The Booklist 2005 Project

225 thoughts to “The Booklist 2005 Project”

1. This non-fiction book is a great read. I couldn’t put it down.

2. Glen Cook & George Martin are 2 of my favorites, they are masters of grim fantasy with George being the grimmest of the two but I can’t recommend the enough. Glen has some wonderfully snarky and sarcastic characters that I really get attached to. If you like anti-heros at all, you’ll really enjoy the Black Company books.

   I just finished the Iain Pears Fingerpost book and loved it! At the beginning I found myself not really being that into it but it builds in the coolest way and by the last half of the book, I was utterly addicted. All in all that’s a great list, I look forward to the reviews.

3. Some Canadian influence (not that I’m biased, but Canadian fiction is often a much more entertaining read than American) – descriptions ripped from Amazon:

   Shelby by Pete McCormack (and also Understanding Ken if you can find it)
   “Shelby Lewis, neurotic medical school hopeful, accidentally drops out of college and experiences life-or rather, in this bizarre and comical tale told by McCormack, allows life to get the better of him. Roaming through uncharted territory, giving up the strict order he previously placed on his life, Shelby falls for a woman who is a feminist stripper by night, crystals and tarot New Age eccentric by day. He tries to make sense of the odd group of characters he falls in with, including roommate Eric, lead singer in a band called Smegma Bomb!, and his parents, who are disappointed that they will not have a doctor for a son. Throughout, Shelby grapples with the changes he is experiencing as he haplessly wanders from one situation to the next. McCormack definitely has a gift for the absurd and for comic dialog with a bite. From musician to pseudopsychotherapist to library assistant in a public library, Shelby sees all, does all, but does he know all? The reader will have to decide.”

   Henderson the Rain King, by Saul Bellow
   “Seriocomic novel by Saul Bellow, published in 1959. The novel examines the midlife crisis of Eugene Henderson, an unhappy millionaire. The story concerns Henderson’s search for meaning. A larger-than-life 55-year-old who has accumulated money, position, and a large family, he nonetheless feels unfulfilled. He makes a spiritual journey to Africa, where he draws emotional sustenance from experiences with African tribes. Deciding that his true destiny is as a healer, Henderson returns home, planning to enter medical school.”

   The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz, by Mordecai Richler.
   “Duddy — the third generation of a Jewish immigrant family in Montreal — is combative, amoral, scheming, a liar, and totally hilarious. From his street days tormenting teachers at the Jewish academy to his time hustling four jobs at once in a grand plan to “be somebody,” Duddy learns about living — and the lesson is an outrageous roller-coaster ride through the human comedy. As Richler turns his blistering commentary on love, money, and politics, The Apprenticeship Of Duddy Kravitz becomes a lesson for us all…in laughter and in life.”

   A Chorus of Mushrooms, by Hiromi Goto
   “The novel tells the story of three generations of Japanese Canadian women lives in Canada, who seeks their special identity: the grandma who refuses to give up from her Japanese roots (and who hides salted squid in her pockets…), her daughter Kaiku who wants to be “real” Canadian and therefore refuses to speak Japanese, and the grandchild, Murial-Morasaki who is in a quest for her Japanese roots and who struggles to find a cultural identity somewhere between the two.
   This vivid life (and love) story is integrated with Japanese folk legends.”

   In British fiction, I’d suggest the following:

   Wide Sargasso Sea, by Jean Rhys
   ” The novel is Rhys’s answer to Jane Eyre. Charlotte Bront

4. I’m going to have to second Seven Types of Ambiguity by Elliott Perlman. Its a great read!

   And if I may suggest a new book: Only Forward by Michael Marshal Smith. This book, everyone should read!

5. McCarthy’s Bar was very good. But more nonfiction as it tells the story of the author travelling around Ireland. very enjoyable read with a good feel for the country.
   Enjoy

6. a hearty second for Shadow of the Wind. i saw Zafon recently at Elliot Bay Books and he was pretty much wonderful. anyone who has loved a book should read it. otherwise it’s unclassifiable; it’s in its third year as a Spanish bestseller without ever having a marketing strategy beyond passionate word of mouth. it’s one of the best books i’ve ever read – and can millions of Spainiards really be wrong?

