The Year in Books II: 2005
More short reviews from this year's reading...
28. The Lone Samurai - William Scott Wilson
A biography of famed swordsman and martial artist Miyamoto Musashi, author of The Book of Five Rings. Musashi is famous in Japan (hundreds of movies have been made about his life and career) but remains largely unknown in the west. This is not a lengthy biography, but it's a sound introduction to the man and his times.
29. The Man Who Was Thursday - G.K. Chesterton
Part comedy, part spy novel, part Christian allegory and all rather dry and dull. The reader should be able to see the ending coming from the middle on - the rest is just work to get there.
30. Chicago Confidential - Max Allan Collins
Yet another Nathan Heller mystery makes the list - I told you I got hooked on these things. This time it's 1950 and Nathan Heller is doing his best to avoid a subpoena to testify in front of the Kefauver Committee about the Chicago underworld.
31. The Last Night of the Yankee Dynasty - Buster Olney
The narrative is structured around Game 7 of the 2001 World Series, but Olney covers the rise of the Yankee Dynasty from 1995 through the final out of the 2001 Series. I doubt there is anything new and startling in here to the dedicated Yankee fan or the kind of baseball fan who knows everything about every team, but I enjoyed this book for the same reason I enjoyed Harper's portions of A Tale of Two Cities - it was full of stories and details I missed the first time around.
32. The Final Country - James Crumley
James Crumley is the best mystery writer you've never heard of. With authors like George Pelecanos, Dennis Lehane and Michael Connelly writing, one can argue that we're enjoying a 'golden age' of crime fiction. All of the above cite Crumley as a primary influence. So what are you waiting for?
33. Mirror, Mirror - Gregory Maguire
Way back when Maguire shook the world of Frank L. Baum's Oz upside down and produced the highly entertaining Wicked. Since then, he's 're-imagined' a other fairy tales, such as Cinderella. Mirror, Mirror takes the tale of Snow White and drops it in the Italy of the Borgias. Not a bad read, but not up to the caliber of Wicked.
34. Angel in Black - Max Allan Collins
This installment of the Memoirs of Nathan Heller finds him working in Los Angeles - investigating the Black Dahlia murder.
35. Blood and Thunder - Max Allan Collins
Heller leaves the chilly streets of Chicago for the heat of Louisiana, to serve as Huey Long's bodyguard and protect him from assassination.
36. The Family Trade - Charles Stross
Two fairly common story elements in fantasy fiction are: another dimension/world that is parallel to but connected with our world; during the story the protagonist learns he (or she) possesses a previously unknown power(s) or heritage. Stross combines both of these in a solid novel that come out like a cross between The Godfather and The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. I'll be following with the sequel to this one.
37. The Mating Season - P.G. Wodehouse
See (12) in the post below. Bertie fucks up; Jeeves comes to the rescue; there is much hilarity.
38. Defending Middle Earth - Patrick Curry
A fascinating book - if you're a serious Tolkien geek.
39. The Polysyllabic Spree - Nick Hornby
I have been an unabashed fan of Nick Hornby since I read High Fidelity. Rather than fiction, The Polysyllabic Spree is a series of essays on what Hornby himself read over the course of a year.
40. The Way to Glory - David Drake
David Drake continues his space opera take on the Aubrey/Mathurin stories.
41. Shakespeare's Kings - John Julius Norwich
Norwich compares the plots of Shakespeare's works about English monarchs, to the actual historical events. He notes where Shakespeare altered events and historical personages, speculates on why this was done, and also looks at the Bard's own historical sources.
42. China Marine - E.B. Sledge
A sequel to With The Old Breed (Sledge's first-hand account of the horrific fighting on Peleliu and Okinawa), China Marine deals with Sledge's post-war garrison duty in China, his return home, and his difficulty re-integrating into civil society.
43. Crown of Slaves - David Weber & Eric Flint
A stand-alone novel set in Weber's 'Honorverse.' Good stuff, but then for me space opera/science fiction of this sort is the written equivalent of comfort food.
