My goal was modest: to read at least 2 books a month this year. And it was going really well. By July 2nd, I was finishing book 22. You might even say I was feeling a little bit cocky.
Then July and most of August came and went and I didn’t so much as crack the spine of a new book. I read one book on vacation in late August. Then in September and and most of October – nothing.
Finally in late October, I managed to finish a small volume, a memoir, thereby completing my goal almost a month early. Since then I’ve read just three more and am partly through Regards by John Gregory Dunne.
As I finished each book, I made a few sparse notes:
- The Day I Became an Autodidact by Kendall Hailey
The author was in her late teens when she decided to educate herself at home in lieu of going to college. I enjoyed her story despite her youthful pretension. Reminded me of myself at around the same age — way less sophisticated than I thought I was.
- The Year of Magical Thinking by Joan Didion
Didion’s memoir of the year following the sudden death of her husband on December 30th, 2003. Heartbreaking.
- Light On Snow by Anita Shreve
Young girl and her widowed father find a newborn baby left to die in the snowy New Hampshire woods. Interesting tale but the protagonist seemed too young for the vocabulary and opinions attributed to her. Maybe I understimate age levels, but I have known 20, 30 and 40 year olds who can’t express themselves half so well.
- Marley and Me by John Grogan
Memoir about a dog. I should have known the dog would die. Still, amusing and touching account of life with an unruly labrador retriever.
- Best of Women’s Short Stories by multiple authors
I loved “Ladies in Lavender” from this collection, and “Marriage a la mode” by Kathleen Mansfield. Overall a good read. These were stories about women, not strictly stories by female writers (although many were both).
- Knitting–A Novel by Anne Bartlett
I was struck by the richness of internal dialogue in each character–contrasted with how spare the communication among them was. We are so little known by (or able to know) others.
- Stranger On the Square by Arthur and Cynthia Koestler
I first read this book while living Geneva. I guess CK resonated with me at that time. The man in my life then was certainly no Arthur (who was something of monster to live with), but his ideas were somewhat more fixed and forceful than mine and I admired that the way CK admired AK. This time, she was just annoying. And then the whole double suicide thing … I just don’t get that at all. Cynthia, honey, he just wasn’t worth it.
- Ethan Frome by Edith Wharton
Technically, another re-read (and, my heavens, an attempt at double suicide), but shorter and so very beautifully written.
- Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close by Jonathan Safran Foer
Good, but I got a little bored. I guess I don’t identify/empathize with extremely precocious pre-adolescent boys even if they have lost a parent in 9/11. What is wrong with me.
- The Jane Austen Book Club by Karen Joy Fowler
Despite the promising reference to one of my favorite authors, I found this too lightweight and predictable.
- On Beauty by Zadie Smith
Hey, I actually liked this one, but I didn’t realize at first that it was a “tribute” to EM Forster’s “Howard’s End.” She could have stolen less from him, but at least the end surprised me.
- Mapping the Edge by Sarah Dunant
Well done. Satisfying and interesting story. Or I should say stories. Both versions describing the same outward circumstances were credible in their own way and kept me on the edge of my seat.
- Child of My Heart by Alice McDermott
This one seemed short, but mostly good. Again with the wise-beyond-her-years adolescent protagonist. But she had a tenderness that made me care about her.
- The Mermaid Chair by Sue Monk Kidd
I don’t know why I liked this book so much, but I did. My notes say “enjoyable and realistic” but when I think about it now, I have to wonder what I meant. I don’t think there are a lot of middle-aged married women out there having passionate affairs with (no longer celibate) monks. Just a guess.
- The Tenth Circle by Jodi Picoult
Gripping, good read. Not entirely real, but close to the bone, especially the theme of self-deceit.
- Life of Pi by Yann Martel
I was repulsed at first at the bit where the zookeeper father has his sons observe a goat being eaten by wild cats, but I stuck with it and was rewarded with this:
“It’s important in life to conclude things properly. Only then can you let go. Otherwise you are left with words you should have said but never did and your heart is heavy with remorse.”
- Piano Lessons – Music, Love and True Adventures by Noah Adams
Would that my true adventures included buying a Steinway piano and attending the Autumn Sonata workshop, but still a good, quiet read.
- Leap of Faith – Memoirs of an Unexpected Life by Queen Noor
I’ve always been curious about Queen Noor. She’s not so far from my age and was an American when she married the much older King Hussein of Jordan. It was unfathomable to me at the time. Her memoir gave me a perspective lacking in media coverage of the middle east.
- Let Me Finish by Roger Angell
At times I wished he would finish, but mostly a good if rambling memoir. The last chapter “Hard Lines” was particularly moving. I also enjoyed the inside perspective on EB White.
- The Myth of You and Me by Leah Stewart
I liked it. Read it fast. I wasn’t hugely impressed with Oliver’s big secret but I cared about everyone else.
- Everyday Matters by Nardie Reeder Campion
Fun memoir. Campion is engaging if flighty. Still, this is pretty much what I expect from a memoir.
- Digging to America by Anne Tyler
Very Anne Tyler, which is to say I liked it a lot and it wasn’t entirely predictable.
- We Were the Mulvaneys by Joyce Carol Oates
Good novel, but she went a little long and then seemed to get bored and wrapped it up fast and neat.
- The Plain Truth by Jodi Picoult
Another good novel. Big city lawyer goes to live among the Amish and learns what life is about.
- Are You Happy? by Emily Fox Gordon
Another memoir, and although I did not grow up fat and unpopular, and get institutionalized instead of finishing college … I could still identify!
- The Piano Shop on the Left Bank by Thad Carhart
I wanted to love this book, but really only just liked it a little. Somehow it just didn’t touch me.
- Tolstoy Lied – A Novel by Rachel Kadish
Bordering on chick-lit, the genre where an independent single woman steers through the rocky shoals of love, with the support of one wacky (also single) girlfriend, one stable (read, married) girlfriend, and one male friend (who too often turns out to be her “true” love). This one avoided some of those pitfalls and was a good read.