Cait's 2017 Reading

Hello, and welcome to my thread!

My name is Cait, and 2017 is my ninth year as a member of LT. I'm definitely a sporadic poster, but I'm back to try to document my reading again this year (I'm only two months late ;)).

I currently have 193 unread books in my apartment, and my main goal is to end the year with a smaller number of books on my TBR. My other goal is to reread twelve of my favourite books. I read a great post from Book Riot about how a book shouldn't really be called your favourite unless you've read it more than once, and that you should be able to relate to it regardless of your age. I'm not sure if I agree with that or not, but it did make me want to reconsider how I label something as a "favourite".

I tend to read contemporary literary fiction - whatever that means - with some Classics and genre fiction sprinkled into the mix. I live in Burlington, Ontario, Canada (about an hour from Toronto), and I really love CanLit. I teach high school English, so you can expect a few YA novels, as I like to keep up with what my students are reading.

Books Read in 2017

1. The Virgin Cure by Ami McKay - 4 stars - January 1
2. Anne of Green Gables by L. M. Montgomery - reread - 5 stars - January 3
3. Hag-Seed by Margaret Atwood - 3.5 stars - January 3
4. The Nature of the Beast by Louise Penny - 3.5 stars - January 4
5. To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee - reread - 5 stars - January 7
6. A God in Ruins by Kate Atkinson - 3 stars - January 7
7. 'Salem's Lot by Stephen King - reread - 5 stars - January 12
8. This One Summer by Mariko Tamaki and Jillian Tamaki - 3.5 stars - January 14
9. Y: The Last Man, Book 1 by Brian K. Vaughn - 3 stars - January 14
10. The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood - reread - 5 stars - February 26
11. The Nest by Cynthia D'Aprix Sweeney - 3 stars - March 11
12. Little Bee by Chris Cleave - 3 stars - March 13
13. Frog Music by Emma Donoghue - 4 stars - March 14
14. The Tenant of Wildfell Hall by Anne Bronte - 4.5 stars - March 15
15. The Girls by Emma Cline - 4.5 stars - May 20
16. Half of a Yellow Sun by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie - 5 stars - May 28
17. Hellgoing by Lynn Coady - 3 stars - June 9
18. All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr - 3.5 stars - June 24
19. We Were Liars by E. Lockhart - 3 stars - July 1
20. The Siege by Helen Dunmore - 5 stars - July 8
21. The Betrayal by Helen Dunmore - 4.5 stars - July 9
22. The Paying Guests by Sarah Waters - 4 stars - July 11
23. The Heart Goes Last by Margaret Atwood - 3 stars - July 15
24. The Break by Katherena Vermette - 3.5 stars - July 16
25. Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen - reread - 5 stars - July 20
26. Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone by J. K. Rowling - reread - 5 stars - July 23
27. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets by J. K. Rowling - reread - 5 stars - July 25
28. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban by J. K. Rowling - reread - 5 stars - July 29
29. History of Wolves by Emily Fridlund - 3.5 stars - July 30
30. Exit West by Mohsin Hamid - 4 stars - July 31
31. Lincoln in the Bardo by George Saunders - 4 stars - August 1
32. A Great Reckoning by Louise Penny - 3.5 stars - August 2
33. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire by J. K. Rowling - reread - 5 stars - August 6
34. The Underground Railroad by Colson Whitehead - 3.5 stars - August 7
35. Murder on the Orient Express by Agatha Christie - 3.5 stars - August 9
36. Reservoir 13 by Jon McGregor - 5 stars - August 16
37. In Their Lives: Great Writers on Great Beatles Songs, edited by Andrew Blauner - 4 stars - August 19
38. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix by J. K. Rowling - reread - 5 stars - August 21
39. Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince by J. K. Rowling - reread - 5 stars - August 25
40. Autumn by Ali Smith - 4.5 stars - September 2
41. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by J. K. Rowling - reread - 5 stars - sometime in September
42. Moxie by Jennifer Mathieu - 3.5 stars - Sometime in October
43. The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas - 3.5 stars - Sometime in October
44. The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins - reread - 4 stars - Sometime in November
45. Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins - reread - 3.5 stars - Sometime in November
46. Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins - reread - 3.5 stars - Sometime in November
47. Turtles All the Way Down by John Green - 4 stars - Sometime in November
48. Atonement by Ian McEwan - reread - 5 stars - December 19
49. The Princess Diarist by Carrie Fisher - 4 stars - December 27

