nomadreader

book review: What Looks Like Crazy On An Ordinary Day by Pearl Cleage

noreply@blogger.com (nomadreader) — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 11:00:00 +0000

The backstory: I first read Pearl Cleage's debut novel, What Looks Like Crazy on an Ordinary Day, in 1997. I remember the day I picked it up at the library, filled with excitement that my favorite playwright had written a novel. I had ridiculously high expectations, and Pearl exceeded them all. She's my favorite author, yet I haven't read any of her work in the past three years. This year, I'm going back to the beginning to re-read (and then read) her novels in the order they were published.

The basics: What Looks Like Crazy on an Ordinary Day is the story of Ava, an HIV-positive black woman who sold her hair salon in Atlanta to get a somewhat fresh start in San Francisco, away from the string of men she's slept with. She decides to spend the summer with her sister Joyce in Idlewild, Michigan.

My thoughts: Although I read What Looks Like Crazy on an Ordinary Day almost fifteen years ago, I still remember the last line of the novel. It's my favorite last line of a novel. Despite its lingering memory, I realized I remembered little else about the novel. It was magical to read one of my favorite novels again, seemingly for the first time.

Initially, I was struck both by how brilliant Pearl Cleage is and how timeless this novel is. If I didn't know it was written fifteen years ago, I wouldn't have a clue:

"It almost doesn't matter what black community you go in now the problems are exactly the same. The kids are angry. The men are shell-shocked. The women are alone and the drugs are everywhere."

This novel tackles big issues and its focus is on the African-American community in particular. When Ava arrives in Idlewild, she's surprised to hear there's a crack epidemic: "I shouldn't have been surprised. Crack is an epidemic with a life all its own, just like AIDS. Small-town living doesn't save you anymore."

Ava and Joyce are an intriguing pair of sisters. Joyce, who has lost her husband and two children, maintains a realistic optimism about saving people:

"Joyce is good at this kind of stuff. She went into social work in the first place because she really believes that people want to take care of themselves and their children, and if they're allowed to do that with some dignity, everything else will fall into place."

Ava, meanwhile, has a more cynical edge. She's impressed her sister can maintain positivity and optimism to try to effect real change, but she struggles with a desire for vengeance too.

There is an underlying tragedy in this novel that haunts me. The world needs more people like Joyce. The world needs more novels and films to address the issues of our contemporary life. Still, there's hope and, more impressively, joy. Pearl Cleage celebrates life, love and goodness, but she doesn't shy away from the tragic realities of AIDS, crack and violence.

Favorite passage: "Most of the people up here think it's still 1958 and we're dealing with some high-spirited youngsters who are just sowing their wild oats. They can't see that this is something new. This isn't a phase they're going through. This is how they are. They don't know anything. They're selfish and mean and mad all the time."

The verdict: What Looks Like Crazy on an Ordinary Day shows no signs of age. It's as relevant than when it was first published. It's a brilliant novel and an astonishing debut novel. Whether on stage or page, Pearl Cleage is a master storyteller, and I'm continuously astonished she's not better known, more often read, and heralded as one of the great literary talents. This novel is a contemporary American masterpiece.

Rating: 5 out of 5
Length: 256 pages
Publication date: December 1, 1997
Source: I bought it for my Kindle

Convinced? Treat yourself! Buy What Looks Like Crazy on an Ordinary Day from an independent bookstore, the Book Depository, or Amazon (Kindle version.)

As an affiliate, I receive a small commission when you make a purchase through any of the above links. Thank you for helping to support my book habits that bring more content to this blog!

book review: One for the Money by Janet Evanovich

noreply@blogger.com (nomadreader) — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 11:00:00 +0000

The backstory: One for the Money was one of my book club's selections for January.

The basics: The first in Janet Evanovich's wildly popular Stephanie Plum series, One for the Money introduces Stephanie, who was recently laid off by the lingerie company she worked for as an orderer. With bills piling up, Stephanie decides to try working for her cousin, a bounty hunter, to locate an old fling, Joe Morelli, an ex-cop and current fugitive wanted for murder, so she can collect the $10,000.

My thoughts: Originally written in 1994, One for the Money is starting to show its age somewhat. Stephanie's clothes are horribly dated. At one point she bemoans being down to her last pair of bicycle shorts. Fashion quibbles aside, I'm always fascinated to read mysteries set in earlier technological times. Car phones abound in this novel. For me, a technophile, the thought of chasing bad guys without a cell phone or car phone is truly terrifying, and in this novel the lack of access to technology heightened the fear.

As a character, Stephanie is interesting. She's at a tough time in her life, and her financial situation came off as quite contemporary. Faced with no leads in a field she'd worked in for years, she was running out of money and selling her possessions to pay her bills. For a novel partly established as realistic, Stephanie's family serve as a comic relief. I've heard these novels described as funny; I'm inclined to call them quirky. I never laughed out loud, but I did enjoy the cast of characters. Part way through the novel, I was compelled to look up the cast for the film version. It felt somewhat like the cast of characters on a television show. It reads like a series novel. Rather than setting up the personal relationships, they're firmly in place so the focus is on Stephanie and her work life.

Favorite passage: "Pride seemed out of place. Sorrow didn’t quite fit. There was definitely regret."

The verdict: I enjoyed One for the Money while I was reading it, but I doubt I'll be compelled to pick up the next one in the series. It's a fine novel, but ultimately it seemed forgettable.

Rating: 3 out of 5
Length: 288 pages
Publication date: August 26, 1994
Source: I bought it for my Kindle

Buy One for the Money from an independent bookstore, the Book Depository or Amazon (Kindle version.)

As an affiliate, I receive a small commission when you make a purchase through any of the above links. Thank you for helping to support my book habits that bring more content to this blog!

book review: Like Water for Chocolate by Laura Esquivel

noreply@blogger.com (nomadreader) — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 11:00:00 +0000

Translated from the Spanish by Carol and Thomas Christensen.

The backstory: Like Water for Chocolate, Laura Esquivel's first novel, is one of the 1001 Books to Read Before You Die.

The basics: Told in monthly installments interspersed with recipes, Like Water for Chocolate, is the story of the De la Garza family in the Mexican revolution and filled with magical realism of love and cooking. The narrator is the great-niece of Tita, and the novel's focus is the life of Tita, the family's youngest daughter.

My thoughts: I first read Like Water for Chocolate in high school and utterly adored it. Re-reading it fifteen years later, I still enjoyed it, but the magical realism of love's positive and negative effects lacked the dramatic resonance it held for me as a teenager. It is the tradition of Tita's family that the youngest daughter may not marry and must spend her life serving her mother. Tita is enraged, angry and in utter agony when she learns her fate will be to care for her mother rather than live with Pedro, the love of her life. Pedro decides the best course of action is to agree to Tita's mother's wishes and marry Tita's older sister so he can still be near her.

Part of the magic of this novel is its ability to make its actions seem real. Magical realism at its best is emotional, authentic and believable. As I try to describe it, it can sound farcical or contrived, but Esquivel infuses this novel with true emotion. It's deceptively simple, which is why I loved it in high school. It is an accessible novel with young adult crossover appeal, but as an adult re-reading it, I see the novel differently. I think of it as a whole more now; I see the stories of each member of the family rather than drowning in Tita's emotional plight.

