Books Read in 2007

[ed: these are the books I read in 2007, with a short note for posterity; doing some blog housekeeping, collapsing overtly long sidebar material.]

1. The Whole World Over (Julia Glass)
Conversation with Books, 2007
2. Water for Elephants (Sara Gruen)
recommended by a coworker
3. Perils of Paella (Nancy Fairbanks)
foodie mystery
4. Shadow of the Wind (Carlos Ruiz Zafon)
I'm the last person to read this
5. Blue Arabesque (Patricia Hampl)
book group selection
6. The Road (Cormac McCarthy)
audio
7. Fieldwork (Mischa Berlinski)
exotic setting, taboo sex, missionaries, and murder
8. Heat (Bill Buford)
fast-paced, mouth-watering account of professional kitchens
9. Girls of Slender Means (Muriel Spark)
Spark project
10. Cross-X (Joe Miller)
debate
11. The Courier (Jay MacLarty)
read aloud to Mr. Bibliotonic
12. Astrid and Veronika (Linda Olsson)
book group selection
13. Feet on the Street (Roy Blount, Jr.)
background reading for trip to New Orleans
14. A Brief History of the Dead (Kevin Brockmeier)
read in NOLA
15. Eat, Pray, Love (Elizabeth Gilbert)
journey of self-discovery in exotic locales
16. New Orleans Mourning (Julia Smith)
back from NOLA, can't get enough
17. Henry Huggins (Beverly Cleary)
read aloud to son #1; a classic
18. Henry and the Paper Route (Beverly Cleary)
read aloud to son #1; a classic
19. Henry and Ribsy (Beverly Cleary)
read aloud to son #1; a classic
20. Ramona the Pest (Beverly Cleary)
read aloud to son #1; a classic
21. Confessions of a Teenage Sleuth (Chelsea Cain)
Nancy Drew-esque
22. The Woods (Harlan Coben) [audio]
predictable thriller; Coben's Myron Bolitar series is my preference
23. Henry and the Clubhouse (Beverly Cleary)
read aloud to son #1; a classic
24. The Top Ten: Writers Pick Their Favorite Books (J. Peder Zane)
fun book of lists
25. 1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die (Peter Boxall)
another fun book of lists
26. Henry and Beezus (Beverly Cleary)
read aloud to son #1; a classic
27. It's Not about the Tapas (Polly Evans)
cycling, northern Spain, travel, humor
28. Momentum Is Your Friend (Joe Kurmaskie)
cycling, cross-country journey, father-son memoir; read aloud to Mr. Bibliotonic
29. The Year of Magical Thinking (Joan Didion)
mega award-winning memoir; a favorite author
30. Bangkok Haunts (John Burdett)
thriller set in exotic locale; series
31. Yiddish Policemen's Union (Michael Chabon)
amazingly crafted, highly imaginative novel
32. Austenland (Shannon Hale)
lighthearted novel
33. A Cook's Tour (Anthony Bourdain)
"re-read", audio
34. Angelica (Arthur Phillips)
Victorianesque novel; read for book group
35. Harry Potter and the Deadly Hallows (J.K. Rowling)
culmination of series; read aloud to Mr. Bibliotonic
36. The Places in Between (Rory Stewart)
adventure/travel essay
37. Play It As It Lays (Joan Didion)
seminal novel by a favorite author
38. French Fried (Nancy Fairbanks)
cozy foodie mystery; palate cleanser from heavier fare
39. Bloodletting and Other Miraculous Cures (Vincent Lam)
impressive debut; story collection; read in San Francisco
40. Sweet Revenge (Diane Mott Davidson)
cozy foodie mystery
41. The United States of Arugula (David Kamp)
history of food trends/movements and restauranteurs
42. Mommy Tracked (Whitney Gaskell)
chick lit with substance
43. The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian (Sherman Alexie)
National Book Award-winner for young readers; read for book group
44. The Uncommon Reader (Alan Bennett)
subversive and quick novel about books and the Queen; read in NYC
45. The Silverado Squatters (Robert Louis Stevenson)
account of Napa Valley in the 1800s
46. Bagman (Jay MacLarty)
second in series we started earlier in the year; read aloud to Mr. Bibliotonic
47. The Amateur Gourmet (Adam Roberts)
delightful foodie coming of age; writer by a fellow food blogger
48. Not a Girl Detective (Susan Kandel)
another Nancy Drew-esque mystery; read in Winner, SD
49. The Stupidest Angel (Christopher Moore)
darkly comic story for the holidays; audio
50. Feeding a Yen (Calvin Trillin)
Trillin's tales of local food specialties; a paean to his beloved late wife and adventure buddy, Alice

41 for 41

If it’s October, then it’s time for me to compose another list of books for my reading year. Considering the limited success of this past reading year, when I managed to read just five out of forty books I selected. The point of the list—as my friend Caryl reminded me—isn’t necessarily to read every book, but to serve as a record of where my interests lie at the moment. This was all the justification I needed to begin the 41 at 41 Challenge, with a stronger than usual commitment for more strikethroughs. Besides, I’m an inveterate list maker, so I may as well make a short list from the very long TBR list I keep.

Since this is my third such list, I’ve learned a thing or two along the way. First, I wait for other lists to be announced. These include my alma mater’s Conversation with Books and the National Book Award nominees. Next, I check my publishing resources, including Powells.com, which has, in each of its sections, a “coming soon” subsection where you can see many of the books that will be published in the next three to six months. By anticipating new releases, I can factor into my list the books that would normally derail me.

Still, I can’t catch every book that serve as a distraction, such as those I learn about by word of mouth and reviews. Also, my book groups determine their books on a month-to-month basis so there’s no advanced planning for those.

That said, this year’s list includes a healthy number of shelf-sitters, recent purchases (in a year of overindulgence), and borrowed books that I need to make a concerted effort to return to generous friends. Additionally, I want to read more short stories and classics this coming year. I have also included a few carryovers from previous lists because I still really, really, really want to read MFK Fisher and Carol Shields and John LeCarre and many many more.

Herewith, 41 for 41, in no particular order:

