JZ's log of books read

Best books read: 2002. 2003. 2004. 2005. 2006. 2007. 2008. Other links. Reviews of Harry Potter books.

What does Poetry mean? Robert Frost, answering someone who asked him what one of his poems meant: "You want me to say it worse?"

{ 2008 BOOK ARCHIVE } - Q1 2008 - - Q2 2008 - - Q3 2008 - ().

{ 2007 BOOK ARCHIVE } - Q1 2007 - - Q2 2007 - - Q3 2007 - - Q4 2007
{ 2006 BOOK ARCHIVE } - Q1 2006 - - Q2 2006 - - Q3 2006 - - Q4 2006.
{ 2005 BOOK ARCHIVE } - Q1 2005 - - Q2 2005 - - Q3 2005 - - Q4 2005.
{ 2004 BOOK ARCHIVE } - Q1 2004 - - Q2 2004 - - Q3 2004 - - Q4 2004.
{ 2003 BOOK ARCHIVE } - Q3 2003 - - Q4 2003.

Best fiction read in 2006:	Lullaby (2002) by Chuck Palahniuk. The core question that the book asks is: what would you do if you discovered an ancient 'culling' lullaby poem that, after being incanted to someone that you want to die, causes that person to die painlessly and without a mark -- SIDS for everyone, as it were. It seems that anyone can behave like a criminal. The story jumps between the narrated past and the flash-back past and the 'now' of the narrator and his sweetie (he hopes) on a literal witch hunt. More at web log of Lullaby.	Best non-fiction read in 2006:	Aristotle's Children: How Christians, Muslims, and Jews Rediscovered Ancient Wisdom and Illuminated the Dark Ages (2003) by Richard E. Rubenstein. A delightful fast-paced chronicle of the influence of Aristotle (384-322 BCE), and the enthusiasms, obsessions, insights, and wars among Christian followers and opposers of Aristotle's teachings. More at web log of Aristotle's Children.
Best fiction read in 2005:	Never Let Me Go ( 2005) by Kazuo Ishiguro. This is his best yet. I'm especially admiring how precisely he has captured the voice of the type of English woman that is his protagonist. It's a macabre story though: 'Set in late 1990s England, in a parallel universe in which humans are cloned and raised expressly to "donate" their healthy organs and thus eradicate disease from the normal population, this is an epic ethical horror story, told in devastatingly poignant miniature.' (Publishers Weekly.) A worthy nominee for the the 2005 Booker Prize. See our web log review.	Best fiction read in 2004:	Number 10 by Sue Townsend. It's more than a farce; it's an epic journey around Britain in the Tony Blair years. See our web log review.
Best book read in 2003:	The Creative Habit: Learn it and Use it for Life by Twyla Tharp. This, the best book I read in 2003, inspires the reader to move into the creative zone and do the work essential to being any kind of professional artist. Twyla Tharp (the leading and innovative choreographer) is a brilliant mentor and a no-nonsense delight. And check our review.	Best fiction read in 2003:	Life of Pi by Yann Martel. A tale of a sea voyage, survival, a tiger (even though I don't believe the tiger existed), animal training, and hope laced with terrified vigilance and the intelligence of the spirit.

Good Links: On Buddhism. On How to Write Poetry. On Handwriting. On Learning Spanish. Poetry - Learn How to Write Your Own. Forests of California and Trees of the World.

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