Snow

I am writing this post after a blizzard hit New Jersey. I don't know what the final measurements were, but it appears that we got about 2 feet of the white stuff, with some drifts much higher than that. During the time I was outside battling against the elements, I had several snow-related thoughts which I thought I would share:

There is only one day of the year when I really want to see snow on the ground. That day is Christmas, and we missed it by about 24 hours. In a way we were lucky. If Sunday's storm had happened on Christmas Day, it would have wreaked havoc on a lot of people's travel plans. However, a decent storm a few days prior to Christmas would have been nice.

A couple of years ago I received a snowblower which my parents didn't need anymore. It has come in handy on several occasions. Unfortunately, today's conditions revealed a horrible truth about snowblowers - they only really work well in certain conditions. Specifically, the snow needs to be relatively dry and fluffy (which it was), and not more than about 8 inches deep (not the case today). I was struggling quite a bit with a blower that was frequently jamming. To my great relief, my neighbor has a heavy-duty snowblower and he came over to help me; which saved me at least an hour at the pace I was going.

Even though the snow had stopped by the time I went outside, it was very windy all day. There's nothing quite like blowing snow into a sudden gust of wind and having the snow blown right back into your face.

When I finally finished and came inside, I thought that my kids might be clamoring to go out and play in the snow. To my great relief, they were content to stay inside all day playing with their new Wii. I was tired and sore and had no desire to play in the snow; video bowling was about all that I could handle at that point.

Finally, I will close by saying that I am looking forward to the day when my children (who are now 7 and 3) can take over the snow shoveling from their old man. Then I will be happy to drink cocoa and watch them through the window while giving waves of encouragement.

Happy Black Friday

Today was a great day. As I write this, it is evening of the day after Thanksgiving. This day is now known as "Black Friday" in reference to its impact on the bottom line of many retailers. It seems that each store tries to outdo the others with their sales and also how early they open. I know of several people who spent the better part of last night and today in search of bargains.

I, however, did not conduct any business today. Frankly, dealing with the madness at the Black Friday sales sounds dreadful. (This is not meant as a criticism. If that's what you enjoy, then more power to you. Goodness knows that I spend enough time in pursuits that other people would consider boring or ridiculous.)

So what did I do to make this a great day? It starts with what I didn't do - go to work. I have been fortunate to always have a four-day weekend for Thanksgiving. That's what makes today unique - it's a free day off. I spent all day yesterday at a family get-together, and still had another day off before the weekend began!

Our number one priority for today was to set up the Christmas decorations. I am adamant about not having Christmas spread too early, but once Thanksgiving is over, all bets are off. We set up our artificial tree (no desire to get a real one), then everyone helped put on the decorations. It came out beautifully; there's something rather calming about looking at a lit and decorated Christmas tree.

There was also an added bonus to this day. When I was up in the attic to get the boxes, I noticed a couple of boxes in the corner that hadn't been paying much attention to. They were items that we put away when we moved here nine years ago and have basically forgotten. One of the boxes contained some wonderful treasure - it was filled with my baseball cards as well as a bunch of my old school work and class pictures! For a sentimental sap like me, it was a delight to behold.

I've been giving it some thought today, and I have concluded that Black Friday is one of my favorite days of the year. It's a quiet day with my family were we can start turning our attention towards Christmas. (And finding treasure in the attic as well!)

Raking Leaves

This afternoon, I spent a couple of hours raking leaves and mowing the lawn. Generally speaking, I don't mind mowing the lawn and shoveling snow, but I find leaf-raking to be quite unpleasant. I'm not exactly sure why - maybe it's the association with the upcoming winter season. (At least with snow you sometimes get a day off from school or work). There are still a lot of leaves up in the trees, so to some extent the work today would be in vain. But tomorrow my town starts their collection of the leaf bags, so I figured I should get going.

So after lunch, I headed outside. I planned to make the chore more enjoyable by listening to some music on my iPod. Nothing gets me pumped for physical work like rocking out to Barry Manilow. However, a few minutes later, my 7-year-old daughter came out to help me rake the leaves. I appreciated her enthusiasm and willingness, but I had my doubts as to how much help she would be (not to mention that I would not be able to listen to my iPod).

