Top 2009 Books

Books (and audiobooks).

I did more reading this year than in the past. Most were novels, but I did read a few shorter books that couldn't qualify as a trade paperback or graphic novel (I'll get to those tomorrow).  I read 50 books (up 11 from last year and up 16 from the year before). That can be directly attributed to the extra time I had to read while I donated plasma. It is pretty sweet to finish a book every three donations.

Anyway, I don't grade every book I read, but here are the notable ones worth checking out:

Manic; Terri Cheney. A look into how a bipolar mind "works". Truly terrifying at times to read Cheney's experiences trying to balance her emotional states.

Gods Behaving Badly; Marie Phillips. I'm a sucker for Greek god stuff, and this one, set in the present day, was pretty fun.

My Custom Van... And 50 Other Mind-Blowing Essays That Will Blow Your Mind All Over Your Face; Michael Ian Black. I've been a Black fan since his The State days, and I love his type of humor. Sometimes the titles were hilarious on their own; others contained just a line here and there that cracked me up. My favorite was when he was explaining why he colored his penis with a highlighter. He said he couldn't wait to see if having sex with his wife would bring color to her as well. But he had to wait a few weeks until their next scheduled sex appointment. He ends the essay by saying his highlighted penis sure colored her ass, though. Completely tasteless-- but I laughed out loud.

The Ten-Cent Plague: The Great Comic Book Scare and How it Changed America; David Hajdu. Hajdu looks at the state of comics in the '40s and '50s, and it was terrifying. Politicians used them as scapegoats for societal problems, and idiot parents read horror stories in their magazines blaming comics for deliquency (usually with very tenuous premises which no one thought to question). Just a matter of a couple of years after World War II, where an oppressive, censorous government was overthrown, America had its share of book burnings. Comic books. A great reminder of the importance of Free Speech-- and also great timing for the book after the scare tactics of the Republican politicians following 9/11.

Word Freak; Stefan Fatsis. Fatsis decides to spend a year trying to become a championship Scrabble player. If you've only played the game with your friends or family, you have no idea of the whole other Scrabble world out there.

Beyond: A Solar System Voyage; Michael Benson. An absolutely beautiful book featuring pictures taken by NASA and other space agencies and tweaked by Benson, using an artist's touch to enhance the original. I was lucky enough to catch a small exhibit of his work, and the book, while amazing, can't even hold a candle to the large-size prints I saw. But the book is worth checking out.

The Next 100 Years; George Friedman.  Friedman uses the past to help predict the future.  It's pretty popular to say that the United States is on the downswing, but Friedman believes that is not the case. In fact, he feels that other countries that will try to become the dominant power will either implode or get knocked down a peg by our allies.  Aside from a labor shortage expected in 2040 (where the U.S. will change its stance on immigration from the south), the U.S. is expected to do okay. Even in the Space War of 2050...

Everybody Wants Some; Ian Christie.  Christie covers the history of Van Halen from the earliest days all the way until just before Roth's return a few years ago.  Being a huge VH fan for the past 25 years, I have to say I had heard many of the stories-- but there was plenty of new things I hadn't known.  And even though it's been over a decade, "reliving" the split with Hagar hurt all over again when I read that section.

Night; Elie Wiesel (audiobook read by George Guidall).  I knew the Holocaust was terrible.  But I had no idea of the level of inhumanity that happened at the camps.  People like Weisel should be commended for telling their stories; even though it must be considerably painful to do so.  I'm just numb thinking about it.  The part that chilled me to the core was hearing (via Guidall's voice) about the burning ditches that weak, too old, or too young prisoners were thrown into to be burned to death instead of "wasting" a bullet on them. Except for the infants that were used as target practice as they were tossed into the ditches...

World War Z; Max Brooks (audiobook featured a cast of dozens).  I read this book a couple of years ago, but I enjoyed it all over again as I listened to actors relate the first-person accounts from the book.  Zombies have made a bit of a resurgance in popular media, but few are as good as this.

The Last Centurion; John Ringo (audiobook read by Dan John Miller).  Here is a case where an actor probably elevated my enjoyment of a book.  Considering the audiobook was something like 16 CDs, I can guess this is one giant book.  I would imagine some of the parts would be pretty dry on the page, but Miller's first-person narrative as Bandit Six was great.  He had me hooked from the beginning.  The plot was fantastic: Bandit tells the story of the wars he fought in the 2020's and closely links them with his thoughts on a plethora of subjects.  The level of detail is amazing, and even though this is a work of fiction, there was so much I learned that had basis in fact.  Few stories could probe deeply into farming practices, religion, Middle Eastern politics, military planning, reality show production, and much more in just a single story.  This one did.  Amazingly well.  And Bandit is a God-fearing Republican-- about as far away from me as possible-- so all the more impressive that Ringo created a character I thoroughly enjoyed.