Edgar Awards 2007

There are several different mystery awards but this always seems to net me the biggest payoff in terms of favorite new authors.

Grand Master * Stephen King

Best Mystery Novel
*The Janissary Tree by Jason Goodwin
• The Pale Blue Eye by Louis Bayard
• Gentleman and Players by Joanne Harris
• The Dead Hour by Denise Mina
• The Virgin of Small Plains by Nancy Pickard
• Liberation Movements by Olen Steinhauer

Best First Novel by an American Author
*The Faithful Spy by Alex Berenson
• Sharp Objects by Gillian Flynn
• King of Lies by John Hart
• Holmes on the Range by Steve Hockensmith
• A Field of Darkness by Cornelia Read

Best Paperback Original
*Snakeskin Shamisen by Naomi Hirahara
• The Goodbye Kiss by Massimo Carlotto
• The Open Curtain by Brian Evenson
• The Deep Blue Alibi by Paul Levine
• City of Tiny Lights by Patrick Neate

Romance Novels

I didn't do my homework this weekend. In fact, I goofed off by reading romance novels all weekend long. Ok, I worked Saturday and Sunday but still, I read four romance novels instead of reading my notable nominees AND I had fun.

On of the novels was by one of my favorite authors in that genre but it turned out to be the "Big Misunderstanding" where the main characters love each other but fight, break-up and years later see each other and realize that they were destined to be together. A lot of readers object to the "Big Misunderstanding" because so often, if they would just sit down and talk there would be no misunderstanding. As a plot device, it is shaky but I never seem to mind that. What bothers me is the "years later" part. I guess I can't quite suspend disbelief on that one.

Cabin Pressure by Josh Wolk

This is one of those books where a 30-something, realizing he is now a "grown-up", has a panic attack and tries to relive his childhood. In this case, writer Josh Wolk, is getting married and entering the grown-up world at last. He decides that he wants to go back and be a camp counselor at his beloved childhood summer camp once before embarking on the adventure of being a grown-up. Being a writer, he has the flexiblity to take the summer and sign on as a camp counselor and so he goes back and does just that.

Josh is one of those kids who never quite fit in as a child. He was exceptionally tall, a little too smart and gawky in a way that did not make him shine in sports. This camp, a non-competitive, boys only camp, lived in his memory as a place where he came into his own and even shone. Going back, he relives both the good and bad parts of his camp days. This was funny book (I particularly enjoyed his phone conversations with his wedding-stressed fiance) and made a nice change from exploring 9/11 angst.

Falling Man by Don DeLillo

Over the past few years (now that the initial shock has passed) books about 9/11 have started to make an appearance. This one is probably going to top the list. It took me awhile to pick this one up off the giant stack of books in my house because of the subject matter. Even though time has passed, the emotional impact of that day on everyone who remembers it is still relatively fresh. Also, adding to that his books aren't easy reading. I will say though, that his best novels are worth the extra effort and this is one of his best.

Keith Neudecker shows up at his estranged wife's door on September 11th, bloody and confused, having just walked out of one of the Towers. For most of the book they (and various family members) struggle to find some way of dealing with the event and moving forward with their lives. DeLillo also explores the life of Hammad, one of the terrorists, who wonders if "a man has to kill himself in order to accomplish something in the world?"

This is DeLillo's best work, tender, heart wrenching and as always with DeLillo, unique and different.

Then We Came To The End by Joshua Ferris

A very funny book about an office at the end of the dot.com era (the 80's) that gets more disfunctional as the inevitible budget cuts, loss of benefits and finally, layoffs start to occur. What is surprising about this novel is that it has depth, it isn't turning into another slapstick office comedy. Very, very good.

You Don't Love Me Yet by Jonathan Lethem

You Don't Love Me Yet is the story of a dysfunctional band, or perhaps, more precisely, a dysfunctional couple and a band. This is one of the contemporary, cutting edge novels that would have worked much better if I actually cared what happened to any of the people in the novel. The utter ineptness of their existence and the strange situations in which the characters found themselves felt more like a slapstick comedy than a serious novel.

An odd novel with none of the depth of some of my other recent reads.

