Books and other stuff I feel like discussing
By education and experience - Accountant with a specialty in taxation. Formerly a CPA (license has lapsed). Masters degree in law of taxation from University of Denver. Now retired. Part time work during baseball season as receptionist & switchboard operator for the Colorado Rockies. This gig feeds my soul in ways I have trouble articulating. One daughter, and four grandchildren. I share the house with two cats; a big goof of a cat called Grinch (named as a joke for his easy going "whatever" disposition); and Lady, a shelter adoptee with a regal bearing and sweet little soprano voice. I would be very bereft if it ever becomes necessary to keep house without a cat.
Mood:
Advisory
Read/Post Comments (4)
Best reads of 2013
LIFE ITSELF by Roger Ebert
In my update on May 27 of this year, I talked about my acquaintance with the movie critic Roger Ebert. I would never claim that we were friends, but I did have a few face to face experiences with him during the years I lived in Chicago. He lost the ability to speak after a series of medical issues, not all of which had a successful outcome. Nevertheless he continued to write, to review movies, and began a very intriguing blog which he continued to work on almost until the day of his death.
This book contains many of his blog entries, along with some material written just for the book. Because of his physical limitations, you might expect the book to be rather dark and full of unpleasant reflection. It's not at all. In fact, truly the opposite - light hearted, strangely happy, forward looking and pleasant. I had a lump in my throat more than once as he reminisced about his parents and his long time working partnership with Gene Siskel.
THE BOOK OF MY LIVES by Aleksander Hemon
Hemon is originally from Bosnia, now living in the US. He has published one or two novels, but this is a collection of personal essays first published in other outlets, among them The New Yorker. If you haven't read anything by him, you're missing something special.
LIFE AFTER LIFE by Kate Atkinson
The best book of the year, by far, and perhaps even the best book of the last five or six years. Go back to my blog entry of May 27 to read more about why I thought this book was so special.
THE INSURGENTS by Fred Kaplan
I spend a lot of time regretting that I didn't pay more attention in high school and college to history. A lot of my reading in non fiction fills in those gaps. I enjoy most of the books I read in that genre, but rarely find myself thinking that "this is one of the best books I've ever read." Kaplan's book is an exception. The persons he refers to in the title are various US military officers who perceived, at least a couple of decades before their superiors understood it, that the military planning and execution that was so successful in the WWII battles would no longer work at all, and indeed would be tragically ineffective. General Petraeus is the most well known of these men, but he is not the only one.
Kaplan follows their careers, and their efforts to make their views known and understood. As I read, I continued to grieve over the many young people who were wounded and who died in Afghanistan and Iraq because of the misguided outdated views of the commanding officers.
FIRE SEASON by Philip Connors
Connors worked for several summers as a fire lookout in a remote wilderness in New Mexico. His memoir is very readable and includes several extremely poignant passages.
THE WOMAN UPSTAIRS by Claire Messud
An unmarried school teacher nearing middle age suddenly finds her personal and artistic self expanding through a friendship with the family of one of her students. Too late, she understands that her affection for the student's family was not reciprocated.
So now, to think about my all time "best reads" choices. I simply have to add Atkinson's book to the list.
THE CURIOUS INCIDENT OF THE DOG IN THE NIGHTTIME - Mark Haddon
A TALE OF LOVE AND DARKNESS - Amos Oz
PLAINSONG - Kent Haruf
BREAKING CLEAN - Judy Blunt
THE NAMESAKE - Jhumpa Lahiri
THE LOST, A SEARCH FOR SIX OF SIX MILLION - Daniel Mendelsohn
SEARCHING FOR TAMSEN DONNER - Gabrielle Burton
ROOM - Emma Donoghue
SHARDS - Ismet Prcic
LIFE AFTER LIFE by Kate Atkinson
It's interesting to look at the list and think about what these widely disparate authors have done in addition to the books which landed them on my list.
Haddon, Lahiri, Haruf and Atkinson have several other published books. I try to keep up with everything they write.
Oz and Mendelsohn also publish regularly, although I think either as journalists or for academic audiences. Oz is Israeli, and on occasion I spot a small book of editorials translated into English. Mendelsohn is a regular contributor to the book review section of the Sunday New York Times.
