One way I find my blog useful

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I decided to keep this long enumeration of the books I recall reading from cover to cover in this post to explain one of the handy benefits of having this blog. Often when I want to copy something I wrote in my original website www.snowbizz.com into my microsoft word the background gets copied as well. If, for example I copy an old Not Eudora column of mine from the “Diogenes” section it will include the yellow background. I can get rid of that background and be left only with the letters if I come to my Lincolndemocrat site and copy it into a post. As with the text following the date 1979 below only the words remain.

This morning with a half dozen ideas for posts I opened my LincolnD “dashboard” and found it had an unpublished post waiting for me. It was from the page in my Snowbizz.com site called “my reading list.” I had started it in the Snowbizz days to record the list of books I’d read starting in 1979. From that date to 2017 when my old software failed I fairly faithfully recorded the “serious” books I read each year. I started in January of 1979 because I’d lost my teaching job and I was certain reading more history books could have prevented my losing a job. I was sure, and I’m not sure I was entirely wrong, that having a deeper knowledge of history might have served me well. I have a prejudice for knowledge of a subject over knowledge of Education classes as a core to success in the classroom.

I’ve always read a lot but its usually been a couple hours of news each day than reading for pleasure. For years I was content to watch a 90 minute movie based on a book rather than plow through 10 hours of the original in print. However my concentration of news cut into my history reading time as did my compunction to watch TV.

As early as elementary school I was embarrassed about how much face time I gave our television. My neighbor Becky P would come over and ask me to play catch and I’d often say “no” because there was some damn cartoon I was engrossed in. In an odd way I feel like I am in tune with my baby boom generation because most of us were boob tubed and with three networks we all grew up in the same hive. My theory to explain how fractured our society is today leans more on the thousands of ways we can spend our time now on our own eccentric interests rather than hive together. Old farts like me all know the same old same old. Its a lot of shared experience.

I explain the spark that began the book list below in this post in this paragraph:

“In 1980 as I was about to climb my way back into teaching after a disastrous experience in the Proctor schools I decided to embark on a serious program of reading. I had in mind my Father’s advice to the son of a friends family. Brian, a fellow my age, was griping that he had so much coursework to do in college that he never had time to read all the great books that he wanted to. My Dad, a college teacher himself, suggested that he take a year’s break and do independent study reading the books of literature that he wanted. Brian did that and, as I recall, read something like 87 books the next school year. By the way this is at least my second mention of Brian in the blog. (This was probably the first.)”

My next post will be a follow up to this and in it I will update my reading to 2025.

1979

The Hobbit J.R. Tolkien
Hawaii James Mitchner
Fellowship of the Ring J.R. Tolkien
Two Towers J.R. Tolkien
Return of the King J.R. Tolkien
Plain Speaking
A lauditory, but partly fraudulent, book about Harry Truman
Giants in the Earth Rölvaag
Campaigning for President Weisbord
Stories of various American presidential campaigns
Birth of Britain Winston Churchill
A florid account of England’s early history, first in a series of four volumes
Republican Roosevelt Morton Blum
Roman Republic Isaac Asimov
Brave New World Aldous Huxley
Dragons of Eden Carl Sagan
Napoleon ?
Red Badge of Courage Stephen Crane
The Greeks Isaac Asimov
Roman Empire Isaac Asimov
Dark Ages Isaac Asimov
The Egyptians Isaac Asimov
The Near East Isaac Asimov
The Challenge and Rejection Julius Pratt
Perhaps about Woodrow Wilson or American Diplomatic History
The Religions of Man Huston Smith
a survey on all the major religions
Ascent of Man Jacob Bronkowski
a humanist’s view of the development of civilization
Dawn of African History Roland Oliver
A History of Asia Bingham, Conroy, Iklé
Medieval Europe Hollister
The New Archaeology Wilson
The Land of Caanan Isaac Asimov
The Shaping of England Isaac Asimov
The Forgotten Empire Isaac Asimov
History of the Byzantine Empire

( I read thirty books in 1979. I’d never done anything like this before and I haven’t done it since. Books in red are fiction. Books in Green are science related)

1980

The History of England John Borke
The 100 Michael H Hart
one man’s list of the 100 most influential people in history
To Kill a Mockingbird Harper Lee
Shogan James Clavell
Minnesota Theodore Blegen
a history
Alexander Hamilton ?
A Child is Born ?
for new parents
What Every Mother Should Know about Having a Baby
Ditto

