My year of books....

This year I decided that if someone recommended a book and it sounded okay I would read it.....it's leading me down some very interesting pathes.  One of the joys of the Kindle is that you can download a sample chapter, so when someone recommends a book I can, if it's available electronically, at least check it out.
This has lead me to some interesting books.  The Professor and Other Writings is a series of essays from a Stanford University Professor described as a "cultural scholar and essayist".  Not at all sure what that means but the essays themselves are very entertaining.  Given they are written in biography form she's more than willing to share details of her life.  Best of all (and most necessary) the Kindle has a cool function where I can look up all those words I don't understand.....given she teaches 18th Century English Literature this function comes in handy every other page!
One of the best reads so far has to be Don't Stop the Carnival. Written in 1965  "It's the story of Norman Paperman, a New York press agent who, facing the onset of middle age, runs away to a Caribbean island to reinvetn himself as a hotel keeper".  It sounds awful doesn't it?  It wasn't it was a great read and very well written.
I succumbed to the Twilight Saga too. Vampires are not usually my thing but I have and am really enjoying it.  It's really a love story focused on human's, vampires and warewolves.  Nice easy, entertaining read.
Here's another one I really enjoyed - Long Way Down.  It's about two guys motorcycling from Scotland to South Africa (follows on from the movie Long Way Round).  It's a fab story about perservarance and getting outside your comfort zone.
My heaviest tombe to date has to be Cultural Amnesia it's written by Clive James.  It's a compendium of 110 biographical essays of a whole bunch of different people (artists, politicians and intellectuals). This one I dip in and out of - it's a fascinating read.
The next two I picked up last year but are so worth mentioning.
Garlic and Sapphires: The Secret Life of a Critic in Disguise is a great read.  It's written by a woman who used to be the NY Times food critic.  It tells the story of how she used to dress in disguise and go out to various restaurants, with varying results, depending on how she looked.  I loved the way she describes some of the food as well.
Ultramarathon Man: Confessions of an all Night Runner - this, folks was the inspiration to run a marathon.  I'll say no more, check it out.
So there you have it, some proof that I do more than work, run and go to the gym!