1. something by Haruki Murakami
just finished reading his memoir What I Talk About When I Talk About Running and want to read more
2. Out (Natsuo Kirino)
impressed by her latest, The Real World, I’d like to read another; I have a borrowed copy
3. The Other Side of the Island (Allegra Goodman)
loved Kaaterskill Falls years and years ago; this is YA and speculative
4. The Eight (Katherine Neville)
a re-read of a favorite
5. The Fire (Katherine Neville)
the long anticipated sequel to The Eight
6. Once and Future King (T.H. White)
a classic I have long meant to read
7. Maps and Legends (Michael Chabon)
a beautifully packaged collection of writings
8. Mysteries of Pittsburgh (Michael Chabon)
a re-read
9. Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (Stieg Larsson)
hot title at the moment; I’m slightly obsessed with many things Swedish
10. Plague of Doves (Louise Erdrich)
a Conversation with Books ’09 title
11. Loving Frank (Nancy Horan)
a Conversation with Books ’09 title
12. Unaccustomed Earth (Jhumpa Lahiri)
a Conversation with Books ’09 title; story collection
13. Lulu in Marrakech (Diane Johnson)
Diane Johnson, Morocco, girl spy—an irresistible combination
14. We (Yevgeny Zamyatin)
shelf-sitter, classic
15. The Thirty-Nine Steps (John Buchan)
arguably the first spy thriller
16. Cold Comfort Farm (Stella Gibbons)
rural novel parody that has been recommended to me many times over
17. Poisonwood Bible (Barbara Kingsolver)
carryover from 40 at 40
18. Animal, Vegetable, Mineral (Barbara Kingsolver)
carryover from 40 at 40
19. The Summer Book (Tove Jansson)
summer discovery that I have yet to read
20. Famous Suicides of the Japanese Empire (David Mura)
a debut novel by a local writer
21. Consider the Oyster (MFK Fisher)
this. is. the. year
22. Fahrenheit 451 (Ray Bradbury)
a classic
23. Suite Francaise (Irene Nemirovsky)
a critically acclaimed book; borrowed
24. Alice, Let’s Eat (Calvin Trillin)
a classic foodie title
25. St. Lucy’s Home for Girls Raised by Wolves (Karen Russell)
story collection
26. Friends, Lovers, Chocolate (Alexander McCall Smith)
favorite author; borrowed book
27. Alaska Sourdough (Richard Morenus)
one of my father’s favorite books; borrowed
28. A Circle of Quiet (Madeleine L’Engle)
shelf-sitter
29. Frankenstein (Mary Shelley)
classic scary novel
30. Omelette and a Glass of Wine (Elizabeth David)
another foodie classic; shelf-sitter
31. Stone Diaries (Carol Shields)
shelf-sitter; 15th anniversary
32. Annapurna (Maurice Herzog)
classic climbing/adventure book; shelf-sitter
33. something by Neil Gaiman
must see what the fuss is about
34. Curriculum Vitae (Muriel Spark)
memoir by a favorite author
35. Anathem (Neal Stephenson)
because I bought the door-stopper in hardcover
36. Snow Leopard (Peter Mathiessen)
30th anniversary of this nature classic
37. Elephanta Suite (Paul Theroux)
strong NYT book review; favorite author
38. Ghostwalk (Rebecca Stott)
December book group selection
39. Little House on the Prairie (Laura Ingalls Wilder)
just saw the Guthrie production
40. The Camel Bookmobile (Masha Hamilton)
birthday gift from my sis
41. The Discovery of France (Graham Robb)
birthday gift from my Mr. Bibliotonic

also rans that have been much on my mind and that may sneak into the mix:

Judgment of Paris, George M. Taber—wine
Kavalier and Clay, Michael Chabon—Chabon
Final Game, Valerie Plame—spies
Arlington Park, Rachel Cusk—editor Reagan Arthur
The Emperor's Children, Claire Messud—NYC
The Raw Shark Texts, Steven Hall—je ne sais quoi
something by Philip Roth—American classic
Amnesia Moon, Jonathan Lethem—speculative
Blindness, Jose Saramago—Nobel-prize winner
Tree of Smoke (Denis Johnson)—National Book Award–winner
something by Roberto Boleano—comes recommended; rediscovery
and, quite frankly, anything unread from the 40 for 40 list, 'cause I really do want to read them all.

fall=literary award season

The fall is a great time to be a reader, for so many reasons. Not only do you have all the heaviest-hitting, highest-quality books being released in time for the holidays, but you also have the announcement of major literary awards. This week alone has yielded a bounty.

The National Book Award finalists were announced just moments ago. Hands down, the NBA is my favorite literary award. It represents the best American literature. As with many awards, it is not without its faults, but year after year, the nominees are the sort of books I want to read. And unlike the Booker Prize, you've likely heard of at least a few NBA finalists.

The presence of literary giants Marilynne Robinson and Peter Mathiessen* is exciting, but so too are the debuts of Aleksandr Hemon for The Lazarus Project (Hemon has had two story collections published, one a National Book Critics Circle nominee), Rachel Kusher for Telex from Cuba (strong front-page NYT review), and Salvatore Scibona for The End (published by my hometown's small press hero, Graywolf). For the three latter authors, inclusion on this list will certainly boost sales and exposure.

The National Book Award will be announced on November 19. Nominations have also been made in poetry, nonfiction, and young readers categories. I'm less interested in these, so you'll have to visit the NBA website for more information.

And, in a stroke of good timing, The Booker Prize winner was announced last night. Aravind Adiga, is only the fourth author to win for a debut novel. His novel, The White Tiger has been on my radar, though I doubt I'll get to it this year. Michael Portillo, a former MP and judge for this year's Booker, said

The judges found the decision difficult because the shortlist contained such strong candidates. In the end, The White Tiger prevailed because the judges felt that it shocked and entertained in equal measure.

"The novel undertakes the extraordinarily difficult task of gaining and holding the reader's sympathy for a thoroughgoing villain. The book gains from dealing with pressing social issues and significant global developments with astonishing humour.

Which National Book Award finalists have you read? Who are you rooting for?

*I have to confess that I find the Mathiessen a curious choice. In The Shadow Country, Mathiessen combines the three Florida novels (Killing Mr. Watson, Lost Man's River, and Bone by Bone) into one. One novel, not one volume with three novel. This was how he'd intended the book to be published but because of the length, it was carved into three separate volumes. Now, masterfully collapsed and reworked, The Shadow Country is being hailed as monumental.

Birthday Loot

I love receiving books as gifts. For many years, when I was repping for St. Martin’s/Holtzbrinck (now Macmillan US), I never received books. Perhaps friends and family thought I had access to any book I wanted, which was somewhat the case. Maybe they thought I didn't need more books than what I already had. And here’s what friends and family didn’t know: I spent my day reading what the office sent me to read, and it typically wasn’t what I would have chosen for myself. Sure, sometimes I was pleasantly surprised, which I could use to my advantage with accounts, but I loved it when someone put a book in my hand because they loved it or because they thought I would love it.

So, this year, it was a thrill to find books hiding beneath the gift wrap of birthday presents. And, next best part about getting books: I wasn’t familiar with any of them. They’re not on any of the countless lists I keep. I don’t recognize any from my favorite bookstores’ display tables, although each did come from such places. So, each gift book was a true surprise. Here’s my haul:

The Camel Bookmobile, by Masha Hamilton
My sister gave me this beautifully packaged novel. From the back cover, the following passage intrigued me: “Fiona Sweeney wants to do something that matters, and she chooses to make her mark in the arid bush of northeastern Kenya. By helping to start a traveling library, she hopes to bring the words of Homer, Hemingway, and Dr. Seuss to far-flung tiny communities where people live daily with drought, hunger, and disease…In the impoverished small community of Mididima, she finds herself caught in the middle of a volatile local struggle when the bookmobile’s presence sparks a dangerous feud between the proponents of modernization and those who fear the loss of traditional ways.” I like the exotic, dusty setting, the protagonist’s mission, and the sense of adventure. And, Kenya really does have a mobile library.


Real World, by Natsuo Kirin
My husband picked this one out. The flap copy describes the novel as feminist noir, by the Japanese author of eighteen novels (and four short-story collections and an essay collection). Only three of Kirin's novels have been published in English translation. This novel features four teenage girls, in "cram school" together, who are caught up in solving the murder of Toshi’s next-door neighbor. Toshi is “the dependable one” of the four. I love the Nancy Drew/girl-sleuth twist, and I consider it a treat to be introduced to Kirino’s hard-boiled fiction.

The Discovery of France: A Historical Geography, by Graham Robb
My husband selected this history book for me because he knows how much I adore France. Robb has written several biographies of French literary figures, each of which have been honors as NYT Editors’ Choices for best books of the year. In this history, he examines how France emerged out of the jumble of its departements, which the Robb exhaustively researches, but also explores on bicycle. I am such a sucker for France, history, and cycling—what’s not to love?


Now, where do I start?

Happy Birthday to Me!!

