Travel, Alain de Botton, Rating: 3.7
This book is fascinating and absolutely impossible to read straight through. It was highly recommended by several friends, and deserves high praise. It unfortunately was a major struggle for me to get through--I'm really not good at slowing down and enjoying good writing and deep thoughts. I started reading this book last July, and only now finished it. One line in particular, however, was worth reading the whole book for (and conveys exactly why I enjoyed writing my travel blog so much):
"the most effective means of pursuing this conscious understanding [of beauty] was by attempting to describe beautiful places through art, by writing about or drawing them, irrespective of whether one happened to have any talent for doing so." (the endorsement of lack of talent being key to the whole experience)
3. The Vintner's Luck, Elizabeth Knox, Rating: 4.6
Don't let the cover put you off--this is a must-read. The story is slightly odd (a relationship between a French man and an angel, 100 years ago), but the pacing is perfect (each chapter equals one year--how can you get bored when things move that fast?) and the writing is exquisite. Seriously. Thanks to Galen for the recommendation.
4. The Historian, Elizabeth Kostova, Rating: 2.3
This book has been on the NY Times best-seller list forever (at least 6 months). I reserved it at the berkeley library last July, and only got my hands on a copy two weeks ago. Obviously it's quite popular. The story deals with two generations of a family pursuing Dracula, traveling all over the world, and researching in all sorts of exciting libraries. Right up my alley. But...it's just not very good. So not very good that it makes me lose faith in the American book-buying public. The story actually reminds me of The Da Vinci Code--compelling story that overcomes a lack of writing finesse. Except the writing is worse, and the story is less compelling. I didn't hate it (the story at times is quite interesting), but can't recommend it.
5. Oryx and Crake, Margaret Atwood, Rating: 3.2
Very, very odd. I think that's really all I can say about this. It actually falls into one of my favorite genres of fiction--the end of the world--but is very different than other books on the subject. A major departure for Atwood.

November 2005 Book Reviews

This is a pathetic list--I'll try harder next month. I've got a new friend at work that has made some interesting recommendations.

1. Stolen Figs and Other Adventures in Calabria, Mark Rotella, Rating: 1.7
I really wanted to like this. I had an email recently from Sandra, a lovely Canadian woman I met in Brugges, who is in the midst of planning her wedding and honeymoon. She's taking Italian lessons, and they're planning on spending time in Calabria (in Italy). She mentioned that she was reading this to learn more about the area. Mark Rotella is an editor at Publishers Weekly, and, despite that credential, just can't write very well. The book reads like he took the contents of a guidebook to the region, moved things around about, and inserted a few personal details--often the same details, over and over again. A big reason that I only got through two books this month was the fact that I was determined to finish this, and found it extremely difficult to care about. It did, however, make me interested in Calabria.
2. Three Junes, Julia Glass, Rating: 4.2
Everyone seems to be reading this these days. The first 100 pages are slow going, but it really picks up after that. There are multiple narrators (all connected through blood or friendship) with distinct voices and points of view. There's a plot, but the book really isn't about that--I felt that it was more about exploring relationships and emotions and feelings. Definitely worth checking out.

October 2005 Book Reviews

This was a successful reading month. No promises for November, though--I've taken up crocheting full-time on the BART, and my book volume is definitely suffering.

