I read 45 books in 2014, about the same number as last year. 30 of them were in Engilsh, while 15 were in Japanese. 38 were fiction and 7 were nonfiction.
It was definitely a year of novel reading. 2015 will likely lean heavily towards business nonfiction though, now that I am working again.
Below is the list of Engilsh books with a short comments for some noteworthy ones.
The Cricket in Times Square (George Selden) - This children's book came up in a conversation with a musician friend. Turns out I had definitely read this in elementary school but had completely forgotten about it until I started reading it. It's amazing how our brains retain experiences over decades but are dormant unless triggered. The Portrait of a Lady (Henry James) - A Victorian classic where the female protagonist struggles between independence and properness as "a lady". I need to re-read this as a social commentary after studying the era more.
The Turn of the Screw (Henry James)
Famous Last Words (Ray Robinson) - A gift from a TL'er a couple of years ago. Quotes range from the whimsical to the profound.
Player Piano (Kurt Vonnegut) - I've read so many Vonnegut books over the last few years that I'm having trouble keeping them straight. I think this one was written in the 60's when mass factory production was making serious headway in the world. There are eery parallels to today's world where social discourse talks about technology and robotics taking away jobs and hollowing out the middle class. Vonnegut's earlier work seems less insane compared to his later ones.
Great Expectations (Charles Dickens) - Pip! Pip! Great novel.
The Sun Also Rises (Ernest Hemingway) - Probably my least favorite Hemingway novel to date.
Flowers for Algernon (Daniel Keyes) - Apparently this is often assigned in Junior High literature class, but I didn't have that fortune. Simple and arguably a bit juvenile in how straightforward it is, but a great, sad story.
Metamorphosis (Franz Kafka) - What the... it's short. Just read it. Consider it part of your missing education. Truth in absurdum.
Love in the Time of Cholera (Gabriel GarcÃa Márquez ) - I learned of the "Magical Realism" genre with this novel (though apparently Murakami is the posterchild of the genre and I'd read plenty of his stuff before). I had a hard time becoming invested in the narrative and the characters since many of elements were so unrealistic yet not "magical enough".
God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater (Kurt Vonnegut) - Yet another trip down absurdum. I don't think the book was as memorable as some of his other works.
The Fall (Albert Camus)
Fantastic Voyage (Isaac Asimov) - First Asimov novel I read. I didn't realize that his work would be so casually readable.
The Hunger Games (Susan Collins) - I thought that this book would be a good read for a daughter if I ever have one, but then I got to the cringe worthy romance part and threw away such notions.
Catching Fire (Susan Collins)
Mockingjay (Susan Collins) - This book was terrible in every way.
Daemon (Daniel Suarez)
The Gods Themselves (Isaac Asimov)
The Andromeda Strain (Michael Crichton) - A good pop sci-fi joyread.
The Stranger (Albert Camus) - Wow. I remember nothing about this book.
Pride and Prejudice (Jane Austen) - Re-read this in order to read P&P&Z. My roommate called this "literary yak shaving" haha. It was definitely more enjoyable than when I read it when I was 16. Pride and Prejudice and Zombies (Seth Grahame-Smith) - Inferior to P&P in every way, but a fun read nontheless. The annoying characters in the original have horrible things happen to them, and you get to bask in sweet, sweet schadenfreude.
Models: Attract Women through Honesty (Mark Manson) - A friend pushed this on me. The gist is to treat yourself and others well (both materially and emotionally), expect others to do the same to you, distance yourself from those who don't give you that respect. As my friend put it, it's "The Game for thoughtful guys", which seems pretty apt. I actually think it's decent from a psychoanalysis perspective as well.
The Art of Loving (Erich Fomm)
The Alchemist (Paulo Coelho) - I felt like the story was too overtly a parable and that it was shoving a cliche one size fits all life philosophy down my throat. I disagree with the simplicity of its advice, but the prose was strangely poetic and enjoyable.
The Circle (David Eggers) - A doomsday scenario novel where a Google-like company becomes all knowing and all powerful. The theme has been so rehashed and worn out for me that it made the narrative a chore to get through. The minituae of the psychological transformation and cool aid drinking of the protagonist was well done though.
