If I had to sum up Yann Martel’s new novel in one word, it would be “grim,” which is not to deter readers but to prepare them. In scope, if not in length, Beatrice and Virgil rivals Martel’s previous novel, Life of Pi, with its necessary and answerless questions and its cast of bizarre characters.
Henry [...]
You might describe my Christmas as a book exchange with pretty wrapping. More than a few crisp volumes (plus other bookish accoutrements) changed hands. I am happily stacking new books on the TBR pile, wearing this gorgeous Emily Dickinson-quote necklace, ready to switch over to my new reading journal in a couple weeks when the current one is full, and eagerly anticipating the arrival of my Poets & Writers subscription. I hope yours was similarly bookish! And with the new year now at hand, I can’t resist compiling a few lists of the year gone by.
I wrote a lot this year. Not as much as I should have, but enough to explain why the spacebar on my laptop is giving out. I started and completed Rescue and Redeem, the fifth and final book of my History Lives series, releasing in just a few weeks now. (I counted up all the biographical chapters in the series—if you’ve read them, you know each chapter is something like a short story, with its own unique setting and characters—and it’s the equivalent of 63 short stories.) I also wrote the foreword to Normal Kingdom Business, a book by my friend Andree Seu; contributed essays and reviews to several publications; tried my hand at several short fiction attempts (something I plan to continue with in the coming year); put time into my ongoing novel project; and began researching and outlining a new book-length creative non-fiction project.
My notes also reveal that I read 46 books in 2008, EXACTLY the same number as in 2007. (Weird!) I’d set a goal of reading at least one a week this year, but got waylaid in late spring and early summer when my looming book deadline completely took over. The category breakdown is a little surprising. I would have guessed I had read more fiction than non, but of the 46, only 22 were fiction, specifically: 20 novels (including 5 debuts), one young adult novel (I would have sworn I had read more YA this year), and one story collection. The 24 non-fiction titles included 8 memoirs, 2 biographies, 12 works in the theology/spirituality/religious history/philosophy departments, and 2 books on writing.
Many of the books I read this year were my first introduction to established or classic writers, people I had wanted to read for so long and finally got around to picking up. These included: Iris Murdoch (phenomenal—more already on the stack), Susan Howatch (creator of my new “theological soap opera” category!), Mary Gordon (quietly powerful), Wendell Berry (already more on the stack), Amy Bloom (not as compelling as I expected), Rex Stout (classic!), Kathleen Norris (enormously thoughtful), Nikolai Gogol (now I remember why I went on hiatus from 19th century novels), Anne Lamott (funny!), Thomas Merton (complex in every way), and Annie Dillard (brilliant stylist).
Here are some of the “bests” (click for my reviews):
Best novel read this year (and a first novel):
Fieldwork by Mischa Berlinski
Closely followed in no particular order:
The Bell by Iris Murdoch
The Dream Life of Sukhanov by Olga Grushin (first novel)
The Outcast by Sadie Jones (first novel)
Ursula, Under by Ingrid Hill (first novel)
Best spirituality (decided by relevance to my life these days):
Speaking of Faith by Krista Tippett
Best writer(s) on writing (I can’t choose!):
Letters to a Young Poet by Rainer Maria Rilke
Bird by Bird by Anne Lamott
Best history:
The Bone Gatherers: The Lost World of Early Christian Women by Nicola Denzey
Best memoir:
Here if You Need Me by Kate Braestrup
What are your bests? Leave a comment or link to your year-end wrap up.
And now back to reading. I’ve just started Janna Levin’s A Madman Dreams of Turing Machines (Christmas present from my attentive husband), and it already promises to rank very high on next year’s lists.
Happy 2009!
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December 31st, 2008 at 12:03 am
What a lovely list. I still have Fieldwork on my TBR list, but haven’t gotten around to it yet.
Saturday Review at Semicolon this Saturday is dedicated to just such lists as this one. Please come by and leave your link on Saturday if you can.
January 2nd, 2009 at 2:10 pm
Thank you for your earlier review of Fieldwork. I was inspired to read it because of your review, and I enjoyed it very much. Another “find” this year was Jhumpa Lahiri. I read Interpreter of Maladies, Unaccustomed Earth and The Namesake. I savored all three, although I think her style lends itself more to short stories. My classic accomplishment this year was Middlemarch. At times I felt as if I was slogging through it, other times I felt as if I couldn’t put it down. In the end, I found it to be a wonderful book, full of themes which remain applicable today.
January 2nd, 2009 at 7:56 pm
Sherry, I promise you won’t be disappointed if you bump Fieldwork to the top of the list! Will certainly be posting at the Review this week — thanks for the special invite.
And Susanna, so glad you read and enjoyed it too. I’m a Lahiri fan as well — loved Interpreter of Maladies (which I read last year), have The Namesake and plan to get to it soon, and am hoping to score a copy of Unaccustomed Earth via Bookmooch. And I believe another friend of mine would agree with you about her short story vs. novel merits. If you have a blog, do leave a link so I can drop in and see what else you have been reading!
January 3rd, 2009 at 12:33 pm
This is a helpful list, Mindy. Many haven’t shown up on my radar at all. I still have “Too Late…” to read from one of your previous “best” lists.
“a book by my friend Andree Seu” Mindy, do you know how many people would love to be able to write that? I know dozens of people for whom Andree’s column is the first destination when World magazine arrives.
January 3rd, 2009 at 1:02 pm
I have had Fieldwork in my TBR pile since it was published! I really should get to it.
January 5th, 2009 at 11:29 am
Glad to add to your stack, Carol! :o) Would love to know what you think of Too Late when you do get to it — an “upper” it is not, but it will stick with you (in the thoughtful way) forever.
Beth, I hope you do get to it soon! Glad to see you here. I’m going to check out your blog.