Today is my birthday. It's not a "big" birthday, but it's a special birthday. I think all birthdays are special. My little family cleared out of the house so I could have a conversation with a dear friend. We hadn't spoken in six months, which is criminal, but there you have it. We spoke for an hour and caught up with each other's lives. Then, I had an hour and a half to myself, while the guys ran errands. The house was so quiet—ideal to cozy up with a book.

I'm currently reading People of the Book, by Geraldine Brooks, and I'm really enjoying it. I had just finished reading an ARC of Scott Muskin's The Annunciations of Hank Meyerson, Mama's Boy and Scholar, and although I enjoyed it—a lot—the novel is a redemption song about a broken man. It's the kind of book with deliberate character studies and situations that you can admire for the artfulness of the writing, but, by turns, you're often left emotionally drained. Even the uplifting bits can make you feel a little empty. I think Scott Muskin is all kinds of talented, and I want to help him promote this book by recommending that everyone read it.

Where was I going with that? Before I finished Annunciations, I realized I needed a novel that was the polar opposite—a lushly descriptive historical novel. So People of the Book has fit the bill. Also, the plot is woven between various time periods and places—1940 Sarajevo, 1894 Vienna, 1609 Venice, 1492 Tarragona (Spain), and 1480 Seville—always returning to 1996 Vienna. I'm nearly at the half-way point, but I have yet to experience true dramatic tension. I don't think this is a bad thing because the writing flows, and I like being tranported through each section. In many ways, the atmosphere of mystery puts me in mind of Katherine Neville's The Eight or even Shadow of the Wind, though not as dark. My friend Caryl says the themes remind her of The Book Thief.

For nonfiction, I have my nose in Haruki Murakami's What I Talk About When I Talk About Running, personalizing the meditation by swapping out "running" for "cycling." I can identify with how his chosen sport elevates his thought-plain (outlining plots or developing characters). He listens to music. Cycling allows me similar opportunities and is a balm for anxiety or depression. But enough about me.

For years, friends and booksellers have been recommending Murakami to me, but I've never gotten around to reading him. And although this book is hardly typical of his novels, it's still engaging, especially the bits about how he became a novelist or about the period of time when he owned a jazz club. This is a slim volume that you think you're going to breeze through until you find yourself copying down the clever bits and mulling them before you start reading again and suddenly it takes three weeks to read a 5 x 7-trim size with wide margins.

currently reading

~ The Annunciations of Hank Meyerson, Mama's Boy and Scholar (Scott Muskin)
I'm about 125 pages into this first novel, written by a local writer, to be published in spring 2009. My book group is reading the advanced reading copy for discussion next month, and the author will attend the meeting! Most of the book group members are (or were) publisher's reps or booksellers, local authors often attend. Lorna Landvik and Charles Baxter are just a few authors who have made an appearance. A couple book group members have an additional connection to Muskin (I don't feel as if I'm on a first name basis with him, yet), and apparently he asked to attend. That is some of the back story. Here's more: Muskin entered this novel in the Parthenon Prize for Fiction, and as the inaugural winner, is having his book published by Hooded Friar Press, the prize's sponsor and a champion of new writers.

The jacket copy describes a "story of love, loss, and ultimately, redemption," which certainly wouldn't sell me if I'd found this book browsing in a bookstore. But, Hank is quite a character, and his journey, so far, is a hoot. In the first section, Hank's marriage is falling apart. He's not recovering from his wife's affair. And, while she's on a business trip, Hank embarks on a fling of his own. With his sister-in-law. Before Hank's brother can learn of the infidelity, Hank leaves town, which is where I've left off.

The novel, on a whole, is very promising. I'm looking for comparisons, because that's what we do when we're trying to recommend a title, and so far I'm coming up with Clyde Edgerton and a younger, Midwestern Richard Russo. But I'd also say that Muskin's voice is pretty unique, making him far from derivative if you're looking for fiction that's wholly new.

~ The Man Who Ate the World (Jay Rayner)
A few years ago, I first heard about the British food writer Jay Rayner on the popular food blog, Chez Pim. I checked out his novel Eating Crow upward for four or five times, but was never able to crack the spine. This sometimes happens. Right book, wrong time. His latest book, The Man Who Ate the World, has given me another opportunity to read Rayner, as he searches the world for the perfect meal. Rayner has a great voice, exploring restaurants, food, chefs, and his own position as a paid gourmand. So far, he has visited Las Vegas, Moscow, and Dubai. With just over half of the book remaining to be read, my copy of the book is due back to the library tomorrow. I fantasize about pulling an all-nighter to finish it.

~ Thirty-Three Teeth (Colin Cotterill)
John and I recently took a road trip to Door County, Wisconsin, a six-hour drive from our home in St. Paul. No kids. And, as is our want when we make a long drive, I started reading aloud a book to my husband, the driver. Set in Laos (1977), our sleuth, Dr. Siri Paiboun, is a coroner who has recently discovered that he has psychic abilities. There are two mysteries in this novel, and I suspect they will intertwine, but I can't be certain yet. We still have quite a bit to read. I love a mystery where you have enough information to form a theory, even if it's way off base. Ultimately, the mystery is pretty character-driven: Siri's friends and coworkers populate the story. Also, it's a smart, funny, quick, and totally rewarding read. Highly recommended.

shortlists and one long list

~ The Booker shortlist has been announced. Salman Rushdie and John Berger, whom many bloggers felt were shoe-ins, are out, as are new talents Tom Rob Smith (Child 44) and Joseph O'Neill (Netherland). I haven't read any of the nominees so find it impossible to handicap, especially since there is, historically, a randomness to this prize. What have you read? What would you like to read?
Aravind Adiga, The White Tiger (Atlantic)
Sebastian Barry, The Secret Scripture (Faber and Faber)
Amitav Ghosh, Sea of Poppies (John Murray)
Linda Grant, The Clothes on Their Backs (Virago)
Philip Hensher, The Northern Clemency (Fourth Estate)
Steve Toltz, A Fraction of the Whole (Hamish Hamilton)

~ The Roald Dahl Funny Prize, rewarding the funniest books for children, has announced its shortlists in two different categories. Although I'm not familiar with any of these titles, I do recognize a few authors. Since my boys ages fall squarely within these ranges, and seeing as how they both have fantastic laughs, I'm going to read as widely from these lists as possible. The winners will be announced November 13.

The Funniest Book for Children Aged Six and Under

Stick Man by Julia Donaldson, illus. Axel Scheffler (Alison Green Books)
Elephant Wellyphant by Nick Sharratt (Alison Green Books)
The Great Paper Caper by Oliver Jeffers (HarperCollins Children’s Books)
The Witch’s Children Go to School by Ursula Jones, illus. Russell Ayto (Orchard Books)
There’s an Ouch in My Pouch! by Jeanne Willis, illus. Garry Parsons (Puffin Books)
Manfred the Baddie by John Fardell (Quercus Books)

The Funniest Book for Children Aged Seven to Fourteen

Mr Gum and the Dancing Bear by Andy Stanton, illus. David Tazzyman (Egmont Press)
Paddington Here and Now by Michael Bond, illus. RW Alley (HarperCollins Children’s Books)
Stop in the Name of Pants! by Louise Rennison (HarperCollins Children’s Books)
Cosmic by Frank Cottrell Boyce (Macmillan Children’s Books)
Aliens Don’t Eat Dog Food by Dinah Capparucci (Scholastic Children’s Books)
Urgum and the Goo Goo Bah! by Kjartan Poskitt, illus. Philip Reeve (Scholastic Children’s Books)

~ The Washington Post book section has a fairly comprehensive preview of 116 new fall books, an especially satifisfying thing to see at a time when newspapers are seriously shrinking book coverage.

conversation with books 2009

The date and list of books for the 2009 Conversation with Books has been announced! And, it’s a good list, at that. Each year, I vow to read at least one book by the time of discussion, at the end of January. This year, I’m well on my way. I have already read The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society, and I own Unaccustomed Earth, so will likely dive into that sooner rather than later. A few more titles will be added closer to the event, so stay tuned.

