Books -- self discovery

In 2003, I attended a lecture by a writer who had, upon discovering his grandmother's journal, found that she had recorded every book that she read.  I wondered what the books that I had read said about me.  So I started recording. 

2003
The Art of Biblical Poetry by Robert Alter
NightWatch by Terry Pratchett
Meanwhile Back at the Ranch by Kinky Friedman
Reaper Man by Terry Pratchett
Night Blooming by Chelsea Quinn Yarbro
The Way into Encountering God in Judaism by Neil Gillman
Stepping on a Rainbow by Kinky Friedman
John Henry Days by Colson Whitehead
Exploring Consciousness by Rita Carter
The Sandman Companion by Hy Bender
Preludes and Nocturnes by Neil Gaiman
The Doll's House by Neil Gaiman
Dream Country by Neil Gaiman
A Game of You by Neil Gaiman
Fables and Reflections by Neil Gaiman
The Translator by John Crowley
Nickel and Dimed by Barbara Ehrenreich
Futureland by Walter Mosley
Brief Lives by Neil Gaiman
World's End by Neil Gaiman
The Kindly Ones by Neil Gaiman
Fat White Vampire Blues by Andrew Fox
The Red Queen by Matt Ridley
Tea with the Black Dragon by R. A. MacAvoy (again)
The Wake by Neil Gaiman
Doctor Who - The City of the Dead by Lloyd Rose
Engine Summer by John Crowley
Cypress Grove by James Sallis

Books Read - 2004

By now, I had decided what my novel was going to be.  Hence, a lot of history books!

Revolution in Judaea : Jesus and the Jewish resistance / by Hyam Maccoby
Jesus throough Jewish Eyes edited by Beatrice Bruteau
Judas Iscariot and the Myth of Jewish Evil
The Five Gospels The Search for the Authentic Words of Jesus by the Jesus Seminar
Skimmed "World Textiles  A concise History" by Mary Schoeser
Skimmed "Excavating Jesus" by John Crossan
Started "The Namesake" by Jhumpa Lahiri
"The Twelve Prophets" by Marvin A. Sweeney
Wise Men and Their Tales by Elie Wiesel
Narcissus In Chains by Laurell K. Hamilton
skimmed "The weaving, spinning, and dyeing book "  by Brown, Rachel.
"Women's work : the first 20,000 years : women, cloth, and society in early times"  by Barber, E. J. W
skimmed "World textiles : a visual guide to traditional techniques " by Gillow, John.
The God of Old by James L. Kugel (read in 1 day!)
The Great Poems of the Bible by James L. Kugel
skimmed "Honest to Jesus" by Robert W. Funk
The Israelites by B. S. J. Isserlin
skimmed "Readings in Classical Historians" by Michael Grant
King Herod's Dream  Caesarea on the Sea by Kenneth g. Holum and others
Women of the Wall ed by Phyllis Chesler and Rivka Haut
The Dreams Our Stuff is Made of by Thomas M. Disch
Service of the Heart--A guide to the Jewish Prayer Book by Evelyn Garfiel
Black Glass  by KAREN JOY FOWLER
The Amsterdam Cops Collected Stories by JanWillem van de Wetering
Souls on Fire by Elie Wiesel
Down and Out in the Magic Kingdom by Cory Doctorow
Cat's Pajamas by james Morrow
A City Equal to My Desire by James Sallis
God Is A Verb by Rabbi David Cooper
The Messiah before Jesus by Israel Knohl
The Rebbe The Messiah and the Scandale of Orthodox Indifference by David Berger
Everyman's Talmud by Abraham Cohen
The Brother of Jesus by Hershel Shanks and Ben Witherington III

Books Read - 2005

As always, some fun books slip in.  But it is difficult for me to read fiction while I write fiction.  The techniques of the other writer slip in.  (And then I mentally fume at my writing workshop.  Why can Langston Hughes use this writing technique, but I am not allowed to?  'Cause he's Langston Hughes, of course.  At least I aim high.)

Open House by Patricia J. Williams
Seeing A Color-Blind Future by Patricia J. Williams
Going Postal by Terry Pratchett
Monstrous regiment : a novel of Discworld by Terry Pratchett
How to run a traditional Jewish household by Blu Greenberg
Workin' on the Chain Gang by Walter Mosley
Ten Little New Yorkers by Kinky Friedman
Excavating Jesus by John Dominic Crossan and Jonathan L. Reed
The Men who Stare at Goats by Jon  Ronson
skimmed: Jesus and the Politics of His Day by Ernst Bammel and C.F.D. Moule  (too Christian for my use)
The Historical Jesus: the life of a Mediterranean Jewish Peasant by John Dominic Crossan
Secrets of the Bible by Archaeology magazine
Wars of the Jews: A military history from Biblical to modern times by Rosenthal, Monroe
The Story Begins by Amos Oz
A tale of Love and Darkness by Amos Oz
Peta and the Lost kingdom of the Nabataens by Jane Taylor
The Murder Room by P.D. James
Bar-Kokhba; the rediscovery of the legendary hero of the second Jewish revolt against Rome by Yadin, Yigael
What Entropy Means to Me by George Alec Effinger
Josephus by Tessa Rajak
Black, Jewish, and Interracial by Katya Gibel Azoulay   (I met the author and wanted to read her book)
Fledgling by Octavia Butler 
The God of Old by James L. Kugel.  (Not research.  Just a great book.)
Pharisees, Scribes and Sadducees in Palestinian Society  by Anthony J. Saldarini
The Rabbi's Cat  by Joann Sfar

Books Read - 2006 and 2007

Of course, 2007 is not over.  And, in fact, I know that I've read more than what is listed.  I finished the first draft of my novel, so I've been reading fiction like crazy!  I didn't dare for almost 2 years because it interfered with my writing.  The thing is--the software that I used to use to record all this is obsolete.  This is the new record for now.

2006
Akiba:  Scholar, Sain, and Martyr by Louis Finkelstein
253 by Geoff Ryman
A Scanner Darkly by Philip K. Dick
Anansi Boys by Neil Gaiman

2007
The Wave in the Mind by Ursula K. Le Guin
Glasshouse by Charles Stross
Accelerando by Charles Stross
Full Moon
Storm Front, both by Jim Butcher.  Part of the Desden File series.  I was curious.
The Yiddish Policemen's Union by Michael Chabon
Changing Planes by Ursula K. Le Guin  (I read the library's copy and then found my copy.  I have too many books!)
Grave Endings by Rochelle Krich  (a gift from a friend)
The Salt Roads by Nalo Hopkinson
Apex Hides the Hurt by Colson Whitehead  (actually started in 2006 when I saw it at a friend's apt)
Cripple Creek by James Sallis
Fragile Things by Neil Gaiman
Thud by Terry Pratchett
iMac for Dummies by Mark Chambers
Testament: Akedah by Douglas Rushkoff and Liam Sharp
Kabbalah by Lawrence Kushner