7. It’s already on your main list, but you will read The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time in half a day, and you won’t be sorry. It refreshing, and made me want to read more new books, something I can’t say often.

8. I love Atwood, but Oryx and Crake was awful. The only way I can understand the praise it sometimes receives is that the reviewers have never been exposed to the thoughtful science fiction that’s being written these days.

9. Hi, I’ve never posted before but I think this is a great question. I’m also always looking for new authors, so thanks for putting up the list, and to everyone else who commented.
   Someone recommended “To Say Nothing of the Dog” and I wholeheartedly second it, it’s tons of fun and one of the better books I’ve read in awhile. It helps if you’ve read “Three Men in a Boat” first, however.
   I really enjoyed “The Eyre Affair” by Jasper Fforde and all of the sequels. Great adventure/comedy/semi-fantasy with huge emphasis on literary jokes.
   You’ve probably read this at some point in your life, but if not, “The Once and Future King” by T.H.White is perhaps my all time favorite.
   “Till We Have Faces” is a great character study by C.S. Lewis. I know none of these are new novels, but they could be new to you. :-P
   Ok, that’s it. Enjoy!

10. Brideshead Revisited, by Evelyn Waugh

    absurdly well-written book, you _must_ read this.

    and, what’s more, there’s a tv series with the same name that’s really a 9-hour-long FILM, as in Movie, that’s even better in some aspects.

    been on my re-re-re-re-reading list for 25 years now, revisiting the Film once every 3 years or so, enjoying every line and/or frame tremendously.

    so, here’s your Book _and_ Film for 2005 :-)

11. I hated Corrections by Jonathan Franzen SO so so so very much. I wanted to like it, there was so much good press. I slogged through the first 30% or so. Unrealistic characters, none of whom I had any sympathy for, doing unrealistic things. I still have the book sitting here on the shelf, so if you really want it, I would be happy to let it go to someone who might actually enjoy it. I live in Seattle and would gladly hand it off to a friendly home.

12. I completely forgot to mention that I am LOVING the book Sideways by Rex Pickett. Even more so than the movie. Of course, I am a major wine dork so it was likely meant to be.

13. Oh, yes, To Say Nothing of the Dog (Connie Willis) is highly thirded. I’d put Allison’s suggestion as a command: this book HAS to be read immediately following Three Men in a Boat: To say Nothing of the Dog by Jerome K. Jerome. Also second her suggeston of “The Once and Future King.” (T.H. White)

14. I’d like to second “The Namesake” by Jhumpa Lahiri, I just finished that one.

    Oh, and “To Say Nothing of the Dog” was one of my favorite books that I read last year. And I recommend “Resume with Monsters” if you haven’t read that yet (William Browning Spencer or Spencer Browning, I can never remember the order of his names).

    Also, if you’d like my copy of “House of Leaves” you’re welcome to it, I could not get through that book. Send me an e-mail if you want it!

15. I haven’t read Paul Auster’s “Oracle Night,” but I did read his “Book of Illusions.” A friend recommended it to me, and it was the best fiction book I’ve read in years.

    By the way, I’m delurking to post this, and I dig your site. Keep up the great posts!

16. NO to Pattern Recognition — I wrote a thesis chapter on it and it just really doesn’t hold up. If you’re interested in logos/branding/marketing, _The Savage Girl_ by Alex Shakar is much better.

    Another one to consider is _The Bridge of San Luis Rey_ by Thornton Wilder. 127 pages, beautiful writing, interesting ideas. Tony Blair read the last page of it during Britain’s ceremony to honor the citizens they lost in 9/11.

17. I third (or fourth?) “The Sparrow”–it was probably my favorite book this year.

    I also liked “Perdido Street Station” by China Mieville, but I thought his “The Scar” was even better.

    “The Da Vinci Code” was horrible; the ideas in it were interesting but you can find them elsewhere and not have to deal with his hideous writing.