Herewith, the selection:

~ Creating Minnesota: A History from the Inside Out, by Annette AtkinsThough I call Minnesota home, I did not grow up here and so missed sixth-grade state history. This book could help me make up for lost time.

~ The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society, by Anne Barrows and Mary Ann Shaffer
This book is hot, hot, hot off the press, but I'm not at all surprised to see it as it's very much the type of book toward which the panelists gravitate.

~ Life Class: A Novel, by Pat Barker
A "Writer Familiar to Our Conversation," meaning the panelists have read many, if not all, of the author's books. This could be the year I finally read Pat Barker.

~ Loving Frank, by Nancy Horan
Although I find it hard to explain why, I am somewhat mistrustful of this book—though it has been wildly popular. A definite maybe.

~ The Plague of Doves, by Louise Erdrich
Another “Writer Familiar to Our Conversation,” not to mention that Erdrich is a local literary darling. Plague of Doves has been on my TBR list since it was announced, and I most certainly will be reading it. And, when I looked up this title at Powell's, Unaccustomed Earth was offered as a comparison title.

~ Unaccustomed Earth, by Jhumpa Lahiri
I bought a copy on the day the book was born but have been saving it for the perfect moment...

~ Well-Behaved Women Seldom Make History, by Laurel Thatcher Ulrich
Not a typical selection for the Conversation. I'm really looking forward to hearing what the panelist have to say. Also, I suspect that Ulrich is an alumna.

100 New Classics

Earlier this summer, Entertainment Weekly published a fun list of 100 New Classics, the best books of the past twenty-five years. I'm a sucker for lists, and this one is no exception. Only, the summer has been very busy, as it always is. So just as summer is now almost over—or it is if you count Labor Day and the return to school as the end—I'm finally getting around to studying the list.

It's hot and humid here, and all I feel like doing is curling up with a glass of chilled white wine and this list—languidly bolding those titles I have read, occasionally adding commentary, italicizing those books I would like to read, and striking through those I plan to never read. I'd love to see your list.

Would you like to play a game?

1. Just copy from below, or seek the source.
2. Bold the titles you have read.
3. Italicize the books you would like to read.
4. Strike through those you'll never read.
5. Annotate as needed.
6. We're not done yet. Provide your personal top 10 new classics (books published between 1983-2008, fiction and nonfiction, not necessarily from this list).
7. If it's not too much trouble, put a link to your list in my comments. Thx!

1. The Road , Cormac McCarthy (2006)
2. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, J.K. Rowling (2000)
3. Beloved, Toni Morrison (1987) [never say never]
4. The Liars' Club, Mary Karr (1995)
5. American Pastoral, Philip Roth (1997)
6. Mystic River, Dennis Lehane (2001) [all my mystery guys raved about Lehane for years before Mystic River]
7. Maus, Art Spiegelman (1986/1991) [own it; what am I waiting for?]
8. Selected Stories, Alice Munro (1996)
9. Cold Mountain, Charles Frazier (1997)
10. The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle, Haruki Murakami (1997) [I would like to read something by Murakami]
11. Into Thin Air, Jon Krakauer (1997)
12. Blindness, José Saramago (1998)
13. Watchmen, Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons (1986-87)
14. Black Water, Joyce Carol Oates (1992)
15. A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius, Dave Eggers (2000)
16. The Handmaid's Tale, Margaret Atwood (1986) [will be re-read one day]
17. Love in the Time of Cholera, Gabriel García Márquez (1988)
18. Rabbit at Rest, John Updike (1990) [my window of opportunity has passed]
19. On Beauty, Zadie Smith (2005)
20. Bridget Jones's Diary, Helen Fielding (1998)
21. On Writing, Stephen King (2000) [maybe]
22. The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao, Junot Díaz (2007)
23. The Ghost Road, Pat Barker (1996)
24. Lonesome Dove, Larry McMurtry (1985) [do I get any credit for reading the first 50 pages?]
25. The Joy Luck Club, Amy Tan (1989)
26. Neuromancer, William Gibson (1984) [I will re-read, one day]
27. Possession, A.S. Byatt (1990)
28. Naked, David Sedaris (1997)
29. Bel Canto, Anne Patchett (2001)
30. Case Histories, Kate Atkinson (2004)
31. The Things They Carried, Tim O'Brien (1990) [stunning title story]
32. Parting the Waters, Taylor Branch (1988)
33. The Year of Magical Thinking, Joan Didion (2005) [unabridged audio, moving]
34. The Lovely Bones, Alice Sebold (2002)
35. The Line of Beauty, Alan Hollinghurst (2004)
36. Angela's Ashes, Frank McCourt (1996)
37. Persepolis, Marjane Satrapi (2003)
38. Birds of America, Lorrie Moore (1998)
39. Interpreter of Maladies, Jhumpa Lahiri (2000)
40. His Dark Materials, Philip Pullman (1995-2000)
41. The House on Mango Street, Sandra Cisneros (1984)
42. LaBrava, Elmore Leonard (1983)
43. Borrowed Time, Paul Monette (1988)
44. Praying for Sheetrock, Melissa Fay Greene (1991)
45. Eva Luna, Isabel Allende (1988)
46. Sandman, Neil Gaiman (1988-1996)
47. World's Fair, E.L. Doctorow (1985)
48. The Poisonwood Bible, Barbara Kingsolver (1998)
49. Clockers, Richard Price (1992)
50. The Corrections, Jonathan Franzen (2001)
51. The Journalist and the Murderer, Janet Malcom (1990)
52. Waiting to Exhale, Terry McMillan (1992)
53. The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay, Michael Chabon (2000)
54. Jimmy Corrigan, Chris Ware (2000)
55. The Glass Castle, Jeannette Walls (2006)
56. The Night Manager, John le Carré (1993)
57. The Bonfire of the Vanities, Tom Wolfe (1987)
58. Drop City, TC Boyle (2003)
59. Krik? Krak! Edwidge Danticat (1995)
60. Nickel & Dimed, Barbara Ehrenreich (2001)
61. Money, Martin Amis (1985)
62. Last Train To Memphis, Peter Guralnick (1994)
63. Pastoralia, George Saunders (2000)
64. Underworld, Don DeLillo (1997)
65. The Giver, Lois Lowry (1993)
66. A Supposedly Fun Thing I’ll Never Do Again, David Foster Wallace (1997)
67. The Kite Runner, Khaled Hosseini (2003)
68. Fun Home, Alison Bechdel (2006)
69. Secret History, Donna Tartt (1992)
70. Cloud Atlas, David Mitchell (2004)
71. The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down, Ann Fadiman (1997)
72. The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, Mark Haddon (2003)
73. A Prayer for Owen Meany, John Irving (1989)
74. Friday Night Lights, H.G. Bissinger (1990)
75. Cathedral, Raymond Carver (1983)
76. A Sight for Sore Eyes, Ruth Rendell (1998)
77. The Remains of the Day, Kazuo Ishiguro (1989)
78. Eat, Pray, Love, Elizabeth Gilbert (2006)
79. The Tipping Point, Malcolm Gladwell (2000) [I have read so many reviews and commentary that I feel I've already ready it]
80. Bright Lights, Big City, Jay McInerney (1984)
81. Backlash, Susan Faludi (1991) [see #79]
82. Atonement, Ian McEwan (2002)
83. The Stone Diaries, Carol Shields (1994)
84. Holes, Louis Sachar (1998)
85. Gilead, Marilynne Robinson (2004)
86. And the Band Played On, Randy Shilts (1987)
87. The Ruins, Scott Smith (2006)
88. High Fidelity, Nick Hornby (1995)
89. Close Range, Annie Proulx (1999)
90. Comfort Me With Apples, Ruth Reichl (2001)
91. Random Family, Adrian Nicole LeBlanc (2003)
92. Presumed Innocent, Scott Turow (1987)
93. A Thousand Acres, Jane Smiley (1991)
94. Fast Food Nation, Eric Schlosser (2001) [see #79]
95. Kaaterskill Falls, Allegra Goodman (1998)
96. The Da Vinci Code, Dan Brown (2003)
97. Jesus’ Son, Denis Johnson (1992)
98. The Predators' Ball, Connie Bruck (1988)
99. Practical Magic, Alice Hoffman (1995) [listened to unabridged audio]
100. America (the Book), Jon Stewart/Daily Show (2004) [Of course I've paged through this. Who hasn't?]

