Books 2013
Started this thread in 2011, in which plan to read a book a month, 12 year, and one book per month for my life. This year read more than before, most of them great books except for two, one had no direction, and the other was horrible.
Most of the books I read are non fiction but not all, and classics, great reviews, won awards, other readers liked the book, ect. Here is the list with a short review, prepare to catch up on your sleep?.
Books Read in 2013
1. Forgotten Empress The Empress of Ireland Story (David Zeni,Goose Lane, 1998, pages 224)
There were three major ship disasters in the early 20th century, and though you have heard of Titanic, this one has been forgotten. A very interesting book on a ship forgotten.
2. Fever : The Dark Mystery of The Bre-X Gold Rush (Jennifer Wells, Viking, 1998, pages 404)
Bre-X was a time when hope ruled, this one of two books on BRE-X that is worth reading, ended the great jr. mining boom of the 1990s, but then the internet came along, something always does?
3. Big Bang (The Most Important Scientific Discovery of all Time and why you need to know about it) (Singh, Simon, Fourth Estate, 2004, pages 532)
Sometimes not easy to understand, but if you have time a good read about the topic the Big Bang and the science behind it, and how long it took to get to many important conclusions. Good read.
4. The Sense of an Ending (Julian Barnes, Random House Canada, 2011, pages 150)
Fiction book, and it is brilliant, a short read,with a twist and you will not get it until the end, if you told me a book about a man who talks about his four friends and two women in his life, would go to sleep, but this is brilliant. Glad I read it?
5. . Rick Mercer A Nation Worth Ranting About (Rick Mercer, Doubleday Canada, 2012, pages 246)
Rick Mercer has a show on CBC TV which I usually never watch, mixes humour and satire on Canadian politics, these are just some of the rants from the show, his favourite rants. Liked it.
6. The World As It Is (Dispatches on the Myth of Human Progress, Nation Book, 2010, pages 350)
HATED THIS BOOK, okay I am in the middle overall in polictics, the author is to the left, left, left, no keep going. That is fine, but if the solution is big government give up some examples, and how hopeful articles, read this whole book, painful. The author is smart and learned some things but hated, well you get the idea. Now if you know someone who would be left of the NDP in the 1970s, then here is the book.
7. Working The Dead Beat (50 Lives That Changed Canada) (Sandra Martin, Anansi, 2012, pages 429)
Sandra wrote the obits, for the globe and mail, these stories tell about and celebrate their lives, very good, uplifting book?.
8. The Millionaire Next Door (The Surprising Secrets Of America?s Wealthy) (Thomas J. Stanley, William D. Danko, Longstreet Press, 1996, pages 258)
wonder why some people who have money but never made much, and others who make far more have very little, read this book? worth a read, very good.
9. The Great Crash 1929 (John Kenneth Galbraith, 50th Anniversary edition, Houghton Mifflin Company Boston, 1979, pages 206)
Want to know about the great crash, and how these things happen then this is the book. If you had an all time financial book list this would be on it?., learned quite a bit from this book, they will be reading this book for centuries.
10. 500 Things to Know About the Ancient World (Carolyn Howitt, Barron?s, 2007, pages 152)
okay basically a coffee book, with pictures, still you learn some facts about ancient history.
11. 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die Anniversary 5th edition (General editor Steven Jay Schneider, Barron?s, 2008, pages 960)
okay this book was not that great, did find some good movies, that would have missed, but they left out some that should have been in and put in some brutal, terrible ones?.and by the way I know drama is on these lists, but the lack of comedy films is terrible.
12. The Ever After Effect (Linda Nazareth, Winding Stair Press, 2001, pages 212)
I bought this book for $1, and it was not bad, the reason it is the bargain bin, apart from being over 10 years old, does not really bring home a point or points, wanders, to where, I mean?.
13. Inferno (Dante, A New Translation by Anthony Esolen, Illustrations by Gustave Dore, The Modern Library, 2002, pages 490)
Never read Inferno Dante before and thought it was pretty good, classic, main take away don?t go to hell.
