I’ve never kept good track of my yearly reading list but was inspired by @scicurious’s post about her year in books. This is the first year where I’ve had a complete record of my reading thanks to the archive of books on my iPad. It feels like it’s been a great year in books though, given how easy it is to discard a dud and quickly download a new book, I’m essentially only reading books that I like right away.
Here are the highlights of my year in books:
Books I’d Love to Use in a High School Science Class
Beating Back the Devil – Maryn McKenna (Real life scientists doing real life science with the pacing of a thriller and short, teachable chapters about epidemiology)
Black in Latin America- Henry Louis Gates (Essentially case studies about the cultural and genetic understandings of race)
The Hunger Games Trilogy – Suzanne Collins (Not for the faint of heart but the idea of extreme societies, self-contained cities, and genetic engineering for evil are great topics for discussion)
The Left Overs – Tom Perotta (The ideal thought experiment around what would happen if a rapture-like event actually happened. Spend the first class discussing different cultures understanding of death and the afterlife and then talk about what would happen to your community if people were randomly taken) FYI – His books are all essentially the same characters in the same setting with slightly different plots. Just enjoy one of his books and you won’t become bored by him.
Moonwalking with Einstein – Joshua Foer (Great stuff on the brain but more importantly, he delves into what it means to practice with intention. There is an awesome section on how the ancient Greeks derided writing which provides an instant gut check for those who mourn the lost of the past)
The Poisoner’s Handbook – Deborah Blum (Great book for chemistry class on how a group of people created a whole field of science. Instruments and scientific thinking work hand and hand to solve crimes!)
Stolen World – Jennie Erin Smith (All about the underground exotic reptile trade with tons of details about where the exotic reptiles come from and how they need to be cared for to be kept alive).
Books I Adored and Loved Every Page
Crypotminicon – Neal Stephenson (This was probably the 20th time I’ve read it but if you like historical fiction and math with a good dose of mid-90’s nerd culture, this book’s for you)
Cutting for Stone – Abraham Verghese (Sad semi-autobiographical novel about doctors in Addis Ababa)
Frank: The Voice – James Kaplan (The life of Frank Sinatra is merely the medium for the amazing story of American life between the wars and Post WW2. If you like history and music, and you don’t mind reading about a skinny, crazy guy and his mob pals from NJ, you’ll love this book.)
Ship of Gold in the Deep Blue Sea – Gary Kinder (This book answers the question – how do you turn treasure hunting into a science. Non-fiction account switching back and forth between a ship wreck and the search decades later for its bounty of gold).
Super Sad True Love Story – Gary Shteyngart (I just reread this one and it reads like a Cassandra story for the 2nd half of 2011. Dark, dystopic, clever, and very near science fiction)
Ready Player One – Ernest Cline (Do you like a good Young Adult questing adventure? think Enders Game but with a virtual world and strong nostalgia for the 1980’s)
Fiction I Enjoyed
The Art of Fielding – Chad Harback (Lovely writing with a Bull Durham on a college campus with a gay love story feel to it. It’ll be the one book about baseball you can convince someone who doesn’t like baseball to read.)
Brooklyn – Colm Toibin (Coming of Age novel in oldey-timey Brooklyn)
Holmes on the Range – Steve Hockensmith (A pair of brother obsessed with Sherlock Holmes work for an evil British cattle rancher. Just a good, fun quick read)
How to Live Safely in a Science Fiction Universe – Charles Yu (A coming of age story in the near future)
The Abstinence Teacher – Tom Perrotta (What would happen if parents actually paid attention to what their kids were taught about sex in school? Please see my note above about Tom Perrotta)
Reamde – Neal Stephenson (A bit worn in terms of story telling and characters but worth the time if you like his writing in the vein of Cryptonimicon)
Room – Emma Donoghue (Ugh, dark, depressing, the kid’s kid of annoying but captivating)
Silver Sparrow – Tayari Jones (Coming of age story about a girl who’s father has a second family)
Skippy Dies – Paul Murray (A David and Golaith story with good writing and British boarding school)
The Stand – Stephen King (There are just books you have to read in your life, right?) Don’t read when you’re coming down with a cold as you will freak yourself out)
The Submission – Amy Waldman – (A thought experiment of what would happen if a Muslim American won the WTC memorial design contest)
The Thousand Autumns of Jacob DeZoet (A friend with very similar taste in books recommended this over and over. After four or five attempts, I finally made it past the first 20 pages and am really enjoying it. It’s the broken English that made it tough to start out but worth slogging through)
A Visit from the Goon Squad – Jennifer Egan (A very uneven book about an extended family through time but the chapter while they’re on safari is some of the best writing I’ve ever read in my whole life)
The Windup Girl – Paolo Bacigalupi – (the world’s collapsed, what to do!?)
Non-Fiction I Enjoyed
Area 51- Annie Jacobson (There are real answers for what’s going on in Area 51 and they have a lot to do with post-WW2 American culture. Read it in the context of American myth making in science)
Boomerang – Michael Lewis (I usually dislike his writing on the economy but love his sports writing. This is a good set of case studies of the world most ailing economies)
Cooking For Geeks – Jeff Potter (Just worth a read if you like cooking and hacking)
The Devil and Sherlock Holmes – David Grann (A look at the myths and fan boys of Sherlock Holmes)
Franklin and Eleanor- Hazel Rowley (Good biopic but No Ordinary Day is Better)
Furious Love: Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton – Sam Kashner (Kind of a trashy but wonderful look at the crazy life of Liz and Dick)
Game Change- John Heilemann (An insiders guide to the 2008 Presidential election. Kind of old news now but well written)
The Greater Journey – David McCullough (A good look at how Paris was the medical center of the world at this time)
In the Garden of Beasts – Erik Larson (Weirmar Germany must have been a really confusing place and we get a good sense of how it appeared to intelligent Americans bent on seeing the best in Hilter. Devil in the White city is a much much better book)
Last Call – Daniel Okrent (Ever wonder how prohibition came about and what it has to do with feminism?)
Life – Keith Richards (An autobiography by Keith Richards – exactly what you’d expect and better on audiobook)
Making Virtual Worlds – Thomas Malaby (Perhaps not for the lay reader but a good ethnography of a company.)
Priceless – Robert Wittman (Detectives who focus on art thieves!!!!!)
Pricing Beauty – Ashley Mears (Same as Malaby’s book. A bit academic for most people)
Provenance – Laney Salisbury (More art thieves!)
Superbug – Maryn McKenna (Perhaps only for the superfan or those who like to get grossed out. You’ll have a hard time touching anything for a while)
Those Guys Have All the Luck – Ton Shales (An insiders look at ESPN. It needed a firmer editor but a great look in how they created a sports empire out of nothing)
The War for Late Night – Bill Carter (Another insiders guide to something ala Game Change and Those guys but with Leno, Letterman, and Conan. The writer obviously loves Conan)