After we (I) had raked a few piles, it was time to put the leaves into the large brown bags that the township provides. Then a funny thing happened. Instead of picking up a big handful of leaves each time, Amy would pick up a single leaf and admire it. She would show it to me and make some comments about its color, shape, etc. At first, I would just say a quick word of agreement followed by encouragement to pick up more leaves. But soon I found myself noticing some individual leaves. I even found one that Amy and I agreed was the biggest leaf ever!

In spite of some leaf-observing breaks, we managed to get the job done before it got dark. Since there are still many leaves in the trees, I know that upcoming weekends will contain more leaf raking and watching. I want to thank my daughter for giving me a fresh perspective on what has previously been a tedious chore.

This morning at Church, the preacher spoke about thankfulness. After Jesus healed ten lepers, only one came back to thank Him. I realized that I take many things for granted. It's even possible to be thankful for a lawn full of dead leaves. Not only did this provide me with some exercise and time with my daughter, leaves remind me of the beauty and uniqueness that can be found in all areas of God's creation. I just needed to see them through a child's eyes.

Talkin' Baseball

Baseball's regular season ended today. Thirty teams have battled daily since early April, and now eight teams are still standing in the quest for a World Series championship. I will make my annual predictions in a moment, but first we should review how I did in my preseason predictions. You can check out the full story from my post in April; I was correct on 4 out of 8 playoff teams (Yankees, Rays, Twins and Phillies). My original World Series prediction had the Yankees beating the Rockies; I can still be half right about that :-)

Here are the playoff teams in order that I would like to see them win:
1. Yankees. Can they win back-to-back titles?
2. Giants. They haven't won the World Series since 1954, when they were still playing in New York.
3. Twins. They just seem very likable. This is their first year back in an open air stadium - could there be snow at the Fall Classic?
4. Rangers. For the past couple of months I've had a feeling that the Rangers could be tough in the playoffs.
5. Reds. I don't think I've seen them play all year, but I've heard good things about them.
6. Rays. I guess I'm supposed to hate the Rays since they're in the same division as the Yankees, but I just can't.
7. Phillies. The Yanks taught them a lesson this time last year.
8. Braves. My dislike for the Braves goes back to the early 1990's. Even though all of those players are gone, I still don't like that team.

The above is my order of preference. Below are my actual predictions, one of which might be surprising. (A disclaimer - I'm often wrong, so don't make wagers based on these):

Division Series
Rangers over Rays in 4
Twins over Yankees in 5 (every Yanks starter except CC makes me nervous lately)
Giants over Braves in 5
Phillies over Reds in 4

League Championships
Rangers over Twins in 7
Phillies over Giants in 5

World Series
Phillies over Rangers in 6

I think the Phillies starting pitching is going to prove to be too much for everyone.

Enjoy the baseball, everyone. We'll come back in a few weeks to laugh at my awful predictions.

What's Bugging Bill

It's been quite a while since I've blogged; hard to believe that the summer is over. The summer was wonderful - my family had a couple of nice vacations, and we also got to enjoy the kiddie pool in the backyard several times. Times like these remind me of how truly blessed I am.

However, that doesn't mean that everything is perfect. There are a few things that bother me. I fully realize that these are minor problems in the grand scheme of things, but I wanted to get them off my chest.

1. Special weather reports
We are now in the middle of hurricane season. Whenever there is a major storm threatening the coast, you know what will happen next. Every news outlet will send a reporter to the "scene" to do a live report in the midst of the rain and gale-force winds. Does this add anything to our understanding? Frankly, if you're too dumb to come in from the rain/snow/whatever, then I don't think I can trust your judgement. We all know what storms look like. If the goal of the news is to warn us of the impending danger, then don't put your reporters in the same harm. It's time to learn a new trick, networks.

