And the winners are . . .

Yesterday's New Year's Resolutions still hold more than 12 hours later. I have done the Nancy Pearl thing on about half a dozen library books and put them in the tote to go back unread with half a dozen still to peruse. This doesn't mean they are unworthy. It was a hard choice deciding which to read and which to shortlist.

And the winners are:

1. Confidence Men by Ron Suskind. Fascinating book, purporting to tell all about the Obama White House as the administration struggled with the failing economy and the financial crisis. I'm more than half through the 515-page book so I have too much invested to quit reading now even if it weren't so interesting.
2. The Quest by Daniel Yergin. You will remember Yergin from his 1992 Pulitzer winner, The Prize, a history of oil from Spindletop to 1990. This book picks up where The Prize ended and is about energy alternatives as well as oil. It's another whopper at 804 pages.
3. A title to be named later. The shortlist includes:

• Christopher Hitchens' new book of essays, Arguably
• Neill Ferguson's Empire - Fortunately Ferguson's next book, The Cash Nexus isn't going to be published in the US until February so it won't be competing for the three slots between now and 2012. 
• Claire Tomalin's Charles Dickens - I know it hasn't been published yet but her previous biographies, most recently of Thomas Hardy, are so delightful I think I'm going to be starting a Dickens Project, reading the biography and then, finally, the novels, of which I've read only four. Question is, should it wait for 2012?
• Charles King's Odessa - this book really intrigues me but it really made the short list because it's only (only) 336 pages long.

As for the other resolutions, I'm killing two with one book, Dashiell Hammett's The Dain Curse, which I have in the Library of America edition.

 

Comments

[Thomas at My Porch]

Not to name drop or anything but Ron Suskind lives a few doors down from us. Being non-fiction I am not sure if I will pick it up.

[Mary]

When you run into Suskind at the next neighborhood progressive supper or block party, chat with him. He's a good writer, smart, knows how to connect the dots, does good, thorough research, and doesn't hesitate to say what he thinks. I suspect he's a lot of fun, too.