Most of my friends are well read. To paraphrase Orwell, “…some well readers are better read than others.”
I’m sending the attached list to the second group. (WSJ.com – Twelve Months of Reading.)
First, some background.
In December, the Wall Street Journal prints lists of the best books of the year. I don’t find the selections of the editors especially interesting. But they also print a list from a variety of people, well known and otherwise.
This list is eclectic, often insightful, and occasionally surprising. For example, the very first person – a movie director – confesses to a belief, which, I was convinced was not held by any other person other than myself:
I love books. I mean, I love buying books.
I can't say I read most of the books I buy.
Recently I decided to believe that buying books is as good as reading them. I feel smarter as soon as I sign the credit-card receipt…
So, I hope y’all (Texan for second-person plural) enjoy this list as much as I.
Oh yeah, given the topic, I feel compelled to list my favorite reads from the past year.
But again, first some background. (I know, I tend to run on. My friend and former boss, Cy Baker, used to say of me, “If you ask Pete what time it is, he will tell you how to build a watch.”)
Due to the constraints of my longevity, I read only non-fiction.
Therefore there are two criteria: New information and quality of writing.
If you get both (e.g. The Making of the Atomic Bomb) life is perfect. If you get the former without the latter (e.g. Voice of the Martians) the effort of reading is worth the payoff of learning. Well-written without new facts, you might as well read fiction.
For this year, a book that delivers on both categories is In The Garden Of Beasts, one of the best books I’ve ever read. There’s also one that delivers on facts, but needs lots of editing, The Bomb In The Basement.
Let me know if you have any additions.
BTW, feel free to pass this on to anyone you feel would appreciate it.
Mr. Shugart, who divides his year between El Paso and Southern California, may be contacted at shuggie@flash.net