2. Refrigerators
The fridge in my house has the freezer on the top, and the refrigerator section beneath it. This is how it should be. Side-by-side models have been popular for quite some time, and now the "freezer on the bottom" seems to be the latest trend. To be blunt, I think that these are horribly wrong and against nature. Here in the Northern Hemisphere, it gets colder the further north you go. Anyone who has looked at a map knows that north is up, so therefore the coldest part of the fridge should be the highest. I urge all my reader(s) to start a letter-writing campaign to the appliance manufacturers demanding an end to their abhorrent practices.

3. Football-shaped Oreos
Oreos (in their pure single-stuff form) are my favorite cookie. In the past, I've complained about the inherent evil of double-stuff Oroes. Now, our friends at Nabisco have come up with a new way to torment me. This fall, they have issued football-shaped Oreos. They have the same thickness as regular Oreos, so they pass my initial test. However, do to their football shape, each cookie has a point on each end. I feel that this adds an undue level of danger to the cookie-eating experience. When consuming an Oreo, you should not have to worry about which end to pick up in order to avoid injury. Please, everyone, stick with the one true Oreo variety - the round single-stuff. It is the only way we can maintain order and civilization in our increasingly chaotic society.

Thanks for reading. And to answer your question: yes, there is a distinct possibility that I've lost my mind :-)

Weird Al concert

On Sunday, June 27th, my wife and I went to Asbury Park, New Jersey to see "Weird Al" Yankovic in concert. It was the fourth time that we have seen him in concert, the first time was back in 2000, before we were married.

There was some confusion in the week leading up to the show. It was originally scheduled for the PNC Bank Arts Center in Holmdel, NJ. About a week in advance, I read on-line that it had been moved to the Paramount Theater in Asbury Park. (The reason for the move was never given; apparently it was Ticketmaster's decision based on ticket sales.) My biggest concern about the move was in relation to seat assignments. I was worried that it would be open seating at that we would have to get in line very early to get decent seats. Fortunately, I was finally able to speak to a representative from Ticketmaster on the Thursday before the show. I was told that the original tickets would be exchanged for assigned seats in the new venue.

The show was scheduled for 8:00 PM, but we arrived a little after 4:00 in case there were any problems. To their credit, the ticket exchange went very smoothly, and we ended up a couple of rows closer than we would have been at PNC. The only drawback was that we had a lot of time to kill before the gates opened at 7:00. So we had dinner at an upscale restaurant right off the boardwalk. It was a bit fancier than we really wanted, but a long meal would allow us to spend as much time as possible in air-conditioning.

Anyway, on to the show itself. As always, Weird Al and his band put on a fantastic show. A couple of songs in, Al acknowledged the venue switch by apologizing for the late start; saying that he thought the show was in an entirely different location.

The first song was Al's latest polka medley. On each album, he takes a couple of lines from a bunch of popular songs and puts them to polka music. He then performed a couple of original songs from about 15 years ago: "You Make Me" and "You Don't Love Me Anymore". After the second of these songs, Al smashed his guitar on the stage. Throughout the show, there were at least ten costume changes, keeping with the themes of the songs and/or the artists being parodied. During the changes, they play videos of Al conducting mock interviews with celebrities.

The show kept on going with some of Al's biggest hits mixed in with some new songs that will be on his upcoming album. During his seductive song "Wanna B Ur Lovr", he left the stage and sang directly to several women in the audience. We had aisle seats and were only about five feet away from Al before he had to turn around and go up the other aisle. The big encore contained Al's two Star Wars-themed songs - "The Saga Begins" (parody of "American Pie") and "Yoda" (parody of "Lola") - complete with dancing Storm Troopers.

Once again, Weird Al put on a fantastic and thoroughly entertaining concert. We are definitely looking forward to the release of his new CD and hope to see him again someday.

Getting "Hooked"

Last Thursday, I had the opportunity to chaperone my daughter's first grade class trip to Sandy Hook. Here are some of the highlights:

Each chaperone was assigned four kids to watch. My group consisted of Amy, another girl whom she is friends with, and two boys. They were all very well behaved and I didn't lose any of them. Since I had never chaperoned before, I think the teachers who assigned the groups went easy on me.

