Reading List 2012: Only Just Made it!

I don’t make New Year resolutions on the basis that I have little resolve. Furthermore, I hate to set myself up for failure by promising something and then not succeeding – which I did last year by aspiring to write 500 words a day during the year and then ending up nowhere near that figure.

However, I have been tracking the books I read over the year and that’s been a good way of keeping me in the habit of reading. The tablet revolution might have given folks easy access to downloadable books, but I’m afraid games, videos, and social media account for most of what people do with all this wonderful technology. So just because it’s technologically feasible to get a book on demand, actually plowing through words on a page turns out to be hard work.

Reading is good

Which is why logging my reading habits has definitely helped. I didn’t quite hit the 60 mark as I did in 2011 but some of the books I read were rather heavy going and looooong!

So for the curious – and those looking for inspiration on what to read during the coming year – here’s the 2012 list in order of when I finished each one. And if you don’t have time to read a whole book (shame on you!) you can click on the Dude Link button to download a summary document.

1. Peter Cook: A Biography – Harry Thompson
    Bio of one of the UK’s most beloved “alternative” comedians. Dudes’ Review
2. The Greatest Show on Earth – Richard Dawkins
   Lucid account of the process of selection in evolution.
3. The Angel on the Roof – Russell Banks
   Collection of 31 stories from over thirty years of writing.
4. The Innovator’s Dilemma – Clayton Christenson 
   Innovation as both good and bad, and how to deal with it.
5. Forward the Foundation – Isaac Asimov
   Classic space opera sci-fi from a master.
6. The Origin of Speech – Peter MacNeilage 
   A neo-Darwinian account of the origin and evolution of speech.
7. Hatred at Home – Andrew Welsh-Huggins
   Home-grown terrorists in Ohio after 9/11.
8. The New York Trilogy – Paul Auster
   Three off-beat detective novels in one; postmodernist fiction.
9. A History of the English Language – Elly van Gelderen 
   Textbook with a companion web site.
10. An Aegean Prophecy – Jeffrey Siger
    Detective fiction set in Greece.
11. Thinking, Fast and Slow – Daniel Kahneman
    Psychologist looks at cognitive bias in the business world.
12. Ovid’s Metamorphoses – Charles Martin translation
    A new (2005) translation of Ovid’s indispensable classic.
13. Why Be Happy When You Could Be Normal – Jeanette Winterson
    Witty biography of growing up in the north of England – like I did!
14. A Canticle for Leibowitz – Walter M. Miller
    Award-winning classic post-apocalypse sci-fi story.
15. Capturing New Markets – Stephen Wunker 
    Adapting your business to evolving consumer demands.
16. Ghosts of Empire – Kwasi Kwarteng
    How British colonial policies have shaped the world.
17. Freedom for the Thought that We Hate – Anthony Lewis
    The First Amendment and its defenders.
18. Word Origins and How We Know Them – Anatoly Liberman
    Etymological detective work at its best.
19. “I” is an Other – James Geary 
    How metaphor is embedded in our thinking.
20. Triplanetary – E.E. “Doc” Smith
    Classic space opera from the 40’s.
21. The Strange Affair of Spring Heeled Jack – Mark Hodder
    Steampunk in an alternative Victorian era.
22. You Are Not So Smart – David McRaney 
    Why being deluded and biased is simply human.
23. And a Bottle of Rum – Wayne Curtis 
    A history of rum and the rum trade.
24. IQ84 – Haruki Murakami
    A novel about a novel in a parallel world.
25. The Curious Case of the Clockwork Man – Mark Hodder
    More steampunk adventures in an alternative Victorian age.
26. Empire: What Ruling the World Did to the British – Jeremy Paxman 
    Three hundred years of Empire in Paxman’s unique style.
27. Blind Willow, Sleeping Woman – Haruki Murakami
    Collection of stories written between 1981 and 2005.
28. Everything is Obvious – Duncan J. Watts 
    The nonsense of “intuitive” and “obvious” exposed.
29. Nothing: A Very Short Introduction – Frank Close 
    What’s left if you take matter away? Is “nothing” something?
30. The Kingdom by the Sea – Paul Theroux
    A three-month trip around the UK.
31. Pedro Paramo – Juan Rulfo
    Stunning magical realism set in Mexico. Dudes Review.
32. Why Does the World Exist? – Jim Holt 
    Philosophers ask why is there something rather than nothing.
33. My Family and Other Animals – Gerald Durrell
    Life with the Durrells on Corfu in the 1930’s.
34. Ready Player One – Ernest Cline
    21st century sci-fi romp with one foot firmly  in the 1980’s!
35. Daemon – Daniel Suarez
    Sentient internet threatens to take over the world.
36. Freedom (TM) – Daniel Suarez
    Follow up to best-selling Daemon.
37. Omnitopia – Diane Duane
    Companies fight to control virtual worlds.
38. The Flaw of Averages – Sam Savage
    Probability and management; don’t bet your shirt on anything!
39. American Gods – Neil Gaiman
    Award-winning fantasy about gods, myths, and America.
40. Ill Fares the Land – Tony Judt
    Contemporary materialism and selfishness examined.
41. 50 Reasons People Give for Believing in God – Guy Harrison
    Arguments against theism.
42. Incarnation – Daniel Easterman
    Political thriller with mystical overtones.
43. Kitchen Confidential – Anthony Bourdain
    Sex, drugs, rock and roll – and a kitchen!
44. Prospero in Hell – L. Jag Lamplighter
    Fantasy about Shakespeare’s Propero character’s family.
45. The Connected Company – Dave Gray 
    How modern companies have to become more connected.
46. Neverwhere – Neil Gaiman
    A fantasy set in two Londons – the real and a parallel one.
47. Choke – Chuck Palahniuk
    The life and near-deaths of a con artist.
48. If Houses Why Not Mouses? – Damien O’Brien
    Etymology and how historical sound change affects words.
49. Hard-boiled Wonderland and the End of the World – Haruki Murakami
    Two plot lines become one in a surreal fantasy about memory.
50. All in a Word – Vivian Cook 
    Bits and bobs about words and phrases.
51. The Dreamthief’s Daughter – Michael Moorcock
    Nazis, magical swords, multiverses, and Moorcock as usual.
52. The Story of English in 100 Words – David Crystal 
    Why English is how it is through 100 words.
53. A Dash of Style – Noah Lukeman 
    How to improve your punctuation and, hence, your writing.
54. Mortality – Christopher Hitchens
    Hitchens’ final essays as he was dying of cancer.

I have two books currently on the go on my tablet, so 2013 is already underway! If anyone has any suggestions for books worth reading, let me know. And watch out for more  links with our posts.