Tanya's 2013 Book List - Part 1
I surpassed last year's total by almost 50% - mostly reading away those long dark evenings in Toronto and those sunny beach days in California. This year my total was 73 books! And I have no intention of trying to beat it again next year.
I love putting out this list each year and helping people find good (and bad/fun) books to read! Please share your 2013 favorites in the comments.
I love putting out this list each year and helping people find good (and bad/fun) books to read! Please share your 2013 favorites in the comments.
Some quick facts:
Total Books = 73
Audiobooks = 29 (40%)
Non-fiction = 20 (27%) *Down from 29% last year, so much for that resolution.
Mysteries (including spy novels) = 21 (40% of fiction read)
Started off the year with a good cozy/cheesy mystery. I only recommend this series to people who loved baked goods and don't care for either plot or good writing. Sometimes you just need a good cookie recipe read to you...
*2. Anna Karenina -- Leo Tolstoy
I finished this just before seeing the movie and I enjoyed both. Tolstoy does get a bit stuck in the details of wheat harvest and too many characters all have the same name, but it is an amazing piece of writing and an engaging character/country study.
3. Life of Pi -- Yann Martel
This reminded me most of those kid-survives-on-his/her-own stories that you read in middle school. I did enjoy the adventure but I didn't find it nearly as philosophical or spiritual as people seemed to make it out to be.
4. Murder in Mesopotamia (Hercule Poirot, #14) -- Agatha Christie "You disapprove of me, ma soeur? Remember, the pudding proves itself only when you eat it." - Poirot. I love Poirot and this was a good one with an archeological dig setting. You do have to ignore the occasional racist sentence...
5. The Cloister Walk -- Kathleen Norris (non-fiction)This book has absolutely beautiful sections, interesting insights of monastic life, fascinating history of saints and feminism - and then sections of tedious hand-wringing, strange anti-academic rants, and dismissal of city life. Nice short chapters mean that the ideas are always changing but it also makes it feel a bit scattered.
6. The Complete Maus (Maus, #1-2) -- Art Spiegelman (non-fiction)This was my first time reading this book. At first I just thought it was all about the holocaust, but its really so much more. It's about historical memory, family relations, guilt, the will to live, and history all in one. I read it in one sitting, staying up late to finish it.
I finished this just before seeing the movie and I enjoyed both. Tolstoy does get a bit stuck in the details of wheat harvest and too many characters all have the same name, but it is an amazing piece of writing and an engaging character/country study.
3. Life of Pi -- Yann Martel
This reminded me most of those kid-survives-on-his/her-own stories that you read in middle school. I did enjoy the adventure but I didn't find it nearly as philosophical or spiritual as people seemed to make it out to be.
4. Murder in Mesopotamia (Hercule Poirot, #14) -- Agatha Christie "You disapprove of me, ma soeur? Remember, the pudding proves itself only when you eat it." - Poirot. I love Poirot and this was a good one with an archeological dig setting. You do have to ignore the occasional racist sentence...
5. The Cloister Walk -- Kathleen Norris (non-fiction)This book has absolutely beautiful sections, interesting insights of monastic life, fascinating history of saints and feminism - and then sections of tedious hand-wringing, strange anti-academic rants, and dismissal of city life. Nice short chapters mean that the ideas are always changing but it also makes it feel a bit scattered.
6. The Complete Maus (Maus, #1-2) -- Art Spiegelman (non-fiction)This was my first time reading this book. At first I just thought it was all about the holocaust, but its really so much more. It's about historical memory, family relations, guilt, the will to live, and history all in one. I read it in one sitting, staying up late to finish it.
*7. The Children's Book -- A.S. Byatt (audiobooks)
This books still comes up in my thoughts and dreams, even 10 months after reading it. A.S. Byatt again weaves a perfectly magical, fully-realized world with real, intellectual, and complicated characters. The thirty hours of this beautifully-read audiobook stretch from the 1880s to the end of WWI, moving from peaceful English pastorale, to art-filled Germany, to the excitement of the Paris expedition of 1889. The characters are suffragettes, artists, socialists, potters, writers, bankers, lovers, free-lovers, anarchists - and all shift between these categories throughout the novel.
