Here we are again, asking for your best read in the last three months. Please, only five or as close as you can get it in either direction.
I don't expect to read anything in the next week which will top what I've read already, so here's my five:
In no particular order:
The Winter Vault by Anne Michaels
Tinkers by
Paul HardingDear Husband: Stories by Joyce Carol Oates
In Other Rooms, Other Wonders by
Daniyal MueenuddinThe City and The City by China Mieville (no touchstone, due out in May)
(not sure why the first two touchstones don't work. . . maybe they will this time . . .)
Message edited by its author, Mar 23, 2009, 11:05am.
>6,
If i could have had a 6th book, it would have been The Hunger Games. Good choice.
I have read a lot of really good books so far this year, but the following would appear at the top of the list,
The Twentieth Wife by Indu Sundaresan
Dead Simple by Peter James
Slammerkin by Emma Donoghue
Out by Natsuo Kirino
Great Sky Woman by Steven Barnes
Message edited by its author, Mar 23, 2009, 1:24pm.
This message has been deleted by its author.
Hmm...this is really sad, I only have 2 that I would put on any list as "the best."
Anathem - amazing! Might end up being my favorite book all year.
Brethren by WA Hoffman. Also, really good.
#1: "The City and The City by China Mieville" - new Mieville!! This is exciting, I should keep up more. Though to be honest, I didn't like
The Iron Council so much as his other books.
-- Just looked it up on Amazon, the description is sketchy, but seems potentially interesting.
My 'Favorite books of 2009' list got off to a roaring start with these 4 superlative novels, all highly recommended:
Lark & Termite by
Jayne Anne PhillipsThe Post Birthday World by
Lionel ShriverCutting for Stone by Abraham Verghese
Every Man Dies Alone by Hans Falada
I've read very little non-fiction so far this year, but
Blake Bailey's magnificent book
Cheever: A Life is about as good as literary biography's ever gonna get, the story of a gifted, successful writer whose personal demons slowly ate him alive.
>27 I had put off purchasing
Brethren for ages but finally purchased it through Amazon a couple weeks ago. I'm planning to read it very soon, so good to hear you enjoyed it!
Wishlist, wishlist! More on the wishlist! AAAHHHHHH
In the order I read them:
The Angel of Darkness by
Caleb Carr (And I'll be pretty surprised if it's not on my Best of 2009 list, too)
The Alienist by
Caleb CarrStarclimber by Kenneth Oppel
Carnival by
Elizabeth BearDaughter of the Forest by Juliet Marillier
I don't count rereads on my Best Of lists, so I'm unfortunately unable to include the only 5-star book I've read this year -
The Privilege of the Sword by
Ellen Kushner. I have no idea why I failed to recognize its brilliance the first time through. This book is
amazing.
(Edited because I apparently spelled Carr's name wrong. Twice. I could've sworn I stuck the extra R in...)
Message edited by its author, Mar 25, 2009, 1:16pm.
Can't choose 5... I have 9 and April hasn't even started. Can't imagine what it'll be by December :(
All of you are lucky. I am having a hard time coming up with 5. I have not read anything outstanding this year. I would agree with some of the choices above, such as Glass Castle, The Book Thief, Cane River and Thousand Splendid Suns. I just didn't read them this quarter!
And now for my list:
Keeping the House by
Ellen BakerAngel Falls by
Kristin HannahThe Second Summer of Sisterhood by Ann Brashares
Testimony by Anita Shreve
If any of these with maybe one exception, are on my list at the end of the year, it will have to be a really bad reading year.
Only four for me as well. In order of preference:
The Wicked Day by
Mary StewartFinding Creatures & Other Stories by
C. June WolfThe Moorchild by Eloise Jarvis McGraw
A Mango-Shaped Space by
Wendy MassI love Mary Stewart's take on the Arthur legend. She did her research and made it all very real and believable for me.
Finding Creatures is a Dec Early Reviewer book, and I really enjoyed it, but the only other two reviews are by the author and someone I suspect is showing support for the author. I find it strange no other ERers have reviewed it. I was hoping to read what others thought of it.
Lark and Termite by Jayne Anne Phillips
The Given Day by Dennis Lehane
War Trash by Ha Jin
Cheever by Blake Bailey (The best literary biography since Ellmann's Joyce, IMOHO).
In reverse order read -
Port Mungo by Patrick McGrath - bohemian, ill-fated lovers and the repercussions of their rocky relationship. Only those who appreciate the unreliable narrator need apply.
City of Thieves by David Benioff - how can a novel set in the Siege of Leningrad not be a total downer? Turn it into a buddy/roadtrip story that while lighthearted in parts, never diminishes the seriousness of the larger event.
