Rocky Mountain Reading: A Retrospective of 2011

I'll cut to the chase and list the books.

•  Predictably Irrational: The Hidden Forces that Shape Our Decisions by Dan Ariely
• The Upside of Irrationality: The Unexpected Benefits of Defying Logic at Work and at Home by Dan Ariely
• Outliers: The Story of Success by Malcolm Gladwell
• The Icarus Syndrome: A History of American Hubris by Peter Beinart
• When you are engulfed in flames by David Sedaris
• Squirrel seeks Chipmunk: A Modest Bestiary by David Sedaris
• Reefer Madness: Sex, drugs, and cheap labor in the American black market by Eric Schlosser
• The Perfection Point by John Brenkus
• Super sad true love story: A novel by Gary Shteyngart
• The Gun: The AK-47 and the Evolution of War by C.J. Chivers
• The Heart and the Fist: The Education of a Humanitarian, the making of a Navy Seal by Eric Greitens
• What it is like to go to war by Karl Marlantes
• In the graveyard of Empires: America's War in Afghanistan by Seth Jones
• The Savage Sword of Conan by Michael Fleisher (multiple volumes)
• Reading of Judas: The Gospel of Judas and the Shaping of Christianity by Elaine Pagels
• Do androids dream of electric sheep? by Philip K. Dick

I want to say that there a few books missing from the list. However, my reading had been sporadic throughout 2011 with brief sojourns into books I read already.

A few of the books on the list started some interesting conversations with the librarians. When I checked out the books by Marlantes and Grietens, the librarian asked if I was interested in joining the military. I actually would give any kid considering military service a copy of Marlantes and Dalton Trumbo's Johnny Got His Gun. Marlantes's book takes one into an exploration of uncomfortable and unsettling truths about war and the people fighting. I believe the book is one that civilians need to read.

When I was searching for some books by George Shannon, the children's librarian started giving me all sorts of recommendations of mind puzzle books for kids. If you haven't heard of George Shannon, then you check his books out. I could never remember the titles of his books (Stories to Solve and More Stories to Solve) or his name. His books are beautifully illustrated and a lot of fun to read.

Prosecution Now Rests

So, it appears that I haven't been reading in about two years. Not so, not so. Here's a list of things I remember reading:

• The End of the Long Summer by Dianne Dumanoski
• The Freedom Agenda: Why America must spread democracy [Just not the way George Bush did] by James Traub
• Ordinary Injustice - How America holds court by Amy Bach
• Let's Get Free: A Hip-Hop Theory of Justice by Paul Butler

The first two books were prizes from volunteering during WAMU's fundraiser. The last two the books started my short-term interest in the America's justice system.

The Brits are reading!

Eats, Shoots & Leaves by Lynne Truss

Funny book about punctuation.

Oh, Lord!

This past fall and winter was used to get ready for a Sunday school class I was writing:

• Foreskin's Lament by Shalom Auslander
• The New Creation: John Wesley's Theology Today by Theodore Runyon
• United Methodist Questions, United Methodist Answers by F. Belton Joyner Jr.
• United Methodist Beliefs: A Brief Introduction by William H. Willimon

You may have heard Auslander on This American Life. His stories are hilarious. I'm on the queue for his Beware of God.

The other three books are ones that had been recommended to me in regards to the United Methodist Church and its Wesleyan theology.

Summer's Over

It's been a while, but I have been reading some.

The Portable Chekhov edited by Avrahm Yarmolinsky
Poems by Boris Pasternak
The Cornel West Reader by Cornel West
Kiss or Kill - Confessions of a Serial Climber by Mark Twight

I started reading Chekhov after reading Cornel West. This was one of those occasions where following the stream was a good idea.

I recommend to anyone who's never read Pasternak to start reading Pasternak, especially Dr. Zhavigo. His collection of poems were insightful.

I have to be honest, I didn't read all of the Cornel West's reader. I got through the interesting stuff. It gave me a better insight on my brother's work.

Kiss or Kill. I checked this out after reading about Twight in Men's Health (he was the guy who trained the cast of 300) and the Gym Jones website. If you're looking for something different, read this book.

Which Way?

The Way of Chuang Tzu translated by Thomas Merton

Romantic and Revolutionary

Les Miserables by Victor Hugo
The Motorcycle Diaries by Ernesto Guevara

Get Aout!

The Namesake by Jhumpa Lahiri
The Soul of Politics by Jim Wallis

Lowcountry Readin'!

Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil by John Brendt
The Voyage of the Dawn Treader by C.S. Lewis

To Pooh or Not To Pooh

Pooh and the Millennium by John Tyerman Williams
Pooh and the Philosophers by John Tyerman Williams


Please only read if you have a lot of time on your hand. They were both okay reads. Just okay.

Readjusting Reading

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix by J.K. Rowling
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire by J.K. Rowling
The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis
Prince Caspian by C.S. Lewis

Haitian Reading

Sex, Economy, Freedom, and Community by Wendell Berry
The Virgin Blue by Tracey Chevalier
Atonement by Ian McEwan
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone by J. K. Rowling
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets by J. K. Rowling
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban by J. K. Rowling

February Greene

The Power and The Glory by Graham Greene
Our Man in Havana by Graham Greene

Mission Briefings: Haiti

Eyes of the Heart by Jean-Bertrand Aristide
Vodou: Visions and Voices of Haiti by Phyllis Galembo
Haiti...in Pictures prepared by Geography Department
The Dominican Republic and Haiti by Insight Guides

Last Weekend Finishes of Janiver

Sophie's World by Jostein Gaarder
Doctor Zhivago by Boris Pasternak

Winter Breakers

Guns, Germs, and Steel by Jared Diamond
Anna Karenin by Leo Tolstoy
In A Sunburned Country by Bill Bryson

November Slowdown

Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu: Self-Defense Techniques by Royce Gracie and Charles Gracie
Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu: Black Belt Techniques by Jean Jacques Machado with Kid Peligro
Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu For Experts Only by Carlson Gracie with Julio Fernandez
Kickboxing Basics by Master Joe Fox and Art Michaels
The Complete Idiot's Guide to Kickboxing by Karen Karter and Guy Mezger
Mastering Jujitsu by Renzo Gracie and John Danaher
A Walk In the Woods by Bill Bryson
The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway

Done! as of October 20, 2004

The Source of Magic by Piers Anthony
Castle Roogna by Piers Anthony

Summer Readings

Peace Like A River by Leif Enger
At Home in Midford by Jan Karon
Mere Christianity by C.S. Lewis
Cyrano de Bergerac by Edmond Rostand
On God by J. Krishnamurti
The Heart of the Matter by Graham Greene
Henderson the Rain King by Saul Bellow
A Very Long Engagement by Sebastien Japrisot
Number the Stars by Lois Lowry
The Four Loves by C.S. Lewis
The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown
The Prophet by Kahill Gibran
The Garden of the Prophet by Kahill Gibran
Made in America by Bill Bryson
A Short History of Nearly Everything by Bill Bryson