Books/ Magazines Read in 2004

This time round, I've listed them by title and in alphabetical order. In addition, I've included a list of items that were almost read, i.e. I didn't complete them because I lost interest (it's funny, but it actually took conscious effort to give up a book halfway!)

My favourite reads are indicated in bold. All items were borrowed borrowed from NLB public libraries, unless otherwise indicated. Check the NLB Online Catalogue for availability.


Read in 2004

1. 1982, Janine/ Alasdair Gray [You can’t miss this book – its cover features a drawing of an anatomically-correct man. I didn’t quite get this book, though I finished the book out of curiosity more than anything else]
2. Analog Science Fiction & Fact/ Jan-Feb 04
3. Analog Science Fiction & Fact/ Mar 04
4. Analog Science Fiction & Fact/ Apr 04
5. Analog Science Fiction & Fact/ Jun 04
6. Analog Science Fiction & Fact/ Jul-Aug 04
7. Analog Science Fiction & Fact/ Oct 04
8. Analog Science Fiction & Fact/ Nov 04
9. Angela's Ashes: A memoir of a childhood/ Frank McCourt [Call No. 929.20899162073 MAC. The Pulitzer prize winner that was made into a movie of the same title. It’s witty, sad, moving… ah, read it for yourself. Highly recommended, and so is its sequel – “‘Tis”]
10. Asimov's Science Fiction/ Feb 03
11. Asimov's Science Fiction/ Apr 03
12. Asimov's Science Fiction/ Jul 03
13. Asimov's Science Fiction/ Aug 03
14. Asimov's Science Fiction/ Sept 03
15. Asimov's Science Fiction/ Dec 03
16. Asimov's Science Fiction/ Feb04
17. Asimov's Science Fiction/ Mar 04
18. Asimov's Science Fiction/ Apr - May 04
19. Asimov's Science Fiction/ Jul 04
20. Asimov's Science Fiction/ Sept 04
21. Backfire: A history of friendly fire from ancient warfare to the present day/ Geoffrey Regan
22. Becoming a manager: How new managers master the challenges of leadership/ Linda A. Hill [I'd go as far as to say all managers should read this book. Call No. 658.409 HIL -[BIZ]]
23. Beyond certainty: The changing worlds of organizations/ Charles Handy [This book offers serious food for thought on organizations and management. Call No. 658.406 HAN -[BIZ]]
24. Blood & water: Sabotaging Hitler's bomb/ Dan Kurzman
25. Catcher in the rye/ J. D. Salinger
26. Chaotic thoughts from the old millenium/ Sim Wong Hoo
27. Chicago for dummies (2nd ed)/ Laura Tiebert & Kathleen Cantillon
28. Citizen soldiers: The U.S. Army from the Normandy beaches to the Bulge to the surrender of Germany, June 7, 1944-May 7, 1945/ Stephen E. Ambrose [If you love “Band of Brothers”, you’d love this one as well. Call No. 940.5421 AMB -[WAR]]
29. Clinton on Clinton: A portrait of the President in his own words/ Bill Clinton (edited by Wayne Meyer)
30. Collected stories of Vernor Vinge/ Vernor Vinge
31. Command legacy: A tactical primer for junior leaders/ Lt. Col. Raymond A. Millen
32. Complete Star Wars chronology/ Kevin J. Anderson
33. Corporate turnaround: Nursing a sick company back to health/ Michael Teng
34. Creating the full-service homework center in your library/ Cindy Mediavilla
35. Deepness in the sky/ Vernor Vinge [Amazing ideas in this SciFi novel. Call No. VIN -[SF]]
36. Deferring democracy: Promoting openness in authoritarian regimes/ Catharin E. Dalphino
37. Don't sweat the small stuff...: Simple ways to keep the little things from taking over your life/ Richard Carlson [Personally, I need to read books like this to remind myself on what life is, or isn’t. Every married couple should own this book. Call No. 306.7 CAR]
38. Dropsie Avenue: The neighbourhood/ Will Eisner [Graphic novel. A glimpse into city life in early post-war US. Call No. 741.5973 EIS -[ART]]
39. Dune: The machine crusade/ Brian Herbert & Kevin J. Anderson [This was disappointing. Somehow, all the Dune sequels just don’t quite have that kick of the first one]
40. Engels: A very short introduction/ Terrell Carver
41. Extreme management: What they teach at Harvard business school's advanced management programme/ Mark Stevens
42. Fantasy & Science Fiction/ Sept 03
43. Fantasy & Science Fiction/ Jun 04
44. Fahrenheit 451/ Ray Bradbury [I liked this book for the very intriguing ideas. For one, a Fireman was a destroyer of books by fire. If not for the hype about Michael Moore’s film of the same title (though totally different content), I wouldn’t have read this one. Call No. BRA]
45. Flags of our fathers/ James Bradley [I have a love-hate relationship with this book. I mean, I loved it but after reading it, I didn’t experience the same emotions when I look at the picture of the US Marines planting the flag on Iwo Jima. Call No. 940.5426 BRA -[WAR]]
46. Frindle/ Andrew Clements [A Children’s book, for older children. Decided to read this after attending a workshop. Adults could learn a thing or two from this book. Call No. J CLE]
47. Harnessing complexity/ Robert Axelrod & Michael D. Cohen
48. Hellboy: Conquerer worm/ Mike Mignola
49. Holes/ Louis Sachar [YP Fiction. This was my second reading. There are plots within plots. I loved it when all the seemingly unrelated plots all fell into place in the end. Call No. Y SAC]
50. How to manage training: A guide to design & delivery for high performance/ Carolyn Nilson
51. How to succeed at being yourself: Finding the confidence to fulfill your destiny/ Joyce Meyer
52. How to talk to anyone, anytime, anywhere: The secrets of good communication/ Larry King [Now I know Larry’s secret to success as a broadcast journalist. Call No. 302.346 KIN]
53. Liberty/ Stephen Coonts
54. Library: An unquiet history/ Matthew Battles [Not everyone's cup of tea, but I think librarians ought to at least glance through it]
    
