(Can I start this off with an aside? I'm sitting down here at the computer to write this post with my afternoon bag of microwave popcorn and it's kind of a dud. I'm a little bitter about that. If you want to lose 30 pounds and keep it off, you're going to need three things: MyFitnessPal, Diet Coke, and microwave popcorn. Every afternoon for a year I have waited with anticipation my bag of microwave popcorn, but every once in a while you get a dud bag that doesn't pop very well and so doesn't provide you with as much popcorn enjoyment as you really had coming to you. Bummer. Anyway ...)
I read some books this year. I feel like it should have been more, especially because I can't claim to have spent tons of time throughout the year keeping up with all the current affairs in the New Yorker. Yes, that was me you saw during all the family gatherings last week, catching up on New Yorkers from November, October, ... April.
Oh, well. This is what I've got.
January:
Orphan Train by Christina Baker Kline This one was a book club selection, nothing to write home about. The subject matter was interesting enough, since I didn't know anything about orphans from eastern cities being sent out west in the late 19th century, but it wasn't a particularly good story or well written at all.
The Family Fang by Kevin Wilson I liked this one quite a lot. A couple of parents who turn their entire family life into elaborate absurd performance pieces. Often involving the children, sometimes with their knowledge ahead of time, sometimes not. Very witty and well written.
Bliss, Remembered by Frank DeFord This was an utter disappointment, and I would like to blame it on the fact that it was for book club, but since it was my recommendation, I don't think that's going to get me very far. I had so been looking forward to this novel by an NPR commentator about star-crossed love between an American girl and a German boy at the 1936 Olympics, but it was a total bust. Not nearly as good as the TV movie The Golden Moment: An Olympic Love Story from 1980 with Stephanie Zimbalist as a Russian gymnast who falls in love with American track athlete David Keith at the Moscow Olympics. Try to track that VHS tape down instead.
February:
Straight Man by Richard Russo A delight to read, embarrassingly laugh-out-loud-in-public funny at times. From the scene at the beginning where one English professor accidentally impales another in a meeting with the pulled-out end of a spiral notebook, you almost wish academic departments were this funny. Almost.
Claire of the Sea Light by Edwidge Danticat Another book club selection. It was pretty good short fiction about a fishing community in Haiti and their family stories. I don't remember a whole lot except that it was generally kind of gauzy and poetical.
Dinner: A Love Story by Jenny Rosenstrach I have been an avid reader of Jenny and her husband's blog of the same name, so when they offered a $3 Kindle special of their book, I jumped on it. I loved reading this combo cookbook/memoir and I've adopted several of the recipes.
March:
The Interestings by Meg Wolitzer I love her writing, so I was looking forward to this book and mostly I was really satisfied. Meg totally captured the voices of the teenagers who meet at camp and followed them into middle age. I did think the story tended to trail off in the last quarter or so, but by then I was so invested in the characters I didn't mind. Read anything by her, especially The Ten-Year Nap.
The Dinner by Herman Koch I listened to this one on my phone and it was a really enjoyable return to recorded books. I used to listen to them all the time (Back in the Walkman days I would carry multiple cassettes in my fanny pack and change them as I walked -- horse and buggy, right?) but I usually have such a backlog of podcasts that I haven't listened to a book in a long time. This was a story from the perspective of a father about some mysterious event that has happened to his teenaged son, but (SPOILER) as the story goes on it becomes clear that the son has actually done something awful and the father is twisting the story in order to defend him. The story also moved back and forth in time, which I always like.
April:
Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell I loved this as I have loved everything I have ever read by Malcolm Gladwell in the New Yorker. I have been a little late to the party on his books though. I'm now remembering that sometime this year I also read David and Goliath which was also terrific. Psychology, statistics, explanations for so many things that I wonder about all the time.
Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand I have to confess that I didn't make it very far with this book club selection. (And now my other book club has picked it also. I guess I get another month off.) Such an interesting story, but I have trouble reading the endless detail about so much cruelty and degradation. Just when you thought things couldn't get any worse, they did. Again and again. I won't be seeing the movie either. One interesting thing was that since this book came right after Outliers, I found myself wondering what Malcolm Gladwell would have to say about the "exceptionalism" of the character in this book. Next time he comes over, I'll be sure to ask him.
