What I Read in 2008

The End of America: Letter of Warning to a Young Patriot, by Naomi Wolf
- If you care about what is happening in the world, read this book. I am blown away by her assertion that there are ten steps every society takes on its way to dictatorship and her very persuasive argument that every one of those ten steps is underway on some level in the United States right now.

84, Charing Cross Road, by Helene Hanff
- This book is such a quick read I didn’t even have time to add it to the “currently reading” list before I finished it! I started it on the shuttle this morning and finished it at WW this evening – probably 90 minutes total reading time. It’s delightful, if you’re a book lover. I heard they made a movie out of it, but it’s all letters back and forth from London to New York, so I’m not quite sure how you go about dramatizing that. Maybe I’ll check it out, though.
  - Update: So, I checked this movie out from the library, and holy hell, is it boring. I fell asleep after 30 minutes. Reinforces my belief that there are many books that were never meant to be movies.

The Good Earth, by Pearl S. Buck
- I see why so many people are required to read this in high school. It’s an easy read, and interesting, and there are lots of metaphors and other things that high school English teachers like to make you pick up on. Very good, I thought.

House of Moses All-Stars, by Charley Rosen (recommended by Nate)
- This book is about a group of Jewish friends in the 1930s who form a traveling basketball team. Sounds odd, doesn’t it? But it’s very good, actually.

Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Bronte
- This is another one of those books it seems everyone but me had to read in high school, but I finally got around to it, and I just loved it! It’s way better, in my opinion, than Wuthering Heights (and I know they’re not by the same Bronte sister, but people seem to freaking love that book, and I just didn’t get it), and it was truly a pleasure to read.

Watching Baseball Smarter: A Professional Fan’s Guide for Beginners, Semi-experts, and Deeply Serious Geeks, by Zack Hemple
- This book is awesome – it’s accessible and funny and a quick read. I know a lot about baseball, but I learned a lot of stuff I never knew, and having read it, it makes baseball that much more fun to watch. I highly recommend it.

The Portrait of a Lady, by D.H. Lawrence
- I didn’t like the ending, but I’m glad I picked this one back up. This half seemed to go faster than when I first started reading it last summer.

Grace (Eventually): Thoughts on Faith , by Anne LaMott
- She’s one of my favorite authors – just honest and authentic, but witty and gentle at the same time. I always feel like I can face whatever the world throws at me when I’m reading her books.

Heal Your Headache: The 1-2-3 Program for Taking Charge of Your Pain, by David Bucholz, M.D.
- This is the book my doctor made me read that resulted in my following a special diet for 8 weeks in an effort to identify my migraine triggers. In the end, the culprit for me turned out to be caffeine. Eliminating it from my diet has greatly decreased the frequency and severity of my migraines.