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Current Favorites

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My Favorites

My top five picks (at least as of this writing) in as many categories as I can think of without trying too hard:

Novels

  1. Thomas Harris, The Silence of the Lambs
  2. F. Scott Fitzgerald, The Great Gatsby
  3. William Faulkner, As I Lay Dying
  4. George Orwell, 1984
  5. E.L. Doctorow, The Book of Daniel

Biography

  1. Benjamin Franklin, Autobiography
  2. Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave, Written by Himself
  3. Julius Caesar, Commentaries on the Gallic War and On the Civil War (tie)
  4. Primo Levi, The Periodic Table
  5. Donna Williams, Nobody Nowhere

History and General Non-Fiction

  1. Vincent Bugliosi and Carl Gentry, Helter Skelter
  2. Eric Foner, Reconstruction
  3. Ricky Jay, Learned Pigs and Fireproof Women
  4. William Poundstone, Prisoner's Dilemma
  5. Bell Irwin Wiley, The Life of Johnny Reb and The Life of Billy Yank (tie)

Advice for Writers

  1. Anne Lamott, Bird by Bird
  2. Stephen King, On Writing
  3. John Gardner, On Becoming a Novelist
  4. Ray Bradbury, Zen in The Art of Writing
  5. Linda Seger, Making a Good Script Great

Resources for Mystery Writers

  1. Connie Fletcher, What Cops Know
  2. John Douglas et al, Crime Classification Manual
  3. DSM-IV
  4. Louis N. Eliopulos et al, Death Investigator's Handbook
  5. Leroy Thompson, Hostage Rescue Manual

Graphic Novels

  1. Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons, Watchmen
  2. Eric Shanower, Age of Bronze
  3. Art Spiegelman, Maus
  4. Wendy and Richard Pini, Elfquest
  5. Frank Miller and Dave Gibbons, Give Me Liberty

Movies (Classic)

  1. The Godfather
  2. Patton
  3. Lawrence of Arabia
  4. Casablanca
  5. Sunset Boulevard

Movies (Worth A Closer Look)

  1. James Joyce's The Dead (John Huston, dir.)
  2. The Insider
  3. Shattered Glass
  4. The Wicker Man (1973 original, not the crappy bee-obsessed remake)
  5. The Advocate (aka Year of the Pig)

Movies (Popcorn)

  1. Star Trek: First Contact
  2. Groundhog Day
  3. Robocop
  4. Superman (Christopher Reeve version)
  5. Jaws

Television (Series)

  1. House, M.D.
  2. Rome (1st Season; 2nd Season was a major missed opportunity)
  3. The Office (U.K. version)
  4. The West Wing
  5. Futurama

Television (Documentary)

  1. Ken Burns, The Civil War
  2. Penn & Teller, Bullshit!
  3. Simon Schama, A History of Britain
  4. Carl Sagan, Cosmos
  5. James Burke, Connections

Music

  1. Jamie Cullum
  2. Alison Krauss and Union Station
  3. Thomas Newman
  4. John Adams
  5. Glenn Gould

Dead People

  1. Julius Caesar
  2. Abraham Lincoln
  3. Winston Churchill
  4. William Shakespeare
  5. Elizabeth I

Famous Last Words

  1. "I think I am becoming a god." (Roman Emperor Vespatian).
  2. "What an artist the world is losing in me." (Roman Emperor Nero).
  3. "Why, they could not hit an elephant at this dist -- " (Union General John Sedgwick)
  4. "Moose...Indian." (Henry David Thoreau)
  5. "Don't let it end like this. Tell them I said something." (Pancho Villa)

Things That Make Me Proud to be American

  1. The U.S. Capitol
  2. The U.S. Constitution (esp. 1st, 4th, 5th, 13th, 14th, 15th, and 19th amendments)
  3. In-N-Out Burger
  4. Nixon getting caught
  5. Omaha Beach

Things That Make Me Ashamed to be American

  1. Sand Creek Massacre
  2. Abu Ghraib
  3. Ft. Pillow Massacre
  4. Nixon getting pardoned
  5. Federal response to Hurricane Katrina (except for the U.S. Coast Guard - they rock)

Numbers

  1. One
  2. Three
  3. Two
  4. Zero
  5. 3.14159265