My top 10 New Classics
1. Handmaid's Tale, Margaret Atwood (1985)
2. Home Cooking, Laurie Colwin (1993)
3. Behind the Scenes at the Museum, Kate Atkinson (1995)
4. Jitterbug Perfume, Tom Robbins (1984)
5. House, Tracy Kidder (1985)
6. Pillars of Hercules, Paul Theroux (1995)
7. London Fields, Martin Amis (1989)
8. The Eight, Katherine Neville (1988)
9. Cowboys Are My Weakness, Pam Houston (1993)
10. Soul of the Chef, Michael Ruhlman (2001)

FINISHED: Crime Brûlée

“Life doles out the most amazing surprises, not all of them pleasant.”

Needing to increase my reading average so that I might hit my target of 20 books read between Memorial Day and Labor Day, I have turned to cozy mysteries. Nancy Fairbanks, author of the comic police procedural series featuring Elena Jarvis, also writes this culinary series, featuring Carolyn Blue. I have enjoyed a few others in the series (French Fried and The Perils of Paella) and find them mildly addictive. I believe the culinary analog is profiteroles. The covers are well designed, setting the mood for a light, fun mystery.

Crime Brûlée is set in New Orleans and, as the first in the series, introduces Carolyn Blue, a forty-something homemaker who takes on a dream job as a food writer. If you ask me, it's a great premise! Carolyn has accompanied her husband, Jason, a chemistry professor, to an academic conference in New Orleans. She's also writing a book on eating in the Big Easy. Ostensibly, while Jason is occupied with lectures and plenary sessions and doodling molecular bonds on cocktail napkins, Carolyn is combing the city, sampling its culinary treats. When Carolyn's close childhood friend, Julienne—also an academic attending the conference—goes missing, and no one seems to care, including Julienne's husband, Carolyn investigates.

Occasionally, I found the plot to stagnate a bit, which I didn't notice in subsequent books, which leads me to believe that Fairbanks has work on the pacing and settled into Carolyn Blue's voice. And, occasionally, I found it hard to suspend disbelief necessary to accept that our protagonist would get involved with the sleuthing.

But, Fairbanks gets the foodie bits down, which more than make up for the rest. I find this series far more interesting and more delicious than Diane Mott Davidson's caterer Goldy Bear series. Often while reading Davidson's books, I'd feel the guilt that comes from empty calories. Sure, I keep reading them, but I prefer Fairbanks. And, no matter how formulaic Fairbanks' series may get, I'm committed to reading more titles. Up next: New York-set Truffled Feathers.

souvenirs from a trip

One of the best things about Blue Hill, Maine, is the fantastic indie bookstore on Pleasant Street. I could move to this community for the bookstore alone! Okay, the lobster, coastline, and New England charm help. Blue Hill Books is in a cozy (former) house with an inviting front porch, where the store’s bestsellers are proudly announced. And, it's a really good, obviously independent list.

Once you enter, all vestiges of the building’s former function are stripped away, and, as Alice through the rabbit hole (apologies for the cheesy cliché), you’re standing in a clean, well-lighted space, filled with books. To me, that’s heaven. The store highlights for me are new releases, fiction, and local authors/interests up front, as well as the various nonfiction sections and the fabulous, cozy alcove devoted to children’s books, found on the lower level.

Naturally, I selected a few souvenirs from among the many books that caught my eye:

The Edge of Maine by Geoffrey Wolff
Part of the National Geographic Directions travel series written by leading literary authors, this book explores Down East Maine. I’ve never read a travel essay that more precisely describes the area where I was standing than this one. This series is so well done, especially matching author to subject, that I could—and hopefully will—make a challenge out of reading all of the titles in it. I have also read Oliver Sacks’ Oaxaca Journal and William Kittredge’s Southwestern Homelands.



Homer Price by Robert McCloskey
In this little family, we’re all nutters for Robert McCloskey. While I was pregnant with son number one, I purchased Make Way for Ducklings as "baby’s first book," and it has always been a favorite. Blueberries for Sal is, disputably, set on Blue Hill, the small mountain after which the town was named. I'm not here to argue the claim, but, make no mistake, One Morning in Maine, chronicling Sal’s further adventures, is set in nearby Bucks Harbor. Five years ago, when we visited the area, Mr. Bibliotonic and I rode the Brookville Loop on bike, making a pilgrimage to Condon’s Garage in Bucks Harbor. So it should follow, that five years later, the little Bibliotonics would be ready for McCloskey’s tales of a ten-year-old boy.

Slipknot by Linda Greenlaw
When we visited this area five years ago, I read Linda Greenlaw’s Lobster Chronicles, her memoir of being a Maine lobster fisher. Slipknot is the first book in a mystery series, also set in the region. I enjoyed Greenlaw’s storytelling in Lobster Chronicles and look forward to seeing how she handles fiction writing.

vacation reading

When I left off here, I was getting ready for a week in Maine (which was wonderful and restful and fun, btw). Packing reading material for any trip is a challenge. In typical fashion, I agonized over which books to bring, knowing full well that I’d bring too many.

Elsewhere I’d written this:

Books. Well certainly you need something for the plane and something to span the time until your return flight. Maybe there’s a long car ride from the airport to your destination so you’ll need something to read aloud to the driver. Mass-market mysteries are perfect for leaving in plane seat pockets if you finish in-flight or if the book is too unbearable stinky to finish. A book related to the place you’re visiting can be nice. Something literary can keep you busy for a while, especially if you like to re-read stunningly written passages. Story collections or essays serve up short pieces, ideal for short attention spans and for when you’re short on time. No hardcovers, as they’re too heavy in the carry-on and can be too unwieldy to hold.

Am I able to head my own advice? Hell, no.

I wanted this trip to be different from the trips where I bring more books than I can possibly read, what with sightseeing and general vacation busy-ness. Couldn't one book sustain and entertain from door to door? With this fresh idea in mind, I purchased Tim Weiner’s National Book Award-winning Legacy of Ashes. It's sort of a door-stopper at 812 pages, but it would last the week (and then some). Best, even in paperback, this fat book fit comfortably in my hand.

