The Last Three Books of 2009

The last 3 books of 2009:

I have decided to start blogging about the books I read… and to kick it off, I thought I’d write a bit about the last three books I read in 2009. For all books I’ll tell you why I picked it, how long it took me to read it, and give it a rating (burn it, not good, meh, good, amazing, and required reading).

Say You’re One of Them, by Uwem Akpan, 384 pages, Back Bay Books, 2009
WHY I PICKED IT: I wanted to try a new African author and the cover looked good.
ELAPSED TIME: 2 days
RATING: Not good
It’s not a good sign when you’re reading a short story and thinking that it’s too long… That happened (at least) twice in this book. 2009 gave me two great short story books: The Unaccustomed Earth (Jumpa Lahiri) and The Thing Around Your Neck (Chimamanda Adichie)… and where Lahiri and Adichie are storytellers that can engage, uplift, and broaden your view of human experience, Akpan tells tired tales of woe; and does so poorly.

The Lost Symbol, by Dan Brown, 509 Pages, Bantam Press, 2009
WHY I PICKED IT: I liked The DaVinci Code
ELAPSED TIME: 1 day
RATING: Not good
This book was a disappointment. John Grisham found his niche in legal tales; with Angel and Demons and The DaVinci Code, Dan Brown created his own niche, but seems intent on exploiting it without putting in the work to actually make it good. The story is written with the conversion to a screenplay in mind. Angels and Demons wasn’t very good. Neither was The Lost Symbol. Perhaps The DaVinci Code was an anomaly. Barring a great recommendation from a reputable source, I won’t be giving Dan Brown my time again.

Super Freakonomics, by Steven Levitt and Stephen Dubner, 216 Pages, HarperCollinsPublishers, 2009
WHY I PICKED IT: I really liked Freakonomics
ELAPSED TIME: 2 days
RATING: Meh
Their first book was fantastic. This one, … well, it was disappinting. In the second to final chapter, they suggest wiping out all hurricanes by cooling down the surface temperature of the Atlantic ocean (and present a cheap and easy way to do so). No commentary was provided by the other side; asking if this would this be bad in any way. Perhaps by cooling the surface temperature of the Atlantic, you slow down the gulfstream (that runs from the south-west to the north-east atlantic)… If that is the case, what does that do to migratory habits of sea life? What about agriculture in Northern Europe? The suggestion, without considering other consequences was… well beneath their obvious ability as economists and storytellers.