Books

Giving Time

In 2003 I published a book of essays on volunteering in the community. Each essay originally appeared in the Arizona Republic over the course of 18 months during which time I volunteered in the community and wrote about my experiences. The columns were meant to serve as a sort of guide for people interested in volunteering, to encourage people to volunteer, and at the same time highlight some great area nonprofits.

The book was called Giving Time: Making a Difference in Your Community and it was published by Llumina Press. While it is now out of print, there are some used copies circulating on Amazon and other sites. That being said, I offer it to you free of cost below for your reading pleasure! Feel free to share it with friends and family if you think they’ll enjoy it.

Giving Time PDF

Goodreads

You may have noticed I like to read. Well, that’s sort of an understatement. Not only do I read a ton, I also have a quirky habit of keeping track of all the books I’ve read and all the books I’d like to read. I use a fun little website called Goodreads to do this, and you can see my profile online here.

If you are a reader as well you should think about joining Goodreads and “friending” me. If you’re already on Goodreads, how come you haven’t friended me already?

Just for fun, here are some of my favorite novels:

  • 1Q84, Haruki Murakami
  • A Fan’s Notes, Frederick Exley
  • A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius, Dave Eggers
  • A Man in Full, Tom Wolfe
  • A Tale for the Time Being, Ruth Ozeki
  • America America, Ethan Canin
  • Animal Dreams, Barbara Kingsolver
  • Barkskins, Annie Proulx
  • Beautiful Ruins, Jess Walter
  • Bel Canto, Ann Patchett
  • Beloved, Toni Morrison
  • Billy Bathgate, E.L. Doctorow
  • Bright Lights, Big City, Jay McInerney
  • Clockers, Richard Price
  • Cloud Atlas, David Mitchell
  • Cutting for Stone, Abraham Verghese
  • East of Eden, John Steinbeck
  • Even Cowgirls Get the Blues, Tom Robbins
  • Eventide (Plainsong, #2), Kent Haruf
  • Everybody’s Fool, Richard Russo
  • Freedom, Jonathan Franzen
  • High Fidelity, Nick Hornby
  • Home Land, Sam Lipsyte
  • I Am Charlotte Simmons, Tom Wolfe
  • Independence Day, Richard Ford
  • Kafka on the Shore, Haruki Murakami
  • Middlesex, Jeffrey Eugenides
  • One Hundred Years of Solitude, Gabriel Garci­a Ma¡rquez
  • Pigs in Heaven, Barbara Kingsolver
  • Plainsong (Plainsong, #1), Kent Haruf
  • Portnoy’s Complaint, Philip Roth
  • Rabbit Is Rich, John Updike
  • Shantaram, Gregory David Roberts
  • Skinny Legs and All, Tom Robbins
  • Slaughterhouse-Five, Kurt Vonnegut
  • Song of Solomon, Toni Morrison
  • Still Life with Woodpecker, Tom Robbins
  • The Bean Trees, Barbara Kingsolver
  • The Bonfire of the Vanities, Tom Wolfe
  • The Book Thief, Markus Zusak
  • The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao, Junot Di­az
  • The Catcher in the Rye, J.D. Salinger
  • The Futurist, James P. Othmer
  • The Grapes of Wrath, John Steinbeck
  • The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald
  • The Joy Luck Club, Amy Tan
  • The Kite Runner, Khaled Hosseini
  • The Orphan Master’s Son, Adam Johnson
  • The Poisonwood Bible, Barbara Kingsolver
  • The Razor’s Edge, W. Somerset Maugham
  • The Shipping News, Annie Proulx
  • The Sportswriter, Richard Ford
  • The Stone Diaries, Carol Shields
  • The Sun Also Rises, Ernest Hemingway
  • This Boy’s Life, Tobias Wolff
  • What Is the What, Dave Eggers
  • Wonder Boys, Michael Chabon
  • You Shall Know Our Velocity!, Dave Eggers