14. 1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die (Revised and Updated Edition) ( General editor Peter Boxall, A Quintessence Book, 2010, pages 960)
Again like the movie one, found some good books, and covers mainly US and Europe but also a few Aussie, and cdn. And Japan books? they left out a cdn. Classic, Who has Seen the Wind would put that up againt Walden anyday. Though also liked that.
15. Selecting Stocks (The Standards and Poors Guide To) (Finding the Winners and Weeding Out the Losers) (Michael Kaye, McGraw Hill Companies, 2006, pages 229)
A good not great book about selecting stocks, good for the investor who is starting out?.acutally very good.
16. The Diary of a Nobody (George and Weedon Grossmith, Clio Press Ltd.,1987, pages 266)
got this from the 1001 books list, funny and good about how someone cares about the class they live in and appearances, in the 1800s, some things never change.
17. The Picture of Dorian Gray (Oscar Wilde, Wordsworth Editions, 2001, pages 194)
another classic, did not read, pretty good read.
18. Walden (Henry David Thoreau, with essays by E. B. White, Max Lerner, Courage Classics, 1854, 1990, pages 207)
okay tried of 1848 hustle and bustle in Boston, just walk fifteen minutes, and start you life for a year, a good read. Some good points still apply today.
19. Philosophy : The Classics 3rd edition (Nigel Warburton, Routledge Taylor and Francis Group, 2006, pages 257)
Really like this, say you only have fifteen minutes to learn about a philosopher, this is it, the pros and cons, of a theory. Worth buying and referring to, and no some parts did not understand though it is very well written.
20. Heart of Darkness ( Joseph Conrad, with Introduction by Verlyn Klinkenborg, Everyman?s Library, 1902, 1993, pages 110)
a short classic, great adventure book.
21. A Brief Time in Heaven (Wilderness Adventures in Canoe Country) (Darryl Blazino, Dundurn, 2013, pages 140)
Quetico park is heaven, and one of the best places in the world to canoe, or visit, amazing a very good book, on the park?Warning this year the bugs were bad, terrible could kill you, so check before you go, unless you want to eat in the canoe, because the mosquitoes and black flies drive you insane?.ahhhhhh Northern Ontario?.is great
22. The Hour of Peril (Daniel Stashower, Thorndike Press, 2013, Large Print pages 673)
This is a book about the events before the civil war, and a plot to kill Lincoln before the war. Also did not know my Maryland song was an anti union song about one of the events described in the book?, one of the best books about the state of the union pre civil war?, read it quickly.
23. Blood and Daring (How Canada Fought The American Civil War and Forged a Nation) ( John Boyko, Random House Canada, 2013, pages 355)
Not many books well none cover Canada reaction to the civil war, think about it though you had mixed loyalties, and much fear, both the south and north were the two biggest armies in the world, and they outnumber cdn. Armies 10-1. Britain is not interested in the colony and you already invaded in 1812. Good book on how Macdonald and others handle the situation.
24. In The Land Of Long Fingernails ( A Gravediggers Memoir) ( Charles Wilkens, Viking Canada, 2008, pages 220)
funny look at working a cemetery during the summer, after reading this just going to get cremated and ashes spread next to the mountain out back.
25. The Emperor Of All Maladies (A Biography of Cancer) ( Siddhartha Mukherjee, Thorndike Press, 2010, pages 873 large print)
This book on a Pulitzer award, and for good reason, and excellent book on Cancer, from treatments to patients, and caregivers, to history of the disease. Easy and great read?., worth reading and everyone is touched by cancer?. This is the best book on the topic.
26. Cancer Ward (Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, Farrar, Straus, and Giroux, 1968, pages 536)
This is a classic and a great book, enjoyed his short stories more, but easy to get through with some parts that hit you?.,
27. Ender?s Game (Orson Scott Card, Tor, 1985, pages 226)
never saw the film yet, sort of guessed the ending, if you like sci-fi..
30. A Voice From the Attic (Robertson Davies, McClelland and Stewart Limited, 1960, pages 360)
Basically the great cdn. Writer Robertson Davies writes about many topics, in short essays, some could not follow but many were excellent?.
31. Cycling Home From Siberia ( 30,000 miles, 3 years, 1 bicycle) (Rob Lilwall, Howard Books, 2009, pages 399)
okay man cycles long way, good book, but read this thinking these man was crazy.
