2007 2nd Quarter Reading List

Here's a sample of what I've read over the last three months, hope you find something you might like.

Possible Side Effects by Augusten Burroughs – Another memoir from Augusten, he has such a great sense of humor. I think my favorites in this one was his abnormal fear of the tooth fairy as a child plus how he ended up owing his cleaning lady $20K.

Blink by Malcolm Gladwell – This time Mr. Gladwell explores the idea of thinking without thinking about it. Basically, it’s all about the extreme end of first impressions. Some really neat stuff about experts on reading people’s facial expressions was included in here.

Unforgivable Blackness: The Rise and Fall of Jack Johnson by Geoffry C. Ward – Awesome biography on the first great black Heavyweight Boxing Champion. You can easily draw some comparisons between Johnson and another outspoken heavyweight who came around about 60 years later (Ali, duh!). Great anecdote was included here about Johnson getting pulled over for speeding in a small town. The fine was going to be $50, Johnson gave the cop $100, telling him “I’ll be coming back through the same way”.

A Long Way Down by Nick Hornby – Not one of my favorite Hornby books, but still pretty entertaining. It’s about four strangers who all climb to the top of the same building on New Year’s Ever with intentions of committing suicide, but form a sort of dysfunctional support group for each other.

Little Big Man by Thomas Berger – One of the top ten funniest books I’ve ever read, I’d recommend this one to anyone. A senior in a nursing home recounts how he grew up with the Indians, hung out with Wild Bill Hickock, and was the only surviving white man at The Battle of Little Big Horn.

Baseball Between the Numbers by Baseball Prospectus – Really fun baseball book that has the subtitle “why everything you think you knew about the game was wrong”. Very interesting take on how to interpret statistics, including an intriguing section comparing Rickey Henderson to the infamous Pete Incaviglia, and claiming that they had about equal value to their teams. If you’re a fan of the sport, pick this up.

Candy Girl by Diablo Cody – A memoir about a woman in MPLS who decided to quit her day job and become a stripper. Pretty interesting look at the profession, and it was funny to me to see her mention all of the nudie places back in the city (Déjà vu, Showgirls, Skyway Lounge).

Fantasyland by Sam Walker – Hilarious book about the author trying to win Tout Wars, the most competitive Rotisserie Baseball league in the nation. He ends up using his influence as a reporter/baseball insider to try and swing trades, and uses his advance of $50K to try to win the whole thing. He hires two staffers to help him with the draft, and even gives all of his players on his team T-shirts and trophies to his players of the month.

Gimp by Mark Zupan and Tim Swanson – Interesting biography about the star of Murderball (recent movie documentary about wheelchair rugby). Turns out Zupan was always pissed off, even before his accident left him paralyzed. Awesome story about him crowd surfing, in his chair, at a Pearl Jam concert.

Plagues and Peoples by William H McNeill – A history of infectious diseases, and how they affected history. Interesting to note that the Mongols spread a bunch of diseases in addition to their marauding, and that the same virus that causes the Bubonic Plague is in just about every gopher hole in California.

The Dirt as told by Motley Crue – Hmmm, can’t get umlauts on this thing, oh well, but this is an oral history of the band. How none of these guys ended up dead is beyond me. I would end up laughing uncontrollably on BART some mornings, disturbing all other passengers. Highly entertaining.

Can I Keep My Jersey by Paul Shirley – The journeyman forward, famous for his blogs on NBA.com, tells about his first four years after leaving Iowa State trying to become a professional basketball player. Interesting look at the life of a marginal NBA player, from a guy who doesn’t even seem to like basketball (and for sure, doesn’t like basketball players), all that much.

The Master and Margarita by Mikhail Bulgakov – I’ve heard about this book from a number of people in the last year, all proclaiming it is their favorite book. It’s influenced everyone from The Lawrence Arms to Buck 65, so I had to get it to see what all of the hype is about. Once working my way through all of the Russian names and keeping it straight, it was a pretty fantastic book. All about the Devil coming to Moscow and the havoc that comes along with it. Great satire of communism.

Eats, Shoots and Leaves by Lynee Truss – Angry linguist that is frustrated with how far the English Language has fallen. Kind of lame, I can’t believe this was a best-seller. Language is always going to change and she has a hard time dealing with it, I guess.

Ballpark Blues by C.W. Tooke – Lame read that just seemed like an excuse for the author to take out his frustrations with professional sports in novel form. Don’t bother.

Still Life with Woodpecker by Tom Robbins – Mr. Robbins is such a weirdo, and this novel was no different. A princess living in Seattle falls in love with an angry bomber, ends up marrying a Middle Eastern Prince and gets him to build her a pyramid. Always entertaining, but like I said, weird.