The Sheila Variations

2007 Books Read

(in the order in which I finished them, understanding that very often I read many books at the same time). I count re-read books, by the way. I'll include links to any posts or book excerpts I might have done for each book. I'll keep the commentary to a minimum. (And for those book-freaks interested - here's my list from 2006 and also 2005)

First book read - a favorite of mine since I was in high school:

1. Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens
One of my favorite books of all time.

On re-reading the book

Book excerpt

2. Spielberg, Truffaut and Me: An Actor's Diary , by Bob Balaban

Post about it here

3. Gulliver's Travels, by Jonathan Swift

Excerpt here

Big post about the book here

4. Imperial Grunts, by Robert Kaplan

(I just got his new one, too - his continuing series on the US military - haven't read that new one yet, though). I'm a Robert Kaplan fan from way back when - before it was COOL to read him. I read The Arabists, for God's sake.

5. Blue Blood, by Edward Conlon.

Written by a New York cop. A memoir, I guess - he's an IrishAmerican New York cop - early 30s. It's about his family, all cops - but also it's really just about the JOB itself. I consider this book a must-read even though it's about 4 chapters too long. He's a fantastic writer, and the whole thing is totally eye-opening. Oh, and let me say this: If you do read it, and find it lagging a bit near the end - make sure you do not miss his chapter on September 11 and what it was like for him. Not to be missed. I mention it briefly here.

6. Mediterranean Winter - by Robert Kaplan.

Have I mentioned that I'm a big Robert Kaplan fan? Here he reminisces about his travels as a young man (and at other times in his life) thru the Mediterranean. A travelogue.

7. The Soul of Iran, by Afshin Molavi.

Wonderful book. I'm kind of an Iran addict. I have more books about Iran on my shelves than any other country. Molavi is American - of Iranian descent ... and he went back to Iran a couple times in the last years to see what's going on there. Not just a political book, but a beautifully rendered piece of memoir-writing, a look at a deep and vibrant culture. He visits Internet cafes, goes to bootleg-booze parties, talks to people, visits Mossadeq's shrine, chats up people - talks about poetry, and websites, and music ... it's a chatty book. I loved it.

8. Eats, Shoots & Leaves: The Zero Tolerance Approach to Punctuation , by Lynne Truss.

First of all, she is a woman after my heart. I adore her. Who knew that a book about commas would make me guffaw like a hyena in public places?? READ IT.

9. Scoop by Evelyn Waugh.

I had to put it down and wipe tears of laughter from my eyes. I could no longer continue. A spoof on journalism, particularly foreign journalists ... I haven't done any big posts on it yet - but I will. What a joy. Within 10 pages I thought, Wow. Okay. This book might be the funniest book I have ever read in my life.

I mention it briefly here

10. Darfur: A Short History of a Long War, by Julie Flint and Alex de Waal.

Good times, good times.

11. Dead Father's Club, by Matt Haig.

Emily sent me this book and I am forever grateful to her. I have since sent it on to my sister Jean. It's one of the best books I read this year.

Post about it here

12. The Zanzibar Chest: A Story of Life, Love, and Death in Foreign Lands , by Aidan Hartley.

A journalist who grew up in Africa. It's a book about Africa - which is why I bought it - but more than that, it's a book about being a reporter. Horror stories (literally - he was in Somalia) - revolutions, the life of a foreign journalist ... He's a wonderful writer. Part memoir, part reportage. Highly recommended - very glad I picked it up.

13. Murder in Amsterdam: The Death of Theo van Gogh and the Limits of Tolerance, by Ian Baruma.

Again, good times, good times.

14. George Washington, by James MacGregor Burns and Susan Dunn.
The first in the American Presidents Series - which I am now collecting. They haven't even completed the series yet - but I'm buying them up in order. This was the first one. (Well, duh. It's about George Washington, of course it's the first one.)

15. The Carpet Wars: From Kabul to Baghdad: A Ten-Year Journey Along Ancient Trade Routes, by Christopher Kremmer
I can't say enough good things about this book. It's my kind of book, that's all. I eat this crap up. Central Asia? The Silk Road? Trade routes? The Khyber Pass? Please. Where do I sign up.

I excerpt it here in this big post about Rumi, the Sufi poet

16. Five Days in London: May 1940 by John Lucaks

When England hung in the balance. When, nay, all of Western civilization hung in the balance! For five days in 1940! Quick read, good book. Isn't quite as awesome and ground-breaking as Lucaks thinks it is, though.

17. Do Androids Dream Of Electric Sheep?, by Philip K. Dick

FINALLY I read this book. Well worth the wait.

Excerpt here (and great discussion in the comments)

18. 1776, by David McCullough

Great.

19. The Rage and the Pride, Orianna Falacci

I love her. A fire-breathing dragon. Rest in peace. You deserve it.

