2014 Books

Lots of free time in Serbia afforded plenty of opportunities for reading. I also dipped into Justified, Mad Men, Breaking Bad, Silicon Valley, Broad City and Game of Thrones on television. Of these, I think I enjoyed Silicon Valley the most, but it is fully my intention to damn it with faint praise. I had a number of problems with Breaking Bad, and, of the above list, found it to be the most disappointing; but that might have been the result of high expectations, along with the fact that it's really not my kind of show.

Channeling   Chris Rock, I'll list my top five, followed by the whole list, which is also available on Goodreads. Hat Tip to Pat (my only Goodreads friend at this point) for his reviews and suggestions; and also to Lois, Sarah, Worldwide and Monika for their gifts and suggestions.

Confessions of an Advertising Man

by David Ogilvy

Enjoyed the confidence (and arrogance) of this book, which was very much of its time. It was a quick read, sprinkled with great war stories from the world of advertising, and offered lessons applicable to any organization. One of those books, you are glad to have read, and surprised more people haven't heard of. A Farnam Street recommendation.

Conspiracy Theories and Other Dangerous Ideas

by Cass R. Sunstein

I didn't always agree with the arguments in this book, but the points are so well argued that I found myself thinking about a number of issues in different ways. One of the things I've found most beneficial about the internet is access to information and opinions from people I don't necessarily agree with. There are losers and winners in every transaction, and it can be useful to hear a well reasoned case from the other side, rather than speculating about how "idiots" could possibly believe something.  The essay on "animal rights," for instance, was a refreshing take on an issue that I had never considered. Easy to dismiss outright; much harder after reading.

Junkyard Planet: Travels in the Billion-Dollar Trash Trade

by Adam Minter

I think I got this after hearing an interview with the author on NPR. He was raised in the scrap trade and spent a significant amount of time in China to gather the material for this book. My main takeaway was increased reassurance that nearly all value is extracted from our scrap and wariness about environmental standards and worker safety in China. A lot to learn about a fascinating part of modern life that we don't pay much attention to. 

Sex, Drugs, and Cocoa Puffs: A Low Culture Manifesto

by Chuck Klosterman

Bought this after hearing the author riff on pop culture with Bill Simmons on Grantland. Fabulously entertaining essays on various aspects of pop culture. If you were looking for a literate deconstruction of Saved by the Bell, this is the book for you. I've also started reading and enjoying his Ethicist column in the Sunday NY Times as a result.

A Supposedly Fun Thing I'll Never Do Again: Essays and Arguments

by David Foster Wallace

Another link from Farnam Street, which initially led me to the fabulous "This is water" commencement address, which prompted a deeper dive into his collections of essays. Truly great writing, combining insight into life in today's world with an appreciation (and sometimes scabrous loathing) of various aspects of pop culture and everyday life. 

Here is the full list. Honorable mentions to "My Salinger Year" and "Love Goes to Buildings on Fire."