Favorite passage: "From that night on she would love him forever. And now she had to give him up. It wasn't decent to desire your sister's future husband. She had to try to put him out of her mind somehow, so she could get to sleep. She started to eat the Christmas Roll Nacha had left our on her bureau, along with a glass of milk; this remedy had proven effective many times. Nacha, with all her experience, knew that for Tita there was no pain that wouldn't disappear if she ate a delicious Christmas Roll. But this time it didn't work. She felt no relief from the hollow sensation in her stomach."

The verdict: While Like Water for Chocolate lacked some of the emotional resonance I recall feeling when I read it in high school, it's still an excellent novel of magical realism. It's a novel that evokes the senses and ties each to emotion.

Rating: 4 out of 5
Length: 256 pages
Publication date: September 6, 1992
Source: library

Convinced? Treat yourself! Buy Like Water for Chocolate from an independent bookstore, the Book Depository, or Amazon (Kindle version.)

As an affiliate, I receive a small commission when you make a purchase through any of the above links. Thank you for helping to support my book habits that bring more content to this blog!

A People's Read-a-long: Week 2

noreply@blogger.com (nomadreader) — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 11:00:00 +0000

Welcome to Week 2 of A People's Read-a-long! I'm still thoroughly enjoying this read-a-long. It's incredibly easy to keep track of reading one chapter a week. I even managed to keep up while being away at ALA Midwinter most of this week (I'm coming home tonight...hooray for plane reading time!)

My thoughts: Chapter 2, entitled "Drawing the Color Line," focuses on slavery and its origins in the United States. I found this topic illuminating, depressing and simultaneously fascinating and difficult to read. Having read and enjoyed Property, Valerie Martin's Orange Prize-winning novel of slavery earlier this month (my review), I found myself connecting the dots between Zinn's history and the story of Manon in 1828 Louisiana.

What I found most interesting in this chapter was the role of racism. When I think of slavery, I think of racism, but Zinn outlined this distinction: "In the early years of slavery, especially, before racism as a way of thinking was firmly ingrained, while while indentured servants were often treated as badly as black slaves, there was a possibility of cooperation." It makes sense of course, when you think of who the early settlers were: "many of them were skilled craftsmen, or even men of leisure back in England, who were so little inclined to work the land that John Smith, in those early years, had to declare a kind of martial law, organize them into work gangs, and force them into the fields for survival." As I pondered this obvious idea I hadn't thought of before, I was reminded of Ann Weisbarger's phenomenal debut novel The Personal History of Rachel DuPree, where a black couple become homesteaders in South Dakota's Badlands (my review). Many of their neighbors bailed when times got tough, or tougher, there were other options. Times were indeed tough for the early settlers: "The Virginians of 1619 were desperate for labor, to grow enough food to stay alive. Among them were survivors from the winter of 1609–1610, the “starving time,” when, crazed for want of food, they roamed the woods for nuts and berries, dug up graves to eat the corpses, and died in batches until five hundred colonists were reduced to sixty." Slavery was their answer.

I find it fascinating that this notion of survival prompted slavery. It's a sign of the complicated nature of human relationships that slavery prompted racism. I imagine slaveowners let themselves begin to believe slaves were different so they could find a way to try to live with their actions. Justifying human behavior is a fascinating idea, and this chapter was filled with troubling justifications that begin to seem almost understandable in the times but still reprehensible to a thinking person:

"There may have been a kind of frustrated rage at their own ineptitude, at the Indian superiority at taking care of themselves, that made the Virginians especially ready to become the masters of slaves."

It's an uncomfortable chapter to identify with the positions of both slaves and owners, but it's an important one.

Favorite passage: "Slaves recently from Africa, still holding on to the heritage of their communal society, would run away in groups and try to establish villages of runaways out in the wilderness, on the frontier. Slaves born in America, on the other hand, were more likely to run off alone, and, with the skills they had learned on the plantation, try to pass as free men."

There's still time to join in! Buy A People's History of the United States from an independent bookstore, the Book Depository or Amazon (the Kindle version I have seems to no longer be available, thus vindicating my habits of impulse Kindle shopping!) You don't have to post each week. Stop by Fizzy Thoughts and Life...With Books to join the conversation!

As an affiliate, I receive a small commission when you make a purchase through any of the above links. Thank you for helping to support my book habits that bring more content to this blog!

Sunday Salon: First thoughts on the 2011 National Book Critics Circle Award for Fiction

noreply@blogger.com (nomadreader) — Sun, 22 Jan 2012 13:27:00 +0000

The National Book Critics Circle, of which I am a member, has announced the finalists for its 2011 awards. None of the five titles I voted for made the cut, but it certainly is an exciting list!

Open City by Teju Cole

The Marriage Plot by Jeffrey Eugenides (my review)

The Stranger's Child by Alan Hollinghurst

Binocular Vision by Edith Pearlman (my review)

Stone Arabia by Dana Spiotta

I've read two of the five finalists already. I'm glad to see Jeffrey Eugenides make the cut, as I think The Marriage Plot is a wise, delightful novel. It's certainly one that appeals to book critics, given all of its overt literature references! It had plenty of hype, but the critical acclaim has been somewhat lacking on prize lists. While I thought Edith Pearlman's story collection Binocular Vision peaked too early (it's first story was it's best), I'm not surprised to see this National Book Award finalist here. As readers of this blog know, I greatly prefer novels to short stories, and this bias may be evident in my uneven reaction to this acclaimed collection of stories.

The three I have yet to read are all on my TBR already. Open City is one of the Tournament of Books contenders, and it's near the top of my TBR pile. Alan Hollinghurst's The Stranger's Child made the Booker longlist and the Tournament of Books field. Dana Spiotta's Stone Arabia made Entertainment Weekly's Top 10 of 2011, and I hope to make time for it soon too.

It's easy to focus on what's missing from this list, but I'm choosing to see it as a sign of how many excellent novels were published in 2011. None of these titles are a huge surprise; they've all appeared on another prize list or Best of 2011 list. With the Pulitzer list still to come, I'm still hoping Ben Lerner's majestic Leaving the Atocha Station can make an appearance on its list.

I'll be reviewing the three remaining titles in preparation for the March 8th announcement and bringing you my prediction (and personal preference) before the winner is officially announced.

Now tell me: which title do you think will win the National Book Critics Circle Award? Which one are you rooting for?

As an affiliate, I receive a small commission when you make a purchase through any of the above links. Thank you for helping to support my book habits that bring more content to this blog!

book review: Property by Valerie Martin

noreply@blogger.com (nomadreader) — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 11:00:00 +0000

The backstory: Property won the Orange Prize in 2003.

The basics: Set in 1828 Louisiana, Property focuses on Manon Gaudet,the bored, unhappy wife of a slave owner who has fathered the oldest child of Sarah, a slave, and continues to sleep with her. The two women hate one another, and they both hate Mr. Gaudet.

My thoughts: Manon is a fascinating characters. It would be too easy to say she's not likable, as truly, her life was wretched. Martin sums up Manon's temperament brilliantly: "feeling thoroughly bored and aggravated by the whole business." It applies to so many situations. Still, as wretched as Manon's life is, she is a slave owner of some privilege. She is married to a man she despises and now lives in the country, which she is not too fond of either. Her relationship with Sarah is tenuous and fascinating, and it brings out Manon's cruelness. Despite her lack of love for her husband, Manon harbors jealousy of Sarah in some way. Sarah's relationship with Mr. Gaudet frees Manon of some obligation, for which she is grateful, yet she never manages to see Sarah as a teammate of sorts, united against an evil man.

