I’ve never kept track of the books that I read, but I thought it might be fun to start keeping a list of all of them. And it just might inspire me to start reading more books, too! Every month I’ll publish a blog post with a list of the books that I read that month.
Because I started some of the books in 2010, and because I’m not finished other books that I started reading at the beginning of January, I’ve separated the books into categories. Whee organization! I always have a book to read at the vet clinic I work at, a book to read at the boyfriend’s house, a book to read before I go to sleep, and generally another book to read in the day time. So that’s why I have so many books “on the go” at the same time. I like to keep things fresh.
Without further ado, these are the books that I read during the month of January:
Books that I began reading in 2010 and finished in January 2011
– Don’t think of an elephant!: know your values and frame the debate – the essential guide for Progressives by George Lakoff
– Brave New World by Aldous Huxley
– Napoleon’s Buttons: 17 Molecules that Changed History by Penny Le Couteur and Jay Burreson
Books that I both began reading and finished reading in January 2011
– Sleeping Naked is Green: how an eco-cynic unplugged her fridge, sold her car, and found love in 366 days by Vanessa Farquharson
– White Earlywood Rings in Black Spruce Trees from the Boreal Plains Region of Western Manitoba by Justin Waito (yes, I read my boyfriend’s thesis. I am so cool.)
– The Age of Persuasion: how marketing ate our culture by Terry O’Reilly and Mike Tennant
Books that I started in January 2011 but have yet to finish reading
– Guns, Germs, and Steel by Jared Diamond
– 100 Days of Weight Loss: The secret to being successful on any diet plan – a daily motivator by Linda Spangle
– A Moveable Feast by Ernest Hemingway
I can honestly say that every one of these books was pure gold. I’d recommend each and every one of them!
What books have you read so far this year? What are you reading right now?
Glad to have this list! Most are outside of my normal reading topics and I’m looking to expand. I’ve jotted several down. Right now I’m reading What I Eat: Around the World in 80 Diets. I find it fascinating. I’m also working my way through The Longest Trip Home by John Grogan. It is filled with humor which makes it a refreshing read.
I’d love to read Around the World in 80 Diets – I keep hearing so many good things about it in the blogosphere. Hadn’t heard of The Longest Trip Home, though! Must see if I can find a copy.
Quite a diverse list there Sagan ……… how did you like ‘The Age of Persuasion’? Was it as good as I thought it was going to be?
– Sagansdad
Loved The Age of Persuasion! It brought back so many memories from my Rhetoric classes. Advertising is so fascinating.
I’ll lend the book to you in August 🙂
That’s an impressive amount of reading in one month, Sagan! I’ve jotted down the name of the Napoleon’s Buttons book for future ref- sounds intriguing.
I’ve just started an excellent book, “Unbroken”, by Laura Hillenbrand. It’s the story of a guy who was a teenage tearaway, competed in the 1936 Berlin Olympics and was training for the 1940 Tokyo games when along came the Second World War… He became a pilot, survived 27 days adrift in the Pacific after being shot down, and survived being a POW with the Japanese, and lived to tell all this to Laura H. She writes his remarkable story with great zest and panache, and it’s an amazing read.
The previous book I read probably isn’t on sale in Canada – It’s “Climbing the Bookshelves”, the autobiography of a British politician called Shirley Williams, who was a Labour Cabinet Minister in the 1970s, then formed a new party called the SDP in the very early 80s when Labour went clinically insane. I used to know her very slightly, because when I was 16 or 17 at school I thought it would be much more educative to skive off one day a week and volunteer at this new party’s HQ than to sit round doing the tedious ‘general studies’ course alongside my A levels. She’s an endearing, open, honest person, and the book’s a good read, though I expect of little interest outside the UK. 1970s economic policy looks so archaic now! But you might have heard of her mother, Vera Brittain? VB wrote a book called Testament of Youth, which recounted her experiences as a VAD (volunteer nurse) in the First World War. She had this incredibly genteel Edwardian childhood, spent battling against the constraints then imposed on girls, and during the war she served in London, Malta, and at a casualty station in France. Her fiance and brother and all their friends joined up as soon as war broke out, and what makes the book so compelling is how well she articulates what must have been an almost universally experienced long-drawn-out torment of not knowing whether they were alive or dead at any given moment, and waiting for the telegram that would bring the dread news. If you haven’t ever read it, I really recommend it. I read it when I was about 18 and it haunted me for years. In fact it still does!
On a much lighter note, I also read a book called “The Hopeless Life of Charlie Summers” by Paul Torday. It’s a novel. He also wrote “Salmon Fishing in the Yemen” – was that published in Canada? It was a bestseller over here, very funny and inventive and a bit wistful. “Charlie Summers” isn’t as good, but was a fine weekend read.
Looking forward to seeing what you read throughout the year! As your Dad says, it’s an eclectic mix. It’s always such a good way of finding things worth reading – word of mouth is definitely the best!
Sorry this is such a long comment…. Can write forever about books I love 🙂
Wow – now those are some books I need to track down!
It’s so much fun to read lots of different types of good books, especially when they’re ones that you might not normally pick up… I find that that’s one of the best parts about getting to know people with a different taste in books than your own. So many good ones can be found by swapping titles.
Napoleon’s Buttons is neat because it looks at how chemistry influenced the way that history turned out… through the spice trade and the development of plastic and tin and such. The authors provide the chemical background of the structure of the molecules, but they also tell it as a narrative – so both arts people and science people can enjoy it.
(And you are always more than welcome to leave comments as lengthy as you like :)).
Great list. Sleeping naked is green sounds like a fun read. I’ll have to pick it up!
I’ve read only the Jared Diamond, but of the rest of your list, the thesis is the only one that sounds really interesting.
I’ve just finished my umpteenth re-read of Robin McKinley’s Beauty, but for new books, the one I’ve just started promises to be fascinating: David Edgerton, The Shock of the Old.