For posterity, the booklist, full and favorited, of 2009:
Most Recommended Non-Fiction
African Friends and Money Matters by David Maranz
I've recommended this book to more people this year than any other. And since I'd only recommend it to people who are connected, directly or indirectly, with Africans, it becomes obvious that I don't recommend too many books. Honestly though, it has been the most insightful and practical book I've read this year and has made interacting with my Rwandan friends much less confusing.
Most Recommended Fiction
Olive Kitteridge by Elizabeth Strout
I love short stories. LOVE. But I don't like how reading a book of them makes my head feel like a pinball machine. But this novel is structured as a collection of short stories, each of them involving the central character, Olive Kitteridge. In some she is a lead character, in some she appears only as a brief memory. Even though it's an easy read about an older lady in a small East Coast town, it's not all tea roses and porcelain tea cups -- this book, like life, has a dark undercurrent. Bittersweet and brilliantly told, I wish I could read a hundred more books just like it.
Best Book to Read Now That I'm Not 17
Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad
I read it in AP English in high school. Read being a term that meant 'noted words on a page grouped into sentences'. It bored me to death and made no sense -- all I could remember was "the horror!" But 12 years and an English degree later, it was an enjoyable, easy, vivid read with clear (almost painfully so) metaphors. It was a lovely thing to find that growing up made Conrad palatable, even appreciated.
Best Book About the Heart of Darkness if You're Not Grown Up Enough to Find Conrad Palatable
The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver
So it's not exactly the same, but certainly in the same vein. I was amazed by the artistic merit of the book -- she employs some surprising and beautiful literary techniques -- but it seems Kingsolver always has a sermon to preach and, in the end, she couldn't restrain it for the sake of her readers. Great insights into Africa (and the human condition), but ending monologues compromised what otherwise would've been a perfect read. (Sorry Barbara, I DO love you!)
Best Argument Against Divorce
The Unexpected Legacy of Divorce by Judy Wallerstein
This thorough examination of the effect that divorce has on children is the most convincing thing I've ever heard or read as to why marriage is important. This secular book is not "anti-divorce" in its language, but it is in its content. Since nearly half the population is affected by divorce, I found it insightful to learn likely effects it can have in the way people think and behave when it comes to relationships.
Best Insight into Addiction
Beautiful Boy by David Sheff
No experience with this one either, but it was really eye-opening to learn what addiction is like from the perspective of a parent.
Best Use of Language
Atonement by Ian McEwan
The aforementioned fiction-writing ladies employed some brilliant literary structures, but McEwan's use of language certainly deserves mention. Reading this one felt like watching it. I have to admit I had higher hopes for the content and themes that were raised, but the words...the words made up for all that.
And the full list from this year:
The Unexpected Legacy of Divorce by Judy Wallerstein
Say You're One of Them by Uwem Akpan
This Beautiful Mess by Rick McKinley
Beautiful Boy by David Sheff
Olive Kitteridge by Elizabeth Strout
Omnivore's Dilemma by Michael Pollan
19th Wife: A Novel by David Ebershoff
Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad
The Mom Walk by Sally Clarkson
Life Together by Dietrich Bonhoeffer
The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver
Whatever It Takes by Paul Tough
Crazy Love: Overwhelmed by a Relentless God by Francis Chan
The Dream Manager by Matthew Kelly
My Sister's Keeper by Jodi Picoult
African Friends and Money Matters by David Maranz
Land of a Thousand Hills: My Life in Rwanda by Rosamond Halsey Carr with Ann Howard Halsey
Pack It Up: The Essential Guide to Organized Travel by Anne McAlpin
Foreign to Familiar: A Guide to Understanding Hot- and Cold-Climate Cultures by Sarah Lanier
A Child's Garden: Enchanting Outdoor Spaces for Children and Parents by Molly Dannenmier
Three Cups of Tea: One Man's Mission to Promote Peace . . . One School at a Time by Greg Mortenson and David Oliver Relin
Revolutionary Road by Richards Yates
People With Dirty Hands: The Passion for Gardening by Robin Chotznoff
Woman: An Intimate Geography by Natalie Angier
Dead Women Walking by Jennifer Su
The Backyard Orchardist by Stella Otto
Berry Grower's Companion by Barbara L. Bowling
The Pruning Book by Gustav Whittock
Successful Small Food Gardens by Louise Riotte
The $64 Tomato by William Alexander
The Book Thief by Markus Zusak
In The Hot Zone: One Man, One Year, Twenty Wars by Kevin Sites
Atonement by Ian McEwan
"What do you want to be when you grow up?"
