Bookwormish, fourth quarter of 2015
Dec. 30th, 2015 10:08 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
starfishstarBooks!
Once this year has officially ended, I will of course do a year-end post about alllll the books I read this year. (I am so stupidly excited about getting to write a post about the year's worth of books! I am such a nerd!) But it occurs to me that this final quarter of the year deserves its own post, too, like I did for the first three quarters of this year... So here are a few favorites from the last three months:
VERY TOP BOOKS
Career of Evil by Robert Galbraith (J. K. Rowling)
WOW, J. K. Rowling keeps impressing me, and impressing me more, and impressing me more. This book was so good. Is the fourth one out yet????
We Have Always Lived in the Castle by Shirley Jackson
WOW, also. A literature-loving friend pointed me to Shirley Jackson, recommending especially this, her last and perhaps very best book; my friend called it "a culmination of a lifetime of careful writing." I agree, it's masterfully written, just enough information doled out to keep you going, "Wait, what? What's actually going on here? Did I understand that right, or...?" I read a whole lotta books, but very few have me at this level of "absolutely must keep reading because I need to understand what's going on in this strange, fascinating story!"
OTHER TOP BOOKS
Half of a Yellow Sun by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
I chose this when it was my turn to pick the book for my book group, because I loved Adichie's "Americanah" so much... But I picked this not realizing that this one is her book entirely about the Biafran war, Nigeria torn apart by war, families torn apart by war, children dying of starvation as a deliberate war tactic, aaaaaah. I'm glad I read it – it's very good! – but I'm sorry I accidentally inflicted 400 pages of war, famine and grinding devastation on my friends during the darkest part of the year. (This after we'd just read not one but two dystopian novels...)
The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Díaz
The brilliant, the wonderful, the very necessary Junot Díaz. Opening up another whole world to me. Just like I wonder how I managed to get this far in life knowing nothing about Biafra, how did I know basically nothing about the history of the Dominican Republic? This book was unquestionably excellently written, but it's another one where I'm not sure whether it's accurate to say I enjoyed it, simply because so much of it is about awful stuff happening to the characters... But I'm so glad I finally, finally read this book, which had been on my list for ages. And I am so glad to exist in a world that has Junot Díaz in it, who's such an important thinker about writing, and writing culture, and representation in writing, and writers of color.
Nine Stories by J. D. Salinger
Once I adjusted to how bleak the worldview is in so many of these stories, I actually really enjoyed them! Salinger has something strange but special, a way of writing a story that clips along in an engaging – even fun – manner, even as he's discussing, like, suburban disenchantment, unhappy marriages and suicide. Huh. Strange dude. But I like his writing. (I only finally read "The Catcher in the Rye" a couple years ago, and unexpectedly loved it.) This was the first book in a while where I felt like I really had to go online and find discussions and resources and analysis about the book, to fully get what he was doing in each story. The kind of book you want to read in a literature class, because the experience is so much richer and fuller with someone who knows the material excellently guiding you through it.
Black Is the Colour of My True-Love’s Heart by Ellis Peters
After all those heavy topics, how about lightening things up with...a nice murder? But a "cozy" murder! One where it's all about the well-developed characters and the interesting setting, not so much about the murder at all! I still consider myself "not really a mystery novel person," yet I keep making exceptions for mystery writers who excel at writing well-developed characters. (Sayers, Conan Doyle, Rowling, Laurie R. King, etc.) Hat-tip to![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
shimotsuki for recommending this, because I think I'll be reading more Ellis Peters.
Code Name Verity by Elizabeth Wein
Continuing the run of heavy topics... How about a wonderful story of female friendship and bravery, that just happens to include death, war and torture? Augh! Really, though, it's very well written, all structured around a very clever twist, and the characters are great – two brave young WWII heroines, one a pilot and one an intelligence agent, who become friends of the do-absolutely-anything-to-save-you sort. Passes the hell out of the Bechdel test, goes without saying!
Giovanni’s Room by James Baldwin
Er....speaking of depressing subjects. I wanted to finally, finally read something by James Baldwin – and I was so curious to read a mainstream book about gay characters written in the fifties – but this one's not exactly uplifiting either... Very, very interesting book, I'm not trying to lessen that at all, and I'm sure quite accurate, too. But this was of course still the era where you basically couldn't write about gay characters unless you had them end up unhappy and/or dead by the end of the book. So, reading this book made me all the more glad that the world also has "Maurice" in it!
Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe by Benjamin Alire Sáenz
A book with a happy ending! Hurray! And, no less, a book with a realistic, sympathetic protrayal of Mexican-American teens, gay teens. Ah, this book checks all my boxes! (AND the audiobook is read by the man of the year, Lin-Manuel Miranda, he of "Hamilton" meteoric fame!) I'm slightly torn on this book; I'm happy to read a coming-of-age that's also a romance, but I almost more wanted to read a coming-of-age that was also a story of friendship, and how friendship can transcend differences like sexual orientation. But it was a wonderful book, don't get me wrong. I will be reading more of Sáenz! Hat-tip togracerene; I read this book because her online book club was reading it, but I didn't finish in time to participate in the discussion. :-(
OTHER THOUGHTS
Muriel Spark – I've now read four books by her (one last year, three this year), because she's one of those classic authors I felt like I should know... And I think I still don't "get" her. I've enjoyed the books fine, but they didn't grab hold of me the way other books do – and I feel like I must be missing something, because she's hailed as one of the greats! ("Loitering with Intent" I think is called "a perfect novel.") Maybe she's another one I need to take a class in, to fully get what's impressive about what she's doing.
...And those were only the highlights; I read lots more besides! Full looking-back post about a year of (intensive, sometimes compulsive) reading coming up at the start of the new year.
Once this year has officially ended, I will of course do a year-end post about alllll the books I read this year. (I am so stupidly excited about getting to write a post about the year's worth of books! I am such a nerd!) But it occurs to me that this final quarter of the year deserves its own post, too, like I did for the first three quarters of this year... So here are a few favorites from the last three months:
VERY TOP BOOKS
Career of Evil by Robert Galbraith (J. K. Rowling)
WOW, J. K. Rowling keeps impressing me, and impressing me more, and impressing me more. This book was so good. Is the fourth one out yet????
We Have Always Lived in the Castle by Shirley Jackson
WOW, also. A literature-loving friend pointed me to Shirley Jackson, recommending especially this, her last and perhaps very best book; my friend called it "a culmination of a lifetime of careful writing." I agree, it's masterfully written, just enough information doled out to keep you going, "Wait, what? What's actually going on here? Did I understand that right, or...?" I read a whole lotta books, but very few have me at this level of "absolutely must keep reading because I need to understand what's going on in this strange, fascinating story!"
OTHER TOP BOOKS
Half of a Yellow Sun by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
I chose this when it was my turn to pick the book for my book group, because I loved Adichie's "Americanah" so much... But I picked this not realizing that this one is her book entirely about the Biafran war, Nigeria torn apart by war, families torn apart by war, children dying of starvation as a deliberate war tactic, aaaaaah. I'm glad I read it – it's very good! – but I'm sorry I accidentally inflicted 400 pages of war, famine and grinding devastation on my friends during the darkest part of the year. (This after we'd just read not one but two dystopian novels...)
The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Díaz
The brilliant, the wonderful, the very necessary Junot Díaz. Opening up another whole world to me. Just like I wonder how I managed to get this far in life knowing nothing about Biafra, how did I know basically nothing about the history of the Dominican Republic? This book was unquestionably excellently written, but it's another one where I'm not sure whether it's accurate to say I enjoyed it, simply because so much of it is about awful stuff happening to the characters... But I'm so glad I finally, finally read this book, which had been on my list for ages. And I am so glad to exist in a world that has Junot Díaz in it, who's such an important thinker about writing, and writing culture, and representation in writing, and writers of color.
Nine Stories by J. D. Salinger
Once I adjusted to how bleak the worldview is in so many of these stories, I actually really enjoyed them! Salinger has something strange but special, a way of writing a story that clips along in an engaging – even fun – manner, even as he's discussing, like, suburban disenchantment, unhappy marriages and suicide. Huh. Strange dude. But I like his writing. (I only finally read "The Catcher in the Rye" a couple years ago, and unexpectedly loved it.) This was the first book in a while where I felt like I really had to go online and find discussions and resources and analysis about the book, to fully get what he was doing in each story. The kind of book you want to read in a literature class, because the experience is so much richer and fuller with someone who knows the material excellently guiding you through it.
