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A list of books I've read.....
Friday, October 24, 2003
"Every Second Counts" by Lance Armstrong with Sally Jenkins
Lance's second book and maybe better than the first. This one covers post-cancer to now and I think, you see more of what makes Lance tick. There are behind the scene stories from the different Tours, some of what led to the separation with his wife and how he feels about his role (like it or not) as an inspiration to the cancer community. I really liked the book (and yes, I'm a Lance fan). My only complaint? No photos! There is one quote in the book I really like, by poet Mary Oliver: "What will you do with your wild and precious self?" Highly recommended.
Wednesday, October 01, 2003
The Past 18 Months......
Here's my list of books I've read over the past 18 months or so, which I will update as I finish the next book.
Now reading: "Dojo Wisdom...100 Simple Ways to Become a Stronger, Calmer, More Courageous Person" by Jennifer Lawler.
"Long Pig" by William C. Miller.
Novel by one of my law firm's retired partners. From the cover--A fantasy concerning canibals, courts and other consumers. Funny and rather silly. I probably wouldn't have picked it out on my own, but it was a fun read.
"Breaking the Chain" by Willie Voet.
Book about the Festina 1998 Tour de France drug scandal written by the team's sounigueur (sp?). Read this on the bus in France. Really interesting and an eye opener.
"I met a guy up on that mountain who I grew to like, and do you know who that guy was? That's right, it was me."___Tim Moore, from the book "French Revolutions....Cycling the Tour de France".
GREAT BOOK!!! Laugh out loud funny, and very much in the style of Bill Bryson, if you've read any of his stuff. Moore was what I'd call a couch-potato and decides one day to ride the route of the Tour (2000). He didn't even own a working bike at the time, had never ridden a road bike, used clip-in pedals or owned a proper kit. (And, putting the bike together? No way.) In addition to the story of his ride, he includes some good history of the Tour and makes some of the places come alive. I am now even MORE psyched to go in a few weeks, if that's possible. I very highly recommend this book.
"A Writer's Reality" by Mario Vargas Llosa.
So-so. A series of essays by a Latin American writer. I thought it would go into much more about the actual craft of writing, but instead, it was more of an intellectual and artistic series of essays. I picked it up in a used book shop, so the value for the price is a wash.
"How to Stop Time: Heroin from A to Z" by Ann Marlowe.
Very interesting memoir by a NYC writer who was addicted to heroin for a number of years. She started out as a casual drug user and eventually became hooked. I think I found it interesting because it's worlds away from anything or anyone I know, but her upbringing was suburban middle class, which I totally relate to. Really enjoyed this one.
"Maestro___Greenspan's Fed and the American Boom" by Bob Woodward.
What possessed me to buy this, I don't remember, but it was a pretty good read. Not all economic-geeky like I'd expected. It delves into the inner workings of the Federal Reserve and Alan Greenspan (the ultimate economic geek). It covers the years 1987-2000 and it would be quite interesting to go back and add an epilogue covering the past couple of years.
"Can You Make A Living Doing That?" by Brad Kearns.
It's about BK's life as one of the early pro triathletes where there were no sponsors and you had to make up the rules as you went along. A quick read and highly entertaining as I remember all the names he talks about from the early days.
My brother gave me the "2002 Official Guide to the Tour de France", which I devoured in a day. Lots of beautiful pictures and a recap of the 2002 race.
"Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life" by Anne Lamott.
Another book on writing, this one more on the "how to", with some great ideas, examples and exercises on getting over the "what should I write about". The two books complement each other quite well.
"A Drinking Life" by Pete Hamill.
Memoir by a writer who grew up in Brooklyn in the 40s-50s with the stereotypical drunken Irish father. Hamill's life revolved around drinking and his conflicts with wanting to be "one of the guys from the neighborhood" and wanting to have/do more in life. Really good. (And who knew he dated Shirley MacLaine?)
"No Mean Feat" by Mark Inglis.
Impulse purchase in NZ. Great book! About a Kiwi who, with his climbing/work partner), was stranded on Mt. Cook for 13 nights. They were both mountain guides in the national park there and they were rescued, but both had to have both lower legs amputated. The book goes into the aftermath and rehabilitation, and then up to the present (just published this year). Inglis has become an excellent paraolympic athlete and wine maker, who in 2003 is off to a new adventure. Quite the inspirational book.
"Volcano--A Memoir of Hawai'i" by Garrett Hongo.
