What I Did Last Year

Last year I decided to read through as many genres as I could. Some I fudged and others were genuine genres. i.e. The Zookeeper's Wife = Animal Lit.

Here's a list of what I read.... titles and genres. It was terribly fun and pushed me into areas of reading that I wasn't familiar with. I love sports, but would never read a sports book. However, Michael Lewis' Moneyball, soon to be made into a movie, was brilliant and actually exciting. The "genre" or "classification" of microfiction was new to me and Marcus, my brother, passed along a book of it he read for school. Interesting stuff there.

In chronological order through the year, here's what I read.

1. Graphic Novel - The Watchmen
2. "Fairy Tale" - The Tales of Beedle the Bard
3. Autobiography - My Boyhood and Youth (John Muir)
4. Mythology - Random House Book of Greek Myths
5. Sports - Moneyball
6. Money - The Treasure Principle
7. Classic - Treasure Island
8. Food - How to Pick a Peach
9. Christian Fantasy - On the Edge of the Dark Sea of Darkness
10. Music - Nick Hornby's Songbook
11. Juvenile Adventure - The 39 Clues - The Maze of Bones
12. Christian Living - Enter the Worship Circle
13. Animal - The Zookeeper's Wife
14. Microfiction - Collection of Microfiction
15. Mystery - The London Eye Mystery
16. Adventure/Memoir/History - The Lost City of Z
17. Conspiracy - The Men Who Stare At Goats
18. Novel/Fiction - Memoir in Antproof Case

This is what I finished. I had started three books before the end of the year, but lost momentum and gave up. They were...

1. Fantasy - The Sword of Shannara
2. Writing - Maps and Legends
3. Essay/Short Story - State by State
   

Buried Treasure: Treasure Island - Robert Louis Stevenson

I did not know how bloody and violent this book really was. We've all seen the Disney version or perhaps the mock up by the Muppets and Tim Curry. Maybe it's just me, but I just can't see Tim Curry bludgeoning to death a sailor. The book itself is terrifying. Jim Hawkins is caught up in all of the greed and madness that overcomes men whose lives turn on money. Even the good men, the best men, are out searching for riches and are willing to turn to subtlty and even deception to get them there. Last year I tackled as many genres (mini and meta) as I could and when it came to classic I thought about reading some Dickens, but they often lack the "adventure" that I wanted at the time. Stevenson more than satisfied me and intruiged me enough to pick up some of his other work. All fantastic.

Folklore and Sports: Summerland by Michael Chabon

A book about baseball and native/worldwide folklore? Almost too good to be true. Add to it that Michael Chabon, Pulitzer Prize winner and all around brilliant wordsmith, wrote it? Just flat out awesome. It's a slow burner and as far as a kids book goes, it may not be the sort of story for bedtime reading. Sure the action moments are packed, and the jokes are sly, but the Chabon works it slowly, building his characters and his purpose from nothing and weaving a seamless tapestry of a tale. Amazon recommends it for kids 10 and older, but the length and word size would have given me pause.

Ethan is a bad baseball player in a town in Washington that has perennially good weather. Turns out that things are not as they seem and his town is actually on the edge of several worlds that are now being threatened by an evil fairy named Coyote. He must battle his way through worlds and play baseball to save the world(s).

Chabon threads the ubiquitous Coyote motif throughout and adds to the list of books/stories that use this ever-present baddie. Coyote, going by different names in most folktales and by different animals, is a trickster and never wishes good on humanity.

It's a fun book to read and for anyone who loves baseball, it will be a welcome addition to their shelves. Right next to Moneyball and The Brothers K.

The new year

I have not given up. November was national novel writing month in which I took part and spent every extra hour writing. December was... in fact... december. and so here we are.

Next week we'll restart the site and once again, introduce/remind you of the books you need in your house and your life.