Tuesday, December 25, 2007
Susan's Book Talk: 2007 Reading Roundup
Wow. What a year it's been. Lots of new characters here at the blog, particularly Roadie Poet and Springer. You'll definitely see more of RP; I'm into him, too.
But this is about the books I've read over the past twelve months. I'm not quite at 100 read for the year, but there are five days left and a trip in there (more on that trip to come), and I know it'll be close. I can do it.
So let's take a few minutes and look at some of the highlights from my reading year:
It took me five books before I fell in love with something this year, and when I did, it was a doozy. Clay's Quilt, by Silas House. I even blogged about it here, so go back and see what I had to say.
Then I began my year-long reviewing blitz, as I think of it. First was LL Cool J's Platinum Workout. Check out the name of my post when I told you about it! Now that I'm reviewing a bit more steadily, it seems funny to see how excited I was.
I also read two good ones: The Potter's House by Rosie Thomas and The Wild Girl: The Notebooks of Ned Giles, by Jim Fergus. I'd loved Fergus' debut, One Thousand White Women, and this follow-up was not a letdown. The Potter's House was a neat read with a kicker of an ending.
Unthinkable? I don't think so. Joshua Braff's debut novel knocked my socks off. Will there be more from Braff? I don't know, but I certainly hope so -- so long as it's of this same quality.
I revisted a now-favorite writer, Jeanne Ray, this time with Step-Ball-Change, a dance move that always makes me smile when I hear it used in real life, like it has been lately in my household. And right after, I had my first taste of James Alan Gardner via Expendable, which gave new meaning to the phrase, "Oh, shit."
2007 was the year to catch up on my Linda Fairstein books. I'm now up to Entombed. I can see it from where I sit; that's a good sign. Hopefully it'll get read in 2008. You'd think after reading four or so of her novels in a fairly short period, I'd burn out, but nope. I can't wait to see what trouble lies ahead for Alex next.
My first Tess Gerritsen, whose blog I really like, my first Nancy Martin (who is a local!), my first Susan McBride, my first Allana Martin, catching up with oldies by Marcia Muller and Edna Buchanan... it was a big year for reading mysteries, so I softened it up with some of my favorite graphic novelist's works: Joann Sfar writing with Lewis Trondheim.
Nevada Barr's books run hot and cold with me, but the discovery of debut author Jennifer Estep sure soothed my crankies. As you guys know, I've become a huge Estep fan and can hardly wait for the 2008 release of Jinx.
My favorite book title of the year? Lily Bret's You Gotta Have Balls. NOT what you're thinking, folks. This was a fun, breezy read that my book club chose, probably so I'd stop having fun with the title. And did I have fun!
I did some cross-cultural reading, with Victor Villasenor's Rain of Gold. This huge, fat book was a great read, although I'm not sure if his follow-up works could come close to matching the scale of this debut. And I kept up the cross-cultural stuff, sort of, with the self-published phenomenon, Rashi's Daughters: Book One: Jehoved. Another book club pick, I can see why this did well. It's well-crafted and I'm eager to see if author Maggie Anton's shift to a major publisher fixed the nits I had with her writing, itself. So yes, my book club will be reading Book Two: Miriam at some point.
Speaking of book club, we also read Mary Doria Russell's A Thread of Grace. Read what I had to say about it here.
At long last, I got into Kelley Armstrong's Women of the Underworld series, reading the first two. I spent some time with Rachel Caine, again, and, of course, finished off the Harry Potter series.
More reviews, this time for Colleen Gleason's first two books. Make that another sequel I hope to get my hands on during the upcoming year...
And more local writers: Lila Shaara's beautiful Every Secret Thing and Rebecca Drake's The Next Killing (the review for which is up at Front Street). Friends, too: Ann Pino's My New-Found Land was great fun, and KL Going's The Garden of Eve is a quick, thought-provoking middle-grade book. I can hardly wait to catch up enough to sink into Going's St. Iggy. And my e-published friends, who have shown me a whole brave new world and new ways of reading. Robyn Rotham and Red Garnier; you guys rock. What a great way to be exposed to e-books.
But the read of the year? The one that has impacted me the most deeply? Nope, not The Unthinkable Thoughts of Jacob Green, even though I can't believe I said that. You guys know what my best of the year pick is -- Nikki Sixx's The Heroin Diaries. I still say it's a marketing failure, given that it's got its own soundtrack. And I still say it ought to be required reading in high schools. There's nothing like a funeral to make you feel alive.
