JANUARY
The Few: The American "Knights of the Air" Who Risked Everything to Fight in the Battle of Britain, by Alex Kershaw (2006)
There are lots better WWII histories than this one, but at least I know more about the Battle of Britain and the sky portion of the early days of the war.
Dogs That Know When Their Owners Are Coming Home and Other Unexplained Powers of Animals, by Rupert Sheldrake (1999)
This technical work argues for the existence of telepathy in animals, specifically in pets, and existent to a limited degree in humans.
Heavens to Betsy and Other Curious Sayings, by Charles Earle Funk (1955)
An elderly fussy lexicographer relates as best he can the origins of many folk sayings, most of which have vanished from history.
A Dog Year: Twelve Months, Four Dogs and Me, by Jon Katz (2002)
A New Jersey tech writer adopts a neurotic Border Collie from Texas, says goodbye to his beloved elderly Labs, and learns somewhat how to calm his anger issues.
The Dogs of Bedlam Farm: An Adventure with Sixteen Sheep, Three Dogs, Two Donkeys and Me, by Jon Katz (2005)
The sequel to A Dog Year, Katz becomes a hobby farmer raising sheep in upstate New York along the Vermont border.
Total read this month: 5.
FEBRUARY
The Catcher was a Spy: The Mysterious Life of Moe Berg, by Nicholas Dawdoff (1994)
This had the potential to be really interesting, a mix of baseball history and World War II history. Unfortunately, it was tedious and not very informative.
Walking My Dog, Jane: From Valdez to Prudhoe Bay, by Ned Rozell (2000)
In the summer of 1997, a man decides to hike through Alaska south to north with his dog. Confirmed that I could never live in Alaska.
Fireflies, Honey, and Silk, by Gilbert Waldbauer (2009)
An elderly entomologist wrote about all the ways insects are useful to society and the world. Fairly dull, but his enthusiasm was nice.
A Letter to My Dog: Notes to Our Best Friends, collected by and Robin Layton, photos by Robin Layton (2012)
Celebrities from Oprah to Hilary Duff to random schoolkids write thank you notes to their dogs. All the warm fuzzies.
Diners, written and illustrated by John Baeder (1978)
This art book details many paintings of diners scattered throughout the country.
The Great American Sports Page: A Century of Classic Columns from Ring Lardner to Sally Jenkins, edited by John Schulian (2019)
This just made me sad as the state of irrelevancy that America classifies journalism into now.
Total read this month: 6, bringing total to 11.
MARCH
Bravo! A Guide to Opera for the Perplexed, by Barrymore Laurence Scherer (1994)
This was a nice primer on the basics of how opera works and some of the famous examples from various countries.
Football Revolution: The Rise of the Spread Offense and How It Transformed College Football, by Bart Wright (2012)
An overly-detailed history of the spread offense in college football.
Bowling Across America: 50 States in Rented Shoes, by Mike Walsh (2008)
After his father's death from a heart attack while playing handball, a man decides to go on a road trip and bowl in every state of the Union. Decently written, but the adventure seemed a little pointless by the end.
Sports in America, by James Michener (1976)
This very comprehensive, thorough and naive look at the place of sports in American society has its highlights, but overall wasn't great.
Slayer Slang: A Buffy the Vampire Slayer Lexicon, by Michael Adams (2003)
Language is very interesting. Buffy is great art, even though I don't care for the show itself. But a literal dictionary written about the slang of the show written by a North Carolina State professor of linguistics is very tedious.
Total read this month: 5, bringing total to 16.
APRIL
In the Country of Country: People and Places in American Music, by Nicholas Dawidoff (1997)
This was better than his Moe Berg book, but still not very good. It would also help if I was more familiar with the pioneering and fringe artists of country music that he describes and talks with.
The Naked Chef Takes Off, by Jamie Oliver (2000)
A very conversational and tasty-looking cookbook. I learned a lot about the basics of cocktails reading this.
Total read this month: 2, bringing total to 18.
MAY
The Dog Department: James Thurber on Hounds, Scotties and Talking Poodles, by James Thurber, edited by Michael J. Rosen (2001)
A posthumous collection of essays and short stories about dogs.
Total read this month: 1, bringing total to 19.
JUNE
Chevrolet Summers, Dairy Queen Nights: Of Cloudless and Carefree American Days, by Bob Greene (1997)
A collection of his newspaper columns, covering everything from murders and custody battles to riding a train and the joy of restoring a beloved old car.