Our first stop was at Fort Hancock, where we learned about the history of the fort and how they aimed the cannons at the ships on the Atlantic. Right next to the fort is the Sandy Hook lighthouse, which is the oldest continuously lit lighthouse in the United States. Our tour guide told the class that the lighthouse was older than America, and asked if they knew what year America was "born". When give the hint that it was a long time ago, one of the kids guessed, "1984?"

Next up was a lesson about the various shells and other sea life that we might find. Each class needed two parents to go into the water and drag a large net so that the kids could see what was found. Fortunately, two other fathers volunteered so I stayed on the shore.

One of the creatures they found was a horseshoe crab. We learned that these animals have ten eyes, yet can only see light and dark. Seems like a waste of all those eyes to me.

Soon it was time for lunch. Each small group ate on blankets on the beach. One of the great things about being with kids this age is that it's easy to solve many of their problems. Each juice box or bag of chips I helped open was another chance to be a hero. After we were done eating, each kid got a plastic bag that they could use to bring home shells, rocks, etc. that they found. (Amy's bag is now sitting in a corner of the garage).

By 1:30 it was time to get back on the bus for our return trip. A bus full of first graders sure can make a lot of noise, but don't worry, I managed to fall asleep anyway. I woke up when I heard another kid call out, "Amy, your dad is sleeping!"

Soon we were back at the school and it was time to go home. It was amazing how fast the day went. I had a lot of fun and I look forward to helping out on future class trips.

The Justice League

Yesterday, I had the opportunity to do my civic duty and potentially determine the fate of complete strangers. That's right - I was on Jury Duty! In my county, you have to serve either one day or one trial, whichever is longer. If you are not selected for a case by the end of the day, your obligation is done and you can't be called for the next three years.

Many people dread the idea of serving, but as I see it, there are several advantages. First, it's a guilt-free way to get out of work. Second, it is interesting to see how "the system" really works. Hint: it's a lot less exciting than you see in movies or TV. On the negative side, there is a certain amount of boredom and repetition involved, as I learned about 10 years ago when I was on a jury for an assault case. That case lasted three days; a lot of the testimony covered the same ground.

But back to yesterday. They make you report at 8AM, so I had to leave the house earlier than usual. When I got there, there was a long line waiting to go through the metal detector (I got through without setting it off). You have to watch an orientation video that is somewhat less than riveting. A judge then comes in to swear in all jurors. Then you wait.

At about 10:30, my number was called and I was part of a group of about 50 who went upstairs to a court room. The case being tried was for burglary. This was the second day of jury selection for this case; they still had not found 14 jurors who were acceptable to both sides. We were each given a questionnaire covering such topics of previous jury service, if we had ever been victims of a crime, etc. I was among the first from our group to be interviewed by the judge. One of my responses concerned my family's home having been burglarized when I was about eight years old (we weren't home at the time). The defense attorney requested that I be excused, and although they don't tell you the reason, I'm sure that my past experience had something to do with it.

I was sent back down to the juror room. Soon it was lunch time; I had a roast beef and cheese sub and an iced tea. After an hour, I returned to the court house. In the afternoon, they only called one more pool of jurors; I was not one of them. About 4:00 we were thanked for our service and dismissed.

So that's my story of jury duty. It was an enjoyable day overall. I listened to my iPod and read "The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe" (which I had never read before). In the morning I was sitting next to a very talkative man and it looked like I wouldn't get any reading done. But in the afternoon I was able to avoid human interaction :-)

I strongly encourage everyone to face jury duty with a sense of anticipation, not dread.

baseball predictions

Well, the 2010 baseball season is now underway. My Yankees are playing the Red Sox tonight in the first game of the season. So now is the appropriate time to make my predictions for the year. Just a note, the following are based on absolutely no solid evidence; they are heavily influenced by my own likes and dislikes.And please, do not use these for wagering purposes. So without further delay:

American League
East: Yankees, Rays, Red Sox, Blue Jays, Orioles
Central: Twins, Tigers, White Sox, Royals, Indians
West: Angels, Mariners, Rangers, Athletics

National League
East: Phillies, Braves, Marlins, Mets, Nationals
Central: Cardinals, Cubs, Brewers, Reds, Astros, Pirates
West: Rockies, Dodgers, Padres, Giants, Diamondbacks