20. We Need To Talk About Kevin by Lionel Shriver

(or, as Allison referred to it: Kevin's Got Issues.) A truly terrifying novel about the mother of a kid who murders a bunch of people at his school. COULD NOT PUT IT DOWN.

I mention it briefly here

21. Self-Help, by Lorrie Moore

A modern master of the short story. Words can't express how much I love her writing.

22. Glimpses of the Devil : A Psychiatrist's Personal Accounts of Possession, Exorcism, and Redemption by M. Scott Peck

Scott Peck goes off the deep end, using his brilliant People of the Lie as his launching-pad. He performs exorcisms, and writes about it. It's kind of wacko. He frankly sounds insane. But it's interesting nonetheless.

23. Orson Welles: Volume 1: Road to Xanadu by Simon Callow

Brilliant. In-depth. Well-written. It's a must-read for Welles fans. Can't WAIT for part 3!

24. The Final Solution: A Story of Detection by Michael Chabon

Excerpt here

25. Sugar and Other Stories by AS Byatt (which launched me into a massive Byatt BINGE, as you will see)

A short-story collection, her first. Deep, rich, wonderful - she's one of my favorite writers.

Here's an excerpt from one of the stories - my favorite in the collection

26. Elements: Stories of Fire and Ice, by AS Byatt

Another short story collection. Terrific. Each story (duh) has to do with either fire or ice. And each story also has, as its inspiration, a work of art - a painting, an artifact, what have you. She's so creative, I love her.

An excerpt from I think my favorite story in the collection

27. The Matisse Stories, by AS Byatt

Each one of these stories uses a painting from Matisse as its launching pad. More wonderful-ness.

Excerpt from one of the stories - the one that packed the biggest punch for me

28. The Djinn in the Nightingale's Eye, by AS Byatt

One of Byatt's main influences is Arabian Nights, and these fantastical fairy-tales show that.

Excerpt from the title story - perhaps my favorite short story she has ever written

29. Little Black Book of Stories by AS Byatt

Her most recent collection, if I'm not mistaken. Creepy excellent stories.

Excerpt from the eerily frightening and bizarre opening story

30. Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro

A novel that haunted me for days after I put it down.

Posted about it here

Book excerpt here

Here was my response to it AS I was reading it

31. Veronica, by Mary Gaitskill

A novel by Mary Gaitskill, her latest - she's one of my favorite writers. A bleak tale about a fashion model who befriends a woman dying of AIDS. But it's about so much more. Gaitskill, never a happy writer, doesn't pull her punches. I think she's better at short stories - she seriously has a skill in that type of story that is beyond reproach - there's nobody better. But still: you'd be hard pressed to find writing that's as good as in Veronica.

Book excerpt here

Here was my original post after I read it

A huge post I wrote on Gaitskill

32. The Pursuit of Alice Thrift by Elinor Lipman

Lipman's a wonderful author, I read all her books. She's highly under-rated and I think the book designs she is given, in all their chick-lit shorthand, doesn't serve her. She's very successful, though - so I guess I don't have to worry about her. I just know that people would probably be turned off by the book design - and all I can say is: she's a funny, insightful, weird, original, wonderful writer. I'm a huge fan. Just gave And Then She Found Me, by Lipman, to Siobhan for Christmas.

33. Billy Budd, by Herman Melville

I HAD to re-read it - because I despised it so much in high school I felt the need to re-visit it. Love Moby Dick. Still not wacky about Billy Budd. It's too black and white. And Billy Budd isn't an interesting character at all. The "bad guy" is the most interesting and he's not in it enough. A morality tale, of course, sure I get it. Whatever. Yawn.

Post about Melville, the poet

A post that includes some words on Moby Dick

My post on re-reading Billy Budd, and discovering that it is actually written like an Abercrombie & Fitch catalog. For the gays.

34. Bridge to Terabithia by Katherine Paterson

Cried when I first read it as a kid. Cry every time I re-read it. Cried this last time. Unbelievable book.

35. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, by JK Rowling

Read it in 5 days. Guess it left me a bit disappointed. Didn't like the ending AT ALL. Lots about it was great, of course. But I didn't like how she put all the exposition into one chapter at the very end, where all was explained - over the course of 5 pages. It just didn't satisfy me. Still love the whole series, though. But whatever. My favorite of the series is Order of the Phoenix.

36. The End of the Affair, by Graham Greene

Blew me away. If you haven't read it, all I can say is: do yourself a favor. Read the damn thing.

Excerpt here

37. Travels with Herodotus, by Ryszard Kapuscinski

Published posthumously. A memoir. Sort of. But you know Kapuscinski - or if you've read him you know - you couldn't ever really pin him down. He wasn't really about the facts. He was about the experience underneath the facts - and if the facts got muddled or lost, who cares? I think I've made my feelings about him as a writer perfectly clear - he's got his own category after all - his books rank among my all-time favorites ... but I have to say, Travels with Herodotus really lagged. Perhaps he was ill when he was writing it. Every time he went back to Herodotus I almost groaned out loud. No, I don't want Herodotus - I want more of YOU! But oh well, that wasn't the book he wanted to write. Rest in peace, you complex, brilliant, contradictory, wonderful writer.