32. Little Ship of Fools ( 16 Rowers, 1 Improbable Boat, 7 Tumultuous Weeks on the Atlantic) (Charles Wilkens, Greystone Books, 2013, pages 305)
see coments to 31, but instead of bike put in boat. People do these adventures, and at times not sure why.
33. Around the World In Eighty Days ( Jules Verne, Illustrated by Barry Moser, Books of Wonder William Morrow and Company, Inc. New York, 1988, pages 242)
another classic, over 100 years ago, this was a huge feat, fiction, but a great story of adventure, now you could probably do it in a day.
34. Smiley?s People ( John Le Carre, G.K. Hall and Company, 1979, 622 pages Large Print)
this and the spy who in came in from the cold are the two from Carre you should read, I mean it is great, not sure if this comes before or after come in from the cold. If you like spy books these are two classics.
35. Caesar Against Rome (The Great Roman Civil War) ( Ramon L. Jimenez, Praeger, 2000, pages 282)
never realized in all of the battle Caesar won against Pompey he was terrible outnumbered?by the way impressive how orgainized this army of Caesar was, I mean like to have a race who could build a major bridge Caesar or today?..I mean it would still be in planning, and hit engineers, would have a bridge to support 40,000 made in a day or two?., politics, hope, greed, one of the best books on ancient history, worth reading even if you hate reading books on history.
36. Salt Sugar Fat (How The Food Giants Hooked Us) ( Michael Moss, Signal McClelland and Stewart, 2013, pages 446)
okay I knew some cereals had sugar but 40-70%, I mean just pour some sugar in a bowl?this is an interesting book, on how food is marketed to the public?worth the read.
37. Kevin O? Leary Cold Hard Truth On Men, Women and Money ( 50 Common Money Mistakes and How To Avoid Them) ( Kevin O?Leary, Doubleday Canada, 2012, pages 259)
if you are novice investor and want to read a financial cdn. Book, this is not bad. Some good points about saving?an average financial book.
Hope you enjoyed the list, if you have any comments or books to add feel free?., have a great 2014.
Started this thread in 2011, in which plan to read a book a month, 12 year, and one book per month for my life. This year read more than before, most of them great books except for two, one had no direction, and the other was horrible.
Most of the books I read are non fiction but not all, and classics, great reviews, won awards, other readers liked the book, ect. Here is the list with a short review, prepare to catch up on your sleep?.
Books Read in 2013
1. Forgotten Empress The Empress of Ireland Story (David Zeni,Goose Lane, 1998, pages 224)
There were three major ship disasters in the early 20th century, and though you have heard of Titanic, this one has been forgotten. A very interesting book on a ship forgotten.
2. Fever : The Dark Mystery of The Bre-X Gold Rush (Jennifer Wells, Viking, 1998, pages 404)
Bre-X was a time when hope ruled, this one of two books on BRE-X that is worth reading, ended the great jr. mining boom of the 1990s, but then the internet came along, something always does?
3. Big Bang (The Most Important Scientific Discovery of all Time and why you need to know about it) (Singh, Simon, Fourth Estate, 2004, pages 532)
Sometimes not easy to understand, but if you have time a good read about the topic the Big Bang and the science behind it, and how long it took to get to many important conclusions. Good read.
4. The Sense of an Ending (Julian Barnes, Random House Canada, 2011, pages 150)
Fiction book, and it is brilliant, a short read,with a twist and you will not get it until the end, if you told me a book about a man who talks about his four friends and two women in his life, would go to sleep, but this is brilliant. Glad I read it?
5. . Rick Mercer A Nation Worth Ranting About (Rick Mercer, Doubleday Canada, 2012, pages 246)
Rick Mercer has a show on CBC TV which I usually never watch, mixes humour and satire on Canadian politics, these are just some of the rants from the show, his favourite rants. Liked it.
6. The World As It Is (Dispatches on the Myth of Human Progress, Nation Book, 2010, pages 350)
HATED THIS BOOK, okay I am in the middle overall in polictics, the author is to the left, left, left, no keep going. That is fine, but if the solution is big government give up some examples, and how hopeful articles, read this whole book, painful. The author is smart and learned some things but hated, well you get the idea. Now if you know someone who would be left of the NDP in the 1970s, then here is the book.
