Books I vow to read in 2015

Here's the thing: I read a lot of books, but I buy even more. This year, my resolution is to cut that "to be read" pile down a bit (while, of course, adding to it with many new volumes). In that spirit, here are some of the books I already own and plan -- nay, vow! -- to read in 2015. When I do, in fact, complete one, I'll let you know on Facebook and Twitter. And if, at this time next year, I don't have this list checked off completely, feel free to give me grief. After all, as a wise PSA once said, Reading is Fundamental...


This is what I'm reading right now. David Carr is a New York Times reporter who spent much of his earlier life high, trying to get high or recovering from the effects of being high. In this memoir, Carr recounts those grim times, but instead of relying on his own memories, he treats the story like a reporter: He interviews the other people involved, follows a paper trail of police reports and other items and, in general, tries to see where he's been lying to himself all these years. Powerful stuff, and definitely not your average addiction memoir. I just finished the part where he stopped by a house to score coke and left his infant daughters in the car for hours. In November. In Minneapolis. In other words, it gets pretty grim.

Having loved Perlstein's last epic volume of history, "Nixonland," I bought this one the week it arrived last year and dove right in -- and it's great, too, a fascinating history of the post-Nixon era that doubles as a revealing biography of Ronald Reagan. But, shorter works, both comic and otherwise, stole my attention. I'm going to finish this one soon -- then maybe give "Nixonland" a re-read. (Once I finish all the other books in this post, of course.)

I've had this one for awhile, started it at least three times, and always got distracted by something else. But seeing as director Ben Wheatley (the guy behind the excellent "Kill List" has an adaptation due out this year, I'm going to finish the book. No reason not to. It's short, it's great (at least what I've read) and it has this opening sentence: "Later, as he sat on his balcony eating the dog, Dr. Robert Laing reflected on the unusual events that had taken place within this huge apartment building during the previous three months."

And, as long as I'm reading the J.G. Ballard section of my library, I might as well read this one, right?

And, hell, this one, too.

Got a free advance reader's copy of this one (thanks, Amy!) at about the same time I bought "The Invisible Bridge," and though I started it, too, and loved what I read, the combination of those two massive historical works (one fiction, one non) resulted in me finishing neither. So, in other words, I'll be taking on Ellroy's take on Pearl Harbor and its aftermath sometime in early 2015.

With "Inherent Vice" playing in local theaters (and me hopefully seeing it this weekend), I figure it's high time I delve into the one Pynchon work I already own, which is supposed to be his most accessible. I love conspiracy theories, so I'm actually surprised I haven't read this one by now.


I've seen the movie it inspired multiple times (it's one of my favorites, even though you can sense the desperate studio efforts to lend a respectable sheen to a defiantly disreputable story), and I read the graphic novel adaptation by Spain years ago. But it wasn't until last year that I got my hands on the original novel, and I was amazed, while reading the first few chapters, how sordid and downright adult it was willing to get. The world of carnival sleaze fascinates me, so this is one I hear calling from the bookshelves fairly often. Time to finally finish it.

And last but not least, it's clearly time for me to read this great American classic that, by all rights, I should have finished 30 years ago back in high school. There's a copy (belonging to my wife, the English major) that's been staring down at me from our bookshelves for more than a decade now, so it's about time I actually read the damn thing. And I will. I promise. (By the way, did you ever notice that the shapes inside those eyes on the cover are actually nude women? Because they are.)