Books Obtained in 2017

1. The Nest by Cynthia D'Aprix Sweeney
2. The Break by Katherena Vermette
3. The Little Red Chairs by Edna O'Brien
4. All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr
5. The Girls by Emma Cline
6. The Gunslinger by Stephen King
7. The Siege by Helen Dunmore
8. Early Warning by Jane Smiley
9. A Great Reckoning by Louise Penny
10. History of Wolves by Emily Fridlund
11. Exit West by Mohsin Hamid
12. Reservoir 13 by Jon McGregor
13. Lincoln in the Bardo by George Saunders
14. Autumn by Ali Smith
15. The Underground Railroad by Colson Whitehead
16. Murder on the Orient Express by Agatha Christie
17. Affinity by Sarah Waters
18. In Their Lives: Great Writers on Great Beatles Songs edited by Andrew Blauner
19. Home Fire by Kamila Shamsie
20. Moxie by Jennifer Mathieu
21. Turtles All the Way Down by John Green
22. Glass Houses by Louise Penny
23. The Princess Diarist by Carrie Fisher
24. Molly's Game by Molly Bloom

Twelve Favourite Books to Reread in 2017

1. Anne of Green Gables by L. M. Montgomery
2. To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
3. 'Salem's Lot by Stephen King
4. Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
5. Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte
6. The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood
7. Atonement by Ian McEwan
8. The Virgin Suicides by Jeffrey Eugenides
9. In the Skin of a Lion by Michael Ondaatje
10. Any Known Blood by Lawrence Hill
11. The Road by Cormac McCarthy
12. The Children's Book by A. S. Byatt

Welcome fellow sporadic poster! Looks like we are reading similar books (I just finished Hag-Seed, 'Salems Lot & Pride and Prejudice) and actually live close by (I am in Waterloo). I love Canlit and I am trying to make it a point to read more of that this year.

>5 Yells: Hi there, always nice to meet a fellow Canadian LTers! I went to the University of Waterloo, and both of my best friends still live in KW, so I am in your neck of the woods quite often. Looking forward to following your reading this year!

Book #10: The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood

The Handmaid's Tale was my first Atwood, back in a first year university Women in Literature class. I think I hated it. I think I didn't get it, to be honest. A few years later, I read Alias Grace while in teachers' college, and fell in love. That prose! Those images! The complexity! In my opinion, no author alive today has a way with words like Margaret Atwood.

So when I decided to reread twelve favourite novels this year, I initially chose Atwood's The Blind Assassin, which I gave five stars to back in 2009. But then, well, the world changed (not trying to get all political, but seriously, what the crap is going on this year?), and my obsession with the news and Twitter and all the bad events caused me to pick up The Handmaid's Tale instead. As I said at work one day, I needed to read about a world that is worse than our own. Sadly, this world maybe isn't so far away after all. In The Handmaid's Tale, the Republic of Gilead is a nation built on the idea of "freedom from", not "freedom to". Women have no power, and fertile women act as handmaids, servants who have the babies of rich and powerful men because their own wives cannot have children. The handmaids lose all sense of identity, and become renamed after the men they serve. It is a world of very little optimism.

And yet, this book brought me hope. Offred, our narrator, is surrounded by small signs of insurrection every day, and the ambiguous ending left me feeling as though, to intentionally misquote the Borg, resistance is not futile.

5 stars. Reread.

>1 Cait86: I like that definition of a favourite and I'm definitely a believer in rereading. Keep it up!

>8 SassyLassy: I am a believer in rereading too, and actually I think that that has been one of the downfalls of LT -- I read about so many new, amazing books that I forget to go back to the ones that make me the happiest. So far my rereads have all been five star experiences, and who doesn't want more of that in their life? ;)

Book #11: The Nest by Cythia D'Aprix Sweeney

The Nest is basically Gossip Girl for adults - self-absorbed, wealthy NYCers who have ridiculous problems, and can't seem to help themselves.

