My friend Matt has Web pages listing the books he has read the last few years. I wanted to keep better track of what I read, so at the beginning of 2007, I started keeping a list here. For one thing, changing jobs at the end of 2007 meant I had lots more reading time than I used to, because I now have what amounts to a public transit commute.

• 2008 book list
• 2007 book list

Books I read in 2008

This year's goal: more nonfiction and literary fiction than in 2007.

• Equal Rites, by Terry Pratchett. June, 2008.

  A female wizard? Are you kidding?

• The Yiddish Policemen's Unions, by Michael Chabon. No date because I read a bunch of The Rest is Noise after Bloody Bones and can't recall when I read the Chabon.

  A strange and mostly wonderful book, about a world in which the Jews who survived WWII are given a limited-term home in Sitka, Alaska. I liked it a great deal, especially the wry and tortured Mayer Landesman, cop. I suspect it's funnier than I found it; dry wit often goes over my head in print.

• Bloody Bones, by Laurell Hamilton. April 12, 2008.

  Much better than the previous two Anita Blake novels, largely because it's heavy on the mystery, better on the human/monster relationship issues, and light on gratuitous violence

• Towel thrown in on Empire of Ivory, by Naomi Novik, the fourth Temeraire book.

  No problem with the improbability of talking dragons and Nelson's survival past Trafalgar, but the insanity of the decision-making in this book and the lost-kingdom aspect in the center put me over the edge. I also looked ahead to the ending - WTF? I don't buy it and am done, done, done with the series

• Hogfather, by Terry Pratchett. March 25, 2008.

  Hmm, two Pratchetts in a row and separated by weeks. That's largely because of the amount of time I have recently put into researching and writing a forthcoming article, the longest I've written as a music writer. In any event, Death's sensible granddaughter saves the world.

• Lords and Ladies, by Terry Pratchett. March 8, 2008.

  Magrat Garlick, Granny Weatherwax, Nanny Ogg, love, unicorns, and....those you don't mention.

• Alice, Let's Eat, by Calvin Trillin. March 3, 2008.

  One of the great New Yorker writer's collections of food essays. Hilarious, and you will drool straight through.

• The Charterhouse of Parma, by Stendahl, translated by Richard Howard. February 20, 2008.

  I read a review in the Times a few years ago when this translation of the Stendahl classic was published. On a visit to my mother, probably in 2001 after she broke her wrist, a bookstore across the river in Hackensack was going out of business. I picked up a few books, Charterhouse among them.

  Now, I was not expecting to like Charterhouse. It's a long, early 19th century classic by a writer with a one-name pseudonym. I was expecting serious, heavy, unpleasant.

  Boy, was I surprised. The tone throughout is light, ironic, very modern; the action is paced swiftly; the book is full of charm. world. At its heart, it's a novel of politics and court intrigue. It tells the story of the young nobleman Fabrizio del Dongo, as foolish a dolt as has ever been found on the pages of a novel: you will often want to smack him. Possibly more importantly, it's about his aunt, the marvelous Duchess of Sanseverina, and her lover Count Mosca della Rovere, who try to get Fabrizio established in the world.

• Musicophilia, by Oliver Sacks. January 20, 2008.

  Subtitled "Tales of Music and the Brain," that's exactly what this superb book by Dr. Sacks is about. Music, neurology, brain damage, unusual conditions, all fascinating.

• The Edge of Chaos, by Pamela McCorduck. January 17, 2008.

  The third novel by an author best known for her writing about artificial intelligence and other aspects of computer science. Set in Santa Fe, partly at the Santa Fe Institute, about love, death, and other aspects of life. A really good book, interestingly plotted (the characters' lives unfold very slowly) and vividly written. I wish the typeface were more readable - the book designer made a very bad choice.

• Reaper Man, by Terry Pratchett. January 4, 2008.

  DEATH LEAVES HIS JOB FOR A WHILE.

