2011 Reads

It is satisfying to me to look at the books I read last year...

The Lover's Dictionary by David Levithan
Incendiary by Chris Cleave
The Absent Traveler by Randall DeVallance
Bloodroot by Amy Greene
Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother by Amy Chua
Chocolate Wars by Deborah Cadbury (yes, THAT Cadbury!)
Annabel by Kathleen Winter
Oranges Are Not The Only Fruit by Jeanette Winterson
Delirious by Daniel Palmer
Blood, Bones, and Butter by Gabrielle Hamilton
Unfamiliar Fishes by Sarah Vowell
Swamplandia! by Karen Russell
Heads You Lose by Lisa Lutz and David Hayward
P.S. I Love You by Cecilia Ahern
Shadow Tag by Louise Erddrich
Major Pettigrew's Last Stand by Helen Simpson
Among the Missing by Dan Chaon
Mennonite in a Little Black Dress by Rhoda Janzen
The Poisoner's Handbook by Deborah Blum
Needful Things by Stephen King
Bossypants by Tina Fey
A Visit From the Goon Squad by Jennifer Egan
Await Your Reply by Dan Chaon
The Language of Flowers by Vanessa Diffenbaugh
The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie
Turn of Mind by Alice LaPlante
The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
When God Was a Rabbit by Sarah Winman
Contented Dementia by Oliver James
Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins
Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins
Big Girl Small by Rachel DeWoskin
Before I Go to Sleep by S.J. Watson
The Weight of Silence by Heather Gudenkauf
Domestic Violets by Matthew Norman
Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman
Alone Together by Sherry Turkle
Rin Tin Tin: The Life and the Legend by Susan Orlean
The Leftovers by Tom Perrotta
The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern
Moonlight on Linoleum by Terry Helwig
Seriously...I'm Kidding by Ellen Degeneres
Musicophilia by Oliver Sacks
Gun, with Occasional Music by Jonathan Lethem
Skippy Dies by Paul Murray
The Prank by Adam Black
Buddha in the Attic by Julie Otsuka
In the Woods by Tana French
Toast by Nigel Slater
Laura Rider's Masterpiece by Jane Hamilton
War Horse by Michael Morpurgo
City of Thieves by David Benioff
Aftertaste by Meredith Mileti

...and to remember ones I really enjoyed....

IN THE WOODS
by Tana French

     

It took me several tries to get into this book, but once I did, it was worth it. A mystery, set in Ireland, where the main character - and narrator - is a detective...and a victim.

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THE PRANK
by Adam Black

     

I loved this. Written as a breaking news story online through facebook "likes" and posts, blogs, news releases, interviews, etc. This book has much to say about how we ingest and interpret the information we glean online. brilliant.

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THE NIGHT CIRCUS
by Erin Morgenstern

     

Morgenstern has created a magical world which may just sweep you away.

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THE WEIGHT OF SILENCE
by Heather Gudenkauf

     

Callie, a young girl comes running from the forest after being missing. She doesn't speak. Why doesn't she speak? What happened in the forest? This book stayed with me long after I finished reading it.

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THE HUNGER GAMES trilogy by Suzanne Collins

               

Even though this is categorized as a "teen" selection, this is a great story, set in a future world with characters to root for...this is excellent.

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BEFORE I GO TO SLEEP
by S.J. Watson

     

A taut psychological thriller...the main character had and accident that caused a mental condition where she doesn't remember who she is or what her life is when she wakes up in the morning. Every morning she wakes up next to a man who is a stranger to her. She has to rediscover her life every day. really well done.

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MAJOR PETTIGREW'S LAST STAND
by Helen Simpson

     

Set in an English village, Major Pettigrew, a proper, retired, widowed military man, discovers love, which others in the village find improper. delightful!

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WHEN GOD WAS A RABBIT
by Sarah Winman

     

Starting as a little girl, Elly tells her story of her family, including her brother Joe and her best friend Jenny Penny. This is endearing, quirky, poignant and very engaging. A very good read!

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ANNABEL
by Kathleen WINTER


     

This novel enveloped me from the beginning. Though compared to Jeffrey Eugenides's MIDDLESEX because they both deal with hermaphrodites, ANNABEL is more intimate in scope. I loved this.

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THE LOVER'S DICTIONARY
by David Levithan

     

Such a brilliant idea - a love story told through dictionary entries. REALLY well done. This would be a wonderful Valentine's Day, engagement, anniversary or wedding gift.