Title	Author
The Rosie Project (Don Tillman #1)	Graeme Simsion
The History of Rock 'n' Roll in Ten Songs	Greil Marcus
The Obstacle Is the Way: The Timeless Art of Turning  Trials into Triumph	Ryan Holiday
Another Fool in the Balkans: In the Footsteps of  Rebecca West	Tony   White
Check the Technique: Liner Notes for Hip-Hop Junkies	Brian Coleman
Books That Changed The World	James Andrew Taylor
My Salinger Year	Joanna Rakoff
Listen to This	Alex  Ross
The Pleasure of Finding Things Out: The Best Short  Works of Richard P. Feynman	Richard P. Feynman
How Adam Smith Can Change Your Life: An  Unexpected Guide to Human Nature and Happiness	Russ Roberts
The Language of Food: A Linguist Reads the Menu	Dan Jurafsky
Conspiracy Theories and Other Dangerous Ideas	Cass R. Sunstein
Decisive: How to Make Better Choices in Life and Work	Chip Heath
The Everything Store: Jeff Bezos and the Age of Amazon	Brad Stone
Kim	Rudyard Kipling
Why Things Bite Back: Technology and the Revenge of Unintended Consequences	Edward Tenner
The Children Act	Ian McEwan
Monkey Business: The Lives and Legends of The  Marx Brothers	Simon Louvish
The Invention of the Modern World	Alan Macfarlane
Straight Up or On the Rocks: The Story of the  American Cocktail	William Grimes
Mathletics: A Scientist Explains 100 Amazing Things About the World of Sports	John D. Barrow
Connections	James  Burke
Love Goes to Buildings on Fire: Five Years in New York That Changed Music Forever	Will Hermes
Crimes Against Logic: Exposing the Bogus Arguments of Politicians, Priests, Journalists, and Other Serial Offenders	Jamie Whyte
Smuggler Nation: How Illicit Trade Made America	Peter Andreas
The Fall of Yugoslavia: The Third Balkan War	Misha Glenny
Sex, Drugs, and Cocoa Puffs: A Low Culture Manifesto	Chuck Klosterman
Age of Ambition: Chasing Fortune, Truth, and Faith in the New China	Evan Osnos
The Big Fat Surprise: Why Butter, Meat and Cheese Belong in a Healthy Diet	Nina Teicholz
Paul's Boutique	Dan LeRoy
People's Instinctive Travels and the Paths of Rhythm	Shawn Taylor
War and Peace	Leo Tolstoy
The Demon-Haunted World: Science as a Candle in the Dark	Carl Sagan
The Innovator's Dilemma: The Revolutionary Book That Will Change the Way You Do Business	Clayton M. Christensen
Guerrilla Radio: Rock 'N' Roll Radio and Serbia's Underground Resistance	Matthew Collin
To Sell Is Human: The Surprising Truth About Moving Others	Daniel H. Pink
Confessions of an Advertising Man	David Ogilvy
The Last Shot: City Streets, Basketball Dreams	Darcy Frey
How to Fail at Almost Everything and Still Win Big : Kind of the Story of My Life	Scott Adams
On Conan Doyle	Michael Dirda
Girl Sleuth: Nancy Drew and the Women Who Created Her	Melanie Rehak
Deep Sea and Foreign Going: Inside Shipping, the Invisible Industry That Brings You 90% of Everything	Rose George
Stop Me If You've Heard This: A History and Philosophy of Jokes	Jim Holt
Energy Myths and Realities: Bringing Science to the Energy Policy Debate	Vaclav Smil
Fire in the Hole	Elmore Leonard
A nervous splendour	Frederick Morton
The Second Machine Age: Work, Progress, and Prosperity in a Time of Brilliant Technologies	Erik Brynjolfsson
The Tyranny of Experts: Economists, Dictators, and the Forgotten Rights of the Poor	William Easterly
Songbook	Nick Hornby
The Up Side of Down: Why Failing Well Is the Key to Success	Megan McArdle
Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life	Anne Lamott
Junkyard Planet: Travels in the Billion-Dollar Trash Trade	Adam Minter
Catastrophe 1914: Europe Goes to War	Max Hastings
Smarter Than You Think: How Technology is Changing Our Minds for the Better	Clive Thompson
Younger Next Year: A Guide to Living Like 50 Until You're 80 and Beyond	Chris Crowley
I'm Feeling Lucky: The Confessions of Google Employee Number 59	Douglas Edwards
The Undercover Economist Strikes Back: How to Run-or Ruin-an Economy	Tim Harford
Tap Dancing to Work: Warren Buffett on Practically Everything, 1966-2012	Carol J. Loomis
The Dog of the South	Charles Portis
A Supposedly Fun Thing I'll Never Do Again:  Essays and Arguments	David Foster Wallace

December Books

Year in review coming soon. Travel, family and the Economist Christmas issue made December a slow month for books. I also read Nick Hornby's 31 songs, which turns out to be some kind of repackaging of Songbook, so I didn't count it.

