Eager fans line up three hours before a reading by author David Sedaris at a New York City Barnes & Noble, making him seem like a literary rock star — if there is such a thing. Sedaris has sold 2.5 million books banking on his childhood alienation and loser status, including Me Talk Pretty One day, Naked, and his newest book, Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim. He not only packs out bookstores, but can earn $25,000 per appearance in a large hall. With that kind of success, Sedaris struggles to maintain his outsider appeal. (link via kottke.org)

I finished reading Jesus Sound Explosion on my trip to L.A., and I just posted the review. It’s definitely worth checking out, especially if you’ve ever pondered the lunacy of the evangelical Christian bubble (and if you question that remark, you’ve never seen my Gospel glove or evangi-cube). The review is in my review blog (if you can call it a blog), but I wanted to make the mention here since it’s a more personal review.

College Student Takes on ‘the Simpsons’ – a CNN article on a book written by a college sophomore about the Simpsons: The Simpsons and Society.

I started reading Jesus Sound Explosion after attending a reading a few weeks back. It’s the memoir of Mark Curtis Anderson, a Twin Cities native whose father was a pastor and therefore grew up incredibly entrenched in the evangelical world. When I talked to Mark at the reading he clearly wanted to distance himself from the evangelical world he writes about with humor, but he also didn’t completely distance himself from faith. He talked about attending one of the local ‘church-but-not-that-kind-of-church’ churches, House of Mercy (or at least he plays in the band).

Anyway, the book is great. I just read this passage about the Billy Graham movie The Restless Ones (which you can watch online!) and couldn’t resist posting it:

Billy Graham and his people made a movie, The Restless Ones, that came to Galesburg theaters around 1967. The restless ones were living and breathing proof of what jazzy music could do to a life. The restless ones hung out in bars, smoked, drank, played pool, and drove souped-up Ford Mustangs and motorcycles far too fast. Then someone died in a very bad highway wreck, and this sure made everyone think.

Or maybe that was a different Billy Graham movie. Maybe every Billy Graham movie that I saw during childhood has merged in my memory and become The Restless Ones. They all had the same ending: everyone accepted Jesus Christ as their personal Lord and Savior and lived happily forever in the hereafter. Except for the foolish guy who died in the car accident. But he was the one who made everyone think. He died for their sins, and all things worked together for the good.

Dad brought home The Restless Ones soundtrack one afternoon. The title song had a lite-rock beat and a bunch of men and women singing verses about the wretched lives of the worldly rebels. At the end of each verse, they’d blurt out “the restless ones” in a way that reminded me of another jazzy music song I’d heard, the Batman TV theme. I don’t know what happened to the record, but the song in my head goes something like Running and running and drinking and smoking in the bars: The Restless Ones! Driving and driving their motorcycles and fast cars: The Restless Ones!

I played the song over and over, bouncing along with the beat, imagining the terrible places where the restless ones lived their lives and died their deaths.
(pages 15-16)

Sadly, The Restless Ones LP isn’t one of the few I walked away with when the BGEA relocated.

I spent some time at Barnes & Noble last night, wishing I had more time to read books. Lately a few goodies have caught my eye:

Secret Lives of the U.S. Presidents – A few weeks back I was doing research for some magazine content and I was reading all about former U.S Presidents. I was getting into some fascinating stuff, like who died in office and the no-name presidents nobody ever remembers. At the time I thought someone should write an accessible history book full interesting facts about former Presidents. Well, this book is it. It’s written in a tongue-in-cheek style, with plenty of magazine-like sidebars. It’s a quick read and pretty fun. I was actually tempted to buy a brand new copy at Barnes & Noble (ah! blasphemy). Thankfully I didn’t. $16.95 at B&N, $11.87 at Amazon.

The End of Detroit – This business-oriented book covers the recent downfall of the Big Three automotive manufacturers as they face stiff competition from foreign rivals. It’s especially interesting since my dad worked for Ford and I’ve seen a lot of what the book talks about happening. The last car I bought was a foreign car, primarily because of quality.

On Target – I actually checked this one out from the library so I could read more than the first chapter. It’s an analysis of Target and how the discount retailer has captured the cheap chic market. And it’s the first time I’ve seen the “Tarzshay” pronounciation in print.

Making Dough – Why stop at eating Krispy Kremes when you can read about them? This is the story of what makes Krispy Kreme so amazing and why the brand has taken off in the last ten years.

The Real Thing: Truth and Power at the Coca-Cola Company – For some reason I’m always interested in books about the history of Coke. A while ago I picked up For God, Country, and Coca-Cola used, though I haven’t gotten around to reading that one either.

So many books, so little time.

It’s time for the annual reading list, the semi-gloating summary of books I read this past year. Since losing my job in July and the end of my daily bus rides, my reading time plummeted. Sadly, I couldn’t match the blistering pace of last year’s reading when I devoured 49 books.

I’ve got a lot of books lying around I’ve been meaning to read, including G.K. Chesterton’s Orthodoxy, the rest of the Lord of the Rings series, Get Up Off Your Knees: Preaching the U2 Catalog, and Red Moon Rising among others. We’ll see if I get to them in 2004.

One of these days I’ll get around to posting a book reading/reviewing blog and I can do away with this annual list.