Happy reading in 2008, everyone. Let me know if you read any of these; I'd love to know what you think. As always.
But this is about the books I've read over the past twelve months. I'm not quite at 100 read for the year, but there are five days left and a trip in there (more on that trip to come), and I know it'll be close. I can do it.
So let's take a few minutes and look at some of the highlights from my reading year:
It took me five books before I fell in love with something this year, and when I did, it was a doozy. Clay's Quilt, by Silas House. I even blogged about it here, so go back and see what I had to say.
Then I began my year-long reviewing blitz, as I think of it. First was LL Cool J's Platinum Workout. Check out the name of my post when I told you about it! Now that I'm reviewing a bit more steadily, it seems funny to see how excited I was.
I also read two good ones: The Potter's House by Rosie Thomas and The Wild Girl: The Notebooks of Ned Giles, by Jim Fergus. I'd loved Fergus' debut, One Thousand White Women, and this follow-up was not a letdown. The Potter's House was a neat read with a kicker of an ending.
Unthinkable? I don't think so. Joshua Braff's debut novel knocked my socks off. Will there be more from Braff? I don't know, but I certainly hope so -- so long as it's of this same quality.
I revisted a now-favorite writer, Jeanne Ray, this time with Step-Ball-Change, a dance move that always makes me smile when I hear it used in real life, like it has been lately in my household. And right after, I had my first taste of James Alan Gardner via Expendable, which gave new meaning to the phrase, "Oh, shit."
2007 was the year to catch up on my Linda Fairstein books. I'm now up to Entombed. I can see it from where I sit; that's a good sign. Hopefully it'll get read in 2008. You'd think after reading four or so of her novels in a fairly short period, I'd burn out, but nope. I can't wait to see what trouble lies ahead for Alex next.
My first Tess Gerritsen, whose blog I really like, my first Nancy Martin (who is a local!), my first Susan McBride, my first Allana Martin, catching up with oldies by Marcia Muller and Edna Buchanan... it was a big year for reading mysteries, so I softened it up with some of my favorite graphic novelist's works: Joann Sfar writing with Lewis Trondheim.
Nevada Barr's books run hot and cold with me, but the discovery of debut author Jennifer Estep sure soothed my crankies. As you guys know, I've become a huge Estep fan and can hardly wait for the 2008 release of Jinx.
My favorite book title of the year? Lily Bret's You Gotta Have Balls. NOT what you're thinking, folks. This was a fun, breezy read that my book club chose, probably so I'd stop having fun with the title. And did I have fun!
I did some cross-cultural reading, with Victor Villasenor's Rain of Gold. This huge, fat book was a great read, although I'm not sure if his follow-up works could come close to matching the scale of this debut. And I kept up the cross-cultural stuff, sort of, with the self-published phenomenon, Rashi's Daughters: Book One: Jehoved. Another book club pick, I can see why this did well. It's well-crafted and I'm eager to see if author Maggie Anton's shift to a major publisher fixed the nits I had with her writing, itself. So yes, my book club will be reading Book Two: Miriam at some point.
Speaking of book club, we also read Mary Doria Russell's A Thread of Grace. Read what I had to say about it here.
At long last, I got into Kelley Armstrong's Women of the Underworld series, reading the first two. I spent some time with Rachel Caine, again, and, of course, finished off the Harry Potter series.
More reviews, this time for Colleen Gleason's first two books. Make that another sequel I hope to get my hands on during the upcoming year...
And more local writers: Lila Shaara's beautiful Every Secret Thing and Rebecca Drake's The Next Killing (the review for which is up at Front Street). Friends, too: Ann Pino's My New-Found Land was great fun, and KL Going's The Garden of Eve is a quick, thought-provoking middle-grade book. I can hardly wait to catch up enough to sink into Going's St. Iggy. And my e-published friends, who have shown me a whole brave new world and new ways of reading. Robyn Rotham and Red Garnier; you guys rock. What a great way to be exposed to e-books.
But the read of the year? The one that has impacted me the most deeply? Nope, not The Unthinkable Thoughts of Jacob Green, even though I can't believe I said that. You guys know what my best of the year pick is -- Nikki Sixx's The Heroin Diaries. I still say it's a marketing failure, given that it's got its own soundtrack. And I still say it ought to be required reading in high schools. There's nothing like a funeral to make you feel alive.
