2009 Books

January

The Devil in the White City by Erik Larson.

February

Harriet the Spy by Louise Fitzhugh — A sad and simple book, and one of my childhood favorites. I never realized how odd the parent-child relationships were in this book.

April

Terms of Endearment by Larry McMurtry — It’s fun to read books set in your own city, a treat I suspect is limited mostly to people who live in New York, Chicago or LA. There aren’t many books based in Houston, but McMurtry has written five of them. It’s fun to read about imaginary characters going to real places like Last Concert Cafe and the Mecom Fountain (which one character wants to have sex with (?!)).

May

The Road by Cormac McCarthy. Loved it. Devoured it in about 6 hours.
Eat Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert. Ehh. I’m calling her enlightened happiness as bullshit.

June

When You Are Engulfed in Flames by David Sedaris. More serious than his previous books, less slapstick-y. The first few stories were okay but there are some real gems in this book, and the final story blew me away. Glad to see him branching out, thematically.
Girl, Interrupted by Susanna Kaysen. Interesting exploration into the boundaries between crazy and normal. Just when you think Kaysen might be in the wrong place, she tried to eat her hand. Literally. Haven’t seen the movie, don’t want to, and will probably sell the book, so it didn’t affect me that much.
All My Friends Are Going To Be Strangers by Larry McMurtry. Love love love! the more I read McMurtry the better his books get. I wish this had been made into a movie. Impossible not to fall in love with Danny Deck.

August

Julius Caesar by William Shakespeare.

September

The Collected Stories of Katherine Anne Porter. I am now a huge fan of hers. Pale Horse, Pale Rider is probably my favorite short story.

October

Stories by Catherine Mansfield. Disappointing, after Katherine Anne Porter.

November

Brave New World by Aldous Huxley. Easy to digest as far as sci-fi goes, but a little lacking of substance.