2006 Book List
So, 2005's library list wasn't quite as lovingly maintained as I could wish, but it's a start. Here's 2006's. This will supplement the Striped Binder of Doooom, where I really am trying to keep track of EVERYTHING I read, or want to read. Pause for hysterical laughter. Thank you.
Feel absolutely free to skip this post, unless you like this kind of thing.
Recently returned (although "recently" is not going to be an especially accurate term for long here):
Currently out:
On hold:
(Obviously a lot of these are left over from last year...)
Holds placed February 2005:
Holds placed August 2005:
Feel absolutely free to skip this post, unless you like this kind of thing.
Recently returned (although "recently" is not going to be an especially accurate term for long here):
- Checked out October 14 and 27: Depressing books for work on marketing to kids: Kidfluence, Brandchild, and Consuming Kids. Finally wrote the article and happily returned them.
- Put on hold January 2005, checked out November 21: The Faery Reel: tales from the twilight realm. Had to renew this several times due to time pressure, but when I finally read it it was good stuff, with lots of fodder for books to read and authors to follow in future.
- Put on hold January 2005, checked out November 28: Walking with the wind: a memoir of the movement, by John Lewis. Recommended in strong terms by bodyandsoul_new, and holy shit was she ever right. I'm embarrassed at how little I knew about the civil rights movement. The most moving parts of the book, though, are where he describes his beliefs -- the philosophy of nonviolence, the Beloved Community, and that we're all in this together -- and his vision for the future, and his sadness at the wrong turn America seemed to take after the murders of Martin Luther King and Bobby Kennedy.
- Put on hold January 2005, checked out November 28: Wicked: the life and times of the Wicked Witch of the West. I think the musical was opening in Toronto around then. Have to admit, I renewed this one twice and it just didn't take. Too bad, but there you have it.
- Put on hold January 2005, checked out December: The Anubis Gates, Tim Powers. To be honest when this one was ready for me I was so frazzled that week I didn't get to the library in time to pick it up. But I really liked Last Call so I stuck it back on the list. It was pretty good -- nice premise, nice twist, nice kicker of a resolution. I like that his heroes never seem to be especially heroic.
- Put on hold January 2005, checked out December: The wave in the mind, Ursula K. Le Guin. Mentioned by pretentiousgit, whom I must thank, because it was lovely, and is now on my Amazon hold list.
- Put on hold February 2005, checked out January: The rose and the beast: fairy tales retold, Francesca Lia Block. elissa_carey recommended this one. I enjoyed it very much; it made a great companion piece to The Faery Reel.
Currently out:
- Put on hold January 2005, checked out January 5: The case for democracy: the power of freedom to overcome tyranny and terror. Anatoly Scharansky. Also mentioned by bodyandsoul_new. I believe GWB was reading it at the time, or something. Irony was involved. (I cannot find any reference to it in Body and Soul, and must assume I read this somewhere else. Making Light maybe?) I'm not sure I'll be finishing this one; it's interesting, but I'm finding his black and white view of things and unbridled admiration for the Bush regime wearing.
- Put on hold February 2005, checked out February 1: Bless me, Ultima, Rudolfo Anaya. Also via elissa_carey; I believe some school district was trying to ban it.
- Put on hold February 2005, checked out February 1: Cakes and ale, Somerset Maugham. I forget who was reading Somerset Maugham. Possibly copperbadge?
- Also checked out February 1: The Prize in the Game, Jo Walton (papersky). In the paperback twirlers at City Hall branch.
- Also checked out February 1: Charlie All Night, Jennifer Crusie. I needed something fun and fluffy.
- Put on hold February 2005, checked out February 6: The worst witch, Jill Murphy. Clare Coulter is in the TV series and I keep meaning to check it out.
- Also checked out February 6: Tongue in Cheek, Fiona Walker. Yummy trash with no nutritional content whatever. I find her stuff kind of variable, but this one was fun, and I was impressed by the way she regained my sympathy for the main characters -- at one point I was wondering what on earth I was meant to see in any of them.
On hold:
(Obviously a lot of these are left over from last year...)
Holds placed February 2005:
- Howards End, E.M. Forster. Possibly also copperbadge but I'm really not sure. See, this is why I need to keep track.
- Critical condition: how health care in American became big business -- and bad medicine. I *think* this was reviewed in NEJM. Or possibly not.
- Cloud atlas, David Mitchell. Via bookslut. It won or at least did very well in that Ultimate Book Challenge whatever-thing-it-was.
- A mighty heart, Mariane Pearl. I think she was going to be speaking at the Women of Influence series and I saw a poster at the gym. Or someone was talking about the book. Something like that.
- Cradle to cradle: remaking the way we make things, William McDonough. That has to have been a gristmill_rss rec.
- Paradise, A.L. Kennedy. bookslut again; they rec her often, but I think the timing is related to the kerfuffle over the Orange Prize, or that anthology where the editors said all the women's entries were boringly domestic, or something.
- Oryx and Crake, Margaret Atwood. Been meaning to get to it for ages.
