Escapes and Pleasures
Escapes and Pleasures
Well, here they are: ‘The Books Most Enjoyed in 2009’ by 41 ‘readers’ of MillersTime (updated from the earlier list of 35).
The ages of these readers span 70 years -- from 22-92.
They include a book first published in 1841 and one not yet published in the US.
Surprisingly, only three of the approximately 160 books were listed at least four times. These were Stieg Larsson’s Millenium Series, Kathryn Stockett’s The Help, Tracy Kidder’s Strength in What Remains, and Colm Toibin’s Brooklyn
Also Greg Mortenson’s Three Cups of Tea and his new Stones into School, Colm Toibin’s Brooklyn, Elizabeth Strout’s Olive Kitteridge, and David Benioff’s City of Thieves were cited multiple times.
Overall, the list below splits almost evenly between fiction and nonfiction books. It seems as if the younger generations here (the 20s/30s) tended to read more fiction and as the ages increased, more nonficton reading emerged.
Many of the titles below have not appeared on the ‘2009 Best Books Lists’ currently in the news and on various Internet lists. That, of course, is due in part to those lists being restricted to books published in 2009 (not a restriction for the MillersTime lists).
But then if you compare many of those published lists with each other, there are not so many repeats there either.
I like that. It says to me that there are many enjoyable books for all of us yet to read.
And some of the most attractive ones for me below are those that various readers highlight in their ‘mini-reviews.’ Some of your comments have hooked me, and already my ‘To Read’ list for 2010 has grown significantly as a result.
So, get a pencil and a piece of paper and get ready to jot down books you might want to consider for 2010.
Or print out the list, sit back, and read it when you have time.
Hopefully, this list will be useful for you during the year to come.
And finally, a big thanx to all of you who responded to my request for your most enjoyable books read this year.
Our Own List for 2009
(Note: (F) and (NF) refer to Fiction and Nonfiction titles)
1. Mary Lincer, DC
Barnaby Rudge (F), Charles Dickens, a novel written in 1841 this was a revelation. The disability had not yet been named, but this must be one of the earliest and one of the best depictions of a character with autism in the history of English letters.
Daniel Deronda (F), George Eliot. Anyone interested in the depiction of characters who are Jewish should read this. Written after it became legal to be Jewish in England, Eliot made a study of the social history and religious practices of Jews. Though not as grace a book as Middlemarch, she avoids negative stereotyping, which is a grace of its own. Those who kvetch about Shylock and Fagin should check this out.
2. Micah Sifry, NY
Anathem (F), Neal Stephenson
Say Everything (NF), Scott Rosenberg
Wiki Government (NF), Beth Noveck
In Search of Jefferson's Moose (NF), David Pos
3. Judy White, OH
River Town (NF), Peter Hessler. Great writing by a Peace Corps teacher in the provinces of China. Also Oracle Bones (NF) by the same author, but, maybe because I was also an ESL teacher in the Peace Corps, I liked River Town better.
Waiting for Snow in Havana (NF), Carlos Eire. Got this off a list you sent, Rick, and really enjoyed the writing and glimpse into a world I knew nothing about.
The Book Thief (F), Markus Zusak. Though this book sounds both depressing and wierd -- set during the Holocaust, narrated by Death -- I found it neither, but rather warm, human, and even funny.
Angle of Repose (F), Wallace Stegner. Though the level of detail sometimes made this book tedious, altogether it's a great portrait of a man aging, especially if read in the West, for the country of the West is so integral to it.
Catfish and Mandala (NF), Andrew X. Pham. Candid autobiography by a Vietnamese man who immigrates to the U.S. as a young man.
Strength in What Remains (NF), Tracy Kidder. Inspirational story that shows the human capacity for endurance.
Song of the Savannah (NF), Mark and Delia Owens. The last of this couple's amazing stories of life in Africa.
Eye of the Albatross (NF), Carl Safina. Only a really good writer could make a long book about albatrosses riveting.
