January: The Fall of Giants by Ken Follett
For our first month, I chose the behemoth of a book I was alerady reading for fear I'd never have time to start and finish another book! I accidently read this book. I was actually trying to read another Follett book that several people had recommended to me, Pillars of the Earth. Somehow, I got this one instead. I'm not a huge historical fiction reader, although I do like it occasionally. I liked Follett's writing style and the book was fun and easy to read. Gavin liked it as well, although we didn't discuss it much because I was fairly far ahead of him most of the month.
February: Moonwalking with Einstein, Joshua Foer
I read a lot of dorky books. Read ahead to next month if you don't believe me. But I'm pretty sure this one takes the dorky cake. That's not to say I didn't find it interesting, because I certainly did. But it's still the dorkiest book I've read in a long time. I know lots of people consider Professional Poker Player as a fringe profession... what about professional memory expert?? Still, overall I enjoyed reading it and Gavin and I had lots of interesting conversations about things in the book. More importantly, we had intersting conversations about us, our lives and our dreams inspired by things in the books. THAT'S what I really hoped to get from this book club, so in that sense, the book was a huge success! I have no interest in having a better memory, especially using the methods discussed (the book isn't a how to book, although it presents a few methods). I much prefer to rely on notes, calendars, and books than my memory.
March: My Brief History, Stephen Hawking
While the number of books he sells would indicate otherwise, I always feel alone in enjoying Hawking's books. I've read most of them and I just like them. I consume science media for entertainment more than for education and his books are easy to read, but still leave me with a sense of accomplishment and 'brain growth.' I thought it would be interesting to read aobut his life. It was... for me. Gavin wasn't really impressed. He was also annoyed that Hawking couldn't discuss his life without discussing his work in detail (especailly time travel.) I was a little surprised by Gavin's adamance. The man is passionate about his work so to me it makes sense he would talk about it, I'm sure if you saw the earlier drafts of his autobiography it would be more prevelant! Not much to discuss in the book though.
April: Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, Robert Pirsig
I haven't read this book, but I did raise my eyebrows at Gavin when he announced it at this month's book! I'll let you know next time what I thought.
No comments:
Post a Comment