For various reasons, I've reverted to wanting to keep a listing of books read here. I will not go back for reviews of them now although I may make a comment or two here and there. Here are the books from the first half of the year:
The Ghosts of Belfast, Stuart Neville
Lies My Mother Never Told Me, Kaylie Jones
The Boy in the Striped Pajamas, John Boyne
How to Lie with Statistics, Darrell Huff
From Here to Eternity, James Jones
U is for Undertow, Sue Grafton (bicycle book)
Breaking the Rules, Barbara Taylor Bradford (leaves a sugar headache, even for a bicycle book, where expectations are lower)
Who is Mark Twain (by Guess Who)
Pirate Latitudes, Michael Crichton (thankfully the last in a four book run of disappointments)
1776, David McCullough (outstanding)
Captain Blood, Rafael Sabatini
Game Change, John Heilemann
Three Cups of Tea, Greg Mortenson
Blame: A Novel, Michelle Huneven
A is for Alibi, Sue Grafton (bicycle)
Killing Floor, Lee Child (stretches the boundaries of belief, but I was hooked anyway)
Die Trying, Lee Child (I found this one less compelling than #1)
Mere Christianity, C.S. Lewis (I always find Lewis fascinating even when I disagree with him and find his arguments weak)
Rapt: Attention and the Focused Life, Winifred Gallagher (had some good information; would benefit from greater focus)
Gone Tomorrow, Lee Child
The Weight of Silence, Heather Gudenkauf (bicycle)
The Thoughtful Dresser, Linda Grant
Dishes from the Wild Horse Desert, Melissa Guerra (foods of my childhood)
The Maze Runner, James Dashner
Solar, Ian McEwan (disappointing)
Storm Prey, John Sandford (bicycle)
The 9th Judgement, James Patterson (bicycle)
Cookwise, Shirley Corriher
Mexican Everyday, Rick Bayless
One Fifth Avenue, Candace Bushnell (picked up in boredom during an endless wait at a pharmacy, finished in doctor's office waiting rooms, in any other setting not worthwhile)
My reading was rather frivolous during June. Mostly this was due to the completely scatter-brained state of my world at the time, and there are times when any distraction, no matter how frivolous, is a good distraction.
Rapt had some really interesting information and I got a lot out of reading it, and although it seemed to ramble in places I would recommend it. You have mentioned House Thinking before and I think I will add the two books you mention to my list.
Posted by: Mardel | July 14, 2010 at 09:27 AM
I just recently bought Rapt. I have read her other books and have really enjoyed them. I highly recommend "The Power of Place" and "House Thinking".
Posted by: La Belette Rouge | July 12, 2010 at 12:02 PM
Quite a list! I'm not sure why, but as you know, I also like to at least list the books I've read -- especially since otherwise, there's the risk of re-reading some of the less memorable ones! My June reading has weighted toward genre fiction as well -- and Jack Reacher was part of that terrain -- have you thought of who might play him should there ever be a movie made?
Posted by: materfamilias | July 11, 2010 at 09:07 AM