Smoke's 2006 Book List

• Rings of Saturn - W.B. Sebold
  very good, but dense
  
  
• Authenticity - Diedre Madden
  good
  
  
• Fearless Jones - Walter Mosley
  pretty good, not his best
  
  
• Jayber Crow - Wendell Berry
  highly recommended - see my full review on amazon.com
  
  
• The Street - Ann Petry
  highly recommended, very disturbing
  
  
• What's the Matter with Kansas?: How Conservatives Won the Heart of America - Thomas Frank
  good
  
  
• Self-Made Man - Norah Vincent
  disappointing -- see my full review on amazon.com
  
  
• The Healing - Gayle Jones
  highly recommended, very originial, I'll reread this every few years to learn more about writing.
  
  
• The Mayor of Macdougal Street: A Memoir - Dave Van Ronk and Elijah Wald
  very interesting, recommended
  
  
• Booking Passage - Thomas Lynch
  good, not as good as I expected though
  
  
• Ice, Mouth, Song: A Collection of Poems - Rachel Contreni Flynn
  highly recommended
  
  
• Don't Let's Go to the Dogs Tonight: An African Childhood - Alexandra Fuller
  very good
  
  
• The Shadow of a Gunman: The Selected Plays of Sean O'Casey - Sean O'Casey
  I loved it ... but I think it's for folks that are really interested in Irish history.
  
  
• Time to Murder and Create - Lawrence Block
  I love Block. Good.
  
  
• When the Sacred Ginmill Closes - Lawrence Block
  Good.
  
  
• Irish on the Inside - Thomas Hayden
  Very interesting. His writing is wooden.
  
  
• Grief - Andrew Holleran
  Good, but I expected great.
  
  
• The Other Side - Mary Gordon
  Very good.
  
  
• A Little Yellow Dog - Walter Mosley
  Good.
  
  
• Irish New York - Bob Swacker, Leslie Jenkins
  Interesting.
  
  
• Harlem of the West: The San Francisco Fillmore Jazz Era - Elizabeth Pepin, Lewis Watts
  Very interesting.
  
  
• Contact Sheet 101: South to West Oakland - Lewis Watts
  Photographs. Good.
  
  
• Gone Fishin' - Walter Mosley
  Good.
  
  
• Blessing of the Boats: New and Selected Poems 1988 - 2000 - Lucille Clifton
  Very good.
  
  
• Bad Boy Brawly Brown - Walter Mosley
  Good.
  
  
• Louis Riel: A Comic Strip Biography - Chester Brown
  Very good. But Im into Manitoba history.
  
  
• The Short Fall from Grace: Poems - Stewart Florsheim
  Very good. Disclosure: I know the author.
  
  
• Almost There - Nuala O'Faolain
  Highly recommended. I really liked this.
  
  
• Triangle - Katherine Weber
  Good.
  
  
• Murder on the Prowl - Rita Mae Brown
  Fluffy.
  
  
• A Ticket to the Boneyard - Lawrence Block
  Very good.
  
  
• The Polysyllabic Spree - Nick Hornby
  Loved it. Love his humor.
  
  
• Confessions of an Economic Hit Man - John Perkins
  Chilling. Warning: You must read something hopeful about the world right after you read this.
  
  
• The Niagara River - Kay Ryan
  Highly recommended.
  
  
• Bones and Silence - Reginald Hill
  Highly recommended. I love him.
  
  
• The Night of the Burning - Linda Wulf
  Really really good. Disclosure: I know the author.
  
  
• The Commute: an extended poem in XXVI parts - Patricia Edith
  Highly recommended. These are rich rich poems. She is an inspiration to me -- in many ways. Disclosure: The author is one of my best friends.
  
  
• Pictures of Perfection - Reginald Hill
  Highly recommended.
  
  
• Franny and Zooey - J. D. Salinger (re-read)
  Still love it.
  Note: Tried to re-read The Catcher in the Rye and couldn't. Could not relate to the middle-class juvenile. When I was younger, I could. What does that say? I kept thinking "Quit all the complaining!" Wanted to shake him.
  
  
• The Skeleton Man - Tony Hillerman
  So-so.
  
  
• Catch as Catch Can - Rita Mae Brown
  Fluffy. I used to think of her as such a deep person.
  
  
• Morality for Beautiful Girls (No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency - by Alexander McCall Smith
  Good. Later ones are much better though.
  
  
• Hope in the Dark, 2006 edition - Rebecca Solnit
  Very good.
  
  
• Mules of Love: Poems - Ellen Bass
  Great ... I love her poetry.
  
  
• Grayson - Lynne Cox
  Calming. Should have read this after Confessions of an Economic Hit Man
  
  
• Right as Rain - George Pelecanos
  So good. Good solid mystery writer.
  
  
• The Subtle Knife - Phillip Pullman
  Very good but it took me a while to really get into it.
  
  Note: I've forgotten all the poetry and children's books I've read. Determined to keep better track in 2007.
  
  

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