Favorite passage: "After that everything happened quickly, thought it felt as if time itself had fallen open like a book, and each new impression was completed, even recollected, before the next began."

The verdict: Property is a gritty novel. It provides a glimpse into life on a Louisiana plantation in 1828, and it's not pretty, for slaves or owners. I was haunted by the proliferation of evil and utter lack of humanity. It's a powerful novel, and while I had certain expectations for a novel of slavery, Property both fulfilled the expected and transcended it. Martin is a talented writer, and there were several surprises, in both timing and action.

Rating: 4.5 out of 5
Length: 196 pages
Publication date: February 18, 2003
Source: library

Convinced? Treat yourself! Buy Property from an independent bookstore, the Book Depository, or Amazon (Kindle version).

As an affiliate, I receive a very, very small commission when you make a purchase through any of the above links. Thank you for helping to support my book habits that bring more content to this blog!

I'm Dallas bound for ALA Midwinter!

noreply@blogger.com (nomadreader) — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 11:00:00 +0000

Tomorrow after teaching my first class of the semester I'll be off to the airport to catch my flight to Dallas for this year's American Library Association Midwinter Conference. I was blessed to be chosen as one of ALA's 2012 Emerging Leaders this year, and I'll meet my fellow ELs and begin work on our projects, which will culminate with a poster presentation at ALA's Annual Conference in Anaheim in June.

As you might imagine, my schedule is already pretty full with meetings, but I do want to take some time to see Dallas. I'd love to hear your suggestions of things (preferably near the conference center or easily accessed by public transportation) to do while I'm there and places to eat. So far on my list are the Public ArtWalk Dallas and the Sixth Floor Museum. And I'm always looking for suggestions of good food. Give me your best Dallas recommendations!

If any of you are going to be there, send me an email. I'd love to meet up!

book review: The Odds: A Love Story by Stewart O'Nan

noreply@blogger.com (nomadreader) — Tue, 17 Jan 2012 12:46:00 +0000

The basics: Art and Marion's marriage is failing. They're giving it one last-ditch effort by spending a romantic weekend in Niagara Falls, where they also plan to gamble their way back to financial solvency.

My thoughts: The Odds: A Love Story is not the kind of love story fans of Nicholas Sparks would enjoy. It's a real love story, filled with miscommunication, disappointment, blame and exhaustion. O'Nan balances the whimsy of beginning each chapter with a set of odds related to its content with the increasingly depressing vision of Art and Marion's marriage. O'Nan gradually reveals the details of both how dire their marriage and financial situation are, as well as how it got there. More importantly, however, O'Nan seamlessly uses both Art and Marion as narrators. The reader comes to understand the marriage, and it becomes clear neither Art, Marion, nor the reader truly understand it from all perspectives.

Favorite passage: "You couldn’t relive your life, skipping the awful parts, without losing what made it worthwhile. You had to accept it as a whole—like the world, or the person you loved."

The verdict: The Odds is a quirky, fun, realistic portrayal of a modern marriage on the brink of financial ruin and divorce. Its biggest strength are the characters of Art and Marion, who are remarkably well-developed as individuals in this short novel. It's a travel novel, a character study, and a love story, but all three are firmly grounded in reality and resonate with wisdom and genuine emotion.

Rating: 4 out of 5
Length: 192 pages
Publication date: January 19, 2012
Source: publisher

Convinced? Treat yourself! Buy The Odds: A Love Story from an independent bookstore, the Book Depository or Amazon (Kindle version).

Now tell me: The Odds: A Love Story was my first Stewart O'Nan novel, but it certainly won't be my last. Which of his novels should I read next?

As an affiliate, I receive a very, very small commission when you make a purchase through any of the above links. Thank you for helping to support my book habits that bring more content to this blog!

A People's Read-a-long: Week 1

noreply@blogger.com (nomadreader) — Mon, 16 Jan 2012 15:41:00 +0000

Welcome to Week 1 of A People's Read-a-long! So far I'm thoroughly enjoying this read-a-long. It's incredibly easy to keep track of reading one chapter a week. I may not post every week, but I wanted to share my initial thoughts and a couple of my favorite passages from Chapter 1 this week.

My thoughts: It's rare to find a non-fiction book without an introduction, and consequently, chapter 1 read like a combination of an introduction and a first chapter. Zinn provided context for his view of understanding history as he told the story of the first chapter: Columbus, the Indians and Human Progress. I appreciate Zinn's view of reading and understanding history as a modern person: "My point is not that we must, in telling history, accuse, judge, condemn Columbus in absentia. It is too late for that; it would be a useless scholarly exercise in morality."

I'm fascinated by how different societies, past and present, viewed gender. In chapter 1, I learned Iroquois societies were matrilineal. Furthermore, Zinn quotes historian Gary Nash, "no laws and ordinances, sheriffs and constables, judges and juries, or courts or jails—the apparatus of authority in European societies—were to be found in the northeast woodlands prior to European arrival." A French Jesuit priest who observed the Iroquois in the 1650's noted: "No poorhouses are needed among them, because they are neither mendicants nor paupers. . . . Their kindness, humanity and courtesy not only makes them liberal with what they have, but causes them to possess hardly anything except in common." Learning these things about Iroquois society initially made me horrified at the actions of Columbus. As I began to challenge myself to think like Zinn, however, and placed myself in the viewpoint of both groups at that time, I was struck how scared Columbus must have been to encounter a society so totally different than his own. I can marvel now, but wouldn't I have been frightened by our differences if I were with Columbus?

I also was fascinated by the reactions of those at Vera Cruz when a Spanish armada arrived. When "a bearded white man came ashore, with strange beasts (horses), clad in iron, it was thought he was the legendary Aztec man-god who had died three hundred years before, with the promise to return--the mysterious Quetzalocoatl. And so they welcomed him, with munificent hospitality." It's a chilling story of looking at history from both sides, gathering perspectives, and ultimately, I think, understanding tragedy. I consider myself somewhat of a history buff, but after reading Samuel Eliot Morison, a Harvard historian and Columbus scholar, "retraced Columbus's route across the Atlantic." It's a fascinating prospect of experiential learning and understanding. Would the inverse be possible? Could we retrace the steps of those whom Columbus destroyed upon arriving?

The verdict: I'm thoroughly enjoying A People's History of the United States and am eager to read chapter 2.

There's still time to join in! Buy A People's History of the United States from an independent bookstore, the Book Depository or Amazon (the Kindle version I have seems to no longer be available, thus vindicating my habits of impulse Kindle shopping!)

As an affiliate, I receive a small commission when you make a purchase through any of the above links. Thank you for helping to support my book habits that bring more content to this blog!

Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy winner

noreply@blogger.com (nomadreader) — Fri, 13 Jan 2012 12:51:00 +0000

Last week I announced a fabulous contest to win a Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy giveaway. To enter, I asked people to name their favorite spy book or film. Here's the list, in order of number of responses:

Jason Bourne
James Bond (with one vote for Casino Royale in particular)
Hunt for Red October
The 39 Steps
Charade

Jason Bourne and James Bond dominated the preferences of contest entrants!

And the two winners of the Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy giftpacks are...Melissa from An Avid Reader's Musings and Lisa! Congratulations!

As an affiliate, I receive a very, very small commission when you make a purchase through any of the above links. Thank you for helping to support my book habits that bring more content to this blog!

book review: Bel Canto by Ann Patchett

noreply@blogger.com (nomadreader) — Tue, 10 Jan 2012 11:00:00 +0000

The backstory: Bel Canto won the Orange Prize in 2002. Ann Patchett's latest novel, State of Wonder, was my favorite read of 2011. In 2012, I'm reading all of her backlist, beginning with Bel Canto.