Playoffs
Yankees over Twins in 3
Rays over Angels in 4
Yankees over Rays in 6

Rockies over Cardinals in 5
Phillies over Dodgers in 4
Rockies over Phillies in 7

World Series
Yankees over Rockies in 5

Awards
AL MVP: Alex Rodriguez
NL MVP: Ryan Howard
World Series MVP: Mariano Rivera

Book review: "Open" by Andre Agassi

I recently checked out Andre Agassi's autobiography from the library. Since it is considered a new book, it can only be checked out for two weeks instead of the usual four. This concerned me; I wasn't sure that I would have enough free time to read it. These concerns turned out to be unfounded - I was finished in less than a week. It was a well-written and unflinching account of his life and career.

I'm not a big tennis fan; I pay a little attention during the Grand Slam events, but that's it. Agassi was one player that I did root for, even though sometimes his image as an anti-establishment punk was a bit much. I often root for underdogs, and since Agassi was often in Pete Sampras' shadow, I think he seemed like one. Of course, Andre won eight Grand Slam tournaments and was ranked number one in the world more than once; making him perhaps the most successful underdog ever.

But back to the book. Agassi goes into a lot of detail about his childhood as well what seems like every tournament he ever played. Throughout the book, he is brutally honest about his behavior and feelings. He goes into detail about his drug use, his marriage and divorce to Brooke Shields, and the physical pain he endured towards the end of his career. Multiple times he mentions always hating tennis; having been forced into it by his father. He comes across as now being at peace with everyone in his life. He reserves most of his criticism for himself. The book is refreshingly free of anger and cheap shots at others - with one exception.

One story did seem out of place, given the overall tone of the book. Agassi mentions that Pete Sampras once tipped a valet parking attendant only one dollar. This story seemed quite unnecessary. There were a couple of other passages that were critical of Sampras as a player and rival, but this was the only story in the book that was really mean. A few weeks ago, Agassi and Sampras were playing an exhibition match for charity. It was supposed to be a fun event, with players wearing microphones. After Sampras imitated Agassi's pigeon-toes walking style, Agassi made reference to the tipping story. This led to Sampras directly aiming a serve at Agassi's head, then some tense moments between them.

Overall, I quite enjoyed the book. It was a fast, though at times uncomfortable, read. I would recommend it to anyone who had even a passing interest in tennis in the late 1980s or 1990s.

Mattress Shopping

Today was a milestone day for our family. We bought a new twin bed for my almost three year-old son. It gets delivered tomorrow; though we're keeping the crib installed in his room for a while in order to ease the transition. Hopefully, it will go relatively smoothly. I have no doubt that keeping him in bed before he falls asleep each night will be a challenge.

After we got home from the store, I got to thinking. We bought a new bed for our daughter a few years ago, and a new bed for us a couple years before that. But now we likely won't be in the market for a new mattress for another decade or so. I would imagine that this scenario is similar for most families. So how do so many mattress stores stay in business. There are several of them in our area. I just can't imagine that there is enough business to go around. Perhaps I'm wrong - how often do people buy new mattresses?

Book review - "1920 - The Year of the Six Presidents"

I just finished reading another book (six so far this year!). It was "1920 - The Year of the Six Presidents" by David Pietrusza. This book tells the story of the 1920 presidential election and the six former or future presidents who played roles in this election. The presidents are:

1. Theodore Roosevelt, who previously served as president from 1901-1909. After a failed third party run in 1912, he was considered the front-runner for the 1920 Republican nomination. However, he died in 1919, throwing the process into turmoil (TR's death means that technically, the book is misnamed. But I guess six is more dramatic than five.)
2. Woodrow Wilson, the current president, who was considering a run for an unprecedented third term. However, poor health (which was mostly hidden from the public) prevented this.
3. Warren Harding (SPOILER ALERT), who won the 1920 election.
4. Calvin Coolidge, Harding's running mate (ANOTHER SPOILER ALERT) who became president upon Harding's death in 1923.
5. Herbert Hoover, who did great work as part of the Wilson administration; administering aid to war-torn Europe.
6. Franklin Roosevelt, who ran for Vice President as James Cox's running mate for the Democratic party.

