Jan 04, 2008 22:55
I haven't posted since October, so here's a brief view of the books I read to close out the year:
Naked by David Sedaris. I didn't find this book to be as funny as Me Talk Pretty One Day. At times, I wasn't sure if Sedaris was going for a dark humorous tone that I just wasn't getting or if he wasn't trying to be funny at all. I think that I was supposed to laugh at some of the characters, but I felt bad for them instead. Anyway, it was a good collection, just not what I expected.
Pushed by Jennifer Block. I went into this book with sketisicm because I knew that the book had an agenda, but I found Block work to be well researched and logical. I alternated reading Pushed and Naked. Sometimes, I'd be so angry about the things that I read in Pushed, that I'd half to read Sedaris to calm me down. I think that if everyone read Pushed, it might have the same effect of obstetrics that The Jungle had on the food industry.
Bowls, Polls, and Tattered Souls by Stewart Mandel. This book shed a lot light on the current controversies in college football is a clearly written way. I read and enjoy Mandel's columns and blog on SI.com, so I'm glad to have his book as well.
One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest by Ken Kesey. Unlike the rest of the world, I was never assigned to read this in high school. At the beginning of the novel, I found the order-loving side of me coming out, as I didn't think that the Big Nurse was so bad. But Kesey does a good job of slowly building up the confrontations and allow more of more of the Nurse's monstrous side show. By the end, I was definitely rooting against her.
Now, I'm reading Saturday by Ian McEwan. I hoped to have finished by the end of the year, but that didn't happen. IBy my count, I finshed 21 books in 2007, so here's to a better 2008.