The basics: In a South American country, the vice president hosts a birthday party for a Japanese businessman to entice him into building a factory in their country. Mr. Hosokawa has no intention of building a factory there, but attends because Roxane Coss, his favorite opera soprano will perform for his birthday. When terrorists arrive to kidnap the president, who did not attend, they are instead left with many other hostages.

My thoughts: Ann Patchett and I clearly share a fascination for how people react in extraordinary situations and the depth of humanity. In Bel Canto, the terrorists are as human as the hostages, and I found myself illogically rooting for them at times. In many ways, this novel is the story of Mr. Hosokawa and Roxane Coss, but Gen, Mr. Hosokawa's translator, stole the book. Gen is Japanese but fluent in numerous languages: "Sitting alone in his apartment with books and tapes, he would pick up languages the way other men picked up women, with smooth talk and then later, passion." Most importantly, he was able to translate for all of hostages. The hostages were an intriguing motley crew of people from around the world. Through Gen, they found ways to communicate. A shared love of Roxane's singing transcended language and provided unity.

Favorite passage: "Some people are born to make great art and others are born to appreciate it. Don’t you think? It is a kind of talent in itself, to be an audience, whether you are the spectator in the gallery or you are listening to the voice of the world’s greatest soprano. Not everyone can be the artist. There have to be those who witness the art, who love and appreciate what they have been privileged to see.:

The verdict: Bel Canto is a wonderful, thought-provoking, invigorating novel that examines the humanity in all of us. It is a fascinating story of hostages and captors, but it's also more. This novel is a celebration of the arts and the human spirit.

Rating: 5 out of 5
Length: 352 pages
Publication date: May 22, 2001
Source: I bought it for my Kindle

Convinced? Treat yourself! Buy Bel Canto from an independent bookstore, the Book Depository, or Amazon (Kindle version.)

As an affiliate, I receive a very, very small commission when you make a purchase through any of the above links. Thank you for helping to support my book habits that bring more content to this blog!

Announcing the 2011 Indie Lit Award shortlists

noreply@blogger.com (nomadreader) — Mon, 09 Jan 2012 11:00:00 +0000

The 2011 Indie Lit Award fiction shortlist:

Dance Lessons by Aine Greaney

Cross Currents by John Shorts

The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern

Silver Sparrow by Tayari Jones

The Last Time I Saw Paris by Lynn Sheene

The 2011 Indie Lit Award shortlists were announced this weekend, and I can't wait to start reading the titles that made the fiction shortlist (for which I am a judge this year). It has everything I look for in a shortlist: a book I've read (The Night Circus), a couple of titles I've been meaning to get to (Cross Currents and Silver Sparrow), and two titles that are new to me (Dance Lessons and The Last Time I Saw Paris.) There's an impressive variety of settings in these novels: Scotland, Thailand, just about everywhere, Atlanta and Paris. I'll be reading these titles over the next two months and discussing their merits with my fellow judges. I won't be posting reviews on these titles until the winner and runner-up are announced in mid-March.

Now tell me: which title are you most excited to see on this year's shortlist?

The shortlists for the other categories are available on the Indie Lit Awards web site.

As an affiliate, I receive a very, very small commission when you make a purchase through any of the above links. Thank you for helping to support my book habits that bring more content to this blog!

Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy giveaway!

noreply@blogger.com (nomadreader) — Fri, 06 Jan 2012 11:00:00 +0000

Since I first saw a trailer for Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy last month, I've been eager to see it, so I was thrilled to be asked to host a giveaway in conjunction with its national release today. The film, based on John le Carre's novel, is set in 1973. It's a Cold War spy caper involving the MI6. The cast includes Colin Firth, Gary Oldman, John Hurt, Benedict Cumberbatch, and David Dencik.

Here's the trailer:

Two winners (U.S. only) will receive:

a copy of the book with movie tie-in cover (below)
a t-shirt
a Post-It note cube
a voice recorder pen

For more information about the film:

CONTEST IS NOW CLOSED. THANKS TO ALL WHO ENTERED!

Note: I received the featured gift pack in exchange for hosting this giveaway. The gift pack is valued at $43.

As an affiliate, I receive a very, very small commission when you make a purchase through any of the above links. Thank you for helping to support my book habits that bring more content to this blog!

A People's Read-a-long

noreply@blogger.com (nomadreader) — Fri, 06 Jan 2012 05:01:00 +0000

Jill at Fizzy Thoughts and Jenners at Life...with Books are hosting A People's Read-a-long for Howard Zinn's A People's History of the United States. I've been meaning to read this book since 1997, when I saw Good Will Hunting. Instead of reading the book, however, I proceeded to see the film six times in the theater and many, many more times once it came out on video (and then dvd.) It's one of my all-time favorite films. Mr. Nomadreader and I own both a print copy and a Kindle copy, and we're both going to participate!

The read-a-long is my kind of sensible one: it starts Monday, January 16th, the federal holiday for Martin Luther King, Jr. Chapter 1 is due that Monday. Each Monday thereafter, a chapter is due. The read-a-long will finish Monday, July 9th with the 25th chapter.

I swore off read-a-longs last year when I failed at Anna Karenina, but I think non-fiction will work better for me. I like to read at my own pace with fiction, but I'm much happier with arbitrary stopping points and goals for non-fiction, which I rarely read to begin with.

I haven't decided if I'll post about the chapter each Monday or not. Jill will post every Monday and those posts will serve as discussion posts for those so-inclined. My tentative plan is to share 1-3 things I learned in the chapter on Mondays. I hope I can convince Mr. Nomadreader to share his thoughts (or his 1-3 things too).

Want to join in? Buy A People's History of the United States from an independent bookstore, the Book Depository or Amazon (the Kindle version I have seems to no longer be available, thus vindicating my habits of impulse Kindle shopping!)

As an affiliate, I receive a commission when you make a purchase through any of the above links. Thank you for helping to support my book habits that bring more content to this blog!

graphic novel review: Watchmen by Alan Moore

noreply@blogger.com (nomadreader) — Thu, 05 Jan 2012 11:00:00 +0000

The backstory: Watchmen is on the list of 1001 Books to Read Before You Die.

My thoughts: When I sat down to finally read Watchmen, I knew very little about the actual plot. In the first few pages, I had little idea what was going, but soon I began to understand how the characters and scenes fit together. I read a fair number of graphic novels, but Watchmen made me slow down my reading in a way no other graphic novel has. There is so much detail in each box, and the shifting of perspective is cinematic and intricately detailed.

I was also impressed with the character development. Between each chapter, there was a multimedia section to offer context. There were excerpts from an autobiography of one of the characters, news articles and other 'found objects.' I was fascinated by this unexpected mix of materials, and it brought a richness to the characters that continued into the graphic novel sections. As someone married to a comic book fan, I caught numerous funny and smart references to superheros, but I'm sure there were countless more I missed. Those who are familiar with superheros will find many inside jokes, but those who aren't will still be wowed by the story itself.

I expected to sit down and read Watchmen in a few hours, but instead it took me six hours. As I read, I was enchanted. My mind was engaged, and I was curious to see not only what would happen, but how the characters would end up. The last chapter was my least favorite, which lessened my enjoyment somewhat overall, but it's still a graphic novel I admire, enjoyed and recommend.

