Summary – 52 Books in 52 Weeks

I tried to pick out my top five or ten books that I read over the past year. But since they all fall into various categories (autobiography, fiction, science, science fiction, biography, drama, etc) it was really hard to do. So I’m going to break it down as much as I can.

Two books that opened my eyes to the state of the world, yes today’s world, despite this happening half a century ago: The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich by William L Shirer and Mein Kampf by Adolf Hitler. If you can’t see the similarities between what happened in 1930s Germany and the U.S. today, you’re living in a cave. Hitler told us exactly what he would do. Shirer reports that it did indeed happen.

The most delightful book I read this year: Barmy in Wonderland by PG Wodehouse. Not only was it a cute story, but it introduced me to the brilliance of Wodehouse’s writing. As Asimov said of him: the right word in the right place every time.

My favorite book of the year: Nicholas and Alexandra by Robert K. Massie. I also liked the follow up book, The Romanovs: The Final Chapter.

Most surprising book (positive): Blaze by Richard Bachman (aka Stephen King). Wasn’t expecting this to be so good. It is now in my top five Stephen King novels. Very good and none of the horror. Who knew?

Most surprising book (negative): Ark by Stephen Baxter. The follow up to Flood was just simply horrible.

Most horrific book: The Origin of Species by Charles Darwin. Lack of data. Very few actual scientific tests. No citations whatsoever. Nothing but a “theory” and this is accepted as the basis of our current science? Seriously? I wanted to read it to actually see for myself this “profound” piece of work. What I saw was something that no scientist of today would have ever gotten away with… let alone become revered for. And just think – this is being taught to children around the world as the answer to how we came into being. God help us all.

Best history book I’ve probably ever read: Krakatoa by Simon Winchester. It’s not just about a volcano, but about an entire society that grew up around the volcano and how technologies of the day (some very new) had an impact following the eruption (telegraph, cartography, shipping trade). Winchester weaves all of it together seamlessly. Great stuff.

Best new writer: Sam Eastland. His first book Eye of the Red Tsar left me wanting to read more. Can’t wait for the next novel to come out.

A few other books that I really enjoyed were Into Thin Air and Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer. Amazing real life stories. Voices from Chernobyl by Svetlana Alexievich made me both angry and sad. A book everyone should read. And finally two great autobiographies that show insights into the men behind them and the decisions they had to make during these difficult times: Decision Points by George W. Bush and A Journey by Tony Blair.

Next year I’m not setting a goal as to the number of books read, simply because I wasn’t expecting to be rushed at the end of the year. I didn’t realize how much research I’d have to do on the books I did read, and had they all been novels, I would have probably had the 52 done by June. But then that would have been rather boring.