A generous 3 stars, mostly based on the merits of the gorgeous cover.

Book #12: Little Bee by Chris Cleave

Rather contrived, though heartfelt, story of a refugee who appears, looking for help, at the door of a British journalist who she met two years previously on a beach in Nigeria. I thought the story was well-paced, and two main characters were well-developed, though I didn't particularly empathize with Sarah, the journalist, and I didn't love the voice of Little Bee.

3 stars

Book #13: Frog Music by Emma Donoghue

A fun, twisty, based-on-a-true-story romp through 1870s San Francisco, from the point of view of a burlesque dancer/prostitute named Blanche, whose cross-dressing friend Jenny has been murdered. Frog Music alternates between the month leading up to Jenny's murder, and the days that follow the murder, and Donoghue dishes out the key information a teeny bit at a time. Definitely recommended for lovers of historical fiction.

4 stars

Book #14: The Tenant of Wildfell Hall by Anne Bronte

I have been listening to this book on audio in dribs and drabs for months, and then suddenly yesterday I decided that I wanted to finally finish it. I've listened to about ten hours over the past two days, and I quickly became caught up in the story of Helen Graham and Gilbert Markham. The first chunk of the novel is told through Gilbert's letters to a friend; the middle part is Helen's diary; the end reverts back to Gilbert's letters. I quite liked this structure, and the development of the two narrators.

Anne Bronte's style is different from her sisters' - I found The Tenant of Wildfell Hall to be less weighed down by description, and much less dramatic. Where Emily and Charlotte loved the dashing, ne'er-do-well leading man, Anne's Gilbert is much more... well, normal, I suppose. This feels like a moral response to Wuthering Heights and Jane Eyre, a cautionary tale about how falling in love with a cad isn't all that it seems cracked up to be. Even though I love a Heathcliffe-esque character, I found much to enjoy in this under-appreciated novel; Anne was certainly a very witty writer, and I was laughing out loud at the sarcastic things she wrote into her characters' mouths.

All-in-all, this was a lovely way to spend a couple of very snowy days.

4.5 stars

>12 Cait86: You just put Frog Music on my wishlist. I enjoyed Slammerkin, and never got around to anything else by Donoghue.

>13 Cait86: I've never read The Tenant of Wildfell Hall. I'm pretty sure I have it, so will try to get to it soon. PBS is airing 'To Walk Invisible: The Bronte Sisters', starting this Sunday. I've set it to record, and hope it's as good as I'm expecting it to be.

Book #15: The Girls by Emma Cline

After two long, busy months of no reading -- of picking up books, reading two pages, and realizing that I didn't have the brain power to concentrate on them; of watching endless hours of Netflix instead; of listening to podcasts on my drive to work -- last week I picked up The Girls and sped through it in a few days. Reading slump over.

The Girls is everything I needed to start reading again: set in the late 1960s, it's a drama-filled, angst-ridden story of a teen girl who gets caught up in a Charles Manson-esque cult. Evie becomes obsessed with the women who follow around the cult leader, Russell, and yearns to be as wild and free as Suzanne, Russell's right-hand woman. Of course this idyllic hippie life quickly becomes much darker, and older Evie reflects back on her role in the darker activities of the cult.

This wasn't great literature or anything, but it was a terrific story that clipped along, suspenseful enough to keep me reading long into the night.

4.5 stars

>13 Cait86: There must be something in the air, suddenly everyone seems to be reading The Tenant. I read it years ago; clearly time to take it off the shelf for a reread.

>7 Cait86: I'm reassured to read that you didn't like The Handmaid's Tale, the first time anyway. I was beginning to think I was the only person in the world who didn't think it was completely wonderful. I had been a huge Atwood fan up to that point but I really disliked the book and, with the exception of Wilderness Tips was not able to engage with her subsequent novels and have given up reading her, which is a pity as I do miss the enjoyment of her writing.

>16 Oandthegang: So you haven't enjoyed any of her later novels? Personally, I struggle more with her earlier stuff -- The Edible Woman and Surfacing are definitely not book I'd care to reread!

