Some people love lists, especially at this time of year. I am not one of them. But because it's the season of giving and getting, and because I enjoy sharing recommendations with friends, this post is a list of books consumed over the past year that I give my whole-hearted "thumbs up" to.
As an aside, when I started this blog, I expected book reviews to be part of a steady diet of postings. Hasn't worked out that way and I'm not sure why, really. Perhaps it's my restless reading habit and frequent detours from the best-sellers; perhaps it's laziness. In any case, a yearly omnibus of (only positive) reviews seems useful (and easy).
Now, a few caveats. This is hardly a "Best of 2005" queue. Many of these books were not actually published this year; indeed some were not published this century. My nightstand is more of a neighborhood than a functional piece of furniture. Sure, it has a few books upon, competing with the lamp, the water glass, the radio, and the pills. But what I think of as "the nightstand" is really a region of stacked, printed material - and not even organized by genre, paperback or non, serious or pulp, etc. The stacks are purely random - to use the fave descriptor of the teen set these days - and my reading, while steady in consumption, is hit and miss. I read constantly, but often several books at once and I accumulate more quickly than I consume. I imagine many of you suffer from the same pleasant malady (the bain of spouses and significant others who appreciate the tiniest crumb of order).
And so, in no particular order, here is The List - you may buy (for Christmas, Chanukah, Kwanzaa, Solstice, Wild Card Saturday, Boxing Day, or the Feast of St. Thomas Becket) with my personal guarantee, though this carries no monetary or return value whatsoever. [I do not include the many clunkers I waded through, at least partly]. Note the lack of current political books; no accident - can't stand 'em, in most cases. Please, your own reviews and/or recommendations in comments please....And awaaaay we go:
Alexander Hamilton - Ron Chernow
The most important Founding Father (not including Franklin) never to be President, richly captured in this very serious, deft and thick one-volume biography. Best parts for me: Hamilton's incredible influence in the creation of the New York we know today.
The Bad Guys Won - Jeff Pearlman
The wild stories behind the 1986 New York Mets championship - Straw, Doc, Mookie, Davey, Carter, Backman, Dykstra and the rest. It's sloppy and all over the place, but a winning tale - much like that team itself.
Berlin Noir: March Violets/the Pale Criminal/a German Requiem - Phillip Kerr
The omnibus version of Kerr's three detective novels set in Germany before, during, and after the Second World War. Goes down real easy.
Carry Me Home: Birmingham, Alabama and the Climactic Battle of the Civil Rights Revolution - Diane McWhorter
An incredible story of a rapidly thrown-up Industrial Age city that never really relied on pre-Civil War slavery, but adopted all the worst of post-war racism. Written by a woman who grew up there in a sheltered, white middle class family and only came to understand what had happened - and her family's own role in the story - years later. I read this after visiting the Birmingham Civil Rights Museum and in the process learned about one of the figures of the civil rights movement whose name doesn't appear in many textbooks - Rev. Fred Shuttlesworth, a true hero.
The Catsitters - James Wolcott
A clever tale of modern love that told me more about the inner life of thousands of lonely New York apartments than about relationships.
A Coffin for Dmitrios - Eric Ambler
Actually picked this up on whim in "Tom's Store" on Amazon, and rediscovered a mystery master from the 30s and 40s.
The Complete Aubrey/Maturin Novels - Patrick O'Brian
Ah yes, the third time through - for the writing and for the philosophy; meeting O'Brian before he died was like meeting Dickens for me. (The complete hard-cover set of all 20 novels and the fragment of the 21st is both a bargain and a pleasure).
The Conquerors: Roosevelt, Truman and the Destruction of Hitler's Germany, 1941-1945 - Michael Beschloss
Great pulp history on the drive toward unconditional surrender for Germany, and the moral crusade behind it that has largely been forgotten. The hidden hero: Treasury Secretary Henry Morgenthau.
Darknet - J.D. Lasica
Easily the best book on citizen's media, written with an open mind - not crazy, misguided, libertarian fervor - by a long-time analyst. A realistic account of how big media needs control to assure profits, at least in the minds of technology-challenged executives anyway. If you read one book on Web 2.0, Darknet is the one.
Devil in the White City: Murder, Magic, and Madness at the Fair that Changed America - Erik Larson
Incredible Chicago world's fair scandal, who knew?
Eisenhower's Lieutenants: The Campaign of France and Germany 1944-1945 - Russell F. Weigley
Dense, detailed history of the men who made the invasion of Europe the largest undertaking of arms in history, recommended by my good friend Eric.
