Recommendations

December ‘08/November ‘08/Sept-oct ‘08/August ‘08/June-july ‘08/May ‘08/April ‘08/March ‘08/Jan-Feb ‘08/Dec ‘07/Nov ‘07/Perennial Faves/favorite links

December 2008

It seems everyone’s got their own list of Favorite Books of the Year, and I see no reason not to join in the fray. So here, in no particular order, are my top five books of 2008:

The Sweet Far Thing, Libba Bray

The Doctrine of Labyrinths, Sarah Monette (yes, I know, technically, this series consists of three books, Melusine, The Virtu and The Mirador, with a fourth, Corambis, coming in April of 2009. But the story is of a piece, and so I present them thus)

Angelica, Arthur Phillips

Ghostwalk, Rebecca Stott

The Heretic’s Daughter, Kathleen Kent

Note that I would have added Firefly Lane by Kristin Hannah to this list, but as most people know we are very good friends, it seems faintly incestuous, so I’m listing it as a special mention. I truly did love it, and if you like good women’s contemporary fiction, you’ll love it too.

That’s it for this year! Happy Holidays, and here’s to a successful and fulfilling 2009.

November 2008

I’ve read some wonderful books this month. Starting out with Philippa Gregory’s The Other Queen, which I’ve reviewed at WritersareReaders.com, and which is about the years Mary, Queen of Scots, was held prisoner by Elizabeth I, and its effects on her jailers, the Earl of Shrewsbury and his wife, Bess. I followed that up with Lauren Groff’s Monsters of Templeton, a contemporary tale with historical underpinnings that I enjoyed very much. These books are great, but I have to say my favorite this month is Rebecca Stott’s Ghostwalk, a fascinating meditation on love, desire and entanglement as a contemporary woman struggles to ghostwrite a biography of Isaac Newton in the wake of the original author’s mysterious death. Beautifully written, provocative and emotionally satisfying.

September/October 2008

Yes, indeed, as I predicted, Anna Karenina took up an inordinate amount of time. I do have to say I enjoyed the first 600 pages—with some caveats, chief among them the fact that clearly Tolstoy never met a woman character he didn’t want to punish (I imagine there’s a whole slew of 19^th Century literary scholars out there arguing over that one). And what about the last 200+ pages? Let’s just say I was mentally wishing Tolstoy would just get the whole thing over with and be done with it.

I also read Henry James’s Washington Square, which has been sitting in my bookcase for some time, and I liked it a great deal, along with Daisy Miller, which was only okay. So far, James is ranking two for four with me: Washington Square and The Bostonians winning over Portrait of a Lady and (less so) Daisy Miller, for any of you out there keeping score. I am distressed, however, at James’s clear contempt for Donizetti and Bellini—apparently I have very plebian tastes. Well, I knew that already—I never met a sturm und drang I didn’t like.

August 2008

This month has been hot and long, but has included a vacation, where I got quite a bit of reading done. Among the standouts are the fantasy novel A Companion to Wolves by Sarah Monette (who wrote Doctrine of the Labyrinths) and Elizabeth Bear, which has at its center a Norse-like society and some fascinating speculation about the sociology of man-wolf bonding. Also, I really liked a book set during the Salem Witch Trials that comes out in September of this year called The Heretic’s Daughter by Kathleen Kent. I’ve reviewed the latter at WritersareReaders.com.

Coming up is Anna Karenina—yes, that pesky classics bookgroup has reared its ugly head again. I never did get to Madame Bovary, though I promise I will—eventually. If I can get through this enormous Tolstoy.

June/July 2008

Forgive the long delay between posts; with the release of The Spiritualist, I haven’t had much time for reading. But I’ve managed to catch up a bit recently and written some reviews at WritersareReaders.com as well. Though I’ve had the book on my shelf since it was released, I finally got around to reading Angelica by Arthur Phillips and highly recommend that one. A very cool, ambiguous ghost story set in Victorian times. I also recommend The James Boys by Richard Liebmann-Smith, which I reviewed at Writers are Readers. Wry and funny and just entertaining.

May 2008

Finished and loved the rest of the Doctrine of Labyrinths by Sarah Monette: The Virtu and The Mirador. In fact, I read them more than once, in true obsessive/compulsive fashion, and therefore had no time to read a single other thing. Sarah Monette has just joined my pantheon of favorite writers—wonder why so many of them are SciFi/Fantasy authors? Oh, and I also read a retrospective on Yankee Stadium called Yankee Stadium, a Tribute, and lest you’re wondering why I read that, you’ll have to read my review at Writersarereaders.com to find out.

April 2008

This month has been crazy; I’ve been so involved in working on the new manuscript I haven’t had much time to read or do anything else. But I’ve managed to read the first book in the Doctrine of Labyrinths Trilogy by Sarah Monette called Melusine, which I loved. It’s a fantasy novel with some of the best characterizations I’ve ever read. I’m embarking now on the second one, called The Virtu, which I expect to like just as much.

And given that the new manuscript is centered around the world of 19^th Century opera, I’ve been immersing myself in that. I’ve never spent much time with opera, and to my great surprise, I’ve found I’ve developed a fondness for some of it, including my two favorites so far: Wagner’s Tristan and Isolde (the 1966 Bayreuth Festival recording), and Gounod’s Faust (I’ve only got the Italian version, but I’ve ordered the original French). I also love the Maria Callas recording of Donizetti’s Lucia di Lammermoor (I guess that makes it three). Since I live for melodrama and angst, they’ve all been a revelation!

