Dates reflect the finishing date. There is only one book on this list that was began and finished on the same day. Sadly, I wish there was more.
1. The Portrait of a Ladyby Henry James, Jan.7. It took me more than a month to finish this monster for American Literature class. Am I glad I’m done? You bet. I won’t be reading this again. I’d like to see the movie with Nicole Kidman sometime, though.
2. A Farewell to Armsby Ernest Hemingway, Jan. 15. Another Merkin Lit. book. As you can see, I zoomed through this one a lot faster than Portrait. But my affinity for Hemingway runs much deeper than mine for James. Good book, interesting take on war, which Hemingway is said to be too obsessed with writing about. Really liked the main character, poor schmoe.
3. The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck, Feb. 1. Yes, more class reading. I had bought and tried to read this one a few years earlier and failed horribly so I was glad at the extra incentive of spending real time money to succeed at getting through this book. Although the between chapters were weird and a little irritating (seriously, that turtle crawling along wasn’t too significant, was it?), all in all a great book. Not as streamlined as Hemingway but a different writer. I wonder what this book would have looked like had it been Hemingway having wrote it? Answer: a lot shorter.
4. Blaze by Stephen King, Feb. 3. The only book on my list to be started and finished in a day. A take off story of Of Mice and Men (hello again Steinbeck), this was a pretty good trunk novel if I do say so myself. But that may be that I have some issues with the new and improved King (see further).
5. Beloved by Toni Morrison, Feb.8. When I look back on the dates, I can’t believe I finished this book up so fast considering it was a very difficult read. Half the time a didn’t know if I was in a flashback, a ‘rememory’ or the present or a dream. Of course this was the last novel required reading for my class. I didn’t get the papers in until late May but the reading was done in February.
6. Duma Keyby Stephen King, Feb. 26. So…as I was saying. What happened? There used to be a cause and effect that was simple, pure. Now it’s some sort of existentialist Salavador Dali crapola in Florida. People go to die in Florida for a reason. So do books.
7. Portnoy’s Complaintby Philip Roth, Apr. 7. Look at the gap between books. You’d think I was writing essays or something. I wasn’t. And this book didn’t really take that long to read. There was a ton of short stories in there I didn’t record (“To Build a Fire” by Jack London and “The Swimmer” by John Cheever being some of the most memorable) but I just must have been busy with life. This book will never have me look at liver the same way again. Sidenote, the 2nd-hand bookstore has refused this mint-condition book 3 times. Do they think it’s filthy?
8. The Good Earth`by Pearl S. Buck, Mar. 25. Ah, the cause of my gap. Reversal of recording. Finished this book on Easter holiday in Regina at a waterslide hotel. Loved it and I am particularly fond of the Asian story-telling. Really did not like the dude’s poor wife getting the shaft after she helped him achieve all his fortune. I think her name was Olan, or something. Poor schmoe.
9. Beasts by Joyce Carol Oates, Apr. 10. Great little bargain I picked up for $3.99 the year before and the book sat languishing on my shelf until now. Read it on the train in 3 days, a feat in itself. Very good book, short enough not to get stupid. Loved the parrot.
10. Never Let Me Goby Kasuro Ishiguro, Apr. 18. I read Ishguro’s book The Remains of the Daylast year and enjoyed it the way I enjoy Daphne DuMaurier. They write in a style that refuses to be rushed and doesn’t apologize for it. This book was very, very confusing at first but unravelled itself into a glorious and simple story of a complicated idea. Sweet in a good, not sugary, way.
11. Disgrace by J.M. Coetzee, May 18. After I finished this book, I thought it may have been possibly the best book I ever read. Having returned from an NGO mission in Africa the October previous, I found myself within this story and smothered by the hopelessness of not being able to instigate any change. I didn’t really understand the whole disgrace that happened to the narrator at the top of the book and how it unravelled the rest, but maybe it is simply too symbolic for me.
12. A Map of the Worldby Jane Hamilton, June 9. Completely forgettable book. I actually had to think about what it was about as I prepared to compile this list. Ouch. Sorry Oprah’s Book Club of old. You suck.
