March 2007 Book Reviews

How do you choose what to read while you're on vacation? It's frequently a complicated decision for me. 1) It must be lightweight and smallish - we don't check luggage unless we absolutely have to. 2) It needs a strong narrative and should be fairly "easy" - I don't want to work while I'm on vacation, and it should be capable of keeping me entertained on a long flight. 3) It needs to be mine, and I have to feel comfortable with it getting ruined by getting splashed at the ocean, covered in sand, etc. 4) It needs to be long. Or I need to bring several books.

On to the books:
1. Lost Nation, Jeffrey Lent, Rating: 4.5
A western in the Cormac McCarthy vein - complex, bloody, cruel and unforgiving. Lent's characters are beautifully realized and you get to know them intimately, despite the fact that their lives are far removed from anything we'd ever experience today.
2. There is No Me Without You: One Woman's Odyssey to Rescue Africa's Children, Melissa Fay Greene, Rating: 3.5
Greene has written the story of AIDS in Ethiopia, intertwined with the story of a single woman who (somewhat accidentally) became a major player in international adoption and continues to care for and house dozens of AIDS orphans. The book is well worth reading simply for its smart and thorough overview of the AIDS crisis in general and the plight of Ethopians specifically. The story of this single woman at times feels forced and artificial - an attempt to give a "human center" to the narrative - but it's still an admirable and educational book.
3. The Name of the Rose, Umberto Eco, Rating: 3.2
This is the book I chose for my recent vacation. It met criteria 1, 2, and 4, and seemed promising for #3 - the jacket made it seem like a high-brow version of The Da Vinci Code. Which actually is fairly accurate - really high-brow. Don't get me wrong, it's an amazing work. Clearly Eco is a smart guy: to quote the anonymous writers on wikipedia, "Eco is particularly good at translating medieval religious controversies and heresies into modern political and economic terms so that the reader can appreciate their substance without being a theologian." It's a very dense, slow-going, deeply educational work - not very entertaining at all. Sure, read it, but don't pack it.
4. Sophie's Choice, William Styron, Rating: 4.3
Our hotel in Colombia had a wall of English-language titles, with an odd mix of political theory, romance, mystery, and 70s-80s bestsellers. I traded in my copy of The Name of the Rose for this, which again seemed to meet the criteria above. And - it did! Wonderfully! I actually finished it the next day, 12 hours into a 14 hour travel day. I'm sure someone at some point told you what the book is about; if not, well, as the title implies there's a main character named Sophie and at some point in the story she has to make a choice. I was shocked to find the bulk of the novel is a tawdry, sexy, violent love triangle in late-1940s Brooklyn. It's fascinating and humorous and very fun. And yes, it does have a powerful climax.

February 2007 Book Reviews

I've officially overdone it - no more historical fiction or royal biographies for me. At least this month.

1. Forgetfulness, Ward Just, Rating: 4.4
I reserved this at the library after reading this in the Washington Post:
"Ward Just's thrillers are so subtle that they risk sounding dull, as though he's engaged in a battle against excess and bombast. The movement in his stories is slight, but the forces at work are tremendous. That muted power has never been more unsettling than in his new novel, a response to Sept. 11 that stretches the boundaries of an already voluminous genre."
Intriguing, right? It is an upsetting novel - it's about a man coming to terms with the murder of his wife - but it's beautifully crafted. Despite the inherant sadness of the work, it's a pleasure to read a book so skillfully written.
2. The Boleyn Inheritance, Philippa Gregory, Rating: 3.0
This book pales in comparison to the previous title. It's fine, nothing more. I found the author's postscript the most interesting thing about it. Gregory describes a character, and the qualities she worked hard to build in to her portrayal. I didn't get it at all. Did I just miss the obvious, or did the author mention the subject because she realized she hadn't succeeded?
3. Marie Antoinette: A Journey, Antonia Fraser, Rating: 4.0
It's a shame I didn't read this at the start of my French royalty phase. It's certainly the best I've found on the subject - well researched and scholarly, highly readable, deeply informative.
4. It's All Over But the Shoutin', Rick Bragg, Rating: 2.7
Billed as a memoir about (and for) his mother, Bragg writes about his upbringing in deep poverty and eventual success (he's a Pulitzer-winning journalist). I have two complaints about it. 1) Bragg continually says "You just can't understand why she [his mother] didn't stand up against her abusive husband, get a better job, try to get out of poverty, etc.]." And he's right - I don't understand. I don't have any insight into the woman at all after reading this book. 2) It's really a book about him, not her. You can almost see some editor leaning over his shoulder and saying "You haven't mentioned your mother for 10 pages. How can we work her in to this paragraph?" The end result is tiresome and forced.
5. King Dork, Frank Portman, Rating: 3.7
I liked this quite a bit. It's longer than it needs to be, and at times seems to lose sight of the plot, but it's really clever and occasionally hilarious. I can not for the life of me figure out why it's a YA novel. Is it because it's about a teenager? It's quite sophisticated and clearly well-suited to an adult audience. Maybe they thought it would get more press in the YA category? As an aside, can you see that this cover is supposed to reference Catcher in the Rye? It's pretty obvious to me when I see it on screen, but I didn't notice it on the physical version at all. It's odd - one of those times when a design just doesn't work in print form.

January 2007 Reviews

My library queue - which has been stalled for what seems like months - seems to be moving again. I was able to get through a few titles that have been on my "to-do" list for quite some time. There's not a loser in this bunch, either - all were great reads.

