I've just finished my final book of the year to hit the goal Book and I set.
I enjoyed the book challenge this year and look forward to doing it again in 2009. We have slightly altered some of the rules, but, by and large, it will remain the same. This year we will assign each other a few books to read. We still have to have at least one epic book on the year. Mine will be Team of Rivals for 2009 and I'm getting a minor start on it now.
I am going to be a little better about choosing books this time around, though. I ended up reading some books I wish I could have back. "I May Not Get There With You" was written like an academic paper and focused on comparisons between MLK and Tupac. Half-way through it I wished I could just have a do-over. I also really did not enjoy "Catch-22," even though it is apparently widely regarded as a great book. Just not my style.
"Turning of the Tide" was great for 150 pages and then turned absolutely unbearable. The last 100 or 150 pages seemed like various random sports updates stapled to the back of the books with conclusions stating how it just shows that black players played in those various games. Entire chapters were just transcripts of interviews with people who really had nothing to add to the story. It's a shame because if that book ended on about page 150, it would have been one of my favorites of the year.
This year I am going to try to avoid many of the political books. I think the more I read about the Bush administration, the more generally angry I became and I kinda burned out my outrage switch. This year, any political books will be carefully chosen. Of course, I'm already compiling my list and a few are on there, but I'll at least try to mitigate them. Obama 2012!!!
HIGHLIGHTS FROM 2008
I really enjoyed "The World Without Us." I didn't expect it to be as interesting as it was. "'77," which was about the 1977 Broncos, was a really fun read. I also got intesely into "Bringing Down the House," which was about some MIT students who could count cards and took Vegas for millions.
I'm generally not a fiction reader, but I liked "Angels and Demons." Still, the book "jumped the shark" at the end, which disappointed me. That is usually why I don't read a lot of fiction. Still, the book was entertaining.
By far the best book was "Bearing the Cross" because I think I will take the lessons of the civil rights movement into the rest of life with me. Unbelievably great book. It was worth the time it took to read. I'm still amazed at the spying done on MLK and how much infighting made the struggle one that went up hill.
Barack Obama's two books were extremely good, although "Faith of My Fathers" was far superior and was in the discussion for favorite book of the year.
I enjoyed "the Great Derangement" very much. It was quite sarcastic and snarky, but also hilarious. The guy infiltrated the Hagee church (before his controvercial endorsement of McCain) and the 9/11 Truthers to show just how nuts many people can be and how impressionable as well.
"The Nine" was very interesting about the Supreme Court and how it functions behind the scenes. It confirmed my suspicion that the politics of a justice absolutely impact decisions about the hot-button issues of the times.
Finally, nothing made me laugh like "I am America and so Can You!" I read that one twice.
2009 LIST
Some of the books on my list for 2009:
Soldat
Team of Rivals
Southern Storm
Born Standing Up (Steve Martin)
Me of Little Faith (Lewis Black)
Stranger in a Strange Land
How to Rig an Election
The Express (About Ernie Davis)
Da Vinci Code
Seabiscuit
American Lion (Andrew Jackson)
Stories of blood and sweatsocks (Mankind)
As always, the list can change and I'm always open to suggestions. I am still awaiting my assignments from Book, so who knows where it will go. I'm just glad to be doing it again.
Saturday, December 27, 2008
Holiday pictures
Here are some pictures from our Christmas party, from Christmas morning, and a few in between.
Sunday, December 7, 2008
Grasping the End
My grandmother Ruth died early Saturday morning after a battle with cancer. As I posted a few weeks ago, I thought a lot of my grandmother and will miss her very much.
Her death, however, was more a relief, which feels wrong to say, so allow me to explain. This was my first adult experience with such a circumstance and I didn't know what to expect when she was diagnosed with cancer more than nine months ago. It feels wrong to say, but her battle with cancer had become so uncomfortable (and obviously so hopeless for recovery), that I even wished for her death on her behalf. She wanted it to end and said so when she could.
I used to wonder if I was robbed of my chance to say goodbye to my father, who was taken from us unexpectedly and instantly. But, after now experiencing the sadness of a prolonged and very uncomfortable and slow regression before death, I can honestly say that neither is preferable. Considering its an inevitability, preference might be the wrong word, but I think you get my meaning.
The end result remains the same because we all miss her and hate to lose her from our lives. However, because her fate was mapped out for us to see, my family has been more able to turn the expected end into a celebration of her life. I think the reason is that the actual loss was confronted as we came to accept the inevitable.
She is already sorely missed, and her influence in our lives has never been more deeply felt.