4. Fruzina Harsanyi, MD:
The Girl with the Dragon Tatoo (F) & The Girl Who Played with Fire (F), Stieg Larsson. They are intelligent crime novels. Great characters, inventive plots, fine detail, a social theme, and a heroine “who hates men who hate women.” I also have a personal reason to enjoy especially the second book: the frequent mention of my former boss at ABB, Percy Barnevik as the embodiment of corporate greed (which he wasn’t, but his career didn’t end well.) I loved the description of his apartment, which our heroine bought. And the frequent reference to the train “X2000,” in which I took 150 members of Congress and their families to New York back in the days when it was still allowed. ABB had bought the train business from Daimler and then managed to sell it back to them -- we referred to it as our version of the Great Train Robbery.
Wanting (F), Richard Flanagan, Based on real characters in 19th century Tasmania and England. It was shortlisted for the Miles Franklin Literary Award 2009. It’s about the line between what is civilized and what is savage; whether we can move from one state to the other; and whether “wanting” might well mark the difference. It was the perfect read for me while sitting in a lodge in the jungles of Papua New Guinea.
Natasha’s Dance, A Cultural History of Russia (NF), Orlando Figes. I read it on a trip to Russia. It is a journey to the soul of a country so rich, as a friend once noted, that it’s force field could well pull the moon toward it.
(You’ll note from the two selections above that my favorites tend to be associated with time and place that is familiar. I’d be interested in your contributors adding that dimension to their selections, i.e. where were they when they read their favorites and did that make a difference.)
5. Leslie Kleinberg, CA
The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down (NF), Anne Fadiman.
Extremely absorbing, thought-provoking account about a failure of
cross-cultural medicine. Everyone I mentioned this book to had already
read it, so I don't know why I hadn't heard of it until this year.
Just amazing.
Old School (F), Tobias Wolff. A story about deception at an East Coast boy's boarding school in 1960. As soon as I finished it, I wanted to read it again.
Angela's Ashes (NF), Frank McCourt. I'm also pretty late to the party on this one but wanted to mention it. Despite the bleakness and desperation that McCourt describes, this book is funny, intensely absorbing,... and somehow comforting.
Art & Fear: Observations on the Perils (and Rewards) of Artmaking (NF), David Bayles & Ted Orland. A "survival guide" through the self-doubt and other struggles involved with making art. A quirky little handbook that is practical and supportive and not at all new-agey, as it might first appear. I'd better read it again and go make some art...
6. Kate Shapira, KY
The Help (F), Kathrynn Stockett. Hands down the best book I have read this year. I know lots of people have read it, but those who have not, must. It takes place in the late 60s with southern themes of race and class told from the perspective of several young women in a small town as well as by “the help” they employ.
Those Who Save Us (NF), Jenna Blum. It is a Holocaust story about a woman and her mother who were in hiding during the Holocaust and then were saved at the war’s end. The story alternates between modern and wartime. One of the best Holocaust stories I have read.
7. Jackie Reed, DC
Strength in What Remains (NF). Tracy Kidder. This is one of the best books I ever read. I tend to wait until holidays for anything that might require thinking. What a surprise! This book was elegantly and simply stated.
8. Laurie Kleinberg, CA
The Tortilla Curtain (F), T,C. Boyle- a "cliffhanger" (in more
ways than one -- you'll see) about the illegal immigrant experience in
SoCal, told by characters on both sides of the "border.” It'll make you
question your values and be in awe of powerful writing.
Confederates in the Attic (NF), Tony Horwitz. Made me wish
my cross-country plane trip was even longer. Fascinating interview and
travelogue journalism for the Civil War battle buff, cultural historian
and naive "Northerner".
9. Freddy Gray, UK
A Bomb in Every Issue (NF), Peter Richardson
Money Ball (NF), Michael Lewis
10. Chandresh Shah, Chenai, IN
The Kite Runner (F), Khaled Hosseini
The Two States (F), Chetan Bhagat
A Prisoner at Birth (F), Jefrey Archer
Paths of Glory (F), Jeffrey Archer
11. Lisa White Kile, Belize
The Saddest Pleasure (NF), Moritz Thomsen
12. Kathleen Kroos, DE
The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society (F), Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows. It is the story of what happens on an Island in the English Channel during the German occupation. I could relate in some way because my mother in law is Dutch and was in Holland during the German occupation and her experience was unbelievable. I loved the way it was written. Check it out and you will see.
