2009 Reading List

I've been whittling away at this for a few days, but here it is: my annual Book Review. It's the longest entry you'll see from me for awhile, I'm sure, especially now that I'm on full-time Mama Duty with two kiddos (today was DAY ONE and we're all still alive and reasonably happy, although I didn't get a chance to shower). Anyway, here you go:

Out Stealing Horses -- Per Petterson
I loved this book. It's a quiet novel, but the writing is gorgeous. I read the entire thing in almost one sitting at Barnes and Noble one night last January, shortly before discussing it with my juniors. They loved it too, which surprised me a bit -- perhaps because it is such a quiet book. However, it is also a rich coming-of-age novel, and I found myself underlining heavily beginning with the line, "We decide for ourselves when it will hurt."

The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Society -- Mary Ann Schaffer and Annie Barrows
I don't ordinarily love books that are written solely through the perspective of letters or journals, but I did enjoy this one -- I liked the different characters and their voices, and the story was captivating -- both entertaining and, at some points, a little gut-wrenching. I'm also a sucker for stories that read like love letters to good literature, and this one pays homage to the great stuff.

The House on Hackman's Hill -- Joan Lowry Nixon (reread)
I read this book when I was in about the fourth grade and it terrified me -- in a delicious, don't-turn-out-the-lights kind of way. I looked for it for years, but it seemed to be out of print; then Kyanne found me a copy. I read it again on a January night, perhaps trying to recreate that cozy/delicious feeling that accompanied my childhood reading. The verdict? It's pretty cheesy. AND IT STILL TERRIFIED ME. So I basically had a blast rereading it, which is why even the not-so-great writing earns four stars from me.

Appetites: Why Women Want -- Caroline Knapp
I liked this one even more than Drinking: A Love Story. It's about appetites in every sense of the word -- and why women deny themselves things they desire, or feel guilty for wanting them. While it's true that Knapp suffered both from anorexia and alcoholism, the book reaches beyond that. I found it insightful, a little heartbreaking, and, at times, uncomfortably familiar.

Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close -- Jonathan Safran Foer
The writing captivated me and the ending destroyed me. Sometimes I want to hate Jonathan Safran Foer for his "Oh, look at me, I'm innovative, and also, Joyce Carol Oates discovered me" success, but he deserves all the acclaim for this one. At the center of the novel is Oskar Schell, a young boy whose father died in the September 11 attacks, leaving behind a mysterious key. Oskar begins a quest to find the lock, and the journey is, of course, more important than what he thinks he's looking for. I laughed out loud in many places and sobbed at the ending.

Wintergirls -- Laurie Halse Anderson
I was lucky enough to read a galley copy before it was released, and I think it's her best work yet. Fans of Laurie Halse Anderson (especially those who loved Speak) won't be disappointed.

Weight -- Jeanette Winterson
I love Jeanette Winterson and I love retellings of myths. This one, from the same series as Margaret Atwood's The Penlopiad (which I also loved), focuses on the myth of Heracles and Atlas. I read this one in one sitting at Starbucks, and I loved nearly every sentence. I keep coming back to this passage, which is really at the core of why I love these retellings: If only I understood that the globe itself, complete, perfect, unique, is a story. Science is a story. History is a story. These are the stories we tell ourselves to make ourselves come true.

The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven -- Sherman Alexie
The first time I heard Sherman Alexie speak in 2007, he said he still thought The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven was his best stuff. Interestingly enough, until now I've read all his fiction except this one -- I don't know why I waited so long -- and now that I've read it, I completely agree.

Revolutionary Road -- Richard Yates
I read this before I saw the movie. It was gorgeously-written and left me completely emotionally drained. I'd say I loved it, because I think Yates is a brilliant and terribly underrated writer, but it's not really a story one can love. Still, I want to read more of him.

Like Water for Chocolate -- Laura Esquivel (reread)
I read this for the first time in 2005, but I reread it before teaching it again in the spring. It's still a ton of fun.