1. The Painted Drum, Louise Erdrich, Rating: 4.3
Erdrich, an author I read for the first time back in October, really has an exceptional talent. The plot is layered and complex, full of well-realized characters and interesting twists. My only quibble is the cover, which depicts a woman obviously far too young and inappropriately dressed to be the narrator, or any other character. But just ignore that, and read the book.
2. Love and Louis XIV, Antonia Fraser, Rating: 4.0
Give me another six months, and I'll be an expert on European royalty. This is one of the best accounts out there. It chronicles the life of Louise XIV, and the women that shaped his life. I found it fascinating, never tedious, and extremely well-researched.
3. Kafka on the Shore, Haruki Murakami, Rating: 4.2
I can describe all of Murakami's books in the same way - odd and fascinating - but that doesn't mean each book is at all alike. Each is odd in its own, very special way. This is no exception.
4. The Perfectionist, Rudolph Chelminski, Rating: 4.1
I realized recently that I'm swiftly heading towards the day when I'll read more non-fiction than fiction (this assumes that we consider memoirs non-fiction). It's a few years off, but coming. The Perfectionist is a prime example of what's pulling me over - carefully researched, packed with interesting information, beautifully written, and "worthwhile" - you feel like you learned something by reading it. It's the story of Bernard Loiseau, 3 star chef, and the Michelin rating system. If you like food and France, you'll enjoy this book.
5. Between Meals, A.J. Liebling, Rating: 3.8
This was a lovely follow-up to The Perfectionist. Liebling, a deceased New Yorker writer, published this collection of articles near the end of his life. The subject: eating in France. Most of the narrative concerns the late 1920s, when he was a student in Paris. Liebling considered himself a "feeder" - not a gourmet - and describes the truly massive meals he ate on a regular basis. Here's a funny little tidbit about the author: He worked briefly in the sports department of the New York Times, and was fired for listing the name "Ignoto" (Italian for "unknown") as the referee in results of games.

December 2006 Book Reviews

Better late than never?

1. Queen of Fashion, Caroline Weber, Rating: 2.5
I made the mistake of thinking this would be a "fun" read - Marie Antoinette, seen through a fashion lens. It's a serious, scholarly, extremely well researched and documented look at her life (it includes 120 pages of footnotes and citations). The author's credentials are serious and I admire her effort; the actual work is really dry. And the biggest problem? She describes clothing very poorly. I finished the book and still don't have a clear idea of what the clothes actually looked like.
2. The Scroll of Seduction, Gioconda Belli, Rating: 3.0
Another look at European royalty, this time Juana the Mad of Spain. There's little published (in English, at least) about this interesting woman, supposedly driven mad by her husband's wandering eye. My biggest quibble with this account are the utterly unbelievable liberties the author takes to flush out the story. Rather than creating a 3 dimensional character, Belli creates a caricature.
3. Middlemarch, George Eliot, Rating: 3.9
Middlemarch is funny and sharp, even biting at times. There's clearly an agenda from the get-go, and I found it interesting how she focused people to display that how they really are, and how they are perceived by others, are so often different. The book is long - it was a struggle at times to finish - but worth the effort.
4. The Texicans, Nina Vida, Rating: 4.1
After a slightly bumpy start, this short, compelling novel swings into high gear, detailing the lives of numerous characters with intersecting lives. It's fun.

Book Stats 2006

November 2006 Book Reviews

1. A Game of Thrones, George R.R. Martin, Rating: 4.3
Hayden recommended this book highly - he said that he was finding himself staying up for hours reading every night, unwilling to put it down. I should say that fantasy is not one of my usual genres, and yet I too found it fascinating. Not so much that I stayed up all night, but I do have the next one here in the house, and can't wait to crack it open. EPIC scope (think Lord of the Rings, with more characters), fully imagined settings, great heroes and villains (plus lots of people that could be either - only time will tell). It's really fun.
2. Special Topics in Calamity Physics, Marisha Pessl, Rating: 1.9
I absolutely loved the first 100 pages of this book. Pessl has a very clever way with words, and uses bibliographical references to describe people and events. It's very effective. The plot, and its strong parallels to Lolita, works well well the characters are on the road. When they stop, and the author is left to invent her own plot twists, everything falls apart. The Washington Post says it well: "But hunkering down for 514 pages of frantic literary exhibitionism turns into a weary business for the reader, who after much patient effort deserves to feel something stronger than appreciation for a lot of clever name-dropping and a rush of metaphors."
3. Altered Carbon, Richard K. Morgan, Rating: 4.2
Another book outside my normal genres - this time, science fiction. No aliens (thank goodness), but it is set in a future with habitation on multiple planets. Much to my surprise, I really, really liked this. It's set in San Francisco (a few hundred years in the future), has a great lead and several suitably villanous villains, and is packed with absolutely fascinating ideas about future technology. I can't say much without giving away the plot, but if you can handle some fairly aggressive, graphic violence, I'd recommend checking this out.
4. One Year Off: Leaving It All Behind for a Round-the-World Journey with Our Children, David Elliot Cohen, Rating: 2.9
There's not a lot I can say about this book that isn't covered in the subtitle. I saw this at the library and thought, "huh. That must have been interesting and difficult." And it was - for them. For us, the readers, it's kind of dull. Their kids are young - 3, 7, and 8 - and the trip was planned to make them happy. I love the idea of traveling for a year, but not just to places that interest a first grader.
5. The Last of Her Kind, Sigrid Nunez, Rating: 4.0
First of all, what a beautiful cover. I think it's just great, and perfect for the contents of the book. This story is told through the eyes of one woman, who's relating her own life, and those of the three women (her sister, her best friend, and her mother) who shaped her. With three younger women are all shaped by the civil rights movement and the 60s and 70s in general, but in very different ways. It's really fascinating.

