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Looking back at my past choices for my personal Book of the Year(BOTY), I realized that they are all non-fiction. If there is ever going to be a fiction book up for that title, 2009 will be the year.
I'll always remember 2009 as the year I became a fan of Terry Pratchett and the Discworld series (Yea I know...what took me so long?). Ironically, I started picking up his books when I read an article about Terry Pratchett being diagnosed with early onset Alzheimer's. Moist von Lipwig was the first character I grew attached to.
Admittedly, reading Making Money first before Going Postal was like putting underarm deodorant after a heavy gym session...then going for a shower. However even if you read the series out of sequence, you will still be guaranteed a laugh out loud experience. Terry's wit and humor, especially in wordplays, fills his books with many classic quotes. There are times when I look forward to coming home after a 13 hour work shift and just really soak in the brilliance.
I love every single Discworld book I have read so far (and I'm sure the same goes for those I have yet to read) and therefore it cannot be considered for the BOTY honors. Including it for consideration will mean Terry winning the BOTY for the next few years at least.
There is one other book that I have enjoyed reading and will not hesitate to recommend to anyone.
I bought this book early 2009 to prepare myself for my marriage. This is not a 'how to' self help book that teaches you techniques but rather it is a very well written book that urges its reader to grasp how and why our emotions can make us or break us. The book starts off with an anatomy lesson - specifically discussing the cortex and the limbic systems in our brains that are responsible for rational thinking and emotional processing. The first part can be boring and I suggest you skip this part if you hate reading all those medical terms.
The book then goes on to touch on a variety of topics, gender specific emotional expressions, emotions in marital life, relationship between emotions and our health, conflict resolution, teaching children to control their emotions and so on.
We have a culture that glorifies grades above all else. How else can we explain local newspapers giving front page coverage to students with impossible number of As? Don't get me wrong, grades are important. If my children come home with Ds on their report card then of course their career options will be limited...unless they want to be the President of the US.
Parents will surely be happy when their kids get good grades. Rather, good grades and skills are like bullets in a handgun while your emotional intelligence allows you to read the situation and decide when to fire.
So there, the most memorable book that I've read in 2009 is Daniel Goleman's Emotional Intelligence. As for this year, I'm trying to read more fiction. Anyone can suggest some good fiction novels? There will be lots of Discworld novels too this year to read ...heheh.
