I was doing pretty well, at least until I discovered Podcasts, and then I pretty much stopped reading. I did begin Kurban Said‘s Ali and Nina which was incredibly promising, but I don’t think that my schedule until after the Holiday Season will give me the time to finish it. So, I believe it is safe now to give my list of the books that I most enjoyed reading in 2007.
I started the year out completing The Idiot, and here is a fairly accurate list of what followed in 2007:
- Samarkand: Amin Maalouf
- Rock of Tanios: Amin Maalouf
- Gardens of Light: Amin Maalouf
- The First Century after Beatrice: Amin Maalouf
- Ports of Call: Amin Maalouf
- Midaq Alley: Naguib Mahfouz
- The Beginning and the End: Naguib Mahfouz
- The Last Friend: Tahar Ben Jelloun
- Fima: Amos Oz
- The Spider’s House: Paul Bowles
- Let It Come Down: Paul Bowles
- Two Serious Ladies: Jane Bowles
- Streetwise: Mohamed Choukri
- For Bread Alone: Mohamed Choukri
- Sardines: Nuriddin Farah
- From a Crooked Rib: Nuriddin Farah
- Knots: Nuriddin Farah
- The Bastard of Istanbul: Elif Shafak
- Tuareg: Alberto Vázquez-Figueroa
- Half of a Yellow Sun: Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
- A Short History of Tractors in Ukrainian: Marina Lewycka
- El Coronel No Tiene a Quien Le Escriba: Gabriel García Márquez
- The Yaboubian Building: Alaa Al Aswany
- After Dark: Haruki Murakami
- In A Free State: V.S. Naipaul
- My Name is Red: Orhan Pamuk
- Dreams of Trespass: Fatima Mernissi
It’s so very hard to just choose one, so I won’t. I will go with these:
- My Name is Red
- Samarkand
- Tuareg, and
- The Spider’s House.
Grave Error 
1. The Myth of Sisyphus and other essays; Albert Camus
2. The Universe in a Nutshell; Stephen Hawking
3. The First Ten Discourses of Titus Livius; originally Niccolo Machiavelli, transcribed by Bernard Crick
4. Man, for Himself; Erich Fromm
Books rock.
I’ve only read the first one, which was one of my favorites. Will book the other three on my 2008 reading list!
Here are two books that should be on everyone’s must-read list. If you don’t have enough time to read them yourself because you are spending most of your spare time blogging, they would make excellent Christmas gifts for friends or loved ones:
1. “Borat: Touristic Guidings to Minor Nation of U.S. and A. and Touristic Guidings to Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan” by Borat Sagdiyev. Far more insightful travel guide than anything you would find inside the covers of a Fodor’s, Frommer’s or Berlitz. If you’re planning a trip to Kazakhstan, don’t leave home without it.
2. “Shakespeare: The World as Stage,” by Bill Bryson. Great read about Will Shakespeare’s life – and how little is really known about it – and times.
3. A special recommendation for James: “Hegemony or Survival: America’s Quest for Global Dominance,” by Noam Chomsky – one of James’ favorites.
Chomsky wouldn’t be on any of my favorites list, he’s an anathema in the realm of logic and critical thinking … but I’ll give anyone at least one read. (His determinations of linguistic philosophy are a good starting point for revealing his inability to accept known facts in the face of his personal agenda)
Strangely, I have no questions about our government’s general behavior ~ genetic dominance in full socio-political bloom, status quo. (It just happens to be our turn on the map, something that people seem to forget ~ it’s called world history, pick up a book today!!!)
Speaking of must read:
1. Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding; David Hume
2. Escape From Freedom; Erich Fromm
They both help with removing those erroneous perspectives regarding human thinking.