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You may be not be surprised to learn that I like books. It may, however, surprise you to learn what I'm reading. (It ain't all geology...) Here is a diary of what I've read recently and what's on the ever growing pile yet to BE read. They aren't literary reviews, just the gist of things to jump-start my own memory of what I read. |
December 23, 2003
CARRYING WATER, by Linda Tatelbaum. A tremendous account paralleling my own, though on a different scale, of an effort to simplify life and get back to the basics, "Mother Earth News" style... and in MAINE! 118 pages....back to the top
December 10, 2003
KEYS TO THE CITY, by Joel Kostman. A surprisingly literate look at the adventures (true) of a New York City locksmith. 136 pages....back to the top
October 20, 2003
THE BAGHDAD EXPRESS, by Joel Turnipseed. A devastatingly honest look at the everyday life of soldiers in the first gulf war from a pretty unusual soldier. 204 pages....back to the top
August 20, 2003
BRAZIL, by John Updike. An interesting story of a cascade of clashing cultures. A poor black boy meets a wealthy white debutant and they embark on an adventure as wild as Brazil. 260 pages....back to the top
August 17, 2003
PISSING IN THE SNOW, by Vance Randolph. Without the classy footnotes and references this would be a clever little book of dirty jokes from many years ago. A few are worth retelling. As a collection it's a fascinating look at a real part of our culture. 153 pages....back to the top
August 8, 2003
ON THE BEATEN PATH, by Robert Alden Rubin. Rubin alternately makes me want to make the Georgia to Maine trek myself... and maybe never hike again. This is a unique and engrossing account. It is less about the Appalachian trail than other accounts. Those wishing for a section by section detail on what it takes and how to do it would be disappointed. Those who wonder what's going through the minds of thru-hikers and why the keep on or don't, will enjoy the tale. 233 pages....back to the top
February 13, 2003
MEMORIES OF THE FORD ADMINISTRATION, by John Updike. An interesting parallel journey in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries with the Ford and Buchanan administrations. Both stories were interesting and the underlying cultural attitudes are an interesting comparison. 369 pages....back to the top
THE BARMAID'S BRAIN by Jay Ingram
FIELD NOTES by Barry Lopez
FROM STONE TO STAR by Claude Allegre
GENESIS AND GEOLOGY by Charles Coulson Gillispie
THE GIFT OF STONES by Jim Crace
A GUIDE FOR THE PERPLEXED by E. F. Schumacher
HOW THE CANYON BECAME GRAND by Stephen J. Pyne
WHY PEOPLE BELIEVE WIERD THINGS by Michael Shermer
WONDERFUL LIFE by Stephen Jay Gould...back to the top