The verdict: Watchmen is a classic. As I read it, I was wowed by the complexity of the story, the detail of the art and the timelessness of both.

Rating: 4 out of 5
Length: 436 pages
Publication date: September 1986-October 1987 (serial)
Source: I bought it

As an affiliate, I receive a very, very small commission when you make a purchase through any of the above links. Thank you for helping to support my book habits that bring more content to this blog!

book review: The World We Found by Thrity Umrigar

noreply@blogger.com (nomadreader) — Wed, 04 Jan 2012 11:00:00 +0000

The basics: The World We Found is Thrity Umrigar's fifth novel. It's the story of four best friends, Nishta, Laleh, Kavita and Armaiti, who went to college together in Bombay in the late 1970's. Armaiti left for graduate school in the U.S., but when she is diagnosed with a brain tumor, her one wish is for her three friends to make the journey to visit her in the U.S.

My thoughts: The characters in this novel grabbed my attention immediately. Despite introducing so many characters in the first few pages, I never struggled to differentiate among them. The four women and their friendship are the crux of this novel, and I appreciated that Umrigar told the story in the present day while offering glimpses of the past. This novel also offers an impressive breadth of Indian history, from the demonstrations of liberal college students in the late 1970's to the Hindu/Muslim riots of the early 1990's to the state of religious attitudes today. While these issues play a strong role in the novel, they are not its focus. It's a novel of friendship, and these events impacted these women and their friendship, but the novel itself is not political.

Perhaps the biggest surprise for me in this novel was how the supporting characters shined. Each woman had at least one supporting character who was remarkably well developed and three-dimensional. The scope of characters in this novel is impressive, and I so enjoyed the time I spent with all of these characters.

Favorite passage: "What she had believed was indignation or rage or a deep intolerance for injustice came down to this: she was irreducibly in love with this bewitching planet, this thrilling life, this heartbreaking species she belonged to, with its capacity for stupefying destruction and breathtaking magnanimity."

The verdict: The World We Found is a glimpse into modern day life in India through the lives of four women who were best friends in college. It's a novel of friendship and the things that both impact it and those that cannot dampen it.

Rating: 4 out of 5
Length: 306 pages
Publication date: January 3, 2012
Source: publisher

Convinced? Treat yourself! Buy The World We Found from an independent bookstore, the Book Depository, or Amazon (Kindle version.)

As an affiliate, I receive a very, very small commission when you make a purchase through any of the above links. Thank you for helping to support my book habits that bring more content to this blog!

2012 Reading Goals & Plans for January

noreply@blogger.com (nomadreader) — Mon, 02 Jan 2012 11:00:00 +0000

2012 Goals

Backlists
As I look back at my Best of 2011 and Best of 2010 lists I'm struck again and again by the number of new-to-me authors I've discovered in the past two years and how much I love their work. I've been doing a nice job reading new releases by these authors, but this year I want to focus more on reading the backlists of authors I've enjoyed in the past. I'm not swearing off new releases, debut novelists or new-to-me authors by any means, but I want to make time for the authors I already love too. I'm aiming to read at least two books a month by authors whose work I've enjoyed in the past. My first priorities are the backlists of Ann Patchett, whose latest novel State of Wonder was my favorite read of 2011, and Pearl Cleage, who has been my favorite author for fifteen years, yet I haven't read any of her books in the last three years. I'll be reading or re-reading all of Pearl Cleage's novels, as well as several of her plays, this year.

1001 Books to Read Before You Die
Last year I made a ridiculous goal to read all of the pre-1700's books in 1001 Books to Read Before You Die. I failed miserably. After rethinking this goal, I'm going easier on myself. If this project is going to take 40-50 years, I don't want to save some of the titles I'm most excited about until the end. I'm aiming to read at least 24 titles from the list this year, but I'm giving myself free reign to pick the titles.

Orange, Booker, Pulitzer and Bellwether winners
One of my goals before we have a baby (not anytime soon) is to have read the Booker and Pulitzer winners from 1980 (the year I was born) until the present and all of the Orange Prize and Bellwether Prize winners. I know my reading habits will change immensely when we have a baby, but at the very least I hope to manage to read these three or four winners each year, as they're my favorite awards. This year I'll be reading the winners from 2000 to the present. Given the titles I've already read, it leaves me with 9 Pulitzers, 11 Bookers, 9 Oranges and 6 Bellwethers. I anticipate reading the Booker and Pultizer winners from the 1990's in 2013 and the winners from the 1980's in 2014.

The 2012 Prize Lists
As always, I'll be eagerly awaiting the announcements of finalists, longlists, shortlists and winners of the literary prizes. I may not attempt to read each and every title if they don't interest me, but I will still focus my reading on prize lists during several months this year.

January plans
I'm thrilled to be participating in Orange January again this year. I'm planning to make a dent in the remaining winners. I'm determined to at least read Bel Canto by Ann Patchett, We Need to Talk About Kevin by Lionel Shriver, and Property by Valerie Martin.

I'm also eagerly awaiting tomorrow's release of Naomi Benaron's debut and Bellwether Prize-winning novel Running the Rift. I've pre-ordered it for my Kindle and cannot wait to get started. I think it could be a contender for this year's Orange Prize too.

Other titles I hope to squeeze in this month: What Looks Like Crazy on an Ordinary Day by Pearl Cleage (re-read), Like Water for Chocolate by Laura Esquivel (re-read and 1001 selection), Watchmen (1001 selection), Gillespie and I by Jane Harris, The Silent Oligarch by Christopher Morgan Jones, One for the Money by Janet Evanovich (book club), Cleopatra by Stacy Schiff (book club), and Once Upon a River by Bonnie Jo Campbell.

Most of all, though, I want to read what I feel like reading and feel proud of what I'm reading. I don't want to over-schedule my reading. Now tell me: what are your reading goals this month and year?

As an affiliate, I receive a small commission when you make a purchase through any of the above links. Thank you for helping to support my book habits that bring more content to this blog!

The Best of 2011

noreply@blogger.com (nomadreader) — Sun, 01 Jan 2012 05:01:00 +0000

The Top 14
As I sat down to make my list of favorite reads of 2011, I ended up with a top 14. Last year I lucked into a top 10, but I also read about twenty more books this year, so that makes sense. I don't like to set an arbitrary number of titles for my Best of the Year list, so here are my favorite reads of 2011 (all are books I read in 2011, but not all were originally published in 2011.)

14. The Lover's Dictionary by David Levithan (my review)
A love story told through dictionary definitions sounded so interesting I had to try it, even as I doubted how it would work as a novel. It worked beautifully and brilliantly, and it was a surprisingly emotional read.

13. Untold Story by Monica Ali (my review)
Untold Story was one of the titles I was most excited to read in 2011, as I adore literary fiction about real people. Monica Ali's imagination of what life would like today if Princess Diana had faked her own death was a suspenseful, character-driven novel I could not put down.

12. The Lotus Eaters by Tatjana Soli (my review)
Tatjana Soli's debut novel, The Lotus Eaters, was the first books I read in 2011. It transported me to Vietnam and offered a beautiful, harrowing depiction of both the country and the war through the eyes of photojournalist Helen Adams.

11. Repeat It Today With Tears by Anne Peile (my review)

Anne Peile's debut novel, Repeat It Today With Tears, was longlisted for the 2011 Orange Prize, and I wish it would have made the shortlist. Peile puts a human, understandable spin on a daughter's half-consensual affair with her father (he didn't know she was his daughter, but she sought him out.) It was riveting and never veered toward the salaciousness this topic so easily could.

