Bite-size reviews
I've been derelict in making my recommendations for December reading. I want to offer you my best views of "books you owe it to yourself to check out."
In a subsequent post, I'll give you a preview of the best for the coming year.
No Plot, No Problem - The manifesto that pursues the inner writer within us all from the founder of National Novel Writing Month.
The Golden Age of DC Comics - The definitive compendium of the greatest comics ever.
Dreams of Iron and Steel - The stories behind the man-made wonders of the industrial age.
The One-Armed Cook - A needed resource for new parents, the title comes from the necessity for caretakers to keep one hand free to nurture while still putting food on the table.
Perilous Times - A chilling look at the way free speech rights wax and wane when democracies are hijacked by fear.
Degrees Kelvin - My favorite type of biography. Lord Kelvin is laid bare in this chronicle of the scientific icon who gave us the ultimate thermographic measurement.
Edward Teller - The subtitle says it all...The Real Dr. Strangelove.
Man Bites Log - What happens when the heart seeks wilderness living but the brain won't cooperate.
Catullus - It's fiction, but there's little chance we'll find a better researched manuscript that brings the Roman poet to life.
The Hometown Advantage - The ultimate resource from the Institute for Local Self Reliance. A paean to locally owned businesses and a manual for saving your hometown from being raped by absentee conglomerates.
Florence of Arabia - Christopher Buckley skewers political correctness with gusto in another outrageous satire when his Italian-American heroine Florence Farfaletti brings feminism to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
McSweeney's Enchanted Chamber of Astonishing Stories - If you know the standards of Dave Eggers, you'll jump at the chance to peek inside this Michael Chabon edited collection of literary horror tales.
Virtues of War - A fictional take, but perhaps the best overview of Alexander the Great to come out this year.
Liberating Paris - Linda Bloodworth Thomason writes the hell out one year in the life of six small-town friends.
The Bastard on the Couch - A series of essays by men written as a response to the enlightening "The Bitch in the House."
The Abrams' Guide to American House Styles - An invaluable resource for preservation buffs or anyone who's like to sound halfway intelligent when discussing vernacular architecture.
The Librarian - Larry Beinart, who wrote the book (American Hero) that inspired "Wag the Dog," gives the same treatment to the CIA.
The Unthinkable Thoughts of Jacob Green - Jacob Braff shows that brother Zach is not the only writer in the family.
Enemies of Rome - Chronicles the "barbarians" who resisted Roman hegemony.
Arnold Palmer: Memories, Stories & Memorabilia -
The Speckled Monster - One of my must-reads for the winter. The historical ravages of smallpox are brought home with feeling.
What the Captain Really Means - Ken Weber's fluid writing documents Vietnam the way it really was.
A Simple and Vital Design: The Story of the Indiana Post Office Murals - A classic for any Indiana history buff.
Enslaved by Ducks - A memoir of the odyssey of an urbanite in suburbia.
Chasing Lewis & Clark Across America - A great gift book that chronicles Ron Lowery's flight in a kit plane during the summer of 2003 along the path of the Corps of Discovery.
What We've Lost - Graydon Carter delineates the looting of America and the coarsening of public values that has marked the first four years of the Bush administration.
The Bush Survival Bible - A chuckle or two might do us good as we settle in for Four More Years.
Chicken Dreaming Corn - This gem is the favorite of independent booksellers, but the jacket blurb from Harper Lee says it all.
A Salty Piece of Land - Jimmy Buffett's first novel in 10 years includes a CD inside.
Area Code 212 - Tama Janowitz defines New York, New York in this collection for the new millennium.
Days of Infamy - One of my favorites takes his alternate history pen to the aftermath of the Pearl Harbor invasion and imagines a world where Japan occupies the Hawaiian Islands.
Magazines That Make History - If you love the periodical form of journalism, this exhaustive softcover will show you the lasting impact of the form.
Hard News - The definitive post-mortem of the recent New York Times struggles to maintain its place at the forefront of American journalism.
The Mob - I'm ready to crown this as the sleeper of the year with crossover potential. When "Jonathan Livingston Seagull" debuted, they thought it was a kids' book, too. This is just part one of a planned trilogy called "The Crow Chronicles."
