Well, I was half way through my list of sort-of book reviews, covering the entirety of what I read in 2009, which is not as much as usual: see below. Now I shall continue. I know you were anxious for me to do so.
16./17./28. Dress Your Children in Corduroy and Denim/Me Talk Pretty One Day/When You Are Engulfed in Flames - David Sedaris
I am just loving the particular brand of comic and vulnerably honest autobiographical stories that David Sedaris has to offer. They are funny, but not as laugh-out-loud as I was expecting - more just comically insightful. I also felt like I had really gotten to know Sedaris, through his warts-and-all approach. And you know, he is a really weird guy, interested in a range of really macabre stuff. Which is why I love him. (Start with Me Talk Pretty One Day, is my recommendation.)
18. Tortilla Flat - John Steinbeck
I have a really old edition of Tortilla Flat, and the blurb on the back dates from a time where they hadn't discovered irony. I am fairly sure the contents have discovered irony, unless I entirely misread the whole thing. It's about a bunch of guys living in Monterrey, drinking wine and stealing things and generally having a good time, but told in a chivalric style which makes 'em all sound really noble, which I suppose they actually are if you look at it another way! Blows my mind! Nah this was good, I mean it's Steinbeck.
19. Locas - Jaime Hernandez
A re-read of all the Maggie and Hopey comics by Jaime Hernandez. So freaking good! Punk chicks living in a California barrio in the 80s, a zillion well-drawn characters, with a little lesbian lovin' thrown in. Plus just the best artwork I've seen in comics, I swear - the way he plays with light and dark is just incredible. Look at this, for example.
20. Home - Marilynne Robinson
Reading this book you are very aware that the author is an actual genius. Quiet, lovely, cuts to the quick.
21. A Short History of Tractors in Ukrainian - Marina Lewycka
I read this while I was at the American Embassy in London queuing for my visa. Takes bloody hours, you need something to read. Thanks, Caroline!
23. The Vesuvius Club - Mark Gatiss
I read this on the train from Southampton to up North. You need something to read while wedged on a train with hundreds of drunken Millwall supporters. Thanks, Lydia!
23./26. Dead as a Doornail/Definitely Dead - Charlaine Harris
A couple of those books that True Blood is based on. These are pretty fun reading, full of sex, death, vampires and werewolves. It's a nice antidote to Twilight, because the heroine actually gets stuff done, and shagging a vampire is no big deal and certainly doesn't involve 500 pages of moping.
27. American Gods - Neil Gaiman
My first book read in American in 2009. Oh yeah. It was a lot of fun, but I enjoyed the more low key earlier sections when you meet all these deities fallen on hard times and driving taxis and whatnot. The latter chapters were a bit overly-epic, and then it wouldn't end. It was like Lord of the Rings. I am glad I read it, though, because it was enjoyable and people have been recommending it for many years.
29. Palimpsest - Catherynne Valente
A totally crazy book which I am very glad I found. It's a steampunk-ish fantasy novel about a fabulous dream city that you can only get to when you sleep with the right people. Said people have a tattoo on them somewhere which is a streetmap of a neighbourhood in this wondrous city (called Palimpsest), and then when you have your post-sexytimes nap you wake up in the city and have all sorts of adventures with animal-headed people and mechanical bees. But then a tattoo appears on you in the morning! And you want to go back so you have to find some new tattooed person to do it with. Palimpsest was a bit overwritten at times, but full of great ideas, not to mention lots of fluid-sexuality shagging.
Alright! Some good books there, some forgettable. None terrible. Roll on 2010, here's hoping there are many fabulous books in my future! (Actually the book I am reading right now is pretty awful. So it can only get better.)
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6 comments:
RE: American Gods: did you ever read the new Hitchhiker's Guide book? Lots of down-on-their-luck gods in that.
not sure if i already asked this.. but do you finish every book you read? or drop the really horrorific ones?
Nick - no, I haven't read the new Hitchhikers. I kind of forgot about it, actually. Is it good, then?
Pave - I tend to finish books, even the stinkers. Largely because after I get to a certain point, not knowing how the story ends will bug me forever. But lately I have been trying to tell myself that if I hate a book, it's just a waste of reading time and life force trying to wade through it, and that I should be able to drop it guilt-free!
What about you?
Wish I had the power to stop reading bad books, but here we are.
Yeh, the new Hitchhiker wasn't bad at all. Not sure if it's been printed in the US yet though.
By the bye, did that DAR book I sort of accidentally ordered ever arrive...?
Yes, you are the man who actually go through all of Twilight, hating every word along the way!
DAR did arrive - what do you want me to do with it? You know, I would totally not mind having it myself... :)
We-ell... I was actually kinda hoping you could send it to me in the old UK. Tell you what, if you send it my way, I'll send you a copy of the new Hitch book your way. Is that alright?
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