    As for nonfiction, “The Tipping Point” by Malcolm Gladwell was fascinating, as was “Emperor of Scent” by Chandler Burr, which is partly about the science of how we smell things and partly about how the scientific community is not as noble as we might think, but mostly about a really interesting guy.

18. I started House of Leaves last month, and it annoyed me off so much I had to stop halfway through it. But everyone else loooooves it, so maybe I’m just retarded.

19. I second (again) Lovely Bones. I really enjoyed it and while it was a little far-fetched and somewhat creepy at times, I thought it was uplifting as a whole. Plus it’s a fairly easy read. Also, if you want to read something of Dan Brown’s, read Angels and Demons. It’s much better than DaVinci Code.

20. Cory Doctorow’s “Eastern Standard Tribe” should jump to the top of the list, because it’s a very short read.

    And Cory is a severly underrated author. EST takes a couple of hours to read, tops, and it’s free as in beer.

21. I second (or third or fourth) The Lovely Bones. It definitely requires the reader to embrace a “suspension of disbelief” in order to fully enjoy it, but is a stunning and emotional read nonetheless.

    Also, it’s Peter Jackson’s next film project…

22. I’d recommend Red Thunder by John Varley. Good sort of…resurect the space program with deus ex machina stuff.

23. Oh yes. Lovely Bones was a very good read. And, although it’s a little out of season, I highly recommend “The Stupidest Angel” by Chris Moore. Great stuff.

24. I most definitely second The Age of Innocence. It may look like a chick’s book, and it is … but under all that I was fascinated by the detail to the social structure and niceties of the time/era/society.

    The Lovely Bones-Also second it. Not as much as Age, but still a good read.

25. I vote No on both Strange and the Corrections.

    Yes to the Mysterious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time

26. Yay for “Lovely Bones” by Alice Sebold!! I love this book. Alice’s writing is clean and crisp. What’s interesting about this book is that the main character is deceased and is narrating the story as if she was an onlooker but in a non-scary, non-hokey way. Your list is getting pretty long or I’d recommend you also read “Lucky” which is by the same author. They’re both quick reads which is a plus.

27. As far as a request for good nonfiction, I’d try The Cold War, A Very Short Introduction, Robert J. McMahon. He presents a concise and interesting picture of the Soviet US interactions in under 200 pages. In addition to the hoards of fiction already mentioned take a look at Kinky Friedman (what a name) or C.S. Forester (wrote The African Queen, and Beat to Quarters).

28. HUGE recommendation for “Perdido Street Station” — so original and yet so accessible. I was smiling the whole time I read it (except for the parts where I was almost crying) because I was just so thrilled to have found such an amazing new (for me) voice/mind.

    Also:
    + Strange & Norrell (also stunningly original yet strangely familiar)

    + Curious Incident (remarkable insight)

    + Lonely Bones (as a father, my emotional reaction to this book almost forced me to stop reading)

    ++ any Cory Doctorow (new one on the way, too)

    + Fermata (but you’ll feel slightly dirty afterwards)

    – Fingerpost (tried vainly to get caught up in it, but couldn’t even finish)

    – Plot Against America (interesting, but if I’m going to read Alternate History, I like it to be a bit more ambitious, like Harry Turtledove (he can’t really write, but boy can he think))

    And in the Non-fiction department, I am on a huge Bill Bryson bender right now (especially loved In A Sunburned Country).

29. I would put Wicked back on. I quite enjoyed it – yes, part of the interest of the book is in it’s subject matter, but it’s well written and interesting plot-wise as well.

    Oh, and another recomendation for Oryx and CrakE. Anything by Margaret Atwood (a Canadian like myself, to boot) is worth looking into. I hear the Handmaiden’s Tale is quite good, and if you put it on your candidates list, I’m sure someone will second that.

30. Wow. Never actually commented here before, despite the fact that I am a very frequent reader of yours. But, looked over your booklist and I must very highly recommend Sunshine by Robin McKinley. I’ve always been a fan of her books, and I own all of them, but when I read Sunshine it blew me away. By far the best book I read in 2004 and if I read it again in ’05 it will probably still be the best . . .

