Books On My Radar

It seems as though I always have books on my radar. Usually they show up on my radar after I've seen them on a list, or read about them on a blog, or talked to people about what they are reading (by the way, what are you reading and loving? I'd love to hear!). Ideally I like to see the book in person before ultimately deciding to read a particular book. A book can be more or less inviting in person, even if someone else raves about it.

There is also the right book for right now. I know that when I am dealing with a lot in my life (like a new job, for instance, which I have been dealing with lately. Learning curve, learning new routines, new co-workers, new duties and responsibilities), I find that I am less able to focus, so books that require a little more effort may not work well for me when I feel scattered or stressed.

There are of course books we have here at home that are TBR (To Be Read), but that stack may contain titles that are different than the books that are on my radar.

Here are some I'm interested in right now...

Bark: Stories by Lorrie Moore
Lorrie Moore is a luscious and luminous writer. I'm not a huge fan of short stories, at least I rarely find myself reading them, but short stories in the pen of Lorrie Moore are wonderful. BARK is her first collection of stories since 2010.

The Snow Queen by Michael Cunningham
There are authors whose works are eagerly anticipated, no matter what the subject matter because I enjoy their writing so much. Michael Cunningham falls into this category. THE SNOW QUEEN comes out in May. Looking forward to it!

Frog Music by Emma Donoghue
Emma Donoghue is another author in that category. I loved ROOM. She actually has many more books that I would like to explore as well.

                    

A Constellation of Vital Phenomena by Anthony Marra
This has been on my radar for a while. I have seen it, picked it up, put it down again, but it keeps popping back up. Have any of you (reading this blog) read it? What did you think?

The Ruins (Vintage) by Scott Smith
Recommended by John Green (who wrote The Fault in Our Stars, which I loved), this looks like a great thriller. I love me a good thriller.

Death Comes for the Archbishop (Vintage Classics) by Willa Cather
Also recommended by John Green, about religion in America. I am interested.

Remember Me Like This by Bret Anthony Johnston
My partner just received this as an ERC (Early Reviewer Copy) from librarything.com. It looks a little dark and intriguing. I read the two page prologue and someone is dead (are we going to focus on the people who saw the dead body? or the discover who died? I do not know.) Some books that come as ERCs are more interesting after they arrive and we can see it in person, and others are less so. This one is definitely more interesting.

                       

Round Ireland with a Fridge by Tony Hawk
This guy travels around Ireland with a refrigerator. I'm not sure why he takes a fridge as a traveling companion, but I'm sure it makes for an interesting trip!

Andrew's Brain by E.L. Doctorow
There are a few friends who, when they recommend books, I tend to take notice, as we seem to share similar taste in books. This book was recommended by one of those friends. It looks pretty interesting.

The Universe Versus Alex Woods by Gavin Extence
That same friend recommended this one. This has been on my radar for awhile. I may need to just get this one already.

The Hakawati by Rabih Alameddine
He is a brilliant author. I, THE DIVINE is one of my favorite books, and this is another of his I'd like to read.

The Invention of Wings by Sue Monk Kidd
Oprah's most recent recommendation, my partner just read this and enjoyed it.

Enormous Room (02 Edition) by e.e. cummings
This is cummings's first book, not as popular as much of his other works, but he wrote this based on his experience as a prisoner of war in World War I.

And then I went to Costco and picked up a book (that I didn't buy, I mean I literally picked it up and looked at it and put it down again)...The Silent Wife that seems similar to Gone Girl, in that the story is told alternately from the wife's and husband's point of view and something is terribly wrong in their marriage, but even so, it didn't grab me in the first couple of pages. At least not on that day. It is still on my radar.

I DID, however, pick up (as in pick up and buy) a copy of Carol Cassella's new book, Gemini. I just recently read her first book, Oxygen, about an anesthesiologist in Seattle who loses a young patient on the operating table. She is blamed, but is she negligent? It's a bit of a medical mystery, well done and intriguing. Gemini is about an ER doctor who deals with a Jane Doe patient. That's pretty much all I know, and the first few pages started out well.