October 2006 Book Reviews

1. Getting Stoned with Savages, J. Maarten Troost, Rating: 2.9
Troost's greatest strengths are clearly 1) his willingness to seek out and live on far-flung islands, and 2) the ability to generate great book titles. His first travel memoir, The Sex Lives of Cannibals, came out a few years ago; this book was published in June. This book is even more of a disapointment than the first.
2. Lolita, Vladimir Nabokov, Rating: 4.2
Finally I've read this - it's been on my to-do list for years. I really liked it, and was completely surprised by the story. The prose is every bit as beautiful as you've heard, but the story was dark and meadering and manipulative. I expected "sexy," but there really isn't much about it that fits that description. I was surprised to learn that it was written originally in English - intentionally so, as Nabokov describes this as his "american novel."
3. Crawling, Elisha Cooper, Rating: 4.0
I've known Eli for years now - he published several books with Chronicle when I first started working there. He writes children's books primarily, and this is his first primarily prose book for adults. It's about his first year as a parent, and is also a tribute to his life in Berkeley (he now lives in Chicago). I thought it was funny and surprisingly candid.
4. The Master Butchers Singing Club, Louise Erdrich, Rating: 4.6
Thanks to my friend Elese, who gave me this book for my birthday. Based on the cover and the title, I would have never picked it up. It's full of interesting characters and has a sweeping, emotionally packed storyline. I don't want to give too much away about the story, except to say that the title isn't even accurate - there's just one butcher. It is correct to say that he sings, though.
5. The Road, Cormac McCarthy, Rating: 3.2
This rating is probably too low, but I feel uncomfortable recommending this novel to most people. It's DARK. Intentionally so (the main theme is the end of the world), but (having loved McCarthy's Blood Meridian) I was surprised by how tough this novel is. I read it almost entirely on the commuter train, because it was too creepy to read at home alone. That said, this is an incredibly well-done story and worth reading - if you can stomach it.

September 2006 Book Reviews

September was a truly exhausting month. It involved a cross-country trip (or at least mid-country), a birthday weekend getaway, 10+ hours of freelance work, and one complete house move, which was just completed last night. So very little reading. Here's what I managed to read on the commuter train:

1. Gramercy Park, Carole Klein, Rating: 3.9
I remember exactly when I got this book - while in summer school at NYU in 1999. It's been on my shelf ever since, waiting to be read. I had a vague idea that it was some sort of late nineteenth century work of american lit. That was completely wrong - it's actually a non-fiction history of the neighborhood in New York City. It's surprisingly compelling. The author essentially strings together a series of mini-biographies of famous New Yorkers who were in some way affiliated with the neighborhood. Definitely not for everyone, but I really enjoyed it.
2. Veronica, Mary Gaitskill, Rating: 3.4
I seem to see this book everywhere these days. It follows one woman along a trail of bad decisions through the '80s and '90s. AIDS and other related diseases feature prominently. The story is unique and thought-provoking. I'm not recommending it strongly, but it's definitely better than most contemporary fiction.
3. Cellophane, Maria Arana, Rating: 4.3
I am strongly recommending this one -- if you're a fan of magical realism. The story is completely fantastic, whimsical and sexy, at times hilarious. It's escapism at its best. I would strongly recommend this as a vacation read.
4. Cry, The Beloved Country, Alan Paton, Rating: 3.5
What a downer this book is. Purposefully so, clearly, and there's no denying it's extremely effective, but it's really sad.
As a side note, the intro is really interesting - Paton finished his manuscript in San Francisco and loaned it to a couple he had met on the train. They went to extraordinary lengths to get the book published - had found the publisher, had the manuscript typed (the whole thing in a matter of days - they worked around the clock), arranged all of Paton's meetings. All for a virtual stranger.
5. Mother Tongue, Bill Bryson, Rating: 4.1
This book has been on my list forever. My aunt has a copy on her shelf and I read a chapter or so whenever I'm over at her house. She recently took a nice long trip to Italy, which gave me enough time to finish it. While wikipedia takes issue with its level of accuracy, it's thought-provoking, raises innumerable interesting points, is full of conversation-starters, and it's often hilarious. Can we ask for much more from a book? The subject: the English language.
6. Pledged, Alexandra Robbins, Rating: 2.8
This book saved me on the never-ending flights to and from Chicago. The secret life of sororities - doesn't that say it all? Actually, it didn't really. While the book is definitely interesting, there are no secrets. No real opinions. No real facts, when you get right down to it. Just one writer with a good idea, and sloppy research techniques. There's definitely room for a more definitive book on the subject. This isn't to say that it's not entertaining - it is - but it leaves you wanting a lot more.

