Books Read in 2004 (Read Any Good Books Lately?)

right now | Tanniker Smith

[Tanniker Smith]

2004 -- It was a year of catching up on a number of series books.

And it was probably the most books I've read in a long time (even if 12 of them were Lemony Snicket)

• The Return of the King, J. R. R. Tolkien
• The Broken Blade, Ann Marston
• The Bad Beginning, Lemony Snicket
• The Reptile Room, Lemony Snicket
• The Wide Window, Lemony Snicket
• The Miserable Mill, Lemony Snicket
• The Austere Academy, Lemony Snicket
• Cloudbearer's Shadow, Ann Marston
• Rogue Pirate, John Gregory Betancourt
• The King of Shadows, Ann Marston
• The Ersatz Elevator, Lemony Snicket
• The Vile Village, Lemony Snicket
• The Hostile Hospital, Lemony Snicket
• The Carniverous Carnerval, Lemony Snicket
• Let Freedom Ring, Sean Hannity
• Maybe (Maybe Not), Robert Fulgrum
• The Slippery Slope, Lemony Snicket
• The Unauthorized Autobiography of Lemony Snicket
• Eats, Shoots, & Leaves, Lynne Truss
• Tom Clancy's Net Force: Night Moves
• Tom Clancy's Net Force: Breaking Point
• The Kingdom of Infinite Numbers: A Field Guide, Bryan Bunch
• X-Files: Whirlwind, (does it matter who it's by?)
• Tom Clancy's Net Force: Point of Impact
• The Grim Grotto, Lemony Snicket
• Tom Clancy's Net Force: Cybernation (in this one, the title actually had something to do with the story)
• Vulcan!, Kathleen Sky
• Stars & Stripes Forever, Harry Harrison
• Stars & Stripes In Peril, Harry Harrison
• Stars & Stripes Triumphant, Harry Harrison

Also
Graphic Novels: (I don't normally get to read these, but I found a stack at the local library and went through them!)

• Batman: Terror (good)
• Tales of the Slayers (very good, it was worth picking rather than the Buffy books)
• Batman: Child of Dreams (pretty good, but pretty long)
• Spiderman: The Death of Gwen Stacey (excellent -- even for reprints)
• Spyboy/Young Justice (ick)
• Batman: The Arrow, the Ring & the Bat (good story, but the splash pages were annoying)

[Tanniker Smith]

Started and ended strongly, finishing The Lord of the Rings in January and then reading the Stars & Stripes Forever trilogy at the end of the year. (If anyone is interested in talking about any of the books in between, I'll be happy to give my opinions.)

Currently, I have a ton of old SF books (from the 70s and 80s originally) to get through, a few other series books to read and pass on, and, of course, 100+ Doc Savage Bantam paperbacks and doubles.

What's everyone else reading?

TS

[mlmr]

The Long Walk....it has been reissued,

[get'emall]

THE LONGEST WINTER by Kershaw. Great book about a very gallant platoon that was critical to our winning the Battle of the Bulge.

[RushCrush]

Thanks for posting this thread, it's interesting and I'm always looking for book recommendations. However....you forgot to read Ann Coulter's new book!

[ConservativeBamaFan]

One Page Management
Results Based Leadership
Hiring the Best
The Millionaire Next Door
Gross Margin
The Complete Chronicles of Narnia (read aloud to the kids after supper)
How to Think Like a CEO
Tons of profit&loss statements, customer reports, A/R aging, margin variance reports, etc.

In 2005 I'd like to read State of Fear and some others. Any suggestions?

[gubamyster]

ping

[Warriormom]

I STRONGLY recommend A Table In The Presence by Lt. Carey H. Cash. It is "the dramatic account of how a U.S. Marine battalion experienced God's presence amidst the chaos of the war in Iraq".

[writer33]

Ann Coulter has a new book? :)

[KJacob]

"A Little Bit Sideways". Great NASCAR book.

[RushCrush]

The Chronicles of Narnia- EXCELLENT! I read them as a kid and have very fond memories. Would be interested to know if they were ever made into film?

