ABAW October-November Edition

I know, October and November ended a long time ago. I am a slacker in more ways than one.

I have read much, much less the past few months than I did earlier in the year. When I began planning for NaNoWriMo, my daily reading time was cut down by my planning and writing time. These two need each other though, so I must seek balance between the reading and writing.    

October

One Day by David Nicholls

This one might be my favorite book this year. It’s at least in my top three. Read my review here. 

Ender’s Game by Orson Scott Card

I struggled with this one. Read my review here. 

How I Write by Janet Evanovich

This is Janet Evanovich’s memoir on her writing process that expands on a Q&A from her website. I love Evanovich’s writing style. Irreverent but honest, clever, accessible, and funny. I reread very few books, but I come back to the first four Stephanie Plum novels over and over. Reading about Evanovich’s writing confirms what we know as writers: writing is hard, it’s a job, we have to work at it, and then we have to work at it some more, and if we work hard enough maybe we’ll have the chance to get published and continue to work hard.

The Good Man Jesus and the Scoundrel Christ by Philip Pullman

The back cover of this book suggests that it is about the way in which a story is born from events. I’m not a Christian, but I know the gospels well, and it was fascinating reading Pullman’s deployment of the story of Jesus. He builds plausible scenarios for the events, actions, words, and ideas that might have inspired the narratives, parables, and metaphors in the gospels as we have them now.  You can read about Pullman’s personal philosophy here, but don’t let the atheism scare you away from this book.  I know that the redeployment of the story of Jesus, this way of trying to find a plausible explanation for what many believe was miraculous, is potentially offensive to some. To that I say, read this book with an open mind. Literature, as many of us know, has the amazing power to make us FEEL and understand things in ways that we don’t expect. I found Pullman’s depiction of the story of Jesus to be very inspiring precisely because I felt connected to the essential humanity of the characters. I felt very acutely the sacrifice that the characters make in a way that makes me want to be more compassionate toward my fellow human beings. Philosophy aside, the plotting of the story is also really good. Pullman managed to take one of the most famous stories of all time and surprise me with it.

November

Reading Lolita in Tehran by Azar Nafisi

Ok, no, I still haven’t finished this one. It is beautifully written, but I find that I have to read it in small doses. I’m frustrated on behalf of the women in the story and I get emotional and angry as I read some of it.  Each time I put it down, it gets harder to pick up. Couple that with reader’s guilt. I haven’t read all of the books discussed in the story, including Lolita! So I have put this book down several times thinking that I should read these other books and then come back to this one. It’s a heartless cycle for me.  Yet another title that shows I don’t do well as a reader of non-fiction and memoir, even if I really really love the subject matter.

The Happiness Project by Gretchen Rubin

I enjoyed the idea of this book, planning month-by-month activities throughout the year to increase one’s overall happiness. Rubin has a website to encourage us to build our own happiness projects as well. As she says in her introduction, each person’s path to happiness is different and individual, but reading about her very particular path was edifying. I find I’ve made small adjustments in the way I think about the things I do, and even if I go no further in developing a happiness project, I find that very satisfying.

Composed by Rosanne Cash

I love Cash’s writing style. She has a fluid way of structuring her prose so that one incident, idea, or metaphor can recall and connect to earlier ideas.  I’ve never listened to her music, but saw her on a recent episode of Austin City Limits and was intrigued by The List.  When she turned 18, her father gave her a list of what he considered essential songs for her to know if she wanted to be a musician. Cash’s latest album is selections from that list. I have enjoyed discovering her music (and her twitterfeed) and am even more in love with Austin City Limits for teaching me about artists I might not discover in other ways.

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban by J. K. Rowling

I finished reading this one out-loud to the Sonars. Yes, we all still love it.

These Days

I’ve been reading Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire to the Sonars. This is our second time through out-loud. I love how well the stories are holding up to the growth of the kids and to my growth as a writer.

I came home from the library last week with Gary Shteyngart’s Super Sad True Love Story.  I love the first line (“Dearest Diary, Today I’ve made a major decision: I am never going to die.”). I’m a bit baffled by the first chapter.  After this I’m considering The Passage by Justin Cronin or The Edible Woman by Margaret Atwood. Which would you choose?  

For Christmas the past few years, we’ve made a habit of reading Cornelia Funke’s When Santa Fell to Earth. This year we’re going to listen to Funke read it on our 900-mile drive. If you haven’t found this gem of a holiday story, please go check it out.  I love the way that Funke takes the best bits of magical Santa tradition and adds just the right kind of modernity to it, so that the story feels both more real in the context and more magical in the details. And I can’t tell you how much I’m in love with Nicholas Goodfellow. He could live under my Christmas tree any day.  Ahem.