In a subsequent post, I'll give you a preview of the best for the coming year.
No Plot, No Problem - The manifesto that pursues the inner writer within us all from the founder of National Novel Writing Month.
The Golden Age of DC Comics - The definitive compendium of the greatest comics ever.
Dreams of Iron and Steel - The stories behind the man-made wonders of the industrial age.
The One-Armed Cook - A needed resource for new parents, the title comes from the necessity for caretakers to keep one hand free to nurture while still putting food on the table.
Perilous Times - A chilling look at the way free speech rights wax and wane when democracies are hijacked by fear.
Degrees Kelvin - My favorite type of biography. Lord Kelvin is laid bare in this chronicle of the scientific icon who gave us the ultimate thermographic measurement.
Edward Teller - The subtitle says it all...The Real Dr. Strangelove.
Man Bites Log - What happens when the heart seeks wilderness living but the brain won't cooperate.
Catullus - It's fiction, but there's little chance we'll find a better researched manuscript that brings the Roman poet to life.
The Hometown Advantage - The ultimate resource from the Institute for Local Self Reliance. A paean to locally owned businesses and a manual for saving your hometown from being raped by absentee conglomerates.
Florence of Arabia - Christopher Buckley skewers political correctness with gusto in another outrageous satire when his Italian-American heroine Florence Farfaletti brings feminism to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
McSweeney's Enchanted Chamber of Astonishing Stories - If you know the standards of Dave Eggers, you'll jump at the chance to peek inside this Michael Chabon edited collection of literary horror tales.
Virtues of War - A fictional take, but perhaps the best overview of Alexander the Great to come out this year.
Liberating Paris - Linda Bloodworth Thomason writes the hell out one year in the life of six small-town friends.
The Bastard on the Couch - A series of essays by men written as a response to the enlightening "The Bitch in the House."
The Abrams' Guide to American House Styles - An invaluable resource for preservation buffs or anyone who's like to sound halfway intelligent when discussing vernacular architecture.
The Librarian - Larry Beinart, who wrote the book (American Hero) that inspired "Wag the Dog," gives the same treatment to the CIA.
The Unthinkable Thoughts of Jacob Green - Jacob Braff shows that brother Zach is not the only writer in the family.
Enemies of Rome - Chronicles the "barbarians" who resisted Roman hegemony.
Arnold Palmer: Memories, Stories & Memorabilia -
The Speckled Monster - One of my must-reads for the winter. The historical ravages of smallpox are brought home with feeling.
What the Captain Really Means - Ken Weber's fluid writing documents Vietnam the way it really was.
A Simple and Vital Design: The Story of the Indiana Post Office Murals - A classic for any Indiana history buff.
Enslaved by Ducks - A memoir of the odyssey of an urbanite in suburbia.
Chasing Lewis & Clark Across America - A great gift book that chronicles Ron Lowery's flight in a kit plane during the summer of 2003 along the path of the Corps of Discovery.
What We've Lost - Graydon Carter delineates the looting of America and the coarsening of public values that has marked the first four years of the Bush administration.
The Bush Survival Bible - A chuckle or two might do us good as we settle in for Four More Years.
Chicken Dreaming Corn - This gem is the favorite of independent booksellers, but the jacket blurb from Harper Lee says it all.
A Salty Piece of Land - Jimmy Buffett's first novel in 10 years includes a CD inside.
Area Code 212 - Tama Janowitz defines New York, New York in this collection for the new millennium.
Days of Infamy - One of my favorites takes his alternate history pen to the aftermath of the Pearl Harbor invasion and imagines a world where Japan occupies the Hawaiian Islands.
Magazines That Make History - If you love the periodical form of journalism, this exhaustive softcover will show you the lasting impact of the form.
Hard News - The definitive post-mortem of the recent New York Times struggles to maintain its place at the forefront of American journalism.
The Mob - I'm ready to crown this as the sleeper of the year with crossover potential. When "Jonathan Livingston Seagull" debuted, they thought it was a kids' book, too. This is just part one of a planned trilogy called "The Crow Chronicles."
posted by All4Word at 11:33 PM
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