8. Astray -- Emma Donoghue (audiobooks, Canadian)
I don't typically pick up books of short stories but this topic, of people caught between 2 worlds - people in transition, intrigued me. The stories are more action-based than other short story collection that can be very introspective, AND they are all based on true moments in history. The end of each story tells where she got the idea for the story- whether from a newspaper, letter collection, book, etc. So cool!
9. Journey on the Hard Side of Miracles -- Steven Stiles (non-fiction)
A story of the adventures of a group of charismatic Christians traveling around the US in the 70s. There are some inspiring stories of faith and experiences with blending the "real world" and the world of church and faith.
*10. The Casual Vacancy -- J.K. Rowling (audiobooks)
I absolutely LOVED this book. Each character was ridiculous, insightful, and simultaneously manipulating and manipulated. The book touched on some real issues of bullying, drug use, NIMBY-ism, public engagement (or lack thereof), and all kinds of abuse. There was striving - sometimes making it, sometimes not. Rowling's language was beautifully descriptive and created such a great character in each person's head. I stayed up late last night finishing the book and I was absolutely shocked when I read all the negative reviews from critics.
11. The Restoration of Emily -- Moritsugu Kim (Canadian)Fun to read a book set in Toronto. Otherwise, I wouldn't have read it. As someone who is usually welcoming to the passing of the years, it made me dread reaching my mid 40s. And teenagers sound like a serious disaster to parent!
12. Travels in Siberia -- Ian Frazier (non-fiction)Great sections about Russian history that I knew nothing about before. He weaves travelogue memoir with bits of history (from Genghis Khan to the present) and Russian culture. Some of the travel stories got repetitive and I skimmed through his last trip to Siberia. But Russian does sound like a crazy place to explore and it was enjoyable overall, if about 150 pages too long.
13. Building Stories -- Chris Ware This book is a collection of graphic novels that you can pick up and read in any order, theoretically. Creative format (though the font was ridiculously small!) but a relentlessly depressing subject, with a sash of upset housewife in the suburbs and stressed-out mother. Not really the book for me.
14. Poirot's Early Cases: 18 Hercule Poirot Mysteries -- Agatha Christie (audiobooks)
I'm always happy when I get to slip into Agatha Christie's world for a few hours.
*15. Sweet Tooth -- Ian McEwan (audiobooks)
Beautifully read audiobook and an engaging spy/love story. It still has the flowing language that Ian McEwan is know for writing but also includes a plot that keeps the description moving along. Here's one of my favorite lines, "I was the basest of readers, all I wanted was my own world, and myself in it, given back to me in artful shapes and accessible form."
16. Sticks and Stones: Defeating the Culture of Bullying and Rediscovering the Power of Character and Empathy -- Emily Bazelon (non-fiction)
An important book about this hot topic. Bazelon is a journalist and so she knows how to write a good story about her characters, as well as prove her point. And one of her main points is that people can learn empathy - important to remember.
17. The Night Ranger (John Wells, # 7) -- Alex BerensonEntertaining thriller set on the Kenya-Somalia border. Not well-written but it was fun to read about aid-workers and their escapades.
*18. Someone Knows My Name -- Lawrence Hill (Canadian)A truly stunning piece of fiction. It covers life in 3 continents from the 1750s-1800s with lots of interesting details about the slave trade, Black Loyalists, Freetown, Sierra Leone, Southern Jews, and so much more. Somehow the narrator manages to keep us riveted to the storyline, even through all the injustice, violence, death, and exile.
19. The Mysterious Affair at Styles (Hercule Poirot #1) -- Agatha Christie
Another one? Yes!
20. Wolf Hall -- Hilary Mantel (audiobooks)This book is clearly well-researched and written in a beautiful prose. It didn't grab me in the way that other historical fiction does, maybe precisely because it was so well-researched that it expected me to have done the research too, to keep up with all the references to characters and places. I did sympathize with Cromwell though and I liked following his character.
21. Speaking as a Leader: How to Lead Every Time You Speak...from Board Rooms to Meeting Rooms, from Town Halls to Phone Calls -- Judith Humphrey (non-fiction, Canadian)This is a great practical guide for speaking clearly and on message. It had good examples for all types of speaking (from presentations, to meetings, to casual conversations), and for how to structure remarks in a coherent and inspiring way. It connects well with other discussions about the need to share the "why" of what you are saying (selling) and not just the boring "what" and "how" details.