13. Josh Goldstein, PA
Three Cups of Tea (NF), Greg Mortenson. Not a book from this year but a favorite.
The Truth About the Drug Companies: How They Deceive Us and What to Do About It (NF), Marcia Angell. Also on the geeky side, I taught a graduate level class at the University of the Sciences in Philadelphia and read and had the students read this 2004 book. The book was very interesting and although much has changed in the last five years, with a raging health care debate nationally, I thought timely as well.
14. Elizabeth Miller, NYC
Millennium Trilogy (F), Stieg Larsson
In the Woods (F) and The Likeness (F), Tana French
The Sorrows of an American (F), Siri Hustvedt
Zeitoun, (NF), Dave Eggers
That Old Cape Magic (F), Richard Russo
Dark Places (F), Jillian Flynn
The House at Sugar Beach (F), Helene Cooper
School Reading:
Convergence Culture (NF), Henry Jenkins
Snow Crash (NF), Neal Stephenson
Being Digital (NF), Nicholas Negroponte
15. Kathy Camicia, DC:
Two books that some may not have heard of but are worth the detour:
The Winter Vault (F), Anne Michaels. Author of Fugitive Pieces, one of my all-time favorite books, she writes in a poetic, fragmented way, similar to Michael Ondaatje. They both live in Toronto, which makes me want to visit there.
Love and Summer (F), William Trevor. It is brief, poignant and stays with you after you let go of the book.
16. Ellen Miller, DC:
Mountains Beyond Mountains (NF), Tracy Kidder
The Girl Who Played with Fire, (F), Stieg Larsson
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo F), Steig Larsson
17. Max Shapira, KY
Bacardi and The Long fight for Cuba (NF), Tom Gjelten
The Snowball: Warren Buffet and the Business of Life (NF), Alice Schroeder
Going Rogue: An America Life (NF), Sarah Palin (Ed. Note: F?)
18. Richard Hovey, DC (from Billy Collins poetry):
The name of the author is a first to go
followed obediently by the title, the plot,
the heartbreaking conclusion, the entire novel
which suddenly becomes one you have never read, never heard of.
It is as if, one by one, the memories you used to harbor
decided to retire to the southern hemispheres of the brain,
to a little fishing village where there are no phones.
19. Larry Makinson, OR:
Team of Rivals (NF), Doris Kearns Goodwin. Started the year with this one. It was eerie reading, since I knew Obama had also read the book and - I think - been deeply influenced by its insights into how President Lincoln managed his presidency in perilous times. 5 stars.
In Spite of the Gods: The Rise of Modern India. (NF), Edward Luce. Fascinating, deeply insightful and informative analysis of modern India. 5 stars.
Descent into Chaos (NF), US mismanagement of Afghanistan, Pakistan and central Asia by a prominent Pakistani journalist who’s watched it first hand for years. 5 stars.
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. (F) Stieg Larsson. Part one of the Swedish mystery trilogy and immensely engrossing and enjoyable. 4 stars.
Your Brain: The Missing Manual (NF), Matthew MacDonald. Lots of stuff I didn't know, including never trust your memory... 4 stars.
Stand on Zanzibar (F), John Brunner. This is my favorite book ever and has been since I first read it in college around 1970. It’s complicated sci-fi centered around the theme of an overpopulated earth, and I read it again recently since it’s set in the year 2010. The world doesn’t look (too much) like his vision, but inside these pages there’s a lot of wisdom about human nature. Well worth the read.
Heart of Darkness (F), Joseph Conrad. As fine a book as it was the last time I read it years ago, but it’s on this list because it’s the first book I’ve ever managed to finish on my iPod Touch (that’s the iPhone without the phone). It was a pleasure to read on the iPod mainly thanks to Eucalyptus, the book-reading app I used to read it. http://eucalyptusapp.com/ It’s a pricy app - $10 - but it does a superb job of reformatting (and organizing) the 20,000 or so titles that have entered the public domain online thanks to Project Gutenberg. http://www.gutenberg.org/wiki/Main_Page. Before this, I’d found the iPod just too small for long-term reading.
