(I'm going to pretend that I haven't not blogged (hello, double-negative) for the past um, like, 7 months, and just dive right in.)
It's a rainy, chilly Sunday afternoon in Hangzhou. In other words, perfectly normal. I'm sitting in Starbucks, marking some papers, reading, and enjoying the ambient sounds around me. I realized this afternoon that I love sitting in coffee shops where I can't understand the people around me, because I get the background noise without picking up conversations and getting distracted by listening in. Actually - false - I love listening to conversations in coffee shops, but I don't always get that much done. This afternoon as some English speaking people came and invaded MY Starbucks space, I was forced to eavesdrop, and didn't get as many assignments marked. Rude. (Them, not me for eavesdropping, obvs.)
Anyway, on to the book review!
It was a good year for reading. Over the summer, I spent a month in Mali with limited internet access, and rather than binge-watching TV shows, I binge-read books. I think I read about a book and half every two days. It was glorious! I miss it. The simpler times. The not feeling guilty when I pick up a book for pleasure reading. The not feeling like I have to prepare discussion questions or essay questions about a book.
There are pros and cons to being an English teacher. Man, I love discussing books. But I also sometimes miss the books I teach now from before I taught them. I'm weird, I know.
Hated but Recognized the Quality Because I'm a Flippin' English Teacher
This a novel about two couples who meet to discuss a mutual problem. It's got a lot of literary quality, and I get that. But I really hated it. I think it made me uncomfortable, and it made me feel a little sick. And, I think that kind of visceral reaction was intended by the author. But it's not something I would pick up for fun, and while I like thought-provoking novels, I really don't like novels that ultimately make me feel sick to my stomach at the thought of them.
The Gunslinger by Stephen King *quickly ducks as objects are thrown at my head*
I know that King is like, a big deal. And a phenomenal writer. But I just didn't get The Gunslinger. Like, not at all. I mean, I got it. But I really, really didn't. And I don't want you to tell me about the symbolism and all that crap. I just prefer to not get it, and move on with my life, and not watch the mini-series even if Idris Elba is starring in it and he's amazing.
The Worst:
Sense and Sensibility (The Jane Austen Project) by Joanna Trollope
This is not THE Sense and Sensibility. There's a project that has modern authors re-imagining Austen's books for contemporary times. And, most of them are about as bad as you might think, with one exception - Alexander McCall Smith's (of The Number One Ladies Detective Agency) acceptable adaptation of Emma. For some reason, despite having read several bad ones, I still read the Sense and Sensibility adaptation, and I wish I could get those hours back. It was just...lousy. I think Joanna Trollope is supposed to be a pretty well-known author, but I've never read anything else by her, and now, never will. She took a really cool opportunity to retell Sense and Sensibility in a contemporary way, and dashed it upon the rocks of broken dreams.
Just read the original.
Resounding "Meh":
I know, I know. I really shouldn't have this on this list. But, while a good book, in the age of true crime novels and shows and Game of Thrones, it was pretty tame by comparison. I wish I could have read it before I became desensitized to this kind of thing. I expected it to be so much more shocking - and it wasn't. Not because it's not. But because it's not shocking, anymore, in a world where parents can chain up their thirteen children for years on end, and children are recruited on the internet to join evil terrorist groups.
Absolute Fluff but still Enjoyable:
It's a beach read (or a curled-up-on-the-couch on a rainy day read), and it's really fluffy. But, I enjoyed it (it's a little exasperating till the middle of the book when The Thing That Happened At the Barbecue is finally revealed). And, the title is kind of a misnomer. I almost always enjoy Lianne Moriarty, although I frequently forget if I've read a particular book by her because they all sound the same. (I started Big Little Lies in a six month period not once, but twice, having forgotten that I read it already. (That doesn't sound like much of an endorsement...).)
Recommendable Re-Reads:
Looking over my reading list for 2017, I realize I re-read a lot of books. I'm not sure why - some years I just am in the mood for a books I've read before, I guess. Here are the ones that stood out:
I had to re-read The Handmaid's Tale because it was part of the curriculum for a class that I teach. And I didn't re-read it because it was trending, and everyone thinks Trump's America is turning into Gilead (it's really not...read the book). I read The Handmaid's Tale in high school, and I didn't remember feminist and pro-choice rhetoric, while that certainly exists in the book. I don't think I was really tuned to that kind of thing in high school, sheltered missionary kid that I was. Am. I do remember being challenged by what women have had to endure throughout the thousands of years of our existence. I remember thinking that the conditions of the women in Gilead reminded me of what I had read about in the Middle East, and it made me want to do something about that. Around the same time, I read The Nine Parts of Desire by Geraldine Brooks, which explores the treatment of women in the Muslim world. My associations with two books are kind of intertwined in my mind. So, while I know that Atwood's novel is a parable warning against the religious right in America rising up - I think it's a parable for all kinds of extremism, and the things that humans do to have power and control over one another.
