Monday, January 03, 2005
Jenny’s Reading Sidebar
For those of you that peek in here, I try to update the sidebar to your right with what I’m reading right now. So here’s the deal—I read 26 books in 2004 and thought I would list them all for your amusement. In most cases, I forgot to write down the author. So what?
1. The DaVinci Code - Dan Brown
2. Autobiography of the Fat Bride - Laurie Notaro [good author]
3. I Don’t Know How She Does It [retitled: I don’t know how I was able to finish this. it sucked.]
4. One More Time - Mike Royko
5. The Price of Loyalty - Ron Suskind
6. Fargo Rock City - Chuck Klosterman [Brad still has it checked out of the Jenny Library]
7. The Picture of Dorian Gray - Oscar Wilde
8. Wall Street Meat - Andy Kessler
9. No Great Mischief
10. Sex, Drugs and Cocoa Puffs - Chuck Klosterman [said author blew me off at a party once]
11. Subwayland - Randy Kennedy [if you ever wanted to know about subway-riding pigeons]
12. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling [reread]
13. Lond Day’s Journey Into Night - Eugene O’Neill
14. U2 at the End of the World - Bill Flanagan [reread]
15. Reading Lolita in Tehran
16. I Love Everybody - Laurie Notaro
17. 46 Pages [it was about Thomas Paine’s Common Sense]
18. Travels with Charley - John Steinbeck [I really hate Steinbeck but I liked this one]
19. From The Mixed Up Files of Mrs. Basil E Frankweiler
20. On the Road - Jack Kerouac [didn’t finish the last 50 pages]
21. Main Street - Sinclair Lewis [techinically read this, gave up 100 pages into the book when I determined I didn’t like it, but had to read that far to figure it out so it counts]
22. Alice in Wonderland - Lewis Carroll
23. The Name of the Rose - Umberto Eco
24. Eats, Shoots and Leaves - Lynne Truss
25. Judaism for Dummies
26. Great Fortune - Daniel Okrect [still reading]
27 [sort of]. 40 issues of the New Yorker, which probably counts for several books
So went to the bookstore today and saw a few I was thinking of picking up. Would you recommend any of the following?
-- The Dante Club by Matthew Pearl
-- The Book of Salt
-- The Unthinkable Thinkings of Jacob Green by Joshau Braff
I always meant to read Dante Club but still haven’t. Actually, I haven’t read any of the books you asked about, but if I was the one selecting from the list, I’d probably go with Dante Club.
Posted by tanya on 01/04 at 09:04 AMGood list, Jenny. Next time you’re over feel free to browse our bookshelves for something to read. By the way, you still have to read “The Sparrow.” It’s fantastic—one of my favorites ever.
(Oh—I just grabbed a cross-stitch book for you from work.)
Posted by David on 01/04 at 11:13 AMDon’t forget to read Turbulent Souls by Dubner.
Posted by T. Falke on 01/04 at 12:05 PMYeah cross-stitch! Do you have a copy of Sparrow? I just reserved the book club book at the library so I can always get Sparrow when I drop this one off.
Posted by jenny on 01/04 at 12:18 PMYeah—we have a copy of “The Sparrow” if you want to borrow it.
Posted by David on 01/04 at 12:36 PMI am going to put up my list too. I am SO pissed though. My goal was to read 25 and I read 24. How lame is that? I read two half books right before the end of the year. Can that equal my 25th? And I didn’t count the 6 unabridged books on CD. So maybe that can tip the scales.
I haven’t read any of those either.
Posted by Kristen on 01/04 at 12:57 PMOh my god, you all put me to shame. I’m still finishing my October book club book. I’ve read maybe 10 books this year. arg. Well, just found my first new year’s resolution.
I’m impressed with you list, though I hate having unfinshed books, usually I just stall instead.
Posted by sis on 01/04 at 01:03 PMA, you also drive to work, which puts you at a disadvantage. K, I’m impressed you read that many. I normally wouldn’t have that many if I didn’t have the subway.
Posted by jenny on 01/04 at 01:53 PMAlix, you should get audiobooks to listen to while you drive to work. (Kristen—I think unabridged audiobooks totally count as books you’ve read.) Jenny—I’m with you—if it wasn’t for the subway I wouldn’t read a quarter of what I end up reading.
Posted by David on 01/04 at 06:52 PM