Central Booking

This is where I will be posting all the gory details about my reading experiences. If you would like to suggest a book for me to read, check out the rules. You can also check out my reading list and books I've already read. If you still have time on your hands after that, peruse my blog.

1. The Gun Seller, by Hugh Laurie suggested by Joel Bezaire from Crummy Church Signs


2. Thus Spoke Zarathustra by Friedrich Nietszche suggested by Angela from Blog It Like You Mean It


3. The Eyre Affair, by Jasper Fforde suggested by Robin from Random Observations


4. Godel, Escher, Bach: An Eternal Golden Braid by Douglas R. Hofstader suggested by Wolfe from Wolfe's Musings


5. The Man Who Mistook His Wife For A Hat: And Other Clinical Tales by Oliver Sacks suggested by Cindra from The Chronicles of Cindra


6. Cradle Song by Robert Edric suggested by Basil Dray from Treemendous


7. Memories of My Melancholy Whores by Gabriel Garcia Marquez suggested by Pavel from To Be Perfectly Clear


8. American Tabloid by James Ellroy suggested by Mr. Fabulous from Pointless Drivel


9. The Bone Collector by Jeffery Deaver suggested by Al from Up the Hudson with Gun and Camera


10. The Writing Life by Annie Dillard suggested by Chip from Glacial Spain


11. Rich Dad, Poor Dad suggested by Jules from Originality Is SO Overrated


12. The End of Alice, by A.M. Holmes suggested by Stephanie from Stephanie-Austin.com


13. Blood Meridian by Cormac McCarthy suggested by Anonymous Coworker from AnonymousCoworker


14. The Accidental Buddhist by Dinty W. Moore suggested by ThudFactor from ThudFactor


15. The Power of One by Bryce Courtenay suggested by Lynda from Lynda's Great Journey


16. Eragon by Christopher Paolini suggested by Kat from Kat's Random Thoughts


17. Happenstance by Vanessa V. Kilmer suggested by Nessa of The Chrysalis Stage


18. Haroun and the Sea of Stories by Salman Rushdie suggested by Hayden of Lyric Flight


19. The Iliad and Odyssey by Homer suggested by Jennifer from Strangers Have the Best Candy


20. Dear Mrs LaRue - Letters from Obedience Schoolby Mark Teague suggested by G from Simply Said


21. Fast Food Nation by Eric Schlosser suggested by Kat from MagicKat


22. The Truth Machine by James Halperin suggested by Neva of PuppyToes


23. The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini suggested by Ann from At Home with Ann


24. Foreigner by C.J. Cherryh suggested by Claire from Notes from a WildCat Fan


25. New Rules: Polite Musings From a Timid Observer by Bill Maher suggested by Sar from Belle of the Brawl


26. The Man Who Was Thursday by G.K. Chesterton suggested by Gregory from The Know It All's Guide to Humility

Suggest a book by creating a blog entry on your site explaining why Diesel should read a particular book. Read the rules here.

This list is meant to help you avoid suggesting a book that Diesel has already read. Obviously this is not a comprehensive list; it's just a list of popular books he has read that people are likely to suggest. So it's possible you still might unknowingly suggest a book he has already read. That's ok; Diesel will let you know if that's the case, and you can suggest another one if you like.