Clicking on the picture of the book cover will take you to Amazon.com. Clicking on the underlined book title will take you to Barnes and Noble's website. You can read more about each book and purchase it there. Doing so helps support the blog. Thanks for reading!

What Some Booksellers are Reading

The store manager started it. She made it her staff recommendation for this month and is telling everyone (staff and customers) to buy it and read it.

And we are.

         

David Levithan, creative author that he is, tells a love story through dictionary definitions. Small and spare, one definition to a page, some of the entries are luminous with insight and poignancy. Alternating between being on the cusp of a new and lovely relationship and the messy and sometimes heartbreaking middle, each entry gives insight into the relationship.

In quiet moments at the store (which we're now beginning to have again now that the holiday rush is slowing down), we've been reading entries out loud to each other.

Some of my favorites...

"blemish, n.
The slight acne scars. The penny-sized, penny-shaped birthmark right above your knee. The dot below your shoulder that must have been from when you had chicken pox in third grade. The scratch on your neck - did I do that?
The brief transcript of moments, written on the body, is so deeply satisfying to read."

"encroach, v.
The first three nights we spent together, I couldn't sleep. I wasn't used to your breathing, your feet on my legs, your weight in the bed. In truth, I still sleep better when I'm alone. But now I allow that sleep isn't always the most important thing."

Some of my other favorites...meander, latitude, corrode,elegy, nomenclature, contiguous, paleontology, sacrosanct, woo.

Oh my, what a wonderful book.

Broken Glass Park...and others

I just finished reading Alina Bronsky's Broken Glass Park on my co-worker's recommendation.

While I didn't like it quite as much as he did, this book was well done and a very good read.

Seventeen year old Sascha is the narrator. A Russian immigrant living in Germany, Sascha starts out by telling us that she wants to kill Vadim, the man who murdered her mother. She contemplates ways to kill him, imagining his suffering. She worries about her young siblings, and navigates the rough Russian projects they live in, while trying to make sense of her own life.

After seeing an article in the newspaper about Vadim, she heads down to the newspaper offices to have it out with the writer of the article. During that encounter, she meets Volker, and sees him as a potential way to escape the pain of her life.

Sascha doesn't always make the best choices - occasionally ending up in Broken Glass Park, an aptly named area of town known for drug use, violence and sexual encounters. Sascha is a fighter, and a compelling protagonist. I was rooting for her all the way through the book.

There are no chapters in the book, and almost no line breaks. It almost reads like a novella. At first I was a little put off by not having any chapters, but I think it keeps the story moving and adds to the feel of the book, a little bit urgent and struggle-y.
Definitely worth reading.

I'm in the middle of John Green and David Levithan's teen book, Will Grayson Will Grayson. About 2 boys who don't know each other named (can you guess?) Will Grayson, Green and Levithan skillfully weave their two stories together. The chapters alternate between each of the Will Grayson's narration.

I started reading it on the recommendation of a co-worker and friend, mostly to see how well (or not) they were able to pull off combining the two stories. I'm impressed by how well the books reads, I want to know what happens with both of the Will Graysons.

There are also some fairly brilliant bits of insight, for example when one of the Will Graysons responds to his mom saying "I really have to stop doing this. I need to get a life."

i (this Will Grayson writes all in lowercase letters) think she's directing this at herself, or the universe, not really at me. still, i can't help thinking that 'getting a life' is something only a complete idiot could believe. like you can just drive to a store and get a life. see it in its shiny box and look inside the plastic window and catch a glimpse of yourself in a new life and say, 'wow, i look much happier - i think this is the life i need to get!' take it to the counter, ring it up, put it on your credit card. if getting a life was that easy, we'd be one blissed-out race. but we're not. so it's like, mom, your life isn't out there waiting, so don't think all you have to do is find it and get it. no, your life is right here. and yeah, it sucks. lives usually do. so if you want things to change, you don't need to get a life. you need to get off your ass.

Indeed.

Next I'll be reading Tipping the Velvet by Sarah Waters. I read Fingersmith by her as well and loved it. Didn't like Affinity or The Little Stranger quite as much, but I enjoy her writing, so I'm looking forward to it.

After that it'll be The Things That Keep Us Here by Carla Buckley, given to me by my sweetie. She's good at picking out books, I'm looking forward to this one too.

Ah, lovely to have good books to read!