BOOK UPDATES
-- I've just finished "The World Without Us" by Alan Weisman. It's a great book about what would happen to the world if humans disappeared overnight. It is an "imaginative" non-fiction in that it contemplates a hypothetical based on scientific facts. Very well done. It's just so interesting.
My reaction was more pronounced toward the delicate balance we walk even WITH us here. For example, our use of nuclear energy (even non-bomb atomic energy) produces some extremely nasty stuff and our disposal methods leave much to be desired. The book explains what happens to those materials and how they would escape, but it also illustrates how fine a line exists between "containment" of radioactive waste and "rampant cancer-causing plumes stretching for miles around."
Most unnerving is how plastics accumulate. The chain reactions that result from the most seemingly-mundane things (like plastic toys) are just plain bothersome. It's a real cringe-inducing experience. Try googling "North Pacific Gyre" sometime if you want specifics. (Hint: it's where our trash accumulates in the ocean.)
Also, after reading this book, I will not be living in Manhattan. Ever. Apparently 700+ pumps (many pumping against gravity) are all that separates that huge city from being a marsh. Big trouble can happen within an hour of loss of power. Yikes.
-- I finished my "epic" book of the year, "Bearing the Cross" by David Garrow. Amazing look at MLK and the civil rights movement. The turmoil, the hurdles, and the courage displayed were all painstakingly broken down.
I've said it before, but MLK, to me, is the greatest citizen this country has ever produced. King's deeds, more than any other personal experience or person I've known, inspire me toward spirituality. A reverend who took to the streets to assist in deed to eliminate the most shameful element of post-slavery America: Segregation.
Most illuminating were the lengths to which the government (even Kennedy) went to spy on King. He was a marked man, his every move was watched, and yet he was able to accomplish real change for the betterment of people. One of the best books I've read in a very long time.
Her death, however, was more a relief, which feels wrong to say, so allow me to explain. This was my first adult experience with such a circumstance and I didn't know what to expect when she was diagnosed with cancer more than nine months ago. It feels wrong to say, but her battle with cancer had become so uncomfortable (and obviously so hopeless for recovery), that I even wished for her death on her behalf. She wanted it to end and said so when she could.
I used to wonder if I was robbed of my chance to say goodbye to my father, who was taken from us unexpectedly and instantly. But, after now experiencing the sadness of a prolonged and very uncomfortable and slow regression before death, I can honestly say that neither is preferable. Considering its an inevitability, preference might be the wrong word, but I think you get my meaning.
The end result remains the same because we all miss her and hate to lose her from our lives. However, because her fate was mapped out for us to see, my family has been more able to turn the expected end into a celebration of her life. I think the reason is that the actual loss was confronted as we came to accept the inevitable.
She is already sorely missed, and her influence in our lives has never been more deeply felt.
BOOK UPDATES
-- I've just finished "The World Without Us" by Alan Weisman. It's a great book about what would happen to the world if humans disappeared overnight. It is an "imaginative" non-fiction in that it contemplates a hypothetical based on scientific facts. Very well done. It's just so interesting.
My reaction was more pronounced toward the delicate balance we walk even WITH us here. For example, our use of nuclear energy (even non-bomb atomic energy) produces some extremely nasty stuff and our disposal methods leave much to be desired. The book explains what happens to those materials and how they would escape, but it also illustrates how fine a line exists between "containment" of radioactive waste and "rampant cancer-causing plumes stretching for miles around."
Most unnerving is how plastics accumulate. The chain reactions that result from the most seemingly-mundane things (like plastic toys) are just plain bothersome. It's a real cringe-inducing experience. Try googling "North Pacific Gyre" sometime if you want specifics. (Hint: it's where our trash accumulates in the ocean.)
Also, after reading this book, I will not be living in Manhattan. Ever. Apparently 700+ pumps (many pumping against gravity) are all that separates that huge city from being a marsh. Big trouble can happen within an hour of loss of power. Yikes.
-- I finished my "epic" book of the year, "Bearing the Cross" by David Garrow. Amazing look at MLK and the civil rights movement. The turmoil, the hurdles, and the courage displayed were all painstakingly broken down.
I've said it before, but MLK, to me, is the greatest citizen this country has ever produced. King's deeds, more than any other personal experience or person I've known, inspire me toward spirituality. A reverend who took to the streets to assist in deed to eliminate the most shameful element of post-slavery America: Segregation.
Most illuminating were the lengths to which the government (even Kennedy) went to spy on King. He was a marked man, his every move was watched, and yet he was able to accomplish real change for the betterment of people. One of the best books I've read in a very long time.
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