Gertrude Bell: Queen Of The Desert, Shaper Of Nations by Georgina Howell

I am reading currently reading Gertrude Bell: Queen Of The Desert, Shaper Of Nations by Georgina Howell. I want to be Gertrude when I grow up, except I don't really want to move to another country and lead an Islamic nation to become an independent and democratic nation. Known as the female "Lawrence of Arabia", Gertrude Bell was instrumental in the creation of Iraq. One of the most dynamic, accomplished women of her times (first woman to ever earn a first at Oxford) she was a true renaissance woman. She was in turn, a spy, archaeologist, poet, photographer, mountain climber and advisor to kings. It was due to her influence that Iraq enjoyed many years as a democratic state, an amazing accomplishment during a time when women were looked at as an decorative accessory instead of capable and intelligent people.

Outstanding and compelling biography. I highly recommended picking up a copy if you get a chance.

Stumbling On Happiness by Daniel Gilbert

Stumbling On Happiness and is my current rebellion book. (It isn't on my assigned reading list.) and it is a fascinating book. The author explores our perception of happiness and why we consistantly guess wrong about what will make us happy. How, once a moment has passed, it is impossible for the individual who experienced the moment to accurately rate how happy that moment made us because, our subsequent experiences change how we view that experience. How convinced we as Americans are that are happiness will always increase, that something better is always going to be happening in the next experience and how we neglect our best resource (other people) to predict which experiences will make us happiest because of our compelling need to be unique (even though it has been proven that people are more alike than different.)

Very interesting stuff to ponder.

The Killing Jar by Nicola Monaghan

The Killing Jar is the story of a young girl, who grows up in house filled with drugs, violence and addiction. Her slow transformation from young girl who still believes in a different life, into the life of a psychotic addict is mesmerizing and disturbing. Perhaps the most effective element of this novel is her utter likability, even as she commits a series of increasingly violent crimes as she tries to escape the lifestyle.

Empire of Blue Water: Captain Morgan's Great Pirate Army, the Epic Battle for the Americas, and the Catastrophe That Ended the Outlaws' Bloody Reign

Empire of Blue Water: Captain Morgan's Great Pirate Army, the Epic Battle for the Americas, and the Catastrophe That Ended the Outlaws' Bloody Reign by Stephan Talty. I had high hopes for this one. After all, what could be better than a pirate story. While the story was interesting, it wasn't as compelling as some of the other biographies I have read recently. Captain Morgan was a pirate for the British Empire and while the book did a good job depicting the politics of the time, the author didn't add enough personal touches about the man (at least until his pirate days were past him). Interesting and a good pirate story but not a manditory read.

The Maytrees by Annie Dillard

The Maytrees by Annie Dillard is a stunning work of fiction, following a couple through their life, both together and apart. I like these kind of novels, where quiet, profound moments lead toward something greater than it's parts.

The author's use of language takes your breath away. She is a truly gifted novel who packs a whole lot of impact into a tiny novel. The sheer depth of this novel is astounding. Absolutely lovely novel.

A blog recommendation

This recommendation came from one of my customers at the library. The blog is called No Impact Man and in the blogger's own words... "For one year, my wife, my 2-year-old daughter, my dog and I, while living in the middle of New York City, are attempting to live without making any net impact on the environment. In other words, no trash, no carbon emissions, no toxins in the water, no elevators, no subway, no products in packaging, no plastics, no air conditioning, no TV, no toilets… "

After reading so many books on the subject in the past year or so, I have been increasingly concerned about the environment. I am not ready to make the kind of commitment that the author does but I really admire his dedication.

You can find his blog at http://noimpactman.typepad.com/blog/

Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows by JK Rowling

I love everything about Harry Potter. The biggest problem with book #7 is that it is the end of line. Harry is done. There will be no more to look forward to. I remember when the first one came out I stood up in front of a bunch of children's librarians and said something along the lines of "This book will be huge. It will be like Charlotte's Web, even people who don't read it will know who Harry is." What can I say, I love it when I am right.

Hallows had a couple of places that dragged in the middle but the ending was resolved in a way that made sense to me. I would like to go back and read them all back-to-back to see how the story arch worked as a whole but that will have to wait until the Notable Reading project is over. Otherwise, highly recommended for everyone except the snootiest of readers:)

Book Blog

My own recommendation from a blogger who is doing much better with book recommendations than I am...

http://dailybookbuddy.blogspot.com/

Edith Wharton by Hermione Lee

I have been struggling through Hermione Lee's exceptionally well-written biography about Edith Wharton. It is actually quite readable but it 750 pages long and that is quite a time commitment for all but the most dedicated Wharton fans. Because one of the mandates of my committee is that a book be accessible I am really struggling with this book. Does the fact that it is the definitive work on a subject override the fact that it is not as accessible as other books on the list? Luckily, I don't have to make that decision until the end of the year (or alone) so I have plenty of time to see what else rises to the top of the reading lists this year.