55. MacArthur's undercover war: Spies, saboteurs, guerrillas & secret missions/ William B. Breuer
56. Managing at the speed of change: How resilient managers succeed and prosper where others fail/ Daryl R. Conner
57. Managing telework: Strategies for managing the virtual workforce/ Jack M. Nilles
    
58. Maus: I, A survivor's tale: My father bleeds history/ Art Spiegelman [The story of the Holocaust, in graphic novel form. Call No. 741.5973 SPI -[ART]]
59. Maus. II, A survivor's tale: And here my troubles began/ Art Spiegelman [The second and final part. Call No. 741.5973 SPI -[ART]]
60. Microserfs/ Douglas Coupland [Highly entertaining and witty book. The title is a pun on “Microsoft”. Call No. COU]
61. Midnight mass/ Paul Bowles
62. Minor Miracles/ Will Eisner
63. New thinking for the new millenium/ Edward De Bono
64. New York: The big city/ Will Eisner
65. Now all we need is a title: Famous book titles & how they got that way/ Andre Bernard [A must-read for all book lovers. Self-explanatory title. Call No. 820 BER]
66. Overlord: General Pete Quesada & the triumph of tactical air power in World War II/ Thomas Alexander Hughes [An insight of the development of air power doctrine. It is a complementary read to the book “Citizen Soldier” by Stephan Ambrose. Gives you the other perspective to the war, from the pilot’s viewpoint. Call No. 940.54214 HUG -[WAR]]
67. PC magazine Singapore/ Jul 04
68. PC magazine Singapore/ Nov 04
69. Prince of lost places/ Kathy Hepinstall
70. Reinventing the brand: Can top brands survive the new market realities?/ Jean-Noël Kapferer
71. Roverandom/ J.R. R. Tolkien (edited by Christina Scull & Wayne G. Hammond)
72. Saucer/ Stephen Coonts
73. Science goes to war: The search for the ultimate weapon, from Greek fire to Star Wars/ Ernest Volkman [Highly entertaining read about the development of warfare through the ages. This book reads like episodes from the Discovery Channel. Call No. 355.809 VOL]
74. Six degrees: The science of a connected age/ Duncan J. Watts
75. Skydancer/ Geoffrey Archer
76. So many books, so little time: A year of passionate reading/ Sara Nelson
77. Strategy + Business/ Fall 04
78. The age of unreason/ Charles Handy [Another must-read for those interested in the future development of organizations. I’d be surprised if it doesn’t set you thinking. Call No. 658.406 HAN -[BIZ]]
79. The aviators (book viii): Brotherhood of war/ W. E. B. Griffin
80. The Burying Field/ Kenneth Abel
81. The chocolate war/ Robert Cromier [Another YP book I learnt from the same workshop. This has a bleak ending. Has been a recommended book for teens for ages. Call No. Y COR]
82. The Cluetrain Manifesto: The end of business as usual/ Rick Levine, Christopher Locke, Doc Searls, David Weinberger [Wish my colleagues at Corporate Communications would read this. Call No. 651.84678 CLU]
83. The curious incident of the dog in the night-time/ Mark Haddon [Excellent YP book. I can now understand why this was on Amazon.com’s bestsellers’ list. A story that is told from the perspective of a boy afflicted with Asperger's syndrome. Don’t let the title fool you. It has a serious side to it. Call No. Y HAD]
