50 Books in 2005

Several years ago I made a resolution to read a book a week. I did it, but it wasn't easy. So I am resolved to do it again this year. I'll post quick reviews here.

The Plot Against America, Philip Roth. This is a novel in which Charles Lindberg is elected president (he defeats FDR) and the nazification of the US that follows. A great book, seemingly real. He crafts this book so well that my mother, who lived through the period, said she found herself "remembering" the fictional events even though they never took place. A book for anyone interested in Jewish America, World War II, or Philip Roth (who happens to be a favorite of mine.)

I am Charlotte Simmons, Tom Wolfe. I am a big Tom Wolfe fan, so I went into this book with a bias. Needless to say, it is a riot and brought back many memories of my college experience. How Wolfe can get into the mindset of all his characters: women, teachers, jocks, blacks, jews, intellectuals, college kids, whatever, he has a tremendous skill. I think he must pay attention to every detail of life.

Manhattan, Pete Hamill. A collection of essays by NY Post writer Pete Hamill that codifies his love affair with NYC, specifically Manhattan, and more specifically downtown. I loved this book because I found that much of what he reflects upon are things that impact me as well. The beauty of the old city, the warmth that people have for each other (despite what others think about NYC), and what he calls the "alloy" of New York and that is the blending of cultures and races and languages and customs and food and music and dress into what we see, hear, and feel when we walk the streets of New York. This book is a must for anyone who loves New York, has an interest in the immigrant culture of the US, early American history, or essay writing as a craft.

Hooded Americanism: The History of the Ku Klux Klan, David M.Chalmers. I received this early 1960s era book as a gift from my girlfriend Amy with whom I share a passionate interest in the Civil War. As any Civil War buff knows, it was Nathan Bedford Forest, CSA general, who started the Kuklos Clan as a civilian militia to protect white landowners in the south from the carpetbaggers who came from the north during deconstruction. What the KKK turned into, according to this book, was a patchwork of unorganized different outfits in each state whose common agenda of hatred terrorized blacks, Catholics, Jews, and other groups for about 100 years. The book is very straightforward, written in an historical context and does not offer any opion good or bad. It's not very well written, but I found it interesting nontheless.

Nicholas Nickelby, Charles Dickens. Written in 1838 but still a very good book with a terrific cast of characters including a flamboyantly gay dress shop owner who just cracked me up. This book cracked me up (I happen to find a lot of Dickens to be very funny).

Positively 5th Street, James MacManus. The author is on assignment for Harpers to cover women playing in the World Series of Poker as well as the trial for the murder of one of the Binion family, of Binion's Horseshoe and World Series of Poker fame. Killing time at Barnes and Noble and sipping coffee, I grabbed this book from the shelf of poker books and started reading it for the hell of it. I was already in the middle of another book at the time, so I wasn't really committed to the relationship. But it hooked me from the first page, so I bought it, I read it, I enjoyed it. If you like poker, murder trials, or Las Vegas you may like this book.

Keep a Lid On It, Donald Westlake. I think I read this book a while back because I have probably read every published word of Westlake's since my father got me started on him in about 1975. And many of his books I have read over and over again. They are fun. More on Westlake at www.donaldwestlake.com.

That makes seven books, its the middle of March, so I am three books behind. I should catch up a little this weekend.

Portuguese Irregular Verbs, Alexander McCall Smith. Author is from Zimbabwe. He calls this book an "entertainment," which sounds like Graham Greene. The entertainment centers around Dr. von Igelfeld, the author of Portuguese Irregular Verbs, and his hijinx with other members of the Institute of Romance Philology. It's rather a series of slightly related wodehouseian incidents that I found rather hilarious. My mother recommended this book along with two others of the same ilk.

In the queue

The Finer Points of Sausage Dogs and The Villa of Reduced Circumstances, both by Alexander McCall Smith.

Fame, Salman Rushdie. I already read this once, but reading it again I am realizing that Rushdie may be the finest writer of English fiction today.

The Devil's Playground, Traub. I am more than halfway through this book. It is a history of Times Square.

My goal is to finish all these by the end of this week, which will give me 12 books in 13 weeks. After that I have to sink my teeth into something with more substance, maybe a classic.