I read a few new books, and I added one at the beginning that I had originally left out.
1. Maus, by Art Spiegelman is a two volume graphic novel (biography) about the author/illustrator’s father’s experience as a Jew in a Nazi concentration camp during World War II. It is incredible. I didn’t originally include it in this list because it is a graphic novel, but the books were amazing and so I am adding it in as the official first book I ever read. I’m counting them as one book.
40: The Natural: The Misunderstood Presidency of Bill Clinton, by Joe Klein. Since I basically work for Bill Clinton as the Clinton School’s chief photographer, and because I see him several times a year, I thought I should learn a little about who he was as a President. This book is very well written and surprisingly (to me) quite entertaining. I couldn’t put it down. Like him or not, Clinton was a game changer.
41. Midnight in the Garden of Good & Evil, by John Berendt. Honestly, this was one of the worst books I’ve ever finished, which isn’t entirely a bad thing. I’ve never finished a bad book. I generally get bored and give up if I’m not wildly entertained, so everything on this list gets my approval and recommendation to anyone out there looking for something to read. It just so happens that this book falls squarely at the end of the list of books I enjoyed the most. I’m surprised I trudged through the end of it at all, actually. It’s slow, and pointless, and has very little action. The main character of the book is undoubtedly the town of Savannah, Georgia, which is interesting, but serves as a poor protagonist. If you like books from/about the south though, you might like this one. I didn’t.
42. Sex on the Moon: The Amazing Story Behind the Most Audacious Heist in History, by Ben Mezrich. Once again, Mezrich serves up a gripping narrative of a smart kid doing something crazy. This book is about a kid who landed a gig at NASA and then proceeded to steal a safe full of moon rocks to try to sell to a buyer in Belgium. Crazy. Couldn’t put it down.
43. Ugly Americans: The True Story of the Ivy League Cowboys Who Raided the Asian Markets for Billions, by Ben Mezrich. Since I was back on a Mezrich kick after Sex on the Moon, I decided to read the only other non-fiction book by him I hadn’t yet read. This one was the worst. Which, again, isn’t all that bad. The story was just a little slow and I got the feeling he was reaching for something to fill the pages with. As I was reading I kept wondering why anyone found this story interesting enough to write a book about. It’s more of a magazine article I think. Regardless, the book was decent. I finished it.
44. We Die Alone: A World War II Epic of Escape and Endurance, by David Howarth. Folks: This is the best book I’ve ever read. Hands down. No contest. Game over. This book chronicles in amazing vivid detail the story of Jan Baalsrud, a Norwegian secret operative fighting for the British army during WWII. Right from the start, Baalsrud’s plans are foiled and he spends the rest of the book on the run from the Nazi’s in northern Norway, trying to make it to the Swedish border before the snow melts. It completely blew my mind. I read it in about 10 hours over two days. If you like true stories of survival, this is the best one ever. Insane.
Anyway, that should bring us up to speed. I’ve now read 44 books in my life. Here, again, is the complete list (with links to Amazon).