In the weeks leading up to my trip, I felt pretty good about knowing what I was going to read while on vacation. I could skip all the late-night drama over choosing books. Yet, as I packed, I must have picked up Legacy of Ashes, placed it in my carry-on, and pulled it out, at least five or six times. Ultimately, I just couldn’t commit to just one book. Nor could I leave a novel out of the mix of reading material. So what did I bring? An ARC, a slim novel, and some magazines in my carry-on, as well as a few mass markets (tucked into my checked luggage).

What did I read?

On my departing flight to Maine, as a warm-up to cracking a book's spine, I read the July Vogue. And, a week later, on the flight back to St. Paul, I read the August Vogue. As far as books go, I started Apologize Apologize, a first novel from Twelve (a Little Brown imprint) coming in April ’09. For some reason I expected the protagonist/narrator to be female so I was a little thrown when I realized, a few pages in, that the protagonist was very much male. Starting the book again helped. The first thirty-eight pages of this family drama drip with faux quirky and feel overwritten, but it’s promising. Something about the protagonist is very likeable.
I also had an opportunity to dip into Tove Jansson’s The Summer Book. Just before my trip, my friend Caryl and I had a chance to pop into indie bookseller Magers & Quinn, where I spotted this title in a beautifully packaged edition from NYRB. I could not resist buying this novel that follows the relationship between a grandmother and her granddaughter, who spend the summer on a small island in the Gulf of Finland. The setting seemed to match the area in Maine where I would be spending vacation, and the story, told in vignettes, seemed heartwarming. In a word, perfect vacation reading.

We did a lot of driving on this trip. Well, I should say: my husband did a lot of driving. First, there was the five-hour drive from Boston to Blue Hill, Maine. Conversely, there was the return drive from Blue Hill to Boston. In between, we commuted from the inn, on one side of Blue Hill, where we were staying, to Gruesome Gables, my in-laws’ rental on the other side of Blue Hill. One day we drove over an hour, each way, to Acadia. All of which yielded ample car time during which I could read a book aloud to the driver.

Mr. Bibliotonic and I tend to gravitate toward mysteries when we read-aloud. Mysteries and thrillers give us a chance to visit favorite characters, as well as offer short chapters, which suit frequent interruptions from the junior Bibliotonics in the back seat. On this trip, we cozied up with Daniel Silva’s A Death in Vienna. Art restorer and ex-Mossad agent Gabiel Allon is summoned for another mission. This time in Vienna, under cover of authenticating a painting, Allon identifies a man in a photograph who may have been a key player in the Nazi’s Master Plan, as well as having brutalized Allon’s mother during the Death March from Auschwitz. The mystery is clever and suspenseful, successfully enriched by historical events.

Mr. Bibliotonic covered the boys’ bedtime reading with the second book in the Ranger’s Apprentice series, but I got to sneak in random tales from Homer Price. We loved Homer for his ingenuity, curiosity, and adventurous spirit, and we’re grateful to Robert McCloskey for the wonderful illustrations that impeccably capture the characters from Centerburg. I chose this book mostly for the local connection to the author. McCloskey lived in Blue Hill, Maine, not far from which is Bucks Harbor, the setting for One Morning in Maine. Homer Price’s Centerburg is probably found in Ohio, where McCloskey spent his formative years. There is, however, a universal appeal to the town. Substitute the small town or suburb where you grew up, and you’re likely to feel a connection.

As is typical, I packed too many books and could have used Nancy Pearl's advice for choosing a carry-on book, which came a moment too late for this trip. Next time!

gone fishing

Tomorrow morning, I'm flying to Maine, with my little family, for a week. We hope to have quality family time that includes seeing siblings/in-laws and cousins, as well as eating our fair share of lobsters and blueberries. As I will be without a computer while away—horrors, I know—details about my trip will have to wait until my return.

It's almost midnight and there's still much to do, such as selecting my vacation reading.

Ciao!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY! MFK Fisher

Few would argue against the wide-held belief that M.F.K. Fisher was the greatest food writer or that she effectively established the culinary essay as a genre.

I first encountered M.F.K. Fisher in 1989, while working as a professional bookseller. The bookstore where I was employed gave me a section to maintain: cookbooks. My first thought was that the assignment was a serious mistake—I didn't cook. Why should I be expected to become an expert on cookbooks if I didn't use them?

I'm here to tell you that, in any self-respecting independent bookstore, there's more to the cooking section than cookbooks. So I didn't cook, but I did love to eat, and the culinary essay subsection whetted my appetite for any author with the sort of descriptive powers to make me feel like I was eating a fine meal. Enter M.F.K. Fisher.

Shortly after a trip to Burgundy in 1998, I lost myself in Long Ago in France, her memoir of living in Dijon, which took me right back to the France I had just visited. Still I had not read her food writing, despite owning most of it. For years, The Art of Eating, the massive multiwork volume of M.F.K. Fisher's early food writing, has been taunting from the foodie shelves of my personal library. This morning, in honor of Fisher's birthday, I pulled down AoE and dipped into Consider the Oyster (1941):

There are three kinds of oyster-eaters: those loose-minded sports who will eat anything, hot, cold, thin, thick, dead or alive, as long as it is oyster; those who will eat them raw and only raw; and those who with equal severity will eat them cooked and no way other.

and

There are several things to do with oysters beside eat them, although amny people believe firmly in that as the most sensible course.

I'm hooked on her lavish descriptions of food, her presentation of the social, historical, cultural, and political aspects of food, as well as her personal experiences and observations.

Here is Garrison Keillor's very brief tribute from "The Writers Almanac":

It's the birthday of food writer M.F.K. Fisher, (books by this author) born Mary Frances Kennedy in Albion, Michigan (1908). She's the author of many books about food and eating, and best known for The Gastronomical Me (1943). During World War II, she published How to Cook a Wolf (1942), which suggested all kinds of ways people could eat well on food rations. She wrote, "When the wolf is at the door one should invite him in and have him for dinner.

You can read more about M.F.K. Fisher here and here.

Summer Reading

Summer is here! Pull out your flip-flops and swimsuits, the water sprinklers and popsicles.

Sure, the season officially began a few weeks ago—I recall something about a solstice—but I hardly noticed. Mid June, at high noon, here in Minnesota, we were still wearing jeans and cotton sweaters. Today, however, the thermometer hit 90 degrees F, and with it came the brilliant and intense sunlight only experienced during this time of year.

This kind of summer heat zaps my energy and my appetite. Consequently, I lighten the menu by preparing tossed green salads and keep the kitchen cool by grilling meat and vegetables outside. Wearing lightweight cotton skirts and sundresses helps me keep my cool throughout the day. Do you see where I am going with this?

I like my summer reading lite.

Certainly, summer reading means different things to different people. I have even heard of folks who dig into chunksters—such as Anna Karenina, The Stand, or Cryptonomicon—during the dog days. But not me. I like easily consumed—but high quality—literature. You know—the kind of reading that doesn’t make you break a sweat.

Some of my favorite summer reading memories happened during high school when, by day, I read and read and read. I read books to prepare myself for the upcoming debate season, which, the summer before my junior year found me gorging on criminal justice topics and developing an obsession for Truman Capote’s In Cold Blood and biographies about the Rosenbergs.

The summer before senior year, I ardently devoured classics in a last-ditch effort to be well-read by the time I started college. My American Studies literature teacher created a reading list for me that included Henry James, Mark Twain, Theodore Dreiser, among many others. Since none were required reading, it was a pleasure to work my way, methodically, through the list. That is, until the day I impulsively picked up a horror novel at the library and dove headlong into Stephen King’s backlist (as it existed in 1984). Carrie, Cujo, Pet Sematary, The Shining, Christine, Different Seasons were just a few of the titles that kept me company as I worshipped the sun, flipping from back to stomach with the same frequency as I flipped my Duran Duran cassettes from Side 1 to Side 2.

