Oh man, I see more titles to add to my “Want to read” list. That list is a few hundred titles long.
I just finished “Maestro___Greenspan’s Fed and the American Boom” by Bob Woodward. Really interesting and not so economic-geeky as I feared it would be.
I had a lot of free time over Christmas and during a trip in early December to New Zealand, and during that time I read:
“Can You Make A Living Doing That?” by Brad Kearns. A quick read and highly entertaining as I remember all the names he talks about from the early days.
My brother gave me the “2002 Official Guide to the Tour de France” since I’m going this July.
“Volcano–A Memoir of Hawai’i” by Garrett Hongo. Memoir of a poet/writer, born in Volcano town on the big island (where we’ve actually had lunch…Volcano, that is), but raised mostly in Honolulu and Los Angeles. It’s a lot of how he found his place in the world and within his own skin, by returning to the place of his birth and finding out about his grandparents, whom he never really knew. I liked it a lot as I love the big island and all the history and lore.
“The Gloves: A Boxing Chronicle” by Robert Anasi. A really good book about a guy who takes up amateur boxing when he was 26 (considered quite old) and eventually competes in two NYC Golden Gloves tournaments. He covers the physical, emotional and social aspect of training and the gym. A very entertaining read.
“On Fire” by Larry Brown. Memoir by an ex-fireman from Oxford, Mississippi, turned writer. Very quick read (short chapters, almost journal-like). Highly entertaining. It’s about the life of a fireman, but also about family, life in Mississippi and life.
“Making A Literary Life: Advice for Writers and Other Dreamers” by Carolyn See. A writing guide but more. Blends the “how to” with figuring out the “why” and how it all fits in with you and your life.
“Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life” by Anne Lamott. Another book on writing, this one more on the “how to”, with some great ideas, examples and exercises on getting over the “what should I write about”. The two books complement each other quite well.
“A Drinking Life” by Pete Hamill. Memoir by a writer who grew up in Brooklyn in the 40s-50s with the stereotypical drunken Irish father. Hamill’s life revolved around drinking and his conflicts with wanting to be “one of the guys from the neighborhood” and wanting to have/do more in life. Really good. (And who knew he dated Shirley MacLaine?)
“No Mean Feat” by Mark Inglis. Impulse purchase in NZ. Great book! About a Kiwi who, with his climbing/work partner), was stranded on Mt. Cook for 13 nights in the 1970s. They were both mountain guides in the national park there and they were rescued, but both had to have both lower legs amputated. The book goes into the aftermath and rehabilitation, and then up to the present (just published in 2002). Inglis has become an excellent para-olympic athlete and wine maker, who in 2003 is off to a new adventure. Quite the inspirational book.
I also picked up some Kiwi fiction that I’ll start on soon. And, I read a ton of magazines…Triathlete, Inside Tri, Runners World, Marathon & Beyond, CycleSport, ProCycling, Oxygen, Shape, etc.