THE BOOKS I READ IN 2018

Presented in the order I read them (L to R).

There’s a great quote often attributed to Mark Twain, “history doesn’t repeat, but it often rhymes” - this book starts with a slightly different take, “history does not repeat, but it does instruct.” If you have ever uttered anything about how this administration is like FILL-IN-THE-BLANK-TYRANNICAL-AUTHORITARIAN-REGIME, then read this book and find out exactly how!

Some great chapter titles:

1. Don’t Obey in Advance
2. Defend Institutions
10. Believe in truth
15. Contribute to good causes
18. Be calm when the unthinkable happens

2. Thirteen Days in September - Lawrence Wright

I have a theory that Jimmy Carter was actually a great president and in five or ten years, new books and films will come out about him saying so. He’s so unlike any other president that we’ve ever had that he is at least interesting and worthy of knowing more about. This book covers events in 1978, when Jimmy Carter brought Menachem Begin, the Prime Minister of Israel and Anwar Sadad, the President of Egypt, to Camp David to try and broker peace between - spoiler alert - - - he does it!

Read ALLLLLLL about the Camp David Peace Accords here.

I got the book because I thought that this event would potentially make a great film and so in doing research on it, decided to read the the book. After reading it, I was assured that it would make a great film. Then, my hopes were dashed when I saw that they had already written a play that had premiered with Richard Thomas as Carter and ’m sure the film is coming shortly, without me as the director… (boo)

The Years of Lyndon Johnson
Now we head into a most glorious phase in 2018 when I got a chance to read the middle three books in The Years of Lyndon Johnson series.

I read “The Path to Power” last year and thought that I would do the rest of these books once a year until I was done - but I got sucked in by these hard. They are no less than the greatest books ever written and the five book project is an amazing literary accomplishment that has yet to be equaled. My mom was an avid reader and I always remembered these books amongst the rest all these years later. I suppose what I remember is that I never thought I would read them - either would care to or be able to - and now that I have I feel like my life is better for it. It not only connects me to the memory of my mother, but also everything to be learned from the books and the simple joy of reading them.

Also, one of the coolest / most impressive / interesting things about these is that the books are written by Robert A. Caro and his collaborator is his wife, Ina Caro, who is his sole researcher.

3. Means of Ascent - Robert A. Caro

Amazing. Life changing.

4. Master of the Senate - Robert A. Caro

Even better. Life changed… AGAIN.

5. The Passage of Power - Robert A. Caro

Why aren’t you reading these books so we can talk about them and how much they also changed your life?!?

6. Franny and Zooey - J.D. Salinger

I read “Catcher in the Rye” in high school and then you’d randomly be at a party and talking about books and someone would be like “Oh yeah, have you read ‘Franny and Zooey”? My answer was always “no” - until now! I always thought the book was called “Franny and Zooey” - but it’s actually two books “Franny” and “Zooey” - or is it, because they are intrinsically linked yet separate works that tell the story of a brother and sister with a creative narrative device separating the two stories.

If you read Catcher and hated it - I would say F&Z is probably better, more accessible, and definitely worth reading. The narrative structure is inventive and the character’s are wonderfully realized. It’s really hard to read this in a post-Wes Anderson world because it feels derivative, but we know that’s not true. I do wish I had read this book in high school and before I saw any Wes Anderson films because it would have helped me to understand his whole thing better.

Just another reason why everyone should read more.

7. The Great Bridge - David McCullough

It’s about the building of The Brooklyn Bridge - Spoiler alert - - - it was built by hand! I love books like this because on the face you would see a 600 page tome on the building of a bridge in a city you don’t live in 150 years ago and be like - WHO THE F CARES? And then you start reading and can’t put it down because it’s absolutely bonkers and riveting. Mostly because of David McCullough’s ability as a storyteller - he is an American Treasure. By time you are done reading it, you’re thinking to yourself “what’s not to love about a book about infrastructure?”

