Thursday, January 28, 2010

A few months' worth of reading

I had planned to write a review of each book as I read it. Alas, I've been reading too much, and internet access has been too little. I have, however, been rating what I've been reading, so here is a list covering September 2009 - January 2010:

5 stars
"In Defense of Food" Michael Pollan
"This Accursed Land" by Lennard Bickel
"The Black Swan" Nassim Nicholas Taleb

4.5 stars
"Cooper's Creek" Alan Moorehead
"The Explorers" Tim Flannery
"Animal, Vegetable, Miracle" Barbara Kingsolver
"Fooled by Randomness" Nassim Nicholas Taleb

4 stars
"South" Ernest Shackleton
"True Grit" Charles Portis
"Papillon" Henri Charriere
"Real Dirt: How I Beat My Grid-Life Crisis" James Woodford
"Oryx and Crake" Margaret Atwood
"Going Solo" Roald Dahl
"The Mud House" Richard Glover
"Two Weeks with the Queen" Morris Gleitzmen
"Van Diemen's Land" James Boyce
"A Terrible Beauty" Richard Flanagan

3.5 stars
"Life is so Good" George Dawson
"Frog Call" Greg French
"The Last Grain Race" Eric Newby
"The Wee Free Men" Terry Pratchett
"The Amazing Maurice and his Educated Rodents" Terry Pratchett
"Hat Full of Sky" Terry Pratchett
"The Secret Life of Wombats" James Woodford
"Eiger Dreams" Jon Krakeuer
"Handmaid's Tale" Margaret Atwood

3 stars
"Desert Solitaire" Edward Abbey
"Banco" Henri Charriere
"The Element" Ken Robinson
"Masquerade" Terry Pratchett
"Jaguars Ripped My Flesh" Tim Cahill
"Death of a River Guide" Richard Flanagan

2.5 stars
"Deep Survival" Laurence Gonzales
"My Uncle Oswald" Roald Dahl
"A Short Walk in the Hindu Kush" Eric Newby

2 stars
"Walden" Henry Thoreau

Interesting how the distribution is very Gaussian ...

3 comments:

  1. You read all those in a few months? Impressive! I have now added "This Accursed Land" and "The Black Swan" onto my list of books I want to read.

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  2. Oh good! I think you will find "The Black Swan" very interesting. Not sure if "This Accursed Land" is down your alley, but I think it should be compulsory reading for all Australians. Would make for exciting history classes!

    It is amazing how much you can read when only working part-time and low on energy! :)

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  3. That is a lot of books! Thanks for reminding me about the black swan - that was on my list a while back but fell off.

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