Happy reading in 2008, everyone. Let me know if you read any of these; I'd love to know what you think. As always.
Labels: books, Colleen Gleason, Jeanne Ray, Jennifer Estep, Joann Sfar, Joshua Braff, Karma Girl, KL Going, Linda Fairstein, LL Cool J, Mary Doria Russell, Nikki Sixx, Red Garnier, Susan's Book Talk
Friday, March 23, 2007
Susan's Book Talk: Two Reading Contests
Okay, I've got a TON of stuff for you guys the next few days (and none of it is fictional, scarily enough), so I thought I'd combine two posts into one.
First off is Kailana's request for the Blogger List of Books They Cannot Live Without. I don't expect to see many, if any, of these titles in her final list; they're too off the beaten path. But they're right up my alley and they've all had an impact on me in one big way or another. (if you want to know how/why, ask. I'll answer)
Susan's List of Ten Essential Reads:
1. The Unthinkable Thoughts of Jacob Green -- Joshua Braff
2. Dragonflight -- Anne McCaffrey
3. The Last Kabbalist of Lisbon -- Richard Zimler
4. I'm with the Band -- Pamela DesBarres
5. Cowboys are my Weakness -- Pam Houston
6. Bright Lights, Big City -- Jay McInerney
7. One Hundred Years of Solitude -- Gabriel Garcia Marquez
8. The Handmaid's Tale -- Margaret Atwood
9. East is East -- T. Coraghessan Boyle
10. Fat Kid Rules the World -- KL Going
All of these books have impacted me in one way or another. Many you'll see in my Library Thing sidebar; I've included in my LibraryThing list only the books I've really loved.
And now... on to the other book-related list. That's Katrina's Spring Reading Challenge. Check out the cool graphic in my sidebar and join in! Here, we're supposed to list the books we want to read or finish before June 21.
Beware; you're about to see that I'm not kidding when I say I have too many books! All but the first three arrived in my house between April 2005 and June 2005. I'd love to have them all read by the end of June, but c'mon. I've got a life.
Catch a Wave: The Rise, Fall and Redemption of the Beach Boys' Brian Wilson -- Peter Ames Carlin
A Crazy Little Thing Called Death -- Nancy Martin
Every Little Secret -- Lila Shaara
A Darker Place -- Laurie R. King
Deadhouse -- Linda Fairstein
Cold Hit -- Linda Fairstein
Dead Man's Island -- Carolyn G. Hart
The Chatham School Affair -- Thomas H. Cook
Final Jeopardy -- Linda Fairstein
Blood Harvest -- Gary Gottsfeld
Track of the Cat -- Nevada Barr
Talk Before Sleep -- Elizabeth Berg
Where Serpents Lie -- T. Coraghessan Boyle
Harvest -- Tess Gerritsen
Bloodstream -- Tess Gerritsen
Flashback -- Nevada Barr
Deep Freeze -- Lisa Jackson
The Puttermesser Papers -- Cynthia Ozick
Buried Evidence -- Nancy Taylor Rosenberg
The Second Silence -- Eileen Goudge
Skinny Dipping -- Claire Matturro
I'm no Angel -- Patti Berg
Rain of Gold -- Victor Villasenor
The Ladies -- Doris Grumbach
Grime and Punishment -- Jill Churchill
The Quality of Mercy -- Faye Kellerman
Under Currents -- Francis Fyfield
Shock Rock II -- Jeff Gelb (Ed)
Imperfect Strangers -- Stuart Woods
Hi, there. My name is Susan and I have a small book problem...
First off is Kailana's request for the Blogger List of Books They Cannot Live Without. I don't expect to see many, if any, of these titles in her final list; they're too off the beaten path. But they're right up my alley and they've all had an impact on me in one big way or another. (if you want to know how/why, ask. I'll answer)
Susan's List of Ten Essential Reads:
1. The Unthinkable Thoughts of Jacob Green -- Joshua Braff
2. Dragonflight -- Anne McCaffrey
3. The Last Kabbalist of Lisbon -- Richard Zimler
4. I'm with the Band -- Pamela DesBarres
5. Cowboys are my Weakness -- Pam Houston
6. Bright Lights, Big City -- Jay McInerney
7. One Hundred Years of Solitude -- Gabriel Garcia Marquez
8. The Handmaid's Tale -- Margaret Atwood
9. East is East -- T. Coraghessan Boyle
10. Fat Kid Rules the World -- KL Going
All of these books have impacted me in one way or another. Many you'll see in my Library Thing sidebar; I've included in my LibraryThing list only the books I've really loved.