                    


What books are on your radar? Leave a comment here on the blog or on the blog's facebook page, NOT The New York Times Book Review! Thanks for stopping by!

Clicking on the book cover will take you to Amazon's web page for each book. Clicking on the highlighted book title will take you to Powell's page for each book. Shopping through these links helps support the blog. Thank you, and happy reading!

Books Read in 2012

Happy New Year!

While I always like to look ahead at what's next on my reading horizon, I also like to look back and remember...

Below is a list of the books I read in 2012. I like looking over the list and remembering reading (and enjoying!) the books. It's like recalling visits with good friends.

It was a Gillian Flynn year and a John Green year, since I read several titles by both of them and they were amongst my favorites.

Some delighted me...Redshirts was very fun, and so was Alif the Unseen and Mr. Penumbra's 24 Hour Bookstore. I also really liked Libba Bray's Beauty Queens (don't be deterred by the cover!)

There were a few disappointments...I was interested to read more about Irene Pepperberg's experiences with her highly intelligent grey parrot, but the book didn't read as well as the subject. Or maybe just as not as well as I wanted it to. And The Twelve, the second in a trilogy after The Passage, didn't hold my interest.

A few had amazing writing that stopped me in my tracks...The Dog Stars was one. I have written blog posts about some of these books...and there will be a few more blog posts about some of these! Keep an eye out!



Read in 2012:
Extra Virginity by Tom Mueller
The Translation of the Bones by Francesca Kay
Anthropology of an American Girl by Hilary Thayer Hamann
Defending Jacob by William Landay
Man Seeks God by Eric Weiner
The Sensualist by Barbara Hodgson
The Fault in Our Stars by John Green
Losing Clementine by Ashley Ream
The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck (audio)
Primacy by J.E. Fishman
The Girl Who Fell From the Sky by Heidi Durrow
The Hours by Michael Cunningham
Drop Dead Healthy by AJ Jacobs
Lots of Candles, Plenty of Cake by Anna Quindlen
In One Person by John Irving
The Anatomist's Apprentice by Tessa Harris
Some Assembly Required by Anne and Sam Lamott (audio)
The Age of Miracles by Karen Thompson Walker
The Paris Wife by Paula McLain
A Million Miles in a Thousand Years by Donald Miller
The Plaza by Guillermo Paxton
I Am the Cheese by Robert Cormier
Flight Behavior by Barbara Kingsolver
Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn
Redshirts by John Scalzi
The Prospect of My Arrival by Dwight Okita
Are You My Mother? by Allison Bechdel
Alif the Unseen by G. Willow Wilson
The Virgin of Small Plains by Nancy Pickard
The Light Between Oceans by M.L. Stedman
Alex and Me by Irene Pepperberg
Beauty Queens by Libba Bray
Tell the Wolves I'm Home by Carol Rifka Brunt
Sharp Objects by Gillian Flynn
The Hour I First Believed by Wally Lamb
Paper Towns by John Green
A Million Heavens by John Brandon
Son by Lois Lowry
Mr. Penumbra's 24 Hour Bookstore by Robin Sloan
Dark Places by Gillian Flynn
The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky
The Likeness by Tana French
If I Stay by Gayle Forman
The Twelve by Justin Cronin
The Death of Sweet Mister By Daniel Woodrell
The Aviator's Wife by Melanie Benjamin
Sex, Lies, and Handwriting by Michelle Dresbold
The Dog Stars by Peter Heller
Gift from the Sea by Anne Morrow Lindbergh

       

I'm already reading a great book to start off the new year (Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk by Ben Fountain).

Here's to 2013, a year of great reading!

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Getting My Festive On

I have to confess that I don't do The Holidays well. At least not lately. Not since I started working The Holidays at the bookstore.

Some see The Holidays as a time to gather with loved ones, prepare special meals, and prepare gifts to give to family and friends.