100 Questions Every First Time Home Buyer Should Ask by Ilyce R. Glink
Bought a home this year, so I had to educate myself a bit.

The Double by Fyodor Dostoevsky
He’s an interesting writer, but his novels are just so thick. It’s like reading upstream.

About a Boy by Nick Hornby
Great book. I love Hornby. The movie’s not too bad either.

Dear Mister Rogers by Fred Rogers
With the death of Rogers I figured I should get around to reading this book. That guy was so cool.

How To Be Good by Nick Hornby
More Hornby. This one’s a little darker, a little weirder, but I still enjoyed it.

Telling the Truth by Frederick Buechner
That guy can write.

Seven Storey Mountain by Thomas Merton
This one took me a few tries to get through. I think I’d prefer his devotional material.

Bird by Bird by Anne Lamott
Never ceases to inspire.

Patterns by Mel Lawrenz
Uh, book review book. (review)

Firefly Blue by Jake Thoene
Another book review book, though I had fun thrashing this one.

Empress of the Splendid Season by Oscar Hijuelos
Now there’s a guy who can write. On the basis of this book alone I made sure I own everything he’s written.

Wrestling with God by Rick Diamond
Another Relevant book grappling with being relevant. So-so.

Deeper Walk Vol. 1
Intriguing shorter essays from Relevant about living the Christian life.

Deeper Walk Vol. 2
Round two was just as good.

The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants by Anne Brashares
Saw it advertised on the back of a bus, bought it for my wife. Entertaining tween reading.

Nickel and Dimed by Barbara Ehrenreich
Powerful social commentary. Should have read this a while ago. (review)

Blue Shoe by Anne Lamott
Her latest novel isn’t as good as some others, but still worth the read. (review)

The Gospel Reloaded by Chris Seay and Greg Garrett
Another book review book, though I would have read it anyway. I’m not sure why they released a book in the middle of a trilogy that would be completed later this year. The book certainly suffers, though a crappy trilogy doesn’t help.

Revolting Rhymes by Roald Dahl
Mmm… kids’ books (i.e. padding the list)

Finding God Where You Least Expect Him by John Fischer
Now this was a book review book I actually liked. Check it out. (review)

The World According to Garp by John Irving
Finally got around to reading some Irving. Whacked story, but some good writing.

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix by J.K. Rowling
Fattest Potter yet. Can you say lack of editorial control? (informal review)

The Road to Daybreak: A Spiritual Journey by Henri J.M. Nouwen
His incredible devotion to God — yet still feeling like he fails — makes you feel like dirt.

The Partly Cloudy Patriot by Sarah Vowell
Funny political essays. I heard her give a reading on NPR and it was quality.

Sexual Character by Marva Dawn
Frank discussion of sexual ethics. (review)

A Matrix of Meanings by Craig Detweiler and Barry Taylor
Pop culture and the church. Been there done that (another book review book).

Walking with Frodo by Sarah Arthur
Sigh. Another book review book. Not worth the time. (review)

The U2 Reader
A collection of U2 press clippings. (review)

Cash by Johnny Cash
With Cash’s death, I figured I should finally read his autobiography. He lived a grace-drenched life.

Pray by Tony Jones
The skinny on prayer in a digestible format (Tony used to write for me when I worked on passageway.org)

Posers, Fakers , & Wannabes by Brennan Manning (didn’t finish)
Nice reworking of Manning’s Abba’s Child for teens.

Releasing the Rivers Within by Dwight Edwards
Another book review book about spiritual empowerment.

The Pursuit of God in the Company of Friends by Richard Lamb
A challenging book review book about the place of friends in our lives.

The Fellowship of the Ring by J.R.R. Tolkien
It’s time to read the series again.

The Man Comes Around by Dave Urbanski
A book about Johnny Cash’s faith, written by another writer I used to work with.

Call me weird, but I share Jason Kottke’s fascination with book covers. Maybe it’s partly my desire for fame and fortune in the printed world that makes me yearn for the coolest book cover imaginable, but I like checking out cover design. Strolling through Barnes & Noble is an evening for me.

Kottke’s entry pointed out a few book cover review sites (why review the book when you can simply judge it by its cover?), including Mastication is Normal (a bit lengthy for casual reading), Readerville’s Most Coveted Covers (though they make you register for anything not current — lame!), and Rebecky (cool covers, no commentary).

Kottke continued with his fascination to design a book cover for another blogger who released a book collection of some of his writings, similar to something I pondered here and here.

Mmm… books.

Tonight I also stumbled across 50 Things You’re Not Supposed to Know, a compact little book full factual conspiracy theory-type info that’s shocking but true. Things like:

-Both the U.S. and the Soviet Union considered plans to detonate an atomic bomb on the moon simply as a show of power.

-Two atomic bombs fell on North Carolina when the plane carrying them exploded. One bomb’s parachute opened and it fell safely to earth and was recovered. The other bomb crashed into the earth and was buried 150 feet deep. Part of the bomb was recovered, but to this day the land is tested for traces of radiation.

-Adolf Hitler’s blood relatives are alive and well in New York.

Stuff like that. It’s kind of an appetizer to suck you into a real history book, but still incredibly interesting.