August 2006 Book Reviews

I often find it difficult to give up on a book - I keep hoping it will get better. Recently I've set a 100 page limit; I allow myself to stop reading if I'm not enjoying the material by then. August was full of books I was unable to finish. Here's what I did get through:

1. March, Geraldine Brooks, Rating: 3.7
Smart and interesting, as a Pulitzer Prize-winning novel should be. My main quibble is that I didn't like the character of Mr. March at all - I found him rather repulsive. That's just me, though, others might really enjoy him. Brooks has an informative, succinct endnote of what's fact and what's fiction in her work that I found very interesting.
2. Comfort Me with Apples, Ruth Reichl, Rating: 4.2
Reichl is certainly one of my favorite food writers, and I find the candor with which she writes about her life fascinating. This book goes into rather explicit detail about the affairs she had in the 1980s. It's really fun in a voyeristic way, but her total lack of concern about how her husband would feel just comes off as odd. She doesn't seem cold otherwise; I suspect she's not being totally honest about how she really felt at the time.
3. Blessings, Anna Quindlen, Rating: 3.5
I think this is the first book I've read by Quindlen - it was fairly forgetable but passed the time well.
4. Tender is the Night, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Rating: 4.3
Fascinating and compelling. It reads like two different novels (the point of view of the narrator changes midway through). The writing is beautiful, the plot bizarre at times. Well worth reading.
5. Middlesex, Jeffrey Eugenides, Rating: 4.7
I recently loaned this book to Adam, who devoured it. I think it was one of his favorite books ever. He was so enthusiastic about it that I was jealous, and found myself reading it whenever he left it at the house. It's really an incredible work, with a really odd plot that sucks you in immediately. I appreciated the quality of the writing more this time - he's snuck in some quite clever jokes and phrases.
6. A Moveable Feast, Ernest Hemingway, Rating: 4.1
While not on the level of his novels, this book is a lot of fun. It's all about Hemingway's early years in Paris, and the people he knew (all famous, of course). It's really gossipy - like reading US Weekly without the pictures.
7. Fables, Volume 7, Rating: 4.0
I've written about this series before. I'll just say that it's one of the best comic books out there and you're really missing out if you're not reading it.

July 2006 Book Reviews

I would be hard to top last month's selection; I did however finish several of the books on my to-do list. Next month, less contemporary fiction, more classics.

1. Matters of Chance, Jeannette Haien, Rating: 4.6
Wonderful, timeless love story . Or really, a series of romances. I was really surprised to discover that this came out in 1997--it has the feel of a much older story. Character development is superb.
2. The Moon and Sixpence, W. Somerset Maugham, Rating: 3.2
A fictionalized account of Paul Gauguin's life (according to wikipedia, just how fictionalized isn't entirely known), this is an interesting, if not entirely engaging, character study. I liked it enough to read more of Maugham's books, but found the narrative tedious at times.
3. Eat, Pray, Love, Elizabeth Gilbert, Rating: 2.9
Interesting concept - a woman's life completely falls apart (divorce, depression, bad love affair) - and after wallowing for several years, she decides to spend a year traveling to three countries that specialize in the things that matter most to her. Pleasure is the first section (to experience this, she travels to Italy, a wise choice). Later destinations are India and Indonesia. Some of the writing is fun; a lot of it is boring and of the "why am I reading this?" variety. She's incredibly self-absorbed and self-serving - it should be a major tip-off that she sold the book rights before beginning her travels.
4. A Woman in Berlin, Anonymous, Rating: 4.0
Recently reissued in America after decades of out-of-print status, this is the supposed true diary of a civilian woman living in Berlin during the siege and fall of the city at the end of WWII. The writer claims to be a professional writer by trade, which perhaps explains the polished prose. She exhibits an amazing sense of humor in the face of truly awful events. This is a fascinating book and one well worth reading.
5. The All of It, Jeannette Haien, Rating: 3.0
Haien's first book, this novella lacks the epic scope and effectiveness of Matters of Chance. While it's fine, I surprised it ever found a publisher - it's much more suited to a literary journal.
6. The Last Gentleman Adventurer: Coming of Age in the Arctic, Edward Beauclerk Maurice, Rating: 4.2
Published just before his death, this is a snapshot of several of the years - beginning in 1930 - that Maurice spent in remote Canada working for the Hudson Bay Company. Left alone with the local population for the majority of the time, he writes of learning to speak the local language, dogsledding for days to bring food to a starving camp, hunting and caring for the entire camp during a flu outbreak, and much more. It's thoughtfully done, a careful portrait of an extremely unique experience.
7. Money: A Memoir, Liz Perle, Rating: 3.5
This book is exactly what it claims to be: a memoir. It's about her relationship to money, with a few supporting examples from other women. It's interesting because of Perle's candor, but I expected more - advice, pitfalls to avoid, something else. Ultimately, I guess that wasn't the point of the book.
8. The Kite Runner, Khaled Hosseini, Rating: 3.1
I listened to this as a book on tape, which really didn't do the book any favors. Read by the author, the audio form calls attention to how repetitive the narration is, and drives home the fact that there are still hours to go before reaching the incredibly predictable conclusion. A sensitive, light-handed ending is perhaps the book's one saving grace.
9. Labyrinth, Kate Mosse, Rating: 2.9
A throw-away summer read. Among its strongest attributes is the lovely attention to geographic details. The characters and plot receive less attention.

June 2006 Book Reviews

June has been an incredibly busy month. I managed to spread myself way too thin and haven't had time for anything. Except, of course, reading - I think I've actually read more than normal just to wind myself down from each hectic day. It's also been a truly banner month in terms of finding great books.

