GF’s Required Reading for 2007: Books to Make You a Better Human

I’m going to share with you my substantial book backlog reading list for 2007 in the hopes that maybe you find something interesting, or, in turn, maybe I learn about a good book or two of which I was unaware. I feel there’s something here for everybody. I’m a book geek at heart.

These are presented in no specific order other than the sequence in which they came to me. It’s like Ouija, but only with a list of books and a lower threat of inviting a poltergeist into your house.

Letter to a Christian Nation, by Sam Harris.

A short, lucid book about the increasing (and disturbing) unification of church and state and what it means for us, for the future of reason and rational thought, and why the bigotry and superstition of the masses needs to be challenged. It’s not just a plea for the virtues of atheism and its humility, but also a manifesto against the judgment, violence, and trappings of inflexible religious thought.

The Omnivore’s Dilemma, by Michael Pollan.

I’ve seen nothing but phenomenal reviews of this book. As someone who fully believes the industrialization of food in western society is not at all congruent with an individual’s health goals, I think it’s impossible to strive for health and not understand from where our food comes. Pollan says that America is in the midst of a “national eating disorder,” and this book attempts to explain why with clear-headed, beautifully-written prose.

Blindsight, by Peter Watts

This got serious props from Boing Boing’s Cory Doctorow, and I was interested immediately. Doctorow sums up Blindsight best, so I’ll give him the honor:

Peter writes the angriest, darkest sf I’ve ever read, heart-rending stuff that makes you glad you’re alive if only because you’re better off than his characters. He’s also a wild talent when it comes to the intersection of biology and tech (he’s got a Ph.D. in Marine Biology), the kind of person who spits out ideas that lesser writers end up hashing over for a decade afterwards…

If you made it this far into my book list, well, here’s a holiday gift for you: Blindsight was just released under the Creative Commons license, which means you can read it online or download it for free right here. Why did Watts do this?

I do this only partly to add data to the ongoing get-rich-by-giving-your-stuff-away experiment. The other reason is that a lot of people seem to be having trouble actually finding the book in brick-and-mortar stores. All the buzz in the world is worth jack-shit if the product isn’t readily available.

Way cool, Peter.

American Pastoral, by Philip Roth

Any book that has slobbering Michiko Kakutani quote and a Pulitzer Prize Winner emblem on the cover must be fantastic. Period. I’ve read a lot about Philip Roth, but have never sat down to read anything of his. I know that Stephen King considered Roth’s 1997 American Pastoral to be one of the top picks for 2006, and if you check out the links at the bottom of this post wherein the best books on the planet are listed by reputable sources, you’ll find Roth’s name more than once.

The Areas of My Expertise, by John Hodgman

Hodgman is currently more well-known as the lovable, dorkish PC guy in Apple’s Get a Mac TV ads, but he’s also a terrifically talented writer and absuridist extraordinaire. I’ve read excerpts from The Areas of My Expertise, and I’m not exaggerating one bit when I say that I had to consciously remind myself not to pee in my Luckys. It’s that funny, provided you love off the wall, absurd, smart humor. It might not be for everyone, but I suspect that if you’re reading this blog, you’ll love it.

The Stand, by Stephen King

I’m a huge Stephen King fan because I grew up with his horror novels, and to this day I appreciate his awesome storytelling (not to be confused with writing) talent. I don’t think anyone has been as consistent or pleasureable over the course of 10+ books as has King, which makes me doubly ashamed to say that I’ve never read The Stand or any of the Dark Tower series.

I know I’m a horrible monster. I know.

Thing is, I have the hardcover “Modern Classics” version of The Stand just sitting at home on my bookshelf, and I really, really want to read it. I think 2007 is the year. It’s King’s magnum opus.

Psycho Kitty? Understanding Your Cat’s Crazy Behavior by Pam Johnson-Bennett

NOT.

Just want to make sure you were still following me. I can barely write this without feeling massive self-loathing for even joking about liking cats. I feel like cutting myself to rid my body of the blood that helped think of this.

For the record, cat’s are evil, snobby little creatures that, once out of kittenhood, do things like urinate randomly and plan your demise as often as they can. Cat owners will tell you that cats are independent, but cat owners often confuse the terms independent and worthless.

Dogs FTW. Game over.

The God Delusion, by Richard Dawkins

Not to get all anti-god with you during the holidays, but if you haven’t read Dawkins before and you’re at all interested in science (specifically evolutionary biology) and reason, you’re missing out on the chairman of the movement.

Dawkins came to prominence back in 1976 when he wrote The Selfish Gene, a book that sold more than 1 million copies and has been translated into 25 languages. This book served as the springboard for Dawkins to become one of the most vocal and influential scientists of our time, and he’s as intelligent, convincing, and controversial today as he was then.

The God Delusion is exactly as it sounds: an argument for the case against god and the mythology of religion. It’s not as stark a book as The Selfish Gene, which many found to be at once beautiful and depressing, as it seemed to render null any beauty and wonder in the world on account of its scientific explanations for the complex processes responsible for all things beautiful and wondrous.

The God Delusion seems to be softer, gently suggesting that just because god and religion may be misattributed as the sources of beauty and wonder in the world, the miracles and enlightenment of science is at least equally beautiful, if not moreso: when one not only can see but also understand why things are the way they are, the effect moves a person at the deepest levels. From personal experience, I agree with this.

So that’s my list as best I can recall it right now; I’m sure there’s more. What books are you looking to read in 2007? What books do you consider to be absolutely must-read material? What is the best book you’ve ever read?

As you think about your response, check out the NY Times list of best American fiction for the last 25 years. Great stuff.

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