Reading is Fundamental

These are the books I read in 2010, in chronological order, and what I thought of them:

Thunderstruck- Erik Larson

I loved Devil in the White City by Larson so I assumed I would also like Thunderstruck. Like D.I.T.W.C., it was about contemporaries with vastly disparate paths (inventor Guglielmo Marconi and murderer H.H. Crippen), but it didn't compel me to read on with the same feverish urgency as it's predecessor. It was somewhere between "okay" and "meh."

Lawless- Ed Brubaker

I inadvertently read the second of the 5-part series and still haven't read the first (Coward), but I still enjoyed what I read. Once I get my hands on the first, I'd love to finish them all. It's gritty but good.

The Road- Cormac McCarthy

Yes, it is dark. Extremely. But it is also an emotionally compelling and beautifully written story of a father and son. I had read other books by McCarthy, but this one spoke to me in a different way. I started one evening and finished it in the wee hours of that morning, tears running down my face. It was excellent.

Empire Falls- Richard Russo

I have a feeling I should have liked this book more than I did. It just didn't connect with me. In fact, it connected with me so little that I had to look up the plot synopsis just now to remember what it was about. Maybe it just had a hard act to follow being preceded by The Road. I don't know what happened here.

Don't Follow Me, I'm Lost- Richard Rushfield

Richard is an old friend of mine, so this book was a fascinating glimpse into a time when I didn't know him. His (mis)adventures at Hampshire College are so wild that I laughed my way through the book, trying to reconcile the youth on the pages with the man I know now. I enjoyed that thoroughly.

The Ladies of Grace Adieu- Susanna Clarke

Clarke's debut novel, Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell, was fantastic. This is her follow-up to that novel and it is a series of short stories set in the same world as J.S.&.M.N. I remember liking this book, but I feel that I would have liked anything set in that familiar, magical world I already loved. Rumor has it that Clarke is writing a sequel to J.S.&.M.N., which delights me to no end. I think she is immensely talented.

Carter Beats the Devil- Glen David Gold

I liked this book just fine. It was light, adventurous, fast-paced and fun. I don't ever plan to read it again in my life, but it was fine the once.

The Alchemist- Paulo Coelho

I was leant this book by an unnamed friend who wanted to see if I agreed with him/her that this book was over-hyped. I agreed. I can see why people would like this book, but I'm not particularly spiritual or superstitious so its inspirational powers were largely lost on me. I feel it's ideal for someone who has been stuck in one place doing the same thing for a long time and feels guilt for not pursuing their life-long dream. I'm just not that person right now.

American Pastoral- Philip Roth

In certain respects, this novel reminded me of a book I read in 2009: We Were the Mulvaneys by Joyce Carol Oates. They both center around a seemingly perfect family that is torn apart by one single action perpetrated on/by the daughter of the family. It was very interestingly crafted and dynamically told.

Beloved- Toni Morrison

Beloved was easily one of the best novels I have read in my life. It was compelling, enthralling, emotional, and beautifully written. I can not recommend Beloved enough.

A Tree Grows in Brooklyn- Betty Smith

This novel focused the childhood and young adulthood of Williamsburg resident Francis Nolan as she and her family suffer through life on the brink of poverty. There was great deal of warmth in the writing and several keen observations about human nature. It was a quick and mostly enjoyable read, but it felt like something you might read in early high school. I assume that is because of the youth of the narrator and the fact that it was published in 1943 and therefore feels a little tamer than a lot of modern books, despite the heavy themes.

Founding Brothers: The Revolutionary Generation- Joseph J. Ellis

As a rule of thumb, I don't sit down and read during the day. I usually get into bed and read until I get tired. The reason I mention this is that fiction can keep me up until 4 AM easily, but historical non-fiction (however compelling) usually has me nodding within 30 minutes. This sounds like a critique of non-fiction, but I mean it to be a criticism of my reading habits because this book took me way too many sittings to read and so I didn't like it as much as I know I would have had I read it during the day when I was alert. It is written as six single-serving accounts of important moments in our country's formation. I would highly recommend it to any history lover who has not yet read it, but I'm guessing that number is limited.

The Story of Edgar Sawtelle- David Wroblewski

I can not handle stories about dogs. During an in-flight movie, as soon as it became clear that Marley might die, I fell to pieces crying on the plane and couldn't finish the rest of the movie. I don't think I was anywhere near the part where he actually died; the mere suggestion was enough. I have read Where the Red Fern Grows many times, but not once without completely losing it. Don't even get me started on this. Unsurprisingly, this book brought me to tears more than once. Although it's set on a rural dog-breeding and training farm, the book has really interesting interpersonal dynamics. Most of all, though, it is a book that focuses on the complex and deep relationships that can be forged between man and dog. If you liked Where the Red Fern Grows or Hamlet, you will like this book.

