Reading List – 2013

I used to keep a detailed list of every book that I read. However, two young kids, a busy career, and life disrupted that list-making habit for several years. I figured it’s time to get back to keeping list of what I read.

When I gave up the book reading list habit, there certainly weren’t the social media platforms that there are now for tracking what you’ve read. And, I could always do this on Goodreads. However, I’ve never been a huge fan of Goodreads’user interface, so I’ll just do it here, and I’ll update this post every time I read a new book.

One note, this is ostensibly a business/professional blog given that I’ve worked in PR for the past 15+ years, handling PR for a wide variety of digital and software companies at the intersection of media, mobile, digital, and marketing. However, while there may be occasional business-oriented books that show up on this list, I’m a voracious fiction reader, and the list will most likely reflect that. I’ve never been one to participate in reading groups or even annual reading challenges. I basically read whatever strikes my fancy, and I live in a house filled with books – many of which I haven’t read yet. Without further ado.

1. In Joy Still Felt, The Autobiography of Isaac Asimov by Isaac Asimov 

This was a re-read for me. I read this two-volume biography of Isaac Asimov, the famed science fiction writer, when I was in my 20s. I enjoy this kind of book, but if you’re not interested in writing and book publishing I imagine this could get pretty boring. There’s lots of passages, “I wrote XXX story and mailed it to X or Y editor, and then I started working on a new non-fiction book about the Universe . . ” I loved this view behind the curtain of a working writer – and a writer who was extremely prolific.

In Joy Still Felt, The Autobiography of Isaac Asimov

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

2. Breakout by Richard Stark

I’ve been a long-time fan of Richard Stark’s Parker novels. Of course, Richard Stark is Donald Westlake’s pen name for hard-driving crime novels. These Parker novels can literally be read in one-sitting if you have a couple of hours to kill. This was definitely not my favorite Parker novel. Stark’s style is flat, clinical, and all plot and forward narrative – usually my favorite kind of novel. I enjoy the Parker novels, but this one was just so-so in the series.

Breakout by Richard Stark

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *