Happy Belated De-Lurker Day!

1. Consider me de-lurked! Best thing I read in 08 was Three Cups of Tea. Also Watchmen.

2. I read a lot of things that I really enjoyed and that changed the way I eat and think about food – but the book that I think made the biggest impression on me was The Girls Who Went Away: The Hidden History of Women Who Surrendered Children for Adoption in the Decades Before Roe v. Wade, by Ann Fessler. That book broke my heart.

3. I have been slacking as far as the whole reading for fun thing goes, but I would have to say the two bwst things I read were, Batman-The Killing Joke and Marvel Civil War. They are two excellent graphic novels.

4. I really enjoyed Out Stealing Horses. I also finally got around to reading Watchmen, and I’m very glad I did.

   Delurked!

5. It’s not new to the year 2008, but The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle pulled me in, confused me, and spat me back out in one grateful heap. And I too read The Girls Who Went Away: heartbreaking and thought-provoking. Both books gave me totally effed up dreams.

6. I am a certified lurker 😉 I really liked Special Topics in Calamity Physics and Out Stealing Horses.

7. You know I read so I’m not a lurker, but the best book I read in 2008 was Helen de Witt’s “The Last Samurai.”

8. I’m going to define “best” as “couldn’t put it down for the life of me” and say Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins. I read the thing until 5 a.m. and was bleary-eyed for the next 2 days. I wouldn’t say it was a pleasant experience. I had no fingernails (and barely any fingers) left after reading it.

9. I have to admit I’m a sorta-lurker. I do comment on occasion, but read Outside Cat regularly. I really enjoyed The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson. I was constantly trying to find time to read it, even staying up waaay past my bedtime on a school night and I still didn’t finish it that night. As a counterpoint, the Calder Game was awful.

10. Heat, by Bill Buford. Easily. From my review on goodreads:

    Bill Buford, perhaps not coincidentally, writes exceptionally well about the major themes in this work: the glory of ingredients and their transformation into food, the sociopolitical environment of the kitchen, and the origins of food and the methods used to create it. The work is framed around Buford’s mission to understand how to create great food, working in Mario Batali’s restaurant Babbo and working his way through most of the stations in the kitchen. Along the way, he takes a number of trips to Italy to learn from individuals who Mario had worked with, and delves into the historical origins of a number of dishes the Italians claim as their own.

    What’s truly excellent about Heat is that Buford writes like someone excited about food and its origins. He bounces effortlessly from a historical investigation into a particular dish to the tale of he and his wife carrying a whole pig home to their New York City apartment on a scooter to a description of how to craft a truly authentic ragu. His characters are vivid and dynamic and a joy to read.

    Highly suggested for anyone, but especially those who love the art and craft of cooking and the people and places that surround it

11. “Jesus for President,” by Shane Claiborne

12. I, too, am an occasional commenter, so I don’t think I can cop to official lurker status. And I also don’t think I can commit to just one book, plus you’ve probably already read more than one of them, so here are several that I enjoyed the most:

    * “I Am Legend” by Richard Matheson
    * “Alexander and the Wonderful, Marvelous, Excellent, Terrific Ninety Days” by Judith Viorst
    * “Bonk: The Curious Coupling of Science and Sex” by Mary Roach
    * “The Host” by Stephenie Meyer (Not necessarily a “best,” but I thought it was an improvement over her Twilight books, especially #2 and #3; I did actually like “Breaking Dawn”)
    * “The Children’s Blizzard” by David Laskin (Parts were boring, but the interesting parts were super-interesting)
    * “The Dechronization of Sam Magruder” by George Gaylord Simpson
    * “Infected” by Scott Sigler (I listened to this one on audiobook)

13. I don’t know if I’ve ever commented here before.

    There’s no way I can choose one favorite book of the year. I listed 25 on my blog. Of those…
    *This Common Secret: My Journey as an Abortion Doctor by Susan Wicklund was particularly inspiring.
    *Half a Yellow Sun by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie was informative as well as a good literary read.
    *A surprise favorite was The Great Man by Kate Christensen.
    *A not surprise favorite was Peony in Love by Lisa See.
    *Zami: a New Spelling of My Name by Audre Lorde also exceeded expectations.

14. I forgot to mention Bad Monkeys by Matt Ruff. It’s pretty wigged out and really messes with your expectations. Great stuff. And the second “Benedict Society” book is fun.

15. I was really impressed by The long tail : why the future of business is selling less of more / Chris Anderson. Should be part of the GSLIS required reading … maybe not because we, as digital natives, “get it” why click beats brick and niche beats hits, but the Wired editor does a good job of making those points in common language.

16. I didn’t get much fiction read at all in 2008, but of the handful of things read, I’d say Time Traveler’s Wife by Audrey Niffenegger was actually my favorite read of the year. I wish I could say it was The Unbearable Lightness of Being by Milan Kundera, which was a really beautiful book, but it kind of fell apart at the end.

17. Cormac Mccarthy’s The Road

18. I’m not a certified lurker but I’ll admit I finally caught the Neil Gaiman bug in 2008. I went bizonkers for American Gods, Anansi Boys, Coraline and The Graveyard Book. Probably my favorite book of the year, though, was Sharp Teeth by Toby Barlow.

19. Sadly, I probably read less in 2008 than any other year of my literate life. But I really liked “The Invisible Constitution,” by Laurence Tribe. (I want to be able to call him “Larry,” like really smart people do, but he seems like the kind of guy who doesn’t like it when people he doesn’t know call him “Larry.”)

    Back into the shadows…

20. I’m no lurker – but I do have a book recommendation – I read ‘An Utterly Impartial History of Britain (or 2,000 Years of Upper Class Idiots In Charge)’

    Less than 1 in 10 books I read is non-fiction, but I was really impressed with this one. Just the right mix of history, sarcasm and wit to keep me interested even though I already knew the ending.

    Oh, and I do have to take my hat off to Stephanie Meyer, if only for her miraculous ability to infuse CRACK into her stories.

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