This books still comes up in my thoughts and dreams, even 10 months after reading it. A.S. Byatt again weaves a perfectly magical, fully-realized world with real, intellectual, and complicated characters. The thirty hours of this beautifully-read audiobook stretch from the 1880s to the end of WWI, moving from peaceful English pastorale, to art-filled Germany, to the excitement of the Paris expedition of 1889. The characters are suffragettes, artists, socialists, potters, writers, bankers, lovers, free-lovers, anarchists - and all shift between these categories throughout the novel.
8. Astray -- Emma Donoghue (audiobooks, Canadian)
I don't typically pick up books of short stories but this topic, of people caught between 2 worlds - people in transition, intrigued me. The stories are more action-based than other short story collection that can be very introspective, AND they are all based on true moments in history. The end of each story tells where she got the idea for the story- whether from a newspaper, letter collection, book, etc. So cool!
9. Journey on the Hard Side of Miracles -- Steven Stiles (non-fiction)
A story of the adventures of a group of charismatic Christians traveling around the US in the 70s. There are some inspiring stories of faith and experiences with blending the "real world" and the world of church and faith.
*10. The Casual Vacancy -- J.K. Rowling (audiobooks)
I absolutely LOVED this book. Each character was ridiculous, insightful, and simultaneously manipulating and manipulated. The book touched on some real issues of bullying, drug use, NIMBY-ism, public engagement (or lack thereof), and all kinds of abuse. There was striving - sometimes making it, sometimes not. Rowling's language was beautifully descriptive and created such a great character in each person's head. I stayed up late last night finishing the book and I was absolutely shocked when I read all the negative reviews from critics.
11. The Restoration of Emily -- Moritsugu Kim (Canadian)Fun to read a book set in Toronto. Otherwise, I wouldn't have read it. As someone who is usually welcoming to the passing of the years, it made me dread reaching my mid 40s. And teenagers sound like a serious disaster to parent!
12. Travels in Siberia -- Ian Frazier (non-fiction)Great sections about Russian history that I knew nothing about before. He weaves travelogue memoir with bits of history (from Genghis Khan to the present) and Russian culture. Some of the travel stories got repetitive and I skimmed through his last trip to Siberia. But Russian does sound like a crazy place to explore and it was enjoyable overall, if about 150 pages too long.
13. Building Stories -- Chris Ware This book is a collection of graphic novels that you can pick up and read in any order, theoretically. Creative format (though the font was ridiculously small!) but a relentlessly depressing subject, with a sash of upset housewife in the suburbs and stressed-out mother. Not really the book for me.
14. Poirot's Early Cases: 18 Hercule Poirot Mysteries -- Agatha Christie (audiobooks)
I'm always happy when I get to slip into Agatha Christie's world for a few hours.
*15. Sweet Tooth -- Ian McEwan (audiobooks)
Beautifully read audiobook and an engaging spy/love story. It still has the flowing language that Ian McEwan is know for writing but also includes a plot that keeps the description moving along. Here's one of my favorite lines, "I was the basest of readers, all I wanted was my own world, and myself in it, given back to me in artful shapes and accessible form."
16. Sticks and Stones: Defeating the Culture of Bullying and Rediscovering the Power of Character and Empathy -- Emily Bazelon (non-fiction)
An important book about this hot topic. Bazelon is a journalist and so she knows how to write a good story about her characters, as well as prove her point. And one of her main points is that people can learn empathy - important to remember.
17. The Night Ranger (John Wells, # 7) -- Alex BerensonEntertaining thriller set on the Kenya-Somalia border. Not well-written but it was fun to read about aid-workers and their escapades.
*18. Someone Knows My Name -- Lawrence Hill (Canadian)A truly stunning piece of fiction. It covers life in 3 continents from the 1750s-1800s with lots of interesting details about the slave trade, Black Loyalists, Freetown, Sierra Leone, Southern Jews, and so much more. Somehow the narrator manages to keep us riveted to the storyline, even through all the injustice, violence, death, and exile.
19. The Mysterious Affair at Styles (Hercule Poirot #1) -- Agatha Christie
Another one? Yes!
20. Wolf Hall -- Hilary Mantel (audiobooks)This book is clearly well-researched and written in a beautiful prose. It didn't grab me in the way that other historical fiction does, maybe precisely because it was so well-researched that it expected me to have done the research too, to keep up with all the references to characters and places. I did sympathize with Cromwell though and I liked following his character.