There was that summer after sophomore year of college, when I was sharing a house with friends, working in a bookstore, waiting to leave for my London JYA. That summer, I read biographies of rock musicians—Stardust, a mediocre bio about Davie Bowie—and purely escapist fiction—like Anne Rice's Vampire Chronicles—stripped copies of which I would bring home from the bookstore.

In summers since, I have tried to recreate that same spirit of entertaining, carefree, non-taxing reading. And, since I'm not working this summer, I have an opportunity to read more than usual. Dipping into my archives for the past 12 years, I have some recommendations for perfect summer reading:

Biographies and memoirs—live someone else’s life or take inspiration from the subject’s great character and deeds
~ Katherine Lanpher’s Leap Days
~ Jill Ker Conway’s True North
~ Julia Child’s My Life in France
~ Elizabeth Gilbert’s Eat, Pray, Love
~ Alexandra Fuller’s Don’t Let’s Go to the Dogs
~ Elizabeth Arthur’s Looking for the Klondike Stone (about summer camp)
~ Katherine Graham's Personal History

Escape with a travel narrative
~ Bill Bryson’s A Walk in the Woods (Appalachian Trail)
~ Bill Bryson's In a Sunburned Country (Australia)
~ Polly Evans’s It’s Not about the Tapas (Spain)
~ Linda Greenlaw’s The Lobster Chronicles (Maine)
~ Tim Moore’s French Revolutions (cycling in France during the le Tour)
~ Sara Wheeler’s Terra Incognita (Antarctica)
~ MFK Fisher’s Long Ago in France (Burgundy; read while there in '98)
~ Paul Theroux’s Pillars of Hercules (European Mediterranean and Northern Africa)

Food narratives stimulate the appetite when the rising mercury strips away hunger
~ Fuchsia Dunlop's Shark’s Fin and Sichuan Pepper
~ Mark Kurlansky’s Big Oyster (microhistory w/marine biology and geography, too)
~ Steve Almond’s Candyfreak
~ Tony Bourdain’s A Cook’s Tour (also qualifies for travel narrative)
~ Calvin Trillin’s Feeding a Yen
~ Laurie Colwin’s Home Cooking and More Home Cooking

Slim novels, under 300 pages, can be read quickly for a great sense of accomplishment
~ William Bennett’s The Uncommon Reader
~ Winifred Watson’ Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day
~ Jonathan Lethem’s Girl in Landscape
~ Mark Dunn’s Ella Minnow Pea
~ Elinor Lipman’s The Inn at Lake Devine
~ Elaine Dundy’s The Dud Avocado

Mysteries and thrillers set in exotic locales transport me
~ Lyn Hamilton’s archaeology series (Thai Amulet)
~ Donna Leon’s Venice-set Commissario Brunetti books
~ Julia Smith’s New Orleans mysteries
~ John Burdett’s Bangkok 8, Bangkok Tattoo, and Bangkok Haunts
~ Nancy Fairbanks’s foodie mysteries (Perils of Paella, French Fried)
~ Trevanian’s The Eiger Sanction
~ Katherine Neville’s The Eight

Short story and essay collections are the ultimate when I’m short on reading time—or attention span
~ Steven King’s Skeleton Crew
~ Sleepaway (essays about summer camp)
~ Nick Hornby’s Polysyllabic Spree
~ Shirley Jackson’s Just an Ordinary Day
~ everything by David Sedaris

I hope you find something new, old-but-never-read, or inspiring from this list.

What sort of books are part of your summer reading?

what I'm reading now

in the car: Kitchen Confidential
À bas la gas prices [pardon my French]. Mr. Bibliotonic and I are the team managers for Son #1’s soccer team, and, as such, need to be at all his games. The away games are in far-flung East Metro suburbs so we spend quite a bit of time in the car, which is, for me and Mr. Bibliotonic, a perfect read-aloud opportunity. At the moment, I’m reading Tony Bourdain’s first literary success, Kitchen Confidential. Back in 2000, I was given a manuscript of Kitchen Confidential to read in preparation for selling it to bookstore buyers. I knew we had something well written and entertaining, but I had no idea the book would hit the NYT bestseller list or that Bourdain would become a household name as a result. This collection of essays is one part memoir, one part no-holds-barred professional chef expose. Bourdain is foul-mouthed, funny, and honest as he explores his career in the kitchen, as well as all the characters involved in running a restaurant.

in the den: Hens Dancing
I’ve read about a quarter of this delightful British comedy of manners, a classic example of what we called—when I was repping at St. Martin’s Press in the days before chicklit was its own genre—women’s fiction. Raffaella Barker's novel, Hens Dancing, is set in romantic rural England and features a mother of three, whose husband has recently left her. The story is told in journal form, which allows for reading in chunks.

on my bedside table: Petite Anglaise
Plain and simple, this is a memoir of a blogger. Catherine Sanderson is a Brit living in Paris with her French boyfriend (Mr. Frog) and their daughter (Tadpole). Sanderson started blogging in 2004, detailing the frustration with her relationship and her subsequent affair. I know that she will lose her job for blogging at work, but I haven’t gotten that far in the book yet. It’s a quick, juicy read.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY! Salman Rushdie

I had the pleasure of meeting Rushdie in 1998, shortly after he emerged from nearly a decade of hiding under threat of death. He was a special (and secret) guest at the sales conference I attending when I repped for Holtzbrinck (now Macmillan USA). Henry Holt was about to publish The Ground Beneath Her Feet and brought Rushdie to a company dinner to launch the book. At the time, Rushdie traveled with a heavy security detail. It was widely believed that the bathroom attendants on duty that evening weren't employees of the hotel, if you catch my drift. I never, in a million years, thought I would get to meet Rushdie, whom I'd admired as a writer since the early 1980s. Needless to say, it was quite a treat for me to eat dinner at his table. But Rushdie had a present for us, too—a very rough studio cut of the song "The Ground Beneath Her Feet," performed by Rushdie's friends, U2.

Happy Birthday Salman Rushdie!

It's the birthday of Salman Rushdie, (books by this author) born in Bombay, India (1947), two months before India's first day of independence. He comes from a wealthy Muslim family. His father had a huge library and was a wonderful storyteller. He told Rushdie stories every night, many of them fairy tales inspired by One Thousand and One Arabian Nights.

As a teenager, he started going to an elite high school in England where he didn't get along with his classmates, who made fun of his accent.

Home from a school vacation, he found out that his parents were moving to Pakistan as part of a large Muslim exodus, and Rushdie was crushed. He didn't like England, he didn't like Pakistan, and now he couldn't go home to Bombay. He tried working as a journalist in Pakistan, but there was too much censorship, so he went back to England and tried to become a writer. When he told his father his plans, his father said, "What on earth would you write about?"

He spent a year as an actor at a fringe theater in London and then supported himself in England by writing for advertising. His first assignment was to write a jingle about the merits of car seat belts, to the tune of a Chuck Berry song. While he was working there, he wrote a science fiction novel called Grimus (1975) that didn't do well. Then he decided to write a book about India, the country that he hadn't seen in years.

Rushdie's novel was called Midnight's Children (1981), the story of a man born the same day India gained independence. The book was a huge success, among both Westerners and Indians. It won the Booker Prize, and Rushdie became the leader of so-called "post-colonial literature." Only Rushdie's family hated the book. He had revealed a lot of family secrets in the novel and nobody appreciated it.