13. Animal Farmby George Orwell, Jun. 13. As what usually happens with total train wrecks, they are followed by books that change how you look at life. My first read (as with everything on this list so far) and I’m really glad when I tried to read this book when I was in my teens I didn’t get through it. I don’t think I would have understood. “I will work harder” and then sent to the glue factory? Yessir, there is insight in that.
14. Paddy Clarke Ha Ha Ha by Roddy Doyle, Jun. 29. How could anyone follow Animal Farm? Turns out not very well. Interesting use of narration and point of view but I didn’t get it.
15. Twilight by Stephanie Meyers, Jul. 1.
16. New Moon by Stephanie Meyers, Jul. 6.
17. Eclipse by Stephanie Meyers, Jul. 9. What does one do when Harry Potter has already saved the world? Jump on another series. I’m glad I saved this all to be read together. What teenagers will read nowadays…Mormon vampires?
18. Hideous Kinkyby Esther Freud, Jul. 12. This was a book on my 1001 books list that I found of all places within a geocache that was aptly called “The Library”. What an interesting book! Again, like the Roddy Doyle one, told from a child’s point of view but more coherent perhaps. Loved it.
19. The Birth of Venusby Sarah Dumant, Jul. 17. The hype I heard about this book while I worked in a bookstore did not live up to it’s expectations. Not a bad book, definitely not a great one.
20. Breaking Dawn by Stephanie Meyer, Aug. 10. I had to finish what I started now, didn’t I?
21. The Tommyknockers by Stephen King, Aug. 14. My only reread of the year. Needed a train book and I hadn’t read this one since I was 16. I still like it, I don’t care if the author had Q-Tips shoved up his cocaine nostrils while writing it. It was still good.
22. Sidewaysby Rex Pickett, Aug. 17. Great first novel. Fell in love with the movie of the book I saw first, then picked up this goodie as a library discard (50 cents). Super summer read.
23. Lullabies for Little Criminalsby Heather O’Neill, Aug. 22. this must have been my year for 1st POV from a child’s perspective. Set in Montreal, great read. Lots of Canadiana and things of the 80′s era.
24. Obasanby Joy Kogawa, Sep. 1. This was hard to finish because it was dry, dry,dry. The dreams sequences were far too symbolic although the story is valid and needing a voice. Standard student reading in high school. I’m glad I never had that class.
25. The Sirens of Titanby Kurt Vonnegut, Sep. 13. Everyone should have a Vonnegut in their pocket, you know, a guaranteed laugh at the darker things in life. After Obasan, I pulled this gem off the shelf that was just waiting for me to read it. Guaranteed.
26. The Crucibleby Arthur Miller, Sep. 20. One of the only plays I’ve ever read that reads like a novel. My oldest was taking this at the time. We enjoyed it together. (It helps that I saw the movie a few times as well).
27. Vinegar Hillby A. Manette Ansay, Sep. 30. Another old Oprah club read. This one panned out. Great use of all things 1970′s.
28. Man’s Search for Meaningby Victor Frankl, Oct. 28. Yes, not a piece of fiction, I know. But since I rarely read non-fiction, I keep track of things I do read from cover to cover. Another good train book. I wonder if people thought I was smart…or something.
29. The Girlsby Lori Lansens, Nov. 10. Anothers library disgard, another Canadian author, another great read. Never heard of this book before but it had me from the first sentence. How do you tell the story of twins cojoined at the head? According to Lansens, very well indeed.
30. I’ll Take You There by Joyce Carol Oates, Dec. 1. Not really what I was expecting from Oates, this book read more as a fictional auto-biography. The last two sections were much better than the first. Not a reread.
31. Effigyby Alissa York, Dec. 20. I won this book sometime in the last two years, I think. I actually don’t know. It was just laying on my shelf. I didn’t even know what it was about. Turns out it was listed for the Giller. Hmm. How about that? Good book, I can see why.
32. Fast Food Nationby Eric Schlosser, Dec. 28. I read the bulk of this non-fiction (2 in 1 year!) over the summer and was finishing up the epiloge page by page during potty breaks. Stopped eating red meat as a direct result of this book.
The End! 32 books in a year I thought I was completely too busy to breathe. Not too shabby.