This book is party comedy, part diary (well, it's all diary), part romance. It's surprisingly excellent, thought-provoking, and laugh-out-loud funny. It deals with the coming-of-age of sorts of the main character, Cassandra, her unconventional family, and a whole lot of antics (I love antics). The humor, and the antics, reminds me a lot of Cold Comfort Farm by Stella Gibbons. It's delightful - read it. Don't watch the movie. It's stupid.
It's a simple love-story set in the late 90s, around the time when companies started realizing that email could distract their employees from doing their work. The main character is hired to monitor employee emails and falls in love with one of the women who's emails keep getting flagged. Does it sound creepy and corny? Yes. But I don't really read romances, so, trust me when I tell you this is sweet and funny, and makes you feel all the feels without feeling like you're reading trash.
Thought-Provoking:
The Circle by David Eggers
Let's establish something first: the writing is terrible. I mean, just terrible. Like someone is beating me over the head with a very dull, boring stick. However, the concept is fascinating and extremely thought-provoking. I read it around the same time I was teaching a language and social media unit to my students, and honestly, I couldn't stop talking about it, and seeing the connections everywhere. I think it has a healthy warning about our dependency on social media platforms. The writing is terrible (did I mention that already?), but I would actually recommend reading it because it's got an important message. And I rarely ever forgive bad writing.
I wanted to challenge myself to read more African American authors this year, especially the classics. I had never (much to my chagrin and shame) read The Bluest Eye. The writing is remarkable (honestly, it's genius) and the content horrific. I don't like reading books about sexual abuse, especially sexual abuse of children. However, this book made me think, pushed up against my comfort zones, and wormed its way inside them, wiggling around in my head long after I finished. It's not a comfortable book and it's not supposed to be. But I think (if you're over 18 because of the sexual content) you should probably read it.
This -- novel? Account? Novella? is about the Japanese "Picture Brides" who came to America from Japan to marry Japanese immigrants. The book traces their story from their arrival in San Francisco to the 1940s when so many Japanese were put in internment camps. The curious thing about this book is that it's written in the plural first person - "We" - rather than the third or first person. It's fascinating, heart-breaking, and challenging.
Favorite Reads:
A curmudgeonly old man who slowly warms up to the people around him (spoiler alert, I guess). This book is more than a "feel-good" read, although you may feel good at the end, sorry-not-sorry. I love books about communities and people slowly coming together, despite oppositions. This book has some bitter-sweet notes on growing old, being lonely, and losing the people you love. It's a bit of a blunt and startling start, but it gets better. Actually, it gets wonderful.
The main character is hired as a teacher in a small town just before the eve of World War I. It's funny, romantic, and bittersweet. The mood and tone of the book reminds me a lot of The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Annie Barrows (thought The Summer Before the War is not epistolary). Helen Simonson also wrote Major Pettigrew's Last Stand, which is excellent (though set in contemporary times). Both are really special.
I was a little skeptical about this book - the description just didn't seem like "me" - video games? Virtual reality? 80s trivia galore? But while these three things form the basis of this book, it's much more than that. It's funny, adventurous, thrilling, and just entertaining. The concept is actually quite fascinating - a future society fifty years or so from now where people have almost completely escaped into virtual reality to escape the failing world around them. As entertaining as this book was, this book also made me think a lot about the implications of our reliance on technology today, and the power of story. Most people I know who read this book enjoyed it, even those who were skeptical like me. Try it - you'll like it!
And, since I didn't write a 2016 review (for shame!) here's one book I really, really liked in 2016:
It's a retelling of a Russian fairytale, and it's magical (but pretty dark). I love, love, love a good fairytale retelling (Beauty by Robin McKinley is one of my absolute favorite books). I don't know what fairy tale it retells, but it has many of the tropes of all the fairy tales we are familiar with in the West. This book left me wanting to reread it immediately. I didn't - but I will be rereading it this year for the sequel of sorts (set in the same "universe").
Have you read any of these books? What did you think of them? And what are you looking forward to reading this year? And what was your best read of 2017? Recommendations are always welcome!
Check out my previous book review posts:
2015
2013-2014
2012
2011 - Part II & Part III
{Thanks for reading...and pretending, with me, like I'm not the worst blogger in the world. I like blogging, I like writing, but I haven't had a lot of inspiration lately, or I've been reticent to share. I think I've become a lot more private in recent years - perhaps as my communities have grown, so has my willingness to what's on my mind, even the silly stuff. I'd like to get back to blogging a bit more in 2018, but heaven-forbid I call it a New Year's Resolution. More like...a New Year's That'd-be-nice-if-I-did. Cheers, friends.}
