I feel as if I really haven't read that much this year. I've gone through periods where I've read a lot and periods of time where I had my eyes glued to the tv. Actually, playoff basketball and playoff hockey took up a big chunk of my time in the spring. Following the Celtics run for banner #17 was a huge time commitment.  Sometimes I wonder how much time I've wasted on this planet surfing with the remote.

Golden Girls - Nah, I've seen that episode.

CNN Headline News - I've seen the same headlines for the last three hours. Why don't the headlines change at night?

To Catch A Predator on MSNBC - How many times can you watch a guy, with a fast food bag in one hand and condoms in the other, say all he wanted to do was talk with the thirteen-year old girl?

The Rock of Love 2 - These women know that Brett's wearing the headband because he's got plugs growing on his balding dome, right?

Any Home Improvement or Home Design Show - Every man has walked into the room, expecting to watch the big game on the tube, only to be confronted with the latest home improvement/real estate/flip this house/what is the value of my house show. I'm convinced these shows have done more to stagnate the housing market than the pronouncements of Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke. Alright, I really don't believe that, but when did we all start to need double sinks in the bathroom?

Oooh, the master bedroom isn't that large.

Reality Check: You're looking at a two-bedroom house for $350,000 in the your city's toniest neighborhood. Keep on looking for the spacious master with the luxurious walk-in.

Some blurbs on the books I read:

Fiction

The Gum Thief by Douglas Coupland - This is a novel within a novel. The Gum Thief contains Glove Pond, which is the protagonist, Roger Thorpe's work of fiction. The Gum Thief is centered around Roger's employment at an office supply store and the friendship he develops, through diary entries, with the troubled and much younger Bethany. Coupland usually does not disappoint and this I highly recommend.

The 25th Hour by David Benioff - Maybe you've seen the Spike Lee movie starring Ed Norton? If you've seen the movie, and you liked the movie, you'll dig the novel. Spike Lee stayed true to the novel - in fact, he used dialogue straight from the novel. Spike Lee nailed the book and Benioff's novel is a taut, smooth read. Great book to read this summer.

Lush Life by Richard Price - I was mourning the passing of The Wire and then I saw Richard Price had a new novel hitting the shelves. This should help ease your jones for The Wire. Price sets this murder on The Lower East Side, and we watch as he creates a world of characters that could just as well be found in real life at Schiller's Liquor Bar, as can be found at his fictional Cafe Berkmann. There are no heroes in Price's world. If you miss Omar Little, pick up Lush Life.

My Revolutions by Hari Kunzru - This sort of jumped off the shelf at me during a visit to the local library. Honestly, I liked the cover and then I read the book jacket. Why don't you do the same thing? Go find a picture of the cover and see if you find it intriguing. Then read a little something about the book - are you playing along with me at home? I just realized this is the only piece of fiction I did not read by an American author. Am I doing my part for Homeland Security? Kunzru is a gifted writer and captures the emotions of his characters throughout the arc of their lives. Go read it!

L.A. Rex by Will Beall - As I wrote in a previous blog entry, this is Colors meets Training Day with a little Lethal Weapon thrown into the mix. Perfect summer read to rip through.  

Beautiful Children by Charles Bock - This is Bock's highly anticipated first novel, set in the residential side of Las Vegas, and away from the bright lights of The Strip. Bock writes about the Las Vegas that he grew up in, which is worlds away from,"What Happens in Vegas, Stays in Vegas." Bock performs a tour de force capturing the world of runaway teens; the lure, promise and cold reality of the porn industry, and the struggle to maintain a marriage served a death sentence.

Non-Fiction

Blood, Toil, Tears and Sweat: Winston Churchill and the Speech That Saved Civilization by John Lukacs - Did Churchill save civilization by rallying the British people in May of 1940 with a series of speeches? If Germany had invaded Great Britain, would the world be vastly different today? Lukacs makes a strong case for Churchill and the resolve displayed by an island nation on the verge of collapse. Are there leaders like Churchill or F.D.R. in today's world?

Guests Of The Ayatollah The Iran Hostage Crisis: The First Battle in America's War with Militant Islam by Mark Bowden - When was the last time you thought of the Iranian Hostage Situation? Naively, I never gave much thought to the released hostages and the ordeal they endured. I was twelve at the time time of their kidnapping and I always associated the Iranian Hostage Situation with the advent of Ted Koppel's Nightline. Bowden does a fantastic job of examining present day Iran and the forces that still contribute to anti-Americanism in Iran. These people were not guests of the Ayatollah - they were poorly treated prisoners.

Thomas Jefferson: Author of America by Christopher Hitchens - Who knew that Jefferson was such a radical? We've all been fed the usual elementary school myths about our Founding Fathers, but Thomas Jefferson was a man of great extremes and great complexity. Jefferson never solved the issue of slavery, but did you know Sally Hemings was his wife's half-sister? Jefferson was a true revolutionary.

America, 1908: The Dawn of Flight, the Race to the Pole, the Invention of the Model T, and the Making of a Modern Nation by Jim Rasenberger -A fascinating look at where this nation was 100 years ago.