Fear and Loathing on the Campaign Trail '72 - Hunter S. Thompson
Kerry should have read this one, which I picked up as a requiem read. Hilarious, sure. Truthful (in the whole, anyway) certainly.
Flyboys: A True Story of Courage - James Bradley
Torture and murder of American prisoners of war in the Pacific, a little-known story that's chilling and real.
Flykiller - Robert Janes
Another in the wonderfully dark detective series set in occupied France.
The Heart Knows Something Different: Teenage Voices from the Foster Care System - Al Desetta
These stories will break your heart, impress you with the inner strength of the young, and make you want to do something.
Hard Times - Charles Dickens
Thie fellow Dickens is on to something here - this combo of societal misery leavened with real human kindness may have a future on the best-seller lists.
Here is New York - E.B. White
Again to the masterwork from a fellow Mount Vernon man.
His Excellency: George Washington - Joseph Ellis
Washington the politician, written from letters, with real insight into the sphinx.
Intelligence in War: Knowledge of the Enemy from Napoleon to Al-Qaeda - John Keegan
No one writes military history better than Keegan, and this book doesn't let the side down; moreover, it's a tough book for very tough times - would that Americans at the highest points of government had read this book first.
Jefferson's War - Joseph Wheelan
Adventures of an American president who sent an invasion force to the Middle East.
Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell - Susanna Clarke
I did not expect to like this massive, epic, rambling tale of magicians and politicians set in the London of Holmes and Watson. But damn if I never put it down. What fun it is creating an alternative world.
Lincoln's War: The Untold Story of America's Greatest President as Commander in Chief - Geoffrey Perret
Abraham Lincoln the stone-cold killer among hesitant, over-trained generals.
Live from New York - James Miller and Tom Shales
Belushi and the rest, a dazzling oral history tossed my way by Steve-o.
Lords of the Horizons: A History of the Ottoman Empire - Jason Goodwin
And we think we understand the Persia of today - what fools we westerners be. A lush and complex history that shows just how strange the pathways to modernity can be.
Luckiest Man: The Life and Death of Lou Gehrig - Jonathan Eig
Strength at the end, humility at the beginning, brilliance in between.
The March - E.L. Doctorow
Master of the historical novel, Doctorow admitted making up Sherman's diary entries and letters to serve his own cinematic purposes. Good on him; it's his world, related to the truth, but deriving more truth from portraying human nature than from documents.
No Country for Old Men - Cormac Mccarthy
Begins with death in the heartland, and tracks death throughout. A brilliant, violent turn with no romanticism whatsoever for the heartland.
On the Road With Bob Dylan - Larry "Ratso" Sloman
Hilarious, rambling first-person account of Ratso's (successful) attempt to infiltrate Dylan's inner circle during the wild and brillant Rolling Thunder Revue.
Pennant Race - Jim Brosnan
Baseball in the 60s, all nicknames and tobacco juice and beer, written by a Reds pitcher.
A Piece of My Heart - Richard Ford
His first novel from the mid-80s about a violent episode in Mississippi hunting grounds - cinematic, spare, stark like a song off of Springsteen's Nebraska.
The Plot Against America - Phillip Roth
Alternative history imagined by Roth. A reach, but a brilliant, engrossing reach that succeeds - just barely - in the required suspension of disbelief.
Press Box: Red Smith's Favorite Sport Stories - Red Smith
Of Cobb and Rockne and Louis - you know this stuff, and you want more. Put in your commuter backpack and carry it for those dead moments when the subway gets stuck and you need some reading as sweet and smoothe as caramel.
Persuasion - Jane Austen
The one I hadn't read, but as tasty as a strawberry Fribble from Friendly's.
1759: The Year Britain Became Master of the World - Frank McLyn
I read this for the French and Indian Wars, but I hadn't understood the importance of this moment in every corner of the world until this book - a fascinating and serious read.
1776 - David McCullough
Washington, what a stud. Even when nothing went right.
To Rule the Waves: How the British Navy Shaped the Modern World - Arthur Herman
What stands out is the failures, even for the proudest navy in world history. Failures, piracy, loss of empire - but also the incredible cost in treasure, lives, and effort that went into creating the world's first and foremost mobile extender of power.
Where I Was From - Joan Didion
Years, she sadly rules the best-seller list but this one from a few years ago tells the story of California - which in turn tells us so much more. Engrossing, real, powerful.
