My List. My Opinions

Book List 2006


1. The Book of Secrets Deepak Chopra Non Fiction Essays on achieving a spiritual life of peace, free of fear, doubt, uncertainty, anger, etc. This is a book to return to often.

2. On Bullshit Harry G. Frankfurt A 67 page essay on the nature of BS that reads like a doctoral dissertation. Could have been amusing, but wasn’t, isn’t.

3. Horse Heaven Jane Smiley An excellent read that follows six horses and a couple of dozen people through the ins and outs of the thoroughbred racing world.

4. Death In A Strange Country Donna Leon Murder mystery set in Venice, Italy. Compelling characters, well told story, but lacking a satisfying ending.

5. El Demonio and La Senorita Prym Paulo Coelho (In Spanish) A stranger bearing a demon comes to a small town to make a bet and prove a point. Srta. Prym saves the day. I enjoyed this immensely.

6. Dolores Jacquelin Suzanne (In Spanish) I bought this book for a quarter at The Bookmark, a used book store in Dolega. It was worth it…but not much more.

7. Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell Susanna Clarke A very long book , 781 big fat pages, about magic and magicians in the 19th century. A good read I guess if you like that sort of thing. My wife loved it.

8. The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time Mark Haddon Most books don’t live up to the hype that is plastered all over their covers and early pages by other authors and kind reviewers. This one exceeds everything said.

9. High Lonesome Barry Hannah Stories that aren’t, really, about people who shouldn’t be but probably are, really. Amazing prose. Poetry… really.

10. I Love You More Than You Know Jonathan Ames Humorous Essays about the author’s humorous and overly self examined life.

11. To The Hilt Dick Francis All Francis’ efforts are good and worth a read. This is my favorite so far. An excellent and complex mystery solved by an engaging protagonist.

12. The Weather Makers Tim Flannery A tome on global warming, its causes and consequences. Skimmed most of the book as it was densely fact laden. I get the idea. The world’s in trouble.

13. The Grand Slam Mark Frost Biography of Bobby Jones the great amateur golfer of the Twenties and Thirties. Well written history of Bobby, golf and America. Loved it.

14. Rat Race Dick Francis Francis’ books are the literary equivalent of comfort food. They are always tasty and satisfying. Don’t know what I’ll do when I’ve read his last.

15. White Ghost Girls Alice Greenway American sisters coming of age in Hong Kong during the Vietnam War. This is one of those books that is more about the feelings evoked by the story than the story itself. A “4” read. Emotionally absorbing.

16. By Sorrow’s River Larry McMurtry McMurtry is not always great as he was with Lonesome Dove, but he is always entertaining. This is the third book of a series. Now I have to find the two that preceded it.

17. The Nibble Theory and The Kernel of Power Kaleel Jamison An interesting little book that touches on some of my own unvoiced ideas. “You are who you pretend to be” is one example. In essence the book is a simple guide to personal growth.

18. Whale Season N.M. Kelby On the cover it says “A really good story. And it is.

19. Night Elie Wiesel Brilliant, but horrifying account of the author’s days at Auschwitz and Buckenwald . I was glad when it was over for both him and me.

20. One Liners Ram Dass A little over 200 spiritual observations. Good stuff. I will use many of these.

21. Dressed For Death Donna Leon The kind of mystery where it is not so much who done it as how are they going to be caught.

22. Red Weather Pauls Toutonghi A terrific read. A novel that reads like a memoir, but maintains the drama of a novel. Loved it.

23. Golf Dreams John Updike Golf musings. Some better than others. Some terrific.

24. Street Lawyer John Grishom Entertaining, but his people are never quite real.

25. Harry Potter Y El Caliz De Fuego (In Spanish) The fourth in the series and the best so far. But do they have to be so damn long?

26. The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid A Memoir Bill Bryson You wouldn’t think that a childhood in Iowa during the 1950’s would have much to offer, but Bryson proves otherwise. Witty, informative and very well written.

27. Piety and Politics Barry W. Lynn Lynn is one of our champions for the continued separation of church and state. He does a dandy job of skewering the religious right.

28. Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress Dai Sijie A story of finding and losing love in rural China under the communist regime. A well told tale.

29. The Losing Season Pat Conroy A memoir. I had tears in my eyes at the book’s end because of its content and because there was none of it left to read.

30. Snow in August Pete Hamill A fable about a boy, a rabbi, a street gang and a golem. Nicely told, fully developed people.

31. Enquiry Dick Francis Fun fiction

32. There Is Nothing In This Book That I Meant To Say Paula Poundstone. Paula gives short bios of Joan of Arc, Abe Lincoln, Helen Keller, Charles Dickens, The Wright Bros., Beethoven and Sitting Bull against which she compares her own life. Often funny.

33. Jimmy Stewart A Biography Marc Eliot Jimmy’s life in the movies and out. Well told.

34. In the Frame Dick Francis A bit overly complicated, but it all works out in the end.

35. Sharp Objects Gillian Flynn Creepy, but riveting story of a reporter who is sent back to her small Missouri hometown to cover the hunt for the murderer of two young girls. Her own past and current problems become part of the story.

36. Demencia Temporal K.M. Morales Short Stories. (In Spanish ) Complex tales of time travel, mysticism, magic and the like. Difficult reading for a beginning Spanish speaker, but I got through and mostly got the gist.

37. Cotton Song Tom Bailey Grim, but riveting tale of the consequences of a lynching in the not so long ago South. Not to my taste, (I’m over bullshit redneck ignorance and hatred… along with regular bullshit, ignorance and hatred) but as a piece of writing, this is nicely done.

38. The Extraordinary Healing Powers of Ordinary Things Larry Dossey, M.D. Interesting book about interesting subjects like Nothingness, Miracles, Music and Dirt and why they are good for us.

39. The Book Of Understanding Osho A guy who has the hang of it all tells you how to get it as well. Great stuff.

40. Sabine Anonymous A slowly told tale of lesbians and vampires at a private school. Could have been, should have been, much better.

41. Kite Runner Khaled Hosseni Terrific tale of an Afghani boy and his journey through life and a turbulent time.

42. The Code of the Woosters P.J. Wodehouse Bertie and Jeeves up to great stuff as always.

43. Cell Steven King Nice movie script. Not crazy about the ending.

44. The Joy of Living Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche Tibetan Buddhism meets modern science and one proves the other. I learned much from this book that will be with me in my life and spiritual practice.

45. The Coldest Winter Ever Sister Souljah Fabuloso! Like reading a science fiction tale where the author describes a completely different world than the one we know. Souljah’s world, alien as it seems, I’m certain, is for real.

46. Life After Death – The Burden of Proof Deepak Chopra Interesting. Thought A provoking. Stimulating. The usual gamut of thoughts and feelings that Deepak inspires. I always finish a Chopra book by thinking, “everybody should read this.”

47. Writing The Fire –Yoga and the art of making your work come alive. Gail Sher Integrating a yoga practice to liberate one’s mind and improve one’s writing. Breathe Doc, breathe.

48. The Buddha’s Book of Daily Meditations Christopher Titmuss “I declare to you: all conditioned things are of a nature to decay- work out your liberation with diligence.” These were the last words of Buddha and the last words in the book. Alrighty then.