MADreads

It’s the most wonderful time of the year

December 21st, 2008 Jon - Central Library

The time when everyone publishes an end-of-the-year list. If the New York Times can do it, why not me? I’ve really only been keeping track of my reading since July 1, so here are many of the books I’ve read since then.

Brown, Wayne. Landscape with Heron. Insightful vignettes, newspaper columns, essays, and stories about life in Trinidad and Jamaica.

Bukoski, Anthony. North of the Port: Stories. UW-Superior’s Bukoski elegantly tells stories of displacement. Reader at the Wisconsin Book Festival.

Burton, Richard F, Sir, translator. The Arabian Nights. Simply the best. Bawdy, violent, fantastic, and clever; Disney’s Aladdin it ain’t.

Calvino, Italo. The Baron in the Trees. An Enlightenment-era baron seeks his utopia among the trees. Playful and smart, but not without its emotional moments.

Chekhov, Anton. Stories. Chekhov’s stories are as sharp and true-to-life as ever.

Eprile, Tony. Temporary Sojourner, and other South African Stories. A pointed look at apartheid-era South Africa combined with stories about coming of age in that country and in the United States. Publishers Weekly: “Vibrant.”

Fitzgerald, F Scott. The Great Gatsby. See my review here.

Foos, Laurie. Before Elvis There Was Nothing. Before the end of the novel, a woman has a horn growing out of her forehead. Booklist: “Leave it to Foos to write such a stunningly ironic, page-turning commentary on public image, beauty, and celebrity.”

Hemingway, Ernest. The Nick Adams Stories. Some of the best short stories written in the English language.

Hemon, Aleksandar. The Lazarus Project. See my review here. Reader at the Wisconsin Book Festival.

Lowenthal, Michael. Charity Girl. Tells the story of women rounded up during World War I because of their sexual behavior. Publishers Weekly: “Lowenthal ably captures the transformation of a naïve adolescent into a woman in his provocative story.”

Lychack, William. The Wasp Eater. A ten-year-old boy finds himself caught in the middle when his father is kicked out of the house for adultery. Booklist: “Beautifully understated, delicately crafted.”

Maraniss, David. Rome 1960: The Olympics that Changed the World. See my review here. Reader at the Wisconsin Book Festival.

McCarthy, Cormac. The Road. Small words and small actions are given the thought and attention they deserve as a father and son traverse a post apocalyptic wasteland.

McEwan, Ian. Atonement. You saw the movie, now read the book.

McEwan, Ian. First Love, Last Rites. A collection of some of McEwan’s rich and strange early stories.

Mignola, Mike. Hellboy. Awesomely drawn monster tales make the best bedtime reading.

Millhauser, Steven. Dangerous Laughter: Thirteen Stories. Srange tales and eerie fables for fans of Borges and the New Yorker. Check out his recent essay “The Ambition of the Short Story.”

Mori, Kaoru. Emma. Mori’s “maid mania,” as she calls it, resulted in this delightful manga series about finding love in Victorian England.

Mori, Kyoko. Stone Field, True Arrow. When a woman’s father dies, she is forced to reconsider her safe but sterile life. Publishers Weekly: “Graceful in its simplicity of language.”

Murakami, Haruki. What I Talk About When I Talk About Running. See my review here.

Nabokov, Vladimir. Lolita. Nabokov’s “love letter to the English language” and one of the most notorious books ever published.

Proulx, Annie. Brokeback Mountain. See Atonement, above. From the collection Close Range: Wyoming Stories.

Strout, Elizabeth. Olive Kitteridge. Interrelated short stories bring the titular character to life. Reader at the Wisconsin Book Festival.

Unger, Nancy. Fighting Bob La Follette: The Righteous Reformer. Well-researched one-volume look at La Follette and the Progressive Era. New to Wisconsin? Lived here all your life, but want to learn more about your home state? Check it out!

Verdelle, AJ. The Good Negress. A young woman tries to find her place in her family and in the world. Publishers Weekly: “Consistently absorbing and beautifully detailed.”

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