World's End by T.C. Boyle - multi-generational tale of a highly dysfunctional family. Is their dysfunction learned or inherited?
In the Deep Midwinter by Robert Clark - insights of how being in the middle is most confining - mid-century, mid-west, middle class.
Night Shift - by Stephen King - one of his strongest short fiction collections.
Message edited by its author, Mar 26, 2009, 10:52am.
I've had a real slow reading season.. But perhaps the best book I read this quarter has been
American Wife. I couldn't put it down, and what makes it even worse the whole time I'm reading it I was thinking, "This is the fake Laura Bush bio and I can't put it down".
But I did have some excellent audio reads this quarter, LOVED Sissy Spacek reading
To Kill a Mockingbird!!
Message edited by its author, Mar 26, 2009, 4:57pm.
I found only five books in my 2009 reading that I have rated as 5 stars. They are:
The Discovery of Dawn by Walter Veltroni
The Glass of Time by Michael Cox
The Various Flavours of Coffee by Anthony Capella
Snow Flower and the Secret Fan by Lisa See
In the Convent of Little Flowers, a collection of short stories (which the touchstones are not working on).
I have now added to my TBR pile based on all the great books mentioned in this thread!
My top five reads for the first quarter are:
The Book Thief by Markus Zusak - 5 stars. Not only best book this quarter, but now my favorite book of all time.
Matrimony by Joshua Henkin - 5 stars. It had a life-changing effect on me.
The Last Battle by C. S. Lewis - 5 stars. My favorite Narnia of all, had a great message that we are not promised to WIN the good fight, only told to FIGHT it.
The World Without Us by Alan Weisman - 5 stars. I've really begun to look at my own shopping and recycling after reading this book.
Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day by Winifred Watson - 5 stars. Light, fun and frolicsome, a definite delight amidst the sterner stuff :-D
Bookmarque - 3 of your books just ended up on my wishlist!
I've only read 6 books this quarter and am working on a 7th. I can't fill a list of 5 "bests". So . . .
(In no particular order):
Hostage to the Devil: The Possession and Exorcism of Five Contemporary Americans by Malachi Martin
The Exorcist by William Peter Blatty (got into a bit of a theme, here)
Creepers by David Morrell (introduced me to a term I was unfamiliar with - "urban exploration" which is when people explore (usually illegally) abandoned buildings, structures, military bases, underground subways . . . )
I'm currently reading
Running with Scissors by Augusten Burroughs and really enjoying it, so far. If I finish it by Tuesday, it will be on this list as well.
That's great JolieLouise. I hope you like them as much as I did.
Alright, since I'm pretty sure that I won't finish anything else by Tuesday, here's my list in no particular order:
Octavian Nothing by M.T. Anderson
The Pleasure of Reading edited by Antonia Fraser
Housekeeping vs. the Dirt by Nick Hornby
Maus by Art Spiegelman
The Last Lecture by Randy Pausch
Well, I didn't end up finishing anything new, just revisited my choices after reviewing my reads so far this year.
Message edited by its author, Mar 30, 2009, 7:39pm.
Evidently I was far too hasty making my list 8 days early. I have to add
A Reliable Wife by
Robert Goolrick to my list, although I can't bring myself to take anything else off the list.
>69 I also have to amend my post, #13. I thought I would be adding
People of the Book to my list, but the contemporary bits in that book were marks off for me.
I am adding this one that I just finished (and subtracting none):
The Help by
Kathryn Stockett. Excellent.
This message has been deleted by its author.
Sorry about the italics! Fixed in my post.
Only two....
American Rust by
Philipp Meyer Great story of friendship, love and how one event changes everything and nothing. Well-drawn characters, tight prose and crisp dialog. Thank you ER!
The Attack by
Yasmin Khadra Arab-Israeli doctor faces some harsh realities about his family and his life. Excellent and provocative read.
Right now, I'm reading I Am a Strange Loop, by Douglas Hofstadter. It's a book I've wanted to read for a while, because I'm fascinated by the subject of consciousness, but I'm finding it very hard to understand. I'm not a mathematician!
The book I read just prior to Hofstadter's was Family of Secrets: The Bush Dynasty, the Powerful Forces That Put It in the White House, and What Their Influence Means for America. How's that for a title?! Author is Russ Baker.
Before *that* I read Lawrence Wright's
The Looming Tower: Al Qaeda and the Road to 9/11. That was superb. Wright got into all the players' heads, and somehow got these entire conversations between bin Laden and other top Al Qaeda people, and I don't know how he possibly could have done that. The characterization in the book was like in a novel.
Looming Tower is tied with
The Coldest Winter: America and the Korean War (David Halberstam), for best book I've read in the last three months.
