2013 YTD book reviews in five words or less (probably):
1/4 Madsen: Eternal Man- Brilliant, brilliant, brilliant.
1/8 Bryson: Neither Here nor There- Uproarious.
1/15 O'Rourke: Don't Vote, It Just Encourages the Bastards- Disjointed but hilarious.
1/20 Madsen: Joseph Smith the Prophet- Must read if you haven't.
1/28 Chabon: Maps and Legends- Very interesting.
2/1 Lomborg: Cool It- Awful grammar, incisive analysis.
2/10 Hillenbrand: Unbroken- The pinnacle of survival stories.
2/20 Collins: Good to Great- Deeply insightful.
3/5 Crichton: State of Fear- Preposterously, comically bad. This book was so awful it made my question whether the other Crichton books I read years ago and liked were actually any good. Read the endnotes and bibliography for a good dose of common sense on global warming, though.
3/8 Schweizer: Throw Them All Out- Disappointing, given the awesome title.
3/15 Collins: How the Mighty Fall- Not bad.
3/29 Hsieh: Delivering Happiness- Mediocre, but Zappo's is fantastic.
4/13 Dalrymple: Our Culture, What's Left of It- Must read essays, pure genius.
4/14 Wasserman: Man of La Mancha- Really good.
4/14 Voltaire: Candide- Zany but worthwhile.
4/17 Gawande: The Checklist Manifesto- Solid.
4/25 Satrapi: Persepolis- A nice change of pace.
4/29 Wharton: Ethan Frome- Amazing writing.
5/4 Matheson: I am Legend- The perfect vampire story.
5/5 Dostoyevsky: Notes from the Underground- Rough sledding, but the last 15 pages redeem it.
5/17 Shakespeare: The Tempest- Marginal.
5/19 Shakespeare: Othello- Classic for a reason.
5/21 Nibley: The World and the Prophets- Best work on the apostasy.
5/23 Eyring: Faith of a Scientist- Good, but a little one-note.
5/28 Kurlansky: Salt: A World History- Truly fascinating.
6/3 Wilde: The Picture of Dorian Gray- Meh, I expected more.
6/5 Ishiguro: The Remains of the Day- Elegiac and deliberate. Recommended.
6/9 Zuckoff: Lost in Shangri-La- Breezy rescue tale.
6/17 Frankl: Man's Search for Meaning- Life-changing. Really.
6/18 More: Utopia- Surprisingly relevant, highly recommended.
7/2 Weschler: Everything that Rises- A glimpse inside a very interesting artistic mind.
7/6 Orwell: 1984- Stunningly good, only sorry it took me so long to read this.
Read anything great lately? Please share.
