What I’ve read
I seem to have made an annual tradition of noting which of the Times Notable Books of the Year I’ve read. It’s an easy post at a busy time of the year. So here goes:
- The Brief Wonderful Life of Oscar Wao. Terrific.
- Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. Yes, I got it the first weekend it was out. Not as good as the first one in the series (which I’ve just started reading out loud to D) but far better than the last couple.
- The View from Castle Rock. I thought this was really interesting, without actually liking it all that much. There’s one story in it that appears to be the real-life episode that one of the stories in Runaway is based on — someday, I want to read the two stories side by side.
- The Yiddish Policeman’s Union. Loved it.
- The Argument. Thought provoking, but I’m convinced by Ezra Klein’s criticism of Bai –he claims the Dems are only about politics, not policy, but that’s because he interprets all policy arguments through a political lens.
I also read The Emperor’s Children, Intuition, Special Topics in Calamity Physics, and The Places In Between from the previous year’s list. I got the Lay of the Land out of the library, but couldn’t get past the first couple of chapters.
December 19th, 2007 at 9:45 am
My top picks off the Times Notable List are The Gathering, What is the What, and How Doctors Think. If I had to pick one must read book of the year, it is What is the What. Intense and life changing.
December 19th, 2007 at 6:57 pm
I was looking forward to your annual post on the Times Notable Books of the Year. As a Times weekend subscriber I read the list and was disappointed with their picks. The only book I read in full was Harry Potter and I had started to read the Jonathan Ferris book. There were alot of books reviewed by the Times Book Review that I had read and thought deserved to be listed in their 100 picks. A week later they had another article on the top ten of the year and it seemed they chose the most recently published.
December 19th, 2007 at 7:42 pm
I’m teaching that Matt Bai book in the spring, and hoping to have my students look at all the surrounding blog posting and debates and dialogues, so thanks for the Klein link.
December 20th, 2007 at 9:38 am
Well, you’re doing better than me. The only ones I read were:
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows
On Chesil Beach
The Yiddish Policeman’s Union
December 27th, 2007 at 2:52 pm
So! I am leaving comments for all the literary bloggers I can think of (those that I regularly read, anyway) because I am trying to launch a new blog that will highlight books 4 days a week (M-Th) and then another media (movie, CD, etc) on Fridays. But I don’t want to launch a blog if nobody is going to read it. So I am looking for any ideas from experienced book bloggers on promoting and designing a new book blog. Any suggestions would be welcome, and I am also looking for someone to design a banner, since I can’t do that.
Thank you so much!