Rigged: The True Story of an Ivy League Kid Who Changed the World of Oil, from Wall Street to Dubai by Ben Mezrich - This was a little too slick for me. Mezrich has a great story, but sometimes narrative affectations intrude on the story. I felt like there was more to the story and he glossed over some of the details. Perfect book to read at the beach or at the gym on the treadmill.

Hard News: The Scandals at the New York Times and Their Meaning for the American Media by Seth Mnookin - Are you a member of an endangered species of people who once cherished the newspaper? Do you believe a newspaper contributes to the vitality of a community? I love newspapers and reading a newspaper on the Internet is not the same. I can't feel the ink on my fingers and reading a box score on the Internet is an unholy unnatural act. You can't throw the .com sports page at your dad when you're done with it. Mnookin does a masterful job of telling us who Jayson Blair is and why he should matter to you.

Homicide: A Year on the Killing Streets by David Simon - I was a huge fan of NBC's Homicide: Life On The Streets, but I never got around to reading the work that inspired the series. Well, I finally got around to it and I should have read this years ago. In the pages of Simon's book, you see the foundations for Oz and The Wire. You can't write better crime fiction than what Simon documents in this unbelievable piece of journalism. This is a page turner. Turn off C.S.I. and Law & Order and experience real police work.

I Hope They Serve Beer in Hell by Tucker Max - This guy must be a hero in college fraternities across our great land. What's great about Max's shtick is that he's telling tales about binge drinking, drunken hook-ups and post-apocalyptic bathroom experiences that most red-blooded American males experienced during their college and post-college years. If you've read one shit my pants story, you've read 'em all. Hey, I don't need to read Tucker Max when I've already lived the life.

The Replacements: All Over But The Shouting: An Oral History by Jim Walsh - If you ever liked The Replacements or were curious about The Replacements, you have to read Jim Walsh's oral history.

Slash by Anthony Bozza - Slash could have been a character from Charles Dickens' Oliver Twist. The guy grew up a street urchin and managed to hold it together long enough to be a member of the biggest rock band in the world. After reading Slash's booze and drug addled memories, you wonder how the hell Guns & Roses ever got to where they were. It's astonishing. The best part of Slash's stories - nothing has ever been his fault.  

The Onion Picker: Carmen Basilio & Boxing in the 1950s by Gary B. Youmans - I never could understand why the Boxing Hall of Fame was in upstate New York until I read Gary Youmans' book. This is not only a book about Carmen Basilio, but a look at the crooked world of boxing during the fifties. The halcyon days of boxing were marred by corruption, mob ties and sheer greed. If you're a fan of hockey, you'll love the roles played by the Norris and Wirtz families. Great period piece.

Positively False: The Real Story Of How I Won The Tour De France by Floyd Landis with Loren Mooney - I don't know if Floyd Landis is innocent or not, but he raises some serious questions about the process. I can't understand how his testosterone could spike so high after he had been tested earlier in the Tour. Would he be crazy enough to take steroids the night before the biggest race of his life? In some ways what Landis describes is a witch hunt, but was any cyclist clean during this period of time?

Iceman: My Fighting Life by Chuck Liddell with Chad Millman - It was a boring day at the library and I decided mixed martial arts was the subject du jour. Chuck likes himself a lot. Chuck likes to fight when he bounces, Chuck likes to fight when he tends bar and Chuck likes to fight when he walks around. Chuck likes to have threesome's before his fights. Chuck likes young girls and impregnates them. Not much to like about Chuck.

The Best Game Ever: Giants vs. Colts, 1958 and the Birth of the Modern NFL by Mark Bowden - Bowden primarily describes the game from the viewpoint of the Colts. This is considered the game that ushered in the modern era of the NFL. The Colts were blue collar and Giants were swells. The Colts worked in-season and off-season jobs - the Giants had endorsements. The Giants had Frank Gifford who pondered retirement to pursue a career in Hollywood - the Colts had Johnny Unitas from Pennsylvania steel country. Bowden breaks down the game film with current Philadelphia Eagles coach Andy Reid and we all get to enjoy the details observed by Reid. Great read.

God Save The Fan: How Preening Sportscasters, Athletes Who Speak in the Third Person, and the Occasional Convicted Quarterback Have Taken the Fun Out of Sports (And How We Can Get It Back) by Will Leitch - I was really disappointed in Leitch's effort. I feel he mailed this in. Leitch has piggybacked on the success of deadspin.com and had to follow up with a book. I would have done the same thing, but he relied far too much on material from deadspin. I'm sure he banged this out, but it's a weak effort. What disturbed me most about the book was Leitch's attempt to assassinate the character of any and every athlete, announcer and sports reporter. As much as Leitch said he loves sports, and is a true fan, he loathes those who report and play the games. His criticism of ESPN is valid and usually spot-on, but he's a hypocrite. Will Leitch is profiting from the sports, the athletes, and the people who report the games that he so vilifies. He puts in the book some crap, about Stuart Scott allegedly texting a woman late at night, who was not his wife. Who cares! Does he share that information with us because we need to know it or is it another rocket propelled grenade against the corporate fortress of ESPN? Leitch is better than this.