A Swiftly Tilting Planet -- Madeleine L'Engle (reread)
I loved this just as much as I did when I read it for the first time -- maybe more. I still think A Wrinkle in Time is one of the best stories I've ever read, and I'm savoring the experience of rereading her books -- it's always interesting how much they deepen for me with each reading.

It Sucked and Then I Cried: How I had a Baby, a Breakdown, and a Much-Needed Margarita -- Heather Armstrong
Okay, I love dooce.com. Seriously. But I didn't love this book -- for one thing, I'd read pretty much all of it on her blog already. For another thing, I was looking forward to a bit more meat, I guess. The book is funny and honest and I appreciated her writing for the reasons I love her blog, but I think she really glossed over the postpartum depression, which I thought would really be the focus of the book. Instead, it was a bunch of funny anecdotes about pregnancy and motherhood and then, like, two pages that can pretty easily be summed up by the title. She was depressed, she threw a lot of stuff at her husband's head, she went into the hospital and a wonderful doctor finally prescribed meds that worked, and yay, the end. She alludes to her history of depression, but just barely -- I was ultimately disappointed, because I felt like she could have gone so much deeper and the book would have resonated so much more. I regret spending the money on a hardcover copy.

The House of the Spirits -- Isabelle Allende
As I read this, I kept thinking, why have I waited so long to read Isabelle Allende? It's just gorgeous. I love magical realism, I love sweeping family sagas, I love her writing -- it reminded me of Gabriel Garcia Marquez, which is probably what everyone says, but I responded to her in much the same way -- with laughter and awe. She writes about politics and family and relationships in this huge, searing way -- it's hilarious, but she doesn't shy away from the horror, either. The ending was breathtaking.

Behind the Scenes at the Museum -- Kate Atkinson
I enjoyed Case Histories, so I was looking forward to this one. I read it on the plane between Seattle and Omaha when we traveled to my brother-in-law's wedding last spring. It was the perfect distraction on the flight and subsequent drive. Who couldn't love a book that begins with the literal conception of the protagonist, a joyful proclamation of "I exist!"

The Beekeeper's Apprentice -- Laurie R. King
Oh, this one was fun. It's the story of Mary Russell, an orphaned fifteen-year-old girl who meets the retired Sherlock Holmes. Holmes becomes her mentor, and soon the two of them are thrust into the midst of a high-profile kidnapping case. I haven't read a good mystery in awhile, and I enjoyed this -- a lot.

Unaccustomed Earth -- Jhumpa Lahiri
I've only read one of Lahiri's short stories, but I loved it -- so I picked up this collection shortly after it was released and finally got around to reading it this summer. Overall, I really enjoyed it. After awhile I thought the stories began to seem a little too similar to each other -- she revisits certain themes and motifs again and again (interracial relationships, ivy league schools, the Westernized children of first-generation immigrants) although I suppose many writers do -- but I greatly admire her craftsmanship. I think it was Barbara Kingsolver who once said that a good short story accomplishes everything a full-length novel does, and I think Lahiri succeeds in this regard.

The Shadow of the Wind -- Carlos Ruiz Zafon
I read all 486 pages of this book in two days -- I could not put it down. A friend recommended it to me last fall after I read The Woman in White and was in the mood for another over-the-top Gothic novel, and while this one is a contemporary novel, it's definitely Gothic and definitely over-the-top. It's got mystery, murder, lots of dark rainy streets and haunted mansions, separated lovers, family secrets -- the works. And ultimately, even better, it's really a love letter to literature, to storytelling. This would have been a fabulous book to read around Halloween when Seattle is usually foggy and rainy, but it was also a fun summer book. Loved it.

White Noise -- Don Delillo
I don't know. I guess I can appreciate this book, in a sense, or understand why some people would regard it so highly. It has some interesting themes -- the media, fear of death, consumerism, etc. -- and I suppose it's a fantastic example of postmodernism. The book certainly isn't badly written, and it's a fairly accessible read, but I just wasn't into it. I kind of shrugged at the end, glad to be able to move on to something else.

A Monstrous Regiment of Women -- Laurie R. King
I read this on our trip to Minnesota this summer -- also very fun. I'm looking forward to the rest of the series, and I'm not really one for series.