1981

All Quiet on the Western Front Maria Remarck
influential anti-war novel about WW1 that helped turn America to isolationism
Times Atlas of World History London Times
Half maps, half history, I read it cover to cover
Fathers and Sons Turgenev
Broca’s Brain Carl Sagan
Science and social history
This Hallowed Ground Bruce Catton
Civil War History
Man’s Search for Meaning Viktor Frankl
Holocaust survivor’s account and psychological insights in inner strength
Runaway Horses Yukio Mishima
a novel by a Japanese nationalist who later committed seppuku as a moral example for a nonmilitant generation of Japanese
Latin American History Wilgus & D´eca
Barron’s Essentials of American History Nelson Klose

1982

The World According to Garp John Irving
Clan of the Cave Bear Jean Auel

1983

Dune 1st of Trilogy Frank Herbert
Dune 2nd of Trilogy Frank Herbert
Path to Power Robert Caro
Lyndon Johnson Bio the early years, highly regarded its sequel was panned
Valley of the Horses Jean Auel
The Murder of Napoleon Ben Weider, David Hapgood
Gorky Park Martin Cruz Smith

1984-86

Polar Star Martin Cruz Smith
The Read Aloud Handbook Jim Trelease
my bible on reading out loud to kids with a great bibliography of kid’s lit.
( I either stopped reading or stopped keeping track of the books read for these years or perhaps both)

1987

Washington, The Indispensable Man J.T. Flexner

1988

The Romance of Bible Scripts & Scholars John Reumann
a history of different versions and translations of the Bible
Plagues and People William H. McNeill
a history of the effects of pandemics on world history
The Laughing Savior John Dart
a history of Gnostic Christianity

1989

The Bad Popes E.R. Chamberlin
a history about some really bad popes
Washington Goes to War David Brinkley
a reminiscence from one of America’s preeminent journalists about Washington DC’s growth as America entered WWII
From Harlem to the Rhine Arthur Little
a history of the all black 369th Infantry, raised in Harlem, NY which fought in WW1 and to which my grandfather George Robb was assigned as an officer. In the racist US Army of that era black troops were mostly commanded by white officers.
Hot Blooded Dinosaurs A. Desmond
Dinosaur Heresies Robert Bakker

1990

Parting the Waters Taylor Branch
a remarkable history of the modern Civil Rights movement
The Emperor, Downfall of an Autocrat Ryszard Kapuscinski
an idiosyncratic, patched together narrative of the fall of Ethiopia’s Emperor for Life, Haile Selassie, written my a communist journalist who was given remarkable freedom to chronicle unflattering things about the non-communist world.
Twelve Parables of Jesus Maxie Dunnam
a Sunday school study guide
Surrender or Starve Robert D Kaplan
the story about the intentional starvation of the Ethiopian people
Catcher in the Rye J D Salinger
read for the second time
Hannibal Harold Lamb
Hiroshima John Hersey
an account of the dropping of the bomb from the viewpoint of the people on the ground
The Trial of Socrates I F Stone
From Beirut to Jerusalem Thomas Friedman
current events

1991

More Like Us James Fallows
a writer’s thoughtful analysis of what makes American’s Americans
Wonderful Life Stephen Jay Gould
about the explosion of new life found in precambrian fossil shale deposits
Decision in Philadelphia Chris & James Lincoln Collier
the creation of the US Constitution

1992

Lincoln and his Generals T. Harry Williams
Is Paris Burning Collins & LaPierre
How Paris was spared destruction in WWII
Confucius and the Chinese Way H G Creel

1993

Forgotten Scripts Cyrus Gordon
The story of the decipherment of lost languages
Who Wrote the Bible Richard Friedman
Analysis of the Old Testament’s authorship
Jurassic Park Michael Crichton
Zealous Intruders Naomi Shepherd
The rediscovery of the Holy Land by western tourists in the 17 and 1800s
The African Slave Trade Basil Davidson
explains how the slave trade unraveled African society and culture
Vanished Library Canfora
The destruction of the great library of Alexandria
The Man in the Roman Street Garret Mattingly
Everyday life in ancient Rome
The Persians Time Life, ed. by Jim Hicks
a history
1933 Philip Metcalfe
five people’s experiences in Germany the year Adolph Hitler became Chancellor
The Christians as the Romans Saw Them Robert Wilkin

1994

The Learning Gap Stigler & Stevensen
gap between rich and poor in education or something like that
King of Pontus Alfred Doggan
Biography of Mithradates enemy of Rome
Aaron Burr The Great Am Rascal Philip Vail
Balkan Ghosts Robert Kaplan
Balkan History
Pilgrims in their Own Land Martin Marty
History of American Christianity

