Friday, August 1, 2008

My Reading List

Books I've Read: (*)

* Not to include books that I read to El Burrito. Maybe a separate list for those. :)

  1. Henry Reed's Big Show - Keith Robertson (one of my favorite series)
  2. How to Live on Nothing - Joan Ranson Shortney (Good on philosophy, but it's quite outdated now, since it was first published in 1969. Radio tubes and such are not common these days.)
  3. Penny Pinching: How to Lower your everyday expenses without lowering your standard of living - Lee & Barbara Simmons
  4. Healthy Child, Healthy World (lots of information)
  5. Feasting on Asphalt: the River Run - Alton Brown (AB is the best thing on FoodTV these days)
  6. The Tale of Hawthorn House - Susan Wittig Albert (8-25-08 - #4 in the Beatrix Potter series that I've taken a liking to)
  7. The I Hate to Cook Almanack - Peg Bracken
  8. G is for Galaxy
  9. The Other Woman - Victoria Zackheim (8-27-08 - mostly for the Mary Jo Eustace chapter, since it's tangentially related to Due South)
  10. P is for Passport: a World Alphabet (8-27-08)
  11. Mr. Monk in Outer Space (8-27-08)
  12. The Voice on the Radio - Caroline B. Cooney (2nd sequel to Face on the Milk Carton)
  13. The Idiot Girls' Action-Adventure Club - Laurie Notaro (8-29-08 funny if you're in the right mood)
  14. Mr. Monk in Outer space - Interesting. Not as good as an episode, but the steady stream of references to Trek and Battlestar Galactica was intriguing.
  15. The Prodigal Nun - Another Sister Agatha mystery, as good as the others.
  16. The Dirt on Clean - This one was educational and interesting. The emphasis placed on cleanliness by different religions was thought-provoking at times. Also either funny or gross, depending - hermits basing their holiness on how odorous they were, for example.
  17. A window over the kitchen sink - Peg Bracken
  18. Mayhem in Miniature - Margaret Grace
  19. The Diamond of Darkhold - Jeanne DuPrau
  20. Mr. Monk goes to the Firehouse - first of the Monk novel series.
  21. Without a Map - a magazine recommendation. It reads kind of choppy, but the author apparently does essays for magazines, so maybe that's the reason.
  22. Better Basics for the Home - Annie Berthold-Bond
  23. All Shots - Susan Conant. (9-30-08) A dog mystery, and a fast read (as in, I got it at the library today and finished it already). It's part of a series, I may get the others when I have time.
  24. The Complete Peanuts, 1955-1956 - I'm loving these. If I win the lottery, I may buy the whole set. Until then, the library copies will have to do, but unfortunately they don't seem to have all of the set. That may be because they're cataloged as a set rather than separately, so you have to read the fine print to know which volume has what year.
  25. Stolen Innocence - Elissa Wall's memoir about growing up in the FLDS family.
  26. Mr. Monk and the Two Assistants - had a few zinger comments about the actress/character switch.
  27. Sandry's Book - First book in Tamora Pierce's Circle of Magic quartet
  28. Roger Tory Peterson: A Biography - by Douglas Carlson (10-29-08)
  29. The Ship Who Searched (11-03-08)
  30. Sandry's Book
  31. Grantville Gazette IV (11-14-08) - Interesting stuff, a mix of fiction and non-fiction short pieces.
  32. The 4400: Vesuvius Prophecy (11/17/08) - Not bad. It's been a while since I watched the show, but this seemed like a pretty accurate book, no glaring inconsistencies that I noticed. Other than the plot having little to do with Vesuvius literally; it was more of an analogy.
  33. Farewell to Manzanar - Jeanne Wakatsuki Houston - This one was pretty good. I've read a couple of books lately about the Japanese internment in World War II. This one had more coverage of the author's life before internment, and a bit afterwards.
  34. Toons for our Times: Bloom County - Has the best Star Wars reference to date: Binkley lops George Lucas' head off with a light saber, because "Jedi knights don't wait 15 years for a sequel." (After Lucas says that the next six chapters should be done by 1998 or so.) I'm not as bitter as the South Park writers (see the China Probrem episode), but I'm glad I didn't pay a lot for that ticket to Phantom Menace.
  35. The Complete Peanuts, 1957-1958
  36. The Wizard of London - One of the books in Mercedes Lackey's Elemental Masters series. Very good; I'd read the short story that started this book before.
  37. Mr. Monk goes to Germany - pretty good, especially the Psych reference
  38. National Geographic Photography Field Guide (12-6-08) - interesting information, great photos, but I'm glad I read the library copy and didn't give in to the tempting mail offer I got from NGS.
  39. Palestinian Walks: Forays into a Vanishing Landscape, by Raja Shehadeh (12-10-08) - Interesting, well-written, but definitely sad-inducing. Between the whole Palestine/Israel mess, and the progressing loss of the natural landscape, this was somewhat of a depressing book.
  40. Here's the Story, by Maureen McCormick (12-10-08) - Interesting. Not a lot about the Brady Bunch days, more about her life after, including psychological problems, addiction, and family issues.
  41. Multiple Blessings (12-14-08) - winner for corniest title ever, and I'm glad I didn't pay for this one
  42. God's Harvard - Interesting, and a bit scary
  43. Plenty: One man, one woman, and a raucous year of eating locally - Made me want a garden. Sigh
  44. Book of New Family Traditions - Helpful
  45. I'll Be Home for Christmas : the Library of Congress revists the spirit of Christmas during World War II (12-18-08) - Very moving, especially at this time of year. My Grandpa was in a tank crew during the Battle of the Bulge.
  46. Antiques Maul (a Trash 'n' Treasures mystery) by Barbara Allan (12-18-08) - nice quick fluffy mystery
  47. lots of stuff I forgot to write down
  48. Henry and the Buccaneer Bunnies - Very cute.
  49. Dragonheart (new Pern novel) (1-9-09) - Written by Todd instead of Anne, it was pretty good, definitely not a skimpy book, but somehow a bit unfulfilling and/or confusing. I probably need to go read the book that takes place concurrently with it (Dragonsblood, I think).

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