Book #16: Half of a Yellow Sun by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

You know, I totally thought that I had already read this book. I was at Chapters with my best friend, and she was looking for a new book -- something literary and well-written, but also engaging in terms of characters and story. I recommended Half of a Yellow Sun; she purchased it. I came home, and there it was, on one of my TBR shelves! I was surprised; I was sure that I had read this story of five interconnected characters set before and during the Biafra Civil War. Turns out, I must have started it and put it down, unfinished. So I started it again, at the same time as my best friend, and we had a wonderful week of reading it at roughly the same pace, discussing it along the way. There is something so rich about reading a book at the same time as another person; it adds so much to my experience to be able to talk about the characters, the writing style, the voice, etc., during the reading process.

Anyway, that was a bit of a detour from the point of this post: this gorgeous book. I love Adichie for her TED Talks (I show "The Dangers of a Single Story" in one of my English courses), and now I love her for this novel too. Half of a Yellow Sun is beautifully written, has characters about whom I cared, and is set in a time and place that added to my world knowledge. It's my first non-reread five star book of the year, and one that I am sure to revisit in the future.

5 stars

Nice story about Adichie's book! Do you participate in Group Reads here on LT?

>19 VivienneR: Sometimes, when I was more active on LT. I had a f2f book club for about a year too, but it was too big and people weren't super committed, so it fell apart.

Book #17: Hellgoing by Lynn Coady

Well-written but odd, thoroughly 'meh' collection of short stories. Why this won the Giller Prize I will never understand. Oh well - another one off of the TBR shelves!

3 stars

Book #18: All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr

Overly long WW2 novel about a blind French girl and a highly intelligent German boy whose paths are sure to cross. I enjoyed this well enough, but it's just another WW2 novel - nothing new really. Not bad, just not exciting.

3.5 stars

>22 Cait86:

That's the problem with WWII books once you've reached a certain age, isn't it? Most are not bad at all but you've been so overly saturated by the topic by now that few are exceptionally good.

I just stumbled into your thread -- like you, my brain has been busy elsewhere (although I'm also struggling to watch TV). Seems like there are A LOT of people struggling with reading these days.

So many comments .....

>10 Cait86: The Nest -- this kept calling me at the bookstore when it first came out, and I resisted. If it were British I'd have crumbled. So, good I held firm.

>11 Cait86: Little Bee -- read this for book club a few years ago and borrowed a copy. Better than I expected, actually. I thought the manipulation would be more blatant and I'd have a bad taste in my mouth after, but no, I think this one was better than expected and has held up.

>13 Cait86: Tenant of Wildfell Hall -- I didn't like this so much when I read it -- lots of bits that could have been CUT out. But the core story WAS good. If I live for a long time I'll rewrite the story from the husband's point of view. Because, yeah, he was a bastard for sure (alcohol to 3 yr olds?! if I remember correctly), but then I don't think she was such a charming face to meet at breakfast every morning. So someone's story needs to be told.

>18 Cait86: Half a Yellow Sun -- didn't work for me as well as it did for others, but I read it during the hype. And I do remember a lot about it, which is actually a important mark in the book's factor. And I learned something --- in today's world, famines are likely the result of politics. (or maybe always the result of politics, although no clear thinker uses "always" or "never")

>22 Cait86: All the Light We Cannot See. DNF for me. Tried twice. Got hundreds of pages in both times. When people recommend WWII books, I say NO. As you say, " it's just another WW2 novel". Another WWII novel. I'm done. Unless it's something different or new. The one thing in its favour was the location, but it wasn't enough for it's great length. Editor: swish through with your pen, crossing things out hither and yon. Otherwise, I yawn.

And on that bad note, I'll sign off.

>24 Nickelini: Re your version of The Tenant of Wildfell Hall - now that's a book I want!

>22 Cait86: I enjoyed All the light we cannot see mainly because the girl lived in St. Malo where I spent a vacation when I was young. Nostalgia counts for a lot, but otherwise I agree, it's just another WWII novel.