I'm sure Donoghue has other books in print, but I've only read the one.
I haven't seen anything by Prcic mentioned anywhere. And I probably should do a Google search to see if Blunt and Burton have any other books available.
Happy New Year to all who read this!
In my update on May 27 of this year, I talked about my acquaintance with the movie critic Roger Ebert. I would never claim that we were friends, but I did have a few face to face experiences with him during the years I lived in Chicago. He lost the ability to speak after a series of medical issues, not all of which had a successful outcome. Nevertheless he continued to write, to review movies, and began a very intriguing blog which he continued to work on almost until the day of his death.
This book contains many of his blog entries, along with some material written just for the book. Because of his physical limitations, you might expect the book to be rather dark and full of unpleasant reflection. It's not at all. In fact, truly the opposite - light hearted, strangely happy, forward looking and pleasant. I had a lump in my throat more than once as he reminisced about his parents and his long time working partnership with Gene Siskel.
THE BOOK OF MY LIVES by Aleksander Hemon
Hemon is originally from Bosnia, now living in the US. He has published one or two novels, but this is a collection of personal essays first published in other outlets, among them The New Yorker. If you haven't read anything by him, you're missing something special.
LIFE AFTER LIFE by Kate Atkinson
The best book of the year, by far, and perhaps even the best book of the last five or six years. Go back to my blog entry of May 27 to read more about why I thought this book was so special.
THE INSURGENTS by Fred Kaplan
I spend a lot of time regretting that I didn't pay more attention in high school and college to history. A lot of my reading in non fiction fills in those gaps. I enjoy most of the books I read in that genre, but rarely find myself thinking that "this is one of the best books I've ever read." Kaplan's book is an exception. The persons he refers to in the title are various US military officers who perceived, at least a couple of decades before their superiors understood it, that the military planning and execution that was so successful in the WWII battles would no longer work at all, and indeed would be tragically ineffective. General Petraeus is the most well known of these men, but he is not the only one.
Kaplan follows their careers, and their efforts to make their views known and understood. As I read, I continued to grieve over the many young people who were wounded and who died in Afghanistan and Iraq because of the misguided outdated views of the commanding officers.
FIRE SEASON by Philip Connors
Connors worked for several summers as a fire lookout in a remote wilderness in New Mexico. His memoir is very readable and includes several extremely poignant passages.
THE WOMAN UPSTAIRS by Claire Messud
An unmarried school teacher nearing middle age suddenly finds her personal and artistic self expanding through a friendship with the family of one of her students. Too late, she understands that her affection for the student's family was not reciprocated.
So now, to think about my all time "best reads" choices. I simply have to add Atkinson's book to the list.
THE CURIOUS INCIDENT OF THE DOG IN THE NIGHTTIME - Mark Haddon
A TALE OF LOVE AND DARKNESS - Amos Oz
PLAINSONG - Kent Haruf
BREAKING CLEAN - Judy Blunt
THE NAMESAKE - Jhumpa Lahiri
THE LOST, A SEARCH FOR SIX OF SIX MILLION - Daniel Mendelsohn
SEARCHING FOR TAMSEN DONNER - Gabrielle Burton
ROOM - Emma Donoghue
SHARDS - Ismet Prcic
LIFE AFTER LIFE by Kate Atkinson
It's interesting to look at the list and think about what these widely disparate authors have done in addition to the books which landed them on my list.
Haddon, Lahiri, Haruf and Atkinson have several other published books. I try to keep up with everything they write.
Oz and Mendelsohn also publish regularly, although I think either as journalists or for academic audiences. Oz is Israeli, and on occasion I spot a small book of editorials translated into English. Mendelsohn is a regular contributor to the book review section of the Sunday New York Times.
I'm sure Donoghue has other books in print, but I've only read the one.
I haven't seen anything by Prcic mentioned anywhere. And I probably should do a Google search to see if Blunt and Burton have any other books available.
Happy New Year to all who read this!
Read/Post Comments (4)
Previous Entry :: Next Entry
Back to Top