Memoir of a poet/writer, born in Volcano town on the big island (a tiny town that I've been to), but raised mostly in Honolulu and Los Angeles. It's a lot of how he found his place in the world and within his own skin, by returning to the place of his birth and finding out about his grandparents, whom he never really knew. I liked it a lot as I love the big island and all the history and lore.
"The Gloves: A Boxing Chronicle" by Robert Anasi.
A really good book about a guy who takes up amateur boxing when he was 26 (considered quite old) and eventually competes in two NYC Golden Gloves tournaments. He covers the physical, emotional and social aspect of training and the gym. A very entertaining read.
"On Fire" by Larry Brown.
Memoir by an ex-fireman from Oxford, Mississippi, turned writer. Very quick read (short chapters, almost journal-like). Highly entertaining. It's about the life of a fireman, but also about family, life in Mississippi and life.
"Making A Literary Life: Advice for Writers and Other Dreamers" by Carolyn See.
A writing guide but more. Blends the "how to" with figuring out the "why" and how it all fits in with you and your life.
"Teaching A Stone to Talk--Expeditions and Encounters", by Annie Dillard.
This was given to me by a triathlete friend when I was in Virginia, as he thought I would like it. He was right! It's an assembly of writings/essays about the material world ranging from her trip to South America, to watching a full eclipse in Washington state, to walks around the farm in the east. Beautiful writing and lots to think about. Very highly recommended.
"The Long Walk: The True Story of a Trek to Freedom" by Slavomir Rawicz.
Excellent book recommended by a guy I met in Kona at the Ironman. In fact, he mailed me his copy when he finished it. It's about a Polish Army guy who escapes with a group of prisoners in 1940-41 from a Russian prison/work camp in Siberia and then their trek thousands of miles to freedom. Totally engrossing.
"The Real McKay: My Wide World of Sports" by Jim McKay.
My dad had this one at home and I read it in two days. As someone who grew up watching ABC's Wide World of Sports, I found it really interesting, especially to read about the very early days of TV and about the Munich Olympics.
"Touching the Void--The Harrowing First-Person Account of One Man's Miraculous Survival" by Joe Simpson.
Yes, another climbing book. I find it just incredible that people would do this (climb really high mountains). This one is about two guys who climbed a 21,000 foot peak in the Andes. On the way down, there was an accident and Simpson fell and broke his leg. His friend then had to help him down, and during this time there was another accident and they slipped and his friend was forced to cut the rope on the side of the mountain in the dark and believed that Simpson had fallen into a crevasse and was dead. (Now, I am too selfish and if anyone ever cut the rope on me--I'd come back and haunt them to the day they died. You might say, I will NEVER be climbing any mountains.) Anyway, somehow Simpson made his way off an ice bridge where he had landed, down the rest of the mountain and back to camp just as his friend and their third person (who didn't climb) was preparing to strike camp and leave. Very interesting book and a quick read (only 170 pages).
"Semper Fi" (#1 of The Corps series) by W.E.B. Griffin.
Picked it up at the airport on the way to NZ and finished it during the trip. I'd not read anything by Griffin, but really liked this book. It's the first in a series about the Marine Corps and is set during WWII, this particular book mostly in China. I'll definitely pick up the next book in the series.
"What Becomes of the Broken Hearted" by Alan Duff.
Duff is a renowned Kiwi author and this is the sequel to "Once Were Warriors". Another very good book, though not as dark as OWW. I was actually glad to see some good things happening to the characters.
"To The Edge" by Kirk Johnson.
The book by the NY Time writer who takes up running after the suicide of his brother and eventually decides he has to run Badwater. Pretty interesting, especially the account of the race itself and the people who run it.
"Becoming An Ironman...First Encounter with the Ultimate Endurance Event" edited by Kara douglass Thom.
It was great book! There were stories of fast people, slow people, DNFs, some physically challenged folks, late-onset athletes, the early days. Very inspiring.
"Ultimate High--My Everest Odyssey" by Goran Kropp.
Kropp rode his bike 7,000 miles to/from Stockholm to Mt. Everest, attempted the summit and rode back and this is the story of that trip. If I remember correctly, Kropp was killed in the past year or so in a climbing accident.
"Once Were Warriors" by Alan Duff.
I bought it while I was in New Zealand (plus a lot of other books). Very good, but also very disturbing. It's the life of a New Zealand Maori family where alcohol, spousal abuse and living on the dole is an everyday (and accepted) occurrence.
"Seven Years in Tibet" by Heinrich Harrer.
