Collected Miscellany

I thought it would be appropriate to look back over the books I read in 2009 and pick out a few of my favorites.  Keep in mind what follows is my list of favorite reads in 2009 not books published in 2009. And the list is not in particular order or rank.

1) John the Baptizer by Brooks Hansen:

No matter your faith background, or lack of it, or your knowledge of the Bible, or lack of it, I highly recommend John The Baptizer.  Its blends the historical and the literary in ways that defy genre and subject matter to create a powerful story.

2) Right Time, Right Place by Richard Brookhiser

For anyone wanting to understand the conservative movement, and its flagship magazine, Right Time, Right Place is a must read.  And anyone interested in becoming a journalist/writer would do well to read it. But at its heart is a more humane vision: that being true to your ideals and friends is what’s important.

3) The Everafter War by Michael Buckley

With the Everafter War Michael Buckley again shows why this series has won the acclaim and popularity it has.  Each book has just the right amount of humor and seriousness; of plot and character development mixed with satire and slapstick.  He keeps the reader guessing – although both the traitor and the master are pretty easy to spot – and despite all the silliness (and the YA audience) the characters are surprisingly well developed. It is just an ideal light read for me and for kids of all ages.

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I liked this quote from Richard Brookhiser on the book reviewer’s temptation to stray from the subject:

It is a temptation that book reviewers must guard against—and will often succumb to anyway. The Great Gatsby and the Declaration of Independence are about the same thing, more or less (the pursuit of happiness), but they are very different works, and neither should be faulted for not being the other.

Worth thinking about for my next review …

I thought it might be interesting to dig into the archives and pull out some 4th of July themed books.  So here are 4 for the 4th:

–> The American Revolution: A History by Gordon S Wood

The American Revolution is no stranger to the tug and pull of partisan cheerleading posing as scholarship (not to say that some of that cheerleading isn’t accurate and worthwhile). I am sure that those with strong interest and/or knowledge in the subject would say that Gordon S. Wood has a bias and/or “a take” on many of the issues involved but he attempts in this book not to make this a moralistic story of right and wrong but instead views “how the Revolution came about, what its character was, and what its consequences were” as “the questions this brief history seeks to answer.”

In my opinion Wood gives a great overview of the historical, political, and intellectual ideas and events that make up this fascinating time in our country’s history. He does so in a way that is accessible to the average reader but that is still thought provoking and interesting.

–> The American Cause By Russell Kirk

If you were looking for a succinct and well-written primer on traditional American conservatism and the enduring values of the American Founders, you would be hard pressed to do better than The American Cause by Russell Kirk. Henry Regnery originally published this short work in 1957 during the early days of the Cold War. It was later republished in 1966 in the heart of the revolutionary 1960’s. The Intercollegiate Studies Institute has recently decided to again publish this short but timely work. Kirk scholar, and speech writer for former Michigan Governor John Engler, Gleaves Whitney has edited the volume and provided an introduction and afterword. The original work had a heavy emphasis on communism and the communist threat that was appropriate to its time. Whitney has seen to abbreviate or generalize some of the focus on communism as such.

This helps to preserve the meat of the book and to limit the distraction of dated political issues. Much discussion remains about communism as an ideology but Whitney’s editing prevents the work from being seen as merely an anti-communist polemic. The result is a book that is still very pertinent to today’s conflicts. In fact, Kirk’s succinct description of American exceptionalism remains one of the most clearly written and eloquently argued synopses of traditional conservatism around.

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I am the type who really works at finishing the books I start.  Ever since I first started at a young age on my path to full fledged bibliophile, I have avoided “quitting” on a book at all costs.  For me to not finish felt like a failure; a nagging sense of a half-completed job.

Since becoming a book reviewer/blogger – and as my life has grown busy with kids, work, etc. – I have gotten more comfortable in not finishing books.  I guess I have less time to waste and so feel less charitable towards bad books.

But it isn’t always a bad book either.  Sometimes a book just doesn’t work for me at the time.  I am not able to focus on it or my mood doesn’t match the book’s style or form. Sometimes things just don’t click and I find it necessary to abandon a book or keep reading out of guilt.

I thought it might be interesting, as a sort of confession, to offer five books I have failed to finish in the last year or so. At least this way the books get a little publicity (there’s no such thing as bad, right?).