I work in retail. And yes, it's books, which I adore and are the reason I put up with a retail environment. This time of year, however, it's a lot more about volume and getting people through the line quickly, rather than the thoughtful kind of book browsing and discussion that I love. Dozens and dozens of people are asking questions and needing the exact right book, cashiers and registers are working at full speed, phones are ringing off the hook. If there is a (rare) lull in the busy-ness of customer interactions, we are all frantically racing around trying to straighten and restock shelves so we can be ready for the next onslaug...uh, wave.

Customers are what keep our doors open, and we all try to be upbeat, even as we try to answer constant questions, gather books for customers and ring efficiently at the register. I don't think I can convey how exhausting a day like that is. For me, anyway.

The Holidays are tiring.

The Christmas music we have playing is slightly stale, sometimes strange, and does not inspire a merry disposition in this bookseller. There is a version of Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer that is arranged and sung with the song Tom Dooley. Yep, that's Tom Dooley, that peppy song about a murderer who got hanged. So festive. Some of the songs sound as though they were sung by the Lennon Sisters. Nothing wrong with the Lennon Sisters...50 years ago. There's a song that has lyrics that start..."Mamacita, donde esta Santa Claus?" Um...I guess they provide a little comic relief.

A friend of mine is going through cancer treatment. She's young, has school-age children, and this should not be happening to her (not that it should be happening to anyone). She is blogging about it. I hate to use the word inspirational, because that sounds sappy and lame, and she is anything but those things. She is a stand-up comedian, fiercely sarcastic, and brings her humor and attitude to her blog...and to cancer (Weird Cancer Guy, be gone!). (Keep an eye out for more about her blog in a future post of mine!) One thing she does in her blog posts is list Three Positives...and I so appreciate that she is doing this.

During The Holidays I can easily lose sight of The Positives in my life. She, through her blog, has been reminding me how important it is to be aware of the positives.

So. Three Positives for me about working The Holidays in retail:

1. Customers have been, almost all of them, really patient and polite, with us and to other shoppers. I know that shopping during The Holidays is hard too.

2. People are buying books! I love seeing people who buy some of my favorites, either for themselves or for others. I get to talk with people about books, like the woman who was buying GONE GIRL and when I commented on how much I liked it, asked me what I've been reading that I really like. (THE DOG STARS by Peter Heller is what I told her. Really great. There will be a blog post about it.)

3. Most of my co-workers are fun to work with and can joke around and they really make the intensity of The Holidays bearable. They've also readily pitched in when I've asked for help, even though I know they've had tons of things that have needed to be done themselves. I am grateful for their humor and work ethic.

4. (Do I get extra credit for doing four?) It's almost over. Yes, after Christmas Day there are clearance sales and many many returns (we really believe in gift receipts! please get gift receipts!), so the busy-ness doesn't dramatically drop off after Christmas. But the end is in sight. Hallelujah.


Thanks for stopping by! Clicking on the underlined book title may take you to Barnes and Noble's web page for each book. Purchasing through these links helps support the blog. You can subscribe directly to the blog here on this page. You can also send us email: 2of3Rs(AT)gmail(DOT)com. You can also "like" us on our facebook page, NOT The New York Times Book Review. Happy Holidays!

"I like this character"

Therapist and I were talking recently about characters in a book and how we like them.

"I like Amy in Gillian Flynn's GONE GIRL," she said.

"You like Amy?", I said. "I didn't really like her," I replied.

"I liked her as a character," she said.

"Ah." I paused. "Interesting distinction," I said. "It seems that when people talk about 'liking a character', they are talking about whether they like the character as a person. They are talking about whether they would want to be friends with that character, not necessarily that the character was written well."

"No," she said. "I'm talking about liking the character as it is written in the book. Amy is a brilliant character. Gillian Flynn did such a good job of portraying her motivations and actions, her struggle against being 'Amazing Amy', and how that all played out so diabolically in her relationship with Nick."

"She absolutely did," I agreed.

I've read Gillian Flynn's SHARP OBJECTS and DARK PLACES. As with GONE GIRL, these other books have believable characters that are not necessarily likable people.