>23 lilisin: Definitely. I have so many WW2-focused novels on my shelves. Just finished another one, in fact, though it was fantastic. I think I feel the same way about dystopian novels -- hard to find one that adds something new to the genre.

>24 Nickelini: Joyce! I'm glad that you stumbled onto my thread! Now that it's summer I am back in the swing of reading. Pesky jobs just get in the way ;)

>25 VivienneR: I'd read Joyce's retelling of The Tenant of Wildfell Hall as well.

>26 VivienneR: I spent a beautiful day in St. Malo as part of a three-week trip through France in 2012. It's a gorgeous place, and I think the setting was what caused me to pick up the book in the first place.

Book #19: We Were Liars by E. Lockhart

YA novel that one of my grade nines gave to me as an end-of-the-year gift. I'm giving it an extra half-star because it was such a nice gesture, and because she said she can't way to talk to me about it in the fall.

3 stars



Book #20: The Siege by Helen Dunmore

Truly outstanding novel about the Siege of Leningrad in the winter of 1941-42. The description of the freezing cold had me shivering in my bed, and the will of the characters to live through day after day of starvation was a shining example of the power of humanity to fight for life. I loved this book.

5 stars



Book #21: The Betrayal by Helen Dunmore

This is the follow-up to The Siege, and nearly as good. Set in 1952 Russia, The Betrayal deals with life in the last days of Stalin's USSR, and the fear that permeated all levels of society.

4.5 stars

Book #22: The Paying Guests by Sarah Waters

Sarah Waters is one of my favourite authors - her books are rich in historical detail and full of plot twists and turns that verge on the unbelievable, but are held back from the brink by her gorgeous writing. This book, her most recent, is set in 1922 London, and stars a "spinster" twenty-seven year old woman named Florence, who lives with her mother in an upper class house that they can no longer afford. In order to make ends meet, they turn three of their upstairs rooms into an apartment that they rent to Mr. and Mrs. Barber, members of the "clerk class." As Florence becomes entwined with the Barbers, secrets are told, relationships formed, and well -- to tell you any more would involve serious spoilers.

This is definitely Waters' slowest moving novel, and it probably could have used with a good edit, but it's still wonderful. She has a gift at turning ordinary lives into extraordinary stories, and at making a time period come alive on the page.

4 stars

--------------------------------

If you haven't noticed, I'm on summer vacation (well, plus teaching summer school)! My reading has picked up exponentially, and I am having so much fun sinking into one gripping novel after another. Hopefully this keeps up for the next seven weeks, and I can make a serious dent in my TBR :)

I loved The Paying Guests! Enjoy the extra reading time!

Book #23: The Heart Goes Last by Margaret Atwood

Surprisingly bland for Atwood - normally I love her writing, but I never really connected with the characters or their story.

3 stars



Book #24: The Break by Katherena Vermette

I'm in the minority on this one - the other reviews are glowing. I thought it was just good; a bit too heavy-handed with the messaging, and definitely felt like a first novel.

3.5 stars

Book #25: Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen

Reread of another book from my favourites list in >4 Cait86: I think I've read this book at least ten times since I first read it in high school, and I still absolutely love it.

5 stars



Books #26, 27, 28: Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban by J. K. Rowling

One of my friends is reading this series for the first time, and so I decided to join her in my so-many-times-I've-lost-count reread.

5 stars



Book #29: History of Wolves by Emily Fridlund

I purchased several of the books that have been longlisted for this year's Man Booker Prize, and this was the first one I decided to read. It was a good, but not great, novel about an isolated teenager named Linda who lives in an abandoned commune with her parents outside of a small town in Minnesota. When a new family moves in across the lake, Linda starts babysitting for them. Immediately the reader knows that something is amiss, even if Linda seems intentionally blind to that fact.

While I enjoyed Fridlund's narrative voice and depiction of the setting very much, History of Wolves felt a bit too heavy-handed in the messaging, and it is rather over-written. This is Fridlund's debut novel, and it feels like a debut, with every literary trick thrown in, sometimes without purpose; despite that, I look forward to seeing what else she writes in her career.

