Books Read in 2015.

Posted on January 3, 2016 by Duff

date refers to date finished; i.e., just b/c I finished two books in a given day doesn’t mean I read two entire books that day!

Dear Mr. You, by Mary Louise Parker (12/29) (epistolary essays)
Descender, Vol 1, by Jeff Lemire (12/27) (graphic novel)
Hunger Makes Me a Modern Girl, by Carrie Brownstein (12/26) (memoir)
Pretty Deadly, Vol 1, by Kelly Sue DeConnick (12/26)
Lumberjanes, Vol 1, by Noelle Stevenson (12/25) (graphic novel)
Dryland, by Sara Jaffe (12/25)
Yellowcake, by Margo Lanagan (12/4) (short stories)
Wytches, Vol 1, by Scott Snyder (11/30) (graphic novel)
Saga, Vol 5, by Brian K. Vaughn (11/29) (graphic novel)
Saga, Vol 4, by Brian K. Vaughn (11/29) (graphic novel)
Saga, Vol 3, by Brian K. Vaughn (11/29) (graphic novel)
Saga, Vol 2, by Brian K. Vaughn (11/29) (graphic novel)
Saga, Vol 1, by Brian K. Vaughn (11/29) (graphic novel) (reread)
The Promise, by Robert Crais (11/26)
Modern Romance, by Aziz Ansari (11/26) (nonfiction)
The Promise, by Robert Crais (11/26)
Ms. Marvel Vol 1: No Normal, by G. Willow Wilson (11/25) (graphic novel)
Six of Crows, by Leigh Bardugo (11/24)
Back Lash, by Devon Monk (11/17)
The People in the Trees, by Hanya Yanagihara (11/17)
The Sins of the Fathers, by Lawrence Block (11/9)
Slade House, by David Mitchell (11/6)
The Glass Sentence, by S.E. Grove (11/4)
Through the Woods, by Emily Carroll (11/2) (graphic short stories)
Deadly Blessings, by Julie Hyzy (10/29)
The Invasion of the Tearling, by Erika Johansen (10/28)
The Hero and the Crown, by Robin McKinley (10/22)
Bad Blood, by Aline Templeton (10/20)
Evil for Evil, by Aline Templeton (10/18)
Cradle to Grave, by Aline Templeton (10/16)
Dead in the Water, by Aline Templeton (10/14)
Lamb to the Slaughter, by Aline Templeton (10/12)
Lying Dead, by Aline Templeton (10/11)
The Darkness and the Deep, by Aline Templeton (10/9)
Cold in the Earth, by Aline Templeton (10/7)
Christopher’s Cloud: An Epic Adventure, Peter Pommer (10/5)
The Odyssey, by Homer (Fagles translation) (10/2) (poetry) (reread)
Make Me, by Lee Child (9/26)
Tinkers, by Paul Harding (9/21)
After the Apocalypse, by Maureen McHugh (9/18) (short stories)
Fates and Furies by Lauren Groff (9/16)
Speak, by Louisa Hall (9/9)
The Warrior Laird, by Margo Maguire (9/4)
Harbor Island, by Carla Neggers (8/29)
Bring Up the Bodies, by Hilary Mantel (8/29)
Mind of Winter, by Laura Kasischke (8/24)
A Constellation of Vital Phenomena, by Anthony Marra (8/22)
The Tin Collectors, by Stephen J. Cannell (8/18)
Wolf Hall, by Hilary Mantel (8/12)
Liar, Temptress, Soldier, Spy: Four Women Undercover in the Civil War, by Karen Abbott (8/10) (nonfiction!)
World Gone By, by Dennis Lehane (8/3)
Just Like Heaven, by Julia Quinn (7/23)
Lord of Misrule, by Jaimy Gordon (7/21)
Live by Night, by Dennis Lehane (7/4)
The Dragonet Prophecy, by Tui Sutherland (7/3)
Ready Player One, by Ernest Cline (7/2)
Just the Sexiest Man Alive, by Julie James (6/29)
Suddenly One Summer, by Julie James (6/28)
Practice Makes Perfect, by Julie James (6/28)
It Happened One Wedding, by Julie James (6/28)
Love Irresistibly, by Julie James (6/26)
About That Night, by Julie James (6/25)
A Lot Like Love, by Julie James (6/24)
Bet Me, by Jennifer Crusie (6/21)
Something About You, by Julie James (6/21)
World of Trouble, by Ben H. Winters (6/17)
Nimona, by Noelle Stevenson (6/13)
Countdown City, by Ben H. Winters (6/9)
Splinters of Light, by Rachael Herron (6/4)
The Last Policeman, by Ben H. Winters (6/4)
Foxglove Summer, by Ben Aaronovitch (5/31)
Hausfrau, by Jill Alexander Essbaum (5/23)
Blue Stars, by Emily Gray Tedrowe (5/2)
This Present Moment, by Gary Snyder (4/25) (poetry)
H is for Hawk, by Helen Macdonald (4/25) (memoir)
Dead Heat, by Patricia Briggs (4/21)
Glow, by Ned Beauman (4/19)
All the Birds, Singing, by Evie Wyld (4/18)
Hell bent, by Devon Monk (4/18)
Stone Cold, by Devon Monk (4/18)
Kiss Me Hello, by Grace Burrowes (4/12)
The First Kiss, by Grace Burrowes (4/11)
A Single Kiss, by Grace Burrowes (4/11)
The Given Day, by Dennis Lehane (4/10)
Leave Me Alone, I’m Reading: Finding & Losing Myself in Books, by Maureen Corrigan (4/9) (essays)
Shadowscale (Seraphina #2), by Rachel Hartman (4/7)
Pioneer Girl, by Bich Minh Nguyen (4/6) (nonfiction)
A Brave Man Seven Storeys Tall, by Will Chancellor (4/5)
Roller Girl, by Victoria Jamieson (3/21)
Tiny Beautiful Things, by Cheryl Strayed (3/20) (essays)
The Crossover, by Kwame Alexander (3/17)
Sugar, by Jewell Parker Rhodes (3/12)
Wool (Omnibus), by Hugh Howey (3/12)
The Manhattan Projects, Vol 1, by Jonathan Hickman (3/6) (graphic novel)
Rat Queens Vol 1, by Kurtis Wiebe (3/6) (graphic novel)
Motherland Fatherland Homelandsexuals, by Patricia Lockwood (3/6) (poetry)
Wittgenstein Jr, by Lars Iyer (3/5)
Silence Once Begun, by Jesse Ball (2/21)
Boxer, Beetle, by Ned Beauman (2/14)
The Paying Guests, by Sarah Waters (2/14)
Dept. of Speculation, by Jenny Offill (2/1)
The Blazing World, by Siri Hustvedt (1/25)
Horns, by Joe Hill (1/3)
The Years of Rice and Salt, by Kim Stanley Robinson (1/3)