1. Y The Last Man, V. 6, Vaughan and Guerra, Rating: 2.8
What a disapointment! I love this series, but this installment is a real dud.
2. Y The Last Man, V. 7, Vaughan and Guerra, Rating: 4.3
A return to form! If you're not reading this series yet, what's wrong with you? It's truly magnificent.
3. Leave Me Alone, I'm Reading, Maureen Corrigan, Rating: 3.0
Corrigan is the book critic for NPR's Fresh Air. Even if you don't recognize the name, you've probably heard her voice before. I like her reviews--I frequently read books based on her recommendations--and I was excited to read about what it's like to be a professional book reviewer. Clearly it's a busy life: Corrigan is also a teacher at Georgetown (as she herself admits, books just don't usually pay the bills), and reviews for numerous other publications. This book is a (not-entirely successful) blend of literary criticism, book review, and personal memoir. I wanted more of everything--except, I suppose, the criticism. Corrigan devotes at least half of the book to a discussion of the merits of detective fiction, the loss of the "work" novel, and "female extreme-adventure tales" (a category that I don't quite buy). In fact, all of her literary passions, which the exception of 19th century women's fiction, I'm not interested in at all. The other half of the book (her life) is great. So...I'm not really recommending this, sadly.
4. Black Swan Green, David Mitchell, Rating: 3.2
Decent. While I didn't find the subject compelling (the inner lives of preteen boys in 1980s England), the writing is quite good.
5. Possible Side Effects, Augusten Burroughs, Rating: 4.2
Very funny. Burroughs has taken a page from Sedaris and is no longer trying to structure his true-life stories into novel form; they're just lumped together into a fairly cohesive collection. His life is bizarre to the point of being unbelievable, but it's fun to tag along and wonder how he's survived.
6. The Madonnas of Leningrad, Debra Dean, Rating: 3.8
I heard an interesting interview with Debra Dean on NPR recently. She's a former actress (which comes across in her very succinct pronunciation) and currently a full-time writer. This novel deals with the effects of Alzheimer's disease, intertwined with a history of the hermitage museum during the seige of leningrad in WWII. It's quite well done.
7. A Death in Belmont, Sebastian Junger, Rating: 4.3
Fascinating! Junger (of Perfect Storm fame) has thoroughly researched the Boston Strangler. It's very personal and bone-chilling--the Strangler actually worked as a contractor in his childhood home for a time.
8. My Life in France, Julia Child with Alex Prud'homme, Rating: 4.7
This is absolutely the best book I've read in quite some time. It details much of Julia Child's life, focusing on a 20+ year span in which she married, lived in numerous European cities, and learned to cook. You can hear her funny, odd voice in every sentence. Her enthusiasm is boundless, she clearly loves all food and finds most people fascinating, and she lived a really remarkable life. (Prud'homme is her grand-nephew; he helped her assemble this book before she died, relying on letters Child and her husband sent to the states during their years abroad.)
9. Tender at the Bone, Ruth Reichl, Rating: 3.9
Reichl's first memoir, this deals with her childhood and early 20s. It's not so much food writing as a discourse on the evolution of a chef (who just got pulled out of the kitchen at the right moment).
10. Fun Home, Alison Bechdel, Rating: 3.4
This book is getting reviewed everywhere. It's a comic book memoir; Bechdel (author of Dykes to Watch Out For, a popular comic) writes of the death of her father and coming to terms with her own sexuality and that of her father (a semi-closeted, though married, gay man). The art is wonderful and very well integrated with the text. I failed to fully engage with the story, but I admire the effort and the willingness to be so open with such a private story.

May 2006 Book Reviews

This month: no books on mental illness. Actually, no, wait, there's a memoir about obsessive compulsive disorder. There's also one biography, 1 work of non-fiction, and a book published before 1970.

1. Devil in the Details, Jennifer Traig, Rating: 3.9
The aforementioned memoir about obsessive compulsiveness, Jennifer Traig, a currently functioning and fairly normal adult, writes about growing up with "scrupulousity," an odd manifestation of the disease that manifests itself in extreme religious behavoir(s). Traig, who also writes very clever young adult craft books, is quite funny. The book repeats itself and occasionally loses focus, but is overall fairly satisfying.
2. My Invented Country, Isabel Allende, Rating: 4.1
Do you have any interest in Chile? Plans to go there? Then definitely check this book out. This is a bit of a history of the country, but a very personal one--it's all about what Chile means and is for Allende. It's really quite interesting. You'll learn a lot about Allende along the way, too.
3. Beyond Black, Hilary Mantel, Rating: 2.8
Apparently Mantel is a fairly big deal in contemporary literary circles--this is the first book of hers that I've read, but her name shows up on a lot of lists. Honestly, I didn't like it all that much. It's odd, decently written, and just way too long. To quote the NYTBR, "Beyond Black is a fine work, and from a lesser novelist would have seemed a masterpiece. It is too long -- Muriel Spark would have managed the same effect in a hundred or so crisp pages."
4. Suttree, Cormac McCarthy, Rating: 3.6
Like most McCarthy novels, Suttree is intense, unique, and takes a bit of effort to get into the rhythm of the prose. There's certainly nothing wrong with this book, but I find his westerns much more compelling.
5. The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie, Muriel Spark, Rating: 3.4
Speaking of Muriel Spark, I've finally read one of her books! I can't say that I found it a transformative experience, but Brodie certainly is a memorable character. She's a certain "type" that I'm sure has had great influence on other characters in books and film.
6. Mountains Beyond Mountains, Tracy Kidder, Rating: 3.9
I ran across a review of this title in a magazine recently, which said something to the effect that reading this book would make you a better person. A bold statement, right? Kidder writes about Dr. Paul Farmer, a surreal human being out to save the world. Farmer is an interesting mix of micro- and macro-manager: he founded a foundation that implements revolutionary programs for fighting tuberculosis around the globe; individually treats patients in Haiti; teaches and cares for patients in Boston; writes prolifically; and occasionally manages to spend time with his wife and child. I don't know if I'm really a better person now (honestly, reading about Farmer's life made me feel tired), but I really admire the man. This is a good read. As a sidenote, I really enjoyed learning about one of the secondary characters. Roald Dahl's daughter Ophelia was a long time girlfriend of Farmer and is currently director of the charitable foundation.
7. The Lost Painting, Jonathan Harr, Rating: 4.2
I didn't realize until listening to the author at the end (I listened to the audio version) that this is a work of non-fiction. It reads like a novel--compelling, well-paced, a little romance, a little mystery. Harr writes about the rediscovery of a painting by Caravaggio, and tells the story of the artist's life along the way. It's fun.
8. In Lucia's Eyes, Arthur Japin, Rating: 1.8
All I can say about this is that I was glad when it was over. Really boring.

