The Omnivorous Reader

Travels with Lisbeth Lars Eighner Breathtaking. I couldn't put down this story of a young man's three-year stint of homelessness in Austin, Texas (and parts west).   Lizbeth is the dog that accompanied the author during this period.   The writing is beautiful, articulate, and funny.   (The chapter on dumpster diving has become an instant classic.)   This book could change your view of homelessness.

Suffix Obsession Alan Michaels Subtitled "A Dictionary of All Words Ending in Annual, Ennial, Anthropy, Archy, Cracy, Cide, Culture, Gamy, Gon, Hedron, Lagnia, Latry, Theis, Phany, Philia, and Phobia," this book is a word lister's dream.   Did you know that "cromniomancy" means "divination through the study of the growth of onions"?   That "bactrachomyomachy" is a war between frogs and mice?   That "chthonophagous" is a compulsion to eat dirt?   The book is very nicely done; words are arranged alphabeticallly by suffixes, and also listed by meanings.   If you're a word nut (like me), you need this slender volume.

Master and Commander Patrick O'Brian The first book in a series about an English navy captain, Jack Aubrey, and a Catalan-Irish doctor, Steven Maturin, during the Napoleanic wars.   I don't normally like "war stories," but I love this one - The writing is superb.   Many have compared O'Brian to Jane Austin - they're quite different, but both write about details and relationships in a wonderful way.   If you start with this book, you might have to read straight through to Blue at the Mizzen, O'Brian's latest book.   (And if you're already hooked, A Sea of Words is a companion reference with a lexicon, diagrams, maps, and short essays.)

Time Out Film Guide John Pym, Editor A hipster's guide to over over 12,000 films from around the world.   Reviews (originally written for London's weekly newspaper Time Out) are short, pithy, and intelligent.   I love this book because they praise one of my all-time favorite films, Celine and Julie Go Boating.

The Tummy Trilogy Calvin Trillin This guy has the right attitude about food.   Mr. Trillin is a columnist for the New Yorker, a writer for The Nation, and a funny, funny man.   These books will give you some important guidelines for finding real, good food, and will make you laugh at the same time.   Best of all, obsessed foodies will learn that they're not alone.   This edition combines Mr. Trillin's three food books, American Fried, Alice, Let's Eat, and Travels with Alice.

Latin for All Occasions Henry Beard Subtitled Lingua Latina Occasionibus Omnibus, this small and valuable volume teaches you to write bumperstickers and personal ads in the language of Julius Caesar and Pliny.

Out of Time Paula Martinac A lovely and romantic ghost story with a non-traditional twist.   A young woman finds a scrap book about "The Group," four turn-of-the-century women, and becomes obsessed with discovering who they were. Her research is helped by two of the women, who start appearing in her dreams.

Wild Planet! Tom Clynes Subtitled 1,001 Extraordinary Events for the Inspired Traveler, this book is a guide to the best world festivals and celebrations.   I've spent many a happy hour planning future vacations with this valuable and entertaining tome. Although this book was published in 1995, it contains a vast amount of current information. (After all, how often do they change the Running of the Bulls in Pamplona?)

The Illustrated Longitude Dava Sobel Sobel's Longitude was a good starter book for the fascinating history of navigation or timekeeping.   My only gripe was a lack of detail and pictures, a problem that is solved admirably by this book.   (Even more details - hundreds of pages of them - about longitude, navigation, and timekeeping are found in The Quest for Longitude, edited by William J. H. Andrewes.)

Watchmaking George Daniels This is the definitive book for those who, like my husband, are passionate about the study of watches.   George Daniels has almost single-handedly revived the art of top-quality watches; his book is one of the few works to discuss watchmaking from a modern perspective.   The new edition of this long-out-of-print book is due out early this year.

The Web Server Handbook Palmer, Schneider, and Chenette Edited and co-written by yours truly.   If you're a do-it-yourselfer who is tired of relying on an ISP to deliver your personal or business web pages to the Internet, and perhaps are tired of restrictions on CGI scripts or high service costs, this book can help you set up your own computer to provide web services in place of an ISP.   Readers (who aren't even related to me) have said that this book is helpful, upbeat, and engaging.   See the book's web page for more information.

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Copyright 1996-2001 Anne Chenette. All Rights Reserved.