Everything is due to change next year, however, when Apple comes out with its new tablet. Reading a book will become a different kind of experience - one that’s been previewed on the Kindle and the Sony reader, but only previewed. In 2010, I predict, the idea will finally come of age, fully developed and elegantly delivered via the Apple tablet. By this time next year several of us will have one, and in time almost none of us will be able to resist it. It will also change the way books are made. They’ll inevitably become more multi-media. Just watch.
20. Stephanie Limb, MD
The Book Thief, (F), Marcus Zusak. One of the best books ever.
March (F), Geraldine Brooks
21. Julie Noskow, MD
Sarah’s Key (F), Tatania de Rosnay
The Help (F), Kathryn Stockett
Three Twilight Books (F), Stephenie Meyer
22. Gabi Beaumont, UK:
The Millenium Triology (F), Stieg Larsson. I loved them all and found them gripping, intense, well written and thought provoking.
The Twilight Series (F), Stephenie Meyer. On the brain candy side, another guilty pleasure was the Twilight series.
23. Sam Miller, DC:
Sophie’s Choice (F), William Styron
The Suicide Run (F), William Styron
Darkness Visible (NF), William Styron
Letters to My Father (NF), William Styron
War Child (NF), Emmanuel Jal
A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier (NF), Ishmael Beah
My Father’s Tears (F), John Updike
Strength in What Remains (NF),Tracy Kidder
The Bielski Brothers (NF), Peter Duffy
Family Man (NF) & Messages from My Father (NF)– Calvin Trillin
Exit Ghost (F), Philip Roth
Scientist in the Crib (NF), Gopnik, Meltzoff, Kuhl
Poet of Appetites, Lives and Loves of M.F.K. Fisher (NF), Joan Reardon
An Unquiet Mind (NF), Kay Redfield Jamison
Nothing Was the Same (NF), Kay Redfield Jamison
24. Susan Fels, DC:
I'm embarrassed to admit that a) I haven't read many books this past year and b) I can't remember which ones I did read. (See Richard Hovey/Billy Collins posting above).
James Fenimore Cooper (NF), Wayne Franklin. I'm just starting (this biography and it) strikes me as well written and has a lot to say about the early days of Cooperstown (pre Hall of Fame), plus the politics and economics of writing and publishing in the 19th century US. Also, contrary to one's impression that Cooper's novels are unreadable, the author cites Melville and Thoreau as authors who appreciated and were influenced by the Leatherstocking and seafaring books. I may have to tackle the novels themselves in the New Year.
25. Ellen Shapira, KY:
Sarah's Key (F), Tatiana de Rosnay
Those Who Save Us (F), Jenna Blum
The White Tiger (F), Aravind Adiga
The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Society (F), Mary Ann Shaffer & Annie Barrows
The Help (F), Kathryn Sockett
Deaf Sentence (F), David Lodge
City of Thieves (F), David Benioff
Atlas of the Unknowns (F), Tania James
Cutting for Stone (F), Abraham Verghese
26. Diana Bunday, MD
Olive Kitteridge (F), Elizabeth Stout
Bridge of Sighs (F), Richard Russo
27. Kevin Curtin, MD
The Road (F), Cormac McCarthy
Three Times Carlin: An Orgy of George (NF), George Carlin. Three of his well-known books in one volume. Brain Droppings is my favorite. Napalm and Silly Putty is also quite good. I have yet to read When Will Jesus Bring the Pork Chops, but perhaps I’ll start it over the break.
Born Standing Up (NF), Steve Martin. Excellent. It is not a silly comedy book at all. It is a memoir of sorts, but I love his analysis of his style of comedy, his inspirations, and how he developed his material. He is a good writer.
Fargo Rock City (NF), Chuck Klosterman. My favorite writer at the moment. He is a very funny writer about pop culture, although I think people from my generation may be the only ones who gets his humor. Sometimes I feel like he and I must have hung out together in high school. This book is about heavy metal music in the 80's.