10. Small Wars by Sadie Jones (my review)
Small Wars snuck up on me, but ultmiately Sadie Jones wowed me with the patience she had to tell the story of Hal and Clara. The novel is set in the the 1950's British-occupied Cyprus, and seeing the varied perspectives of Hal, a major in the British army, and Clara, his young wife struggling in a foreign land, was fascinating and beautiful.

9. The Personal History of Rachel DuPree by Ann Weisgarber (my review)
Ann Weisgarber's debut novel, The Personal History of Rachel DuPree, is a powerful look at the life of Rachel and Isaac, African-American homesteaders who settled in South Dakota's Badlands in the early 1900's. It was a hard life, but Rachel was one of my favorite characters of 2011.

8. Next to Love by Ellen Feldman (my review)
Ellen Feldman made my Top 10 of 2010 for her historical novel, Scottsboro, and Next to Love is just as good. It's the story of three young friends, Babe, Millie, and Grace, and how they deal with their men away during World War II, as well as the lingering impact of the war after it ends. It was a rare treat to see a novelist tackle both the war and its aftermath with the same characters, and Feldman told it beautifully.

7. The Privileges by Jonathan Dee (my review)
Jonathan Dee's Pulitzer-Prize finalist novel The Privileges is the story of Adam and Cynthia Morey. It opens with their wedding and follows them through four different times of their marriage. It's a fascinating family saga of their love and increasing privilege, and it has the wisdom and observation for a novel much longer than its 288 pages.

6. The Leftovers by Tom Perrotta (my review)
Tom Perrotta is my favorite author, and it's no surprise I adored his take on the Sudden Departure, when many people suddenly vanished. Perrotta focuses this novel on what happens after. How do those left behind cope emotionally, spiritually and in every day life?

5. The First Husband by Laura Dave (my review)
Laura Dave is another of my favorite authors, and her latest novel once again takes on the theme of modern romantic relationships and their complications. Dave has a gift for character development, and Annie and Griffin are no exception. It was a joy to see them fall in love and try to manage their lives and careers, Annie as a travel columnist and Griffin, a chef set to open his own restaurant in his hometown.

4. The Sense of an Ending by Julian Barnes (my review)
The Sense of an Ending won rightly this year's Booker Prize. The novella is a brilliant and moving take on time, memory, age and friendship. It's one I will re-read in 2012 and perhaps every year because it's breadth is particularly impressive given it's 176-page length.

3. The Sweet Relief of Missing Children by Sarah Braunstein (my review)
Sarah Braunstein's debut novel The Sweet Relief of Missing Children earned her a spot on last year's National Book Award 5 Under 35 list, and it's the best debut novel I read this year. I'm still in awe of both her writing and how she weaved seemingly disparate storylines and characters in this beautiful, haunting narrative.

2. We Had It So Good by Linda Grant (my review)
I'm still shocked Linda Grant's latest novel failed to make either the Booker or Orange Prize longlist because it is one of the year's best novels. The story of Stephen, a son of immigrants who was raised in Los Angeles. When he earns a Rhodes scholarship to England, his parents remain baffled why he would leave the country they worked so hard to make his home. It's a beautiful character-driven family novel about roots, marriage, and hard times. Grant's writing is beautiful, and I'm convinced she's among the best contemporary British novelists.

1. State of Wonder by Ann Patchett (my review)
For those who read my blog it should be no surprise to see State of Wonder number one. It's the only book I rated six stars out of five. Patchettt completely blew me away this literary tale of adventure, love, life and friendship. She's a masterful writer and storyteller, and I've vowed to read her entire backlist in 2012.

Breaking down the Top 14

Last year, my top featured all female writers and all authors I'd read for the first time. I'm glad to see a bit more diversity in this year's list! My top 14 featured 4 men and 10 women. Five of the titles were from prize lists (and several others are possibilities for the upcoming National Book Critics Circle, the Orange Prize, and the Pulitzer Prize.) Four were debut novels. Three were authors I've read before, while 11 were new-to-me authors.

The year in reading

2011 was another incredible year of reading for me. With each year I focus more on reading, choosing books and discussing them through my blog, I get to know myself better as a reader and end up picking better books for me. Looking back on the 108 books I read in 2011, I rated 14 of them 5 stars (about 13%), which seems about right; 2 of those were re-reads (Note, not all of the 5-star reads made the Top 14 list.) I rated a whopping 34 of them 4.5 stars (about 31%), which shocked me. I rated 35 of them 4 stars (about 32%). Only 22 of the books I read were rated less than 4 stars (about 20%). I'd like that number to be lower, but with my emphasis on prize lists, many of those are titles I think are quite good, but I simply didn't care for them (i.e. The Tiger's Wife.)

Affiliate statistics

The three books I sold the most copies of through my affiliate links this year were The First Husband by Laura Dave (a title I posted both a Waiting on Wednesday and earned a spot in this top 14), State of Wonder by Ann Patchett (another title I posted both a Waiting on Wednesday and earned the top spot in my top 14), and In the Last (a book originally published in the 1960's, and one I only gave four stars to!) I sold three times as many Kindle books as print books through my Amazon links. I still have yet to sell a single item through IndieBound or The Book Depository, but I'm also not as diligent about placing links in reviews. To those who take the time to purchase books through my affiliate links, THANK YOU! This year, I made a total of $54.04 in Amazon credit, all of which was used to purchase more Kindle books to review here!

As an affiliate, I receive a small commission when you make a purchase through any of the above links. Thank you for helping to support my book habits that bring more content to this blog!

book review: The Year We Left Home by Jean Thompson

noreply@blogger.com (nomadreader) — Fri, 30 Dec 2011 15:59:00 +0000

The basics: The Year We Left Home is the story of the Erickson family in Iowa. It stretches from oldest sibling Anita's wedding in the 1970's to present day.

My thoughts: I was eager to read The Year We Left Home for two reasons: I've been intending to read Jean Thompson for years and it takes place in Iowa (where I live.) My perceptions of this novel changed mightily as I read it. Over the course of the first one hundred pages, I was convinced it wasn't a novel at all but rather a set of very loosely connected stories. There were gems of gorgeous writing like this sentence: "Ryan had meant something else, though now his meaning escaped him, what was it like, to travel across an ocean, to be in a war, to be afraid for your life, to kill someone or think about killing them, to buy a woman." Still, I yearned for character development. Although the action shifted to different characters, I felt Thompson kept all of them an arm's length away from the reader.

As the book continued on and more time passed, however, the characters began to weave back into the story in multiple ways. While I appreciated this patient literary technique, I still felt incredibly removed from these characters. I wanted Thompson to push her characters and story as far as she pushed her language.

Favorite passage: "When he was younger he had wished to see the world, and then he had wished to change it, and then he had been afraid it was passing him by. And his mistake had been to confuse a particular woman with the world."

The verdict: Although the book ended more strongly than it began, much of the novel reads like short stories that would work almost as well as stand-alones. Ultimately, I wanted as much from these characters as I got from Thompson's use of language, but she left me wanting more.

Rating: 4 out of 5
Length: 336 pages
Publication date: May 3, 2011
Source: library

Convinced? Treat yourself! Buy The Year We Left Home from an independent bookstore, the Book Depository or Amazon (Kindle version.)