An evening with David Mitchell and Lana Wachowski

Posted on November 8, 2015 by Duff

A lovely evening. Mitchell read from the first passage of Slade House (which I read a week or so ago, I’ll try to tell you about it soon!) and then he and Wachowski had a lovely conversation about art and immortality and writing between genres (as it were).

There were quite a number of moments I wish I could have recorded, but here are the two I wrote down.

On writing between genres, or being told your book should/shouldn’t have something because you’re not in X genre:
“If a book needs a dragon, it should have a dragon.”

On reading reviews: he said he certainly never reads the bad ones, because they’re so demoralizing and haunt you for months, but then he said he doesn’t read the good ones either:
“…even the good ones are wasps at the picnic of a calm mind.”

WOW what an image.

I’ve been a huge fan of his books for a long time now (the other book I took with me to have signed was Black Swan Green, which is one of my all-time favorite books) and it was wonderful to hear Nathan (the first character in Slade House) read in his voice. He doesn’t have a straight-up English accent, there’s a bit of a lisping quality around his Rs that I wondered if originates from his time in Japan/Asia…

I can’t wait to see what he writes next.

Knowing the reasons why.

Posted on September 15, 2015 by Duff

In case I haven’t told you, I loved loved loved loved LOVED the book “Hild” by Nicola Griffith, as if it was a child torn out of my very own heart. I also love this essay where she talks about how this story grabbed her and wouldn’t let go.

Fiction: Dennis Lehane’s Coughlin Trilogy

Posted on August 6, 2015 by Duff

The books, in order: The Given Day, Live by Night, and World Gone By.

All fantastic.

TGD = Very plot-driven historical fiction. You are caught up in Danny’s life, in Luther’s life, in the snippets of Babe Ruth (such an interesting way to use him in this book!).

LBN = Connected to the first book b/c Joe is Danny’s little brother, and his father does play a role in both books, but in many ways just books that are sequentially related versus books that are a series. Although technically this would still be considered historical fiction (there are actual historical gangsters mentioned or who play bit parts), to me this is where the series really becomes driven by character rather than plot. Joe is SUCH an interesting character to have written. This book really caught me up in its romance–and I don’t mean the relationships between Joe and women, although there is that, but the romantic nostalgia we feel for places and things. Joe’s feelings about his dad’s watch, the way he interacts with the cities he lives in. The way he thinks about things. I wrote about this book previously it turns out. Heh.