The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao -- Junot Diaz
This book was amazing. It's funny and raw and heartbreaking and edgy and the writing is fabulous -- Diaz gets the different voices exactly right. I honestly don't even know how to describe this book or my experience reading it. I went into it with virtually no idea what I was in for, and I think it was probably best that way. (I will admit that it took me fifty pages or so before I was hooked, but once I was in, I was in all the way.)

Purple Hibiscus -- Chimamanda Ngozie Adichie
Think Things Fall Apart -- only told from a girl's perspective in present-day Nigeria. I read it on the recommendation of a friend and colleague, who thought it would make a great alternative to Achebe's novel in the sophomore curriculum -- and I agree.

The English Patient -- Michael Ondaatjie
This is maybe one of the most beautiful novels I have ever read. Period. I wanted to underline almost every sentence and finally just gave up and let it wash over me. Clearly, I need to read more of Ondaatjie's work.

Your Best Birth: Know All Your Options, Discover the Natural Choices, and Take Back the Birth Experience -- Ricki Lake and Abby Epstein
Yeah, I know, RICKI LAKE, blah blah blah, TRENDY, blah blah blah. It's still a good resource (kind of like the print version of The Business of Being Born, a documentary I highly recommend). I read it pretty recently and a lot of this wasn't really new to me, since I've been sort of obsessive about the subject since my daughter was born three years ago -- but the information is sound and the book is very readable. It's really a book about understanding what your options are regarding your birth experience -- and you do have options, but your care provider might not always share them with you. The book is obviously biased in favor of natural birth, but I didn't think it particularly demonized women who have a more "medical" birth experience, either by choice or by necessity (Epstein herself had a C-section).

Birthing from Within -- Pam England
Ina May Gaskin's Guide to Childbirth -- Ina May Gaskin
Ina May's book was a reread for me, but Birthing From Within was new to this pregnancy. I realized long ago that if I wanted any chance of achieving the natural birth I wanted, I would have to spend a lot more time immersing myself in positive birth stories and learning everything I could about how to advocate for myself in the face of horror stories, people's skepticism, and unnecessary hospital interventions. These books are wonderful, especially Gaskin's. I'd recommend her to anyone interested in pregnancy and childbirth, regardless of the kind of birth desired. I loved them because they acknowledge pregnancy as a natural process and not a medical "condition" requiring "treatment." My husband even read both of these, which meant that he was completely on-board with my desire to give birth in a non-hospital setting; they also helped him learn how to provide the best support during labor.

Jane Eyre -- Charlotte Bronte (reread)
I've read this more than once, but not since college. I reread it this fall because I taught it to my pre-IB sophomores. I still love it.

South of Broad -- Pat Conroy
I wish I could give this 4.5 stars, but I can't quite bring myself to give it 5 -- only because of the inevitable comparison to The Prince of Tides. There are definite similarities in the storytelling -- the relationships between siblings (especially twins), between mother and son, between friends. Mental illness, of course, and the South, and dysfunctional families. Race. Social class. Naturally, there's a football game or two. (Interestingly enough, though, the protagonist's father is radically different than pretty much all of the fathers in Conroy's other books -- Leo King's father isn't brutal, he's awesome.) It's a story that's so over-the-top that only Pat Conroy can write it without eliciting eye-rolls -- but he can, and he does. Sometimes his sentences are so perfect they almost hurt to read, and in his most recent novel he succeeds in doing what he does best: using language to carry the reader through the entire spectrum of human emotion. His stories are dark -- but they're laced with real humanity and real humor, so I found myself both laughing out loud and feeling completely devastated.

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo -- Stieg Larsson
So I think I liked this. The first half of the book moved rather slowly for me, and I wasn't IN LOVE with Larsson's writing -- but the story definitely intrigued me. The second half moved very quickly, though -- I couldn't put it down -- and I kind of love Lisbeth Salander. So much so that I'll probably read the other two books featuring this unconventional heroine. A little warning: this book could be pretty triggery for sexual abuse/assault survivors, and Larsson doesn't shy away from some mighty disturbing content.