Typhoid Mary – Anthony Bourdain
An interesting take on this turn of the century real life “super spreader”. I read it just after the SARS epidemic so it resonated strongly. (note: World of Wonders is a terrific novel about the plague in Britain that deals with the same theme).
http://www.anthonybourdain.com/
All Families Are Psychotic – Douglas Coupland
– astronauts, AIDS, families. A little out there but held my interest all the same.
http://www.coupland.com/
Frida – Hayden Herrera
Well researched biography of Frida Kahlo on which the movie was based.
http://tinyurl.com/48rwe
Our Paris – Edmund White
Reminiscences of the Paris he shared with his lover.
http://tinyurl.com/4qtm4
Oxygen –Andrew Miller
3 members of a British family- a mother and two sons, all facing their own separate challenges.
http://www.andrewmiller-author.co.uk/
Rules of Engagement – Catherine Bush
Duels, refugees, first love, war. A Canadian academic living in London having fled from Canada under traumatic but mysterious circumstances many years before faces her past. I preferred her earlier novel, Minus Time. She’s a writer to watch.
http://www.writersunion.ca/b/bush.htm
Like Being Killed – Ellen Miller
Self destruction and redemption – very dark and scary.
Fleur de Leigh’s Life of Crime – Diane Leslie
Privileged but neglected child in Hollywood goes through a succession of nannies.
http://tinyurl.com/5nwl4
Deafening – Francis Itani
The life of a deaf woman in small town Ontario in the early 20th century- a very Canadian novel.
http://tinyurl.com/5hkxb
Kitchen Confidential – Anthony Bourdain
Exposes the dark underbelly of the restaurant world. You’ll never eat at a buffet again.
http://www.anthonybourdain.com/
Bel Canto – Ann Patchett
South American hostage taking – relations between an international and disparate group hostages and their kidnappers.
http://tinyurl.com/6l8nr
My Dream of You – Nuala O’Faolain
Juxtaposes the lives of two Irish women – a contemporary travel writer and a landowner’s wife during the famine years.
http://tinyurl.com/5lndn
Haussmann or the Distinction – Paul Lafarge
Tale of mid-nineteenth century Paris and it’s transformation under Haussmann. The plot and characters are hackneyed but the underlying history is interesting .
http://tinyurl.com/63vxd
Age of Iron – J.M. Coetzee
A South African teacher of classics writes a memoir of her last days to be shared with her daughter after her death. An unlikely relationship develops between her and a homeless man. I love this writer.
http://tinyurl.com/5gty2
Moral Hazard – Kate Jennings
A novel of a woman who takes a job on Wall Street to support her husband who has Alzheimer’s. Explores corporate and personal morality. Jennings is a poet who also wrote Snake, a beautifully written novel.
http://tinyurl.com/3m8yj
The Feminists Go Swimming – Michael Collins
Short stories that capture the darker side of the Irish character.
Who Goes There? – Leon Rooke
Crooked politics, gangsters – sort of like Elmore Leonard – I didn’t really like it although I thoroughly enjoyed his novel The Good Baby.
Invisible Eden – Maria Flook
True crime story of the murder of fashion writer Christa Worthington who was killed in Truro, Cape Cod. I love all her stuff.
http://tinyurl.com/42mst
The Life and Times of Michael K – J.M. Coetzee
Michael is a man who has been in prisons of a sort all his life. He is without friends or family traveling in the brutal landscape of a civil war and trying in his own way to survive independently.
http://tinyurl.com/5gty2
Disobedience – Jane Hamilton
A 17 year old boy, reading his mother’s e-mail, discovers she is having an affair. This discovery colours his own sexual and emotional development and his perception of his family.
http://tinyurl.com/55ftv
No Early Birds – Edward O. Phillips
A disappointment – I’d read good reviews. Old fashioned novel about relatives clearing out a family home in Montreal only to uncover skeletons in the closet.
Rapture – Susan Minot
One of my favourite authors. Good writing but ultimately a little boring. It focuses on the internal musings of a couple engaged in a sex act.
http://tinyurl.com/68ydp
The Dogs of Babel – Carolyn Parkhurst
A man looks for answers after the death of his wife. It held my interest and explores the masks we put on even in our closest relationships. Of course I liked the bits about Lorelei the dog.
The High Flyer – Nicholas Shakespeare
A dreary tale about a diplomat whose career goals are thwarted by an extra marital affair. Seems dated. You’d never know it was written by the author of The Dancer Who Lives Upstairs.
Hotel World – Ali Smith
Can’t match the hype. Impossible to put down? No, impossible to read.
Almost French – Sarah Turnbull
Australian journalist adapts to a new life in Paris – goes to dinner parties, gets a new apartment, adds a window, gets a dog, gets married – hates, then loves, the French.
http://tinyurl.com/52oly
Postcards From Berlin – Margaret Leroy
A mother’s concern for her child’s health becomes suspect. Her suppressed past gains new power. A quick read.