84. The Da Vinci code/ Dan Brown [Discovered this on the shelf one day. Honest! I didn’t specially reserve it for myself. Certainly a very entertaining read, though the ending was quite an anti-climax. Still, it’s not on the bestseller’s list for no reason. Call No. BRO]
85. The Eyre affair/ Jasper Fforde [The beginning can be a bit slow, but stay the course, and you’ll find this a witty book, full of literary puns. Those who have read “Jan Eyre” by Charlotte Bronte would appreciate this one. Classified under “Mystery”. Call No. FFO -[MY]]
86. The giver/ Lois Lowry [Another YP book that is considered a classic of sorts. This one has a Sci Fi theme. Call No. Y LOW]
87. The league of extraordinary gentleman/ (novelisation by) K.J. Anderson
88. The library's legal answer book/ Mary Minow & Tomas A. Lipinski
89. The mammoth book of 20th century Science Fiction vol1/ Edited by David G. Hartwell
90. The playboy book of science fiction [No, this does not contain erotic Sci Fi! The stories happened to be published in Playboy Magazine, that’s all. Hmm… I realized younger folks who grew up with the Internet as a given may not know what was all the hype about Playboy. Contains vintage Sci Fi stories]
91. The power of losing control: Finding strength, meaning, & happiness in an out-of-control world/ Joe Caruso [One of the few books that really made a positive change in how I view life in general. Call No. 158.1 CAR]
92. The remains of the day/ Kazuo Ishiguro [There are management insights to be learnt from this book! Call No. ISH]
93. To the heart of the storm/ Will Eisner
94. Under fire/ W. E. B. Griffin [I think the author has a thing against General Macarthur]
95. Walden & Civil Disobedience/ Henry David Thoreau [I read this only because there were many references to it from “Zen & the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance”. Didn’t really take to this one. My personal collection. Bought it at a booksale]
96. War music: An account of books 16 to 19 of Homer's Iliad/ Christopher Logue [This was really interesting. The author’s interpretation of parts of the Iliad that were more action-packed. Call No. 821.914 LOG]
97. What if? The world's foremost military historians imagine what might have been/ (editor Robert Cowley)
98. Where there's smoke/ Sandra Brown [Men should read Sandra Brown once in a while]
99. Youth.sg: The state of youth in Singapore/ Ho Kong Chong, Jeffrey Yip
100. Zen & the art of motorcycle maintenance: An inquiry into values/ Robert M. Pirsig [This was recommended by a fellow online poetry group member. Excellent book! Those who appreciate Jostein Gaarder’s “Sophie’s World” would like this one. Call No. 973.920924 PIR]

Almost-read in 2004

1. The gossamer years: A diary of a noblewoman of Heian Japan/ Kagero Nikki (translated by Edward Seidensticker)
2. The Bourne supremacy/ Robert Ludlum [Surprise, surprise! I actually gave up on a military thriller. The plot was too dated to be believable]
3. La Salle & the discovery of the great west/ Francis Parkman