On books

Following Tiny Coconut’s lead, I am posting a list of (most of the) books I have read this year. I’ve tried to list them in descending order of enjoyment, but that is impossible without also describing why I like (or dislike) a book. I don’t think it’s exactly justified to say that some of these books are better than others. Some are just different. And some are really not good. (Most of them I have written about in other parts of my blog, so I will just say a few words.) . . . . . . .

Lost in the Forest by Sue Miller. A perfect book.

Light on Snow by Anita Shreve. A winner. Her best.

An Invisible Sign of My Own by Aimee Bender. A very beautiful, sensitive book.

All That Matters by Wayson Choy. Another wonderful story by Choy. About Chinese immigrants in Vancouver during The War. His other book I had read previously, The Jade Peony, is also a great book, the same story told from the sister’s viewpoint.

How Dogs Think by Stanley Coren. Well, need I say more! A great book! Probably what started me on the puppy path.

To the Wedding by John Berger. A poetic, tender, moist story of transcendent love and loss.

While I Was Gone by Sue Miller. A disappointment to me but a favorite of many of my friends.

The Lady and the Unicorn by Tracy Chevalier. Interesting; a sketchy romance woven around medieval tapestry making. I read it on the plane going to Europe, which made it more intriguing.

Tales of Protection by Erik Fosnes Hansen�s. Four interesting stories with a complex link.

I Married a Communist by Philip Roth�. Slow to start (for me, who is not usually able to read political stories) but increasingly fascinating, about obsession in love and politics.

Blink by Malcolm Gladwell. I kept referring to this one in conversations and while teaching. It’s a good one.

Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim by David Sedaris. A very good, humorous memoir. About his dysfunctional family. He leaves no one out of his witty assessments of behavior, including himself and his partner.

Wait Till Next Year: A Memoir by Doris Kearns Goodwin. I really enjoyed this tale of baseball mania. It felt like a journey back to my childhood, when the World Series pre-empted classroom studies and we listened to baseball games in school.

The Confessions of Max Tivoli by Andrew Sean Greer�. Another very interesting book, much better than I would have expected from the “idea” the book was formed around, a man living his life (physically but not emotionally) backwards, from an old man at birth to a baby at death.

Cause Celeb by Helen Fielding. A more serious book than I expected. The humor was weak but the content, message of the book was excellent. It’s a story about a woman whose dysfunctional relationships leads her to relate to human suffering in the refugee camps in Africa.

Richard Wright’s novel Adultery. Not very good. I was glad to finish it, although the story had great potential.

All He Ever Wanted by Anita Shreve�. Not a favorite book. I love most of Anita Shreve’s writing, but not this one.

The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon. A dense gothic mystery novel, an intriguing story but either poorly written or poorly translated. It did improve as it moved along its intricate storyline but I am not sure I came out of it any wiser.

Never Let You Go by Kazuo Ishiguro. This was one book I actually put down. Even though recommended by two favorite reader friends, it didn’t catch my interest at all.

And believe it or not, I read The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown. A very poorly written book. Not one surprise in it. Trite dialogue. But because of all the hype, and because I do know people who feel there is some accuracy in the storyline, I’m glad I read it. So I now know what people are talking about. But no more than that.

And then there are the dog training books I am currently enjoying, ones I need to read and reread:

The Art of Raising Your Puppy by The Monks of New Skete

How to Be Your Dog’s Best Friend by The Monks of New Skete

Dog Training for Dummies by Jack Volhard and Wendy Volhard

Puppies for Dummies by Sarah Hodgson. (I read this one in the bookstore so then) Tamar gave me the following three books:

Puppy Perfect by Sarah Hodgson

Katz on Dogs by Jon Katz (who lives in Montclair, New Jersey)

The New Work of Dogs by Jon Katz. Much more on this fascinating book later.

So that’s it for 2005. I don’t for a minute think reading has been injured by the technology revolution. Most of my friends are intensive readers; the library is full every time I go there; lots of my students read serious literature during breaks at school and there are a lot more good books out there waiting to be read. Just as gyms (exercise for the body) are sprouting up everywhere, people need to read: exercise for the mind.

Posted by leya at December 25, 2005 09:29 AM