Best Books, My List from 2009

I know we’re more than halfway through 2010 but I’ve wanted to share my list from 2009 since …. well, 2009. This year my reading has been relatively light, but for the past 15 years or so I have been averaging about 100 books a year. So this list is the crème de la crème. It will not be like anybody else’s list and that’s the beauty of it. You don’t have to copy (unless you want to). You can discover what appeals to you and decide what is the best of the best for you. There are 8 literary fiction selections and one nonfiction. Since I read mostly literary fiction this is not meant to be a representative sample of what’s out there, just the best of what I read in 2009. I don’t anything so far for 2010 believe it or not, but I may revise that.


Here it is in no particular order:

1. The Age of Orphans by Laleh Khadivi

2. Lima Nights by Marie Arana

3. On a Moonless Night by Sijii Dae

4. To Siberia by Per Petterson

5. Winter Vault by Anne Michaels

6. Gourmet Rhapsody by Muriel Barbery

7. Desert by J. M. G. LeClezio

8. Sefarad by Antonio Munoz Molina

9. My Father’s Paradise: A Son’s Search for His Jewish Past in Kurdish Iraq by Ariel Sabar

Let’s start with the memoir, “My Father’s Paradise,” because my reasons for selecting this title are somewhat different than they are for the fiction selections. This book is so amazing and for so many reasons, not only to myself but to others I’ve heard speak about the book. It tells the story the Iraqi Jews and not incidentally a story of relevance to all Jewish people by telling a personal story of tragedy and triumph. The answer to the question of what happened to the ten lost tribes of Israel may find its roots in Northern Iraq and the Kurdish Jews who were speaking Aramaic until the middle of the 20th century.

Looking back at 2009 it was a very good year for reading and there were many tremendous books.

I would say that coincidentally but not intentionally that none of the fiction authors are American at least by birth. What does it say about about the type of book I gravitate toward? I ask myself the question. I do read many American authors, probably more American authors than any other. I would say that message is part of it but not all of it. I think this list reflects for me an appreciation of a writing style that is magical. You begin reading and you know. You are mesmerized and submerged by the writing itself. In some of the works more than others there is a certain poetry. These are not populist books. They don’t have a story in the typical sense. Of course there is a story, often an upheaval—personal and societal, but it is subsumed by the character’s internal experience, and the message follows like a lightning bolt.

Of this group of fiction Desert and On A Moonless Night stand out even in translation. Now another coincidence hits me. Both are translated from the French, but two completely different stories and authors. Desert tells a story 100 years in the making of the displacement of the Tuareg peoples of Morocco as a result of colonialism. On a Moonless Night tells the story of an elusive ancient scroll and the spiritual and political history of the Chinese people. Again, both are told through the eyes of a few characters and mostly one particular character.

The end result? I feel that I have also been on a journey.

LIBRARY BOOKS, KINDLE BOOKS, BIOGRAPHIES

It's the middle of the weekend and I'm still trying to make the time to read.  All good things preventing me. As of tonight I'm still reading "Lovingkindness" which is a shame because it's so good and it's so short I should have finished it by now.

I had one library book left over: "The Book of Fires" by Jane Borodale, a historical novel. I picked up five more on reserve to me--all looking good--and I don't think I'll find the time but I'll try. Here are the titles:

"Strangers" by Anita Brookner
"Private Life" by Jane Smiley
"Chef" by Jaspreet Singh
"Sima's Undergarments for Women" by Ilana Stanger-Ross
"The Rebellion of Jane Clark" by Sally Gunning

If I have to prioritize I'll start with "Chef" and "Strangers".  Somehow sooner or later they will all get read. 

In addition, I very unexpectedly receive an Amazon Kindle as a birthday gift, so of course I  bought two books for it. It's very easy to use, which I figured. I decided that long novels that would otherwise be heavy to carry around might be the thing and I can read a chapter a day. They were already on my wish list.  Here are those titles:

"Every Man Dies Alone" by Hans Fallada
"Matterhorn" by Karl Marlantes

I've already started the Fallada book.  Since it's dealing with Germany, World War II, and the  holocaust I can see that it's going to draw me in and envelop me. I think it's an important book, although depressing.  Not a book for the faint hearted,  I understand that the author wrote the book in 24 days in 1947 right before he died.  He had spent time in a Nazi insane asylum and was addicted to drugs and alcohol. Based on a true story of a couple who were trying to foment resistance against the Nazis by civil disobedience.

"Matterhorn" is being touted as the penultimate war novel and true to life, based on experiences of young American soldiers in the Vietnam War. I'm greatly looking forward to that book as well.

