Happy New Year! I'm taking just the tiniest break from taking down the Christmas decorations and putting our house back together after returning from our Christmas travels (Minnesota! And a grown-ups only trip to New York City!) to give you my annual List of Books, with some thoughts about them.
Books I read for the second (or third, fourth, etc.) time (so I am not including a review):
The Grapes of Wrath -- John Steinbeck
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn -- Mark Twain
Love Medicine -- Louise Erdrich
The Fifth Child -- Doris Lessing
The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian -- Sherman Alexie
Cloud Atlas -- David Mitchell
Books I read for the first time:
Blindness -- José Saramago
I'm giving Blindness five stars because it is amazing. Let's just get that out of the way. As a work of art, I think this definitely merits five stars. Saramago is a masterful writer, and while some people might find his experimental style off-putting (he writes long, flowing sentences separated only with commas, sometimes continuing for several pages) it was fairly easy for my non-linear brain to fall into this rhythm. It's a powerful, deeply unsettling look at the human condition, and while the metaphor of blindness is so pervasive and obvious and probably overdone in literature, Saramago manages to make it horrifying and immediate and real. As you can imagine, this does not make for a particularly lovely reading experience. There are images I can't get out of my head, as much as I would like to. There were many moments in which I really just wanted to be done -- just to escape. I think this is the effect the novel is supposed to have, frankly.
However, it's not a particularly long book, and it didn't take me long to read. (One of the effects of Saramago's writing style, I think, is that his sentences sort of propel you through the pages; it's a difficult book to put down, not really because it's a page-turner, but because it's relentless in its grip. It's difficult to break free, and the effect of emerging from this book -- either at any point in the middle or at the end -- is disorienting. Much like suddenly regaining sight after being blind, perhaps?)
So 5 stars for the writing. I might have given it three stars for how much I actually liked it, but to just say "I liked it" is absurd. I didn't like it -- but I decided I can live with calling it amazing. It's amazing, and I think it's a brilliant and important book, but man, did it make me shudder.
See Me Naked: Stories of Sexual Exile in American Christianity -- Amy Frykholm
I read this really quickly, enjoyed it, and would recommend it; it just kind of left me wanting more. (Although maybe "more" would have just felt like "more of the same"?)
The Fault in Our Stars -- John Green
John Green, you have outdone yourself and totally gutted me. In a good way.
I read the last 100+ pages of this book on the futon in our study where my husband was trying to get some work done. He kept looking worriedly over his shoulder at me -- concerned, I think, by the sobbing punctuated by bursts of laughter followed by more sobbing five seconds later.
Just. Wow.
Manhood for Amateurs -- Michael Chabon
Michael Chabon is a great writer and I think I would enjoy his other books (and we own a few, which my husband has read). However, I don't think I should have used this as my introduction to his work. For one thing, I don't think I'm really the target audience. Also, I read this way too slowly (it's actually a pretty quick read), and spreading it out like that made me feel bored and impatient halfway through.
Matt liked it enough that he didn't want to put it in our "books to sell/donate" pile, though. (Sidenote: Wait for my review of Telegraph Avenue.)
No Great Mischief -- Alistair Macleod
Reading this reminded me a bit of reading Out Stealing Horses. It's absolutely beautiful, sometimes painfully so. MacLeod is a powerful storyteller. (Also, reading this during the rainy days of March was perfect -- if you read it, you'll understand why.)
The Night Circus -- Erin Morgenstern
Not without its faults, but this was still a really gorgeous book, both delightful and dark. I really wanted to live in this story while I was reading it, and felt a little sorry when it ended.
Mudhouse Sabbath -- Lauren F. Winner
I enjoyed this like I enjoyed Girl Meets God -- I really like Lauren Winner. Readable and real.
Bossypants -- Tina Fey
Totally fun, totally what I needed. Great with wine and a bubble bath. I gave it 3 stars instead of 4 or 5 because it felt like "just" entertainment to me, but I think that's necessary sometimes. I laughed out loud in several places, and let me tell you, that felt great.
Some Assembly Required: A Journal of My Son's First Son -- Anne Lamott
I struggled with how to rate this one. At some point, I let myself get too distracted by the less-than-glowing reviews, and I even found myself thinking, okay, this will probably be a three-star book. Loving Anne Lamott's voice, but it's no Operating Instructions.
