Summerland
Summerland by Michael Chabon
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
After reading his Pulitzer Prize winning "The Adventures of Kavalier and Clay" a while back, I knew Michael Chabon was a talented author. Here, he has created at once an ode to baseball, a fantastic tale of fairies and giants, and a creation legend. Oh, and it's a "young adult" novel too, so it's extremely readable. This is the one I'll be giving to my kids to read when they think I'm crazy for going off on the designated hitter rule. Again.
Next up is Chabon's Manhood for Amateurs.
Scott Pilgrim (Volume 1)
Scott Pilgrim, Vol. 1: Scott Pilgrim's Precious Little Life by Bryan Lee O'Malley
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
What do you do when you've been slacking off with your reading due to the Olympics and other stuff? Graphic novels and young adult books!
I really wanted to run out and get the next volume of this series after reading the first one. This graphic novel sets up as almost normal (20-something slacker in a band obsessing over UPS delivery girl), but then blasts off into the bizarre (he has to defeat her 7 evil ex-boyfriends in battles, and there are also inter-dimensional portals involved). Too cool for words.
Lowboy
Lowboy by John Wray
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
It took me a while to finish this one, what with the Olympics going on and all, and I do wish I would have been able to read it at a better pace. But even so, I felt it was pretty fantastic. The pacing of it, and the way the author handles the characters, and schizophrenia in general, I just loved all of it. It is a little out there though, getting into the head of a schizophrenic, of course. But it really is the voice that makes the book work so well.
The Unnamed
The Unnamed by Joshua Ferris
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
I see that I previously gave Then We Came to the End 4 stars, though it was probably more like 4.5 stars. So it may be hard to rate this higher than that, but I do think it comes close. Joshua Ferris steps out of the office, literally, and takes us on a road trip without the cars. But despite the focus on the "unnamed" disease afflicting the main character, what drew me in was the intensity of his focus on the people. Tim, the hardworking lawyer beset by his walking spells; Jane, his devoted and loving wife, who picks him up while trying to deal with her own problems and her own life; and Becka, his teenage daughter wanting his love and attention. The hardship his disease causes all these people and how it affects their lives is what really makes the novel work.
There was enough in here that I thought didn't quite work that I can't quite give it five stars, but make no mistake: it really is a standout novel.
Under The Dome
Under the Dome by Stephen King
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
You have to give Stephen King credit: he knows how to give his fans what they want. In the case of Under the Dome, he gets right out of the gate with some nice slicing and dicing, a few explosions, and keeps the pedal on the metal from there. Now, his critics would probably complain about the nice, neat ending, where the bad guys get theirs, and the good guys, minus a few casualties, "win," but I'm not one of those critics. This book may not have the classic horror aspect of some of his other books, but the absolute horror of human nature put under stress is far scarier than a lot of his classic horror.
Up next is The Unnamed by Joshua Ferris, book #4 of my 50 book challenge for 2010.
The Road
The Road by Cormac McCarthy
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
One might quibble with some of the convenient plot points of The Road (i.e. finding food just when they need it, repeatedly). But such quibbles would ignore the simple greatness that Cormac McCarthy has achieved here. Just a haunting look at human nature when all else is stripped aside. In short, The Road is the reason I read.
Water For Elephants
Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Not much new in the main plotline of this book: boy meets girl, girl is already married, boy gets girl with help of elephant. OK, so that last bit is the key: the world of the old circus train is so wonderfully described, it's hard not to get sucked in and see all these things happening (many of the stories actually did happen and were deftly woven into the book). That saved the book for me, since I thought it was otherwise a somewhat unremarkable plot.
Rules for My Unborn Son
Rules for My Unborn Son by Walker Lamond
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Essentially a collection of quick blog posts encapsulated as "rules" to live by, but so many are funny and appropriate for today's world, I found myself dog-earing my copy to quickly reference the ones I thought were best. And that is probably endorsement enough.
Knives at Dawn
Knives at Dawn: America's Quest for Culinary Glory at the Legendary Bocuse d'Or Competition by Andrew Friedman
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
This is a seriously in depth look at the Bocuse D'Or competition, and more specifically, why the USA has never done well there. It focuses on the most recent competition in 2009, and follows the US competitors from qualifying and all the way through the contest itself. The level of access to the chefs and the supporting crew is really unprecedented, and Friedman takes full advantage in describing the thinking that went into creating the elaborate dishes required for this amazing contest. Good stuff, a must for Top Chef fans (Season 3 winner Hung Huynh makes an appearance).
2009 Favorites
It's time to close out the aughts with one last year-end wrapup. Let's take a look back at the year that was, shall we?
I slacked off a little bit this year and only got through 32 books. But quality, not quantity, was the word this year. I really only felt like two or three books were real clunkers (*cough*Dan Brown*cough*), and there were a lot of 4 and 5 star ratings. Some of my 4-star ratings are ending up on other people's top books this year! The clear non-fiction favorite was The Lost City of Z. Fiction is not so easy. The Gone-Away World was one of the most original I read. At Swim-Two-Birds was my favorite "classic." If pushed to pick an overall favorite though, I'd have to go with City of Refuge, but be sure to check out all my reviews from the past year, lots of good ones I haven't mentioned here.
Only 19 beers this year, definitely slacking on that front. By far the favorites came from the newcomer to the DC area, Founders Brewing, with their Breakfast Stout, and Red's Rye.
Of course, one of the big reasons I slacked on beer reviews was the fact that I became custodian of my neighbor's kegerator, definitely a big highlight this year. Evan started preschool this year, big for him. If you asked Ellie, her highlight would probably be the fact that we had a lease membership at the pool this year, so she got to have her birthday party there. We also went to see Bruce Springsteen in concert, awesome. The Spartans made it to the NCAA basketball championship game, but lost to UNC.
Last but not least, the highlight of the entire year was finally going to Ireland. Did I seriously never get around to writing about that? Jeez, what a slacker.
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