- Why people believe weird things: pseudoscience, superstition, and other confusions of our time, Michael Shermer. No idea where this one comes from but you can see the pattern.
- Necessary dreams: ambition in women's changing lives, Anna Fels. No idea.
- Shake hands with the devil, Romeo Dallaire. I think lostvoice went to see the documentary?
- Intercourse, Andrea Dworkin. She died. I wanted to see what all the fuss was about.
- The fresco, Sheri S. Tepper. Someone must've rec'd this but I don't know who.
- Off the road: a modern-day walk down the Pilgrim's Route into Spain, Jack Hitt. Might've been referenced in something else I was reading.
- Alien sex (anthology). Possibly discussed over at makinglight...?
- Low port (anthology). Because crankygrrl taunted me about the new Liaden Universe novel, and it wasn't in the library system yet.
- Brave new world, Aldous Huxley. I had a reason at some point, honestly.
- Iron Council, China Mieville. Won the Clarke Award.
- Collapse: how societies choose to fail or succeed, Jared Diamond. Was on the library's most-popular list, and I liked Guns, Germs and Steel.
- Blink, Malcolm Gladwell. Also on the library's most-popular list.
- The mysterious flame of Queen Loana, Umberto Eco. bookslut posted a link to an interview with him, and I really love Foucault's Pendulum.
- Zorro, Isabel Allende. Saw it on the New Releases shelf at Indigo.
- Don Quixote, the new translation. Someone rec'd it ages ago (again via bookslut), but it wasn't on the library's list at the time.
- Invisible women, Dale Spender. Rec'd by ide_cyan.
- Small Island, Andrea Levy. Orange Prize again, plus I really liked the sound of it when the Globe reviewed it.
- The wisdom paradox, Elkhonon Goldberg. Someone posted a comparison between this and Blink, which I thought sounded interesting -- must remember to get them together.
- The gift of fear, Gavin de Becker. Rec'd by erbie during the Great Drama of June.
- Olivia Joules and the Overactive Imagination, Helen Fielding. Because I was running low on chick lit.
Holds placed August 2005:
- Not one damsel in distress: world folktales for strong girls, Jane Yolen. Started reading her journal (I wish it had an RSS feed, but you should absolutely check it out) around then and this was mentioned in an interview.
- The smartest guys in the room: the amazing rise and scandalous fall of Enron. Saw the documentary, wanted to read the book.
- Inequality reexamined, Amartya Sen. Skimmed through Freakonomics the other night and wanted another view on the world.
- The historian: a novel, Elizabeth Kostova. As recommended by cosmicbob.
- Nickel and dimed, Barbara Ehrenreich. Been meaning to read it for a while anyway, and Heather Mallick mentioned it in a column on Katrina.
- Systems of Survival, Jane Jacobs. Mentioned by a commenter on makinglight, with reference to the good people of Gretna and the breakdown of the social contract.
- Staying Fat for Sarah Byrnes, Chris Crutcher. doombookshelves loves this guy. Loooooves him. I thought I'd give him a go.
- Hard Choices: How women decide about work, career and motherhood, Kathleen Gerson. See, here I go forgetting again. And I meant to be so good. Suspect this one came from a comment on bitch_phd.
- Arthur & George, Julian Barnes. Rave reviews from both the Globe and Mail and peake. What more does one need?
- If women counted: a new feminist economics, Marilyn Waring. Like the Gerson, no idea but possibly from bitch_phd.
- Candy from strangers: kids and consumer culture, Stephen Dale. More depressing work stuff.
- Bangkok 8, John Burdett. Another one from doombookshelves.
- Contempt of court: the turn-of-the-century lynching that launced 100 years of federalism. Rec from texaslawchick; I may not end up getting this one out.
- The thrifty decorator, Jocasta Innes. Parliament branch had this out on display when I went to pick up To Kill a Mockingbird. (See how these things get all circular?) I figured, hey! Thrifty! Crafty! House-related! What more can one need? The rate we're going this will come up in its natural cycle in about September 2006, just when we're ready for it. /cynical
- Heavy Metal and You, Christopher Krovatin. Recommended by doombookshelves.
- A Game of Thrones, George R.R. Martin. Haven't given it a go yet.
- Lord Byron's Novel: The Evening Land, John Crowley. Recommended from lots of places.
- The End of Poverty: Economic Possibilities for Our Time, Jeffrey Sachs. Damn, can't remember where this one came from.
- Gifts, Ursula K. Le Guin. Because I finally read The Wave in the Mind.
- Bodyguard of Lies, Robert Doherty, nom de plume of Bob Mayer, co-author of Jennifer Crusie. Say no more.
- Babel-17, Samuel R. Delaney. Mentioned in coffeeem's great essay on The Female Geek.
- Black Easter, or Faust Aleph-Null, James Blish. Recommended by colleague - we’d been talking about the Catholic Church’s white wizards, disbanded in the 50s. The sequel does not appear to be available for loan.
- Firethorn, Sarah Micklem. Recommended in this review, cited by truepenny.