As an affiliate, I receive a very, very small commission when you make a purchase through any of the above links. Thank you for helping to support my book habits that bring more content to this blog!

Time Is Running Out

noreply@blogger.com (nomadreader) — Thu, 29 Dec 2011 18:24:00 +0000

The end of the year is bringing a slew of 'Best of 2011' lists (mine will go up Sunday), but it also means time is running out to nominate your favorite books for the 2011 Indie Lit Awards. The Indie Lit Awards, created by Wallace from Unputdownables last year, allow literary bloggers to be the judges. I'll thrilled to be a voting member of the fiction category this year. As a voting member, I can't nominate books, so we're relying on readers to nominate the books that will make up the shortlists. Here are the categories: Biography & Memoir, GLBTQ, Fiction, Mystery, Non-fiction, Poetry, and Speculative Fiction.

Here are the guidelines for nominations:
1. The books must have been published in 2011.
2. You may nominate up to five books per genre.
3. Anyone may nominate (except those who made a profit on the book, such as the author, publicist or publisher).
4. Nominations are open until December 31, 2011 at 11:59 Pacific time.

Have your list of favorite 2011 reads handy? Nominate them today! I can't wait to see what titles make the shortlists, and I'm ready to start reading the fiction nominees and deliberating with my fellow judges about them.

As an affiliate, I receive a very, very small commission when you make a purchase through any of the above links. Thank you for helping to support my book habits that bring more content to this blog!

book review: The Fall of Rome by Martha Southgate

noreply@blogger.com (nomadreader) — Wed, 28 Dec 2011 11:00:00 +0000

The backstory: After so enjoying The Taste of Salt by Martha Southgate (my review), I wanted to read her earlier novels too.

The basics: The Fall of Rome takes place at a private, all boys boarding school in Connecticut. There are three alternating narrators: Jerome Washington, a Negro (his preference) Classics teacher who has been at the school for thirty years; Jana Hansen, a middle-aged divorcee English teacher who is new to the school; and Rashid Bryson, an African-American first-year student with dreadlocks who comes from a poor neighborhood in Brooklyn.

My thoughts: In The Fall of Rome, the three main characters were delightfully diverse, yet I found equally myself compelled by all of them. Despite the differences of these three characters, none were a caricature. Jerome, who could be a bit of a curmudgeon after thirty years at one institution, still had balance:

"One thing that became clear to me after I had taught at Chelsea for awhile is that for the most part my students were likely to grow up and lead lives as successful but also as mundane as those of their parents. That made it all the more thrilling when I saw something extraordinary in a boy."

I have a fondness for academic novels, but the specific issues of this academic microcosm were fascinating on both a micro and macro scale. What is the role of an all boys boarding school today? Does racial diversity matter? What responsibility do African-American teachers have to mentor and recruit diverse students? Is it responsible to recruit students who are ill prepared for academic rigor? There are no easy answers to these questions, of course, but Southgate masterfully uses the three characters to play out the complications inherent in all of these questions.

Having read The Taste of Salt so recently, I was struck by a similarity of theme in Southgate's work. Both novels feature an intellectual African-American who works at an elite institution and is the only black person who works there. Both have issues with their pasts. I found these parallels between Jerome and Josie fascinating, and I caught myself imagining what a conversation between the two of them would sound like.

Favorite passage: "Of course, I had heard my parents fighting bitterly many nights. But I thought that was what marriage was--a series of barely moderated battles broken by the creaking sighs of bedsprings and soft sobs."

The verdict: I adore the way Martha Southgate writes. She develops her characters and offers stunning insight in short books. The questions posed in this novel are important ones, and I am grateful Southgate isn't afraid to leave things messy. The Fall of Rome deals with numerous issues, many about race, but it works as both the story of these three characters and as a story bigger than these three characters.

Rating: 4.5 out of 5
Length: 224 pages
Publication date: January 2002
Source: interlibrary loan

Convinced? Treat yourself! Buy The Fall of Rome from an independent bookstore, the Book Depository, or Amazon (Kindle version.)

As an affiliate, I receive a small commission when you make a purchase through any of the above links. Thank you for helping to support my book habits that bring more content to this blog!

book review: The Art of Fielding by Chad Harbach

noreply@blogger.com (nomadreader) — Tue, 27 Dec 2011 11:00:00 +0000

The backstory: The New York Times named The Art of Fielding one of the five best fiction books of 2011.

The basics: The Art of Fielding is the story of Westish College, a small liberal arts college in Wisconsin. The main characters include three members of its Division III baseball team, the college's president, and his daughter.

My thoughts: Going into The Art of Fielding, I was curious how much baseball would be its focus. I grew up a huge sports fan, as all of my family still is, but I've distanced myself from following current sports. I still have a love and appreciation for them, and continue to find myself drawn to books and films that feature sports. I have a special soft spot for baseball after spending one of the best summers of my life interning at the Baseball Hall of Fame's Research Library. I appreciated the baseball scenes in The Art of Fielding, but I appreciated the college aspect more. While this novel will certainly appeal to baseball fans, I found the most compelling storylines to take place off the field. (A note to the non-baseball fans: the beginning is all baseball, but persevere.)

One reason this novel will appeal to non-baseball fans too is Harbach smartly included a main character who does not enjoy baseball. It's a lovely narrative tool to counteract the characters who often cannot see beyond the diamond. While it would be easy to dub The Art of Fielding as either a baseball novel or a coming of age novel, I think both do it a disservice. It is a novel rich in character and plot, but it's also a novel filled with wisdom. I highlighted 32 passages as I read. Harbach sneaks in nuggets of characterization like this one, "She hated the namelessness of women in stories, as if they lived and died so that men could have metaphysical insights," that left me breathless. (The historical story it came after was fantastic, albeit sexist.)

With so much I loved in this novel, the characters, the setting, the academia, and the influence of sports in Midwestern college life, I struggled with one particular storyline. As I've pondered whether it's me or the storyline, I think it might be a bit of both. I understand what Harbach was trying to do with it, but it felt hollow compared to the rest of the novel. In a weaker novel, it might have blended in as ordinary, but in this otherwise strong novel, it seemed slightly out of place. It didn't ruin the novel for me, but it did pull me out of the characters and action and make me ponder the editing and construction of the novel itself.

Favorite passages: Harbach beautifully articulated one of the reasons I take the time to review each book I read: "So much of one’s life was spent reading; it made sense not to do it alone." He summed up the kind of classroom I try to foster when I teach: "if one of his classmates or professors made a comment that seemed specious or incomplete, he said so. Not because he knew more than they did but because the clash of imperfect ideas was the only way for anyone, including himself, to learn and improve." I'll be putting it on my syllabus this spring. He stole my grammar-loving heart with this phrase: "Never too drunk to use whom." If I had to choose just one passage, however, it would be this one: "Literature could turn you into an asshole; he’d learned that teaching grad-school seminars. It could teach you to treat real people the way you did characters, as instruments of your own intellectual pleasure, cadavers on which to practice your critical faculties."

The verdict: The Art of Fielding is a very good novel, and one I enjoyed immensely. It's an excellent debut, but for this reader, one storyline did not ring as true as others, and it somewhat dampened my enjoyment of this novel. Ultimately, I think of this novel fondly, and while it won't make my top ten novels of 2011, its wisdom and characters will stick with me.

Rating: 4.5 out of 5
Length: 528 pages
Publication date: September 7, 2011
Source: I bought it for my Kindle

Convinced? Treat yourself! Buy The Art of Fielding from an independent bookstore, the Book Depository, or Amazon (Kindle version.)