1. American Gods, Neil Gaiman, Rating: 4.7
I really liked this. I think Good Omens (one of his previous novels) might be better, but this is a close second. It's very clever and well-researched (the subject matter deals with gods from numerous time periods and religions). Definitely check it out.
2. Y The Last Man, Volume 5 (comic book), Rating: 4.8
I've recommended this series to many of my friends already--it and Fables are the only series I keep up on. The plot deals with the journey of a young man trying to find his girlfriend and stay alive. He's (as far as we know) the only man alive on earth, after a virus wipes out everything with a Y chromosome. The art is gorgeous, the story gripping and very easy to follow. If you're interested in reading comic books, this is a perfect series to start with.
3. Julie & Julia, Julie Powell, Rating: 4.0
I'm sure you've read a review of this--it seems to be getting attention everywhere. It's one of those blog spin-offs (which are suddenly everywhere; is this the latest publishing trend?), a narration of a woman's efforts to cook her way through Julia Child's Mastering the Art of French Cooking in one year. I found the story tedious initially, but got into it when the author stopped complaining so much about her life and started talking more about her cooking. Frequent Buffy references helped, too. If you like food writing, you'll probably enjoy this.
4. Thinking in Pictures, Temple Grandin, Rating: 2.8
This is an interesting, important book that I completely failed to respond to. It's written by an autistic woman, and deals with what's it like to be autistic (as well as what's it's like to be a cow--the author really likes cows). I definitely learned a lot, but finishing it was painful.
5. I'm Not the New Me, Wendy McClure, Rating: 2.8
The was an interesting counterpoint to Julie & Julia. It's also a blog spin-off, this time about weight loss. I would frankly rather read about eating food than not doing so.
6. Welcome to My Planet, Where English is Sometimes Spoken, Shannon Olson, Rating: 2.3
I should have held off on reading this for a few weeks. It was the third book this month (after #3 and #5) about a whiny woman approaching 30 who is dissatisfied (reasonably so) with her life. At least the author of Julie & Julia did something interesting; this woman just complains. Frankly, she's not that good of a writer and it felt like a waste of time to read about her pathetic life. (Wow, did I just write that? A little harsh, but I'm going to leave it there.)
7. Veronika Decides to Die, Paulo Coelho, Rating: 3.5
Beautifully written, extremely insightful. The rating is a little lower because I find the subject matter--suicide--depressing to read about, but I'll check out other books by this author.
8. Round the Bend, Nevil Shute, Rating: 4.2
Like his other novels, this is very interesting, epic in scope, and a pleasure to read. It deals with airplanes, life, love, and religion--you could say that it's got it all. I prefer A Town Like Alice, but this is a close second.
9. Wickett's Remedy, Myla Goldberg, Rating: 3.8
Not nearly as good as Bee Season (her previous novel), but fun nevertheless. I particularly enjoyed the layout of the book--the text flows in the traditional way, but there are funny little comments (from "US," people in heaven) in the margins about where the story's narrator is making a mistake, or embellishing the truth.

September 2005 Book Reviews

I made it through a fairly substantial list this month. Next month's will be shorter (more on why in a post later this week). I've bolded titles of particular interest.

