I’ve almost always kept a running list of the books I read, but this year I decided to go Full Nerd. I used Google Sheets to log each book I’ve read since October 2016—66 books in total, spread over 384 days. I tracked titles, authors, author genders, copyright and publish dates, genres, page counts, format, dates… Continue reading Full Nerd: 2017 in Books
Category: #amreading
Age of Folly
In trying to make sense of our current political situation, I recently read Lewis Lapham’s Age of Folly, released last month (and currently 50% off print and digital versions at Verso). Broadly speaking, the book claims to examine the last 25 years of America’s “imperial adventure.” Narrowly speaking, it’s 400+ pages of Lapham waxing poetic about… Continue reading Age of Folly
An entire city waited beneath them
If you read anything by Peter Hessler, make it Oracle Bones. It’s about the China I one day hope to meet. Here are a few parts I liked: In Anyang, at an archaeological site call Huanbei, a small group of men work in a field, mapping an underground city. The city dates to the fourteenth and… Continue reading An entire city waited beneath them
Full of fine sable
While waiting for one of my favorite restaurants to open on a recent Saturday in Evanston, I killed some time in Market Fresh Books, a used book store that sells by the pound. Buried behind the travel shelf I found a battered copy of Farley Mowat’s The Siberians, which you can get for a penny +… Continue reading Full of fine sable
The Night of the Gun
Some words from David Carr’s The Night of the Gun: “Every hangover begins with an inventory.” (8) “I’m not obsessed with my own privates, but I’m not one to point a pistol at them, either.” (13) “Tucked in safe suburban redoubts, kids who had it soft like me manufactured peri. When there is no edge, we… Continue reading The Night of the Gun
Florida Frenzy
Some words from Harry Crews’ Florida Frenzy: “A good editor is nothing but a good reader.” (5) “But this was more serious than death. This was as serious as money.” (17) “Well, like the man says, it’s two kinds of people in this world. Us that wants a drink and them that don’t want us to… Continue reading Florida Frenzy
Desert Solitaire
I recently read Edward Abbey’s, Desert Solitaire. Here are some of my favorite parts: “I’m a humanist; I’d rather kill a man than a snake.” (17) “We have agreed not to drive our automobiles into cathedrals, concert halls, art museums, legislative assemblies, private bedrooms and the other sanctums of our culture; we should treat our national parks… Continue reading Desert Solitaire
ben van loon 