Books I read in 2007

• Nurse Matilda Goes to Town, by Christianna Brand. December 26, 2007.

  The second of the Nurse Matilda books, with a plot that can be summarized in one sentence: The Brown children go to London, mayhem ensues, Nurse Matilda puts things right. Beyond that, really, it is rather annoying. Too much picking on both thin and far people and people with accents. I wish there were either a plot or some characterization beyond the very broad characterization of Aunt Adelaide, Evangeline, and Nurse Matilda.

• Well-Schooled in Murder, by Elizabeth George. December 25? 24?, 2007

  The third of the Inspector Lynley novels. The plot is about two layers of complexity past plausibility, plus, I thought one character's self-torture implausible based on my knowledge of one of the other characters. I was vastly relieved when....but completing many of these thoughts would require a big spoiler warning. I should note that since I've been sick for two days, this was fine sick-bed reading anyway.

• Black Powder War, by Naomi Novik. December 23, 2007

  Longer than the previous two novels and less effective than either, with an overly long plot with insufficient motivation for the primary activity and a couple of all-too-obvious long-range setups, plus not quite enough elucidation of an intruiging character. Perhaps he'll appear in the fourth book, perhaps not. Moreover, those dragons can be so annoying! Just imagine a talking cat the size of a first-rate man o' war who can fly and speak intelligently in multiple languages.

• Witches Abroad, by Terry Pratchett. December 7, 2007.

  Don't mess with Granny Weatherwax or Greebo.

• Understanding Comics, by Scott McCloud. November 29, 2007.

  I've wanted to read this book since it was first published in, get this, 1993. McCloud gave a captivating talk at Google a few months ago about his new book, Making Comics, and I decided I'd better start at the beginning.

  Why ever did I wait so long? Understanding Comics is sheer genius, as he wittily deconstructs and reconstructs comics through the ages. Not only that, the book is in the form of a comic. Brilliant; I'll be ordering his subsequent two books ASAP.

  For some reason, his talk isn't up on the Authors@Google web page. Hmmm.

• Battle Cry of Freedom, by James McPherson. November 27, 2007.

  You see the huge gap between finishing The Civil War and finishing His Majesty's Dragon? Blame Battle Cry of Freedom, a magnificent one-volume history of the American Civil War. It's about 900 pages long, and I have finally wrapped it.

  Battle Cry won the Pulitzer Prize in 1988, and it's easy to see why. McPherson starts in the 1840s, and he's 250 pages in before the first shots are fired at Fort Sumter. He covers the causes of the Civil War, the social and political conditions of the period, the battles, the generals, the politicians, the enormous changes wrought by the war. He is deeply eloquent and deeply learned. A great accomplishment and worth every minute I spent reading it.

• Throne of Jade, by Naomi Novick. November 23, 2007.

  More of the Napoleonic wars plus dragons. There are two anachronisms: use of the words "mindset" and "sideburns." I wonder about the design of the dragon transport and may consult a naval architect of my acquaintance. Otherwise, lots of fun, and boy, those dragons are very high maintenance.

• Basket Case, by Carl Hiaasen. November 15, 2007.

  The usual mix of screwups, heavies, and entertaining improbabilities, all very, very funny.

• His Majesty's Dragon, by Naomi Novick. November 10, 2007.

  The Napoleonic Wars plus dragons, from the English viewpoint. What more could you want?

• The Civil War, by Bruce Catton. September 19, 2007.

  I'm reviewing San Francisco Opera's production of Philip Glass's new opera, Appomattox, in a couple of weeks. I have not studied American history since high school, and though I had better review the history of the American Civil War before the opera opens.

  The Civil War is a superb short history of the conflict. With about 300 pages of narrative and 100 pages of back matter, it's very much the 20,000 foot view. Still, it takes in the causes of the war, at least from the perspective of 1960, and its course. Catton vividly conveys the conditions of the war and the characters of the men who led it.