1. Finding Fish, Antwone Fisher, Rating 2.4
Don't bother with this book--rent the movie instead. While I generally think books tend to be better than the movies that are made of them, this is definitely an exception to the rule. Another one that comes to mind is Nick Hornby's High Fidelity.
2. A Widow for One year, John Irving, Rating: 3.7
Irving is usually a sure thing--he writes well, and knows how to tell a story. That said, the subject of this book gets tedious. Try The Cider House Rules instead (which is better than the movie made of it).
3. Emily's Reasons Why Not, Carrie Gerlach, Rating: 2.1
Why do I continue to read chic lit? It's so rarely worthwhile.
4. My Year of Meats, Ruth Ozeki, Rating: 4.9
Probably the sixth time I've read this, and it's still amazing. For why I like it, see my top 10 list.
5. The Inner Circle, T.C. Boyle, Rating: 3.8
I read my first Boyle book late last year (Drop City; it's on Elese's top 10 and is definitely worth reading), and was excited to dive into this one. I frankly didn't love it, but I think it's my fault--I had just finished Kinsey and PBS's documentary on Kinsey, and had already had my fill on the subject (this book is a fictionalized version of Alfred Kinsey's life).
6. Mary After All, Bill Gordon, Rating: 3.0
A story of a New Jersey housewife. Decent writing, but I had trouble caring about the plot.
7. Skinny Dip, Carl Hiaasen, Rating: 3.7
This is my first Hiaasen book. I'll definitely read more--they're not earthshaking, but he's a funny writer and perfect for reading on vacation.
8. Complications, Atul Gawande, Rating: 4.3
Very good--Gawande is a surgical resident who writes with surprising clarity and depth about issues facing modern medicine. If you read The New Yorker, you're probably familiar with him--he writes for them regularly.
9. The Horse Whisperer, Nicolas Evans, Rating: 3.0
I'm not a horse girl, and this book just didn't do it for me. It's similar to The Smoke Jumper, but less interesting.
10. The Baby Trail, Sinead Moriarty, Rating: 2.9
More chic lit. Again, why do I bother?
11. The All-True Travels and Adventures of Lidie Newton, Jane Smiley, Rating: 2.1
I've read Jane Smiley's novels in the past, and have liked them for the most part. This book, unfortunately, falls far short of the mark--it's just plain bad.
12. The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants, Ann Brashares, Rating: 4.1
I'm a bit embarrassed to even admit that I read this, let alone give it such a high rating. It's very well done, though, and I enjoyed it quite a bit.
13. Look at Me, Jennifer Egan, Rating: 2.8
This was a random library pick--it has pages of glowing reviews. I was drawn to the subject matter (identity; it's the story of a model who becomes unrecognizable after a major car accident). The plot, however, goes in strange directions--terrorism, the internet, lots of bad guys--and ultimately lost my interest.
14. The Amateurs, David Halberstam, Rating: 3.8
Halberstam is an exceptional writer. This book covers the lives of 4 world-class rowers, and their struggle to make it to and win in the Olympics. While I'm not particularly interested in rowing, but if you are (or even if you're interested in underappreciated Olympic sports or athletes in general), this is worth checking out.

Brooks' Top 10

I love seeing repeats on these lists. Brooks (in brief: Hayden's high school roommate, a recent resident of San Francisco, all-around funny guy, blogger [www.brooksrun.blogspot.com], and boyfriend of the lovely and talented Autumn) has noted that he has two overlaps with Wib's list.

in no particular order:
Atomised, Michel Houellebecq
Tender Is The Night, F. Scott Fitzgerald
Market Forces, Richard Morgan (a recent read, which I adored, but it's also just been optioned by Joel Silver to be the next Matrix. But it was fantastic in the same way as Shogun.)
Shogun, James Clavell (I bought a samurai sword halfway through)
Carter Beats The Devil, Glen David Gold
Really The Blues, Bernard Wolfe, Mezz Mezzrow (autobiography)
Dr. Excitement's Elixir Of Longevity, William Ryan (criminally out of print)
The Moviegoer, Walker Percy (only book I read every couple years)
Franny and Zooey, Salinger
A Wrinkle In Time, Madeleine L'Engle

Eric's Top 10

Eric is Hayden's co-worker and friend in France. He has been extremely nice to me every time I've been in Paris. He's also a good reader, and (being French) has access to some books that may have not made into onto the american radar:

1. La nuit des Temps, Barjavel (FR, available in the US as The Ice People)
2. American Tabloid, James Ellroy (US)
3. Journey to the End of the Night (Voyage au bout de la nuit), Céline (FR)
4. Bel Ami, Maupassant (FR, various translations available under the same title)
5. The Little Prince, Antoine de Saint-Exupery (FR, widely available)
6. Lord of the Flies, William Golding (UK)
7. The Flowers of Evil, Baudelaire (FR)
8. History of Mountain Climbing, Roger Frison-Roche (FR, available in English)
9. We Could Almost Eat Outside : An Appreciation of Life's Small Pleasures,
Philippe Delerm (FR: amazon says that this was a major French best-seller. It was published here in 1999. The reviews are quite good--I'm surprised I haven't heard of it before.)
10. His Dark Materials, Philip Pullman (UK)

From AB: looking at this list makes me realize that I need to make more of an effort to read foreign writers. There's a wealth of material out there.