Except that's the thing. It's not Operating Instructions. And even though it's sort of marketed to be all Operating Instructions v. 2.0, it's a completely different kind of book -- and well it should be, since Lamott is not a new mother, writing about her own child. I can see how people who fell in love with her chronicle of her son's first year would maybe be disappointed in this, but I also think it would have fallen flat if she'd tried to simply replicate that book. This is a book about becoming a grandmother, but it is also about a lot of other things -- navigating tricky emotional landscapes, struggling with faith, and figuring out what this crazy ride we're on is all about. Lots of it is, of course, reminiscent of Operating Instructions -- that's what people want! -- but much of it is also evocative of Traveling Mercies. In the end, it's really its very own book, and in a lot of ways it's more richly layered than her journal of her first year of motherhood, more broad in scope.
And I will totally admit this right now: I've loved Lamott's writing for years, ever since I discovered Bird by Bird at the age of nineteen, but now I totally lack the ability to even be objective. I went to listen to her speak shortly before this book was released, and I don't think I've ever just truly loved being in the presence of an author I love and admire. She was so fantastic, so real and utterly as I imagined her but even better, and I think I was still hearing some of her real voice in my head as I read this.
I'm not giving it five stars right now because I couldn't find myself totally loving it wholeheartedly for the first time the way I fell into loving Operating Instructions and Traveling Mercies; my love for those books borders on desperate. But once I realized it's not supposed to simply be an updated Operating Instructions I knew I could love this one, too. I did. I do. And I know I'll read it again (so definitely no regrets about buying this in hardcover. My copy of Operating Instructions is just absolutely trashed.)
The Invisible Bridge -- Julie Orringer
Last year I read Orringer's short story collection, How to Breathe Underwater, and really loved it, so I expected to love this book as well. It's a vastly different book, though, and excellent in its own way. I was totally absorbed from the very beginning. It's so richly evocative of time and place, and even if some of the characters seemed a little too perfect, they were real all the same.
The novel felt epic and almost old-fashioned in its storytelling. At times, I thought the love story was a bit too perfect along with some of the characters, but as I became increasingly engrossed, I realized why Orringer spent so much time on it. It left me sobbing at the end, feeling both totally gutted but somehow also very full.
The Metamorphosis -- Franz Kafka
Enjoyed this more than I thought I would, and I can see how Gabriel Garcia Marquez admired it.
The Angel Makers -- Jessica Gregson
This read like a young adult novel, although I don't think it's marketed as such. It was exactly what I was in the mood for -- a quick, plotty read with a strong female character. (Actually, though, I liked the old midwife Judit more than than Sari, the main character.) The premise intrigued me immediately; set in a small Hungarian village in WWI, this novel tells the story (based on real-life events, apparently) of women who find their lives much happier when their husbands go off to war. When the men return, their lives change again, and not for the better, so the women take matters into their own hands.
Salvage the Bones -- Jesmyn Ward
This is the maybe the best book I've read this year -- gritty and raw but astonishingly beautiful.
State of Wonder -- Ann Patchett
I'm always willing to suspend my disbelief for Ann Patchett. I enjoyed this like I've enjoyed her other books. Everything she writes will inevitably be compared to Bel Canto, and while I still think that might be her most enchanting, I also think State of Wonder might actually be a better book. Perfect choice to kick off my summer reading.
Gone Girl -- Gillian Flynn
For the first thirty pages, I wasn't convinced I'd enjoy this book the way I wanted. And then a single line -- I don't even remember which one -- changed my mind. This was so much dark twisty fun -- so great for my first real summer book. I don't want to give away a single thing, so I'm going to leave it at that; I'll just say I loved the way the author managed to keep me reeling back and forth between the two main characters, my alliances and sympathies totally shifting all the time. I also enjoyed it so much that I used a gift card to snap up her first novel immediately upon finishing this one.
Still: Notes on a Mid-Faith Crisis -- Lauren F. Winner
This is maybe my favorite of Lauren Winner's books so far, even though I haven't gone through a divorce -- I didn't feel that was actually the focus anyway. Much of what she writes here really resonates with me, so this is one of those books I underlined quite a bit. And, like her other books, it left me somehow wanting more.
Cloudstreet -- Tim Winton
This book just soars. I fell in love with Dirt Music six years ago, and I always knew I'd come around to this one -- somehow, while part of me can't believe I waited so long, I also believe that the right books tend to find us at the right time. This felt like a perfect time to read this one, and now it's going on my list of very favorites.
Sharp Objects -- Gillian Flynn
This is a seriously disturbing book -- less "fun" than Gone Girl. I seriously couldn't put it down, though. It took me 24 hours to finish it, and I immediately put Gillian Flynn's other book on hold at the library, so make of that what you will.