The Transcendent Child (NF), Lillian Rubin. I teach a class right now at Johns Hopkins, "counseling adolescents," and every time I teach it I require the students to read (this book). If you haven't read it, do so.
28. Richard Miller, DC:
The Millenium Series (F), Stieg Larsson. Three page turners, each as good or better than the previous one, built around a character who is as unlikely heroine as you can imagine and whom you will not forget.
Shadow of the Wind (F), Caros Ruiz Safon. Another ‘page turner,’ this one set in Barcelona (Yes, Fruzie, location and knowledge thereof do matter). Long and worth the time.
Brooklyn (F), Colm Toibin. A lovely small story of an Irish young woman who comes to Brooklyn in the mid 50s. The book stayed with me long after I read it.
Olive Kitteridge (F), Elizabeth Strout. Nine stories all woven around the same folks. Another story and character that grows on you as you read the book and stays with you afterwards.
Nothing Was the Same (NF), Kay Redfield Jamison. Maybe my favorite book of the year. Johns Hopkins professor Jamison wrote the wonderful An Unquiet Mind, about her own struggles with and the best treatment of Bipolar disorder I’ve ever read. In her new book, she describes her year after her husband of 20 years died and explains the difference between grief and depression. Reminiscent of Joan Didion’s The Year of Magically Thinking but better -- incredibly honest and beautifully written. Not for everyone.
Strength in What Remains (NF), Tracy Kidder. The next book after Mountains Beyond Mountains (the wonderful story of the wonderful Paul Farmer). This one is a gem too.
A. Lincoln, (NF), Ronald C. White, Jr. Good for both the Lincoln experts and those of us who just want to know more and more about this man.
Stones into Schools (NF), Greg Mortenson. The new book by the author of Three Cups of Tea (tho there is some controversy about how much of that one he wrote). This one picks up where the last one left off, and it’s good to know that folks such as Mortenson and now his ‘Dirty Dozen’ are still at work.
War Child (NF), Emmanuel Jal. One of a number of books by a child soldier, many of them are excellent. If you are only going to read one, make it this one
.
In My Hands (NF), Irene Opdyke. Memories of a Holocaust rescuer, a different type of Holocaust story, tracing how the author unintentionally and increasingly became involved in rescuing numerous victims of the Holocaust.
29. Bill Plitt, VA
Fatal Embrace, Christians and Jews, and the Search for Peace in the Holy Land (NF), Mark Brayerman. A colleague and friend just released…this must read for all who are concerned about the region, and who are looking for a new way out.
Much of my reading is on this topic, as you may have guessed. Greg Mortenson's new book, Stones into Schools, Promoting Peace with Books Not Bombs is on my reading list. I loved Three Cups of Tea. Tracy Kidder and Mountains Beyond Mountains (the quest by Paul Farmer a man who would cure the world) is also inspiring.
30. Cindy Margolies, DC:
In Search of Memory (NF), Eric Kandel. (A) book I read for professional reasons and enjoyed a lot. Although technical in parts about neuroscience, this is a very accessible book. Kandel is
quite open about his life and feelings, and he is an admirable humanist
as well as Nobel Prize winning scientist. His passion for learning is
evident. He grew up in Austria and was a refugee from the Nazis; his
description of this as well as his perspective on how present-day
Austria continues to deny its role in the Holocaust is enlightening.
A Path with Heart (NF), Jack Kornfield and Seeking the Heart of Widsom (NF) Jack Kornfield and Joseph Goldstein. A couple of spiritual books I enjoyed. They’re both about the practice of mindfulness mediation, inspiring, helpful.
31. Richard Margolies, DC:
Grant (NF), Jean Edward Smith. Recently finished (this) long and completely engrossing biography by the noted historian. Smith tells the story in the Preface that as a boy living in the South, aged 10, visiting the Shiloh battlefield with his father he said that "we almost won this battle" (Grant leading the Federals won). And his father said, paraphrasing, "No son, we won!" This story takes on the full meaning when you realize that Jean Edward Smith, growing up in the South had identified as a boy with the South, even though he is African American.
