My notable books of 2007 — Part One: non-fiction/memoirs
This week the New York Times announced its picks for the 10 best books of 2007 (the week previous it released a more comprehensive list of 100 most notable books of 2007). Following suit, I thought I’d take stock of all the books I read this year, too.
Because my 45 minutes-each-way subway commute has turned me into kind of a voracious reader, I’ll split this up into multiple posts. For this, part one, I’ll start out with non-fiction, including memoirs. Here’s what I read in this category in 2007, in the order that I liked them! (Note: most weren’t actually published this year.)
Killing Yourself to Live: 85% of a True Story
If I knew Klosterman in person, I wouldnt tell him how much I loved this book because from the looks of things he’s already got the biggest ego on the planet. But I pretty much wanted to write down 9,000 quotes from this memoir — about the writer’s cross-country road trip researching dead musicians & visiting old flames— in a journal and memorize them for fun.
But Enough About Me: How a Small-Town Girl Went from Shag Carpet to the Red Carpet
I’ve been a fan of Rolling Stone reporter Jancee Dunn since high school when my best friend and I spent hours watching the formerly-awesome MTV2, where she was an original VJ. This memoir hilariously and touchingly chronicles her bizarre adventures interviewing celebrities while simultaneously struggling to figure out her own place in the world. I actually attended a reading of this and got my book signed by Dunn, who was even sweeter, lovelier, and more inspiring in person, if you can believe it.
Kafka Was the Rage: A Greenwich Village Memoir
This short unfinished memoir takes place a few decades back in New York City (a perk for me; I love reading about my own surroundings). Some of Broyard’s insight about relationships, death, and feeling displaced felt personally relevant, and I appreciated these passages even more knowing they were true. Its incomplete ending (due to his death) left me hanging perfectly.
Not Buying It: My Year Without Shopping
As someone who’s constantly chided for my frugality, I loved the the experiment behind this book. Levine sets out to go an entire year without purchasing a single non-necessity, and the month-by-month chapters chronicle the difficulties encountered and lessons learned. Her experiences caused me to reevaluate my materialism and tendency towards “retail therapy.” It’s personal, political, and very thought provoking.
The Money Book for the Young, Fabulous & Broke
Suze Orman’s got this way of getting you totally psyched about being responsible and proactive with your money. This particular title of hers is targeted towards young people who don’t have a whole lot to play with. Some of her tips are common sense ones I’ve heard a hundred times (i.e. avoid credit card debt), but others were quite original and insightful (about beginning to think about investing in stocks and real estate, etc.).
A Field Guide to Getting Lost
This collection of essays considers the human inclination towards getting lost, for a multitude of reasons and in a multitude of ways. I found the exploration of the subject matter (and the topic itself) incredibly interesting. For me, about half of the pieces resonated strongly with my own thoughts/experiences, while I found the other half a bit dry and dense. This is a worthwhile read if you find yourself at all curious about the topic.
Was She Pretty?
This book of line drawings and brief musings about anxiously fixating on who your exes dated before you will take you about 20 minutes to look at. It will definitely hit home with anybody who’s been in a relationship of any kind (though not in any kind of mind-blowing impressive way that will stick with you for a long time, to be honest).
Floor Sample
I had high hopes for this memoir, being that it’s written by the creator of the wildly successful Artist’s Way program and book
Next week… fiction!
