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A-B Lists >
100 for Alan 2009
The Cousins' Wars Religion, Politics, and the Triumph of Anglo-America
1. Interesting link between English Rev, American Rev, Civil War, and later alliance
Merwin W. S.Summer Doorways A Memoir
4. Took me back to college and post college. Personal. Not much about poetry really, just post war experiences of privilege in Italy and Portugal. Sort of Hemingway without the swagger.
People of the Book A Novel
5. Good, not great. Flipped back and forth between time periods. I would suggest Noah Gordon.
Simply Brilliant
6. Easy read, good common sense stuff. I like Fergus' other books and ecommend this.
Ship Fever
7. Great stuff. Stories, built mostly around scientific themes, different periods, different historical figures.
How Why How We Do Anything Means Everything...in Business
8. Not a bad book about corporate governance and all. I have used it to update presentations.
9. The Black Swan The Impact of the Highly ImprobableInteresting. Listened to audio while walking. Sometimes his conceits get in the way, but I like the way issues are framed.
10. Rabbit, Run Read as remembrance of his death. Skilled writer, but the subject matter is a downer. This is young rabbit -- still in his 20s, yet feeling much older.
11. Downtown Owl A Novel From one of the 2008 best of booklists -- an odd set of chapters set in Owl, ND, a rural town with lots of football and bar tap focus.
12. Enter The Kettlebell! Strength Secret of The Soviet Supermen Good for those chasing New Year's Resolutions to grow fitter. The recommended 16kg kettlebell would probably kill me --and the author's site charges twice what Fitness Resource or Perform Better would, but still, you might be interested.
13.Nudge Improving Decisions About Health, Wealth, and HappinessI've liked Sunstein's other books, too.
David DenbySnark a polemic in seven fitsC-Span made me do it. If you love Maureen Dowd, this isn't for you.
17. Thomas Perry Runner Another nail biter from Perry. Butcher's Boy is still probably the best, but he has a very powerful style.
18. Empires of the Sea The Final Battle for the Mediterranean, 1521-1580A period I didn't know much about.
19. European Thought & Culture in the 20th Century 2 volume set. Yes, I've dragged through 24 lectures on everything from late 19th century to post-War. Not sure whether I'll go back to the previous century series.
20. Fooled by Randomness The Hidden Role of Chance in Life and in the Markets Why traders and CEOs aren't so smart.
21. Uncommon Carriers John McPhee A good mixture of profiles from different modes of transport. Appropriately, I listened to it in the car and on airplane.
22. Semper Fi by W.E.B. GriffinAdmittedly light reading, the war before Pearl Harbor. Good news, if you read one, there's lots more.
Walking the I Ching The Linear Ba Gua of Gao Yi Sheng OK, not exactly a read, since it's mostly drawings of the steps in linear Pa Kua martial arts practice. Could you learn this from a book? Probably if you already knew the circular form, and were comfortable transitioning from step to step.
32. Ripples of Battle How Wars of the Past Still Determine How We Fight, How We Live, and How We Think
39. Little Pink House A True Story of Defiance and CourageRead with Takings Private Property and the Power of Eminent Domain
40. Descartes The Life and times of a Genius After a quick read, I am no longer sure why I read all this stuff in my teens.
41. Samuel Johnson The Struggle My nostalgia for Boswell's Life, Rasselas, and selections from the Dictionary was not assisted by this, which pretty much made SJ seem unappealing.
42. Counterattack This one seems out of order in time -- it should have been before Battleground. No matter.
44. The Great Inflation and Its Aftermath The Past and Future of American AffluenceHaving lived through GI, I can see how it influences decisions.
47. Dead Aim A Novel Thomas Perry thriller. Not quite up to Vanishing Act; somewhat hurried at the end.
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Books mentioned in this topic
The Cousins' Wars: Religion, Politics, and the Triumph of Anglo-America (other topics)The White Lioness (other topics)
Out Stealing Horses: A Novel (other topics)
Summer Doorways: A Memoir (other topics)
People of the Book (other topics)
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Authors mentioned in this topic
Merwin W. S. (other topics)David Denby (other topics)
Thomas Perry (other topics)
W.E.B. Griffin (other topics)