Message edited by its author, Mar 28, 2009, 8:38pm.
#45 - Leadmomma -
The Sugar Queen by Sarah Addison Allen is such a gem! :)
#72 - MarianV - I have
The Best Day, The Worst Day: Life With Jane Kenyon by Donald Hall. I keep wanting to read it and then as I'm figuring out what my next read will be, something else catches my attention. I've got to just place it under the book I'm currently reading and it will be next!
I am now reasonably confident I won't finish any more books this quarter (I'm on page 60 of a 900+ page book currently), so I can post my top 5 for the quarter, in no particular order.
The Gargoyle by Andrew Davidson
Looking for Alaska by John Green
Ella Minnow Pea by Mark Dunn
Second Helpings by Megan McCafferty
The Rose of York: Love and War by Sandra Worth
Wow, Christiguc - #80 -
Your list is filled with books I've never heard of (but one)!
Best books of Jan-Mar, 2009:
1.
American Gods by
Neil Gaiman 2.
The Blind Assassin by
Margaret Atwood3.
Fool by Christopher Moore
4. Blindness by Jose Saramago
5.
Resistance by Owen Sheers
I really can't say enough about
American Gods. It's tentatively on the top ten list of the decade.
That list is, of course, theoretical, as I spent a good forty-five minutes picking out my favorites for this list. Culling the best out of a decade's worth of reading would be like estimating angels on a pinhead-- pointless and impossible.
Anyway, loved
American Gods.
Blindness was a difficult read, but I've thought about it almost daily since I finished it. I have the sneaking suspicion that rereads will provide additional layers that I missed first time around.
Fool was hilarious. I cackled maniacally in my lair. If you haven't read it, go thou and do likewise.
The Blind Assassin and
Resistance were just really great reads, both of which I would paint with purple prose given world enough and time.
For a minute I thought I wasn't going to have read enough books in this quarter, because
Team of Rivals took me so long (nearly two months) to read. But it turns out I read enough to make a full-sized top five of reasonably good books.
<drumroll>
1. David Hackett Fischer's Paul Revere's Ride
2. Doris Kearns Goodwin's Team of Rivals (despite the length)
3. Steven Johnson's The Ghost Map
4. Eve LaPlante's Salem Witch Judge
5. Leanda De Lisle's After Elizabeth
Audio Bonus: The second LibriVox version of Jane Austen's Lady Susan was pretty good (and free). Here's the link.
The first and second books are fairly close together, as are the third and fourth.
I read these all in January. (I read 1 book in 2 days. or if i wanted to in one day!!!)
The Theives Of Ostia (by Caroline Lawrence) 5 stars
The Assassins Of Rome(by Caroline Lawrence)5 stars
North Child(by Edith Pattou) 5 stars
The Illustrated Mym(by Jaqueline Wilson) 4.5 stars
Clean Break(by Jaqueline Wilson) 4 stars
Happy Reading everyone!! :D
I had a really good quarter with some great reads. This year I decided to pick my best fiction and my best nonfiction read each month. I had a hard time each month with my choices, so although I could go back and see if a later month had something that should replace an earlier month's choice or if I should choose another fiction and eliminate a nonfiction I decided just to go with what I had already done--these were all terrific! and I think I got them all reviewed on LT already. I also left out the poetry books I read because those are of limited interest to others.
Best in January:
Doomsday Book by Connie Willis (fiction) 5 Stars -- I'm fairly new to Science Fiction; if it is all this good I'll be an addict! This is a fabulous novel & will be one of my best reads for 2009--and probably for the decade!
Conundrums for the Long Weekend: England, Dorothy L. Sayers and Lord Peter Wimsey by Robert Kuhn McGregor (nonfiction) 5 Stars -- The Long Weekend is the period in England between the two World Wars; this book explores that period of history through the novels of Dorothy Sayers. Fans of
Maisie Dobbs might enjoy this book also.
Best in February:
Three Men in a Boat by Jerome K. Jerome (fiction) 5 Stars--19th century British novel about a trip down the Thames by 3 young men; charming, delightful, combines humor with "travelogue" and a bit of philosophy thrown in, funnier than Wodehouse imo.
Confederates in the Attic by Tony Horwitz (nonfiction) 4 1/2 Stars--Horwitz explores how the USA Civil War is still celebrated in the South --it was fascinating and a good way to ease into my 999 Civil War category.
Best in March:
Tigana by Guy Gavriel Kay (fiction) 5 Stars -- my first experience of this author; he blew me away! Another one that is sure to be on the best of 2009 list.
Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass by Frederick Douglass (nonfiction) 5 Stars --This is a short book and well told. I think everyone should read it. Douglass describes first hand what being a slave it does to a person. Slavery still exists today and we shouldn't turn a blind eye! (okay--off the soap box. It really is a powerful testimony and I had never before considered much about what he describes in his story. It brings the tragedy home.)