And now... on to the other book-related list. That's Katrina's Spring Reading Challenge. Check out the cool graphic in my sidebar and join in! Here, we're supposed to list the books we want to read or finish before June 21.
Beware; you're about to see that I'm not kidding when I say I have too many books! All but the first three arrived in my house between April 2005 and June 2005. I'd love to have them all read by the end of June, but c'mon. I've got a life.
Catch a Wave: The Rise, Fall and Redemption of the Beach Boys' Brian Wilson -- Peter Ames Carlin
A Crazy Little Thing Called Death -- Nancy Martin
Every Little Secret -- Lila Shaara
A Darker Place -- Laurie R. King
Deadhouse -- Linda Fairstein
Cold Hit -- Linda Fairstein
Dead Man's Island -- Carolyn G. Hart
The Chatham School Affair -- Thomas H. Cook
Final Jeopardy -- Linda Fairstein
Blood Harvest -- Gary Gottsfeld
Track of the Cat -- Nevada Barr
Talk Before Sleep -- Elizabeth Berg
Where Serpents Lie -- T. Coraghessan Boyle
Harvest -- Tess Gerritsen
Bloodstream -- Tess Gerritsen
Flashback -- Nevada Barr
Deep Freeze -- Lisa Jackson
The Puttermesser Papers -- Cynthia Ozick
Buried Evidence -- Nancy Taylor Rosenberg
The Second Silence -- Eileen Goudge
Skinny Dipping -- Claire Matturro
I'm no Angel -- Patti Berg
Rain of Gold -- Victor Villasenor
The Ladies -- Doris Grumbach
Grime and Punishment -- Jill Churchill
The Quality of Mercy -- Faye Kellerman
Under Currents -- Francis Fyfield
Shock Rock II -- Jeff Gelb (Ed)
Imperfect Strangers -- Stuart Woods
Hi, there. My name is Susan and I have a small book problem...
Labels: books, cool stuff, Joshua Braff, KL Going
Tuesday, February 27, 2007
Susan's Book Talk: The Unthinkable Thoughts of Jacob Green
While we were busy with the Debut a Debut contest, I snuck in a debut, too, albeit an older one. Joshua Braff's The Unthinkable Thoughts of Jacob Green is a book I'd wanted to read since I first heard about it and come on, how can your resist a book whose cover copy talks about a drawing of a rabbi, a pig, and a lobster in a threesome?
My book club agreed to this adventure, I collected a few copies -- because getting books is sometimes a pain -- and we read Jacob's story.
The book is billed as a modern-day Portnoy's complaint and I was expecting Jacob to be similar to Portnoy in that his teenagered sexual awakening dominated things. Nope. Instead, this book is about Jacob's relationships with his father and, ultimately, with his brother. And while absolutely nothing in my background is similar to Jacob's -- well, okay, we've got that religion thing going -- I got this book so totally, I cried through the final confrontation scene.
As for the ending, I got that, too.
This is one of those don't miss books. You can be sure I'll be picking up copies at used book stores and sales and sharing them with you guys. Assuming you wisely decide you can't wait that long.
Just be prepared: the rabbi, the lobster, and the pig aren't the major players you sort of wish they'd be. Sadly.
My book club agreed to this adventure, I collected a few copies -- because getting books is sometimes a pain -- and we read Jacob's story.
The book is billed as a modern-day Portnoy's complaint and I was expecting Jacob to be similar to Portnoy in that his teenagered sexual awakening dominated things. Nope. Instead, this book is about Jacob's relationships with his father and, ultimately, with his brother. And while absolutely nothing in my background is similar to Jacob's -- well, okay, we've got that religion thing going -- I got this book so totally, I cried through the final confrontation scene.
As for the ending, I got that, too.
This is one of those don't miss books. You can be sure I'll be picking up copies at used book stores and sales and sharing them with you guys. Assuming you wisely decide you can't wait that long.
Just be prepared: the rabbi, the lobster, and the pig aren't the major players you sort of wish they'd be. Sadly.
Labels: book reviews, books, Joshua Braff
