For all of you avid readers out there,
or those looking for a great idea for a present, may I suggest this
Top 10 List of Books for Guys I found on MSN. They are supposed to be geared towards men,
and I can see why because my father has read and thoroughly
enjoyed at least a third of them, but the topics seem interesting for
women as well. Let me know your feedback, if you've personally read
any of them and what you thought about them. Be sure to organize
your collection of books with iTaggit and let us know if you need
your collectibles valued.
Spartina by John Casey
This
classic novel of a man, a boat, and a storm is ultimately a
compelling voyage of self discovery. Dick Pierce, an out-of-luck
commercial fisherman, has lost nearly everything except his family.
Spartina is the fishing boat he is trying to build in a
last-ditch effort to realize his frustrated dreams of independence.
As things veer from bad to worse, Dick manages to launch Spartina
just before a hurricane hits. While riding out the storm brings
Dick new clarity, the real heart of this novel is its timeless story
of one man's struggle to find his true place in the world.
The Boys of Summer by Roger
Kahn
Quite possibly the best book ever written about baseball, The
Boys of Summer tells the story of the Brooklyn Dodgers and the
community that loved them. Roger Kahn, a sportswriter who grew up
near Ebbets Field, covered the Dodgers for the Herald Tribune in the
1950s and tells the story here in all its glory and pathos—right up
to the day in 1958 when the team moved to Los Angeles and took the
heart and soul of Brooklyn with them. You don't have to love baseball
to love this book.
Into the Wild by Jon
Krakauer
In April 1992, following several years of solo adventures
and sometimes odd behavior, 24-year-old Chris McCandless burned the
last cash in his wallet and walked into the Alaskan wilderness on a
personal quest to find new meaning in his life. Four months later,
hunters found his decomposing body in an abandoned school bus. In
this book, which inspired the current movie directed by Sean Penn and
scored by rocker Eddie Vedder, author Jon Krakauer tries to
understand how and why McCandless died—and what he discovered on
his spiritual journey.
To
Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
If you haven't read
To Kill a Mockingbird since high school or
college, it's time to take another look. Harper Lee's first and only
novel, which won her a Pulitzer Prize and inspired an Oscar-winning
film, offers one of the best role models for fatherhood in all of
literature in the character of Atticus Finch. The novel also takes a
compelling look at the cancerous effects of institutionalized racism
on a small Southern town in the years before the civil rights
movement.
Understanding Men's Passages
by Gail Sheehy
For men, midlife is often seen as a time of crisis
and confusion. But it's also a time when many men reinvent themselves
and take control of their lives. Bestselling author Gail Sheehy has
written what may be the ultimate relationship book for men. By
sharing the stories of real men coping with the changes and
challenges they encounter during their 40s, 50s, 60s, and beyond,
Sheehy shows all men how to develop a truer relationship with
themselves and to open their hearts more fully to the people they
love.
A River Runs Through It by
Norman Maclean
Made into a 1992 movie starring Brad Pitt and
directed by Robert Redford, Norman Maclean's book of two brothers
following different paths is a poignant and lyrical story of loss,
and our all-too-frequent inability to understand and help the people
we love the most. Set in 1930s Montana, with some great fly-fishing
scenes, Maclean tells his moving memoir in prose as clean and clear
as a trout stream.
I Killed: True Stories of the Road
from America's Top Comics by Ritch Shydner and Mark Schiff
More
than 200 standup comedians come clean in this hilarious and sometimes
bizarre look at what goes on behind the laughter when comics are on
the road. Contributors include legendary comic all-stars such as
Jonathan Winters, Dennis Miller, Drew Carey, Chris Rock and Rita
Rudner as well as a lineup of nearly anonymous rising stars. The
stories range from Jerry Seinfeld's memory of being heckled by a
Mafia hit man to Jay Leno's anecdote about accidentally leaving a
groupie tied to her bed overnight. Authors Shydner and Schiff are
veteran standup comics whose own recollections are included in the
book.
The World is Flat: A Brief History
of the Twenty-First Century by Thomas L. Friedman
In his
bestselling book, New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman
argues that economic, political and technological forces have led to
a new stage of globalization that is creating previously unimagined
opportunities and crises. Not everyone will agree with Friedman's
conclusions, but there is no question that he does a masterful job of
tracing many of the new trends and complex relationships that affect
our lives.
Niagara Falls All Over Again
by Elizabeth McCracken
This story about the 30-year friendship of
two vaudeville comedians who make it big in the early days of
Hollywood and television is touching, insightful, and often
laugh-out-loud funny. Although as different offstage as on, straight
man Mose Sharp and funny man Rocky Carter both struggle to overcome
their demons and discover the essential value of male friendship.
Seabiscuit: An American Legend
by Laura Hillenbrand
One of the great underdog sports stories of
all time, Seabiscuit: An American Legend tells how a horse
that nobody wanted won the heart of a nation. Misunderstood and
mishandled during his early racing career, Seabiscuit looked like a
loser but became a champion. Competing during the bleakest years of
the Great Depression, Seabiscuit was a symbol of triumph and hope for
millions of Americans.