The first several chapters focus on short biographies of each of the above men. Then we move to the primaries and the campaign. I was amazed at how much politics have changed in the past 90 years. These were the days of the "smoke-filled rooms", where deals were cut to determine who the candidates would be. The candidates did very little campaigning; Harding spent most of the time at home in Ohio, giving speeches from his front porch to those who came to see him. The major issues of the day included Prohibition, voting rights for women, and whether the US should join the League of Nations (Wilson's forerunner of the United Nations).

The book was well-written. Even though the results are already known, there was an air of suspense to the narrative. I also found some interesting insight to the lives of these men who each played major roles in the shaping of America in the first half on the 20th century. Overall, I would recommend this book to anyone who has an interest in American politics and elections or this period of history.

Book review - "The Yankee Years"

I just finished reading "The Yankee Years" by Joe Torre and Tom Verducci. It is the story of Torre's 12 seasons as the Yankees' manager. The 475-page book could be summed up as follows: "Jeter good. A-Rod bad."

Actually, it's not quite that simple. The bigger story is: "Players who were on the championship teams of 1996-2000 good. Players who joined the Yankees in 2001 and later bad."

I have no doubt that Torre was treated poorly by George Steinbrenner and the rest of the Yankees front office during the last couple of years of his tenure. However, the book seemed to be just a long string of complaints about how things weren't as good as they had been during the dynasty. I think we all have a tendency to long for the "good old days", not realizing that those days weren't always so good.

The book ends when Torre's contract isn't renewed after the 2007 season. Since then, he has gone on to manage the Dodgers, while the Yankees won the 2009 World Series. It was a shame how things ended, but I guess that all good things eventually come to an end.

Final thought on the book: an interesting read, but I'm glad I got it from the library rather than paying for it. Overall, it was worth reading for Yankees fans.

efficient vs exciting

Like many people, I watched the Super Bowl this past week. I was happy that the Saints won for a couple of reasons. One, when I first started following football, the Saints were usually among the worst teams in the league. So I always kind of rooted for them as my second favorite team, behind the Steelers.

The other reason I was happy about the results of this Super Bowl is that I didn't want the Colts to win. I don't feel any animosity towards the team, and Peyton Manning seems to be a good guy. However, the Colts play a style of football that I find uninteresting. Their offense is designed to pick up 10 yard gains seemingly at will. There seems to be a never-ending string of short slant passes. While it's admirable that the team has developed such a cold efficiency, it is dreadful to watch.

I think that a parallel can be drawn to baseball. In recent years, many teams have developed a "take and rake" offensive philosophy. That is, they are willing to take a lot of pitches while waiting for a pitch they can hit for a home run. This style results in a lot of walks and strike outs; which are the least interesting aspects of baseball.

In both sports, the "best" offense is the least entertaining. As a fan, I want to see stolen bases and extra-base hits in baseball; and long passes in football. Quite frankly, this has turned me off somewhat from both sports. I'm much less inclined to watch entire games. I doubt that I'm alone in this. But since these styles have been determined to be more effective, we're probably not going back. I just find this a little sad.

You say you want a resolution...

I'm not normally one to make formal new year's resolutions. But this year, I thought it would be a good idea (even if I'm half a month late). Here goes:

1. Reading. In 2009, I cut back significantly on TV watching and spent more time reading. I resolve to continue to do so in 2010. My goal is to read at least 24 books (2 per month). Of that total, I plan to read at least 6 "classics". (I have a loose definition of classics. Basically, it's the books they make you read in school but you don't appreciate at the time.) I will periodically post reviews of books that I find interesting.