Nightscapes: Poetry from the Depths, by E.M. Welcher (2020)
This is raw and frightening at times in how intense it is, which is a sign that it's very good poetry.
The Curious Christian, by Barnabas Piper (2017)
This nice, readable book about the virtues and purposes of curiosity was excellent.
Total read this month: 3, bringing total to 22.
JULY
One Hundred Dogs and Counting: One Woman, Ten Thousand Miles, and a Journey into the HEart of Shelters and Rescues, by Cara Sue Achterberg (2020)
A fellow Dog Writers Association of America member sent me a preview copy of her book to review on Dog O'Day.
Total read this month: , bringing total to 23.
AUGUST
Angel on a Leash: Therapy Dogs and the Lives They Touch, by David Frei (2009)
Total read this month: 4, bringing total to 29.
NOVEMBER
Sitcom: A History in 24 episodes from I Love Lucy to Community, by Saul Austerlitz (2014)
AUGUST
Angel on a Leash: Therapy Dogs and the Lives They Touch, by David Frei (2009)
A book of stories about the mission and achievements of therapy dogs and brave humans. Hard not to feel joyful by this emotional roller coaster.
Total read this month: 1, bringing total to 24.
SEPTEMBER
The Road to Little Dribbling: More Notes from a Small Island, by Bill Bryson (2014)
SEPTEMBER
The Road to Little Dribbling: More Notes from a Small Island, by Bill Bryson (2014)
A now sixtysomething Bryson reflects on the England of the mid-2010s, pondering how it's changed since he first came there as a college student in the late 1970s. Average Bryson, in that the societal observation is offset by the crankiness.
Total read this month: 1, bringing total to 25.
OCTOBER
Pet That Dog! A Handbook for making Four-Legged Friends, by Gideon Kidd and Rachel Braunigan (2020)
Total read this month: 1, bringing total to 25.
OCTOBER
Pet That Dog! A Handbook for making Four-Legged Friends, by Gideon Kidd and Rachel Braunigan (2020)
Aimed at an elementary audience from the kid behind the I've Pet That Dog IG/Twitter account, this was very pleasant. Read for review for Dog O'Day.
Hockey for Weekend Warriors: A Guide to Everything from Skates and Slapshots to Separated Shoulders, by Scott Noble (2005)
An entertainingly-written basics guide for getting into recreational hockey.
Poppy in the Wild: A Lost Dog, Fifteen Hundred Acres of Wilderness and the Dogged Determination that Brought Her Home, by Teresa J. Rhyne (2020)
Reviewed from a DWAA author for Dog O'Day, this memoir follows the fostering and then rescue of a Beagle named Poppy who got lost in Southern California for about a week. A heroic team of volunteers eventually brought her home safe and sound.
Hockey for Dummies, by John Davidson and John Steinbreder (1997)
One of the early Dummies books, this does a good overall job of introducing the sport of hockey.
Total read this month: 4, bringing total to 29.
NOVEMBER
Sitcom: A History in 24 episodes from I Love Lucy to Community, by Saul Austerlitz (2014)
Exactly what the title sounds like - kind of academic in tone, but still very readable and interesting.
Deadline Artists: America's Greatest Newspaper Columns, edited by John P. Avlon, Errol Louis and Jesse Angelo (2011)
Everyone from Mark Twain and Ernest Hemingway to Peggy Noonan and Bob Greene are in here.
Talking Back to Purity Culture: Rediscovering Faithful Christian Sexuality, by Rachel Joy Welcher (2020)
A refutation of Christian culture's purity culture mindset about sexuality.
Total read this month: 3, bringing total to 32.
DECEMBER
DECEMBER
As One Twig is Bent: True Stories of Childhood and Parenting in the Depression, by Beth Stiles Leffingwell (2001)
An elderly lady tells about her childhood years growing up in Denver during the Great Depression and high school/college during World War II. As a book, it's appropriately terrible, but as a time capsule it works well. If she wasn't a classical music snob it might have made for easier reading.
Hockey Night Fever: Mullets, Mayhem and the Game's Coming of Age in the 1970s, by Stephen Crane (2015)
An groovy history of the rock 'em sock 'em era of 1970s hockey.
Advent, A Thread in the Night, by E.M. Welcher (2020)
Evan reflects on the passing of his first wife Danielle and the mystery of Christ's coming to earth in this moving poetry anthology.
Total read this month: 3, bringing total for the year to 35. When added to the fiction read this year, that takes me to a grand total of 65 books for 2020.