1995

The Great Triumvirate Merrill Peterson
Biography of Webster, Calhoun and Henry Clay
Profiles in Courage John F Kennedy
rereading
The Armada Garrett Mattingly
Spanish Armada

1996

Bob Dole Richard Ben Cramer
The Time Before History Colin Tudge
Human Prehistory
1066 The Year of the Conquest David Howarth
(audio book) the last successful invasion of England
The Last Best Hope on Earth Mark E Neely Jr.
Abraham Lincoln
No Ordinary Time Doris Kearns Goodwin
Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt and the coming of war

1997

The Celts – First Masters of Europe New Horizons
Undaunted Courage Stephen Ambrose
Journey of Lewis & Clark
Longitude Dava Sobel
History of mastering of navigation technology
How the Irish Saved Civilization Thomas Cahill
transmission of ancient classical texts

1998

American Sphinx John Ellis
Bio of Thomas Jefferson
To Kill a Mockingbird Harper Lee
rereading
Japanese Destroyer Captain T Hara
war memoir

1999

One Hundred Days Alan Schom
Napoleon from Elba to Waterloo
The Rape of Nanking Iris Chang

2000

King Leopold’s Ghost A Hochschil
The Rape of the Congo by King Leopold
Guns Germs and Steel Jared Diamond
How latitude, geography and environment have determine history’s winners and losers
The Lynchings in Duluth Michael Fedo

2001

Day of Deceit Robert Stinnett
FDR’s conspiracy to provoke a Japanese attack at Pearl Harbor – supports the theory
April 1865 the Month that Saved America John Winik
The last month of the Civil War
A Short History of Reconstruction Eric Foner
Frederick Douglass William S. McFeely
The Professor and the Madman Simon Winchester
The history of the creation of the Oxford English Dictionary
Taliban – Militant Islam, Oil, Fund…
alism in Central Asia Ahmed Rashid

2002

Founding Brothers Joseph J. Ellis
The Revolutionary Generation
Libraries in the Ancient World Lionel Casson
The Hidden Hitler Lothar Machtan
E=mc² …the World’s Most Famous Equation David Bodanis
Confederates in the Attic Tony Horowitz
travelogue of the modern “Confederate” South by a Pulitzer winner
Ulysses S. Grant Soldier & President Geoffrey Perret

2003

The River Congo Peter Forbath
The White Headhunter Nigel Randell
Impact of Europeans on Melanesian Society
The Map that Changed the World Simon Winchester
Wm. Smith, makes sense of English stratigraphy and gives birth to the science of geology
Life of Pi Yann Martel
I read this out loud to my wife. It’s wonderful!
Tuxedo Park Jennet Conant
A wall street millionaire’s obsession with science leads to discoveries that will win WW2

2004

The Miraculous Fever Tree Fiammetta Rocco
History of the the drug Quinine which is still the world’s most reliable cure for Malaria
God’s Secretaries Adam Nicolson
on making the King James Bible
“We are Lincoln Men” David Herbert Donald
Wine & War Don & Petie Kladstrup
French vintners roll in W W II
Paris 1919 Six Months that Changed the World Margaret MacMillan
Cicero Life and Times of Rome’s Greatest Pol Anthony Everitt
The Good Women of China Xinran
Wrenching stories of the pain endured by Chinese women since 1949
The Bridge of San Luis Rey Thornton Wilder

2005

1912 – Wilson, Roosevelt,Taft and Debs
Election that changed the Country James Chace
Lincoln at Cooper Union the speech that
made Abraham Lincoln President Harold Holzer
Lincoln Gore Vidal
Stalin, The Court of the Red Tsar Simon S Montefiore
Animal Farm George Orwell
Naked David Sedaris
Wall St. Journal Guide to Wine Gaiter & Brecher
The Devil’s Disciples – Hitler’s Inner Circle Anthony Read

2006

1812 The War that Forged a Nation Walter R. Borneman

2007

Master of the Senate Robert A Caro
Dial M The Murder of Carol Thompson William Swanson

2008

2009 …….For two years I was so wrapped up in a political project that I read no books from cover to cover.

