2009 books

Strength in What Remains by Tracy Kidder

This book is about a former roommate of mine - I'm sure of it. Regardless, a fascinating and uplifting story. This may sound terrible, but I'm not sure what was more horrific: the civil war in Burundi or his initial treatment in NYC.

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
Dates: 21 Nov-6 Dec 2009

*****

The Book Thief by Markus Zusak

Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars
Dates: 5 Nov 2009

*****

The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows

Predictable ending, but a fun, light read. I liked that it was written in letters.

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
Dates: 15-21 Sept 2009

*****

The Omnivore’s Dilemma by Michael Pollan

This book should be read by all Americans - unless you don't care about what you eat. That said, this is probably the first book I've ever read that proved the cliche, "Ignorance is bliss." Pollan's description of how our crops and meat are made is revolting - did you know that many of the bad associations with beef (heart disease, E. coli O157:H7) may be due to the fact that cows are fed an unnatural diet of corn (instead of grass)? And the organic food industry isn't much better: animals still live in cramped quarters and fed corn, only it is organic.

Really, I was in despair reading this book until I got to the chapters featuring Joel Salatin, whose "post-organic" farm gives me hope that farming can indeed be a sustainable activity. It's amazing how Salatin orchestrates the growth of his crops and animals, and minimizes waste (of all types) at the same time. Pollan also makes a good case for why people needn't become vegetarians: domesticated animals depend on us as well as we do on them, and eating only vegetables may not be enough to avoid the harmful practices of the food industry. The trick is to allow the animals to live well and to give them a respectful death. 

Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
Dates: 31 Aug-15 Sept 2009

*****

The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie by Alan Bradley

Seems like I'm on a British kick. This mystery was a good follow-up to the Dickens tome, and a perfect beach read. The book reminds me of The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, except the mystery is solved by an 11-year old female chemist. Although I was able to work out the mystery, Flavia's obsession with chemistry and her battles with her sisters were fun to read. Two scenes stand out in particular: Flavia's concoction to cure her cold (chicken broth from a cube, and baking soda), and the importance of letter writing (a dying art!) at the very end.

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
Dates: 25-28 Aug 2009

*****

Bleak House by Charles Dickens

This is the second book I've finished during our Maine trip; how odd to associate Maine with Dickens! I had avoided this book because of its uninviting title (would never work these days), but it is considered to be one of Dickens' best books. I'm not sure I would agree, but unlike most modern novels, Dickens' books deserve to be over 500 pages long: the writing is lively and well-crafted, the characters are memorable (though the list of characters at the beginning really helped me keep track of them), and the multiple plots come together without seeming forced.

Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars
Dates: 4-21 Aug 2009

*****

The Five People You Meet in Heaven by Mitch Albom

Very good book. Soothing, yet thought-provoking: I might actually read this book multiple times. I like the concept of heaven as a place where pivotal people in your life explain why things happened the way they did. Of course, the book makes me think of who I would want to meet in heaven, and what place I would choose as my heaven. Although the book is sometimes too melodramatic, I really appreciate how its brevity avoids belaboring its main point: we *all* have a purpose in life.

Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars
Dates: 30 Jul - 3Aug 2009

*****

The Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro

Call it a matter of taste, but I much prefer the writing style of Ishiguro to that of Diaz. The main character, Stevens, struck me as the perfect "woman", in a chauvinistic sense. His view of professionalism is to be completely loyal, to anticipate the need of his employer, and to never let his own needs get in the way of service. He also tries to believe that in serving a powerful man, he has made his own contribution to the world. But Stevens is definitely not a woman (in more ways than the obvious): although he tries to empathize with his employer, he is completely blind to the needs of others such as Miss Kenton.

I'm not sure that Stevens completely wasted his life by serving Lord Darlington, but he would have been better off if he had performed this self-examination earlier, and more frequently. It's not enough to be sit back and simply enjoy the "remains of the day".

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
Dates: 17-28 Jul 2009

*****

The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Diaz

Finally read this Pulitzer Prize-winning work of a colleague. The book is only okay, and I probably won't remember much of it in a few months. The writing is competent, but is sometimes too self-conscious and postmodern (because I listened to the audiobook at first, I didn't realize there were footnotes). Interesting insights into the Dominican Republic, but I don't know how much is true.

Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
Dates: 15 June - 16 July 2009

*****

Dancer by Colum McCann

The most difficult thing for me about this book is treating it as a novel rather than a biography. For example, I really liked the depictions of the Soviet Union and 1970's New York City - but I don't know how much of that is based on truth vs McCann's art as a storyteller. Nureyev sounded fascinating - I even took the time to look up YouTube videos of him dancing with Fonteyn - but most of the time, he was just a jerk. I'm tempted to read a real biography of Nureyev, but will more likely read another McCann book to see if he is a good writer.

Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars
Dates: 24 May - 14 June 2009

*****

The Numbers Game by Michael Blastland

Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars
Dates: 16 Mar - 21 April 2009

*****

The Oxford Book of English Verse by Arthur Quiller-Couch

Read a poem every night to Ivan.

Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
Dates: 18 Nov 2008 - 14 June 2009

*****

Twilight by Stephanie Meyer

I succumbed to the Twilight hype by getting the first book, but it will be my last. Although the book was hard to put down (note how long it took me to read it), Meyer is no JK Rowling. Not that I expected her to be, but basically, Meyer is not a good writer. The plot is simplistic; the characters are not deep. Yes, Edward Cullen sounded cool (if dead), but Bella was so incredibly uninteresting. She's not beautiful or smart; she is a klutz (which can be endearing) and is a magnet for danger (which is not endearing). I had a tough time trying to figure out what made her so attractive to the boys in the book, and the only thing I could come up with was that she smelled good?

Rating: 2 out of 5 stars
Dates: 14-16 Feb 2009

*****

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

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
Dates: 14 Feb 2009

*****

Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen

Gruen's novel is a fun read, and I found it hard to put down. Although the characters are not very complex, I enjoyed the depiction of train circus life, which was more palatable than say, _Geek Love_. I could almost taste Cracker Jack and cotton candy, and certainly salivated over Gruen's descriptions of food in the cook-house! Gruen also had some insightful comments about aging, but really in retrospect, it may have been unfair of me to read this book right after _Anna Karenina_.

Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars
Dates: 7-10 Feb 2009

*****

Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy

***WARNING: CONTAINS SPOILERS***

Continuing my tradition of starting off the year with a huge book, Anna Karenina certainly fits the bill. Although Anna Karenina is over 800 pages, the writing is vigorous and well-paced thanks to the translators, Pevear and Volokhonsky. 

Two things about the book strike me most: Tolstoy's depiction of relationships and 19th-c. aristocratic Russian life. I'm sure being married to a Russian makes me appreciate the latter, in particular the references to kvass and gathering mushrooms. But I really like how Tolstoy described the evolution of relationships. The wooing is always more fun to read, but more important is what happens after "marriage" (Levin/Kitty, Anna/Vronsky), when two strong individuals learn to live with each other.

And what about Anna? Although Anna is not as deep as Levin, she is a force of nature. I enjoyed reading about her (I was less impressed by Vronsky), but not so crazy about how her passion ultimately consumes her. The stream of consciousness in the last moments of her life is mesmerizing, but I wonder what would've happened if she just didn't have opium (my doctor thinks she needed a therapist). Perhaps what she really needed was Tolstoy not believing that divine law forever binds married people.  

Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars
Dates: 5 Jan - 6 Feb 2009

*****

The Elegance of the Hedgehog by Muriel Barbery

***WARNING: CONTAINS SPOILERS***

Muriel Barbery's book explores in a fairy tale-like manner how everyday life can be philosophical: What is the meaning of life? What is Beauty?

The book is certainly like a fairy-tale: contrast Renee's catharsis with Paloma's mother's years of psychotherapy. But the depth of the philosophy (and I'm taking the accuracy of the interpretations on faith) keeps the book from being too much like a fable. Indeed, there were times that I wondered about the purpose of all the philosophical ramblings, but a rereading (if I ever get around to it) may take care of it.

For example, one point the book brings up is that despite man's consciousness (and all the lovely and distracting things he can do with it), man is no better than a bee drone: we fulfill our purpose, then die. I wonder, then about the purpose of Renee's life. Is it to simply realize that members of different classes can mix? Or is to inspire Paloma to keep living in order to find moments of Always in Never?

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
Dates: 28 Dec - 4 Jan 2009