Making time to read.

One of the best things to come out of the mercifully concluded holiday season was the chance to catch up on some reading. The stack of books that has been accumulating since Christmas 2006 remains far too high, but at least since late November, 2007, I’ve made it through the following.

Verily, I’m a better adjusted individual when there’s time to read. Some might follow by suggesting that I take more time to read.

That Neutral Island, by Claire Wills … Chronicle of the surreal nature of official Irish neutrality during WWII, and what it implied for Irish culture – than and now.

The Naked and the Dead, by Norman Mailer … Groundbreaking realism in a novel about the experiences of a squad of American soldiers in the Pacific during WWII.

A History of the World in Six Glasses, by Tom Standage … A short and absorbing story of beer, wine, spirits, coffee, tea and Coca-Cola told in the contexts of history, commerce and culture.

The Russian Debutante's Handbook, by Gary Shteyngart … Broad fictional farce documenting the exploits of a maladjusted early 90’s Russian Jewish immigrant and his eventual “redemption” in an emerging Eastern Europe.

U2 by U2 … Oral history of the Irish rock band (and my chronological contemporaries) told by Bono, the Edge, Adam Clayton and Larry Mullen, Jr..

(Current) Postwar: A History of Europe Since 1945, by Tony Judt … In essence, how did the continent that I love so dearly go from ruins and despair to selling a Euro to Americans for $1.50?

Queued and coming soon:

God is not Great, by Christopher Hitchens … the title says it all.

Deep Economy: The Wealth of Communities and the Durable Future, by Bill McKibben … “An impassioned call to arms for an economy that creates community and ennobles our lives.”

Lenin, Stalin and Hitler: The Age of Social Catastrophe, by Robert Gellately … The three title despots as “founders of 20th century barbarism,” although at first I was sure that “social catastrophe” referred to Dubya.