1/31/23-STONER-John Williams-4.8 This small quiet novel about an English professor during the years of about 1910 to 1958, was strongly recommended by Merle. It was published in 1965 and is an overlooked masterpiece by the same man who wrote BUTCHER CROSSING and AUGUSTUS. This examination of a complicated man who presents as simple, and lives a life that could be considered tragic, seems to triumph. The novel surely nails academic politics. We think the novel may have been overlooked because of its unfortunate title. Williams should have named his protagonist differently.
2/1/23-ELI THE GOOD-Silas House-3.5 Tammie deeply recommended this book and gave it to me for Christmas, so I was sorry to not think highly of it. Stereotypes, bad editing. Some interesting aspects: Dad with bad Viet Nam PTSD. The summer of the Bi-Centennial. I was put off by “Can one summer change your life forever?” heading on the cover. Of course, one summer can change your life!
2/3/23 THE WATER DANCER- Ta Nehisi Coates-4- This novel reminded me very much of THE UNDERGROUND RAILROAD, again a surreal transport system; some spiritual elements that seemed a bit forced. Details of daily life of the enslaved was believable and very good. I think Coates is a better non-fiction writer. Yet, this book was well worth the read.
2/20 ISLAND OF THE SEA WOMEN-Lisa See-4.5- This fascinating novel, bases on an island off Korea, a matriarchal society supported by women free drivers. The time period cover the mid 9130’s into the 80’s. I learned a lot about genocide and such, as well as the power struggle of Koreans against the Japanese, and then later North and South Korea. Meanwhile following the interesting, brave lives of two women divers.
3/1 THE PASSENGER-Cormac McCarthy-5-As if I’d ever give this remarkable writer anything less than a 5! His first novel in a long time (& he is old!) comes on like a mystery (which he never bothers to solve) and was followed a few weeks later by his 2nd. This novel is full of conversation spoken by interesting characters and is indulgently filled with philosophical observations. It is also very funny. Most of the narrative is in New Orleans and Cormac is a man of place, though he has changed places a great deal. Except for Los Alamos, he pretty much avoids the West, refers back to Tennessee. A fascinating story, & compelling main character ,that dwindles down slow and lovely—like a long twilight.
3/11. GROUNDSKEEPING -Lee Cole-4.5 Recommended by Nancine, not a novel I would have found on my own. But so insightful and good about the tension between homeplace (Appalachia) and a life of the mind. Great insights on the divide and really good writing about the writing process. The main character has returned to Kentucky following a long druggy (opioid) spate after college. He works as a groundskeeper at a college, for income but also in exchange for the right to take one graduate level creative writing course. Set before/during/after Trump election.
3/13 OUR MISSING HEARTS-Celeste Ng-4- This novel takes advantage of these scary times we are living in—the banning of books, and then of progressive thought, and then comes the nightmare of nightmares: middle class children being removed from their homes just as Native American children and Australian Aborigine children were. Some good writing, some confused POVs and a somewhat dangling ending. Not as good as LITTLE FIRES, but surely worth the read.
3/26- STELLA MARIS-Cormac McCarthy-4- (Oops not a 5!) Show offiy and self-indulgent. Or maybe the perfect novel for a philosopher/mathematician/intellectual who previously thought a novel not worth her/his time? Since the former novel begins with Alice’s (her name?) suicide, we know where this one is headed. It talks about “The Kid” but, unlike THE PASSENGER, doesn’t let us see/hear The Kid & company again. Lots and lots of name dropping and discussion of ponderous—occasional enchanting--theories, speckled with some personal narrative. Just enough to keep readers, like myself, somewhat engaged. As for the incest—I don’t recall incest in the middle novels but the first Cormac I read (OUTER DARK) begins with a brother burying his sister’s and his newborn baby alive in the Tennessee woods. The STELLA MARIS narrative portrayed as an extended conversion between the character and her foil of a psychiatrist reminded me of THE LAST GNERLMEAN. Walker Percy’s novel was primarily conversations between a gentlemanly murderer and a priest psychiatrist. Both walker characters much more ‘fleshed out.
4/1/23- THIS OTHER EDEN-Paul Harding-5- Panthea gave this lovely, sad, sparse novel to me. I didn’t realize it was by the author of TINKERS, another spare, quiet, lovely novel. This story is based on fact, about a mix-race colony of people on a very small island off the coast of Maine. Their ancestors settled the island over a hundred years before the state of Maine evicted them and put most of the inhabitants into a Home for The Feebleminded, and burned down their settlement. Harding paints his characters with a light, but indelible, brush. The loss of them is sorrowful and the injustice palatable.
5/?/23-UNLESS-Carol Shields-3.8- Writing this months after reading a book I remember enjoying but thought was not the best Carol Shields ever. Gwynn recommended it because the main character is a writer, a mother of 3 and is estranged from one of her children. It is her last novel.