The Black Veil – Rick Moody
An autobiography focusing on the author’s depression and interspersed with chapters pertaining to his ancestor, Handkerchief Moody, the inspiration for Nathaniel Hawthorne’s story. The autobiographical bits were great – could do without the rest. (The Ice Storm and Purple America are great favourites of mine).
http://tinyurl.com/4l6k2
Lost Souls – Michael Collins
Reminds me of “Affliction” but not as well crafted. Outlines the downward spiral of a middle-aged small town cop. One wants to stop him from self destructing.
Sans Moi – Marie Desplechin
Translated from French. Explores the dynamics of the relationship between a single mother and the babysitter with a troubled past who becomes part of her family.
The Road to Santiago - Kathryn Harrison
An account of the author’s experiences 10 years apart on the camino to Santiago de Compostela, a trip I, too, would like to take. Part of National Geographic’s Literary Travel series.
http://tinyurl.com/4j5ys
Acts of God - Mary Morris
Yet another novel of a woman of a certain age coming to terms with her past – reminds me of many other novels.
The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down – Anne Fadiman
The true story of the cultural clash between the family of an epileptic Hmong girl and her physicians in California. Explores the Hmong culture exhaustively. Fascinating – made me look at my own preconceptions and cultural biases.
http://tinyurl.com/52zma
Garden State – Rick Moody
Mixed up (really) crazy kids in Jersey. Moody’s first novel and it shows. Recently made into a film. His later novels are better.
http://tinyurl.com/4l6k2
The Book of Salt - Monique Truong
The fictionalized story of Binh, Vietnamese cook to Gertrude Stein and Alice B. Toklas in Paris in the early 1900’s. It is the story of an exile, ever the outsider. Great premise, fine writing, an imaginative look at the “lost generation”.
http://tinyurl.com/6fcz2
The Doctor’s House – Ann Beattie
A brother, sister and mother talk about their lives with their abusive father/husband. It reminds me a little of the three blind men describing the elephant. I liked it but I always like Ann Beattie.
http://tinyurl.com/6tytk
PARIS, FRANCE – Gertrude Stein
Stein’s impressions of France and the French. As true today as it was then. I was struck by the almost childlike style, having been scared away from Stein long ago by “a rose is a rose is a rose.”
http://tinyurl.com/68sey
THE AMATEUR MARRIAGE – Ann Tyler
Finding the new Ann Tyler novel at the Book Depot for $2.00 made my day. I could hardly wait to get home and start reading. I was swept up by this anatomy of a marriage that seemed doomed from the start and as affected by these characters as if they were my good friends.
http://tinyurl.com/5vcct
RUNNING WITH SCISSORS – Augusten Burroughs
A disturbing but hilarious memoir. As a parent I’m alarmed by this grotesque story but couldn’t put it down. I’m going to move on to the sequel right away.
http://www.augusten.com/
DRY – Augusten Burroughs
Details the alcoholic author’s rehab and recovery. His wry observations take the edge off what could be a depressing story.
http://www.augusten.com/
THE HOUSE GUN – Nadine Gordimer
A business executive and his physician wife find their relationship with their adult son severely tested when he commits an unthinkable crime.
SOMEONE TO RUN WITH – David Grossman
The New York Times called Grossman “one of the most talented and original writers anywhere.” Grossman is Israeli and this novel about Jerusalem street kids is a translation.
I couldn’t finish it. The plot seemed contrived. There were elements of magic realism but without the magic or the reality.
AURORA MONTREALIS – Monique Proulx
Short stories that paint a portrait of Montreal and its mosaic of inhabitants. Translated from the French by Matt Cohen. This book was acclaimed by both the French and English press but it didn’t impress me.
STRANGE HEAVEN – Lynn Coady
Bridget Murphy is eighteen years old, has just given her newborn up for adoption and is on a pediatric mental health ward in the Maritimes. Should this be funny? No, but it is and things get even worse after she returns home for Christmas. I loved it.
http://www.lynncoady.com/
ELIZABETH COSTELLO – J.M. Coetzee
A novel about an aging writer of fiction, Elizabeth Costello. Through addresses she gives to conferences, commencements and even cruise ship travelers we are confronted with the moral and aesthetic ambiguities facing the writer. It’s a book about ideas with brief intermittent glimpses of the novelist herself. Well written as always and an interesting way of presenting the character but it left me wishing for more than just hints, however illuminating, of who Elizabeth really is.
http://tinyurl.com/5gty2
By Ken Sparling –
An untitled work. Like his earlier novel, Dad Says He Saw You at the Mall, this “novel” is a whole bunch of bits that leave one searching for a narrative, a context. I read it in an afternoon and even though I couldn’t connect the dots I enjoyed it.
RAIN – Karen Duve
Translated from German. This is a very noirish novel about a writer who has contracted to write a gangster’s memoirs. It rains and rains and rains. All sorts of nastiness unfolds against a damp and dismal background.
BLOOMSBURY AT HOME – Pamela Todd
A look at the Bloomsbury group through the many homes where they gathered, worked and had fun. Lavishly and attractively illustrated. It’s given me a fresh perspective on these artists and writers.
CATFISH AND MANDALA – Andrew X. Pham
A Vietnamese-American returns to Vietnam in search of his roots. His bicycle journey through the country he left as a child refugee only serves to solidify his outsider status and reopen the wounds of war. A fascinating memoir and informative travelogue.
http://tinyurl.com/5cxsc