             

Who are your favorite literary characters? And do you like the characters as people? Or are they your favorites because they were created at the hands of a skilled writer?

You can comment here on the blog, or on our facebook page, NOT The New York Times Book Review. You can also send us email: 2of3Rs(AT)gmail(DOT)com. Clicking on the underlined book title may take you to Barnes and Noble's web page for each book. Clicking on the book cover will take you to Amazon's web page for each book. Purchasing through these links helps support the blog. Thanks for reading!

Notes on Some Books

SOME ASSEMBLY REQUIRED by Anne and Sam Lamott (audio)
I really enjoyed this journal of Anne Lamott's first year of being a grandmother - and Sam's first year of being a father. You can read my blog post about this book here:
http://www.notthenewyorktimesbookreview.blogspot.com/2012/06/some-assembly-required.html

THE AGE OF MIRACLES by Karen Thompson Walker
We were lucky enough to snag an advance reader copy of this book. In it, the Earth's rotation is slowing. Told through the eyes of a young girl, she tells how The Slowing affects her life. It was an interesting read, and the author did a great job of keeping the premise going. It didn't end as hopefully as I thought it might from the title, though perhaps the ending was fitting to what one might suppose from such a dramatic Earth change.

THE PARIS WIFE by Paula McLain
I hadn't been a Hemingway-ophile before reading this. I have to say that this book piqued my interest about Hemingway and his life. Written from the point of view of Hadley, Hemingway's first wife, the novel, based on actual events and people, is a wonderful depiction of his early writing years and this marriage. I really enjoyed this.

A MILLION MILES IN A THOUSAND YEARS by Donald Miller
Recommended by a co-worker, I wanted to read this after hearing that it was Miller's reflections on his own life after being approached to make his life into a movie. Is his life movie-worthy? How do we make our own lives mean something? I appreciated his reflections and insight.

BRINGING UP BEBE by Pamela Druckerman
Druckerman wants to understand how French children seem to behave better, and she strives to find out why. What she learns isn't rocket science...it makes a lot of sense. As I read, I saw things that I did fairly well as a parent (helping my kids learn how to wait), and things I didn't do all that well (The Pause - waiting and allowing the baby to settle when they stirred as infants). I wish I'd had this book when I was a new parent.

THE PLAZA by Guillermo Paxton
After reading an actual news story about the 49 people who were beheaded in Mexico as part of a power demonstration between warring factions, I knew I wanted to read this book. THE PLAZA is a gritty portrayal of life in Juarez, Mexico as the city is terrorized by drug wars. Paxton has done an excellent job of portraying the horrors of living in such circumstances. You can read my full review here:
http://notthenewyorktimesbookreview.blogspot.com/2012/05/plaza.html

I AM THE CHEESE by Robert Cormier
I read a review of this book written by Ben Marcus, author of The Alphabet Flame. He talked about the main character in this being an unreliable narrator, which was a new and somewhat disturbing experience for him as a reader. It made me curious. The narrator is a boy, riding his bike 70 miles to take a package to his father. Alternating with a description by the narrator of the ride and interview sessions of the narrator by an unknown and fairly mysterious adult, this is well done.

FLIGHT BEHAVIOR by Barbara Kingsolver
Coming in November, Kingsolver's new book is a good one. Set in a small town in Appalachia, a young woman finds herself involved in some sort of natural phenomenon (and yes, that is vague. I don't want to give too much away. Sometimes knowing too much about a book is not a good thing). Kingsolver is such a good writer, I enjoy reading almost anything by her.

GONE GIRL by Gillian Flynn
Therapist's most excellent review (link below) made me want to read this book. I am almost done with the book and am thoroughly enjoying it. SO well done.
http://www.notthenewyorktimesbookreview.blogspot.com/2012/05/gone-girl.html

               
                    

Thanks for stopping by the blog! Clicking on the book covers will take you to Amazon's web page for each book. Purchasing through these links supports the blog. You can send email to us: 2of3Rs(AT)gmail(DOT)com.