So it's the end of another year, and we all know what that means: New Year's Resolutions. Could there be anything stupider than waiting for the beginning of a New Year to lie to ourselves? I say, lie to yourself no matter what the calendar on the wall says.
Anyway, last year there was the typical (i.e. made by everyone) resolutions. "Lose Weight" (I gained 20 pounds after I lived for 6 months as a vegetarian...turns out all those people eat are fat-ass-inducing carbs). "Make More Money" (didn't happen, but I did LOSE a bunch of money buying a house and second car!). "Exercise" (not so much). "Be a better everything" (what the hell does that even mean?).
And finally, I vowed to "Read More."
This is probably the only 2009 Resolution that I actually kept, though I'm not exactly sure...so I won't celebrate just yet. In December of 2008, my mentor Terri sent me an invitation to a website called
GOODREADS. Essential, GOODREADS is a social networking website that allows people to keep track of what they read (and when they read it), as well as see what their friends (and total strangers) are reading. You can also post reviews and research a book before you pick it up and read it (what ARE people in Alaska saying about Michael Crichton's last book?).
My favorite part of GOODREADS is the ability to track what you read. When I made my resolution to "Read More," I instantly recognized GOODREAD's potential to help. I read 34 books in 2009 (not counting the ones I started, but never finished, of course which are numerous). I'm not sure if that's "more" than any other year (such as 2008) because prior to this year, I never bothered to keep an accurate list of everything that I read.
This year was THE year I read books written by people I know. I stared the year off right by finally reading Terri's (semi-autobiographical?) novel "False Starts." It took me a while to get a hold of it, as it is no longer in print, but I like hunting rare books (which is pretty easy in this age of the Internet). I also read my cousin Spencer's first published novel "The Body Cartel." Both books couldn't be further apart in terms of style and subject matter, and yet both novels perfectly capture their respective authors--and both gave me new insights into two very important people in my life.
The best fiction book I read this year was Amy Tan's "The Joy Luck Club" (by pure luck, I snagged an autographed first-edition online). I'd read an excerpt in an American Fiction class...no literally...they were talking about some boring poem or something, and I just flipped open the textbook-anthology and nearly cried reading about a child who accidentally drowned at sea. Heart-breaking, alien but familiar, historical but modern--I loved every second of this book. Since then, I've acquired a pile of Tan's other works, but I haven't touched them out of fear. Fear that her other books won't live up to her first book.
The best non-fiction book I read was "A History of the World in 6 Glasses" by Tom Standage. History books fall into two categories for me: boring and academic OR amazing and relevant to everyday people. This book is the latter. The book is just what it proclaims to be: a history of the world and the beverages that shaped human history. Witness the first accidental beer brewers! Behold man willingly shackle himself to the land in order to grow hops and barley! Wine drinking leads to Democracy! Coffee to the Industrial Revolution! Coke dominates the world and ushers in new, bold Global-Society! A fantastic book, that I read in a single weekend (just two baths for those of you who know of my penchant for reading in the tub--oh, and Spencer & Terri...I read your book in the tub as well. Think on that!).
The worst book I read this year was "Slam!" by Nick Hornby (which was also the first book I read). I love Hornby, but his books are increasingly getting worse and worse--to the point where I have refused to pick up his latest novel. This book turned having a baby into a horror story. Not something young fathers should read. We all know that having children is hard, but Hornby ignores the parts BESIDES staying up till 1 AM with feverish child (or not being able to...skateboard anymore??? Don't ask). Sure, there are diapers (or "nappies" as the Brits call them) to be changed, but there's also love and the joy of watching life begin anew. Hornby's book seems to not only be written ABOUT immature parents/parenting but also written BY immature parents. Throw in a crappy/stupid time-travel gimmick where the protagonist gets to see how crappy his life is going to be once his now-knocked-up-girlfriend is preggos, and you have a recipe for disaster. "High Fidelity" this ain't.
Anyway, I intend on using GOODREADS in 2010 to track what I read, and when I read it. I now have a definite goal, I have to beat 33 books. Wish me luck!
The Books of 2009 (in the order I read them):
There you have it.
