The Godfather
Mario Puzo
Much like The Da Vinci Code this book appeared when I didn't have anything to read.
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The Da Vinci Code
Dan Brown
I never really thought I'd read this book, but an available copy was offered with indications about the strong draw of the story. Like any good suspense mystery, each chapter ends off in such a way that it's nearly impossible to stop reading. The writing isn't necessarily amazing and the characters aren't always completely believable, but all the history (which is presented pretty much as facts) is all very interesting—a secret society passing down a great mystery that the Catholic Church wants to hide.
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Julie and Julia
Julie Powell
I was fairly excited about this book when I first heard about it. I never read the blog that started it all, but I went through a month or two of entries on a slow day at work. It seemed pretty entertaining. Plus, I have a certain affinity for Julia Child since we shared the same birthday; I like the idea of projects like making all the recipes in one cookbook; and the book has a cute cover to boot.
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Time's Magpie
Myla Goldberg
I haven't spent much time exploring the world of travel essays, but after reading Wickett's Remedy a couple of months ago, I happened to notice this book mentioned and hadn't heard about it before. It turns out Myla Goldberg is a former Prague expat, and this book of essays was written on the occasion of returning there ten years later.
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Crime and Punishment
Fyodor Dostoyevsky
I have been considering an unofficial focus for my 2006 reading to be some kind of combination of "books I read in high school" and "canonical books I've never read." (So far several Russian novels fall into the latter category, including Lolita by Nabokov and Anna Karenina by Tolstoy and Pale Fire also by Nabokov, though I'm not sure if that one technically falls into "The Canon"?)
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Bauhaus, Modernism & the Illustrated Book
Alan Bartram
This book is a nice look at how modernism affected typography and book design in general, but I just do not understand the cover:
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Graphic Style from Victorian to Digital
Steven Heller & Seymour Chwast
I read through this while I was in school for design and was surprised, first, that I didn't write much about this book then (except I was pretty focused while in school); and, secondly, that now in 2010, the book appears out of print. While the digital section is undoubtedly out of date ten years later with the way the web has exploded, the earlier eras discussed are invaluable in their form here. There is just enough info to know if you want to know more. I trust there will be another updated edition in due time.
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Wickett's Remedy
Myla Goldberg
Centered around the 1918 influenza epidemic, Wickett's Remedy features unconventional narration techniques and heaps of historical details. At times, the story feels fragmented in a way that makes me miss the warm depth of Goldberg's first (published) novel Bee Season; yet the varying modes of unveiling the story does bestow a more epic scope which may have otherwise been too weak and narrow.
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Breath, Eyes, Memory
Edwidge Danticat
Krik? Krak! has been on my mental book list for a while, so even though the blurb on the back of this book didn't make it sound very exciting, I decided I fared a better chance with it than the other lackluster titles found in the stacks at the library. Luckily it is a much more dynamic book than that blurb lets on.
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The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time
Mark Haddon
I must say I enjoy a murder mystery where the victim is a neighbor's dog and the narrator is a 15-year-old boy who is autistic, keen on math, and more interested in numbering his chapters as increasing primes instead of the usual sequence. Of course, the book is not much of a murder mystery at all and instead more of a journal of this boy's experiences during a difficult time in his family. From responses to this book that I've read (i.e., not having much personal experience), Haddon captures the nuances of autism with grace.
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The Sea, The Sea
Iris Murdoch
I'm so glad to finally be done with this book. This was one of those that I was hoping would have a big payback at the end, but in the end was just disappointing. Long books have no right in being so.
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A Series of Unfortunate Events
Lemony Snicket
I read The Bad Beginning several years ago and never continued with the series, which turned out to be a good decision, as I just spent the last couple weeks reading almost the entire series, up to The Penultimate Peril, published this year. It might have been even smarter to wait for them all to be in print, as now I have charged through twelve books and am left hanging until the last one is available, most likely not for another year.
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The Case of the Not-So-Nice Nurse
Mable Maney
I've been spending all of my reading time with school-related texts lately, so it seemed like time for a little break. What luck that this book came up in conversation the day I finished the Bringhurst book.
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The Elements of Typographic Style
Robert Bringhurst
Parts of this book are so poetic and idealistic about typography and other parts are technical to intense mathematical degrees that it's sure to be a good reference for both inspiration and precise guidance. If you have a nerd-level interest in typography, that is. There's a whole section about page proportions derived from the chromatic scale, and half the book is devoted to detailed appendices concerning typefaces, designers, foundries, etc.
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A Short History of the Printed Word
Warren Chappell
This book is likely to retain its place as a design classic, as Chappell recorded a uniquely specific point in history, balancing at the point before computers completely infiltrated design, leaving printing presses and typesetting machines to archaism. This is a history of printing starting with the earliest alphabets evolving through the advances of the printing press, with due given to major contributors to typographic design.
It's hard not to wonder what Chappell (who died in 1991) would think of the world of design today when he closes, saying,
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The Time Traveler's Wife
Audrey Niffenegger
I kept hearing this one mentioned by various people with that certain weighty esteem that only favorites get, so I wanted to know why people loved it so. It is, quite simply, about a time traveler's wife, or really, a time traveler and his wife, as the story seesaws between their perspectives. Despite the vague incredulity of a person's chromosomes making him shift in time, the book has a similar delightful mindfuck quality as Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind.
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Hotel of the Saints
Ursula Hegi
It's been a long while since I even tried to read a short story collection—I read a lot of short stories in 2003 and I daresay it burnt me out. So I was glad that Melanie sent me this Ursula Hegi collection for my birthday. A nice reminder of my appreciation of the short fiction.
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When Things Fall Apart
Pema Chödrön
I started reading this Buddhist self-helper a couple of years ago and just wasn't in the place for it at the time. I thought of it again suddenly this summer and felt like it would be a good time to revisit it. I tend to get into these patterns of reading where I have lists that I am trying to charge through as fast as possible—skimming and gleaning more often than immersing myself fully. So it was nice to take some time to settle into this and read slow and not think about the pile of books sitting on my bookcase.
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The Secret Life of Bees
Sue Monk Kidd
I've always wondered how bad this book actually was.. It reads like a sad attempt to recreate To Kill a Mockingbird, except this one is set in the Civil Rights Era and topples in on itself with its didacticism. I can't say I really cared about the characters, even the ones who weren't as annoying as the 14-year-old white heroine. Maybe the adolescent voice is just that convincing?
I am appreciating Kafka on the Shore much more now.
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