10. The Crusades Through Arab Eyes - Amin MaaloufI read this book as part of the History Book Club at Barnes and Noble, and I thought this book was pretty average until the last few chapters when Maalouf ties the crusades to modern thinking. The author points out that at the time of the Crusades, the Arab world was actually culturally, scientifically, and intellectually ahead of the rest of the world. The Franj army invaded and took not only land but also their ideas. The ideas went back to Europe, were improved upon, and led to the rise of Western power. When the Arab world thinks about getting back to a time when they were superior to the Western world they don't look at adopting our advances and improving on them, they look backward at a time when the mindset was even more militantly anti-Western. There were many books published in 2006 that deals with the Middle East question; however, very few of them look back at history to see that the crusades continue to this day.
9. Fortress of Solitude - Jonathan Lethem
I received this book as an advanced reader copy at the Barnes. The first half of this book is an awesome meditation on the dynamics of growing up. It took me a while to read this book because it begins to drag a little in the middle when the kids grow up and begin to navigate the adult world where difficult choices can have very real consequences. I think the influx of magical realism (super ring, kids flying) actually hurts the tone of the book even if it may augment the theme. Ultimately, As She Climbed Across the Table may be a better (and shorter) Lethem work.
8. Housekeeping Vs. the Dirt - Nick Hornby
How can you not love a book with a sentence like this? "I would like my personal reading map to resemble a map of the British Empire circa 1900; I'd like people to look at it and think, How the hell did he end up right over there? ... I'm always reading works of bloody literature; I'm never reading about migration patterns." I'm so sick of the New Criticism that says a book must stand outside of its time period both in reading and writing. Hornby acknowledges his personal prejudices and appreciates that certain books hit us exactly when we need them instead of just trudging through a wish list of books that should be read. I tried to read Gatbsy three times before I finally got through it - I wasn't ready for it at the time. It is now one of my favorites.7. Walking to Vermont - Christopher Wren
Speaking of personal prejudices, I love Vermont and would love to walk the Long Trail up the spine of Vermont sometime soon. When Wren retired from the New York Times, he decided to walk to his new house in Vermont from New York City, and instead of half-assing it like Bryson does in a Walk in the Woods, Wren actually walks the whole darn thing. Plus he does it while recounting field assignments that he had for the paper. Something about being in a bunker in Vietnam and having to make the choice between letting rats continue to have sex on top of him or make noise by shooting the rats and risk revealing the troops position - how can you forget a book like that? But the walking to Vermont part is actually even more engaging because it doesn't try to get all preachy about why the trek is important or why the environment is good or anything like that; it's a well-told chronicle of his walk.6. Of Mice and Men - John Steinbeck
I'm a little embarrassed to be putting this on the list. It seems like I should have been able to cross this off the list sooner. In fact, this is the first Steinbeck I've ever read. Sure, most of the characters are flat and static and the foreshadowing would have to actually reach out of the book and punch you in the nose to be more obvious. But for some reason I'm becoming fascinated by the time period of the Great Depression/Dust Bowl so this nice little story about the friendship of George and Lennie hit me right where I was hankering.****Well, that's numbers 6-10. The top 5 will be coming shortly, as well as 3 books that I was surprised didn't make the list.****