21. Speaking as a Leader: How to Lead Every Time You Speak...from Board Rooms to Meeting Rooms, from Town Halls to Phone Calls -- Judith Humphrey (non-fiction, Canadian)This is a great practical guide for speaking clearly and on message. It had good examples for all types of speaking (from presentations, to meetings, to casual conversations), and for how to structure remarks in a coherent and inspiring way. It connects well with other discussions about the need to share the "why" of what you are saying (selling) and not just the boring "what" and "how" details.
22. When Will There Be Good News? -- Kate Atkinson (audiobooks)
This is one of her mystery series and a pretty entertaining one at that. Her characters are similar to those in Rowling's "Casual Vacancy" with religious fanatics, lost youth, and lone men. I think I got lost in what really happened in the end but I'd still recommend the series.
23. The Lace Makers of Glenmara -- Heather BarbieriA nice, easy read, complete with cozy depictions of Irish countryside and cottages. A good book to read before bed.
24. Mansfield Park -- Jane Austen (audiobooks)
One of my favorite Austen books; complete with perfectly awful, catty young ladies and arrogant young men. I downloaded this audiobook FREE on Librivox!
25. The Cat Who Said Cheese (Cat Who..., #18) -- Lilian Jackson Braun (audiobooks)
Another one of my cozy mystery series. And with a particularly fond connection because our cat Qwill was named after the amateur detective.
26. Beyond Good Intentions: A Journey into the Realities of International Aid -- Tori Hogan (non-fiction)This book reaffirmed a lot of what I already know from working with Spirit in Action for 5 years: the best aid programs are ones that are driven by local need and led by local leaders, and those that tap into everyone's compassion, empathy, and reservoirs of hope. I would recommend this book to anyone thinking of volunteering abroad or anyone who wants to be a better donor or aid-worker. It'd be a great book club read because of the good potential discussions about the nature of aid, international responsibility, social change, and poverty.
This is one of her mystery series and a pretty entertaining one at that. Her characters are similar to those in Rowling's "Casual Vacancy" with religious fanatics, lost youth, and lone men. I think I got lost in what really happened in the end but I'd still recommend the series.
23. The Lace Makers of Glenmara -- Heather BarbieriA nice, easy read, complete with cozy depictions of Irish countryside and cottages. A good book to read before bed.
24. Mansfield Park -- Jane Austen (audiobooks)
One of my favorite Austen books; complete with perfectly awful, catty young ladies and arrogant young men. I downloaded this audiobook FREE on Librivox!
25. The Cat Who Said Cheese (Cat Who..., #18) -- Lilian Jackson Braun (audiobooks)
Another one of my cozy mystery series. And with a particularly fond connection because our cat Qwill was named after the amateur detective.
26. Beyond Good Intentions: A Journey into the Realities of International Aid -- Tori Hogan (non-fiction)This book reaffirmed a lot of what I already know from working with Spirit in Action for 5 years: the best aid programs are ones that are driven by local need and led by local leaders, and those that tap into everyone's compassion, empathy, and reservoirs of hope. I would recommend this book to anyone thinking of volunteering abroad or anyone who wants to be a better donor or aid-worker. It'd be a great book club read because of the good potential discussions about the nature of aid, international responsibility, social change, and poverty.
27. Inventing the Loyalists: The Ontario Loyalist Tradition and the Creation of Usable Pasts -- Norman Knowles (non-fiction)Good, straight-forward, public history and historical memory book. I read this one after diving into family history, which include Dutch Loyalists who came to Fort Niagara from New York during the Revolutionary War.
28. Between Summer's Longing and Winter's End: The Story of a Crime (The Fall of the Welfare State, #1) -- Leif G.W. Persson
Intervals of this book were gripping - with really evil characters and an intriguing crime story - and then other parts were big slogs through boring details of Stockholm politics and inner monologues. It definitely fit all the stereotypes of a Scandinavian crime novel.
29. The Song of Achilles -- Madeline Miller (audiobooks)This is a beautiful love story of Achilles and Patroclus. The biggest strengths of the book are the lyrical language and the particularly well-described relationship between the two men. I definitely learned more about Greek mythology through this book than I have since high school, and I enjoyed this so much more than the Odyssey.
28. Between Summer's Longing and Winter's End: The Story of a Crime (The Fall of the Welfare State, #1) -- Leif G.W. Persson
Intervals of this book were gripping - with really evil characters and an intriguing crime story - and then other parts were big slogs through boring details of Stockholm politics and inner monologues. It definitely fit all the stereotypes of a Scandinavian crime novel.