2010

Sunburnt Country Bill Bryson
A humorist’s Australian Travelogue
Thunderbolt Kid Bill Bryson
A humorist’s Iowa Childhood memoir
Lincoln, The biography of a writer Fred Kaplan
1776 Washington crosses the Delaware David McCullough
The Diary of Anne Frank (Definitive edition) Anne Frank
Nature’s Building Blocks A-Z guide to Elements
John Emsley
In Tasmania Nicholas Shakespeare
The Fatal Shore THE one volume Australian Robert Hughes
History (Began reading it 20 years earlier)

2011

Searching for Aboriginal Languages R.M.W. Dixon
A History of New Zealand Keith Sinclair
Carnivorous Nights (Trail of Taz Tiger) Mittelbach & Crewdson
New Zealand Wildlife BRADT travel guide Julian Fitter
Australian Wildlife BRADT ditto Stella Martin
The Last of the Nomads W J Peasley
True account of the hunt for the last Aborigines
to relive the traditional nomad life in the 1970’s
after the fled to the inhospitable Outback
for breaking a tribal taboo
The Original Australians Aborigines History Josephine Flood

2012

Walter Mondale, The Good Fight Walter Mondale
Hubert Humphrey a Biography Carl Solberg
Lyndon Johnson The Passage of Power Robert Caro
The Political Career of Floyd B. Olson George H. Mayer
Bio about MN’s Depression Era Governor
The Swerve, How the World became Modern Stephen Greenblatt
Consequences of the Renaissance discovery
of an ancient poem by Lucretius
Lincoln, Team of Rivals Doris Kearns Goodwin
The Devil in the White City Erik Larson
Account of a prodigious solo mass murderer
operating during Chicago’s World Fair
Thaddeus Stevens 19th Century Egalitarian Hans L. Trefousse,
Bio of the leading Civil War Radical Republican

2013

Black Sea Neal Ascherson
Discursive History of the region
The Book Thief Markus Zusak
Unreliable Memoirs Clive James
by Australian Born British movie reviewer
The Barbarous Years Bernard Bailyn
The first hundred years of 13 British colonies
Life on the Mississippi Mark Twain
Polk, the Man who Transformed
the Presidency and America Walter R. Borneman
The Warmth of Other Suns Isabel Wilkerson
History of black migration out of South from
1915 to 70’s

2014

One Summer America 1927 Bill Bryson
Fascinating weaving of many events
Zealot, Life and Times of Jesus of Nazareth Reza Alsan
Practical non biblical analysis of the times
of Jesus
The Bully Pulpit Doris Kearns Goodwin
Teddy Roosevelt and his buddy Wm Taft
Lincoln’s Boys Joshua Zeitz
How his two secretaries rewrote his Pres. Bio
and elevated his reputation from saintly bumbler
to the most canny of Presidents
The Color of Water James McBride
The story of a black reporter’s discovery of
his Jewish Mother’s remarkable beginnings
The Narrow Road to the Deep North Richard Flanagan
Man Booker winner about an Australian POW’s
life before and after being interned in hell
The President’s War – 5 living Presidents Chris DeRose
who mostly disagree with their successor
Lincoln and his conduct of the War
Orphan Train Kristina Baker Kline

2015

Dead Wake Last Crossing of the Lusitania Erik Larson
Wild Swans Jung Chang
Three Generations of Chinese women from the
Warlord period through the Cultural Revolution
My Promised Land Ari Shavit
Israel’s history 1897 – 2013
Harlem’s Rattlers and the Great War Sammons & Morrow

2016

The Wright Brothers (audio version) David McCullough
In the Garden of the Beasts Erik Larson
A Bell for Adano John Hershey
Empires of the Sea Roger Crowley
Christendom stops Turkish Advance
Dark Horse a Bio. of Wendell Willkie Steve Neal
American Rose A Nation Laid Bare Karen Abbott

2017

The Old Testament NRSV Moses et al
Bleeding Kansas Contested Liberty Nicole Etcheson
in the Civil War Era
Country Driving: A Journey from Peter Hessler
Farm to Factory
1920 The Year of the Six Presidents David Pietrusza
Age of Ambition: Chasing Fortune, Truth, and
Faith in the New China Evan Osnos
Mr. Speaker the Man who Broke the Filibuster James Grant
Destiny of the Republic (Garfield Assassination) Candice Millard
The Martial Adventures of Henry and Me William Allen White
Minnesota Rag (Landmark Supreme Ct ruling) Fred W. Friendly
Mao Tse-Tung and I Were Beggars Siao-Yu
Born a Crime Trevor Noah
Last Hope Island Lynne Olson