As an affiliate, I receive a very, very small commission when you make a purchase through any of the above links. Thank you for helping to support my book habits that bring more content to this blog!

book review: Before I Go To Sleep by S.J. Watson

noreply@blogger.com (nomadreader) — Mon, 26 Dec 2011 16:03:00 +0000

The basics: Every morning Christine wakes up and doesn't know where she is, how old she is or who the man next to her his. Her husband Ben explains who she is, who he is, and leaves her lists of things to do while he's at work. Meanwhile, Christine has started keeping a journal to remind herself what she learned and remembered the day before. At the beginning of it, she writes: "DON'T TRUST BEN."

My thoughts: Before I Go to Sleep is a top notch thriller. My mind raced as I read it, and I was eager to unlock the puzzle of if Ben was a model husband trying to protect Christine or if he was keeping things from her, all while I realized this thriller was so rooted in reality, the answer couldn't be an either/or. From Christine's point of view, she wants to know everything about herself. From Ben's point of view, every day is the same; do you want to spend each day reliving the sadness of life and making the one you love sad?

What I loved most about this thriller is, despite being told from Christine's point of view, Watson managed to infuse the motivations of other characters perfectly. When each day begins, the reader knows more than Christine. How will she react? What will she learn today? What will she misunderstand today? These questions were answered differently each day, which made this novel excellent. Although there was a sense of Groundhog Day to it, the days themselves were so unique and illuminating, the pace remained fast.

The verdict: I was completely engaged in this thriller, and I read it in a single day.It was smart, fascinating and mesmerizing. I appreciated the combination of character development and plot twists. I'm already eagerly awaiting the film adaptation of this novel and S.J. Watson's second novel.

Rating: 5 out of 5
Length: 368 pages
Publication date: June 14, 2011
Source: library

Convinced? Treat yourself! Buy Before I Go To Sleep from an independent bookstore, the Book Depository, or Amazon (Kindle version). You may also visit S.J. Watson's website and follow him on Twitter.

As an affiliate, I receive a very, very small commission when you make a purchase through any of the above links. Thank you for helping to support my book habits that bring more content to this blog!

Holiday Swap reveal!

noreply@blogger.com (nomadreader) — Fri, 23 Dec 2011 15:05:00 +0000

I was so excited to participate in the Book Blogger Holiday Swap again this year. I have participated for the past two years (see my loot from 2009 and 2010) and discovered new bloggers and had the joy of receiving a package from a blogger who already knows me pretty well. This year once again I was buying for a blogger I did not know, plus she reads in a completely different genre than I do. It's a wonderful reminder of how big and diverse this community of book bloggers in, and it reminds me to step out of my little corner of literary fiction bloggers more often.

On to the presents....

Also, I have to give bonus props to my Santa because this gift arrived before Thanksgiving. I had the joy of unwrapping my first Christmas presents on the night before Thanksgiving, and it's taken me this long to actually write a post about it! As you can see, the present if off to an amazing start with this wine pourer and stopper. I eagerly dug into the wrapping paper to see what else awaited me...

The Family Meal: Home Cooking with Ferran Adria is a beautiful cookbook
a Moleskine travel journal: it's gorgeous (and the perfect thing for the annoying times during flights when I can't read on my Kindle)
The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver, which is probably the book people who know me are most surprised I haven't read. I've vowed to make time for it this year, most likely as part of Orange January or Orange July (it was shortlistd in 1999).
a delicious bag of Lindt chocolate truffles (yes, they're long gone, but I still think of them fondly!)

Once again, I had such a wonderful experience in this year's Book Blogger Holiday Swap. I participated at the $40 level (this year there were two options) because it was the only swap I did, and I'm amazed by how much I got for $40.

My Secret Santa, Laura from The Scarlet Letter, is amazing, and I'm so glad to discover her blog! You can also find her on Twitter. Thank you, Laura!

Coming up soon: I'll be taking the weekend off from the blog, but I'll be back next week with review of The Art of Fielding by Chad Harbach and Leaving the Atocha Station by Ben Lerner, plus whatever else I finish in the next two days! I'll have my Best of 2011 list for you on New Year's Day so I can read until the last minutes of 2011! Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, and Happy Kwanzaa to all of you!

book review: Murder Season by Robert Ellis

noreply@blogger.com (nomadreader) — Tue, 20 Dec 2011 11:00:00 +0000

The backstory: Robert Ellis is my favorite mystery writer. Murder Season is his third novel to feature Los Angeles detective Lena Gamble (he also has two stand-alone mysteries.) I adored the first two novels in this series, City of Fire (my review) and The Lost Witness (my review), immensely, and I eagerly awaited the publication of Murder Season this month. In anticipation, I re-read both City of Fire and The Lost Witness this year, and both earned 5 stars from on the re-read, even though I remembered 'who did it.' Note: because I believe this novel could work as a standalone, this review will not include any spoilers from the first two novels.

The basics: Lena gets called to investigate a brutal double murder at a hot Hollywood nightspot. Both the identity of the victims, one famous and one infamous, and the fact the two were even associated with one another, surprises everyone.

My thoughts: Admittedly, I went into this novel with high expectations. I appreciate that Robert Ellis takes time to write these mysteries (The Lost Witness was published in February 2009, so it's been almost three years), and I push this criminally underappreciated series on any mystery reader who will listen (I've converted my husband, his brother, his mother and his stepfather to the cause thus far.) I was riveted from the first scene. It was incredibly suspenseful to find out who was dead, and I knew they were fictional characters I probably didn't know.

Lena Gamble is among my favorite law enforcement characters. (Yes, I also love Maisie Dobbs and Bess Crawford, but historical crime solvers are in a vastly different league than a gritty L.A. detective. In my dream world, Lena would find a reason to collaborate with Manhattan D.A. Alexandra Cooper and have a fabulous cross-over, but I'm not holding my breath, just as I fear my musical dream of Nanci Griffith recording a duet with Steve Earle will never happen.) In this novel, she must work without a partner. As a narrative device, I think this move is brilliant. Instead of reading dialogue about observations, the reader largely gets Lena's thoughts. It's an unfiltered view, and it's one that bonds the reader to Lena.

As I mentioned earlier, I believe this novel could work as a stand-alone. Elllis smartly refers to cases we've seen and those we haven't. At first, when Lena mentioned her last case, I was confused, but then it became clear there wasn't a novel about her last case. Not every case she solves is filled with high stakes, surprising turns and fascinating endings. I still recommend reading the series in order, but it is refreshing to not have to be hyper-vigilant about doing so.

Robert Ellis is not a writer whose passages I copy down to recall later. He's a masterly suspenseful writer, and his sentence variation pushes the action along admirably. As I've read or re-read all three Lena Gamble novels in the past few months, I've started to notice fascinating themes in his work as well. I'll refrain from sharing them here, but now that I've spotted these themes, I'm even more eager to see where the next novel goes.

The verdict: While the ending lacks a bit of the finesse and surprise the first two novels did, this mystery still delivers from beginning to end. Ellis smartly wrote this novel as one that could stand alone.

Rating: 4.5 out of 5
Length: 336 pages
Publication date: December 6, 2011
Source: I bought it for my Kindle

Convinced? Treat yourself! Buy Murder Season from Amazon in hardback or for the Kindle. Or, start this series at the beginning with City of Fire in paperback or for the Kindle (it's only $6.99!)

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