What I Read (2004)

Whilst gradually gearing up for the big move, I stumbled upon my book log for 2004. Posting here is one more way of shifting my clutter from the real world to cyberspace, so here goes:

What I Read (2004)

Jan. 7, 2004 Consilience: The Unity of Knowledge by Edward O. Wilson "Some very good intentions, but I'm not convinced of feasibility."

Jan. 2004 Angel Chronicles Volume 1 by Nancy Holder "A solid novelization of 'Angel,' 'Reptile Boy,' and 'Lie to Me.'"

Jan. 20, 2004 Summer of the Gods: Scopes Trial by Edward J. Larson "Very interesting."

Jan. 25, 2004 Angel Chronicles Volume 2 by Richie Tankersley Cusick "Smooth adaptation of 3 strong episodes from Season 2."

Jan. 30, 2004 Philosophy of Law by Murphy & Coleman.

Feb. 9, 2004 Sleeping with Extraterrestrials by Wendy Kaminer "Not terribly exciting discussion of irrationalism--standard party line."

Feb. 15, 2004 Deep Water by Laura Anne Gilman & Josepha Sherman "One of the better Buffy books, good dialogue and humor."

Feb. 24, 2004 Behind the Trail of Broken Treaties by Vine Deloria, Jr. "Good, well-written history and argument on native treaties."

Feb. 29, 2004 Introduction to Existentialism by Marjorie Grene "Very useful introduction and critique."

March 9, 2004 Blooded by Christopher Golden and Nancy Holder "Not a bad book, though the ending could be stronger."

March 20, 2004 Constitutional Choices by Laurence Tribe "Half-baked essays on cases Tribe was hired to work on."

March 28, 2004 Monkey Beach by Eden Robinson "Story of a young Haisla woman's search for brother, with flashbacks. Well-done, but ambiguous ending."

April 1, 2004 Willow Files Volume 1 by Yvonne Navaro "One of the best of the novelizations."

April 10, 2004 Feminism Unmodified: Discourses on Life and Law by Catharine A. MacKinnon "A strong example of 'radical' feminism, much better than Dworkin."

April 15, 2004 Jean Paul-Sartre: Hated Conscience of His Century by John Gerassi "Volume 1 of biography, up to 1945. Presents Sartre as brilliant but armchair until war."

April 22, 2004 Faith Trials Volume 1 by James Laurence "One of the best of the novelizations."

April 28, 2004 The Logic of Social Inquiry by Scott Greer "Somewhat useful."

May 20, 2004 Being & Nothingness by Sartre "I'm not at liberty to say."

May 23, 2004 How to Be Your Own Literary Agent by Richard Curtis "Good advice."

May 31, 2004 Angel Chronicles Volume 3 by Nancy Holder "Straightforward novelization of 3 awesome episodes."

June 4, 2004 Notes from the Underground by Dostoyevski "An odd book, psychological self-analysis of a real misanthrope."

June 6, 2004 Midnighters # 1: The Secret Hour by Scott Westerfield "A fun book about a city where time stops for one hour every night and only a few kids know it."

June 11, 2004 Protestant-Catholic-Jew by Will Herberg "An important contribution to sociology of religion. Even dated, many truths still there."

June 11, 2004 The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime "Excellent book from autistic kid's P.O.V."

June 23, 2004 God, Freedom, and Immortality by Antony Flew "Not terribly interesting--rather dry."

June 29, 2004 Girls Who Bite Back edited by Emily Pohl-Weary "Some damn good short stories."

July 5, 2004 Support Your Local Wizard by Diane Duane "Very good stories, especially the second one; will have to get more."

July 11, 2004 God Hates Fags (draft) by Michael Cobb "Rather incoherent hodge-podge of political and literary analyses; some interesting points."

July 13, 2004 Elle by Douglas Glover "Odd, funny & tragic novel of a girl stranded on an island who turns into bears."

July 19, 2004 Here Be Monsters by Cameron Dokey "Slightly below average Buffy novel about southern vamp mama."

July 23, 2004 Reflections of an Affirmative-Action Baby by Stephen L. Carter "A good look at a moderate opponent of racial preferences; should get others of his."

