2013 Year in Books: Part One

As I mentioned in the New Year’s Resolutions post one of my goals for the year is to read forty books. Last year I hit thirty seven, which might sound impression if it wasn’t for the fact that Kim probably read somewhere between 100 and 200 books for the year and that still might be a low estimate. Still, I figure that it might be nice to review what I read last year and it will be easier than trying to add these to my Goodreads account. I really like Goodreads though giving books a 1 – 5 rating seems really silly. Anyway, here is an overview of all of the fiction that I read last year and my memories of the books.

“One Last Thing Before I Go” Jonathan Tropper: I think that I have always described Jonathan Tropper as a lower rent, American Nick Hornby. That seems like a really harsh critique of someone who I own every single thing he has ever written. Interesting book featuring Jonathan’s usual main character of a guy who is a screw up in a very funny way but not one that really stayed with me.

“A Wrinkle in Time” Madeline L’Engle: One of those books that I was told to read when I was ten years old and didn’t read until I was forty. I hate to say this because I know that for many people this is one of their favorite books of all time but I just didn’t get it. It was nice but I couldn’t see what made it such a mind-bending success. Maybe I am just too old and cynical.

“This is How You Lose Her” Junot Diaz: Probably the best book I read all year from a pure literary standpoint. More of a short story collection than anything else, though certain characters appear and reappear, and a very interesting take on modern life. Sadly, I read it a year ago so my memories of it are very sparse.

“Tristan and Iseult” Traditional: Kim gave me this book to read when we started dating and I finally came around to reading it. This was one of those books that I read because I feel that I should understand some of these old stories as though I am missing wide swaths of our common mythology. Absolutely great story involving love potions, love triangles, curses and knights. It was surprisingly good and didn’t drag you into the medieval abyss as some other stories of the ilk do.

“Attachments” and “Eleanor and Park” Rainbow Rowell: One of Kim’s biggest critiques of what I read is that I tend to read authors for the sole purpose of saying that I’ve read them. I’ve read David Foster Wallace and James Joyce and it is difficult for me to say I did that for any reason other than to be a literary snob. Heck, half of these comments on what I read last year will come off as being a literary snob. As a result, when I started to read Rainbow Rowell’s books (another Kim recommendation) I really wanted to dislike it. It was light, relationship based and the type of book that I scoff at when I am in Barnes and Noble. To my dismay, though, I could not put these books down and they were easily some of my favorites for the year. I just loved these books with characters I could relate to and Rainbow just has a way of writing really fun and engaging scenes. Really recommend checking her out.

“You Don’t Have to be Evil to Work Here but it Helps” Tom Holt: I have no idea where Kim found this author, or why I had never heard of him, but the book involves magic, goblins, immortals and office politics. It is a strange mix of Dungeons and Dragons and Office Space. Again, how I had missed Tom Holt in the past is beyond me.

“The Middlesteins” Jami Attenberg: I want to say that this was a modern take on Middlemarch. I know that it involved a Bar Mitzvah, an extremely obese woman, really good Chinese food and probably some other plot points. I swear that I enjoyed the book a lot but getting older has really screwed with my recall.

“Z” Therese Anne Fowler: A novel on the life of Zelda Fitzgerald. As someone who said that he was always in search of his Zelda this book obviously was very interesting to me. On the plus side you get to really understand the wild and carefree life that Zelda and Scott were living in the 20’s and be amazed at a time when an author could be the toast of the town. On the other hand, it paints F. Scott Fitzgerald as an alcoholic jerk, which is probably accurate but I would rather not have to view my idol in that light. Still better than the Gatsby movie.

“The Financial Lives of the Poets” Jess Walter: Killer book about someone who decided to start a financial website written in poetry and who in the process bankrupts himself and his family and gets pulled into a very comical drug deal. A lot of fun and a good take on the financial crisis as well.

“The Ocean at the End of the Lane” Neil Gaiman: Now I am a huge Neil Gaiman fan going back to his earliest work in comics but I have to admit that this story left me a little flat. I understand that it was in part a retelling of events that occurred to him in childhood and many of the scenes about his home life and those nooks and crannies of the area around your home that fill your earliest memories carry a lot of weight. It’s just that the fantastical elements didn’t strike me as being as strong as in Sandman or Anansi Boys or much of his other work. Nice story but not his best.

“The Long War” Terry Pratchett and Stephen Baxter: Sigh. Please understand that I feel that Terry Pratchett’s long slide into Alzheimer’s is an absolute tragedy. I also understand his desire to work with other authors in creating stories that take place outside of Discworld. The Long World series, which take place in a world where people discover a way to travel to a seemingly infinite number of parallel earths, is fascinating in terms of discussing what that type of world would be like but really lacking in terms of characters and plot. I would rather have a new Discworld book.

“The Last Dragonslayer” Jasper Fforde: Ok, I occasionally read Young Adult books by authors that I like in order to pump up my book count. Jasper Fforde is the author of the excellent Thursday Next series and this story, like everything else he writes, is filled with literary references and asides and is a great gift to give to that child who is much too smart for their own good.

“Bright Passage” Josh Ritter: Josh is one of my favorite singer-songwriters and is one of the few people whose lyrics truly are poetry. This was his first novel and is interesting in that it focuses on the First World War and thus brings up scenes of battle that have not become clichés. It is strange and surreal and a fascinating first effort at writing a novel. I like his songs better but then again, the number of people who can challenge him as a songwriter could be counted on one hand.

“The Maltese Falcon” Dashiell Hammett: Sam Spade, badass. Amazing to see just how politically incorrect the book is when viewed in a modern light. Given that this story invents the entire film noir world of detectives and crooked cops you owe it to yourself to read the book and watch the movie.

“A Clash of Kings” George R. R. Martin: At some point I will read enough of the Game of Thrones series so that I can catch up to the TV show. Great book though it takes forever for things to actually get going. Plus, my biggest problem with the books is that I don’t understand how the economy of Westeros could possibly function. It seems that everyone is either royalty, a soldier or a prostitute. Wars are constant and everyone dies all the time. Who is farming? Who is raising cattle? For crying out loud, where are the garbagemen in this world?

“All’s Well That Ends Well” William Shakespeare: My Shakespeare play for the year. Surprisingly feminist at times with a female character begging to cure the king and showing that she is as well trained and gifted as any male character. Surprisingly unfeminist as it involves a character saying “Yeah, I’ll marry you but I will never see you again” and involves an affair involving mistaken identity in order to consummate a marriage and somehow this is considered a happy ending.

Best of 120 Minutes: Post was long so I will keep the video short. Guided by Voices with Teenage FBI.