After reading the Chronicles, I did read more of C.S. Lewis' stuff... his other books are most excellent too. I highly suggest Mere Christianity.

[patriciaruth]

Reagan's War by Peter Schweizer was excellent.

[Conspiracy Guy]

I read the dictionary the other day. I didn't understand the plot at all. The characters were poorly developed. Overall it was one of the worst books I've read.

[patriciaruth]

Also enjoyed Clancy's Teeth of the Tiger.

[mysto]

I just finished reading A National Party No More by Zell Miller. It was a fast read... not bad. I'm now on to Treachery by Bill Gertz.

[aomagrat]

"Pickett, Leader of the Charge, by Edward Longacre
Gentleman and Soldier, The Extraordinary Life of General Wade Hampton, by Edward Longacre
A World Turned Over, by Lorian Hemingway
Coronel and the Falklands, by Geoffrey Bennet
Prince John Magruder, His Life and Campaigns, by Paul Casdorph
Ghosts of the Fireground, by Peter Leschak
So Others Might Live, A history of New York's Bravest, by Terry Golway
Sudden Sea, The Great Hurricane of 1938, by R.A. Scotti

And many others.

[RosieCotton]

Hm...writing down everything I've read or reread would be tricky.

But by far the most memorable book I (finally!) read this year was Kristin Lavransdatter by Sigrid Undset. It's a huge book and quite an undertaking, but indescribably incredible. Probably my favorite book of all time when it comes to fiction, and I've read a LOT!

[Dick Vomer]

ping

[RushCrush]

Speaking of Reagan, Reagan, A Life in Letters is one of the best books I've ever read. For obvious reasons.

[patriciaruth]

Try The Oxford American Dictionary.

Characters are much better developed. Excellent background information so you care about them.

[mysto]

You should try Roget's Thesaurus next. It's exhilarating.

[Puppage]

American Soldier:Gen Tommy Franks

[FreedomHasACost]

Zell Millers book "A National Party No More". It is real good.
How on earth did you ever get the time to read all those books?
All my extra time I spend here :)

[Tanniker Smith]

you forgot to read Ann Coulter's new book!

Haven't gotten it from the library yet. And when I do, I'll need a disguise in case my wife sees me reading it. I'll probably tell her it's porn -- must easier for her to deal with.

TS

[HuntsvilleTxVeteran]

http://www.pagebypagebooks.com/title.html

Free on line books

[w1andsodidwe]

Currently reading the "Da Vinci Code". A real page turner. I will however follow up with the book that debunks the misinformation here. It must be read for pure enjoyment, not for taking anything lasting away from it.

[Conspiracy Guy]

The connections from one character to the next are still bad. It's like each character has an unrelated story.

[GeronL]

what is a lemony snicket?

[Conspiracy Guy]

I couldn't get past the opening credits.

[PMCarey]

Here are some books that stick out in my mind from the past year ...

• The Wisdom of Crowds by James Surowiecki: A book about how large groups can make more intelligent decisions than even the most intelligent member
• Eats Shoots and Leaves by Lynn Truss: A humerous book about punctuation (really!)
• Carnage and Culture by Victor Hansen: The rise of the Western military tradition as seen from 10 historic battles
• Ripples of Battle by Victor Hansen: The impact of three historic battles (Delium, Shiloh, and Okinawa)
• Basic Economics by Thomas Sowell: A basic introduction to free-market economic theory. Very well written, but I haven't finished it yet!
• Prime Obsession by John Derbyshire: A well-written examination of the Riemann Hypothesis (the most famous unsolved hypothesis in mathematics - now that Fermat's Last Theorem has bit the dust)

[patriciaruth]

Interesting thing happened. I read Johnny Tremaine before sending it to my husband's grandson, and while reading it realized that John Jake had ripped off half the characters and plot when he wrote The Bastard and The Rebels.

[blue-duncan]

But you got to love the short stories!!

[CatoRenasci]

While I read a few dozen amusing, but forgettable works of science fiction, I did read a few good books:

Peter Watson, The Modern Mind
Jacques Barzun, From Dawn to Decadence
B. T. Wilkins, Burke's Political Philosophy

all of which I commend to the interested student of ideas.