3.5 stars



Book #30: Exit West by Mohsin Hamid

Another Booker nominee: I really enjoyed Exit West; the first half was quite brilliant, while the second half was less engaging. I loved the tone of the narrative: it is sort of fable-esque, with a side-story in each chapter of a refugee in a different country included to mirror the experiences of the main characters.

I'd be content if this made the shortlist - it's well-written, and timely in its themes while also feeling timeless.

4 stars



Book #31: Lincoln in the Bardo by George Saunders

In 1862, Abraham Lincoln's son Willie died of typhoid. He was eleven. Lincoln, understandably distraught, visited his son's tomb twice during the night he was interred. Saunders fictionalizes these visits through the spirits of the people in the cemetery, including Willie, and through clips from historical documents that discuss the Lincoln family.

Lincoln in the Bardo is probably the strangest book I've ever read. It reads more like a script than a novel, and the theatre-goer in me couldn't help but picture how it would look on a stage. I really loved the contrast between the voices of the spirits in the bardo, and the clips from the historical documents (which, at times, provided very contrasting views of the same person or event).

I found the middle third quite slow, but then the last third was just... stunning. Gorgeous prose, emotional moments, thought-provoking ideas - the only thing I found missing was a connection to a character; to be a truly spectacular book, I want to feel a strong emotion toward at least one of the characters - even if that strong emotion is hatred. I didn't have that reaction to any of the characters, because they somehow seemed secondary to the exploration of death and the afterlife. Or maybe it was the wide cast of characters; as soon as I was drawn to one's story, the narrative moved on to someone else.

I'm still trying to work through all of my thoughts on this book, but it is another that I would be happy to see move on to the Booker shortlist.

4 stars

Long time no see, huh? Good to see you are still here reading, reading, reading. I'm glad you enjoyed the Dunmore books. I have read quite a lot of her work and I still think The Siege is my favorite. The most recent book I read, Exposure was very good. I was sad to hear of her death.

>33 avaland: Lois! It has been a long time, though I still read your thread with regularity - I'm just not a big commenter. I bought The Little Red Chairs earlier this year because I remembered reading your comments on it. I will definitely read more of Dunmore's books in the future; I've jotted down Exposure as one to pick up.

Book #32: A Great Reckoning by Louise Penny

A Great Reckoning is the latest in Louise Penny's Armand Gamache murder mystery series (with another one coming out soon!). I continue to absolutely love this series, with its charming characters, mouth-watering descriptions of food, interesting perspectives on contemporary Canadian issues, and clever mysteries. Reading them is some of the most fun reading that I do all year.

3.5 stars

>32 Cait86: a lot in this post. Noting Lincoln in the Bardo and your reaction.

>32 Cait86: Great review. I just started it and recognize what you wrote about it.

>36 dchaikin:, >37 Simone2: Lincoln in the Bardo is certainly worth reading; the longer that I am from my experience reading it, the more I've come to appreciate it.

Book #33: Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire by J. K. Rowling

Not my favourite in the series, but that ending though! S**t in the wizarding world gets real.

5 stars



Book #34: The Underground Railroad by Colson Whitehead

The Underground Railroad is the story of Cora, a slave on a cotton plantation who runs away. As she journeys on the underground railroad - like, on actual trains under the ground; who else remembers thinking that this was real when they were kids? I know I did - she travels through several states, each with their own laws and visions in terms of race relations.

I really wanted to love The Underground Railroad, but I didn't. Cora was a compelling character, and the idea of the physical railroad was an interesting twist, but I didn't feel as though this book added much that I hadn't already read in The Book of Negroes or The Long Song, not to mention actual slave narratives like The Life of Frederick Douglas, or fiction from the actual time period like Oroonoko.

The detached tone with which the violence was described was quite challenging for me to read.

This would not get my vote for the Booker Prize - not because I didn't think that it was a good book, but because, for me, it didn't have enough to set it apart as special or unique.

3.5 stars

Reading Update

I'm currently in the middle of Murder on the Orient Express, and I should finish it today. I'm listening to Anna Karenina on audio in my car, and am almost at the halfway point (so... only another 20 or so hours to go...). Other than all of the farming talk, I'm super engaged in it.