Book List Archiving, Cont.

Elese raised an interesting question to the last post--what's the male/female breakdown? I had no idea what to expect. I'm almost exactly even: 46% women, 54% men.

I also should have included a top 10 for the year. Here are the most highly rated titles:
1. My Year of Meats, Ruth Ozeki, Rating: 4.9
2. Y The Last Man (Series), Rating: 4.8
3. The Stand, Stephen King, Rating: 4.8
4. The Chosen, Chaim Potok, Rating: 4.8
5. American Gods, Neil Gaiman, Rating: 4.7
6. A Town Like Alice, Nevil Shute, Rating: 4.7
7. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, J.K. Rowling, Rating: 4.7
8. The Promise, Chaim Potok, Rating: 4.6
9. The Vintner's Luck, Elizabeth Knox, Rating: 4.6
10. Nowhere in Africa, Stephanie Zweig, Rating: 4.5

Book Journal

I keep track of the books I've read in a cute little journal from Chronicle Books. It's really satisfying to flip through, but isn't particularly useful when I'm trying to figure when (or if) I read a particular book. I've been thinking about digitizing the records for the past few weeks.

I initially planned on just making an excel spreadsheet, and then decided to do a quick google search to make sure there wasn't already something out there for book tracking. I found a great free program called books for Macs (download it here). It's not totally perfect (it autofills with information from amazon, generally with the most recent edition. I'd rather have the original publication date), but it's simple and fast and highly searchable.

So, I now have book stats! Here's an overview of 2005.
Total books read: 102
Pre-1900: 3 (The Innocents Abroad, Around the World in 80 Days, Anna Karenina)
1940s: 1 (The Heart is a Lonely Hunter)
1950s: 4 (Town Like Alice, Around the Bend, On the Beach, East of Eden)
1960s: 3 (The Chosen, The Promise, Travels with Charley)
1970s: 1 (Lucifer's Hammer)
1980s: 2 (The Amateurs, Clan of the Cave Bear)
1990-present: obviously, a ton of books
Non-fiction: 16
Memoir: 11
Authors appearing more than once on list: 7 (Bill Bryson, Chaim Potok, John Steinbeck, Nevil Shute, Nicholas Evans, Sandra Gulland, Tom Clancy)

Best American Fiction, Last 25 Years

There's a great piece on contemporary American fiction in next week's NY Times (that's right, they've posted it online a full week early). A large, very impressive list of authors was polled to determine the single best American work published in the last 25 years. The winner? Beloved. I'm pleased to see Blood Meridian on the runner's up section--I finished McCarthy's Suttree yesterday, and it just reminded me how much more I liked the other book. Also interesting to note the number of Don DeLillo books nominated. Here's the list (titles I've read in bold):

THE WINNER:
Beloved
Toni Morrison
(1987)

THE RUNNERS-UP:
Underworld
Don DeLillo
(1997)

Blood Meridian
Cormac McCarthy
(1985)

Rabbit Angstrom: The Four Novels
John Updike
(1995)

American Pastoral
Philip Roth
(1997)

THE FOLLOWING BOOKS ALSO RECEIVED MULTIPLE VOTES:
A Confederacy of Dunces
John Kennedy Toole
(1980)

Housekeeping
Marilynne Robinson
(1980)

Winter's Tale
Mark Helprin
(1983)

White Noise
Don DeLillo
(1985)

The Counterlife
Philip Roth
(1986)

Libra
Don DeLillo
(1988)

Where I'm Calling From
Raymond Carver
(1988)

The Things They Carried
Tim O'Brien
(1990)

Mating
Norman Rush
(1991)

Jesus' Son
Denis Johnson
(1992)

Operation Shylock
Philip Roth
(1993)

Independence Day
Richard Ford
(1995)

Sabbath's Theater
Philip Roth
(1995)

Border Trilogy
Cormac McCarthy
(1999)

The Human Stain
Philip Roth
(2000)

The Known World
Edward P. Jones
(2003)

The Plot Against America
Philip Roth
(2004)

Penguin Deluxe Classics

I find it extremely odd that none of the book blogs I'm reading have commented on Penguin's new covers for their Deluxe Classics line. Four have been released thus far. They're having famous (or at least well-respected) illustrators and comic book artists design the covers. Really interesting way to get a younger audience to check out these titles.

I'm really impressed with the range of people they're hiring--Roz Chast and Seth, for example. I suppose they're just casting a wide net? Good for Penguin.

April 2006 Book Reviews

I seem to be reading a lot about mental illness and the pressures of modern life lately. I'm not sure what that's about. Possibly Adam's influence? He picked out To Hell with All That for me. Or is there a sudden flood of publishing in this area? Why would that be? Interesting thought to ponder...