I hear there was a movie made of this book which wasn't as bad as the reviews, though now after reading the book, I cannot picture Brad Pitt in the role. (BTW--I very rarely go to movies and even rarer, rent them or watch them on TV.) I really liked this book a lot. Harrer was an Austrian who was put into a POW camp in India during WWII by the British. He and a few others escaped and eventually he and a buddy escaped to Tibet where they lived for seven years. The story of the escape and trek from India into Tibet was just incredible--the physical hardships they had to endure and then all the thinking on their feet to outwit the government and be allowed to stay. He eventually became a tutor to the Dalai Lama, when the DL was 14 years old.
"Touching My Father's Soul: A Journey to the Top of Everest" by Jamling Tenzing Norgay.
I was up in the wine country last weekend and my friend Paul loaned me this book by the son of Tenzing Norgay, one of the two men who were first to the top of Mt. Everest. A really good book, both about climbing (he was a member of the team who filmed the IMAX movie "EVEREST"), but also about being the son of a very famous person, a raised Buddhist who went to college in the US and therefore lives in both worlds, and the search to find himself and the connection with his father. I found the parts about the Sherpa's spirituality and Buddhism very interesting.
"It's Not About the Bike" by Lance Armstrong.
I read it, dad read it, nephew is reading it and even mom wants to read it now. Mom is not a big reader so this is a major deal.
"In A Sunburned Country" by Bill Bryson.
Travelogue about Australia--I laughed out loud so many times that my dad asked to read the book afterwards; he loved it too.
"The Maltese Falcon" by Dashiell Hammett.
Book club book that I'd never read; great book! The scene descriptions are just amazing. You feel like you are in windy, foggy San Francisco.
"Have A Nice Day" by Mick Foley.
Memoir of a WWF wrestler--yes, we all have our vices, but this was highly entertaining.
"Dead Triathletes Speak" -- Compilation of advice and race reports by the TRI-DRS email list; fun, since I know most of the authors!
"The Four Agreements" by Don Miguel Ruiz.
I'd put this under the self-help genre, sort of.
"The Boxer's Heart--How I Fell in Love with the Ring" by Kate Sekules.
Memoir of a woman boxer. Really liked it.
"To Kill A Mockingbird" by Harper Lee.
A re-read. Love this book.
"Angle of Repose" by Walter Stegner.
Really liked this one. Will have to read more Stegner.
"PrairyErth" by William Least Heat Moon.
I only bought it because it's about Kansas, specifically the area I'm from and some of my relatives and friends of our family are in it. When he was writing it, there was a mixed reaction--one one hand, it was good for the county, on the other hand were the "Don't put me in your damn book" people.
Now reading: "Dojo Wisdom...100 Simple Ways to Become a Stronger, Calmer, More Courageous Person" by Jennifer Lawler.
"Long Pig" by William C. Miller.
Novel by one of my law firm's retired partners. From the cover--A fantasy concerning canibals, courts and other consumers. Funny and rather silly. I probably wouldn't have picked it out on my own, but it was a fun read.
"Breaking the Chain" by Willie Voet.
Book about the Festina 1998 Tour de France drug scandal written by the team's sounigueur (sp?). Read this on the bus in France. Really interesting and an eye opener.
"I met a guy up on that mountain who I grew to like, and do you know who that guy was? That's right, it was me."___Tim Moore, from the book "French Revolutions....Cycling the Tour de France".
GREAT BOOK!!! Laugh out loud funny, and very much in the style of Bill Bryson, if you've read any of his stuff. Moore was what I'd call a couch-potato and decides one day to ride the route of the Tour (2000). He didn't even own a working bike at the time, had never ridden a road bike, used clip-in pedals or owned a proper kit. (And, putting the bike together? No way.) In addition to the story of his ride, he includes some good history of the Tour and makes some of the places come alive. I am now even MORE psyched to go in a few weeks, if that's possible. I very highly recommend this book.
"A Writer's Reality" by Mario Vargas Llosa.
So-so. A series of essays by a Latin American writer. I thought it would go into much more about the actual craft of writing, but instead, it was more of an intellectual and artistic series of essays. I picked it up in a used book shop, so the value for the price is a wash.
"How to Stop Time: Heroin from A to Z" by Ann Marlowe.
Very interesting memoir by a NYC writer who was addicted to heroin for a number of years. She started out as a casual drug user and eventually became hooked. I think I found it interesting because it's worlds away from anything or anyone I know, but her upbringing was suburban middle class, which I totally relate to. Really enjoyed this one.