Crazy Rich Asians (Kevin Kwan) - A trashy pop novel that I thoroughly enjoyed. The Hard Thing About Hard Things (Ben Horowitz) - Probably the most pragmatic business book for running a startup that I have ever read. I only take investing advice from fund managers and traders, and I now see that I should do the same for business books as well. The preface says something like, "business books typically say what to do when things are going well. I'm going to tell you what I did when everything went wrong." The Science of Success (Charles G. Koch) - Say what you will about the Koch brothers' political shenanigans, it's undeniable that they know what they're doing in the business world. I decided that it may be fruitful for me to look into how they operate and what their philosophy is. This book is filled to the brim with jargon and cool aid, but I did get a glimpse of Charles Koch's framework that guides his philosophy.
I Hope They Serve Beer in Hell (Tucker Max) - Picked this up for $1 at a used book store. I remember reading his blog during college -- does he still do this stuff? The guy must be pushing 40 by now.
I also read the following Haruki Murakami novels in Japanese:
After Dark - I have no idea what the heck happened in the latter half of the book. Way too magical and hypnotic.
Kafka on the Shore
Wind up Bird Chronicle - Pretty high on the "what the hell is going on" magical narrative scale, but somehow he made it work. I've read a good portion of Murakami's novels now, and I feel that this may be most representative of his style. Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki and His Years of Pilgrimage - Murakami's newest novel. I personally enjoyed it a lot, and thought this one was most similar to real life with all its loose ends and unanswered questions, much like "South of the Border, West of the Sun".
seeing stuff like this always pumps me up to read more. also 1/4 the way through wind up bird chronicles and feel better that im not the only person who had no clue what was going on.
I'm not such a big fan of Murakami. I've read a few of his books, and they always strike me as being almost good but missing something. I only read Japanese books in translation though, and I have found with Japanese it is so difficult to translate that the translator has to be as great a writer as he is at comprehending the original text. Murakami is at least miles better than the other hyper-popular Japanese writer, Yoshimoto Banana (whom my friend who read the originals agreed they were not very good).
This year I read a lot of short story and poetry anthologies, and a few less novels that usual. I read Genji Monogatari which was quite interesting, and I don't feel bad at all for reading the translation because the original is hard to read even for native speakers.
Reading in the sun and drinking tea or coffee is pretty much my favourite thing to do in life though. Especially now that I work at a computer monitor, I really value activities that get me away from a screen.
I also read Hard Times this year, which despite having a really incredible opening chapter that made me always think about getting around to actually reading the book, is actually pretty disappointing to me now that I've read it. It falls into the category of books that make me say "Okay, I get it!" ...I guess Genji Monogatari is like that too though... he was as handsome as the sun, when he was in the sun, he was even more handsome, when he smiled he was even more handsome, when he was sad he was even more handsome, when he was sick he was even more handsome, when he was dying he was even more handsome, now that he's been dead for 500 pages, he was even more handsome! But at least it made me laugh, in hard times it was only tedious.
I'm kind of a slow reader when I read for fun, I don't know how you guys do this... I read academic stuff and I'd estimate that I've read 40 books in 2014 for work and school... but yeah...
I've read: -Fall of Giants (Ken Follett) -Winter of the Worlds (Ken Follett) -Le Passager (Patrick Senécal - book from when I was a kid) -Of Mice and Men (Same reason) -A Song of Ice and Fire (Books 1 to 3) -Garden of the Moon and Deadhouse Gates of the Malazan Empire series (Steven Erikson)
When I get home or during the weekend I don't really feel like reading because it's all I do for work... so I end up almost only reading during my commute
On January 03 2015 00:51 Liquid`Zephyr wrote: seeing stuff like this always pumps me up to read more. also 1/4 the way through wind up bird chronicles and feel better that im not the only person who had no clue what was going on.
Haha yup. Easier to follow than After Dark, but harder to follow than Kafka on the Shore.
On January 03 2015 01:25 Chef wrote: I'm not such a big fan of Murakami. I've read a few of his books, and they always strike me as being almost good but missing something. I only read Japanese books in translation though, and I have found with Japanese it is so difficult to translate that the translator has to be as great a writer as he is at comprehending the original text. Murakami is at least miles better than the other hyper-popular Japanese writer, Yoshimoto Banana (whom my friend who read the originals agreed they were not very good).