May:
At Home by Bill Bryson Another recorded book, read by the author. He is such a treat to listen to -- I imagine I can hear when he is smiling as he reads a funny part. The history of home since the beginning.
The Passage of Power by Robert Caro This is the third of the biographies of Lyndon Johnson -- it covers LBJ's time as vice president and the transition to president after President Kennedy's assassination. Giant and enthralling. I was equally interested in the second book in the series, about his time in the Senate, and I can't wait for the last one, which will cover the rest of his presidency and retirement.
The Color Purple by Alice Walker More from the book club. I hadn't reread this since it was new and it is still very powerful. It's a little hard to remember how revolutionary it seemed when it came out, but I think that's a testament to how influential it was.
June:
The Lowland by Jhumpa Lahiri I love everything by this author as well. This was a great read about the lives of two brothers, one of whom emigrates to the US and the other who stays in India. Read everything by her, especially The Namesake. And see the movie too.
Call the Midwife by Jennifer Worth The memoir that the series is based on. Recommended by a book club friend who is also a midwife, so discussing it with her was especially interesting.
Religion for Atheists by Alain deBotton I have heard this author speak about how religion serves many functions in human society that are quite necessary, whether or not one believes in a deity. As an atheist who is very interested in religion, I found this one fascinating.
Help. Thanks. Wow. by Anne Lamott Anne's three favorite prayers. I picked it up because I love her three books on faith (see above re: atheist interested in religion) but I didn't really think there was much to this book.
July:
The Hotel New Hampshire by John Irving I was happy to have an excuse to reread this favorite when a friend chose it for book club. It was just as funny and tragic as I remembered. Though I will admit that if you encounter John and Franny's incestuous love affair for the first time in sober middle age instead of as an overheated teenager, I can see how it could be a little hard to take.
Mindless Eating by Brian Wansink Interesting and informative about small habits can really add up, and how you can harness your mindless behavior for the good.
August:
The Lonely Polygamist by Brady Udall I liked this as much as I liked his previous The Miracle Life of Edgar Mint. An sympathetic and absurd portrait of a well meaning polygamist patriarch and his enormous family. I thought it was funny and charming and I scored a free hardback copy from someone in book club who didn't think it was worth the match necessary to set fire to it in the back yard. Lucky me.
The Plague by Albert Camus Maybe I'm just not intellectual enough to appreciate it, but I found this book pretty dated in its symbolism.
September:
Mary Coin by Marisa Silver A fictional story about the photographer of the Depression era portrait "Migrant Mother" and her subject. It was an interesting story that seemed pretty close to the actual story of the photographer Dorothea Lange. I think the story of the subject was more of a creation.
Carry On, Warrior by Glennon Doyle Melton I like her blog Momastery so I picked up this collection of essays mostly from the blog. A good read. Funny and touching.
October:
The Geography of Bliss by Eric Weiner In this one a self-described curmudgeonly writer travels around the world to explore whether people in other countries consider themselves happy and why. Meh.
All The King's Men by Robert Penn Warren Another welcome reread picked by a book club friend. As good as the last time -- like watching a slow-motion train wreck and you just can't stop these people from making these choices. Now I want to see the classic movie.
November:
State of Wonder by Ann Patchett This had been on my list since it came out recently and then I happened on it in the recorded books. A big winner about a research doctor who goes into the Amazon to search for a lost colleague. You will not be disappointed.
That's it for November? What happened?
December:
Astoria: John Jacob Astor and Thomas Jefferson's Lost Pacific Empire by Peter Stark This was ok, but one of those that would have made a great long-format magazine article, but didn't hold my interest for the length of a book.
Away by Amy Bloom Ok novel about a woman who emigrates to America from eastern Europe after her family was murdered by Cossacks. The first part that takes place in New York City was the best.
The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie Another author I never miss in the New Yorker. Funny, touching, unsparing story of an Indian teenager growing up on and off the reservation. I didn't realize until the notes at the end that it's semi-autobiographical. I will definitely read more of his books.
Blink by Malcolm Gladwell Recorded book read by the author, who is great to listen to. My friend Malcolm never disappoints.
Well, that was a pretty good showing. Last year I said I hoped to read more this year -- and I did! It still seemed like most of them were book club books, and a few of them were rereads, but not too bad anyway. We already have some good ones planned for this year, starting with A Room With A View, hopefully followed by a movie night.
Happy reading in 2015!
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