Black Is the Colour of My True-Love’s Heart by Ellis Peters
After all those heavy topics, how about lightening things up with...a nice murder? But a "cozy" murder! One where it's all about the well-developed characters and the interesting setting, not so much about the murder at all! I still consider myself "not really a mystery novel person," yet I keep making exceptions for mystery writers who excel at writing well-developed characters. (Sayers, Conan Doyle, Rowling, Laurie R. King, etc.) Hat-tip to
shimotsuki for recommending this, because I think I'll be reading more Ellis Peters.Code Name Verity by Elizabeth Wein
Continuing the run of heavy topics... How about a wonderful story of female friendship and bravery, that just happens to include death, war and torture? Augh! Really, though, it's very well written, all structured around a very clever twist, and the characters are great – two brave young WWII heroines, one a pilot and one an intelligence agent, who become friends of the do-absolutely-anything-to-save-you sort. Passes the hell out of the Bechdel test, goes without saying!
Giovanni’s Room by James Baldwin
Er....speaking of depressing subjects. I wanted to finally, finally read something by James Baldwin – and I was so curious to read a mainstream book about gay characters written in the fifties – but this one's not exactly uplifiting either... Very, very interesting book, I'm not trying to lessen that at all, and I'm sure quite accurate, too. But this was of course still the era where you basically couldn't write about gay characters unless you had them end up unhappy and/or dead by the end of the book. So, reading this book made me all the more glad that the world also has "Maurice" in it!
Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe by Benjamin Alire Sáenz
A book with a happy ending! Hurray! And, no less, a book with a realistic, sympathetic protrayal of Mexican-American teens, gay teens. Ah, this book checks all my boxes! (AND the audiobook is read by the man of the year, Lin-Manuel Miranda, he of "Hamilton" meteoric fame!) I'm slightly torn on this book; I'm happy to read a coming-of-age that's also a romance, but I almost more wanted to read a coming-of-age that was also a story of friendship, and how friendship can transcend differences like sexual orientation. But it was a wonderful book, don't get me wrong. I will be reading more of Sáenz! Hat-tip to
gracerene; I read this book because her online book club was reading it, but I didn't finish in time to participate in the discussion. :-(OTHER THOUGHTS
Muriel Spark – I've now read four books by her (one last year, three this year), because she's one of those classic authors I felt like I should know... And I think I still don't "get" her. I've enjoyed the books fine, but they didn't grab hold of me the way other books do – and I feel like I must be missing something, because she's hailed as one of the greats! ("Loitering with Intent" I think is called "a perfect novel.") Maybe she's another one I need to take a class in, to fully get what's impressive about what she's doing.
...And those were only the highlights; I read lots more besides! Full looking-back post about a year of (intensive, sometimes compulsive) reading coming up at the start of the new year.
no subject
Date: 2015-12-31 03:44 am (UTC)Loved Junot Diaz's book! I read it when it first came out, and I remember thinking it was brilliant. I actually own it, and it might be time for another reread.
And glad to hear you liked Ari & Dante!
no subject
Date: 2015-12-31 05:36 pm (UTC)Junot Díaz is indeed brilliant! A friend of mine got to take a writing class with him this past year (!!) and I was envious indeed! My only struggle with his books is that the subject matter is so tough, the characters' lives such a struggle... (Someone else described one of his books as "fun" and I thought, did we read the same book??) So I was really engaged in it and glad to read it, but often I was cringing away from the subject matter. But I think with a little more time and distance I'll be able to look at it more objectively, and see how well-written it was. (I've also read "This Is How You Lose Her," and I got "Drown" out of the library to read at some point next.)
And I really, really liked Aristotle and Dante! Another one that I know will stick with me. I really wished I could have been part of the discussion, but I was juggling so many books at once right then, and just didn't manage in time. :-( I think you asked for other recommendations of books by him? I've also seen people recommend "Carry Me Like Water." I was going to get it out of the library, but then discovered that it's a massive tome; and I already have a huge stack of books sitting here, so I figured I'd wait a bit. And I saw that the library where I now work has a book by him called "Sammy and Juliana in Hollywood" but I don't know anything about it. (Except that apparently it was his first YA book?)