Year Two of Reading

I review my year's reading on my birthday rather than on January 1, because I first began posting about books on that date (April 22). This year I read 111 books, a mix of classics, best sellers, old favorites, detective stories, science fiction, travel (1), history, biography, and (what a treat!) one book-in-progress by a former student, Joseph Scott Coy.

I believe I read more REALLY GOOD BOOKS this year than in any other year of my life. And I can credit this completely to my computer and to the internet, something I would have formerly believed to be impossible. (I viewed all the time people spent on their computers as wasted time. Now I realize that one person's time waste may be another person's obsession!) The internet enabled me to scout out good books as nothing else ever has. I could find lists of prize winners--Pulitzer, National Book Award, Nobel, Booker, Hugo, Nebula, and so forth. Then I could look up the unknown books I discovered to learn more about them. I could happen upon the web sites and blogs of other readers and read their reviews and recommendations. I could receive recommendations from book sellers on the web ("If you like this, you might also like this."). I could find many "Top 100" lists from various sources (Modern Library, Times, Guardian, etc.). And I could pester some of my Facebook friends who are readers for recommendations. In this regard I thank Jonathan Aaron Baker, Brandon Watson, Patti Watson, Mike Myrick, Rachael Hall, Joe Coy, and Tim Ristow for their recommendations.

Here is my list of top 12 books for my reading year. I read so many good ones, I could not stop at 10.

BOOKS I LIKED BEST
*At Swim-Two Birds by Flan O'Brien--because it is funny, inventive, and the language is wonderful.
*Titus Groan by Mervyn Peake--because it evokes an atmosphere and a place better than any book I have ever read.
*Ghostwritten by David Mitchell--because he is better than anyone I know at providing distinctive voices for his characters.
*The Things They Carried by Tim O'Brian--because it conveys truth through fiction about war and what it does to participants.
*On Canaan's Side by Sebastian Barry--because the story is heart-wrenching and the writing is pure poetry.
*I, Claudius by Robert Graves--because it is the best historical novel I have ever read.
*Nights at the Circus by Angela Carter--because it blurs the boundaries between what is real and what is not, and I like that.
*A Visit From the Goon Squad by Jennifer Egan--because it is funny and sad at the same time and makes a complicated and inventive structure all fit together and not look like intellectual preening.
*Blindness by Jose Saramago--because it presents the "civilization-in-peril" scenario with more grace and humanity than anyone else has.
*Waiting for the Barbarians by J.M. Coetzee--because it is subtle but persuasive in its message for today. And the writing is impeccable.
+The Secret Agent by Joseph Conrad--because it is the best and first of the genre and conveys characterization subtly. And because when I finished the last couple of pages, I realized I had been holding my breath.
*Nostromo by Joseph Conrad--because it has everything: plot, pacing, characterization, symbolism, relevance for today, and readable and masterful writing. Easily the best book of the year for me.

HONORABLE MENTIONS
*Ubik by Phillip K. Dick--because his warped imagination can draw me in like no other sci-fi writer.
*Room by Emily Donahue--because her story touched my emotional heart-strings more than any other. Actually, it's not that outstanding a book, but I loved it anyway.

MOST DISLIKED OF THE YEAR
*Post Office by Charles Bukowski--because it is arrogant, self-indulgent, and glorifies general sorriness. Plus, it is not even well written.

That's it for this year.