38. Leopold and Loeb: Trial of the Century, by Hal Higdon.

Now we're moving into the beginning of the Dean Stockwell mania. I had just seen Compulsion (post about the movie here). Needed to know more. Good book. Not as good as Compulsion, though, which I read soon after.

39. Nature Boy: Unauthorized Biography of Dean Stockwell, by M. L. Zambrana

Obsession reaching its height. It must have been - because this book sucked. Nevertheless, I read it. Of course I did!

40. Compulsion, by Meyer Levin

The fictionalized account of the Leopold and Loeb murders that the film was based on. A superior book. Psychologically astute, gripping ... unafraid to delve into the relationship between the two boys, and how it manifested ... wonderful character studies ... Good stuff.

41. Game of Shadows: Barry Bonds, BALCO, and the Steroids Scandal that Rocked Professional Sports, by Mark Fainaru-Wada and Lance Williams

Couldn't put it down. Read it in 24 hours.

42. Twinkle Twinkle, Little Star: And Don't Have Sex or Take the Car by Dick Moore

I read this book long ago, because I basically wanted to be Margaret O'Brien or a kid actor in the studio system. I yearned to be Shirley Temple. Found this book in the library and I have had it ever since. Naturally I had to re-read it because Dean Stockwell figures quite large in the book. Dickie Moore (child star) goes back and interviews as many child actors he could find about their experiences. It's a wonderful book, actually - gives a great 3-dimensional picture of it. Some of them loved it, some hated it.

Some excerpts from the book involving Dean Stockwell and Errol Flynn

43. The Force of Reason by Oriana Fallaci

See comments about her above. Read this book in, like, 2 hours. You can't put it down.

44. Orson Welles: Vol 2: Hello Americans by Simon Callow

Volume 2 of his unbelievable biography of Orson Welles. One more volume to go - it has yet to be published. I cannot express how amazing these books are. I'd consider them definitive.

45. Bleak House, by Charles Dickens

Holy Mary Mother of God. It took me about 3 months to finish this book. But boy, was it worth it. I haven't even begun to process that novel. Stunning.

And now, when I think of Bleak House, I'll always think of that woman in the beret

46. The Road, by Cormac McCarthy

I still can't really think about this book. I mention it briefly here but it's still not really a book I want to discuss or linger over.

47. The Gathering by Anne Enright

Posted about it here

48. Born Standing Up, by Steve Martin

This is definitely one of my favorite books of the year. It's his memoir of his years as a stand-up comedian. Not-to-be-missed. It's also definitely one of the best actor autobiographies I've ever read.

49. Eichmann in Jerusalem: A Report on the Banality of Evil, by Hannah Arendt

Good times, good times.

It's also very important to read this book on the Eichmann trial with the accompanying strains of Britney Spears and Backstreet Boys as background music.

50. By the Lake, by John McGahern

Posted about it here

Excerpt here

Excerpt here

51. Rereadings: Seventeen writers revisit books they love, edited by Anne Fadiman

Wonderful. A great book for any big reader.

52. Dubliners, by James Joyce

In the daily book excerpt thing, I ended up reading the whole collection again. Stunning, as always. It always seems like a new book, no matter how many times I read it. It grows WITH me. Or I grow with it. Who knows.

Here's my post on The Dead.

53. The Black Dahlia Files: The Mob, the Mogul, and the Murder That Transfixed Los Angeles by Donald Wolfe

What can I say. Color me obsessed. I find it pretty convincing - way more convincing than Hodel's book from a couple years ago which stated that his father was the killer.

54. Stargirl, by Jerry Spinelli

Jean gave this to me for Christmas. She's been talking about it for a while now - because she loves teaching it to her class. It's a young adult novel. I read it in a day, and totally fell in love with it - texting Jean all the way thru. And I gasped (literally! Out loud!) at the last sentence. Wonderful book.

55. John Adams, by John Patrick Diggins.

Second in the American Presidents Series. (Duh. Cause John Adams was the 2nd president). Despite Diggins' penchant for using modern terms such as "racial profiling" and things like that (a true pet peeve of mine)- this was a terrific book, and focused intensely on what were really the political differences between Adams, Jefferson and Hamilton - in-depth. Some of the differences were actual, others imagined. Diggins really digs into this stuff. Other books do, too - but since these are such small books, condensed really - I enjoyed the format. It was very focused.

And ...

DRUMROLL PLEASE

As of 11:25 pm on Dec. 31:

56. Master & Commander, by Patrick O'Brian

I can't even begin to respond to the book now - I'm delirious from having read over 300 pages in 24 hours. But I loved it - loved every single stinkin' page. Now I have to read the whole series.

Happy new year. My fingers are going to fall off from typing.

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