Keeping House: The Litany of Everyday Life -- Margaret Kim Peterson
I was initially a bit dubious about picking up this book, worrying it would be preachy and anti-feminist. But a friend of mine spoke highly of it, and I decided to give it a go. I'm glad I did. I appreciated the focus on mindfulness, gratitude, and hospitality.
Canada -- Richard Ford
** spoiler alert ** I love writers who write so evocatively about place, and I fell particularly hard for this one because the places are ones I know so intimately. Richard Ford gets Great Falls, Montana (as well as Havre/northern Montana and the landscape of Saskatchewan) exactly right. While the novel takes place twenty years before my family lived there, I was swept away with nostalgia so deep it ached. (I might be awarding this book five stars simply because of this, I don't know. Ford's language is beautiful and spare and I think this is apparent no matter where the reader is from, but I do wonder if someone who isn't familiar with this landscape would react the same way or feel it so deeply.)
So there's that piece of it, and I loved it. The other piece -- the actual story -- was pretty compelling, as well. It's kind of the opposite of a murder mystery; nothing is a surprise. We know from the beginning that the narrator's parents will rob a bank and go to prison, that his mother will commit suicide there, that his twin sister will run away, and that people will be killed. Watching the events actually unfold wasn't exactly suspenseful, but I couldn't put the book down.
In the end, though, it's not really about what happened. It's a coming-of-age story, a story of how we deal with what we're given and make a life out of it, even if that life bears no resemblance to the one we thought we'd have.
The God of Small Things -- Arundhati Roy
Someone told me about a decade ago that I would really like this book, and I've finally gotten around to reading it. Someone was right. This book is beautifully written, but sad -- my heart felt kind of wrung-out the entire time I was reading it.
I've noticed that people who didn't like the book complain about its structure, although that's one of the things I really enjoyed. Life never seems linear to me, anyway.
Minus a star (or half a star, anyway) because while I was completely immersed in it as I read, I didn't find it difficult to put down and I didn't always rush to pick it up again. Still, Ms. Roy deserves all the accolades she received for this one.
Broken Harbor -- Tana French
One thing I really love about this author is the way she takes a character who really aggravated me in the previous book and made me really get him in the next book. I expected this -- it's why I trusted her enough to pre-order this book so I could have it the day it was released even when I learned who the protagonist was. I didn't expect to feel so gutted at the end, not only for the main character but for a couple of others as well.
Anyway, it was great. Fair play to you, Tana French -- this is my favorite of yours so far.
The Prisoner of Heaven -- Carlos Ruiz Zafón
Okay, first of all: three stars for this book alone, I guess, but five stars for this writer. I love him, I really do.
This book is the third of four linked stories that, apparently, can all stand alone as well. I fell in love with the first, The Shadow of the Wind, and while I was somewhat dissatisfied with the second -- The Angel's Game -- I really loved reading it, and actually, this one, The Prisoner of Heaven, has made me think I should maybe bump up my rating of The Angel's Game to at least four stars.
Anyway, now that I know these books are intended to be linked, I have to say that while technically each is its own story and can be enjoyed as such, I think they are definitely better when they are experienced as pieces of a greater whole. The Shadow of the Wind can stand alone, but the others need each other. I wouldn't pick up The Prisoner of Heaven as my first novel by this author. It didn't feel at all resolved at the end -- there is a huge piece of the story left to be told, and so I look forward to the fourth. But since I've already fallen in love with this writer's style (seriously, I just love the world he's created -- a perfect blend of dark and hilarious, with such great characters) I still enjoyed reading this book -- much more than I would have if I hadn't read his first two.
Rabid: A Cultural History of the World's Most Diabolical Virus -- Bill Wasik and Monica Murphy
This book was really interesting -- the authors obviously did their research but also obviously had a ton of fun writing it. And I had a ton of fun reading it.
Dark Places -- Gillian Flynn
I read this like I read Gone Girl and Sharp Objects -- without putting it down until I was finished (or as much as that's possible when one is a mother of two young children. Also, five hours in the car while the kiddos are sleeping in the back and my husband is driving at the end of our vacation helps, too).
I understand why Gone Girl is the novel getting all the attention this summer, because Gillian Flynn did some really interesting things with that one. But Dark Places is the one that resonates the most with me. Or haunts. Whatever. Most of the time, while I was reading this, I was torn between awe (because Flynn writes thrillers, to be sure, but she is also a really good writer) and wondering if there is something seriously wrong with this woman that makes her write these insanely twisted books. At one point I may have yelped to my husband that this book makes The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo seem like Nancy Drew.
And yet. Dark Places also holds more redemption than I would have expected, and I was more saddened and even touched than horrified when I finished it. It left me with a lot to think about.