Before launching into this month's reviews, I wanted to make a comment on the various blog pages you may be reading this on. I'm publishing the book posts in two places; you may want to select one or the other.

The Grand Tour: book reviews, vacation pics, and assortment of random things that interest me (and hopefully, you). All book-related content is repeated in the book archive.
Book Archives: just books. Lists, reviews, top 10 lists. A better choice if you'd prefer to not see where I went hiking this past weekend.
Crochet to Go: just crochet-related topics.

On to the list:
1. Oh the Glory of It All, Sean Wilsey, Rating: 3.0
I've had numerous people recommend this book. Sean Wilsey is the son of a San Francisco socialite, and (by my calculations) about 35 years old. The book gets off to a running start, detailing the excesses and idiosyncracies of his highly colorful parents. By the half-way point, however, the book has lost its focus. What's the subject? Sean's life? His mother? Boarding schools of the 1980s? Ultimately there's enough good material here to make it a worthwhile read, but you'll have to wade your way through all the surplus writing.
2. Never Let Me Go, Kazuo Ishiguro, Rating: 4.3
The writing in this book is stunning--Ishiguro is definitely one of the better writers out there today. I'd prefer to not reveal the topic (and would caution against reading any reviews of the book). Ishiguro slowly parcels out information, and it's best if you don't really understand what is special about the characters before he's ready to tell you. (One of my coworkers saw the book on my desk and said, "Oh, is that the book about the [deleted]?") Anyway, it's extremely well written, quite moving, and well worth your time.
3. Library: An Unquiet History, Matthew Battles, Rating: 3.9
It's my understanding that this is one of the standards in the world of writing about libraries. It's packed with interesting tidbits, as well as mountains of uninteresting tidbits. This is definitely not for everyone. I'm glad I read it, but it wasn't easy to finish.
4. Girlfriend 44, Mark Barrowcliffe, Rating: 3.5
Witty and trite, this is chic lit written by a man. Originally published in the U.K., the edition I read was packed with Britishisms (not necessarily a bad thing). The humor at times seems excessive, detracting from the plot. One of the better books in the genre.
5. I Capture the Castle, Dodie Smith, Rating: 4.4
This book is charming and somehow timeless, despite being over 50 years old. There's a fairly faithful movie adaptation out there, but stick with the book--the male actors in the movie don't live up to the promise of the literary characters. It's a teenage coming-of-age story and a romance, but don't let that stop you from reading it. The author is better known for writing One Hundred and One Dalmations.
6. My World and Welcome To It, James Thurber, Rating: 4.3
I need to read more Thurber--he's hilarious! His writing is definitely not P.C., but I supposed that's a major part of the charm. This book is a collection of some of his best New Yorker writing.
7. To Hell with All That: Loving and Loathing Our Inner Housewife, Caitlin Flanagan, Rating: 4.0
Flanagan writes for a variety of publications on various aspects of modern womanhood--having children, having a nanny, balancing work and house cleaning, our desire to be Martha Stewart and CEO, etc. She's very good at calling it like it is. I can't say that I'm going to change anything about my lifestyle as a result of reading her book, but I did find it very interesting.
8. Fragile Innocence, James Reston, Jr., Rating: 2.9
This book is popping up everywhere. Terry Gross interviewed Reston a few weeks ago, and Entertainment Weekly ran a long review. Reston writes about his daughter, who has an unknown disease that has left her without the ability to speak or function above a 9-month-old level. It's intriguing. It's also very flawed, in my opinion. Reston carefully documents the name of every doctor and teacher, but never mentions any at home help (yet makes it clear that he and his wife work full time, and believe it's impossible to leave the child alone). He also makes huge statements and completely fails to back them up in any way. His nervous breakdown gets 2 paragraphs, leaving one to wonder if it was just a figure of speech, or an actual episode? I felt that times that the book was a padded version of his daughter's medical record.

Women Writers

Here's another meme that has been making the rounds of the book blog circuit. I actually like it more than the last one (all female writers). I definitely want to check a lot of these books out. I do wonder who put the list together, though--they included one of Rachel Ray's cookbooks. That's a great work of literature?

Notes: Bold=have read, italics=intend to read, and ???=never heard of (I'm being honest here, and questioning individual books--I have heard of most of the authors).