Adams, Douglas - Hitchhiker’s “Trilogy”, Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency
Asimov, Isaac - Foundation trilogy, various other stuff
Bradbury, Ray - Martian Chronicles, Dandelion Wine, Fahrenheit 451
Camus - The Stranger
Carroll, Lewis - Alice's Adventures in Wonderland
Chaucer - Canterbury Tales
Conrad, Joseph - Heart of Darkness, Secret Sharer
Darwin, Charles - Origin of the Species
Dick, Philip - Most of his better known stuff
Dostoevski, Feodor - Brothers Karamozov
Eco, Umberto - Foucault's Pendulum, Name of the Rose
Fitzgerald, F. Scott - The Great Gatsby
Gibson, William - Neuromancer, Count Zero
Golding, William - Lord of the Flies
Grahame, Kenneth - The Wind in the Willows
Graves, Robert - I, Claudius
H.G. Wells - The Time Machine, The Invisible Man, War of the Worlds, History of the World
Lee, Harper - To Kill a Mockingbird
Harrison, Harry - Stainless Steel Rat books, West of Eden, a few others
Hawking, Stephen - A Brief History of Time
Heinlein, Robert - Friday, Job, Double Star, Red Planet, a few others
Hemingway, Ernest - The Sun Also Rises, Old Man and the Sea
Herbert, Frank - Dune books
Huxley, Aldus - Brave New World
Ibsen - Hedda Gabler
Irving, John - The World According to Garp
Joyce, James - Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man
LeCarre, John - The Spy Who Came in from the Cold
Lewis, C.S. - Narnia books, Mere Christianity, The Great Divorce, Screwtape Letters, Miracles
Machievelli - The Prince
Marx, Karl - Das Kapital and the Communist Manifesto
McCourt, Frank - Angela's Ashes
Miller, Arthur - The Crucible
Morrison, Toni - Sula
Niven, Larry - Ringworld, Ringworld Engineers, Lucifer's Hammer
Orwell, George - 1984, Animal Farm
Pirsig, Robert - Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance
Rand, Ayn - The Fountainhead
Remarque, Erich Marie - All Quiet on the Western Front
Richard Dawkins - The Blind Watchmaker
Rowling, J.K. - Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone
Salinger, J.D. - Catcher in the Rye
Sartre - No Exit
Shakespeare - MacBeth
Stevenson, Robert Louis - Treasure Island
Swift, Jonathan - Gulliver's Travels
Tolkein, J.R.R. - Lord of the Rings
Twain, Mark - Huck Finn, Connecticut Yankee
Verne, Jules - 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea
Voltaire - Candide
Vonnegut, Kurt - Sirens of Titan, Slaughterhouse Five, Breakfast of Champions
Zelazny, Roger - Amber series

Diesel has also read an assortment of books or selections by various philosophers, including Plato, Aristotle, Aquinas, Augustine, Calvin, Hume, Kant, Locke, Hobbes, Hegel, Kierkegaard, Thomas Reid, Ayer, Sartre, DesCartes, Berkely, etc. He's too lazy to come up with a full list here.

Also, the Bible.

Who is Diesel?

This guy. He's no one you'd know, but he has a mildly entertaining blog.

Why does he go by the name Diesel?

You don't want to know.

Why would I want him to read a book?

No idea. Maybe you really liked the book, and think it would be cool if someone else would read it. Or maybe you're just itching to write a review of a book you just read, and this is a good excuse. Also, he will post a link to your blog in his reading log and his reading list.

Why is he doing this?

He likes to read. Also, it's a publicity stunt to attract readers to his blog. You can read the full story here.

How do I suggest a book for him to read?

Write an entry on your blog telling him why you want him to read the book. Or why anyone should read the book, if you don't particularly care about this Diesel character.

How do I actually get him to read the book?

Link to http://www.mattresspolice.com in your blog entry. If you do that, Diesel will find you. You are also welcome to post a comment here linking to your blog entry, to make sure Diesel finds it.

Will he really read any book I suggest?

Yes, within reason. It has to be in English, obtainable through Amazon, not ridiculously expensive, less than 500 pages, have some redeeming qualities, and conceivably be of some interest to a normal adult male human. "Some redeeming qualities" means that you can actually write a blog entry convincing Diesel that it's not a complete waste of time. He is unlikely to read Harlequin romances, racist diatribes, pornography, knitting manuals, books on making things out of macaroni, etc. He also reserves the right to refuse to read several books by the same author, or in the same genre, etc. (Just in case you and 50 of your closest friends decide that you want Diesel to read every Hardy Boys book ever written.)

How long does he have to read all these books?

He has until November 28, 2007. That's one year from the start of this little exercise.

What's the deadline to suggest a book?

November 21, 2007 or until 52 books have been suggested, whichever comes first.

What order will he read them in?

Whatever order he wants.

How will I know when my book has been added to his list?

The list will be updated here. Probably about once a week.

What if he's already read the book I suggest?

He's posted a list of some popular books he's read here. If you end up suggesting a book that he's already read (and he doesn't feel like reading it again), he will let you know by posting a comment on your blog, if he can. Then you are free to suggest another book.

Can I suggest more than one book?

No. Unless you want to give him a couple of options, in case he' read one of them, or if you want to give him a choice between a few different books.

Any other limitations?

Diesel reserves the right to limit the number of books to 52. That's one book a week. If he gets more than 52 suggestions, he'll use his judgment to select among them.

How do I know he has actually read the book I suggested?

He will post a journal of his reading here. If that's not good enough for you, tough.

Anything else in it for me?

Not really, no. Just a link to your blog and the satisfaction of knowing Diesel has read the book you suggested.

What if I have more questions?

Post a comment to this blog entry. He'll answer it eventually.

Diesel looks forward to your suggestions. Try to not make him regret his faith in humanity.