2010 Books
Currently reading
January
The Little Guide to Your Well-Read Life by Steve Leveen
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
I’ve been keeping a list of books to-read for a while now on my iPhone, and Leveen has some good ideas for organizing it and adding to it in a thoughtful manner. He also gives ideas on how to sort through the list to find what you want to read next — for example, by giving more weight to recommendations from people whose previous recommendations you enjoyed…
My Antonia by Willa Cather
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Less a novel and more the study of several characters over several years of their lives, each chapter is like a short story, and they all come together to form a cohesive plot, even if little happens. I actually really like this style of writing and I am looking forward to reading more Cather.
February
No Touch Monkey: And Other Travel Lessons Learned Too Late by Ayun Halliday
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
2-1-10 — Okay, I finished the book and here are my final thoughts. It’s an entertaining and easy read once you get over the fact that Halliday’s “schtick” is complaining about every trip she’s ever taken. She comes from privilege and so backpacking the world is kind of her way to stick it to the man. Initially I was a little hard on her tendency to not want to be alone — every trip is couched through her experience of traveling as one-half of a couple — but then I thought about the challenges that face women when traveling alone and I lightened up on her a bit…
Selected Tales and Sketches by Nathaniel Hawthorne
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
I am surprised, after being forced to read The Scarlet letter as a kid, how much I really like Hawthorne. In this book, I read “My Kinsman, Major Molinuex,” “Young Goodman Brown,” “The Birthmark,” “Rappaccini’s Daughter,” and “Ethan Brand.”
…y no se lo tragó la tierra / …And the Earth Did Not Devour Him by Tomas Rivera
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Short, almost post-modern vignettes about the life of Mexican and Hispanic migrant workers in the US during WWII. Very quick read, simply written, but so layered.
A Lost Lady by Willa Cather
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
I am learning that I really love Willa Cather’s writing and her treatment of women. Read this in one setting and was extremely frustrated with Niel’s repeated efforts to try to “save” Marion or fit her into some mold he’d created for her. Cather is amazingly subversive.
March
Maggie, a Girl of the Streets and Other New York Writings by Stephen Crane
My rating: 2 of 5 stars
Short and to the point, though I think it could have benefited from a bit more detail. It’s so sparse that I barely cared what happened to the characters, especially Molly, who seems almost secondary.
Catfish and Mandala: A Two-Wheeled Voyage through the Landscape and Memory of Vietnam by Andrew X. Pham
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Well written and full of life, contemplation, adventures — everything. There is SO MUCH going on in this book, and while the material is heavy, the writing is not, so it’s a quick and satisfying read. Andrew Pham, following the suicide of his sister and a devastating breakup, cycles his way to Vietnam, which he hasn’t visited since his family fled their hometown 20 years before…
April
Motoring with Mohammed: Journeys to Yemen and the Red Sea by Eric Hansen
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Less a linear travel novel than a collection of stories and adventures, but many of Hansen’s descriptions reminded me of my own absurd and picaresque adventures in Korea. There are some flaws in his storytelling style but they are easy to overlook. The book also made me think differently about Yemen, though I’m sure the country has changed considerable since the last time Hansen was there, nearly 20 years ago. Will definitely be seeking out his book about walking through the jungles of Borneo.
May
Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
A classic of feminist literature, and a breezy read, but lighter than I would have expected. It feels very… Oprah-y. But it’s still worth your time as an examination of a female character who explodes the traditional male narrative.
June
Revolutionary Road by Richard Yates
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
If you like Mad Men you’ll love this book, written in 1961 as an examination of Midcentury morals and life in the suburbs. Just a warning, though — the story is bleak and there is probably not a single likable character in the novel.
Kitchen Confidential: Adventures in the Culinary Underbelly by Anthony Bourdain
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
I hold the conviction that a year-long (or more) stint in the service industry should be compulsory for all Americans (if not all human begins), and Anthony Bourdain seems to share my belief, as he refers to “the life” in the kitchen as the last true meritocracy left in the world. For more than five years I worked first as a hostess at a restaurant, then as a waitress and later as a bartender at one of the busiest bars in Houston, and in that time I’ve learned a lot — A LOT — about human behavior, superiority complexes, humility, money, labor and the value of hard work. Because for those of you who don’t know, service industry work is, basically, hard manual labor, especially for the people you don’t get to see — the back of the house, the busboys, the barbacks…
July
Let the Right One In by John Ajvide Lindqvist
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
6-29-10: Since I’m spending almost a month in Sweden I decided I’d read some Swedish books. I’m not really into vampires but this surely seems more interesting than those other vampires books, and it came well recommended by the book store lady. I read excellent reviews of the film, and it is, after all, named after a Morrissey song, so you know, that’s a pretty big selling point for me…
October
On Writing by Stephen King
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Jesus. It took me three months to read this book? Chalk it up to a new job and a lot of adjustment. Anyhoo, I’ve read a number of books on writing and most of them are utterly annoying but I’d heard from numerous people that King’s was the best and the only one worth reading. It is certainly full of good advice, and I like that he makes no pretenses about his career or interests. In fact, this is the only Stephen King book I’ve ever read, but I like his voice and his easygoing way of telling a story…
November
Isaac’s Storm: A Man, a Time, and the Deadliest Hurricane in History by Erik Larson
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
I’ve come to the conclusion that I probably don’t really like nonfiction books. I wasn’t crazy about Devil in the White City either, in spite of the rave reviews it got. Larson does a good job of painting the image of Victorian Galveston and I liked his background into historical accounts of hurricanes long before modern science, but there were many things about this book that annoyed me…