I haven't done most of my "serious" reads yet, but these are my favorite so far. I look forward to continuing a really good reading year in the other three quarters :)
All She Was Worth, Miyuki Miyabe
The Likeness, Tana French
A Fine Balance, Rohinton Mistry
The King's Trial, David Jordan (a surprise pick! This one was an assignment)
The Sound and the Fury, William Faulkner (this one was added to my top 10 list, actually)
My top 5 (in no particular order) for Q1 would include:
Child 44 Renegade Russian cop tracking a serial killer of children.
Stalin's Ghost Renko returns; Stalin's ghost keeps appearing on the subway.
People of the Book A book specialist sleuths the history of a priceless medieval Jewish text.
Tethered Female undertaker gets involved in solving linked child murder cases.
The Coffee Trader 18th century Jewish trader in Amsterdam plots to corner the market.
I also read Sound of Building Coffins which was striking... but the whole magical realism thing just doesn't work for me. Things moved along well enough to keep me interested and reading, but I just felt like something didn't connect.
mckait: I have
Team of Rivals on Mt. TBR, but haven't gotten around to reading it yet. I've pulled it off the shelf a few times, but the size of it is a bit intimitdating, so I put it back. I might give it a go, though, since it's on your top reads list.
#103, 105 ~
Team of Rivals is one of my all-time favorites. It's only one of two non-fiction books that have made it there. It's so worth the time it takes to read!
kool...it is wonderful.
Don't be intimidated :) it reads like a novel.
The pace is easy and they many interwoven stories are interesting.
It isn't a "heavy" read at all, in my opinion. I will read it again one day, since
I think I must have missed something in my first go. I read it along with another book, but won't do that next time.
>106 Storeetllr
too curious, what's the other? :)
I know it isn't the first quarter anymore, but I just had to talk about the best book I've read all year--The Sound of Building Coffins. If you like mystic realism at all (a la Gabriel Garcia Marquez or Isabel Allende) then please read this book. It's still dreamlike, but more of a creepy I-wish-I-could-wake-up dream.
>109
ooh, good ones! Might have to take a look at Team of Rivals.
I don't think you'll regret it, detailmuse. I want to read it again (as I did
In Cold Blood and will do with
Devil in the White City).
#110 Sounds wonderful. I love Allende! Putting Sound of Building Coffins on my TBR list straight away!
In no particular order:
Get Shorty by Elmore Leonard. Not a very deep book, but funny and entertaining.
About a boy by Nick Hornby. Another funny book. This one made me laugh out loud. It takes a lot to do that, I usually just smile to myself. This also has a good story to go along with the humour.
People of the book by Geraldine Brooks. I liked the idea of a book as a main character.
The Time Machine by H. G. Wells. I loved the narrator's style, it had an intimacy about it, and felt like the story was being told around a campfire.
In no real order:
1.
Lamb by Christopher Moore - crazy, funny (kung-fu Jesus, anyone?) and ultimately tragic. After all, everyone knows what happens at the end ...
2.
Watchmen by Alan Moore - the art bugged me, but it was really an incredibly well-plotted read. Probably took me longer than an actual novel.
3.
Good Omens by Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett - cheating here because this is a re-read, but it's fantastic, so I don't care. Everyone should read this if they want more laughter in their lives.
4.
Saiyuki Reload Volume 7 by Kazuya Minekura - because we finally see Hakkai as a youkai, and oh my, was it ever worth the wait *drool*
5.
Fake by Sanami Matoh - cheating again. The entire Fake series ... it's crazy and it's so cheesy, but I love those characters. They're just good guys, who are trying to get on with their lives and falling in love and all that crap. This turned out to be such a feel-good series by the end; I even liked Bikky and Carol!
>114 = I don't think re-reads are considered cheating! If it's on you best five list, it doesn't matter. IMHO.
Message edited by its author, Apr 13, 2009, 10:43am.
>114
Fake is one of my all time favorite manga series! Sanami Matoh started a second series based on the characters, but it cut off when the manga-ka got sick. That was a while ago, but I have no idea what happened to her after that.
>115 lol I wasn't really sure, I've just read it so many times it feels like cheating :)
>116 I know Fake is so great! I got my friend into it after the first volume, and she bought all the books so I didn't have too :) Yeah, I heard she'd started another arc of it but I can't find it anywhere - though you say she got sick so that kinda explains it. I think Kazuya Minekura's been sick for a while too, which would explain why she hasn't brought out any Saiyuki or Wild Adapter :( I love manga. I find I've been reading more and more of it since school got more serious ...
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