A Short History of Nearly Everything- Bill Bryson

What an excellent book. I never excelled in science classes, so for me this book was a crash-course in everything I had missed or never been taught in high school. Although it is just shy of 600 pages, Bryson writes so well that you find yourself flipping through the pages, flabbergasted at all the things you had never thought to ask about the universe around you. I dare you to read this book and not stop every 5 minutes to tell a friend about the amazing thing you just learned.

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo- Stieg Larsson

It was like James Bond meets The DaVinci Code meets that scene in "Pulp Fiction" with Ving Rhames and the ball gag meets Sherlock Holmes meets IKEA. A total page turner. It was good, but for some reason not quite enough for me to be interested in reading the remaining two books in the series. I'm not sure why. I wouldn't be surprised if my interest were to be piqued at some time in the future, but it just didn't feel like a priority at the time.

Angle of Repose- Wallace Stegner

I just loved this book. It was a recommendation made by Steven and Patricia, and boy do they know what they're talking about. I felt that the relationship between Susan and her husband (and Susan and her best friend) were so real. The dialogue and conflicts resonated, the story was beautiful, and the settings were dynamic. I simply loved it. Ever since finishing Angle of Repose, I've been scouring used book stores for another one of Stegner's works, Crossing to Safety.

Ender's Game- Orson Scott Card

Man, I loved this book. I feel like it had been on my radar as a book I needed to read for decades and now I know why. It was so enthralling. Absolutely recommend.

The Time Traveler's Wife- Audrey Niffenegger

Why did I read this book? I wish I could go back in time and tell myself that it is completely impossibly to follow chronologically, utterly unbelievable and just a flat-out waste of my precious, linear time. I have an unofficial policy to finish a book once I've started it, and I was resenting my policy within the first 50 pages. Despite this scathing review, I still cried at the end, which just makes me mad because the book was unworthy of my tears.

Scott Pilgrim's Precious Little Life/ Scott Pilgrim vs. the World- Bryan Lee O'Malley

Super, super, super awesome. If I ever see my friend Hoai again, I'm going to borrow and read the rest. Five stars.

Jazz- Toni Morrison

I am disappointed to report that I also had to look up this book to remember what it was about. Perhaps coming off the Toni Morrison high of Beloved made me extra critical of Jazz, but whatever the reason, it simply didn't stick with me. I do remember that the writing had a certain musicality and flow to it that I liked.

A Map of the World- Jane Hamilton

Remember when I said that in We Were the Mulvaneys and American Pastoral an idyllic family is torn apart by something to do with the daughter? Well, this time it's the mom.

Billions and Billions- Carl Sagan

This book came highly recommended by total Sagan-philes Courtney and Mikey. Seriously, every time I see them I assume one of them will be in a corduroy blazer and turtleneck. In any event, this book was scientifically less dense than A Short History of Nearly Everything and was really digestible. That came as a pleasant surprise. It's mostly musings on scientific themes rather than straight science lessons, and it was enjoyable the whole way through. While reading Billions and Billions, the thought came to mind several times, "I wonder what Sagan would think about _____." He was obviously a brilliant and passionate man. There is a deeply heartfelt epilogue by his widow and frequent collaborator Ann Druyan that had me sobbing.

Where the Girls Are- Growing Up Female with the Mass Media- Susan J. Douglas

My friend Kamryn first mentioned this book the day I met her and by the second time we saw each other, she had already leant me Where the Girls Are. Douglas analyzes the often conflicting messages that have been being broadcast to/about women ever since televisions lit up our living rooms and radios blared in our cars. It explores the genesis of stereotypes, myths and mischaracterizations of women as perpetrated by the media. It was fascinating to read about what formed the perceptions that were so firmly in place by the time I was born. I feel that I would have been able to enjoy the book more if I had been old enough to know more of the shows, songs and movies she references in the book. I found myself keeping a pretty sizable mental list of things I wanted to google after I finished each chapter. All in all, a really interesting and humorously written book.

Earth (The Book)- Jon Stewart and the writers from "The Daily Show"

I'm a sucker for these kinds of books. I thoroughly enjoyed America (The Book) and Stephen Colbert's I Am America (And So Can You!). Earth (The Book) did not break the streak.