It is a wonderful biography of a great leader, and helps correct the historical distortion that Southerners during the early part of the 20th century created that Grant was not a great president. Of course the South didn't like Grant, but this book makes clear that Grant was one of our greatest presidents. And we would not be considering Lincoln our greatest president if it hadn't been for his partnership with Grant who tried valiantly to carry on his vision after Lincoln's murder.
32. Martha Curtin, MD
Bel Canto (F), Ann Patchett. This was voted by most of (our) book club as their favorite so far. Such rich writing and such an interesting novel in the respect of interpersonal relationships.
House of Spirits (F), Isabel Allende. I LOVED this book so much I read another of her novels. It's a very rich story about a family in the late 1800s/early 1900s in an unnamed South American country. Very educational as well as interesting.
The Mermaid Chair (F), Sue Monk Kidd. The first book we did...Very interesting book. Almost a simple story but with lots going on under the surface. Great book club book... lots to discuss.
Like Water for Chocolate (F), Laura Esquivel. Very entertaining book with lots of symbolism. Fun.
Watership Down (F), Richard Adams. I loved this book, too. I didn't think I would... very long and hardly any humans in the story... but I ended up loving the story. I think it's juvenile fiction, but appropriate for adults. About groups and setting up a hierarchy of control (sort of).
33. Leslie Sifry, NY
10th Anniversary Edition of This Land Is Your Land (NF), Woody Guthrie with paintings by Kathy Jakobsen.
The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind (NF), William Kamkwamba and Bryan Mealer. A quick, must read.
34. Nicko Margolies, DC
Earlier in the year I read the Poem of El Cid Campeador., the 11th century Spanish legend. While the language is slow going at first, if you pause to reflect on the story, it can be quite enjoyable. I had a great professor explain the nuances of the tale, so I may be a tad biased. El Cid is chock full of swords, honor, epic battles, love and beard pulling, everything one could dream of in an epic poem.
City of Thieves (F), David Benioff. A fictionalized story loosely based on his grandfather's experiences in Leningrad during World War II. I must admit I am not very far into the book, but I am already drawn by the illustrative writing and mysterious characters. I am also a WWII junkie; so it isn't a big surprise that this book appeals to me.
35. Sean C. McLaughlin, VA:
My Top Ten for the year: (Ed. Leave it to the math genius Sean to list 11 books)
True Compass (NF), Ted Kennedy. You know the story...Irish humor...wit...and Capitol wisdom. I laughed and cried....I loved it!
Three Cups of Tea/Stones to Schools (NF), Greg Mortenson. You know the story...Inspiring...uplifting...Loved it!
Shannon (NF), Frank Delaney. This guy’s a good writer, and I enjoy his books....A man's journey through Ireland after WW I to finds his family roots -- He finds a lot more and gets involved in "The Troubles".
Love and Death - My Journey....(NF), Forest Church. Son of the deceased US Senator, this is the 2nd book I've read by him. A Protestant minister who shares his life/thoughts before he dies. Very good!
Longest Trip Home (F), John Grogan. This is a laugh-out-loud book for me...mortality...life...faith…family -- funny, insightful, and warm.
A Pilgrim in a Pilgrim Church (NF), Rembert Weakland, OSB. A bio by the retired bishop of Milwaukee....A personal journey... A spiritual journey...and the inside look at the politics of the national/international church. Surprising twists!
The Help (NF), Kathryn Stockett. I enjoyed this...about women 'of the south'...and their relationships with ‘the help.’ Humor...hope....friendship...love...
Living the Lord's Prayer (NF), Albert Haase, OFM. Christians pray this prayer everyday in every part of the world...What does it say? What can we get out of it today...Well written and very well done...I got many reflections from this....
Brooklyn (F), Colm Toibin. A warm and loving look at a young Irish girls first few years after her arrival in the 1950's. I loved this because it hit home!