Still more to come...
28. The Lone Samurai - William Scott Wilson
A biography of famed swordsman and martial artist Miyamoto Musashi, author of The Book of Five Rings. Musashi is famous in Japan (hundreds of movies have been made about his life and career) but remains largely unknown in the west. This is not a lengthy biography, but it's a sound introduction to the man and his times.
29. The Man Who Was Thursday - G.K. Chesterton
Part comedy, part spy novel, part Christian allegory and all rather dry and dull. The reader should be able to see the ending coming from the middle on - the rest is just work to get there.
30. Chicago Confidential - Max Allan Collins
Yet another Nathan Heller mystery makes the list - I told you I got hooked on these things. This time it's 1950 and Nathan Heller is doing his best to avoid a subpoena to testify in front of the Kefauver Committee about the Chicago underworld.
31. The Last Night of the Yankee Dynasty - Buster Olney
The narrative is structured around Game 7 of the 2001 World Series, but Olney covers the rise of the Yankee Dynasty from 1995 through the final out of the 2001 Series. I doubt there is anything new and startling in here to the dedicated Yankee fan or the kind of baseball fan who knows everything about every team, but I enjoyed this book for the same reason I enjoyed Harper's portions of A Tale of Two Cities - it was full of stories and details I missed the first time around.
32. The Final Country - James Crumley
James Crumley is the best mystery writer you've never heard of. With authors like George Pelecanos, Dennis Lehane and Michael Connelly writing, one can argue that we're enjoying a 'golden age' of crime fiction. All of the above cite Crumley as a primary influence. So what are you waiting for?
33. Mirror, Mirror - Gregory Maguire
Way back when Maguire shook the world of Frank L. Baum's Oz upside down and produced the highly entertaining Wicked. Since then, he's 're-imagined' a other fairy tales, such as Cinderella. Mirror, Mirror takes the tale of Snow White and drops it in the Italy of the Borgias. Not a bad read, but not up to the caliber of Wicked.
34. Angel in Black - Max Allan Collins
This installment of the Memoirs of Nathan Heller finds him working in Los Angeles - investigating the Black Dahlia murder.
35. Blood and Thunder - Max Allan Collins
Heller leaves the chilly streets of Chicago for the heat of Louisiana, to serve as Huey Long's bodyguard and protect him from assassination.
36. The Family Trade - Charles Stross
Two fairly common story elements in fantasy fiction are: another dimension/world that is parallel to but connected with our world; during the story the protagonist learns he (or she) possesses a previously unknown power(s) or heritage. Stross combines both of these in a solid novel that come out like a cross between The Godfather and The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. I'll be following with the sequel to this one.
37. The Mating Season - P.G. Wodehouse
See (12) in the post below. Bertie fucks up; Jeeves comes to the rescue; there is much hilarity.
38. Defending Middle Earth - Patrick Curry
A fascinating book - if you're a serious Tolkien geek.
39. The Polysyllabic Spree - Nick Hornby
I have been an unabashed fan of Nick Hornby since I read High Fidelity. Rather than fiction, The Polysyllabic Spree is a series of essays on what Hornby himself read over the course of a year.
40. The Way to Glory - David Drake
David Drake continues his space opera take on the Aubrey/Mathurin stories.
41. Shakespeare's Kings - John Julius Norwich
Norwich compares the plots of Shakespeare's works about English monarchs, to the actual historical events. He notes where Shakespeare altered events and historical personages, speculates on why this was done, and also looks at the Bard's own historical sources.
42. China Marine - E.B. Sledge
A sequel to With The Old Breed (Sledge's first-hand account of the horrific fighting on Peleliu and Okinawa), China Marine deals with Sledge's post-war garrison duty in China, his return home, and his difficulty re-integrating into civil society.
43. Crown of Slaves - David Weber & Eric Flint
A stand-alone novel set in Weber's 'Honorverse.' Good stuff, but then for me space opera/science fiction of this sort is the written equivalent of comfort food.
Still more to come...
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