31. I’ll give a vote for Kavalier and Clay. A great read about an early comic book writing team.

    I wasn’t HUGELY impressed by House of leaves, but it’s definitely an interesting read.

    And I can’t really vote for Coyote Kings or Sock, since I’m the one who recommended them in the first place. Otherwise, I would heartily vote for them. Again.

    And if anyone hasn’t said any Christopher Moore, I’d go for that as well…

32. I would not recommend “The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time”. It’s not bad, it just wasn’t quite worth my precious little reading time (I have an infant, too – and a 4 year old…reading time is sparse!). If you still want it, you can email me at smithL98052ATyahooDOTcom and I’ll send it to you, gratis. I had to read it for book club, and since I didn’t like it much, I’ve had trouble persuading anyone else to borrow it.

    I would highly recommend one already on your list, “The Time Traveler’s Wife”. I also read it for book club and absolutley loved it. You can’t have my copy because my “borrow” list is already 3 people long and I’ve bought it for 2 birthday gifts besides.

    I would also recommend “The Lovely Bones”. The premise is a bit disturbing, but it’s dealt with in (I think) such a redeeming way. My favorite review says, “The Lovely Bones is the kind of novel, that, once you’re done, you may go visit in a bookstore and touch on the binding, just to remember the emotions you felt while reading it.” And THAT is exactly how I felt about it. I absolutely fell in love with the dad in this book, and loved the tale itself.

    Lastly, if you have not read “The Life of Pi” (I don’t know, because I’m a new dy reader), DROP EVERYTHING ELSE ON YOUR LIST AND READ IT. RIGHT. NOW. Truly amazing.

    I’m serious about the Curious Incident. I’ll gladly send it your way if you want it.

33. I second quite a few of those on your list. Have to say though, I preferred Donna Tartt’s “The Secret History” to “the Little Friend”. The ending of the Little Friend annoyed me to no end- felt like a bit of a cop out. Maybe it’s just me.

34. “Wicked” and “Till We Have Faces” had a lot of potential but I think they both derailed somewhere along the way. I just didn’t feel fulfilled after finishing them, but they were interesting enough that I spent time afterward thinking about all the more interesting ways things COULD have gone. You might want to put these off until you don’t have another book in mind to read.

35. You won’t go wrong with Haruki Murakami in any language.

36. I was intrigued by House of Leaves by Mark Z. Dainielewski, and even managed to get a third of the way through. But while it is an interesting conceit, as entertainment it leaves a lot to be desired. The hidden clues flew over my head – I couldn’t spot anything of interest burried beneath the surface – and I got bored of waiting for something to happen. Not that things didn’t happen, but nothing to live up to the initial premise.

37. McCarthy

38. “House of Leaves” is a gripping horror but definitely a book more people start than finish. It

39. The Lovely Bones is superb – well-written and a page-turner, but it is terribly sad so just be fore-warned. I definitely second it. Sebold’s other novel is similarly sad and uplifting but a bit too creepy for me.

    Anything by Edith Wharton is good, but I liked Ethan Frome a lot better than The Age of Innocence. I enjoyed Wicked, Til We Have Faces, and The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle (though that one takes a second read to really get it all in).

    I’d like to nominate the best books that I read last year: War Crimes for the Home by Liz Jensen (hilarious, just get past the first couple of chapters and you’re good), The Rule of Four by Caldwell & Thomason (DaVinci Code for the literate), and the works of P.G. Wodehouse if you’ve not tried him yet.

40. Fiction: Skip Brideshead Revisted – it’s just a long grovel to the British aristocracy. Fine for those who think inherited wealth and family connections make a better world for the rest of us.
    Two great books last year were Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nightime and “The Eye of the Lynx : Galileo, His Friends, and the Beginnings of Modern Natural History”
    by David Freedberg. Non-fiction, but simply astonishing and engrossing to anyone with an interest in how the human race began to use observation, experiments and logical deduction to free itself from a religiously ordained view of the natural world.