The Road to Assisi (NF), Jon Sweeney. Bio of St. Francis. Since I was going to Assisi in October, I wanted to learn about this saint -- the real story of the man and not the pious garbage we hear about. Sweeney helps with this, and I liked this book....Inspiring...
36. Sam Black, DC/ME
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (F), Stieg Larsson
Netherland (F), Joseph O’Neill
City of Thieves (F), David Benioff
Three Cups of Tea (NF), Greg Mortenson
25th Hour (F), David Benioff
Moving Mars (F), Greg Bear a science fiction story about the human colony on Mars in the 22d century. Absolutely vivid. Includes a hilarious sendup of what Earth is like in 2175 (think Tokyo, Los Angeles, NYC and add 165 years of "development"). Some lovely science. Characterization, autobiography, plot, politics and military action.
Blood Music (F), Greg Bear, a horrifying biotech thriller, completely contemporary, riveting
Notes on a Lost Flute (NF), Kerry Hardy, a non-academic, non-technical study of the culture of the Maine Indians, based in large part on the study of their language. Beautiful writing and illustrations. Fascinating detective work to reconstruct elements of a lost society. Totally original and a priceless piece of Americana. Worthy of a Pulitzer Prize. Not long. Down East Books.
Older books on the list:
The Power Broker (NF) Robert Caro
The Garrick Year ((F), Margaret Drabble. Richard, you have to read this, seems to be the best thing by Drabble. Insightful, short, erudite, funny. Roger Angell's favorite Drabble book.
The Chosen (NF), Jerome Karabel, a study of Harvard-Yale-Princeton admissions policy 1900-1990. Eye-opening, humbling, fascinating. An essential piece of American social history.
In the Woods (F), Tanya French, an awesomely good, serious novel. Works on many levels, including that of a police procedures murder investigation. Characterization, plot; depth in describing the key relationship. Some of the good news: a) You don't want it ever to end and b) it's 600-700 pages, so it almost doesn't ever end. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo is the sizzle; this is steak.
37. Bob Thurston, DC
Flanagan's Run (F), Tom McNab-- an oldie (1982) that a friend lent me to read. It's fiction but based on a real event-- one of the cross country running races that were held in the 1930's, attracting all sorts of mostly down and out and desperate men and a few women to run for prize money all the way from LA to New York. Great characters with fascinating back stories, and a lot of true-to-life conversation about long distance running training and tactics. As far as I know this is the author, Tom McNab's, only book. He's an athlete, one time holder of the Scottish triple jump record, who got interested in the subject, researched it, and wrote this book.
The Shock Doctrine (NF), by Naomi Klein-- I'm a little slow on the pickup on this book which has been out since 2007. This analysis of the ways in which neoliberal economic doctrine has been used to justify all sorts of atrocities and countless military coups and dictatorships absolutely blows your mind. She draws compelling connections from the anti-Keynesian, laissez-faire economic theories of Milton Friedman and his "Chicago School" to a mind-numbing number of extreme actions, coups, and atrocities around the world-- mostly supported by the US of course. Relates it also to experiments using shock therapy as a supposed way to "clear out" the mind/personality of a mentally ill patient so that a healthy new personality and mind can be implanted. Enough, I can't do it justice anyway. I had read about half the book before I set off on a 3 week bike trip this summer, so I cut the book in half and took along the half I hadn't read yet. (The only thing is, I got so mad when I read parts of it, that I had to stop reading it, and realized I should have brought along some good fiction instead!)
38. Todd Endo, VA
The Healing of America (NF), by TR Reid, because he informed me about how different countries go about health care and how they compare with what the US does.
The Post-American World (NF), Fareed Zacharia because of the title and the discussions which followed a friend's reluctance to read the book because of its title.
Others for personal reasons and the questions they provoked in me:
The Fatal Embrace (NF), Mark Braversman, because it introduced me to whole fields of writing on biblical scholarship and the Israel-Palestine conflict, such as Jewish theologians and progressive Christian theological support for Zionism and Israel's policies vis a vis Palestine. To be clear, Braverman is an American Jew with Israeli grandparents, who takes Israel to task on criteria of justice and of the future of Israel and the entire region. I'm only halfway through and need to take more detailed notes on the book and my questions.