WGB = I was surprised to find that this book was also about Joe (I thought it would be about Tomas, maybe?). I loved that years have gone by, and he’s become a different person with different sorts of schemes and plans while still having his gangster’s heart of gold. Sure, that’s a bit cliche, right, the gangster who is for civil rights, and treating people equally. The gangster who only wants to kill when he really has to, etc. But he’s such an intriguing loyal intelligent dude, you go along for the ride. He’s got a code, Wire fans, he lives by his code.

I thought they were all fantastic. I’ve read other Lehane books in the past (a few of the Kenzie/Gennaro books) and enjoyed movies made from his books as well (Gone Baby Gone, Mystic River) but this trilogy is really a tour de force. Each one was BARELY putdown able, I read late into the night, loving every minute of it.

Romance: Just Like Heaven (Smythe-Smith Quartet, #1), by Julia Quinn

Posted on July 23, 2015 by Duff

So sweet! And so refreshing to read a regency (or thereabouts) romance where the two intendeds do not meet via a) rape, b) intended rape or c) almost rape. NO RAPE AT ALL. Nice.

(Unlike, say, the Jo Beverly books which I read a ton of all in a row last Christmas. When you read too many of those “rape or almost rape brought these two together” books too close together, you just start to feel icky.)

Fiction: Lord of Misrule, by Jaimy Gordon

Posted on July 21, 2015 by Duff

The reviews of this book on goodreads are widely divisive, moreso than most books from what I’ve seen anyway.

I didn’t fall head over heels but I didn’t (ever, really) feel the need to put it down, or move on, and that’s a pretty good sign that it’s at minimum well written and able to engage me as a reader.

Racing may be glamorous and sexy and the provence of the rich and the nouveau riche (heh) but it’s also a place that washed up, unhappy people (and horses) wind up spending years just stuck in. My best friend in high school’s dad once came in 3rd in the Kentucky Derby (as a jockey). He also spent years and years racing at tiny tracks, drinking away his sorrows, fighting with anyone who would fight him, and bemoaning his lack of ever getting up there again. So many horses, jockeys, owners, and trainers have just one bright shining moment. The ones that stay in the sun for years–THOSE are the real outliers in racing.

Some of this was icky and confrontational. (The sex bits were pretty uncomfortable.) Some of it was intriguing. Some of it was lyrical.

She’s an author that’s not going to do what you expect. Every time a new character entered the room, the story became about something else entirely.

Middle-Grade Fantasy: The Dragonet Prophecy, by Tui Sutherland

Posted on July 4, 2015 by Duff

A super sweet story about five little dragonets, stolen away before their eggs hatched, to play their part in a prophecy. It’s really a story about friends, family, belonging, finding your identity, and figuring out what’s important to you. And it was SO very sweet. I can think of a LOT of fifth graders who would really love this book (and presumably the rest of the story as well).

Historical Fiction: Live by Night, by Dennis Lehane

Posted on July 4, 2015 by Duff

So yeah, I haven’t written about the books I’ve been reading in ages and ages although I have kept pretty much up to date with commenting on them on GoodReads. I guess I need an app for my blog, ha.

I thought this book was just beautiful. While it is one part of the story of the Coughlin family, and partly a story about gangsters (cough, outlaws, sorry, Joe) and corruption and American history, it’s also got this incredibly romantic streak running through it. The things that carry Joe through his life: not just the women he loves, but the places he loves, the objects he loves (that watch, for example).

I read the first book in this series (Any Given Day) in a furious rush over spring break while visiting my dad’s library and similarly when I picked this book up, I really couldn’t put it down either. I remember liking Lehane’s Kenzie/Gennaro series back in the day when I read those (pre-2004) but not like THIS.

You people and your creativity.

Posted on April 5, 2015 by Duff

Just finished A Brave Man Seven Storeys Tall which I really loved more and more as it went on and these two interviews (this one and this one) with the author are wildly entertaining, intriguing and informational.

Thanks to NPR’s MonkeySee podcast, just started listening to this British rapper Kate Tempest and started reading about her award-winning poetry and her other work and am just blown away.

Science Fiction: Horns, by Joe Hill

Posted on January 3, 2015 by Duff

No idea what made me pick this up in the bookstore the other night but it was actually kinda tough to put down…despite being really nasty and vile and mean and icky. People have been killed, tricked, screwed over and continue to mess with each other throughout the book. But at the very deep down heart of it is a sweet teenage love story gone wrong. And there’s some clever wonderings about theology folded in as well if you’re interested in that.

I’m definitely interested in reading more of Hill’s stuff although I definitely need a palate cleanser before that.