"Maestro___Greenspan's Fed and the American Boom" by Bob Woodward.
What possessed me to buy this, I don't remember, but it was a pretty good read. Not all economic-geeky like I'd expected. It delves into the inner workings of the Federal Reserve and Alan Greenspan (the ultimate economic geek). It covers the years 1987-2000 and it would be quite interesting to go back and add an epilogue covering the past couple of years.
"Can You Make A Living Doing That?" by Brad Kearns.
It's about BK's life as one of the early pro triathletes where there were no sponsors and you had to make up the rules as you went along. A quick read and highly entertaining as I remember all the names he talks about from the early days.
My brother gave me the "2002 Official Guide to the Tour de France", which I devoured in a day. Lots of beautiful pictures and a recap of the 2002 race.
"Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life" by Anne Lamott.
Another book on writing, this one more on the "how to", with some great ideas, examples and exercises on getting over the "what should I write about". The two books complement each other quite well.
"A Drinking Life" by Pete Hamill.
Memoir by a writer who grew up in Brooklyn in the 40s-50s with the stereotypical drunken Irish father. Hamill's life revolved around drinking and his conflicts with wanting to be "one of the guys from the neighborhood" and wanting to have/do more in life. Really good. (And who knew he dated Shirley MacLaine?)
"No Mean Feat" by Mark Inglis.
Impulse purchase in NZ. Great book! About a Kiwi who, with his climbing/work partner), was stranded on Mt. Cook for 13 nights. They were both mountain guides in the national park there and they were rescued, but both had to have both lower legs amputated. The book goes into the aftermath and rehabilitation, and then up to the present (just published this year). Inglis has become an excellent paraolympic athlete and wine maker, who in 2003 is off to a new adventure. Quite the inspirational book.
"Volcano--A Memoir of Hawai'i" by Garrett Hongo.
Memoir of a poet/writer, born in Volcano town on the big island (a tiny town that I've been to), but raised mostly in Honolulu and Los Angeles. It's a lot of how he found his place in the world and within his own skin, by returning to the place of his birth and finding out about his grandparents, whom he never really knew. I liked it a lot as I love the big island and all the history and lore.
"The Gloves: A Boxing Chronicle" by Robert Anasi.
A really good book about a guy who takes up amateur boxing when he was 26 (considered quite old) and eventually competes in two NYC Golden Gloves tournaments. He covers the physical, emotional and social aspect of training and the gym. A very entertaining read.
"On Fire" by Larry Brown.
Memoir by an ex-fireman from Oxford, Mississippi, turned writer. Very quick read (short chapters, almost journal-like). Highly entertaining. It's about the life of a fireman, but also about family, life in Mississippi and life.
"Making A Literary Life: Advice for Writers and Other Dreamers" by Carolyn See.
A writing guide but more. Blends the "how to" with figuring out the "why" and how it all fits in with you and your life.
"Teaching A Stone to Talk--Expeditions and Encounters", by Annie Dillard.
This was given to me by a triathlete friend when I was in Virginia, as he thought I would like it. He was right! It's an assembly of writings/essays about the material world ranging from her trip to South America, to watching a full eclipse in Washington state, to walks around the farm in the east. Beautiful writing and lots to think about. Very highly recommended.
"The Long Walk: The True Story of a Trek to Freedom" by Slavomir Rawicz.
Excellent book recommended by a guy I met in Kona at the Ironman. In fact, he mailed me his copy when he finished it. It's about a Polish Army guy who escapes with a group of prisoners in 1940-41 from a Russian prison/work camp in Siberia and then their trek thousands of miles to freedom. Totally engrossing.
"The Real McKay: My Wide World of Sports" by Jim McKay.
My dad had this one at home and I read it in two days. As someone who grew up watching ABC's Wide World of Sports, I found it really interesting, especially to read about the very early days of TV and about the Munich Olympics.
"Touching the Void--The Harrowing First-Person Account of One Man's Miraculous Survival" by Joe Simpson.
Yes, another climbing book. I find it just incredible that people would do this (climb really high mountains). This one is about two guys who climbed a 21,000 foot peak in the Andes. On the way down, there was an accident and Simpson fell and broke his leg. His friend then had to help him down, and during this time there was another accident and they slipped and his friend was forced to cut the rope on the side of the mountain in the dark and believed that Simpson had fallen into a crevasse and was dead. (Now, I am too selfish and if anyone ever cut the rope on me--I'd come back and haunt them to the day they died. You might say, I will NEVER be climbing any mountains.) Anyway, somehow Simpson made his way off an ice bridge where he had landed, down the rest of the mountain and back to camp just as his friend and their third person (who didn't climb) was preparing to strike camp and leave. Very interesting book and a quick read (only 170 pages).
