Reading List

I've got quite a stack of books to read! When I see something interesting on the 'net, I put in an "order" from the local library. Here's a list of recently, currently and see to be read books:

Recently Finished
• Reversing The Curse : inside the 2004 Boston Red Sox by Dan Shaughnessy [ISBN 0618517480] : This book sucked the joy out of a grandiose happening. While the beginning of it got some of the feelings right, CHB (Curly Headed Boyfriend, as my buddies on the BoSox mailing list are fond of calling him, using "Jurassic" Carl Everett's term of derision) spent far too much time on the peccadilloes of the various players, like Nomar's sulkiness, Pedro's prima-donna act, and Curt's self-aggrandizements. It was a struggle getting through it, and nothing should tarnish the unmitigated joy of the entire 2004 season like this book does.
• Captiva by Randy Wayne White [ISBN 0399141405] : I often go in and browse the new books at the library. I'll scan through the new mystery books and see if there are any interesting looking series that I haven't read before. I saw the latest one by this author and so I wandered down back and grabbed Captiva. It isn't the first in the "Doc Ford" series, but oddly enough it seems to be the first one written from the first person perspective (mainly, anyway). The first two I saw were third person, and for my mysteries, I much prefer a first person narrative. Despite the blurb on the front of the book ("The best new writer since Hiassen!"), I didn't see the connection. It was okay, but a tad pedestrian. Enough so that I probably won't seek out any of the others.
• Mind Game / by the writers of Baseball prospectus, Steven Goldman, editor [ISBN 0761140182] : Now this is more like it! Subtitled "How the Boston Red Sox Got Smart, Won a World Series, and Created a New Blueprint for Winning", it chronicles the season in a very detailed, statistically-oriented way. Using a method very similar to the Bill James Baseball Abstract, each part of the season is examined from a Sabermetrical standpoint. Some fine, opinionated writing, if sometimes a bit dry. Still, a real eyeopener and I enjoyed every minute of it. Highly recommended if you are at all interested in the numbers behind the story.

Currently Reading
• Spring Forward : the annual madness of daylight saving by Michael Downing [ISBN 1593760531] : A look into the social roots of Daylight Saving (not with an 's'!) Time. Not too much mention of the pros and cons, just how it came about, and a general history of time, especially in the United States. Hard to believe just how fractured it was in the beginning of the 20th century, with cities, towns, states and regions all going their own way. It's a little heavy on the quotes and sometimes hard to follow for some reason, but still it tells a fascinating story.
• Freedom Of Expression® : overzealous copyright bozos and other enemies of creativity by Kembrew McLeod [ISBN 0385513259] : a very funny yet chilling account of the stifling effects on creativity by bean counters and other copyright police. A truly remarkable look into reuse, mostly of songs, but of other material too, and just how bizarre the whole thing is. One of the most fascinating aspects is that, by law, you have the right to record a cover version of a song, with the rates specified by an early 20th century law. But you cannot re-use even a snippet of a song without opening you up to a whole host of lawsuits. The most chilling story was of Verve's mega-hit Bittersweet Symphony. They used a five second sample from an old Rolling Stones B-side, that they actually negotiated the rights to. However, an old manager successfully sued them, even though you can hardly hear it, as it is buried underneath the many layers of the song. They lost 100% control over their song. To make matters worse, another old manager sued them for the song recording, while the first one got them for the songwriting! To rub salt into their wounds, when the song was nominated for a Grammy, because Verve had lost all rights to the song, it was credited to Mick Jagger and Keith Richards! Read the whole sad story here on Wikipedia. But the book is rife with infuriating examples just like this; for example, the descendants of Woody Guthrie, one of the most liberal borrowers and donators in all of folkdom, aggressively protecting any re-use of "his" songs. Don't read this if you want to keep your blood pressure down!