-
Last spring, I helped in an after school program at a church for a couple
afternoons; a fun, crazy experience, and it stretched more than my legs,
that's ...
8 thoughts anyone?:
I really wish I could've seen Les Miserables somewhere on this list....
Try it this year, Fontie; I promise you that it will be worth the effort. I promise. And if you do get through it, I'll get us both t-shirts that say "Les Miserables: Quell Manifique!" in the color of your choice.
HA, I know, right--I'm so glad I wasn't the only one who was put off by BK's sermonizing in the Poisonwood Bible! Have you read "Animal, Vegetable, Miracle" yet?
Whatever possessed you to try to read Heart of Darkness again!? I felt the exact same way you described when I read it in high school--up until your favorable review, I had no plans to ever read it again:)
Mary. I got your comment just seconds after finishing Les Miserables. The movie. But that was because I found myself reading the book for plot and I wanted to enjoy the beauty of the work without worrying about what was going to happen to who. So now, with the movie behind me, I can proceed. It WILL happen in 2010 and then we can get our shirts!
And Rachel, good to know I'm in good company on Poisonwood. The sermon was fine -- it just didn't have any place in that novel. At least, not in the form it was concluded. And yes, I read AVM. I loved it -- ish. I love her writing. And it inspired me to garden...but with a touch of guilting me into it. And guilt has no place in a garden. (Which sounds biblical, doesn't it?) And it was Poisonwood that inspired me to read Heart of Darkness again -- that and going to Rwanda. It was pretty amusing to see how Conrad's writing has improved so drastically over the past 12 years. :)
So...favorite book recommends from either of you?
Aaaaagggghhhhh! The BEAUTY of the book is that you don't know what's going to happen to whom! I was constantly sitting straight up in bed, with my mouth falling open about how Hugo tied a seemingly minor character into the tapestry of the plot, to surface a generation later as a MAJOR character. Brilliant, brilliant writing; the most complex plot I've ever read.
You know I have recommendations!
I'm reading MFK Fisher right now; The Art of Eating. She immerses me in Europe, 1930-1940s, and I eat meals in my head. Much fewer calories that way.
For a delightful, turn-of-the-century novel with a slight mystery and absolutely embraceable characters, try "Cordelia Underwood or The Marvelous Beginnings of the Moosepath League" by Van Reid. They are out of print, which I can't understand at all, but some libraries still have them. I laugh out loud, and the romance is so delicately written that it takes a while to catch it....
Any reading goals, this year? Any challenges?
i don't like goals. i am forever indebted to my junior high "personal development" teacher for that.
but here was a reading strategy challenge I considered: play "Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon" only books instead of movies and more than six and without Kevin Bacon. So that you couldn't just go and read whatever book you wanted, you would have to trace some kind of relation from the book you wanted to the next book you'd read and you might have to read a few books to finally read the book you really wanted to read.
But that seemed like a lot of work. and i don't like work. i'm forever indebted to my human nature for that.
Thanks for the list! I added "African Friends" and "Olive Kitteridge" to my want-to-read list. Olive might be good for my book group.
I'm so glad you read the divorce book. I can't remember, did I give you a copy of that? Years ago I found it at the dollar store and I bought several copies to give away. It was kind of an emotionally draining read for me, but it gave me so much insight into myself and so many people I know who have lived through divorce.
I can't believe "Heart of Darkness" was a good read! I will have to test it for now-adult myself, especially if I have to convince high schoolers to read it someday.
BTW, Mary, I know I made fun of it on FB, but I'm hoping to (try to) read my copy of Les Miserables this year too. :) I know the plot pretty well from the movie, but I'm thinking that will help me make sense of the dense writing.
Olive will be perfect for bookclub.
Divorce book was from library, but read at your (and Annie's...and David Sheff-author of Beautiful Boy's) recommendation. Holy crap, I had no idea, summarizes what I took from that one.
And Les Miserables is less miserable now that I've watched the movie for SURE. I just get all anxious wanting to know the end when I read (anything) that I skip the good stuff. Basically, watching the movie means I'll actually read (instead of skim) the book -- and weirdly enough, I'm enjoying the book a lot more. Besides, there's lots of little differences, so there is a minor element of the unknown.
And Liam Neeson is the perfect Jean Valjean. My other characters (what I had read anyway) varied somewhat...
Oh, and it's fun to replace movie scenes with my imagination -- I thought watching would limit my imagination.
So it's funny discussing book vs. movie. Apparently its something white people like to do.
This is truly inspiring. Barbara Kingsolver will be presenting writers' workshops at the San Miguel Writers Conference in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico February 19-23 2010. I just signed up. It looks like a rare opportunity to meet her. Are you going?
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