7/1/23- BRIDGE OF SIGHS-Richard Russo-4.5- Did not know of this Russo novel published in 2017, set like all (most?) of his novels in a small town in upper NY state—good on family, lost/gained chances, art, class and the power of small towns to own their citizens.
7/16/23- HOUSE MADE OF DAWN-N. Scott Momaday-5- This novel, I’d never heard of, was recommended to me by Steve Crate and won the Pulitzer about 50 years ago. Lyrical and heartbreaking and I would guess still one of the masterpieces of writing by/of Native Americans. The land is a character, along with the attachment to nature and the too well known plight of the mis-placed, alcoholism and injustice. The novel lost me in the middle and branded me by the end. I am re-reading it.
9/3/23-NEVER- Joel F. Johnson-4.5 Because Gwynn sent this copy of her (70-ish!) brother’s first novel, I felt compelled to read it. The first paragraph pulled me in. This wonderful novel is the anti-novel of THE HELP which I hated because it cheapened, exaggerated, undermined the true horror of segregation. Because I lived in the same time and a simulair place to his LaSalle GA—I knew the truth and integrity of is narrative. A ‘can’t put down’ read.
9/30/23-THE COVENANT OF WATER- Abraham Verghese- 5 Facinating novel set in India. Like CUTTING FOR STONE a lot of interesting medical stuff, but also unforgettable characters, a real insight into the female artist, her choices—or lack. The narrative stretches maybe 75 years and the plot takes sudden, unexpected, turns.
10/15/23-THE CANDY HOUSE-Jennifer Egan-5-Though it’s not necessary to go back, a number of GOON SQUAD characters are back in this novel that bounces back and forward in time periods. GOON SQUAD took on the music moguls, CANDY HOUSE the social media moguls; sharp satire and compassion. A smart book.
10/20/23-ELLEN FOSTER-Kaye Gibbons-4.5 After a too brief hour browsing Bart’s Books in Ojhi CA I bought and reread this book (from the 80’s) that has stood up well to time and DEMON COPPERHEAD and the changes in racial attitudes.
10/31/23-LET US DESCEND-Jesmyn Ward-3.5 Break my heart. This much anticipated new novel by my favorite living writer was such a disappointment: Overwrought, forced, redundant. Set is slavery, a pulled back scab on the horror of slavery.
11/11/23- TOM LAKE-Ann Patchett-4.3-Not her best book, but such a good story. I didn’t believe the ‘family,’ sort of idealistic, those 3 daughters so close, each so different and so serviceable to the narrative. I did love the “Our Town” which made me think a lot about our lost America and also the old theatre days. I loved the afterword and also love hearing that Meryl Streep reads the audible book.
1/16-NIGHTENGALE- Kristen Hannah-4 -This WWII novel began predictably, small French village; underestimating the Nazis, but evolved into a really interesting story following two sisters trapped within the ethics, bravery, compromise of life under the Germans after France’s early surrender. Reluctant collaborators and the people of the Resistance.
1/25-The ARCHIVIST-Martha Cooley-4-This novel written in 1998 slipped under my radar but was an interesting, low-key narrative strung together with lines of T.S. Eliot’ poems. A librarian at a famous university, keeper (archivist) of over a thousand Eliot letters written to a woman he thrust aside after the death of his (Eliot’s) wife. The archivist committed his own wife and then many years later struggles with the story and obessions (w/ the letters) of a graduate student, like his wife torn between Christianity and Judaism.
1/28-ABSOLUTION-Alice McDermott-5- “A moral masterpiece.” The most important narrative takes place in Saigon during JFK’s admiration as American military and corporate interests intertwine . McDermott takes a spin off The Quiet American to imagine the lives of two women in that community of ex-pats: “You have no idea what it was like. For Us. The women, I mean. The Wives”—so powerful, so concerned with ethics & memory, the place of women; national sins & family ones.
2/2- THE GARDEN OF EVENING MISTS-Tan Twan Eng-3.8- There was a great deal of stretching for metaphors and I never believed the narrator was a woman. Otherwise, the writing was good and the story fascinating. I learned a lot about the Japanese in Malaysia, especially during the war. This book and SEA WOMAN revealed the war time (& even pre-wartime) Japanese were worse than the Nazis, their evil more widespread. If that is fair to say. This novel is certainly worth the read.
2/10-THE DICTIONARY OF LOST WORDS-Pip Williams-4.9—This novel set in Oxford England during the creation of The Oxford English Dictionary, focused on the women (one in particular) who contributed. Much of the book is founded on real characters. The chapters addressing WWI reminded me of Pat Barker’s excellent trio of novels about that ghastly war. This is so much a woman’s story and addresses who can claim language. Even now, I am stunned on how we were omitted from history, even from consideration.
4/4- THE HEAVEN AND EARTH GROCERY STORE-James McBride-4-Set is, during the 20’, 30’s and then 70’s in a small community of Black and Jewish immigrants. The center is a discovery of a skeleton in a well in the 70’s and then weaves back and forth. Some endearing and some complex characters.
