2013 50 Book Challenge - Page 16

I'm in for 2012, except I can't say all mine will be fiction. Probably half (at least) will be wine-related, as my free time is pretty limited these days.

i've not posted much here yet, but i've been reading stuff on here a fair bit and this thread came up while i was searching for something else. i'm in, with the caveats that a) i'm going to do 50 books across all categories, b) i'm counting the books i've already started, and c) audio books count. ( if they're unabridged, i hate abridgments) and d) rereading counts, especially old books in new translations.

i tend to read more than one thing at a time, so the first batch includes

On Food and Cooking and The Curious Cook by Harold McGee. a long time before 'molecular cuisine became trendy, McGee dropped some science on the kitchen. a lot of science. (started 2011)

Serve it Forth by MFK Fisher. it's a book about food and cooking but like McGee's it's not a cookbook. unlike McGee it doesn't focus on chemistry.

The Gate by Francois Bizot. Bizot was captured by the notorious Comrade Duch well before Duch became head of the notorious Khmer Rouge prison, S21.

Beowulf the epic poem as translated by Seamus Heaney.

and i'm listening to American Prometheus by Kai Bird and Martin Sherwin. (started 2011). J. Robert Oppenheimer, the atomic bomb, and his downfall during the communist witch hunts of the 50s.

i'll be throwing some fiction in there at some point (probably some Elmore Leonard) but these ought to keep me busy for a while. eventually i may take on Romance of the Three Kingdoms, a very, very long Chinese classic that's split into four very, very long volumes.
Edited by zeusbheld - 1/1/12 at 4:02am

i looked that list over, and i'm guessing whoever made that list is not the boss of me, and not even that big. so no, i must not read all those particular books before i die.

there's some good stuff in there but i can't really see the wisdom of putting Ian McEwan on the must-read list and leaving Homer and Dante off. a good selection of Joseph Conrad but i fully expect to read more Conrad than that before i die.

That's how we did it last year. There are some great, classic, short novels out there. Except for Clockwise's list. He has otherworldly taste in literature and won't cop to being an English prof at Harvard.

1. The Hostage- WEB Griffin 2006
Espionage page turner. I had this left over from last year (4 of the 5 Presidential novels actually)- figured I'd finish them
before I move in.
Agent is Charley Castillo. Ex- military. Drinks Famous Grouse Scotch. Drinks lots of coffee (probably to cure hangovers from Famous Grouse). Independetly wealthy but not snooty about it. Gets the girl (even though she's a subordinate). Catches enough of the bad guys to make it interesting.
2. The Hunters- WEB Griffin 2007 .Pretty much the same. Except he loses the girl. And they're running out of bad guys because they keep shooting them (hence the title). More Famous Grouse. Cigars. Buys a Gulfsteam III.

From these capsule reviews, I was reminded of the way specific brand names and product descriptions were shoehorned into American Psycho.

1. Play It As It Lays by Joan Didion
As a first novel of the year, I really enjoyed this. It was emotionally desolate, without being sterile. I really felt a sense that there was something feral lying just below the surface in the protagonist, almost as though she were on the verge of implosion or explosion at any moment. Heartbreaking, bleak, but weirdly empowering in a way.
I liked the writing style, too. It gave a real sense of urgency; the whole story felt as though it was something deep and dark that had to be told, but nonetheless could only be whispered in the ear.
I'll definitely be picking up more of Didion's stuff this year.

Starting off with two books. First one may not count, was started on Dec 27th. Second one started yesterday morning, so totally counts.
1) Reading Between the Vines by Terry Theise
2) The Billionaire's Vinegar by Benjamin Wallace

Uh- uh. Not so easy. Have to provide summaries. And I think anything after xmas counts...

I'm in, but do 200 page comic books count?

i've been brushing up on my academics by reading some of those cartoon books on micro eco, statistics, etc.

Read that a few months ago, fun read I thought. I'm considering trying this....though I find the prospect of having to write a synopsis of each somewhat daunting for some reason.

Someone asked that last year. The synopses can be 1 or 2 sentences. All you gotta do is read 4 a month. Really, I found it surprisingly easy and fun. And I even read War and Peace for my last book. An added bonus is you get a lot of great suggestions from the others in the group.

Starting off with two books. First one may not count, was started on Dec 27th. Second one started yesterday morning, so totally counts.
1) Reading Between the Vines by Terry Theise-- A beautiful look at the philosophy of wine enjoyment. Everybody writes books on the facts of wine, Theise wrote a book on why wine is so important to us.
2) The Billionaire's Vinegar by Benjamin Wallace--- Pretty fascinating read about a German collector in the 80s who claimed to have a collection of bottles owned by Thomas Jefferson due to some engraving and the letters "Th. J" on the bottles. Really good read and delves into the much broader topic of wine counterfeiting in the auction market as a whole.

Been hanging around with Piobaire?