* * *

Through Junior High School (1963-66)
( * books were required reading )

a biography of Harry Houdini ?
Swiss Family Robinson Johann David Wyss
Secret Garden Hodgsen?
Profiles in Courage John F. Kennedy
Danny Dever Books (several in a series) ?
adventure books for boys
The Rover Boys (several in a series) ?
adventure books for boys – belonged to my Grandfather Henry H. Welty
Kon Tiki Thor Heyerdahl
This book helped awake in me an armchair wanderlust augmenting my stamp collection which bequeathed me a considerable geographic and historic knowledge.
Tale of Two Cities* Dickens
The Rover Joseph Conrad
Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea Jules Verne
Treasure Island* Robert Louis Stephenson
Black Arrow Robert Louis Stephenson
Island of the Blue Dolphin Scott O’Dell
Old Yeller Fred Gipson
Animal Farm* George Orwell
Scaramouch Rafael Sabatini
Sense and Sensibility Jane Austin

Through Senior High School (1966-69)

Confessions of Nat Turner William Styron
In Cold Blood Truman Capote
Nigger of the Narcissus Joseph Conrad
Cry the Beloved Country* Alan Patton
A Choice of Weapons Gordon Parks
Autobiography of Gordon Parks
Kim Rudyard Kipling
Captains Courageous Rudyard Kipling
Odyssey * Homer
Sidhartha Herman Hesse
Steppenwolf Herman Hesse
Damien Herman Hesse
Cheaper by the Dozen Frank B., Jr. Gilbreth
Belles on their Toes Frank B., Jr. Gilbreth
Tales of the South Pacific James Michener
The Source James Michener
The Day Christ Died Jim Bishop
The Day Lincoln Died Jim Bishop
Catcher in the Rye J D Salinger
Franny and Zooey J D Salinger
Inheritors Golding
Alice in Wonderland Lewis Carol
Heart of Darkness* Joseph Conrad
Secret Sharer* Joseph Conrad
Huckleberry Finn Mark Twain
Born Free Joy Adamson
( I have only included books I read completely. For instance, I never finished the required text Moby Dick. I read perhaps three fourths of it. It didn’t help that I bought a small note pad and began jotting down every word in it I didn’t know to look up in the dictionary. It slowed down the reading because it contained many unfamiliar words. I kept filling my note pad for several years thereafter. )

Through College (1969-73)
(I read very few college texts from cover to cover and except for works of fiction I can’t recall most of the books anyway.)

Black Like Me John Howard Griffin
Metamorphosis Franz Kafka
Japan Yesterday and Today ed. Ray Downs
Cat’s Cradle Kurt Vonnegut
Slaughter House Five* Kurt Vonnegut
Catch 22* Joseph Heller
The Stranger* Albert Camus
The End of the Road* John Barth
The Forrest People Colin Turnbull
The Harrad Experiment Robert Rimmer
(Everybody has read something embarrassing but, hey, I enjoyed the book.)
How to Pick Up Girls Eric Weber
(Ditto. Sorry, but I’m trying to be comprehensive here. It didn’t help me much anyway. I was amazed to find it listed at Amazon.Com otherwise I’d never have remembered the author.)

Post College to 1979 (1973-78)
Lord of the Flies William Golding
The Prairie Years Vol 1 Carl Sandburg
Bio of Lincoln
The Prairie Years Vol 2 Carl Sandburg
Inside the Third Reich Albert Spear
by Hitler’s friend and associate
36 Children Herman Kohl
a teacher’s year in a Harlem school
Autobiography of Malcom X Malcom X ed by Alex Haley
The Story of Language Mario Pei
Actually, this is the only book on the list that I may not have completed cover to cover. I skipped around in it but I read most of its 450 pages. The story of the evolution of language.
The Mafia Fred Cook
Boys of Boise Gerassi
The story of a ring of gay pedophiles that was hushed up after some early exposure
Marco Polo Collins
Things Fall Apart Chinua Achebe
Foundation Isaac Asimov
Second Foundation Isaac Asimov
Foundation and Empire Isaac Asimov
1984 George Orwell
Brave New World Thomas Huxley
Chariots of the Gods Von Daniken
a ridiculous speculation about extraterrestrial visitations that while not fiction might as well be
Green Hills of Mars Robert K. Heinlein
Beyond This Horizon Ray Bradbury Grendel John Gardner
Eva Peron John Barnes
Sugar Blues William Duffy
Expose of the ills cause by sugar. I haven’t stopped consuming it although I was inspired to bake a couple apples pies with honey. I’m a lousy cook.
How I Went from Failure to Success Frank Bettger
My boss gave it to me to inspire me to sell insurance. It didn’t work.
Think Rich Napoleon Hill
Hey, it was the Eighties!
Blind Ambition John Dean

About the author

Harry is a ferociously good natured eccentric in Duluth Minnesota who detests traitors dressed up as Uncle Sam. You can find somewhat better edited writings of his at the Duluth Reader "contributors." page. The URL is:

https://duluthreader.com/contributors/h/84/284-harry-welty