5/1-NORTH WOODS—Danial Mason-5- Best read of the year, a book I planned on not reading , knowing it spanned, literally, several hundred years. Usually not an appealing premise Thank goodness I read it anyway. One little spot in the eastern mountains of Massachusetts, a place—and the people peopling it—that nestled inside this read forever. So good! The same man wrote THE PIANO TUNER, a really good and profoundly different novel. For his ‘day job,’ Danial Mason is a highly regarded physiatrist and teaches (I think) at Stanford. So much for all of us who would have written good, or even great, novels—if we’d ‘only had the time.’
6/30- EITHER/OR-Eli Batuman-4- Dove into this novel without realizing it was an exact sequel to THE IDIOT, which I liked, maybe liked more. The insights/observations of this adventurous not quite American, not quite Mid-Eastern (in this novel) sophomore at Harvard—are clever and sharp. Same fixation on the same arrogant male. Ugh.
7/6-THE FROZEN RIVER- Arial Lanwhon**4.1- Set over a winter, in a community along divided by a river, just after the American Revolution. The main character is a mid-wife and (big news!) not a lot has changed for women. The story is centered on a mystery—not usually appealing to me. But impossible not to become in vested in the lives of the characters.
7/15- GIRLS AND WOMEN—Alice Munro-3.5-Surely I was influenced by the news stories, revelations about this brilliant, brilliant short story writer. This collection stank of misogyny.
8/5- NIGHT WATCH- Jayne Anne Philips-4.4- A mother daughter story set mostly in a mental institution just after the Civil War. This fascinating, intertwined tale won the Pulitzer Prize. I’d read Jayne Anne Philips decades ago and didn’t realize she was still writing. She was indeed!
9/16-Trans Atlantic- Colum McCann-4-(lifted from internet): The novel describes three famous transatlantic crossings from history—that of Alcock and Brown, Frederick Douglass, and Senator George Mitchell—interweaving these real-life events with the stories of fictional women over the course of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Given that McCann was born in Dublin and now lives in New York, it is likely that his own background drew him to explore moments in which Irish and American history converged. I was attracted to this award-winning book because I so loved LET THE GREAT WORLD SPIN.
10/8- Unsheltered- Barbara Kingsolver-3.5 Two stories intersecting a century—or near abouts. Kingsolver showing fascination with biology, condemnation of encroaching Trump and using literature for propaganda, as in one or two of her other less well-regarded (by me, anyway) novels. This written right before DEMON COPPERHEAD. Guess she had to get her rant out before her masterpiece could emerge. God bless her. Still NYTimes listed it as “10 best.”
10/11- JAMES- Percival Everett- 4.5 Jim from HUCKLEBERRY FINN reimagined and narrated by a well read, self-possessed James (Jim). Lots of adventure and more bravery than was quite credible—so really re-imagined. Fine writing.
Gotta a lot of ‘catching up to do…..
11/7 – THE SECRET LIFE OF SUNFLOWERS- Marta Molnar-2.05- One of the worst novels I’ve ever read. Post-election—I just kept reading. Never ever saw more strained and excessive metaphors. The split narrative was purported to be one written in late 1800’s & one in present day NYC. The same ‘voice (& bad metaphors) in each. The novel centered on Van Goh’s work & his sister-in-law; I just couldn’t understand the bad writing. Then read ‘Author’s Notes: Molnar is a genre writer or romance and fantasy—this book her first foray into ‘literary fiction.’ Bless her too.
11/21-THE SAFEKEEP-Yael Van Der Wouden-3.8—Don’t quite know what to make of this book. Nary a redeemable character. The main protagonist spends the 1st 3rd of the novel being so suppressed, judgmental, closed off that you expect her to self-explode. Which she kind of does in middle—switching from suppressed to obsessed—too many pages of erotica—then the book turns interesting with diary entries filling in Holland’s awful treatment of Jews during the war, but, more shocking, post war treatment. The final portion of the novel is more satisfying, slightly predictable, but good writing extends it—a 265 page really good debut novel that would have been a better 230 page first novel.
12/6/24- GO AS A RIVER-Shelley Read-4.3 Portions of this novel read like a love letter to Colorado. An engrossing story of 17 year old girl falling in love with a Native American, going alone into the mountains to have his baby. Family dysfunction and bonds—a tale covering 40 some years.
12/9—HELLO BEAUTIFUL- Ann Napolitano-4.8 Good writing, maybe not great, an engrossing story centered on 4 sisters and one basketball player loved by two of them. Wonderful characters, flawed and brilliant. A superb story of family. Depression handled so intelligently. I loved it.
12/26/24-SWIFT RIVER- Essie Chambers-4.8 The voice of this narrator—African American teenage girl, is unforgettable. At first I had a hard time with the narrative, because it’s a hard story—but there was beauty and bravery and forgiveness, some unforgettable scenes and a satisfying, not exactly ‘happy’ ending- Whew.