Next up? I think Reservoir 13 by Jon McGregor, or maybe Autumn by Ali Smith, and also Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. I've been reading more challenging/literary novels during the day, and saving HP or something else a bit lighter for before going to sleep. I'm enjoying having more than one book on the go - something that I never do - because I'm able to cater to my own reading moods a bit more. So far, knock on wood, I haven't had a reading slump all summer, in part because I always have two or three options on the go.

Interesting about The Underground Railroad. I listened to the beginning on audio and found I wasn't interested. I thought maybe it was just the audio presentation and that I should try again in text form...but maybe it wasn't...

>41 dchaikin: Give The Underground Railroad another go -- I seem to be in the minority on this one, with lots of other people whose reading tastes I respect loving it (such as >42 Cait86:).

Book #35: Murder on the Orient Express by Agatha Christie

Murder on the Orient Express was my first Agatha Christie novel, purchased in anticipation of the film version coming out this fall. I very much enjoyed this "locked door" murder mystery for its diverse characters, engaging detective, and fantastic ending (the 1930s racism in it... not so much).

3.5 stars



Book #36: Reservoir 13 by Jon McGregor

Reservoir 13 is set in a small English town, just before New Year's Eve. A young girl who is visiting the town with her parents goes missing, and the town sets out to find her. As the lost girl stays lost, years pass in the town, and the lives of the people in it change as regular lives do.

Each chapter is a year in the life of the village, with the happenings of each month written in one block paragraph. This stylistic choice takes a bit of getting used to, as McGregor moves between characters without the visual cue of a paragraph break. Once I worked into the rhythm of his writing, I was mesmerized. Reservoir 13 is an absolutely gorgeous book about normal, everyday life in a small town; the changing of the seasons and the life of the natural world is given as much attention as the human inhabitants of the town, who come and go as life takes them away to new homes. Underlying it all is the story of the missing girl, and her sad parents, who are rumoured to walk the outskirts of the village looking for their daughter.

Reservoir 13 is unlike anything I have ever read, both in style and plot. I was in awe of McGregor's ability to make me care about a wide range of townspeople, even ones who I might see only once or twice in a year, and to keep these characters distinct while also having them each contribute to the central character of the book: the town. Longlisted for the Man Booker Prize, Reservoir 13 is, so far, my choice for the award.

5 stars

I'm going to have to read Murder on the Orient Express before the movie - since I know my wife and daughter are itching to see it.

intrigued by your comments on Reservoir 13

>43 Cait86: hopefully i will follow your advice, but in text form.

>45 Cait86: I am very much looking forward to the movie version, which has an outstanding cast.

Book #37: In Their Lives: Great Writers on Great Beatles Songs, edited by Andrew Blauner

In Their Lives: Great Writers on Great Beatles Songs is a collection of essays by various writers, actors, musicians, etc., all focusing on their favourite Beatles songs. The essays are arranged in chronological order, so besides being interesting essays individually, the collection works as a whole to trace the development of the Fab Four's musical career. Some of the essays focus on personal moments that were defined by a specific song, and others analyse the songs for their musical value. Collectively, they celebrate the genius of my favourite band, and the impact they've left on popular culture.

4 stars

Books #38, 39: Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince by J. K.
Rowling

The series really gets hits its stride with these two books - Harry's world expands to include issues of politics, abuse of power, the importance of knowing your enemy, and the many faces of good and evil. Only one book to go!

5 stars



Book #40: Autumn by Ali Smith

Autumn is about the friendship between Elisabeth, a thirty-something art lecturer, and her childhood neighbour, Daniel Gluck, who is nearing the end of his life in a care facility. It's also about contemporary politics, art, relationships, bureaucracy, and gender equality. Ali Smith is just the most incredible writer. She shifts through time seamlessly, so that her reader is constantly in a state of heightened attention - Smith is not an author who you can read while your mind is occupied elsewhere. Her gorgeous construction of witty and startlingly truthful sentences deserve your full focus, and the complexity of her narrative demands it.

4.5 stars

Autumn was such a lovely book. I'm happy this is just the first in a quartet.

And I'm dying to read Reservoir 13. I love McGregor's writing.