Book List 2006

I aim to read no less than 26 books a year (an average of one book every two weeks). At the peak of my reading enjoyment, I managed about a book every five or six days. I'm busier now than I was back then and I only managed 23 books this year.
This is what I thought about all of them.

NON-FICTION



The World News Prism: Manufacturing Consent:
Global Media in an Era of Terrorism, The Political Economy of the
William A. Hachten and James F. Scotton. Mass Media
pub. 1981 (sixth ed. 2002) Edward Herman and Noam Chomsky
pub. 1988

C- An over-written reflection of D+ If I were smart enough to
technology's influence on the news concentrate throughout each case
media. study both authors refer to in this
book, I'm sure I'd have been both
persuaded and informed.


Check It Out!, The News About the News:
Art Athens. American Journalism In Peril
pub. 2004 Leonard Downie Jr. and Robert G. Kaiser,
pub. 2002

B Old farts trade humorous B+ A comprehensive (but biased)
anecdotes about their experiences meditation on journalism's roots and
in broadcast news. Easy read. Fun read. what direcion those roots are going
to lead.


Propaganda: Songs of the Gorilla Nation:
The Formation of Men's Attitudes My Journey Through Autism
Jacques Ellul. Dawn Prince-Hughes.
pub. 1965 pub. 2004

C A frustratingly hypocritical meditation B Prince-Hughes is a mightily
aimed at defining and identifying accomplished doctor writing
propaganda. This book will turn you here about her process of under-
frustrated and paranoid. standing her own mild autism
through her work with primates.



A Heartbreaking Work Stiff:
of Staggering Genius The Curious Lives
David Eggers. of Human Cadavers
pub. 2000 Mary Roach
pub. 2004
A+ I hated this book when I read it four B A quirky little book about the
years ago because I felt I had been lied to. historic uses of cadavers.Darkly
After the James Frey debacle, I realized a humorous and oddly intriguing.
good story is a good story and re-read this.
Eggers' story is a damn sight better than
good. My generation's "Catcher in the Rye."


Blink: Killing Yourself To Live
The Power of Thinking Chuck Klosterman
Without Thinking pub. 2005
Malcolm Galdwell
pub. 2005
A- A 300 page meditation on what happens A Klosterman's plot isn't anything
inside the human brain during split-second special, but his attention to minutae and
decisions. Fascinating in a toss-off kind of way. the manner in which he humorously
deploys such rubbish reminds me... of myself.
Can I say that an author reminds me of myself?
Is that pompous?



Dream Boogie: Chronicles: Volume 1
The Triumph of Sam Cooke Bob Dylan
Peter Guralnick pub. 2005
pub. 2005
B+ Guralmick impressed me four years ago B A slightly overrated autobiography
with his two-part bio on Elvis and while he from one of the most iconic figures in
slimmed Cooke's bio down to a managable 800 music history. Although Dylan's trips
pages, the story of the "man who invented soul" down memory lane prove occasionally
still shines. dry and self-involved, he more than make
up for it through writing on his life's
many phases.



Running With Scissors
Augusten Burroughs
pub. 2001

C+ Augusten Burroughs swears his story is true
and really, it doesn't matter. This occasionally
humorous memoir was just too damn kooky to
feel emotion toward.

FICTION



Meeting Across the River : Haunted
Stories Inspired by Chuck Palahniuk
the Haunting Bruce Springsteen Song, pub. 2005
Jessica Kaye and Richard Brewer
pub. 2005
C Okay, so there's no reason to read this book C I used to love Chuck's books, but
if you're not a Springsteen fan. And even if you are, then Chuck's books stopped being
this book is oddly centered around a little-known about anything. This Chaucer-lite tale
Bruce tune from 1975. Why this book was is vintage Palahniuk during a select
published is about as confusing as half of the few vignettes, but mostly wastes the
slopped-together stories inside it. reader's time with self-indulgent Chuck-isms.



The Curious Incident of A Million Little Pieces
the Dog in the Night-Time James Frey
Mark Haddon pub. 2002
pub. 2004

B+ A mystery novel written from the point A- A good story is a good story, whether
of view of an autistic pre-teen that is neither fake it's false or not. And nothing that gets
nor manipulative. Oprah that pissed can be all bad, right?



Selected Stories of O. Henry The Grifters
O. Hery Jim Thompson
pub. 2003 pub. 1963
C- One O. Henry story: clever. Five O. Henry D Despite occasionally dark vivid
stories: patterns emerge. A damn book full of O. imagery, this classic noir just didn't hold
Henry stories reads like a nine-year-old babbling my attention. Rent the flick.
a week's worth of repetetive thought. By the end
of this book, you'll be able to guess the plot of
each story within the first three paragraphs.



Childhood and Other Neighborhoods The Kite Runner
Stories Khaled Hosseini
Stuart Dybek pub. 2004
pub. 1980
D It's never a good sign when you can't A+ The best book I read all year. It allowed
remember more than one of the more me to ponder my relationships with friends
than 15 stories written inside this book. almost as deeply as my relationship with my
Yawn. own father. Powerful in ways I never saw
coming.


The Master and Magarita
Mikhail Bulgakov
pub. 1967
C If this book had continued along the same
flurry of humor and irony as it displayed in its
opening chapter, this book might have changed
my life. But... it didn't and my dry streak with
Russian authors continues.