2. Blogging. I resolve to update my blog at least once every two weeks. Hopefully I'll have worthwhile things to say...

3. Long-stitch project. When I was a kid, my mom taught me how to long-stitch, which is sort of like needlepoint. I did a couple of small projects, and also a scene of a sunset over a lake - that one is framed and hanging in our house. A long time ago (20+ years), I started another large long-stitch project of a tiger in a snowy field. I recently came across it; it is about one-third finished. It is my goal to complete this project in 2010. After that, I am never doing another such project again :-)

4. Meeting neighbors. Finally, a resolution that will be a challenge for me. I am not a particularly outgoing person; I rather dislike meeting new people. However, I realize that I need to set a better example for my kids; that includes moving out of my comfort zone. To that end, I will make a concentrated effort to get to know some of our neighbors this year. In particular, our next-door neighbors. They have 2 kids who are about the same ages as ours. They've been our neighbors for three or four years; in that time, my wife had one conversation with them. I've limited myself to saying hi and nodding to them. I vow to do better in 2010.

So there you have it. I'll keep you all updated on my progress.

Top 9 Books Read in 2009

In 2009, I made an effort to spend more time reading and less time watching television. For the most part, I was successful, and also made good use of our town's library. I read about 30 books during the year. Here are mini-reviews of my nine favorites:

1. "American Lion" by Jon Meacham.
This is a biography of President Andrew Jackson, focusing mostly on his presidency and also his time as a general in the War of 1812. This book really made the time period come alive.

2. "A Great Day in Cooperstown" by Jim Reisler.
The story of how the Baseball Hall of Fame came to be. Goes into detail about the first induction in 1939 and also has "flashbacks" to the careers of those first players to be enshrined.

3. "Lord of the Flies" by William Golding.
I never read this book before. It was an interesting tale of how society can break down when we're left without rules. (A good story, even though the ending felt like a bit of cop-out).

4. "The Naked Olympics" by Tony Perrottet.
This book describes what it was like at the original Olympics in ancient Greece - for the athletes and for the spectators. I learned a lot - in a way, sports and our fandom haven't changed all that much in thousands of years.

5. "The Audacity of Hope" by Barrack Obama.
This book was written in 2006, when President Obama was still in his first term as senator. He claimed to want a government without fighting along party lines, but took a bunch of little cheap shots at the Bush Administration. I found the book a bit disappointing and the author came across as petty.

6. "Manhunt - the Twelve Day Hunt for Lincoln's Killer" by James L. Swanson.
Detailed hour-by-hour the day leading up the the assassination, and also the following days when Booth and his co-conspirators were on the run in Maryland. Excellent story-telling.

7. "Rutherford B. Hayes" by Hans Louis Trefousse.
Shortly before Presidents' Day last year, I lamented that we spend the holiday focusing on Washington and Lincoln, completely ignoring Rutherford Hayes. This led to me joining and then becoming president of the Hayes fan club on Facebook. I felt that I should get to know more about this president, so I read this short biography. An easy read, and I learned a lot.

8. "The Year of Living Biblically" by A.J. Jacobs.
The author spent a year trying to follow every law laid out in the Bible, while living in the modern world. This includes laws regarding diet, clothing, and interpersonal relationships; many of which are completely ignored by all but the most devout. It was quite thought-provoking - why, for example, is it okay for Christians to wear clothing with two different fibers together?

9. "Pride and Prejudice and Zombies" by Jane Austen and Seth Grahame-Smith.
This is the original Jane Austen story, with the addition of zombies wandering the countryside, and the need to fight off attacks. I never read the original (non-zombie) version, but I would imagine it is not as exciting.

Other books of note that I read in 2009:
"Street Gang" by Michael Davis. Tells the story of how "Sesame Street" came into being. I had high hopes for this book, but found that it focused a lot more on network politics and little on the on-air personalities.
"The Last Lecture" by Randy Pausch. A professor in his 40s with a wife and young children finds out that he has terminal cancer. The book is a series of reflections and memories that he wants to pass on. Very moving.
"The Murder of King Tut" by James Patterson. This is Patterson's first non-fiction book. He tells the story of how Tut's tomb was discovered, and also flashes back to Tut's life. The book also lays out a theory that Tut and his wife were murdered by a trusted advisor who had political ambitions of his own.
"Outliers", "Blink" and "The Tipping Point" by Malcolm Gladwell. Each of these books attempts to explain how we think, and how life works, but with a twist. I didn't always agree with his conclusions, but they were all interesting reads.

I plan to continue reading more and posting reviews in 2010. Stay tuned...