Stuart McMillen

It’s been a while since I last published a list like this. Below is a list of the books I have read over the last two years. I’m trying to mix up my usual raft of environmental/sciencey/economic non-fiction. Newly in the mix are some classic fiction (e.g. Moby Dick, The Cather in the Rye and Treasure Island), along with modern classics from the graphic novel stable (e.g. Maus, Blankets and Sin City).

Fiction

• “Cloudstreet” – Tim Winton (1991)
• “On the Road” – Jack Kerouac (1957)
• “The Catcher in the Rye” – J.D. Salinger (1951)
• “Treasure Island” – Robert Louis Stevenson (1883)
• “Moby Dick” – Herman Melville (1851)

Comedy / humour

• “Preincarnate” – Shaun Micallef (2010)
• “Curb Your Enthusiasm: the book” – Deirdre Dolan (2006)
• “The Official Rock Paper Scissors Strategy Guide” – Douglas and Graham Walker (2004)
• “Smithereens” – Shaun Micallef (2004)
• “Diary of a Bus Clown” – The Sandman (2002)
• “Naked” – David Sedaris (1997)

Environment / sustainability / business

• “The Life and Death of the Australian Backyard” – Tony Hall (2010)
• “Confessions of a Radical Industrialist: Profits, People, Purpose–Doing Business by Respecting the Earth” – Ray Anderson (2009)
• “The Transition Handbook: Creating local sustainable communities beyond oil dependency – Australia and New Zealand edition” – Rob Hopkins (2009)
• “Worldchanging: A User’s Guide for the 21st Century” – edited by Alex Steffen (2006)
• “Organizational Change for Corporate Sustainability” – Dexter Dunphy, Andrew Griffiths and Suzanne Benn (2003)
• “Greening the Corporation” – Peter Thayer Robbins (2001)
• “Beyond Civilization: humanity’s next great adventure” – Daniel Quinn (1999)
• “The Cluetrain Manifesto: the end of business as usual” – Rick Levine, Christopher Locke, Doc Searls, and David Weinberger (1999)
• “Biomimicry: Innovation inspired by nature” – Janine Benyus (1997)
• “My Ishmael” – Daniel Quinn (1997)
• “The Sacred Balance: rediscovering our place in the world” – David Suzuki (1997)
• “Providence: The Story of a 50 Year Vision Quest” – Daniel Quinn (1996)
• “Ishmael” – Daniel Quinn (1992)
• “Gaia: a new look at life on earth” – James Lovelock (1979)

Biography

• “Diaries 1969–1979: The Python Years” Michael Palin (2006)
• “Saint Morrissey: A portrait of this charming man by an alarming fan“ – Mark Simpson (2004)
• “John Peel – A Tribute To The Legendary DJ and Broadcaster” – Mick Wall (2004)
• “The Unruly Life of Woody Allen” – Marion Meade (2000)
• “Andy Kaufman Revealed!” – Bob Zmuda (1999)
• “Einstein: A Life” – Denis Bryan (1997)
• “The Joker’s Wild: the biography of Jack Nicholson” – John Parker (1991)

Science / psychology / social phenomena

• “Supernormal Stimuli: How Primal Urges Overran Their Evolutionary Purpose” – Deirdre Barrett (2010)
• The 50th Law – 50 Cent and Robert Greene (2009)
• The Black Swan: The Impact of the Highly Improbable – Nassim Nicholas Taleb (2007)
• “Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed” – Jared Diamond (2005)
• “The Rise of the Creative Class: And How it’s Transforming Work, Leisure, Community and Everyday Life” – Richard Florida (2002)
• “Fast Food Nation: The Dark Side of the All-American Meal” – Eric Schlosser (2001)
• “Why is Sex Fun? The Evolution of Human Sexuality” – Jared Diamond (1997)
• The Blind Watchmaker – Richard Dawkins (1986)

Comics / graphic novel

• “X’ed Out” – Charles Burns (2010)
• “Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451″ – Tim Hamilton (2009) (graphic novel adaptation of the novel “Fahrenheit 451” by Ray Bradbury, 1953)
• “Fun Home” – Alison Bechdel (2006)
• “Black Hole” – Charles Burns (2005)
• “Blankets” – Craig Thompson (2003)
• “Batman: The Dark Knight Strikes Again” – Frank Miller and Lynn Varley (2002)
• “The Authority: Volume 1″ – Warren Ellis and Bryan Hitch (2002)
• Ghost World – Daniel Clowes (1997)
• “Maus: A Survivor’s Tale – “ – Art Spiegelman (1991)
• “Animal Man” – Grant Morrison (1991)
• “Sin City” yarns 1-7 – Frank Miller (1991-2000)
• “Blood: A Tale” – J.M. DeMatteis, Kent Williams (1987)
• “Ronin” – Frank Miller (1987)
• “American Splendor – the life and times of Harvey Pekar” – Harvey Pekar (1986)

Comics theory

• “Making Comics: Storytelling Secrets of Comics, Manga and Graphic Novels” – Scott McCloud (2006)
• “Reinventing Comics: How Imagination and Technology Are Revolutionizing an Art Form” – Scott McCloud (2000)
• “Perspective! for Comic Book Artists: How to Achieve a Professional Look in Your Artwork” – David Chelsea (1997)
• “Understanding Comics: The Invisible Art” – Scott McCloud (1993)

Music / entertainment

• “You Never Give Me Your Money: The Beatles After the Breakup” – Peter Doggett (2010)
• “Our Band Could Be Your Life: Scenes from the American Indie Underground, 1981-1991″ – Michael Azzerad (2001)

Miscellaneous literature / non-fiction

• Bicycle Diaries – David Byrne (2009)
• “The Joy of Writing Sex” – Elizabeth Benedict (2002)

There were a lot of great titles in that list, but the two that touched me most were “Blankets” (which I read in 2010) and “Ishamel” (which I read in 2011). I will expand on my appreciation of these books in a future post on this blog!