In The Queue
• Curse of the Narrows by Laura M. Mac Donald [ISBN 0802714587] : the story of the disaster in Halifax, Nova Scotia on Dec. 6, 1917, when an freighter loaded with ammunition blew up in Halifax Harbor. The resulting firestorm and tidal wave killed over 1500 people and obliterated much of downtown Halifax. It's a compelling story, made even more interesting to me because of a local angle - due to Boston's immediate response to the disaster, sending a train load of help and supplies through a raging blizzard, the good people of Halifax to this day donate a huge Christmas tree to the city of Boston.
• In The Spirit Of Crazy Horse by Peter Matthiessen [ISBN 0670836176] : Matthiessen is one of my favorite authors. His Killing Mister Watson trilogy is a fascinating look into early Florida history, and he writes some incredible travelogues. This book is a 600+ page behemoth on the '75 shootout at Wounded Knee between the FBI and the American Indian Movement. It was suppressed for over 8 years due to pending litigation, all of which were thrown out, costing over US$2 million dollars in legal fees. This examines the dubious motives of the FBI, as well as making a compelling case for Nelson Peltier's innocence. A little too "spiritual" at the start, from what I've read - sorry, but I don't have a spiritual bone in my body! But we'll see what happens once it gets past the American Indian background and gnaws at the bones of the case. Makes a good companion to the book on tape I'm listening to, The journey of Crazy Horse, written and read by Joseph M. Marshall, III. I tend to shy away from these things, as everyone knows it'll end in tears (very much like I'm skittish about Holocaust movies and books), but this has been a fun listen so far, as it details the life and times of Crazy Horse, the celebrated Lakota warrior and leader. The author is a Lakota Indian himself.
• The Republican War On Science by Chris Mooney [ISBN 0465046754] : I read his blog The Intersection (link found on the left), and here he documents the unprecedented misuse of facts and science by the current Republican administration. Another book to raise my blood pressure!

Non-library books to be read
• The Ancestor's Tale : a pilgrimage to the dawn of evolution by Richard Dawkins [ISBN 0618005838] : One of the best non-fiction books I've ever read, it uses an amazingly simple conceit - work backwards through history and use various "Rendezvous" where our lineage meets another branch on the tree of life, and then use that meeting as a springboard to discuss something about evolution. I started to read it after taking it out from the library and realized I absolutely had to own this book. Now I've got to get started back on it. Simply a fascinating work on a variety of subjects, from evolution, to gene theory and biology. You have to read this book.
• Seabiscuit : an American legend by Laura Hillenbrand [ISBN 0449005615] : the celebrated book on the celebrated horse. I buy my mother-in-law a bunch of books every year for Christmas. She's a voracious reader and it's nice to try and get her some interesting books, as she is very willing to read most anything. So I've confiscated this one back from her now that she's done with it.
• A Feast For Crows by George R.R. Martin [ISBN 0553801503] : book four of the immensely popular fantasy series A Song of Ice and Fire. I'm not normally much of a fantasy fiction fan. I recently tried a couple after seeing a list of fantasy authors on Pharyngula, but none of them really grabbed me. But this series of George RR Martin's about the land of Westeros has grabbed me every since I picked up the first book when it first came out. Maybe it is the realistic setting, with a minimum of magic with plenty of medieval bloodshed. He's very willing to kill of any of his characters at the drop of a hat! I even reread the trilogy just to be ready for book four. I've had this book on pre-order for more than a year and it finally arrived the other day. But I hear it really is book 4a, as the book grew too big for a single printing. So I think I'll await A Dance With Dragons and let my sister, who is also a huge Song fan too, and is patiently awaiting the birth of their second child, read it first. As for medieval books, I can also highly recommend the Dorothy Dunnett series, The Lymond Chronicles. The six books were recently (well, within the last 10 years!) republished in a handsome set of trade paperbacks by Vintage. Really top notch writing, with intricate royal stories. Great stuff!

Phew! It is quite a pile of books, and I hope I can slog through most of them. I don't have nearly enough time to read, but I try to get up into bed well before 11pm, and settle in with a good book. I put the TV onto some sports contest, almost certainly a hockey one this time of year (let's all hear it for Center Ice!), and read my book. Or books. Or fall asleep.

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