41. Don’t bother with “The Lovely Bones,” it is facile and poorly written, imo. Most of the books look great though, I am really excited to read “The Cloud Atlas” myself.

42. I second the suggestion for Pest Control by Bill Fitzhugh. One of the funniest books I’ve ever read. Also, if you’re still looking, I’d reccommend Snow Crash by Neil Stephenson. Or anything else by him, for that matter.

43. Definite yes:

    Time Traveler’s Wife–just finished it, and thought it was outstanding. I suspect, though, that she won’t have another particularly good book in her.

    McCarthy’s Bar–if you’ve spent any time in Ireland, it’s particularly good. Laughed out loud in a few places, mostly just smiled a whole lot. If you’re looking for a plot, though, you’re out of luck, as it’s mostly vignettes.

    The Instance of the Fingerpost–it’s a hell of a lot of book–almost three books, really. Very well written. It’s hardly new, but very good.

    Not necessarily recommended:

    The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time–I didn’t like it all that much. It was just thin, and seemed kind of forced. I give the guy props for making a very credible effort to give a view into the mind of an autistic, but it started to feel like a gimmick about halfway through. You should probably read it yourself just to be sure.

44. – George Martin is overrated. i didn’t enjoy his first three from this series.

    – The Three Musketeers

    + Ethan Frome

    + the Max books by Rosemary Wells for the S (especially if you want to affirm rascal-ness)

    + The Pentagon’s New Map. non-fiction. most interesting recently-published book i read this year. if you’re intrigued at all you can check out Barnett’s website at http://www.thomaspmbarnett.com.

45. The Corrections was horrible. I threw it away, something I consider to be a terrible fate for any book, but I felt it was a piece of pulp with no redeeming value.

    The Instance of the Fingerpost was tiresome. Avoid.

    Oddly enough, I enjoyed Jonathon Strange and Mr. Norrrell very much – the segment with York Minster was what pulled me in, as I went to school there and it seemed an entirely likely history of the North of England.

    The Lovely Bones was a good read, but not a great work of fiction.

    If you are willing to read some non-fiction, I highly recommned the very entertaining Seven Daughter of Eve about how he discovered that all northern european women are descended from seven women. Really fascinating.

    I also recommend Wise Children by Angela Carter. Clever and well-written. About twins from the “wrong side of the blanket” in an acting family in early 20th century London.

    Recently I finished the final book in the Jack Aubrey/Stephen Maturin series by Patrick O’Brien, and they were wonderful. Another 20 books is probably not what you are looking for, though!

46. Also–I feel obligated to pan, as hard as I can, Game of Thrones. If you like unoriginal fantasy based loosely on what went on during the War of the Roses (complete with family names that ring of the real British ones) that leaves a huge open ending for the next book in the series, then you’ll like it.

    I thought it was shite.

    Or course, I hate fantasy trilogies and series quite a lot, after having been suckered into so many by a decent first book.

47. Delurking because I just can’t resist a request for book recommendations.

    If you find yourself hankering for some anti-establishment non-fiction (’cause you’re just not angry enough with the state of the world), I highly recommend “It’s the Crude, Dude” by Linda McQuaig (I know, the title makes it sound like a Michael Moore wannabe book, but she’s a terrific investigative reporter with a real flair for writing) and “The Corporation” by Joel Bakan (or you could just rent the DVD). And, they’re both Canadians, eh.

48. I heartily second “Pattern Recognition” & “Jonathan Strange…”

    “The Corrections” is highly overrated – don’t bother.

    My recommendation: Not recent but essential reading for all humans – “Earth” by David Brin.

49. I second Little Children — depressing in some ways, but really, really interesting. A scary look at suburbia.

    Someone else mentioned that they liked “Secret History” by Donna Tartt beter than “The Little Friend.” I agree with that. I thought “SH” was much better.

50. Oh, and “Guns, Germs, and Steel” by Jared Diamond. It makes you feel really smart.

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