  Still, we've learned a lot since 1960. I have a more recent, longer history of the era on board; I may even finish it by October 5.

• Death in a Strange Country, by Donna Leone. September 13, 2007.
  
  I admit that I've been having some problems finishing a book since I finished Cryptonomicon. I started and have not finished Colors, by Victoria Finlay, and The Ladies of Grace Adieu, by Susanna Clarke. I will finish both of them, but wanted to get through something, and a couple of weeks ago we were give a bagful of the Commissario Brunetti novels. So I read the second, even though I was annoyed by the first and had decided not to read any more.

  The second is also annoying! There are a couple of implausible plot points that I won't discuss, as they are spoilers; she tips her hand badly on a couple of plot points; the pacing is not so good; there's a huge tangle set up and not undone by the end. I think she is setting up future plots, most likely; giving Guido a nemesis of some kind. I thought of John Rebus and his nemesis Cafferty -- if you want atmosphere and great writing, try the Rebus novels rather than these, unless they get a lot better. Also, perhaps she took that Chekovian dictum a little too seriously.

• Crytonomicon, by Neal Stephenson. August 22, 2007.
  
  It took more than a month for me to finish this 900-page brick, although it would come in a bit under that if I hadn't left the book at work twice during that period, once for a whole weekend. However, let me say that it is thoroughly engrossing; long, complicated, fabulously written; full of engaging characters; brilliantly plotted. I loved every minute and every word and, really, I was sorry when it was over.

  Given that it's Stephenson, you might expect fantasy or science fiction, but Cryptonomicon is a generation-spanning historical thriller. You don't need to know about the history of cryptography, or to have read an Alan Turning biography, but after you're done, you may want to.



• Death at La Fenice, by Donna Leone. August 6, 2007.
  
  You'd think a book combining Italy and music - opera, no less - would be especially appealing, but music and opera are more background than anything else. The writing is dryish and the characters and plotting only intermittently interesting, alas. I figured out who done it, as well.


• Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, by J.K. Rowling. July 24, 2007.
  
  NO SPOILERS HERE. The seventh and last tale in the saga of Harry Potter, Boy Wizard. A decent read, with major caveats. It is overly long, rambly, and confusing, and shows up some substantial flaws in Rowling's decisions about how to write the series. She apparently decided early on that Harry's viewpoint would be the series viewpoint 90% of the time, which severely limits her ability to provide background information to the reader, and keeps us stuck mostly inside Harry's not-so-interesgting head for the eight thousand or so pages of the saga. I hate her use of ellipses, and you'd think she could afford the services of an editor with all the money she has hauled in from these books.


• Payment in Blood, by Elizabeth George. July 16 or 17, 2007.
  
  The second Inspector Linley novel, perfect vacation reading.


• Guards! Guards!, by Terry Pratchett. July 11, 2007.
  
  Samuel Vimes, seeekrit plots, a dragon or two, the magnificent Lady Ramkin, and Carrot. Definitely one of the funniest I've read in this generally very funny series.


• United States of Arugula, by David Kamp. July 9, 2007.
  
  An entertaining, gossipy, decidedly non-scholarly look at food and eating in the United States since the 1930s, and at various chefs and authors who helped change things for the better, from James Beard, Julia Child, and Craig Claiborne to the present day.


• Uncle Tungsten, by Olivers Sacks. June, 2007.
  
  The remarkable and charming memoir of Oliver Sacks, neurologist and author. It's subtitled "Memories of a Chemical Boyhood" for good reasons: his inventor uncles introduced him early to the wonders of chemisty, and over the course of the book, you follow young Oliver as he reads the original works of great chemists and physicists from the 17th to 20th centuries, recreating their experiments - and explosions - along the way. You also meet Sacks's fascinating extended family and learn a lot about middle-class British Jews between the wars, not to mention the periodic table of the elements. Trust me: by the end of the book, you'll want to visit a chemical supply store so you can conduct your own experiments.


• Sourcery, by Terry Pratchett. 5/24/07.
  