[Tanniker Smith]

Hm...writing down everything I've read or reread would be tricky.

Start now for 2005. If you're on a PC, open a new file in "My Documents", call it "Books 2005" and write down what you're reading currently (assuming you don't finish it in the next 30 hours or so). Update it as needed.

Someone else can give Mac directions. (Actually, I use a DOS file. Yes, I did just turn 40, how did you know?)

TS

[don-o]

The Long Walk.

My copy of that has vanished. Uh, some say the whole work is a fiction.

[Conspiracy Guy]

It just doesn't flow well.

[Darkwolf377]

The Narnia books are getting the bigscreen treatment--I think Lion, Witch and Wardrobe is coming out late next year. The visuals are being done by WETA, which did the Lord of the Rings movies.

There are several more low-rent TV and video versions avaiable. I suggest waiting for the more lavish versions. Lewis's stepson, I think, has a hand in them.

[Eric in the Ozarks]

Dump all your old business books and pick up "Good to Great," by Jim Collins. Best take on what makes a successful organization I've read in a decade.
I also read William Manchester's "American Caesar" (MacArthur's life story) over the Christmas holiday. Very book biography.

[redangus]

Born Fighting-How The Scots-Irish Shaped America
Beowulf(second time)
Just started "Heloise and Abelard, A New Biography"

[RosieCotton]

That's kind of a cool idea! Be interesting to have a record. I should do that.

Currently reading Graham Greene's This Gun for Hire...

[Tanniker Smith]

How on earth did you ever get the time to read all those books?

Well, 12 of them were Lemony Snicket. Heck, I read 1/2 of one of those while waiting in line to have it autographed.

Mostly, it was a half-hour at bedtime and every-so-often on the subway (I usually drive to work, so that's kinda out).

TS

[patriciaruth]

It's like each character has an unrelated story.

That's what I liked about The Oxford American Dictionary. They give the family history and you can see the old ancestoral connections between all the characters.

[RushCrush]

That is most excellent. I still have my worn copies of the Narnia books. Ahh...simpler times.

[mlmr]

Uh, some say the whole work is a fiction.



This new edition has some new informaion

Who says it is a work of fiction.

My Jewish grandfather said that The Diary of Anne Frank was fiction too.

[Darkwolf377]

Try The White Pages--HUGE cast of characters.

[Conan the Librarian]

for later response :)

[CWW]

"His Excellency" by Joe Ellis. A great biography about George Washington. Let's you know just how precarious the American Revolution was and how attitudes about war are predictable.

[exnavychick]

Let's see, in the last six months it's been:

The Good Earth, Pearl S. Buck
I, Claudius, Robert Graves
The Other Boleyn Girl, Phillipa Gregory
The Queen's Fool, Phillipa Gregory
The Wolves of Calla, Stephen King
Song of Susannah, Stephen King
The Dark Tower, Stephen King
It, Stephen King
From a Buick 8, Stephen King
All the Harry Potter books,(5 total) J.K. Rowling
Mary, Called Magdalene, Margaret George
Mary, Queen of Scots, Margaret George
Memoirs of Cleopatra, Margaret George
The Autobiography of Henry VIII, Margaret George
I, Elizabeth, Rosalind Miles
Simple Simon, Ryne Douglas Pearson
Monster, Jonathan Kellerman
A Cold Heart, Jonathan Kellerman

There are others, but that's all I can remember right now. As you can see, I've been on a historical fiction kick lately. :)

[PMCarey]

My wife loves "Kristin Lavransdatter", and she wants me to read it. I haven't had a taste for fiction these last few years and I'm afraid a book about the spiritual trials of a Norwegian woman will book me to sleep.

Heck, even writing the sentence "the spiritual trials of a Norwegian woman" nearly put me to sleep!

[Carolinamom]

I enjoyed the excellent writing, plotting, and characterizations in new writer Sabin Willette's The Deal and The Betrayal. I noticed on Amazon that he has a third book out, a parody.

[mysto]

Try The White Pages--HUGE cast of characters.
Or the Yellow Pages... it has PICTURES!