The Family (NF), Will Sharlet, which aims to be an expose of an organization, in which a good friend of mine is a leader. Sharlet accuses the International Foundation of being a right wing, fundamentalist organization with a secret agenda to take over the world. I've been on the fringes of this organization for more than fifty years and I have some of the same questions that Sharlet does (e.g. why does it seem to have a conservative bias?). Yet, I don't see the single-minded conspiratorial planfulness that Sharlet does. I am engaging a number of friends, who have greater personal experience with this organization, in a dialogue about my questions and observations, and theirs.
The Namesake (F), Jhumpa Lahiri
The Inheritance of Loss (F), Kiran Desai
(and various other books on India because we visited our son and family in north India this fall)
39. Judy White, OH & Now in Cairo (additional reads):
The Guernsey Literary & Potato Peel Pie Society (F), Mary Ann Shaffer & Annie Barrows. Loved it. Mike did too. Makes us want to visit Guernsey, though no doubt it's changed. What a lovely, gentle story.
The Geography of Love (NF), Glenda Burgess, is a memoir of a passionate love affair that became a passionate, loving marriage, and how that relationship handled a diagnosis that we all fear. Lots to consider about the stage of life that we all would rather not think about, and about the power of love.
Brooklyn (N), Colm Toibin, tells the story of a young Irish woman who emigrates to Irish Brooklyn after WWII. Like ‘Guernsey’, it's a lovely, gentle story set in the past, with memorable characters. It reminded me of the first book I loved in my life, in high school, A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith.
40. Randy Candea, FL (and Nova Scotia too):
My non-fiction readingis primarily books related to U.S. history. My fiction reading is mostly what I call regional mysteries - a mystery set in a distinct region (England (PDJames), Botswana (Alexander McCall Smith), New Mexico (Tony Hillerman), Alaska (Dana Stabenow), New England (Robert B. Parker), Florida (John D. MacDonald), etc.
Two in particular since I’m having trouble remembering all the books I read this year which is not a comment on the quality of the books but rather on the age of the reader!:
Nixonland (NF), Rick Perlstein – I found it to be a scary and fascinating read that covers the 1960s and 1970s in great depth. They were my formative years, and Perlstein's detailed account is the best that has been done so far.
South Of Broad (F), Pat Conroy. I think Conroy is one of our best living writers and great storyteller. In this novel he delivers a sweeping generational epic set in South Carolina.
41.Tiffany Lopez, NY
The Catcher in the Rye (F), J.D. Salinger
Olive Kitteridge (F), Elizabeth Strout
Watchmen Graphic Novel (F), Alan Moore
Loving Frank (F), Nancy Horan (only because I was shocked by the ending)
Suite Francaise (F), Irene Nemirovsky (mostly because of the ending)
The Seven Spiritual Laws of Success (NF), Deepak Chopra
The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao (F), Junot Diaz -- read for book club last January. It was a book club book, and everyone in attendance really enjoyed it. The story was pretty dramatic and mysterious, as the narrator took you through different generations of Oscar's family and how his situation came to be. We enjoyed the both the nostalgic queues and Dominican cultural references throughout the novel. I have lent my copy to a few friends who have also enjoyed it.
The Lovely Bones (F), Alice Sebold -- was only able to put it down because my family was together for the holidays. I picked it up after hearing an interview with one of the cast members from the movie on NPR. The first chapter was riveting and quite disturbing. The book then became less intense from then on. It was still quite enthralling and I found myself anticipating what would come next, but also found myself wrong in nearly every instance. I think the movie is going to be very different, but you never know.
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PS – I am hopeful that folks will keep a list of what they are enjoying most in 2010, and if I’m still fooling with MillersTime a year from now, I’ll ask again for your favorites.
(Click HERE to see a list of the books the youngest of the generations are most enjoying -- or at least the ones they ask their parents to reread to them endlessly.)
12/21/09
41 MILLERSTIME READERS IDENTIFY FAVORITE BOOKS READ THIS YEAR
Updated: 1/5/10