  I know it looks as though I'm only reading Pratchett, but between Mort and Sourcery, I started reading a (lovely) memoir, then got very sick and couldn't read anything for a few days. When I could read again, I wanted something light to read. Anyway, typical Pratchett; good, with some great moments, but not the best. I would have wanted MORE of the Luggage.


• Mort, by Terry Pratchett. 5/11/07.
  
  DEATH TAKES A HOLIDAY. MERRIMENT ENSUES.


• Performing Music in the Age of Recording, by Robert Philip. 5/4/07.
  
  I heard Robert Philip speak at the British Library in 2004, right around when this book was published. It is a brilliant and important book, discussing what we hear in old recordings, how performing style has changed through a century of recorded sound, and, most importantly, what authority means and where it lies, and whether those things can be determined from recordings. A fascinating and erudite book, required reading.


• Better, by Atul Gawande. 5/2/07.
  
  Dr. Gawande gave a talk at Google yesterday, and I scored a copy of the book there, which he was kind enough to inscribe to me and my partner, who had heard him speak the day before at UCSF. I've been a fan of his New Yorker articles for years; he is a graceful writer with an individual voice, and extremely thoughtful. Some or all of the essays in this book are reprints of New Yorker articles, with connective tissue and updates added for publication as a book. Some I had not not read, and one (the cystic fibrosis article) I have thought of often and re-read on line at least once. I enjoyed the book very much, and I also plan to write him a letter. I didn't get to ask him the question I'd finally settled on, plus, I think he never quite articulates a theme that is quite obvious to me. A good read, interesting, eye-opening, although I have to confess that I think his concluding chapter is a little lame compared to the strength of each individual essay. Highly recommended.


• Maskerade, by Terry Practchett. 4/29/07.
  
  Pratchett does opera, hilariously. Read it!


• Kitchen Confidential, by Anthony Bourdain. 4/17/07.
  
  A big seller in 2000, the year it was published, a tell-all about life in a restaurant kitchen by the often-profane, often-stoned/drunk chef. Sometimes fun, sometimes tiresome, full of colorful characters.


• The Great Deliverance, by Elizabeth George. 4/09/07.
  
  The first Inspector Lynley novel. A terrific read, excellent characterizations and atmosphere, entertaining cast of characters.


• Abandoned, probably temporarily, Salt, by Mark Kurlansky, because it feels like it has devolved into a list of wars in which salt has played a part. Perhaps I just need to skip a chapter or two.



• Abandoned, perhaps only temporarily, A Fan's Notes, by Frederick Exley, because I've read 85 pages and I'm not sure if I can stand to spend another 300 in his company.



• Nurse Matilda, by Christianna Brand. 3/05/07.
  
  The book on which the Emma Thompson film Nanny McPhee is based. I found it charming and slight. I have no idea why the title was changed for the film. [December, 2007. Probably because American children would misunderstand "nurse" in this context.] The character, played by Thompson, is very much the same in the film and the book, and so is the rich aunt. The children, who seem to number 18 or 20 in the book, are less sharply drawn than the 8 or 9 who appear in the film, unsurprisingly. They are more of a pack or litter than they are individuals. Also unsurprisingly, in the book Mrs. Brown is alive and well. She's presumably eliminated in the film to create a romantic plot and something resembling dramatic tension, of which there is almost none in the book.


• "The Illusionist," by Steven Mullhauser. 3/4/07.
  
  The short story on which the Edward Norton/Paul Giamatti film is based. I've wanted to read Millhauser since the late 1980s some time - I remember a pink index card with a bunch of names on it, including his. I never did get around to him, or so I thought. A couple of weeks ago, I found that a horror and fantasy collection I purchased and read years ago contained a reprint of "The Illusionist," so I must have read it at the time. As it happens, the story has very little to do with the film. It is strictly about Eisenheim and his career and illusions. No conspiracies, no noble lover, etc. It's a very good story, though, so it could be said that I still want to read Millhauser.