Freedom- Jonathan Franzen

Jonathan Franzen has a way of writing that makes you feel that he's been in your closet (and somehow, simultaneously, in the closets of millions of Americans) for years , listening to your fights and murmurings and worries. He knows how to write people and dialogue like few, if any, authors I have ever read. I had already read and enjoyed The Corrections and Freedom was right up there with it. I would absolutely recommend this book.

The Magicians- Lev Grossman

There were a few elements in The Magicians that struck me as novel, but on the whole it came across as a weak Harry Potter spin-off that so deeply resented being likened to the series that it threw in gratuitous mature-audience curve-balls as if to say, "Oh, yeah!? Would Harry Potter ______?! I didn't think so...."

Parker: The Hunter- Darwyn Cooke

This graphic novel is visually stunning, but there are so many women getting punched in the face. So many.

Summer For the Gods: The Scopes Trial and America's Continuing Debate over Science and Religion- Edward J. Larson

Tom took a class taught by Larson in college and had been casually recommending I read this book for several years. I suffered from my usual historical non-fiction fatigue throughout this book and found it difficult to keep engaged since I read it in 15-minute chunks. I think it probably is a really good book and an faithful recounting of the Scopes trial, but I didn't personally enjoy it.

Infidel- Ayyan Hirsi Ali

This book got me thinking in an entirely new way. It is a translated autobiography about the author's upbringing in Somaila, Ethiopia, Saudi Arabia, and Kenya and her eventual emigration to The Netherlands and later Washington, DC. To say this book is a page turner is an understatement. Ali has been through such personal trials that you have no choice to admire and respect her for what she has overcome to become the public figure she is today. It is an excellent read and a guaranteed conversation starter.

The Tales of Beedle the Bard- J.K. Rowling

Remember when I said I liked The Ladies of Grace Adieu because it was set in a world I already knew because of Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell? The same goes for The Tales of Beedle the Bard. As referenced in the Harry Potter series itself, it is essentially Aesop's Fables or Mother Goose, but for young wizards. It only takes an hour or so to read, and is well worth that investment.

Sex with the Queen- Eleanor Herman

This was another excellent lend/recommendation by Kamryn. Sex with the Queen is all about the realities of being royalty. It spans centuries, covering Catherine the Great, Marie Antoinette, Empress Alexandra, Anne Boleyn, Princess Diana and many others. The book utterly disabuses its reader of any previously held princess/queen lifestyle fetishization. As it turns out, being a queen often meant bedding an impotent, disfigured, elderly, or mentally incapacitated husband, eating cold food, living in drafty apartments, using old sheets, avoiding rats, and enduring total alienation from her country, family, and friends. There was also, of course, the risk of being beheaded, exiled, or replaced by your husband's mistress. Being a queen was like being a political pawn, and rarely, if ever, did it come anywhere near the grandeur, romance and opulence that we imagine. On a final note: I am currently halfway through the other book in the set and it is called Sex with Kings. How annoying is that? It should either be "Sex with the King" or this book should have been called "Sex with Queens." Pick a side, Herman.

Persepolis- Marjane Satrapi

This was a really enlightening and enjoyable graphic novel. I couldn't help but compare the author's views on her upbringing to those in Infidel, which added another layer of interest for me. The story was really engaging and told in such a way that you understood the logic behind Satrapi's actions and felt for her losses. I really enjoyed it and it made me wish there were more personal/autobiographical accounts like this in graphic novel form. The only other ones that come to mind are Blankets and Fun Home, which I loved.

An Object of Beauty- Steve Martin

First things first. This is the most beautiful dust jacket of any book I read this year. Absolutely gorgeous. Next item of business: I feel like before I talk about this book I need to make some sort of disclaimer that I really love Steve Martin. Not so much as an actor (although "The Jerk" is utterly delightful), but as an author. I've read his autobiography Born Standing Up, his novellas Shopgirl and The Pleasure of My Company, as well as his collection of short stories, Pure Drivel. I thoroughly enjoyed them all. Art is clearly a passion of Martin's. An Object of Beauty could only have been written by someone who has had years of personal observations on which to base his descriptions of both the art itself and the personalities commonly involved in the art dealing industry. In tone it most resembled Shopgirl, with its complicated (but lauded) female protagonist and its depictions of love affairs between men and women and, in this case, one woman and art. I enjoyed it a great deal.

Well, that's all! I love suggestions and personal recommendations, so please keep me in mind when you find a book you love. Thank you for reading!