March 2008

First up this month is The Dark Lantern, by Gerri Brightwell, a really excellent novel of historical fiction. Set in Victorian London, the novel captures beautifully the nuances of the master/servant relationship in a gripping story of suspense and false identities. (Look for my review at Writersarereaders.com). I’ve also just finished the masterful biography of Edith Wharton by Hermione Lee. This one took me a while, as it weighs in at about 750 pages, but it was well worth the time. Though I’ve read many of Edith Wharton’s novels, the biography had me reading her short stories as well—“Roman Fever” is a famous one, but I loved “Souls Belated,” “The Muses’ Tragedy,” “The Letters,” and two ghost stories: “Afterward,” and “The Eyes.”

I’ve also been listening to a CD of The Pretenders greatest hits, which only reminds me how much I love Chrissie Hynde’s voice. “Back on the Chaingang”…. Really such a great song!

And how about LOST? Was there ever a cooler show?

January/February, 2008

The new year has brought with it some of the best books I’ve ever read. Starting off with The Sweet Far Thing, which is the conclusion of the YA trilogy Libba Bray began so brilliantly with A Great and Terrible Beauty. I loved this book so much I read it twice and cried both times at the end. (See my review at Writersarereaders.com). Following that is Firefly Lane by Kristin Hannah. This novel is some of the best work Kristin has ever done—it’s the story of a 30-year friendship, and she doesn’t hold back on the joys and complexities of such a relationship. If you’ve never read Kristin before, you’ll be blown away. If you have, I know you’ll agree with me that it’s one of her best.

In music, The Shins Wincing the Night Away, which came out last year, is on my playlist. And in TV—well, let’s just say I’m biting my nails waiting for the season premiere of LOST. I cannot truly explain how completely I love this show. Here’s hoping season four is as good as the second half of season three. I also just watched the “final” cut of one of my favorite movies of all time, Blade Runner, and loved it even more than all the other versions I’d seen. It’s out on DVD now.

December, 2007

I’ve been caught up in reading Stephenie Meyer’s Twilight trilogy (Twilight, New Moon, Eclipse). Okay, I admit I’ve read them more than once. Technically, they’re a YA series, but clearly they have great appeal for adults as well—I’m not the only one hooked. Great romance and conflict. Stephenie Meyer is a wonderful storyteller. Once you start them, I guarantee you won’t put them down.

I’ve been listening to the New Pornographers Challengers. I first tuned into this band with their album Twin Cinema, and this new one is just as good. Also, for something a little different, I’ve really been enjoying Renee Fleming’s Sacred Songs. What a sublime voice!

November, 2007

So far this year, much of my time has been taken up with getting The Spiritualist ready for its June 2008 release, and listening to Interpol’s new album Our Love to Admire (and going to see them live in Seattle—great band, great show!), but I have had time to read a few things. My best friend and critique partner got it into her head that we needed (the two of us) to start a Classics bookclub and forced me to read Middlemarch by George Eliot. I can thank her for that now, because I loved it so much I also read The Mill on the Floss (heads-up: depressing end) and ordered Adam Bede, which I haven’t got to yet. Next up for the bookclub: Madame Bovary.

I’ve also managed to read Clare Clark’s The Nature of Monsters (see my review up on Writersarereaders.com when it goes online in November), which is full of excellent historical detail and has some of the best first pages I’d read in a while. Also Elizabeth Hand’s Generation Loss, which has one of the most uncompromising heroines I’ve ever read although it’s not as layered as most of her other books. Really liked The Poe Shadow by Louis Bayley—his Mr. Timothy I also really enjoyed. Portrait of an Unknown Woman by Vanora Bennett was good as well—especially for those interested in Thomas More and England under the Anne Boleyn years of Henry VIII.

Perennial Faves

Here are some of my favorites from past years that are well worth looking up now: Waking the Moon, and Mortal Love by Elizabeth Hand, who is one of my all-time favorites; As Meat Loves Salt by Maria McCann is a really excellent story of the love affair between two men in seventeenth century England; Billie’s Kiss and The Vintner’s Luck by Elizabeth Knox, a truly strange, wonderful and visionary writer; Mr. Strange and Jonathan Norrell by Susanna Clarke; Holy Fools by Joanne Harris; The Picture of Dorian Grey by Oscar Wilde (oh, I know, but you should really at least try it!); Affinity by Sarah Waters—also her Fingersmith. Bastard out of Carolina by Dorothy Allison is heartbreaking and nearly perfect. Passion by Jude Morgan is the story of the loves of Shelley, Byron and Keats and I had trouble putting it down. Lord Byron’s Novel by John Crowley was strange and wonderful, as was The Remedy by Michelle Lovric.

And as always, Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien, Katherine by Anya Seton, Child from the Sea and The Little White Horse, by Elizabeth Goudge and Mary Stewart’s Merlin Trilogy. Some of the most interesting stories in publishing are being told in the young adult format, and it’s not just Harry Potter (I’m a huge fan), or my classic favorites, which include all of Laura Ingalls Wilder, and The Witch of Blackbird Pond, by Elizabeth George Speare The trilogy written by Libba Bray, (of which the third book The Sweet Far Thing, comes out in December), is amazing. It starts with A Great and Terrible Beauty, and is followed up by Rebel Angels. Great realistic historical fantasy.