7. Working The Dead Beat (50 Lives That Changed Canada) (Sandra Martin, Anansi, 2012, pages 429)
Sandra wrote the obits, for the globe and mail, these stories tell about and celebrate their lives, very good, uplifting book?.
8. The Millionaire Next Door (The Surprising Secrets Of America?s Wealthy) (Thomas J. Stanley, William D. Danko, Longstreet Press, 1996, pages 258)
wonder why some people who have money but never made much, and others who make far more have very little, read this book? worth a read, very good.
9. The Great Crash 1929 (John Kenneth Galbraith, 50th Anniversary edition, Houghton Mifflin Company Boston, 1979, pages 206)
Want to know about the great crash, and how these things happen then this is the book. If you had an all time financial book list this would be on it?., learned quite a bit from this book, they will be reading this book for centuries.
10. 500 Things to Know About the Ancient World (Carolyn Howitt, Barron?s, 2007, pages 152)
okay basically a coffee book, with pictures, still you learn some facts about ancient history.
11. 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die Anniversary 5th edition (General editor Steven Jay Schneider, Barron?s, 2008, pages 960)
okay this book was not that great, did find some good movies, that would have missed, but they left out some that should have been in and put in some brutal, terrible ones?.and by the way I know drama is on these lists, but the lack of comedy films is terrible.
12. The Ever After Effect (Linda Nazareth, Winding Stair Press, 2001, pages 212)
I bought this book for $1, and it was not bad, the reason it is the bargain bin, apart from being over 10 years old, does not really bring home a point or points, wanders, to where, I mean?.
13. Inferno (Dante, A New Translation by Anthony Esolen, Illustrations by Gustave Dore, The Modern Library, 2002, pages 490)
Never read Inferno Dante before and thought it was pretty good, classic, main take away don?t go to hell.
14. 1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die (Revised and Updated Edition) ( General editor Peter Boxall, A Quintessence Book, 2010, pages 960)
Again like the movie one, found some good books, and covers mainly US and Europe but also a few Aussie, and cdn. And Japan books? they left out a cdn. Classic, Who has Seen the Wind would put that up againt Walden anyday. Though also liked that.
15. Selecting Stocks (The Standards and Poors Guide To) (Finding the Winners and Weeding Out the Losers) (Michael Kaye, McGraw Hill Companies, 2006, pages 229)
A good not great book about selecting stocks, good for the investor who is starting out?.acutally very good.
16. The Diary of a Nobody (George and Weedon Grossmith, Clio Press Ltd.,1987, pages 266)
got this from the 1001 books list, funny and good about how someone cares about the class they live in and appearances, in the 1800s, some things never change.
17. The Picture of Dorian Gray (Oscar Wilde, Wordsworth Editions, 2001, pages 194)
another classic, did not read, pretty good read.
18. Walden (Henry David Thoreau, with essays by E. B. White, Max Lerner, Courage Classics, 1854, 1990, pages 207)
okay tried of 1848 hustle and bustle in Boston, just walk fifteen minutes, and start you life for a year, a good read. Some good points still apply today.
19. Philosophy : The Classics 3rd edition (Nigel Warburton, Routledge Taylor and Francis Group, 2006, pages 257)
Really like this, say you only have fifteen minutes to learn about a philosopher, this is it, the pros and cons, of a theory. Worth buying and referring to, and no some parts did not understand though it is very well written.
20. Heart of Darkness ( Joseph Conrad, with Introduction by Verlyn Klinkenborg, Everyman?s Library, 1902, 1993, pages 110)
a short classic, great adventure book.
21. A Brief Time in Heaven (Wilderness Adventures in Canoe Country) (Darryl Blazino, Dundurn, 2013, pages 140)
Quetico park is heaven, and one of the best places in the world to canoe, or visit, amazing a very good book, on the park?Warning this year the bugs were bad, terrible could kill you, so check before you go, unless you want to eat in the canoe, because the mosquitoes and black flies drive you insane?.ahhhhhh Northern Ontario?.is great
22. The Hour of Peril (Daniel Stashower, Thorndike Press, 2013, Large Print pages 673)
This is a book about the events before the civil war, and a plot to kill Lincoln before the war. Also did not know my Maryland song was an anti union song about one of the events described in the book?, one of the best books about the state of the union pre civil war?, read it quickly.