Having said that, if you have any interest in Edith Wharton, this is an exceptional and quite readable biography and I do highly recommend it. It is worth the time investment if you are a fan of Wharton, American literature and/or women in history.

The Ministry of Special Cases by Nathan Englander

In turn, humorous and horrifying, the new Nathan Englander novel, The Ministry Of Special Cases, revisits the events of Argentina’s “Dirty War” and it's impact on the Jewish community.

Lillian and Kaddish and their son, Pato are living ordinary lives, deliberately separated from their Jewish roots. When Pato disappears, the two parents embark on a labyrinth journey that twists and turns through various governmental agencies and eventually leads them to the Ministry of Special Cases. At times almost surreal, the novel explores remembering and forgetting, evil disguised as beaurocracy and love. This novel is powerful and immediate in the way that all good historical novels strive to become.

On Chesil Beach by Ian McEwan

Sometimes a book will trick you. You think it is a book about one thing and it turns out to be something completely different. This is one of those kind of books. I don't know exactly how to talk about it because talking too much about how profoundly it affected me will give away part of the ending. Anyway, this is a brilliant, beautifully written novel about the wedding night of two people in a time before sex was discussed, a time when innocence on the wedding night was expected. Lovely, lovely novel.

Buy, Buy, Baby by Susan Gregory Thomas and Pesthouse by Jim Crace

A couple more books that we are discussing for the award that I liked...Buy, Buy, Baby: How Consumer Culture Manipulates Parents and Harms Young Minds by Susan Gregory Thomas. One of the subjects that I am interested in and have been reading about for a long time is brain development. I have been reading about the impact that media and advertising has on the cognitive development of young children for years, starting with the brilliant book Amusing Ourselves to Death by Neil Postman. (I have also read giant stacks of books about brain differences between the sexes but that is a different story). Buy, Buy Baby is probably the most focused and accessible of the bunch. It is interesting how the (marketing hating Gen-X generation) has been manipulated by that very industry. Facinating.

I also liked Pesthouse by Jim Crace. This takes place in a post-industrial society where violence is rampant. This was very compelling although it was difficult for me to not compare it to my favorite book from last year (The Road by Cormic McCarthy) but this was such a different vision of the future that it was an engrossing read. I still like his book Being Dead better though.

A bit more than beach reads...

I went to a workshop this morning that featured hot new reads, mostly focusing on light “beach” reads. I decided to put together an “if you want to stretch yourself a bit” list. I will also do a little “Beach Reads” one later for those who just want fun reading this summer.

Books that are a bit on the challenging side…

Kafka on the Shore by Haruki Murakami
People’s Act of Love by James Meek
Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell
On Beauty by Zadie Smith
Seeing by Jose Saramago
Suite Francaise by Irene Nemirovsky
Falling Man: A Novel by Don DeLillo
Life of Pi by Yann Martel
Death of Vishnu: A Novel by Manil Suri
Being Dead: A Novel by Jim Crace
Waiting: A Novel by Ha Jin
Voodoo Heart by Scott Snyder

And for those of you who want to go one step further…one that will make your head explode.

Against the Day by Thomas Pynchon (be sure to bone up on your Physics)

Favorite Author

I haven't been posting much although I have been reading for a couple of reasons. 1) The ever popular procrastination excuse 2) I have not been particularly wowed by what I have been reading and am finding it hard to write balanced, fair reviews of those books.



Today I got the new Margaret Drabble book, The Sea Lady, which promptly moved to the top of my stack and I started during my lunch at Andre's. Some of my finest reading moments have occurred at this restaurant and my first Margaret Drabble book was started there. Her books are quiet books where not much happens externally. If you are a reader who likes plotting and lots of action she is not an author for you. Internally, however, there is so much going on in her books that it sometimes overwhelms a reader. For me, her books are small, perfect gems that resonate with me for years afterward. I can't wait to get off work tonight to go home and read some more.