When Rushdie published The Satanic Verses in 1988, most Western critics didn't notice that it would be offensive to Muslims. In the book, Rushdie makes a lot of obscure jokes about the Islamic religion, he names the whores in a Mecca brothel after the Prophet Muhammad's wives, and he suggests that the Koran is not the direct word of God. The book was banned in India the month after publication and then subsequently in other countries. It was also publicly burned. There were bomb threats called in to the publishing house. Translators of the work suffered assassination attempts; the Italian translator was wounded, the Japanese translator killed, and the fire set by Islamic extremists to the Turkish translator's hotel left 40 people dead.

There was a riot in Kashmir over the book, and the Ayatollah Khomeini saw scenes from the riot on Iranian television in which police shot demonstrators. After that, the Ayatollah announced that "all zealous Muslims of the world" should try to find Rushdie wherever he was and kill him. The order of death came from Iran's leader on Valentine's Day, 1989. The Ayatollah promised martyrdom for any Muslim who was successful in killing Rushdie, and another religious leader promised a million-dollar reward, doubled if the killer was Muslim.

Rushdie had to go into hiding for nine years. On the first anniversary of the fatwa, he wrote, "I feel as if I have been plunged, like Alice, into the world beyond the looking glass, where nonsense is the only available sense."

The death sentence was finally lifted in 1998. Rushdie later said, "The experience taught me ... a lot about the human capacity for hatred. But it also taught me the opposite: the capacity for solidarity and friendship. ... My Norwegian publisher was shot three times in the back and ... his first reaction, upon recovering from the bullet wounds, was to reprint the book. That's courage." After the fatwa was lifted, Rushdie decided to leave London and move to New York City. He was attracted to New York because he said, "A lot of people had a lot of stories not unlike mine. Everybody comes from somewhere else." His most recent book is The Enchantress of Florence (2008).

Read a Book, Save the World

A great reading list via this morning's Shelf Awareness:

Read Orwell, save the world. SciFi channel's Visions for Tomorrow initiative asked fans to pick the "Top Things You Must Read, Watch and Do to Save the World." Wired reported that the "top three planet-saving activities were reading, recycling and registering to vote."

And what should you read?

1. 1984 by George Orwell
2. The War of the Worlds by H.G. Wells
3. Dune by Frank Herbert
4. The Time Machine by H.G. Wells
5. I, Robot by Isaac Asimov
6. The Stand by Stephen King
7. Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury
8. 2001: A Space Odyssey by Arthur C. Clarke
9. Brave New World by Aldous Huxley
10. The Andromeda Strain by Michael Crichton

I would revisit any of the books that I've already read (bold red). Dune captivated me in high school. In fact, I somewhat regret only making it through the first three books in the series because I don't think I'll ever take an opportunity to dedicate myself to it again. I read Orwell and Huxley while in college, studying British writers, and I thought they were each so profound. Just after I graduated college, when I was working in a bookstore and had just met the future Mr. Bibliotonic, who bought a copy of Brave New World to catch my attention. Very romantic.

I have just added all of these titles to my TBR list, and I think I'll start with some H.G. Wells. Plus, I've got the new TV movie of The Andromeda Strain queued on my DVR.

Which of these books have you read?

FINISHED: Devil May Care

Earlier this week I finished Devil May Care, the new James Bond novel by Sebastian Faulks. It was, at best, entertaining in a page-turning sort of way. I could recommend it to anyone who looking for a beach or airplane read.

Faulks is the author of such highly acclaimed works as Charlotte Gray, Birdsong, and On Green Dolphin Street, the Cold War novel that allegedly inspired the Bond estate to handpick him as Ian Fleming’s latest successor. When I was in high school, I read the John Gardner Bond books, which were pretty stinky so I was thrilled to learn that Faulks had been selected to write the franchise’s new adventures. Needless to say, I had pretty high expectations for Devil May Care, hoping that Faulks, who is an approachable literary writer, would have infused a little more substance into this novel.

Devil May Care picks up where Fleming left off, skipping the intervening adventures. The year is 1967. Bond is on a three-month sabbatical—he’s off adventure, cocktails, and women. That is, until he’s summoned back to London for a new mission: Stop an Eastern Bloc plot to destroy Great Britain by flooding it with heroin.

From here, the novel skips along predictably so there’s little point in examining the plot. There are no intricacies or nuanced elements. Occasionally Faulks delights with a zesty passage, such as this:

Silver screamed in anger and raised his gun to fire at Felix’s heart, but before he could pull the trigger, part of the contents of his head shot through his nose, as Hamid crashed a heavy white rock down on to his skull, with a crack that echoed round the foothills of Noshahr.

My biggest complaints: stagnant dialogue, sparse but inelegant prose, awkward stabs at writing historical references, a milquetoast Bond girl, and a freakish but not scary villain (Julius Gorner, a bad guy whose right hand is a monkey’s paw). There are frequent smaller problems with the book. As I read Janet Maslin’s NYT review, I found myself wanting to quote rather extensively. Instead, I’m linking here. She’s spot on in her assessment, and far more articulate than I have the energy to be.

That said, last night I picked up Casino Royale, the novel that introduced the world to James Bond. Granted, I have only read the first chapter, but I love what I have read. Here’s the opening paragraph:

The scent and smoke and sweat of a casino are nauseating at three in the morning. Then the soul-erosion produced by high gambling—a compost of great and fear and nervous tension—becomes unbearable and the senses awake and revolt from it.

Ian Fleming has a casual and suave style, which is exactly what I want in a Bond adventure. I can only imagine what it was like for a reader in 1953—with no predisposition to any movie-screen Bond!—to have met this character.

FINISHED: Shark's Fin and Sichuan Pepper

Over the weekend, I finished reading Shark’s Fin and Sichuan Pepper, British food writer Fuchsia Dunlop’s delectable memoir of eating in China. The Guardian called this book a “cultural immersion,” which is apt, as the memoir entails much more than food.

Beginning in the early 1990s, Dunlop lived in China, off and on, for over a decade. As a student—and as a professional writer—she has traveled to remote corners of the country, engaging every person she could in conversation. That rich experience certainly imbues her writing with great depth. Between descriptions of food and meals, Dunlop dazzles with history, geography, modernization, growth, and more.

In the early 1990s, Dunlop lands in Chengdu in Sichuan province—the area recently devastated by earthquakes—where she researched Chinese policy on ethnic minorities. She falls for street food, as well as the incendiary food of Sichuan province and the snout to tail eating of China. When her visa expires, she enrolls in a professional training school for chefs, as the only Western student and one of three women.

As a student of Sichuan cookery, Dunlop learned about mastering the arts of flavor, starting with fu he wei, the complex flavors. Sichuan cuisine boasts twenty-three official complex flavors, one of which is “home-style”—salty, savory, and a little hot. In her travels, she had an opportunity to challenge her culinary comfort zone by eating a lot of truly exotic foods, including civet cats, goose intestines, and more. The chapter on food textures and mouth-feel—an integral part of Chinese cooking—is eye opening.

All is not delicious. Dunlop explores the SARS health crises, which temporarily put a damper on eating in restaurants, where the risk of disease transmittal was high, especially with such practices as “public” chopsticks. She also looks at other issues, such as food safety (use of toxic food additives is rampant) and the controversial consumption of endangered species (shark’s fin and bear paws, to name a few).
In addition to Shark's Fin, Dunlop has written two authoritative cookbooks, one of which—Revolutionary Chinese Cookbook—was nominated for a James Beard Award (Asian Cooking) this year.

If you’re interested in China, food, or travel—or if you simply appreciate sparkling prose—this book is for you.