Another Fool in the Balkans: In the Footsteps of Rebecca West

by Tony White

In this engrossing and timely book, Tony White explores both South Eastern Europe itself, and the Western European fascination with "the Balkans". Following in the footsteps of Rebecca West--whose engaging and seminal travelogue Black Lamb and Grey Falcon: a journey through Yugoslavia, was published in 1945 and is still considered a masterpiece--in addition to other key contemporary writers and commentators, White paints vivid and revealing pictures of the cultural lives and landscapes in this fascinating region; drawing on the views and ideas he finds there, and extensive interviews with politicians, writers, and artists. The Balkans are often unjustly depicted as a barbarous bridge between Europe and Asia, a territory that just can't help itself. Even sympathetic Western European writers have often "taken sides" in the way they've depicted this astonishing part of the world. White has gone in search of humor and humanity, as well as the historical background to these common misconceptions--though all the while he's conscious that he may well be just another fool in the Balkans. 

Note

Picked this up on a whim at a Belgrade bookstore. Disappointing. The writing was a little dull and there was not nearly as much historical context as I had been hoping for.

The Rosie Project (Don Tillman #1)

by Graeme Simsion

An international sensation, this hilarious, feel-good novel is narrated by an oddly charming and socially challenged genetics professor on an unusual quest: to find out if he is capable of true love.

Don Tillman, professor of genetics, has never been on a second date. He is a man who can count all his friends on the fingers of one hand, whose lifelong difficulty with social rituals has convinced him that he is simply not wired for romance. So when an acquaintance informs him that he would make a “wonderful” husband, his first reaction is shock. Yet he must concede to the statistical probability that there is someone for everyone, and he embarks upon The Wife Project. In the orderly, evidence-based manner with which he approaches all things, Don sets out to find the perfect partner. She will be punctual and logical—most definitely not a barmaid, a smoker, a drinker, or a late-arriver.

Yet Rosie Jarman is all these things. She is also beguiling, fiery, intelligent—and on a quest of her own. She is looking for her biological father, a search that a certain DNA expert might be able to help her with. Don's Wife Project takes a back burner to the Father Project and an unlikely relationship blooms, forcing the scientifically minded geneticist to confront the spontaneous whirlwind that is Rosie—and the realization that love is not always what looks good on paper.

The Rosie Project is a moving and hilarious novel for anyone who has ever tenaciously gone after life or love in the face of overwhelming challenges.

Note

A Bill Gates recommendation that I didn't enjoy nearly as much as I thought I would. Didn't buy the characters and didn't laugh much. But I did finish it in a single sitting.

The History of Rock 'n' Roll in Ten Songs

by Greil Marcus

Unlike all previous versions of rock ’n’ roll history, this book omits almost every iconic performer and ignores the storied events and turning points that everyone knows. Instead, in a daring stroke, Greil Marcus selects ten songs recorded between 1956 and 2008, then proceeds to dramatize how each embodies rock ’n’ roll as a thing in itself, in the story it tells, inhabits, and acts out—a new language, something new under the sun.

“Transmission” by Joy Division. “All I Could Do Was Cry” by Etta James and then Beyoncé. “To Know Him Is to Love Him,” first by the Teddy Bears and almost half a century later by Amy Winehouse. In Marcus’s hands these and other songs tell the story of the music, which is, at bottom, the story of the desire for freedom in all its unruly and liberating glory. Slipping the constraints of chronology, Marcus braids together past and present, holding up to the light the ways that these striking songs fall through time and circumstance, gaining momentum and meaning, astonishing us by upending our presumptions and prejudices. This book, by a founder of contemporary rock criticism—and its most gifted and incisive practitioner—is destined to become an enduring classic.

Note

I am a sucker for writing about rock, but this one crossed the line, even for me. Too purple about how Ben E. King changed the world at the expense of context and credibility. The Obstacle Is the Way: The Timeless Art of Turning Trials into Triumph by Ryan Holiday We are stuck, stymied, frustrated. But it needn’t be this way. There is a formula for success that’s been followed by the icons of history—from John D. Rockefeller to Amelia Earhart to Ulysses S. Grant to Steve Jobs—a formula that let them turn obstacles into opportunities. Faced with impossible situations, they found the astounding triumphs we all seek. These men and women were not exceptionally brilliant, lucky, or gifted. Their success came from timeless philosophical principles laid down by a Roman emperor who struggled to articulate a method for excellence in any and all situations. This book reveals that formula for the first time—and shows us how we can turn our own adversity into advantage. Note Quick read, well written, interesting throughout. But nothing new, which is kind of the point, I guess.