Alcott, Louisa May--Little Women
Allende, Isabel--The House of Spirits
Angelou, Maya--I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings
Atwood, Margaret--Cat's Eye???
Austen, Jane--Emma
Bambara, Toni Cade--Salt Eaters???
Barnes, Djuna--Nightwoodde???
Beauvoir, Simone--The Second Sex
Blume, Judy--Are You There God? It's Me Margaret
Burnett, Frances--The Secret Garden
Bronte, Charlotte--Jane Eyre
Bronte, Emily--Wuthering Heights
Buck, Pearl S.--The Good Earth
Byatt, A.S.--Possession
Cather, Willa--My Antonia
Chopin, Kate--The Awakening
Christie, Agatha--Murder on the Orient Express
Cisneros, Sandra--The House on Mango Street
Clinton, Hillary Rodham--Living History
Cooper, Anna Julia--A Voice From the South??
Danticat, Edwidge--Breath, Eyes, Memory??
Davis, Angela--Women, Culture, and Politics
Desai, Anita--Clear Light of Day??
Dickinson, Emily--Collected Poems
Duncan, Lois--I Know What You Did Last Summer
DuMaurier, Daphne--Rebecca
Eliot, George—Middlemarch
Emecheta, Buchi--Second Class Citizen???
Erdrich, Louise--Tracks???
Esquivel, Laura--Like Water for Chocolate
Flagg, Fannie--Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe
Friedan, Betty--The Feminine Mystique
Frank, Anne--Diary of a Young Girl
Gilman, Charlotte Perkins--The Yellow Wallpaper??
Gordimer, Nadine--July's People??
Hamilton, Edith—Mythology
Highsmith, Patricia--The Talented Mr. Ripley
Hooks, bell--Bone Black??
Hurston, Zora Neale--Dust Tracks on the Road
Jacobs, Harriet--Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl
Jackson, Helen Hunt--Ramona
Jackson, Shirley--The Haunting of Hill House
Jong, Erica--Fear of Flying
Keene, Carolyn--The Nancy Drew Mysteries
Kidd, Sue Monk--The Secret Life of Bees
Kincaid, Jamaica--Lucy
Kingsolver, Barbara--The Poisonwood Bible
Kingston, Maxine Hong--The Woman Warrior
Larsen, Nella--Passing
L'Engle, Madeleine--A Wrinkle in Time
Le Guin, Ursula K.--The Left Hand of Darkness
Lee, Harper--To Kill a Mockingbird
Lessing, Doris--The Golden Notebook??
Lively, Penelope--Moon Tiger??
Lorde, Audre--The Cancer Journals??
McCullers, Carson--The Member of the Wedding??
Markandaya, Kamala--Nectar in a Sieve??
Marshall, Paule--Brown Girl, Brownstones??
Montgomery, Lucy--Anne of Green Gables
Morgan, Joan--When Chickenheads Come Home to Roost??
Morrison, Toni--Song of Solomon
Mursaki, Lady Shikibu--The Tale of Genji
Munro, Alice--Lives of Girls and Women
Murdoch, Iris--Severed Head??
Naylor, Gloria--Mama Day??
Niffenegger, Audrey--The Time Traveller's Wife
Oates, Joyce Carol--We Were the Mulvaneys
O'Connor, Flannery--A Good Man is Hard to Find
Piercy, Marge--Woman on the Edge of Time
Picoult, Jodi--My Sister's Keeper
Plath, Sylvia--The Bell Jar
Porter, Katharine Anne--Ship of Fools
Proulx, E. Annie--The Shipping News
Ray, Rachel--365: No Repeats
Rhys, Jean--Wide Sargasso Sea??
Robinson, Marilynne--Housekeeping
Sebold, Alice--The Lovely Bones
Shelley, Mary--Frankenstein
Smith, Betty--A Tree Grows in Brooklyn
Smith, Zadie--White Teeth
Spark, Muriel--The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie
Spyri, Johanna--Heidi
Strout, Elizabeth--Amy and Isabelle
Tan, Amy--The Joy Luck Club
Tannen, Deborah--You're Wearing That?
Ulrich, Laurel--A Midwife's Tale
Urquhart, Jane--Away
Walker, Alice--The Temple of My Familiar
Welty, Eudora--One Writer's Beginnings
Wharton, Edith--Age of Innocence
Wilder, Laura Ingalls--Little House in the Big Woods
Wollstonecraft, mary--A Vindication of the Rights of Women
Woolf, Virginia--A Room of One's Own

Top 50 Movie Adaptations

I ran across this list on one of those new book blogs. Take a peek--it's very quite interesting. Devil in a Blue Dress? Check. Jaws? Check. But The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie? Am I supposed to know what that is? Must be a British bias.

Book Lists

This is also from Elese--a meme ("unit of cultural knowledge") that's been circulating lately. Here are the general guidelines:
Look at the list of books below. Bold the ones you've read, italicize the ones you might read, cross out the ones you won't, underline the ones on your book shelf, and place parentheses around the ones you've never even heard of.

I feel like I'm doing pretty well--28 read (out of 39). It also gives me some ideas about what to read next...

The Da Vinci Code - Dan Brown
The Catcher in the Rye - J.D. Salinger
The Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy - Douglas Adams
The Great Gatsby - Scott F. Fitzgerald
To Kill a Mockingbird - Harper Lee
The Time Traveler's Wife - Audrey Niffenegger
His Dark Materials - Philip Pullman
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince - J. K. Rowling
The Life of Pi - Yann Martel
Animal Farm: A Fairy Story - George Orwell
Catch 22 - Joseph Heller
The Hobbit - J. R. R. Tolkien
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time - Mark Haddon
Lord of the Flies - William Golding
Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen
1984 - George Orwell
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - J. K. Rowling
One Hundred Years of Solitude - Gabriel Garcia Marquez
Memoirs of a Geisha - Arthur Golden
The Kite Runner - Khaled Hosseini
The Lovely Bones - Alice Sebold
Slaughterhouse 5 - Kurt Vonnegut
The Secret History - Donna Tartt
Wuthering Heights - Emily Bronte
The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe - C.S. Lewis
Middlesex - Jeffrey Eugenides
Cloud Atlas - David Mitchell
Jane Eyre - Charlotte Bronte
Atonement - Ian McEwan
The Shadow of The Wind - Carlos Ruiz Zafon
The Old Man and the Sea - Ernest Hemingway
The Handmaid's Tale - Margaret Atwood
The Bell Jar - Sylvia Plath
Dune - Frank Herbert
Sula by Toni Morrison
Cold Mountain by Charles Frazier
The Alchemist by Paulo Coehlo
White Teeth by Zadie Smith
The House of Mirth by Edith Wharton