The Art of Fielding -- Chad Harbach
I loved this book so much I found myself constantly wanting to hug it. Literally. For this reason, I have zero regrets about buying it in a nice, sturdy hardcover.
Let's Pretend This Never Happened -- Jenny Lawson
If you have delicate sensibilities, you probably want to go ahead and skip this one. I thought it was one of the funniest books I've ever read.
I've been a fan of The Bloggess for, oh, a year or so, ever since I read her post on Beyonce the Big Metal Chicken. When I learned she'd published a book I put it on hold at the library; I didn't want to spend money on it in case it turned out to be like Heather Armstrong's book on motherhood. I love Dooce, a lot, but her book was basically a collection of online blog entries I'd already read. I changed my mind when a friend informed me that Jenny Lawson would be reading at the Elliott Bay Book Company. We went together, and of course I had to buy the book so Jenny Lawson could sign it (I'd obviously have done the same for Heather Armstrong). Also, we had our picture taken with her. And with Copernicus the Homicidal Monkey. (You don't know who that is? You should definitely google it and read her blog.)
Anyway, it was a book worth buying, even in hardcover, even possibly without her signature on it. I think this could easily be a comfort book, one I just pick up when I need a laugh or a distraction. And I laughed a lot when I was reading this, even if it was guilty/horrified laughter.
This is How You Lose Her -- Junot Díaz
Fans of Junot Díaz will love this. I was so blown away by The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao that this book didn't quite give me the same experience, but still, there's a lot of really amazing, shattering stuff in this little collection.
The New York Regional Mormon Singles Halloween Dance -- Elna Baker
Maybe I shouldn't have read this one so soon after finishing Jenny Lawson's Let's Pretend This Never Happened, but I just didn't think Elna Baker was quite as funny or poignant as she was trying to be. Actually, sometimes I wasn't sure what she was trying to be. Funny? Poignant? Relatable? Wise?
This was okay, but just okay. It provided a distraction during the first chaotic week of school, and I liked it for that.
Gold -- Chris Cleave
I had a hard time not giving this four stars, easily, because I honestly loved reading it. I knew I would love reading it just a few pages in when I realized that one of the main characters is an eight-year-old girl who loves Star Wars; I have a six-year-old daughter who loves Star Wars. And I think Chris Cleave gets the stuff about kids (and their parents) right. Incidentally, I thought this was true of Little Bee as well.
I don't think he writes about the relationships between men and women particularly well, though; that always feels a little clunky to me. And plot-wise -- well, I read the story quickly, and I was definitely absorbed and enjoying myself, but it was only slightly better than a Jodi Picoult novel for me. That's true of some of the writing, too. Sometimes I loved it; sometimes the metaphors seemed a bit too self-conscious.
But sometimes you just need to wrap up in an imperfect little book and be okay with rolling your eyes here and there while still really loving some parts of it, and that was this book for me. I'm glad two of my good friends read it around the same time so we can talk about it the next time we get together.
May We Be Forgiven -- A.M. Homes
This book was kind of like a combination of Pieces of April (which I love to watch at Thanksgiving and which gets better with each viewing) and The Corrections (which I love even though I am supposed to hate Jonathan Franzen).
Help, Thanks, Wow: Three Essential Survival Prayers -- Anne Lamott
Anne Lamott always sounds like Anne Lamott and that's why I love her. As always, her books seem to find me at the exact time I need them.
Telegraph Avenue -- Michael Chabon
I read most of this book on the plane during our Christmas/anniversary vacation and just loved it -- a testament to Michael Chabon's writing, because he writes about a lot of stuff I don't really get. However, he also writes about a lot of stuff I'm just plain geekishly interested in (midwifery this time!) and, of course, what he's really writing about are much more timeless themes that transcend any particular setting or storyline: husbands and wives. Partners and friends. Fathers and sons. Grief. Redemption. Forgiveness.
These characters are wonderful, the story was perfectly paced, and I even forgave him for giving more of the book to the record store than to the midwives. The middle section knocked my socks off, but there were brilliant parts throughout.
Currently Reading: Les Misérables, by Victor Hugo. Oh, yes I am. I tucked it under my arm and boarded the plane with it when I flew to my friend Megan's wedding in November and it kept me totally absorbed throughout the flight. However, it's also...very long, so I didn't finish it before we left for our Christmas vacation, and I just couldn't carry that book plus all the gear required for travel with kids. I'm ready to dig back in, though, and then see the movie. (Note: I'm reading the new-ish Modern Library translation by Julie Rose, and it's wonderful. Highly recommend it.)
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