I think his endings always suck (or rather, are nonendings). But a friend had a good point that you read Murakami for the experience and journey of the process itself, rather than the outcome at the end.
This year I read a lot of short story and poetry anthologies, and a few less novels that usual. I read Genji Monogatari which was quite interesting, and I don't feel bad at all for reading the translation because the original is hard to read even for native speakers.
Haha yeah I would have a really hard time reading that book. It's like reading Chaucer in the original old English.
Reading in the sun and drinking tea or coffee is pretty much my favourite thing to do in life though. Especially now that I work at a computer monitor, I really value activities that get me away from a screen.
this year I read Words of Radiance by Brandon Sanderson multiple times. I have never read a book multiple times before. I really like fantasy books and this is one of the greatest I have read.
On January 03 2015 03:30 RuiBarbO wrote: I am really impressed by the volume and diversity of books you put away... Makes me feel like a slacker for getting through so few :/
Nice list! Some time I'd like to get around to reading Great Expectations and Pride and Prejudice.
I bought a Kindle Paperwhite in early January 2014, and here was my list: A Game of Thrones (George R.R. Martin) Myths of the Norsemen (H.A. Guerber) A Clash of Kings (George R.R. Martin) A Storm of Swords (George R.R. Martin) 50 Ways to Beat Writer's Block and Procrastination (John Soares) Software Testing and Quality Assurance (Naik, Tripathy) A Feast for Crows (George R.R. Martin) A Dance with Dragons (George R.R. Martin) The Story of a Common Soldier of Army Life in the Civil War, 1861-1865 (Leander Stillwell) The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (Mark Twain) The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (Douglas Adams) The Restaurant at the End of the Universe (Douglas Adams) Life, the Universe and Everything (Douglas Adams) The Federalist Papers (Hamilton, Jay, Madison) So Long, and Thanks for All the Fish (Douglas Adams) Mostly Harmless (Douglas Adams) Statistics for Dummies (Deborah Rumsey) Warbreaker (Brandon Sanderson) Feeling Good: The New Mood Therapy (David D. Burns) The Picture of Dorian Gray (Oscar Wilde)
Usually I have 2-3 books in progress at a time. Right now I'm in: Homeland (R.A. Salvatore) - Recommended by my friend for style similarities with the book he wrote that I'm beta reading / proof reading. The Importance of Being Earnest (Oscar Wilde) A Tale of Two Cities (Charles Dickens).
Agreeing with Cricketer12, Metamorphosis by Kafka is weird; I don't really know why it was part of the curriculum. My reading skews towards nonfiction nowadays; do you have anything lined up with regards to business nonfiction?
not to like.... poach your readership. but anybody in here who wants to talk about books should come on over to the "What Are You Reading" thread, a venerable TL institution
I've gotten really into Murakami this year, and it seems by chance (or by some reason unknown to me) that many other people I know have as well. I started with Wind-Up Bird Chronicles and was unable to enjoy it the first time, but I picked it up again a few months later and enjoyed it much more for some reason. This led me to Kafka (which, funny enough, led me to reading the actual Kafka), and after that I basically devoured half of his literary works. I don't know why I like him so much, but everything he writes is a pageturner for me.
On January 03 2015 16:18 Descent wrote: Agreeing with Cricketer12, Metamorphosis by Kafka is weird; I don't really know why it was part of the curriculum. My reading skews towards nonfiction nowadays; do you have anything lined up with regards to business nonfiction?
Recommendations for business nonfiction would be biased heavily depending on your industry, company size, etc. I can really only share my own perspective here, but as an operator of a small software startup, I've found the following to be useful on an everyday basis.
Inbound Marketing (content marketing and SEO) The Hard Thing About Hard Things (general but concrete starup advice) Crossing the Chasm (high tech sales) The New Articulate Executive (despite the ridiculous title, its public speaking advice is very good) Team Geek (how technical teams should operate) Marketing High Technology (what is a product vs what is a technology)
Usually I have 2-3 books in progress at a time. Right now I'm in: Homeland (R.A. Salvatore) - Recommended by my friend for style similarities with the book he wrote that I'm beta reading / proof reading. The Importance of Being Earnest (Oscar Wilde) A Tale of Two Cities (Charles Dickens).
The Importance of being Earnest is one of my all-time favourites. Enjoy!
EPT