29. The Song of Achilles -- Madeline Miller (audiobooks)This is a beautiful love story of Achilles and Patroclus. The biggest strengths of the book are the lyrical language and the particularly well-described relationship between the two men. I definitely learned more about Greek mythology through this book than I have since high school, and I enjoyed this so much more than the Odyssey.
30. A Rule Against Murder (Chief Inspector Armand Gamache, #4) -- Louise Penny (audiobooks, read-in-2013, Canadian)Louise Penny writes a darn good mystery. There are actually clues in the pages that lead up to the solution but it's not obvious along the way. She creates characters that are so (believably) mean that you are really ready for their comeuppance in the end. I loved that this one was set in a beautiful, elegant B and B in the woods of Quebec, and there were so many descriptions of good food. My kind of book.
31. Swann's Way (In Search of Lost Time, #1) -- Marcel Proust (audiobooks)Okay - I was listening to the audiobook and it ended abruptly after 10 hours and it was slightly confused but understood that there was so little plot that it could end at any moment. I later realized that I only listened to PART ONE of book 1 (Swann's Way) but even after realizing it I couldn't bring myself to listen to any more. I appreciated some of the beautiful description and liked the picture of rural France but, in the end (or I guess not the end...), I'm way too much of a plot reader to slow down enough to read this book.
32. Jesus: Uncovering the Life, Teachings, and Relevance of a Religious Revolutionary -- Marcus J. Borg (non-fiction)Another inspiring, well-writen book about liberal Christianity by Marcus Borg. This book tells the story of the life of Jesus, his teachings, and how he relates to God. As someone who places social justice as central in my life and work, my heart is filled when I read about the Jesus who preached to the peasants, told stories that made people think (parables), and stood up against authority (ie. working to subvert the dominant paradigm). This book, and all of Borg's books, brings a narrative of Christianity that grabs me, pushes me, and makes me proud.
33. Flight Behavior -- Barbara Kingsolver Kingsolver stands out from the crowd with her gift for beautiful description and interesting settings (recently a few set in the US South). For those reasons I really enjoyed this book and it kept me reading steadily to the end. On the other hand, although I felt empathy and compassion for the characters, I sometimes felt they were 2-dimensional caricatures rather than real people. Many of Kingsolver's other books benefit from multiple narrators and I think this one would have been much better if some of the other characters got their chance to tell the story.
31. Swann's Way (In Search of Lost Time, #1) -- Marcel Proust (audiobooks)Okay - I was listening to the audiobook and it ended abruptly after 10 hours and it was slightly confused but understood that there was so little plot that it could end at any moment. I later realized that I only listened to PART ONE of book 1 (Swann's Way) but even after realizing it I couldn't bring myself to listen to any more. I appreciated some of the beautiful description and liked the picture of rural France but, in the end (or I guess not the end...), I'm way too much of a plot reader to slow down enough to read this book.
32. Jesus: Uncovering the Life, Teachings, and Relevance of a Religious Revolutionary -- Marcus J. Borg (non-fiction)Another inspiring, well-writen book about liberal Christianity by Marcus Borg. This book tells the story of the life of Jesus, his teachings, and how he relates to God. As someone who places social justice as central in my life and work, my heart is filled when I read about the Jesus who preached to the peasants, told stories that made people think (parables), and stood up against authority (ie. working to subvert the dominant paradigm). This book, and all of Borg's books, brings a narrative of Christianity that grabs me, pushes me, and makes me proud.
33. Flight Behavior -- Barbara Kingsolver Kingsolver stands out from the crowd with her gift for beautiful description and interesting settings (recently a few set in the US South). For those reasons I really enjoyed this book and it kept me reading steadily to the end. On the other hand, although I felt empathy and compassion for the characters, I sometimes felt they were 2-dimensional caricatures rather than real people. Many of Kingsolver's other books benefit from multiple narrators and I think this one would have been much better if some of the other characters got their chance to tell the story.
34. The Sultan's Seal (Kamil Pasha, #1) -- Jenny White (audiobooks)
Can't remember much about this one except that it was a murder mystery set in the Ottoman Empire.
Can't remember much about this one except that it was a murder mystery set in the Ottoman Empire.
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