Captain Mark Davis lent me this book, which I am not giving it back because I’m a book hoarder - it’s also the reason why I never let people borrow books, because I know they’ll never give it back.

8. No Country for Old Men - Cormac McCarthy

The Coen Brother’s film version of this book is in the top ten for me and so I was curious to read the book to see if the same thing happened as with The Shining (see The Books I Read in 2017), or if it was basically like reading the script - and in fact I think it’s somewhere in between. The book and the movie are definitely distinct works, but they don’t diverge on the important themes. The book gets under the skin the same way the film does, but uses literary conceits to do it instead of cinematic ones.

9. The Journalist and the Murderer - Janet Malcolm

A book written about an author, Joe McGinniss, writing a book (Fatal Vision) about a murderer, Jeffrey R. MacDonald, who sued the author for slander. because he didn’t like how he was portrayed when he was convicted for murdering h This fascinating (and short) book digs into the journalist’s relationship with the subject and how muddy the whole thing becomes. As a person who makes documentary films, this was a good read to understand how intertwined we become with our subjects when telling real-life stories.

10. The Theory that Would not Die - Sharon Bertsch McGrayne

Know anything about Bayes’ Theorem, Bayesian inference, or conditional probability? Ever heard of Simon Laplace’s “Théorie analytique des probabilités”? How much have you read about probability theory and statistics? Ever wonder about how decisions are made, and how to account for previous events in making a decision now?

Do you care about any of this? If yes, read the book. If no, don’t.

11. Toxic Charity - Robert D Lupton

I’m constantly interested and concerned about how we can do charity better. My documentary project that I’ve been working on for the last six years, How to Build a School in Haiti, is about this. Lupton’s book brings up a lot of good points and provides some interesting insight in how he’s had success in the fight against poverty and against, what he calls, toxic charity - when the help we try to give ends up hurting people.

12. The Fall of Gondolin - J.R.R. Tolkien

One of The O.G. Lost Tales of Middle Earth. Read it now, or wait for them to make it into a movie… cause it’s gonna happen.

13. Mind Over Back Pain - John Sarno M.D.

I threw out my back and a friend gave me this book. I read it and am cured. Coincidence? MAYBE.

14. Murder in Mesopotamia - Agatha Christie

This is an interesting one because Poirot doesn’t even show up until half way through, so the whole time you’re reading it, it’s like “WHEN DOES HERCULE POIROT SHOW UP!??!?!” And then he does and it rules.

15. Major Diamonds Nights & Knives - Katie Foster

I picked up this collection of poetry while shooting my next film, MONUMENTS, in Boulder, Colorado at the Trident Booksellers and Cafe. Although it should probably win the award for Best Title of the Year, it’s actually four stories, “Major”, “Diamonds”, “Nights” and “Knives.” She says that while writing this poem she felt possessed by a spirit who died in childbirth and tried to tell that story as best she could… so, yeah - that’s a thing.

16. The Murder of Roger Ackroyd - Agatha Christie

These last four I’m in vacation in China and Hong Kong and tore through these books. They are the definition of Good Vacation Reads. Of those four, I would say this one was the best because of the power of the surprise she is able to achieve - you really do not see it coming, but when it does it totally works and is wonderful.

17. The A.B.C. Murders - Agatha Christie

Really interesting twist on the normal Hercule Poirot-Tries-To-Catch-The-Murderer-Thing. This book feels like grandfather (grandmother?) of all these television shows with cops chasing serial killers. Agatha Christie had the ability to not only define the genre, but to then also re-define or break it, and sometimes in the same book.

18. Death on The Nile - Agatha Christie

I guessed who it was early on and was right, so this one was less good IMHO.

19. And Then There Were None - Agatha Christie

Did you know that she was only out-published by William Shakespeare and The Bible. It goes The Bible, all of William Shakespeare, and then Agatha Christie. If you read these books, you would know that because they tell you that at the beginning of each one.

Also, I realize not everyone likes to read - so I found this for you.