Here is my list:

1. Amerika: The Missing Person: A New Translation, Based on the Restored Text by Franz Kafka.  This is one of those that I don’t blame the book so much as my inability to focus.  When I picked this up I had a lot going on and was only reading it in small snippets before bed.  I just never got into it and so put it aside.  I still plan to read it in the future.
2. Binu and the Great Wall by Tong Su.  This one just fell flat for me.  I have read most of the Canongate Myths books and enjoyed them.  But at some point I had to recognize that this one was a chore to read and I didn’t want to finish.  It had some interesting aspects to it, but the story didn’t seem to be going anywhere and held no insights for me.  Perhaps, my unfamiliarity with the source of this myth and the underlying culture handicapped me.
3. George Washington on Leadership by Richard Brookhiser.  This is another one where I blame me rather than the author (who is one of my favorites).  If you are interested in history and leadership this is actually an interesting and informative book.  But I had a lot of other reading to do for my job at the time and I put it aside to work on a project and never picked it up.  It has joined its brothers on the To Be Finished pile.
4. Wide Awake: The Future Is Waiting Within You by Erwin Raphael McManus.  I am not sure what to make of this one.   A publisher was kind enough to send me an advance copy and I thought it would be an interesting book.  But, while I didn’t hate it, it just never seemed to connect for me.  It was a little to close to Christian pop psychology for my tastes and I never finished it.
5. Enduring Justice (Defenders of Hope Series #3) by Amy N. Wallace.  This was a combination.  I was reading it when I had a lot of books I was trying to review and this one was part of a blog tour where I need to post by a certain date.  I had two choices: finish it and all likelihood write a negative review or drop it and move on.  I chose the later.

As you can see, there isn’t really one type of book or genre involved.  What also jumps out at me is the circumstances surrounding my reading.  If I am very busy, under a lot of stress, or doing a lot of reading for work my patience seems to give out quickly.  If I am reading for pleasure, and particularly when I have a lot of books I am really excited about reading, I just have a hard time reading something I don’t enjoy or that seem like work.

When do you stop reading a book?  Do you feel guilty or do you see it as an essential time management tool (life is to short to read bad books)?  Do you put books aside and pick them up again later?  I would love to know your experience.

Image via Wikipedia

I have not posted in a while.  A variety of things contributed to that which I will not bore you with.  On the bright side, I really like the new look of the site and WP 2.8 is working well.

I have for the most part tried to keep partisan politics off this blog.  This is for a number of reasons.  I started this blog to get away from politics and feel that books can be a source of common ground for people who disagree politically.

I started The Right Reads as a place to review and discuss non-fiction dealing with right of center politics.  It seems better to keep that separate from a site that still mostly reviews fiction, history and creative non-fiction rather than political activism and philosophy. I will link to content here when it seems appropriate – and vice versa – that way readers are aware of it and can read it if they so choose but it doesn’t distract from the focus

With that in mind, here are some links from a couple of memoirs tied to William F. Buckley Jr.:

–> Right Time, Right Place by Richard Brookhiser

As the subtitle – Coming of Age with William F. Buckley Jr. and the Conservative Movement –indicates, RTRP is a blend of history, memoir, and political commentary.  I find this type of “creative non-fiction” can lack focus, often jumping between subjects and styles, but Brookhiser’s unique perspective, style and flair for language make this a remarkably focused and powerful read.

It is a very personal and honest look at the man and magazine at the heart of the conservative movement’s rise to power, and eventual return to earth, while at the same time a meditation on the dangers of hero worship and the nature of mature relationships.

–> Q&A with Richard Brookhiser on Right Time, Right Place

–> Losing Mum and Pup by Christopher Buckley

I was prepared to be angry about Christopher Buckley’s latest book Losing Mum and Pup.  I have been a fan – idealized is probably more accurate – of his father’s since a very young age and worried about any attempt at sullying that reputation.  I was so sure a tell-all book about losing both of his parents within a year would be offensive.  Throw in Christo’s (the name his parents used for him) less than astute political judgment of late and I had all but pronounced him beyond the pale.

But I decided to read the book first.  And, despite the difficult nature of the subject, I am glad I did.