Another book on my wish list that would be good for the Kindle is a biography: "Edith Wharton" by Hermione Lee.  Although a definitive biography has been written of her, this one is supposed to cover new material.  I generally don't read biographies, especially long ones, and I believe this is almost 900 pages, but if it's about a person that intrigues me, whose supposed to be well known, but I know little about, I will buy it, put it on my coffee table for awhile, and read a chapter here and there--such as Maimonides and Chagall.  People who don't intrigue me enough to read their biographies are politicians and celebrities, but there are always exceptions. A couple of years ago I read "Sway: A Novel" by Zachary Lazar, not strictly a biography, but based on the early days of the Rolling Stones as seen through a journalist's eyes. A stunning book.  I try to keep an open mind. There's usually something to learn, but it's also a question of time constraints.

The Einstein biography by Walter Isaacson I wound up buying the hardcover, but listening to the audio version, and I did get through the whole thing. Einstein as an individual was fascinating and complex, beyond what he contributed to science and his life was fascinating. Isaacson also has a way of bringing it all to life that's accessible, full of insight, and enjoyable reading.

Librarian

Welcome Shyamoli, a librarian who inspires, bringing her passion for reading and literacy to a wide range of people. She is among the first if not the first to bring  authors and other programs to our local county branch library.  I look forward to her recommendations and ongoing support.

We do tend to read a lot of Jewish and Indian novels and stories, not necessarily planned, but if often works out that way, and the two sometimes intersect surprisingly.  One example that comes to mind is the wonderful novel "Baumgartner's Bombay," by Anita Desai about a sad Jewish man, a refugee, a misfit in his native Germany and a misfit in many ways in Bombay of the 1930s and 40s. Another is a memoir by novelist Vikram Seth (author of "A Suitable Boy" which Shyamoli is reading and which is sitting here on a bookshelf), "Two Lives" about his uncle  in WW II Germany. 

Books in the House

This seems to be the year of catching up with what I’ve been meaning to read as well as the newly published. I’ve had this book on my desk for a long time. “Sun After Dark: Flights Into the Foreign” by Pico Iyer is a book that jumped out at me, yet I kept putting off. I confess I can be lazy when it comes to reading nonfiction, especially essays, and they often turn out to be the most rewarding. One late night recently having misplaced my novel, I was again staring at “Sun After Dark,” began reading again and became entranced. My goal is to finish it this week. This collection published in 2005 seem as relevant as ever. Most of the places visited were just prior or subsequent to 911, which adds a layer to his experience. I love reading him for the poetry of his descriptions and for showing me people and places I would probably never encounter otherwise. Interwoven are visits or reminders of famous personages living and dead in far flung places. Among these are the Dalai Lama, Leonard Cohen, and W. B. Sebold. How unlikely a combination! All travelers of a sort. The dust jacket shows monks looking at Angkor Wat (Cambodia) shimmering in the distance. This underscores his fascination with the spiritual practices of the cultures he finds himself in, Buddhism, Sufi, and others.

To give you a taste, Iyer wraps each experience in a dream world, which it turns out is great reading late at night. Iyer has a “heady” experience, oxygen-deprived, visiting rock formations and touring a prison in two mile high La Paz, Bolivia, and travels six hours over dangerous mountain roads past roving bandits in order to get a flight out of Yemen. Japan, which is Iyer's current home, Tibet, Ethiopia, Easter Island, Haiti, and LA also round out the collection. I am not reading this in any particular order, but plan to finish by the end of the week. I want to find out how LA fits into this grouping. Iyer’s places are not all happy destinations and happy encounters, and that makes perfect reading.

What I'm doing today, August 1st

This is my first post on my new blog. It feels like a new life. Going out on the World Wide Web! I will be joined in this endeavor by a library friend, who will introduce herself soon hopefully and be posting regularly.  We are both avid readers and sometime writers of fiction, hoping to get published one day.  I'm getting ready to begin what looks like a weeklong celebration of my birthday! Happy 60th  to myself! Life just keeps getting better!

Since this is supposed to be about books I will tell you what I'm reading now, which is what I've been wanting to do for the last umpteen years.  This weekend I'm reading "Lovingkindness" by Anne Roiphe. Published in 1989 it is what I think of as an accurate portrayal, at least 20 years ago, of what many contemporary American Jewish (or do I say Jewish-American?) parents go through when their children return to the faith (called Ba'al Teshuvah).  This novel specifically concerns a mother-daughter relationship gone sour. I've read 150 pages so far and am liking it a lot.  There are so many different takes on this ongoing issue and I would love to hear from you all out there on the issue and the book.  For some it is not an issue, just a natural course of events, and for others it's family upheaval.

Time for the birthday celebration to begin!