July 28, 2004 Metaphysics: A Contemporary Introduction by Michael J. Loux "Language games."

July 30, 2004 Our Fire Survives the Storm (manuscript) by Daniel Heath Justice "Nothing but the most important book in Native Lit next year!"

Aug. 8, 2004 The Book of Fours by Nancy Holder "A really strong novel tying together 4 Slayers."

Aug. 10, 2004 A Wizard Abroad by Diane Duane "A strong novel set in Ireland."

Aug. 18, 2004 National Deal: Fight for Canadian Constitution by Sheppard & Valpy "Focuses mostly on personalities involved; a broader survey would be nice."

Aug. 22, 2004 The Secret Diary of Laura Palmer by Jennifer Lynch "A well-written exploration of Laura."

Aug. 27, 2004 Kynship by Daniel Heath Justice "The Kyn face removal and Tarsa becomes a Wielder--the excellent beginning to something wondrous."

Aug. 28, 2004 Nietzsche by Lou Salomé "Crap."

Sep. 1, 2004 The Journals of Rupert Giles by Nancy Holder "Solid & straightforward."

Sep. 11, 2004 Houses of Leaves by Mark Z. Danielewski "Interesting experiment: post-modern creepy novel; ultimately unsatisfying."

Sep. 22, 2004 The Mysteries by Robert McGill "Starts slow but gets really good; told from several characters' P.O.V."

Sep. 29, 2004 Church & State in Canadian Education by C.B. Sissons "A dated book (1959) with a province-by-province overview. Useful for broad understanding of origins in each province."

Oct. 18, 2004 The Portable Hannah Arendt by Hannah Arendt "Discussions of totalitarianism, Little Rock, & Eichmann in Jerusalem were interesting."

Oct. 20, 2004 Catholic Education & Politics in Upper Canada by Franklin A. Walker "History until Confederation."

Oct. 21, 2004 Doomsday Deck by Diana C. Gallagher "Evil tarot card reader. About average."

Oct. 26, 2004 Hear Me Out: True Stories of TEACH by Planned Parenthood of Toronto "Fun to remember when queer was exciting and transgressive."

Nov. 1, 2004 The Overcoat & Other Short Stories by Nikolai Gogol "Usually humorous stories of bureaucrat."

Nov. 2, 2004 Canada's Religions: An Historical Overview by Robert Choquette "A fairly good overview."

Nov. 13, 2004 A Nation Under Lawyers by Mary Ann Glendon "A moderately interesting book about the changing nature and roll of lawyers."

Nov. 18, 2004 Power of Persuasion by Elizabeth Massie "Greek muses start gender wars. Starts good, ends bad."

Nov. 23, 2004 The Kreutzer Sonata & Other Short Stories by Leo Tolstoy "I especially liked 'The Death of Ivan Ilych', a haunting story."

Dec. 4, 2004 Islam Today by Akbar S. Ahmad "Rather boring overview."

Dec. 12, 2004 Dusted: The Complete Guide to Buffy the Vampire Slayer by Miles, et al. "Good reference book, even if I disagree much."

Dec. 12, 2004 Religious Conscience, the State, and the Law by McLaren & Coward, ed. "Good collection of essays on several interesting topics."

Dec. 18, 2004 The Secret Agent by Joseph Conrad "By far the best Conrad I've ever read, involving a secret agent who uses his brother-in-law to blow up a building."

Dec. 18, 2004 The Canadian & American Constitutions in Comparative Perspective by Marian McKenna, ed. "A few useful essays."

Dec. 20, 2004 Christianity in Canada: Historical Essays by John S. Moir "Some good stuff but not tremendously useful."

Dec. 22, 2004 History of the Separation of Church and State in Canada by E.R. Stimson "Unscholarly history of the Clergy Reserves."

Dec. 24, 2004 The Byzantine Empire by Robert Browning "Overview, much focus on literature and architecture."

Dec. 25, 2004 Auntie Mame by Patrick Dennis "Fun."

Dec. 26, 2004 The Wizard's Dilemma by Diane Duane "Mom gets cancer--a great book."