Lisa Bach's Top 12

Lisa is a good friend from Chronicle. She works in the sales department, but is a published editor as well--Her Fork in the Road is an excellent collection of writing by women about food and travel (and really, is there a better thing to write about?). She reports that making this list was pretty hard--it really depends on time and mood. Here's what she came up with:

The Color Purple, Alice Walker
Geek Love, Catherine Dunn
Comfort Me with Apples,Ruth Reichl
Anything written by MFK Fisher
Mrs. Dalloway and A Room of One's Own by Virginia Woolf
The Royal Road to Romance, Richard Halliburton [ab: I wrote about this in the early days of the blog--it's one of the grand novels on "the grand tour."]
Tipping the Velvet, Sarah Waters (Also fancied Fingersmith)
Me Talk Pretty One Day, David Sedaris
The Names of Things, Susan Brind Morrow
The Bluest Eye, Toni Morrison
Autobiography of a Face, Lucy Greely

Wib Walling's Book List

Wib is Hayden's dad, and has recommended numerous good books to me in the past. He also believes in asking people about their favorite books during job interviews--I agree with him that it's a really good way to learn about someone.

(in no particular order, not necessarily his top 10 but a list of books he really likes):

Too Late the Phalerope, Alan Paton
Franny and Zooey, J.D. Salinger
All the King's Men, Robert Penn Warren
Brothers Karamazov, Dostievsky
The Godfather, Mario Puzo
Shogun, James Clavell
A Town Like Alice, Nevil Shute
The Amateurs, Halberstrom, nonfiction
East of Eden, Steinbeck

Rebecca's Book List

Rebecca lived with me in college, and is currently studying to be a doctor in Philadelphia. Here's a list of her favorite humor books:

Me Talk Pretty One Day, David Sedaris
Fraud, David Rakoff
Welcome to My Planet, Where English is Sometimes Spoken, Shannon Olson
Choke, Chuck Palanchuk
Girls Guide To Hunting and Fishing, Melissa Bank
Come On Up and See Me Sometime, Erika Krouse
The Unthinkable Thoughts of Jacob Green, Joshua Braff (actually I haven't read this one yet, but it is the next one on my list to read) [from ab: I have read this one; it's quite funny.]
America, Jon Stewart

and here some other books i have thoroughly enjoyed:

Tender at the Bone, Ruth Reichl
Comfort Me With Apples, Ruth Reichl
House of Spirits, Isabel Allende
The Crying of Lot 49, Thomas Pynchon

My Top 10 Books

I expect this list to change from time to time, but here goes:

(in no particular order)
* The Stand (Stephen King). I love survival fiction--anything that details the end of the world (excepting alien invasion--I just don't find reading about aliens particularly diverting). How the world is destroyed isn't important; it's the regrouping of civilization that I find interesting. This is certainly at the top of the genre. Two other good ones to check out are Lucifer's Hammer and the comic book series Y The Last Man.
* Lonesome Dove (Larry McMurtry). Love, cowboys, the taming of the west--this has it all. The mini-series is pretty good too.
* My Year of Meats (Ruth Ozeki). I re-read this every year. Several people I've loaned this too have found it disturbing (it deals with the evils of modern meat production), but I love the characters and the story.
* Carter Beats the Devil (Glen David Gold). Arguably the best book ever written about Oakland (I realize that many would vote for Hunter S. Thompson's Hell's Angels instead, which is definitely a great work). It's a fictionalized tale of a real-life magician, the love of his life, a lion, and a dead President. Doesn't that sound intriguing? Buy the hardcover edition--it includes several color prints of original Carter posters. Gold is married to Alice Seybold of Lucky fame.
* A Town Like Alice (Nevil Shute). A death march through Southeast Asia, a love story, the creation of a town, and a lonely British lawyer as narrator: this book unites several disparate elements into one incredibly compelling novel. The writing is exceptional.
* Geek Love (Katherine Dunn). This is another book that just isn't for everyone. It's about circus freaks--a family of them, in fact. At times it's very upsetting. It's not unlike Middlesex, but Geek Love is far better.
* The Source (James Michener). I like Michener, unlike most of my friends. He's great to read on vacation, particularly if you can find one on the place you're visiting. I think the trick to enjoying Michener is to be a really fast reader with some time on your hands--if you can't skim through one of his books in under two weeks, you'll find it tedious. The Source deals with an archaeological dig in Israel, and manages to weave in a history of western religions by the end. It's fascinating--I've read it 4 or 5 times, and still enjoy every page.
* In Cold Blood (Truman Capote). I like everything Capote writes, even his short stories (as a general rule, I think most short stories fail--they're either long magazine articles or failed novels, not actual short stories). This murder mystery is a classic. I have yet to meet a person who doesn't like it.
* Pride and Prejudice (Jane Austen). If you haven't read this, give it a chance--Austen is really funny.
The Chosen (Chaim Potok). This book is in a class by itself. Read the books above because they're interesting and fun; read this one because it will make you a better person. Seriously. I cry every time I read it (3 times and counting). It's about friendship and Judaism.


And 4 honorable mentions:
David Sedaris--just about everything. I much prefer his books on tape to the printed versions--his voice adds a lot to the material. "You Can't Kill the Rooster" is my favorite story.
The Time Traveler's Wife (Audrey Niffengger)
White Boy Shuffle (Paul Beatty)
East of Eden (John Steinbeck)

Jason Headley's Top 10

This is a promising list--there are several books I haven't read yet. I'll have to make another trip to the library. I'm particularly interested to see that he has a Nevil Shute book on here. -ab

In no particular order:
Nobody’s Fool – Richard Russo
Round the Bend – Nevile Shute
The Sweet Hereafter – Russell Banks
Spartina – John Casey
The Stories of Breece D’J Pancake
The Seas – Samantha Hunt
A Good Scent from a Strange Mountain – Robert Olen Butler
The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay – Michael Chabon
The Little Prince – Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
To Kill a Mockingbird – Harper Lee

One more note from Alicia: I know Jason through Chronicle, and in a round-about-way through a family friend. He has written a very good book that I'd definitely recommend: Small Town Odds.

Elese's Top 10

I had a bit of inspiration this afternoon--rather than subjecting all of you to my book opinions, I can draw on my friends. The idea is to post a bunch of top ten lists, in hopes that we'll get a better selection of books. I'll add personal comments from time to time. Elese is the first to contribute (and had trouble limiting the list to 10; I suspect that will become the norm). These are listed in no particular order:

The Sun Also Rises (Ernest Hemingway) [alicia's note: I prefer A Farewell to Arms, but you really can't go wrong with Hemingway. There's also a great biography out about one of his wives, who was a pioneering war reporter: Gellorn: A Twentieth-Century Life, By Caroline Moorehead).]
The Sheltering Sky (Paul Bowles) [AB: awesome]
Burmese Days (George Orwell)
Gone with the Wind (Margaret Mitchell)
This Earth of Mankind (Pramoedya Ananta Toer)
Drop City (T.C. Boyle)
Cat's Cradle (Kurt Vonnegut)
Tom Wolfe in general, but none of his books in particular [AB: The Right Stuff is a good one to start with]
Same goes with Bret Easton Ellis
The Art of Travel (Alain de Botton)
Lonesome Dove (Larry McMurtry)
Gig: Americans Talk About Their Jobs (John Bowe, ed.)

(The last two are books I love but they're also two of my favorites to recommend to people)

From AB: I've read 10 of these 12. You really can't go wrong with any. Elese has very good taste.