christianreader | November reading

1. Unseen Academicals, Terry Pratchett

Alzheimers or no, the master hasn't lost his touch. In fact, I'd say this was better than many of his recent books ... even if it IS about football.

2. Mennonite in a Little Black Dress, Rhoda Janzen

Ms Janzen grew up Mennonite (I actually know people who knew her father), and ended up moving back home for a time in her thirties after a nasty divorce and an equally nasty car accident, and writes about the foibles and idiosyncrasies of her family with love and humor ... albeit humor tinged with an edge of meanness that made me slightly uncomfortable. Many parts are just so-so, but the funny parts made me laugh out loud. (fyi, some of the content is decidedly not what you would expect to find in a book about Mennonites. Just so you know.)

3. The Guinea Pig Diaries, A. J. Jacobs

A series of month-long experiments from the man who spent a year reading the Encyclopedia Britanica, experiments which result in varying levels of success. "Radical Honesty" is not the way to go, in my opinion.

4. What Would Google Do?, Jeff Jarvis

Why do I read all these business/marketing books? I don't know, but they're interesting. This guy's writing style got on my nerves, though.

5. New Moon, Stephanie Meyer

A re-read in preparation for the movie, which I liked very much.

6. Her Fearful Symmetry, Audrey Niffenegger

The Time Traveler's Wife wasn't a fluke ... in this second offering from Niffenegger, she manages to hook me again, and with a completely different type of story, a story that is by turns endearing and horrifying.

7. The Myth of Solid Ground, David L. Ulin

This is about earthquake prediction - or rather, the people who claim they can predict earthquakes - and I found the author very, very annoying and pretentious.

8. The Joy of Drinking, Barbara Holland

Read parts of this while waiting in line for Great Big Sea. Holland is, as always, biting and sarcastic and very, very witty. (It's not so much extolling the virtues of drinking as it is a snappy look at the history of drinking through the ages.) The main thing I took away from this book was the knowledge of how to make applejack. (w00t.)

9. The Man Who Loved Books Too Much, Allison bartlett

A highly readable look at the world of rare book dealers and the unrepentant and delusional man who has stolen hundreds of thousands worth of books (if not more) from them.

10. The Gypsy, Steven Brust and Megan Lindholm

Lindholm is a pseudenom of Robin Hobb, and ... wow, this book reminded me nothing more of a psychedelic drug-induced dream. It's equal parts fantasy and hard-boiled detective book, and while I don't particularly enjoy books that give you mere hints of how a host of random events fit together until near the end, this WAS very engaging.

11. Ruined by Reading, Lynne Sharon Schwartz

A slightly pretentious but quick and enjoyable romp through Ms Schwartz's reading life; her slightly vague and analogy-strewn style annoyed me to an extent but obviously made an impact, as I found myself narrating my life in my head in her style for hours after finishing the book.