The Twelve Days of Gheorghemas Day Seven (Seven Books for Reading)

On the seventh day of Gheorghemas
Big Gheorghe gave to me:

Seven Books for Reading
Six Vinyl Discs
Five golden (Cream Yellow, really) cylinders for Squeaky
Four players playing
Three Nutty Squirrels
Two Chilean bangers (literally)
And a British lass slingin’ hot meat

Aloha Gheorghies. I hope some of you read my #1 book pick for 2019. It's by Sam Anderson and the title is a mouthful:

Boom Town: The Fantastical Saga of Oklahoma City, Its Chaotic Founding, Its Apocalyptic Weather, Its Purloined Basketball Team, and the Dream of Becoming a World Class Metropolis

If you didn't read it, you still can. That's the thing about books. And, unlike The Sixth Sense, I doubt anyone has spoiled it for you.

Unlike last year, when I recommended a book that was perfectly apropos for the G:TB-- a fast and easy read about basketball, alternative music, tornadoes, and a clusterfuck on the prairie-- this year I'm going to challenge you motherfuckers.

My number one pick is a trilogy. A sci-fi trilogy. One of the hardest things I ever read. Translated from Chinese. Epic in scope. Groundbreaking. Some people in my office started but no one made it past the first book (and I'm an English teacher). My buddy Alec, who read all of Neal Stephenson's Anathem, quit halfway through book two. But I persevered and it was worth it. I thought I was the only person in New Jersey to finish all three books. Then my friend Melanie told she had whipped through them as well. No problem. So I guess they're not THAT difficult (although Melanie's pretty smart . . . for a girl). So go for it, I promise it will be worth it.

1) The Three-Body Problem by Cixin Liu

2) The Dark Forest by Cixin Liu

3) Death's End by Cixin Liu

The next pick is a fast and furious read. It's one of those non-fiction stories that will stretch the imagination of all you East Coast agnostics. Tara Westover survives being homeschooled by a fanatically religious, preparing-for-the-apocalypse, fighting Big Medicine, scrapmetal-baron nut job of a dad; while she is mercilessly manipulated and bullied by her older brother, and mainly left to fend for herself by a brainwashed, homeopathic midwife mom. In underdog fashion-- broken and corrupted of memory and normality-- she escapes her family and the mountains of Idaho and finally thrives.

4) Educated by Tara Westbrook

If-- instead of fishing and golfing-- you'd rather your retirement consist of going out into the universe and killing stuff, then read:

5) Old Man's War by John Scalzi

If heroin and oxycontin don't scare you enough, then check out:

6) Fentanyl, Inc.: How Rogue Chemists Are Creating the Deadliest Wave of the Opioid Epidemic by Ben Westhoff

I could also recommend Westhoff's Original Gangstas: The Untold Story of Dr. Dre, Eazy-E, Ice Cube, Tupac Shakur, and the Birth of West Coast Rap for Zman and Mark, but the rest of you may find this book a little too comprehensive and detailed. It's a great story though, especially how the gangsta rappers actually started to live up to their lyrics, instead of the reverse. Cause and effect go in reverse, and things end tragically.

Also, Eazy-E had ten kids by eight different women. I need to get busy, if I'm going to leave a legacy like that.

And while I know Malcolm Gladwell has taken some flak lately, especially in intellectual circles, for being a "thought leader" and sometimes playing fast and loose with his research, I love him as a writer. He makes non-fiction compelling and clear and in his newest book, he really brings his themes full circle. Also, his examples are topical and vividly executed. If you haven't read a Gladwell since Blink, this is a good way to get back into him.

7) Talking to Strangers: What We Should Know About The People We Don’t Know by Malcolm Gladwell

Enough of this post. I'm going upstairs to read Say Nothing: A True Story of Murder and Memory in Northern Ireland. Supposed to be really good.

Put some of your 2020 book picks in the comments.