23. Blood and Daring (How Canada Fought The American Civil War and Forged a Nation) ( John Boyko, Random House Canada, 2013, pages 355)
Not many books well none cover Canada reaction to the civil war, think about it though you had mixed loyalties, and much fear, both the south and north were the two biggest armies in the world, and they outnumber cdn. Armies 10-1. Britain is not interested in the colony and you already invaded in 1812. Good book on how Macdonald and others handle the situation.
24. In The Land Of Long Fingernails ( A Gravediggers Memoir) ( Charles Wilkens, Viking Canada, 2008, pages 220)
funny look at working a cemetery during the summer, after reading this just going to get cremated and ashes spread next to the mountain out back.
25. The Emperor Of All Maladies (A Biography of Cancer) ( Siddhartha Mukherjee, Thorndike Press, 2010, pages 873 large print)
This book on a Pulitzer award, and for good reason, and excellent book on Cancer, from treatments to patients, and caregivers, to history of the disease. Easy and great read?., worth reading and everyone is touched by cancer?. This is the best book on the topic.
26. Cancer Ward (Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, Farrar, Straus, and Giroux, 1968, pages 536)
This is a classic and a great book, enjoyed his short stories more, but easy to get through with some parts that hit you?.,
27. Ender?s Game (Orson Scott Card, Tor, 1985, pages 226)
never saw the film yet, sort of guessed the ending, if you like sci-fi..
30. A Voice From the Attic (Robertson Davies, McClelland and Stewart Limited, 1960, pages 360)
Basically the great cdn. Writer Robertson Davies writes about many topics, in short essays, some could not follow but many were excellent?.
31. Cycling Home From Siberia ( 30,000 miles, 3 years, 1 bicycle) (Rob Lilwall, Howard Books, 2009, pages 399)
okay man cycles long way, good book, but read this thinking these man was crazy.
32. Little Ship of Fools ( 16 Rowers, 1 Improbable Boat, 7 Tumultuous Weeks on the Atlantic) (Charles Wilkens, Greystone Books, 2013, pages 305)
see coments to 31, but instead of bike put in boat. People do these adventures, and at times not sure why.
33. Around the World In Eighty Days ( Jules Verne, Illustrated by Barry Moser, Books of Wonder William Morrow and Company, Inc. New York, 1988, pages 242)
another classic, over 100 years ago, this was a huge feat, fiction, but a great story of adventure, now you could probably do it in a day.
34. Smiley?s People ( John Le Carre, G.K. Hall and Company, 1979, 622 pages Large Print)
this and the spy who in came in from the cold are the two from Carre you should read, I mean it is great, not sure if this comes before or after come in from the cold. If you like spy books these are two classics.
35. Caesar Against Rome (The Great Roman Civil War) ( Ramon L. Jimenez, Praeger, 2000, pages 282)
never realized in all of the battle Caesar won against Pompey he was terrible outnumbered?by the way impressive how orgainized this army of Caesar was, I mean like to have a race who could build a major bridge Caesar or today?..I mean it would still be in planning, and hit engineers, would have a bridge to support 40,000 made in a day or two?., politics, hope, greed, one of the best books on ancient history, worth reading even if you hate reading books on history.
36. Salt Sugar Fat (How The Food Giants Hooked Us) ( Michael Moss, Signal McClelland and Stewart, 2013, pages 446)
okay I knew some cereals had sugar but 40-70%, I mean just pour some sugar in a bowl?this is an interesting book, on how food is marketed to the public?worth the read.
37. Kevin O? Leary Cold Hard Truth On Men, Women and Money ( 50 Common Money Mistakes and How To Avoid Them) ( Kevin O?Leary, Doubleday Canada, 2012, pages 259)
if you are novice investor and want to read a financial cdn. Book, this is not bad. Some good points about saving?an average financial book.
Hope you enjoyed the list, if you have any comments or books to add feel free?., have a great 2014.
