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The Book’s The Thing

June 27, 2007

Particularly Good Crop of Summer Reads to Choose From

I wish I had free time to choose my own reading over the summer, especially considering the truly great line-up of books coming out lately, but with the potential for starting grad school in the fall I’ve decided to complete the theme of “going for broke” and review as many books this summer as I possibly can. I figured I won’t have an awful lot of reviewing time come September, assuming the University of Wisconsin-Madison does relent and accept me for their MLIS program, so I’m thinking I’d better get a lot of this out of my system now, while I still can.

If I did have any reading time that was my own, this is the stuff I would be reading this summer(and if I can beg freebie review copies of these, you better know I will):

Haruki Murakami won’t be to everyone’s taste. He writes in a very surreal, somewhat dark style that’s reminiscent of Camus. Anything new by him is always very good news to me. If you like this one try The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle. If you like that, try Kobo Abe’s The Woman in the Dunes. If you like both of those, you and I have really similar reading tastes, and we should get together for coffee sometime.

Ondaatje’s The English Patient was brilliant, but I can’t speak to anything else he’s written. As with Murakami, just seeing his name on anything sells me.

Ian McEwan writes in a similarly dark, psychologically complex style I’d compare to Haruki Murakami, but I’d have to say he’s far less obscure. I went on a McEwan reading spree a couple of years ago, shortly after Doubleday/Talese sent me a copy of Atonement to review,and I fell in love with his style. His first novel, The Cement Garden, is brilliant stuff. It’s really dark and disturbing, which to me is a good thing, but I will forewarn you on that, just in case you aren’t as thick-skinned as I am.

I’ll disclose I have total prejudice for this book, as I’ve exchanged emails with the author, he’s offered me an interview, and his publisher sent me a copy of his book. I can be swayed by free hardbacks (hint), but I really wouldn’t endorse him if I didn’t think his book had merit. Really!

And he didn’t pay me to say that, either.

The Short Bus is the memoir of a man who struggled his whole life against the stereotype of being “learning disabled,” and how he managed to not just get by, but to succeed, graduating with honors from Brown University with a degree in English literature. His story is inspirational. This is also the one book on this list I know I’ll be reading this summer, because I promised I would.

Like this one NEEDS any extra publicity help… The Kite Runner was phenomenal. This one is, too, no doubt.

I’ve decided I’m going to be Joyce Carol Oates in my next life. Is there anyone who publishes more, in more variety, than she does? I can’t decide if I love her or hate her. Depends on the day, I guess.

There are loads more of these truly great reads hot off the presses for the summer, but I’ll stop here for now. Next time I’ll tell you what I actually am reading this summer, what I’ve begged from publishers and had better read or they’ll come after me (or worse, not send me any more books). The list is frighteningly long. I’ll warn you of that so you can shield your eyes if you have a delicate constitution. When it comes time to pay the proverbial piper I may find myself a little sorry I asked for so much. I’m like a kid in a candy store when someone mentions FREE BOOKS, and like a kid who’s imbibed too much I may wind up with a stomach ache. Pity, eh?

posted by Lisa at 3:42 pm | Comments (0)

May 17, 2007

Waterstone’s Bookshop List: Best 25 Contemporary Novelists

Waterstone’s Bookshop (UK) celebrated its 25th anniversary by producing a list of the 25 contemporary writers they believe most likely to achieve enduring fame.

How exciting to be one of these people right now, eh?:

1. Jo Pratt - food stylist and writer

2. Naomi Alderman - debut novel Disobedience

3. Robyn Young - author of “Brethren Trilogy” about the Crusades

4. Gautman Malkani - author of Londonstani

5. Richard Morgan - dystopian science fiction writer, author of Altered Carbon and Market Forces

6. Louise Welsh - author of Tamburlaine Must Die

7. Jane Harris - author of The Observations

8. Nick Stone - author of noirish thriller Mr. Clarinet

9. Siobhan Dowd - author of A Swift Pure Cry

10. Jasper Fforde - author of “Thursday Next” series

11. Jon McGregor - author of If Nobody Speaks of Remarkable Things

12. Peter Hobbs - author of The Short Day Dying

13. Steven Hall - author of The Raw Shark

14. Susanna Clarke - author of Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell

15. Dominic Sandbrook - author of Never Had it So Good

16. Ben Wilson - author of The Laughter of Triumph

17. Chris Simms - author of Outside the White Lines

18. Maggie O’Farrell - author of After You’d Gone

19. Marina Lewycka - author of A Short History of Tractors in Ukranian

20. C.J. Sansom - author of Matthew Shardlake series

21. Julia Golding - author of The Diamond of Drury Lane

22. Helen Oyemi - author of The Icarus Girl

23. Robert McFarlane - author of Mountains of the Mind: a History of Fascination

24. Emily Gravett - children’s author who raised her first child on a bus, author of Wolves

25. Charlotte Mendelson - author of Daughters of Jerusalem

Link to full article in The Independent.

posted by Lisa at 11:31 am | Comments (0)

December 18, 2006

Top 10 Reads for 2006

Verrry difficult this year, as it is every year, but the more I looked at my list of books read in 2006 the more clear my Top 10 List became. Though I read a lot of really great books, the ones that stood out as stellar were really pretty obvious choices.

The books I chose as my “best of” were the ones that most likely blind-sided me by their sheer brilliance. A book that turns me inside-out, then rips out my heart for good measure, is very likely to make my Top 10 List. Also, a book that has deep, never-ending empathy, forcing me to look at things in my own life I may or may not be comfortable with thinking about but which I need to address, is a strong contender.

Then there are the classics, those books that set the standard for what a good story is, or should be. These stand the test of time, and often multiple readings, and every time I read them I find something entirely different within the very same pages (often the same edition) I’ve held in my hands before.

So, without further ado, here is:

My Top 10 Books Read in 2006:

(Not necessarily in order, mind…)

10. The Barracks by John McGahern

9. Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens

8. The Other Side of the Bridge by Mary Lawson

7. A Lifetime Burning by Linda Gillard

6. Too Loud a Solitude by Bohumil Hrabal

5. The Stranger Next Door by Amelie Nothomb

4. The Man Who Loved Children by Christina Stead

3. Black Swan Green by David Mitchell

2. TIE: The Invisible Woman: The Story of Charles Dickens and Nelly Ternan by Claire Tomalin, England’s Mistress: The Infamous Life of Emma Hamilton by Kate Williams

1. The Blind Assassin by Margaret Atwood

Honorable Mention Status:

1. Suite Francaise by Irene Nemirovsky

2. Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert

3. Mother’s Milk by Edward St. Aubyn

4. Blaming by Elizabeth Taylor (no, not the actress!)

5. The Glass Castle: A Memoir by Jeanette Walls

N.B.: For the record, everything I read by Ruth Rendell/Barbara Vine remains in its own special, separate category of books I read selfishly and with utter abandon, but which didn’t quite make the cut for the hallowed list. To her I tip my bonnet with deepest humility and thanks, and I’ll give her the title of the Writer Least Likely to Disappoint Me When I Need a Really Good Creepy Read. Without Rendell/Vine I don’t know how I’d fill this very vital (to me) void.

Last, but certainly not least, heartfelt thanks go out to everyone I’ve chatted with on all matters bookish, all who’ve been reading my blog or whose blog I’ve read over the year, and to all who’ve given me such outstanding recommendations for books I simply MUST READ. Also, a thankful nod to all the publishers who keep sending me your books to read, enjoy and review. You’re all completely invaluable to me, and I only wish there were some way I could mention all of you to repay your incredible kindnesses. Humble thanks to all of you, and long may we all continue to enjoy this free, open community of like-minded souls communing and sharing our thoughts and feelings on the subject nearest to our hearts…

BOOKS!

Here’s to more of the same in 2007.

Happy Holidays to all, and all best wishes to you and yours in the New Year.

posted by Lisa at 10:18 am | Comments (0)