"Semper Fi" (#1 of The Corps series) by W.E.B. Griffin.
Picked it up at the airport on the way to NZ and finished it during the trip. I'd not read anything by Griffin, but really liked this book. It's the first in a series about the Marine Corps and is set during WWII, this particular book mostly in China. I'll definitely pick up the next book in the series.
"What Becomes of the Broken Hearted" by Alan Duff.
Duff is a renowned Kiwi author and this is the sequel to "Once Were Warriors". Another very good book, though not as dark as OWW. I was actually glad to see some good things happening to the characters.
"To The Edge" by Kirk Johnson.
The book by the NY Time writer who takes up running after the suicide of his brother and eventually decides he has to run Badwater. Pretty interesting, especially the account of the race itself and the people who run it.
"Becoming An Ironman...First Encounter with the Ultimate Endurance Event" edited by Kara douglass Thom.
It was great book! There were stories of fast people, slow people, DNFs, some physically challenged folks, late-onset athletes, the early days. Very inspiring.
"Ultimate High--My Everest Odyssey" by Goran Kropp.
Kropp rode his bike 7,000 miles to/from Stockholm to Mt. Everest, attempted the summit and rode back and this is the story of that trip. If I remember correctly, Kropp was killed in the past year or so in a climbing accident.
"Once Were Warriors" by Alan Duff.
I bought it while I was in New Zealand (plus a lot of other books). Very good, but also very disturbing. It's the life of a New Zealand Maori family where alcohol, spousal abuse and living on the dole is an everyday (and accepted) occurrence.
"Seven Years in Tibet" by Heinrich Harrer.
I hear there was a movie made of this book which wasn't as bad as the reviews, though now after reading the book, I cannot picture Brad Pitt in the role. (BTW--I very rarely go to movies and even rarer, rent them or watch them on TV.) I really liked this book a lot. Harrer was an Austrian who was put into a POW camp in India during WWII by the British. He and a few others escaped and eventually he and a buddy escaped to Tibet where they lived for seven years. The story of the escape and trek from India into Tibet was just incredible--the physical hardships they had to endure and then all the thinking on their feet to outwit the government and be allowed to stay. He eventually became a tutor to the Dalai Lama, when the DL was 14 years old.
"Touching My Father's Soul: A Journey to the Top of Everest" by Jamling Tenzing Norgay.
I was up in the wine country last weekend and my friend Paul loaned me this book by the son of Tenzing Norgay, one of the two men who were first to the top of Mt. Everest. A really good book, both about climbing (he was a member of the team who filmed the IMAX movie "EVEREST"), but also about being the son of a very famous person, a raised Buddhist who went to college in the US and therefore lives in both worlds, and the search to find himself and the connection with his father. I found the parts about the Sherpa's spirituality and Buddhism very interesting.
"It's Not About the Bike" by Lance Armstrong.
I read it, dad read it, nephew is reading it and even mom wants to read it now. Mom is not a big reader so this is a major deal.
"In A Sunburned Country" by Bill Bryson.
Travelogue about Australia--I laughed out loud so many times that my dad asked to read the book afterwards; he loved it too.
"The Maltese Falcon" by Dashiell Hammett.
Book club book that I'd never read; great book! The scene descriptions are just amazing. You feel like you are in windy, foggy San Francisco.
"Have A Nice Day" by Mick Foley.
Memoir of a WWF wrestler--yes, we all have our vices, but this was highly entertaining.
"Dead Triathletes Speak" -- Compilation of advice and race reports by the TRI-DRS email list; fun, since I know most of the authors!
"The Four Agreements" by Don Miguel Ruiz.
I'd put this under the self-help genre, sort of.
"The Boxer's Heart--How I Fell in Love with the Ring" by Kate Sekules.
Memoir of a woman boxer. Really liked it.
"To Kill A Mockingbird" by Harper Lee.
A re-read. Love this book.
"Angle of Repose" by Walter Stegner.
Really liked this one. Will have to read more Stegner.
"PrairyErth" by William Least Heat Moon.
I only bought it because it's about Kansas, specifically the area I'm from and some of my relatives and friends of our family are in it. When he was writing it, there was a mixed reaction--one one hand, it was good for the county, on the other hand were the "Don't put me in your damn book" people.