• The Lunatic Cafe, by Laurell Hamilton. 3/3/07.
  
  The fourth in a series of books about Anita Blake, vampire slayer. Well, she also raises the dead. This series is sort of like popcorn. I keep reading, even though the character is pretty annoying at times. She seems both much younger and much older than 24, the age she has reached in this book. "I've lived alone for a long time" - what?? At 24 I'd been out of college for 2 years and it would be a bunch more years before my first period of living alone. A friend commented that she'd stopped reading the series because the rules about the various nonhuman sentient beings in the books keep changing. That isn't exactly how I read them: I think Blake is in the process of discovering what the rules are. At this point, I guess I am curious about how she is going to work out her increasingly complicated and entertaining love life.


• Stars in My Pocket, Like Grains of Sand, by Samuel R. Delany. 2/22/07.
  
  My third or, more likely, fourth time through one of the best science fiction novels of the 1980s. It is dense and sometimes a bit incomprehensible, but well worth it.


• The Red Box, by Rex Stout. 2/15/07.
  
  The fourth Nero Wolfe mystery, published in 1937. Fun, and an interesting look at the times (there is no sign of the Great Depression). Otherwise, about what you'd expect.


• Fifty-Two McGs. 2/10/07.
  
  A memorial collection of the best obituaries by the late, great NY Times writer Robert McG. Thomas, Jr., master of the form.


• The Privilege of the Sword, by Ellen Kushner. 1/23/07.
  
  The book that falls chronologically between Swordspoint and The Fall of the Kings, the two previous novels set in the world of the nameless riverside city. It fills in quite a lot of information, introduces Katherine Talbert, and brings back some of the characters from Swordspoint.

  I found Katherine enormously annoying for the first hundred pages or so; if you do too, stick with the book anyway. She changes a lot during the course of the story and the plot eventually gets underway in interesting ways. There is, I think, a big plot point left hanging at the conclusion, so perhaps we'll get more set in the same world.

  If you're new to the series, read Swordspoint first, then this book, and finish with The Fall of the Kings. Yes, you should try to find the two Alec & Richard short stories too.
  

• The Dragon Waiting, by John M. Ford. 1/15/07.
  
  I first tried to read The Dragon Waiting a few years ago; about 40 pages in, for some reason, I stopped. Maybe I found it too obscure or too confusing - I can't remember.

  This time it took, though, and I zipped right through, wishing at the end that there were more (and in more than one way). It's an alternate history, set in a 15th century where Byzantium is a power nearly across Europe, numerous gods are worshipped (among them Jesus Christ - but Christianity is a minor cult, not the dominant religion), magic works, and, oh yes, there are vampires. Highly recommended, for its elegance and the vivid characters especially.



• Heat, by Bill Buford. 1/8/07.
  
  Overly ambitious home cook has midlife crisis (I assume), joins the Babbo kitchen, goes to Italy, and finds...philosophy. That short description doesn't really do this funny and perceptive book justice, though. If you read it, you'll understand why any sensible amateur cook stays the hell out of cooking school and professional kitchens. Bufford gets burned by every hot liquid in the kitchen, cut by many implements, and learns how do a lot of very cool things. I'd like to be able to butcher a cow leg like that too.

  Adding to the fun, one of the sous chefs at Google used to work at Babbo; he found me reading Heat one day and signed my copy on the page where he's mentioned. On the down side, whoever edited Heat needs remedial lessons in how to ensure that the verb and subject match in number.



• Wyrd Sisters, by Terry Pratchett.
  
  Well, I think I read this in 2007. I was sick from Christmas to New Year's, so it's hard to remember what, exactly, I read when. It's one of the earlier Discworld novels, featuring the three witches, Nanny Ogg, Granny Weatherwax, and Magrat Garlick. It's extremely funny in that sometimes dry, sometimes belly-laugh, always-clever Pratchett way.