It was the year of the pandemic but also a year that provided a lot of opportunities. In the next few posts I’ll look back on some of the things that I accomplished. Today, books. I read 60 books, 9 more than I read in 2019. When you look at the list, you’ll see that I binged on a few authors, particularly Sara Paretsky’s that feature the hard-assed Chicago detective V. I. Warshawski and her band of friends and family. Ms. Paretsky will not be on my list next year unless she writes another Warshawski novel. I’ve read all of them. I thank my friend Thea for the introduction to Sara P’s work.
Anything that is a literary novel, was likely recommended by my niece Koren. She has great taste in books. One of the most uplifting of her recommendations was Baking Cakes in Kigali by Gaile Parkin. The story is wonderful, including the descriptions of people and places. The fact that I had visited Kigali, Rwanda several years ago made Ms. Parkin’s imagery even more real.
The duo Jean-Pierre Alaux & Noel Balen write a series of murder mysteries that feature a prominent French wine critic and his assistant. I enjoy hearing their descriptions of wine and the delicious meals they eat. I learned a lot about French wine and wine regions. The wine critic isn’t someone I’d want to hang out with, though, because where ever he goes in France, someone turns up murdered.
Someone asked me if reading a book again counts as reading a book. But of course! I revisited some of the books that made an impression when I was in high school by authors Pearl S. Buck, Ernest Hemingway, and John Steinbeck. The Good Earth impressed me as exotic back then, but this reading made me see how oppressed the women were and how cruel the main character was. Hemingway and Steinbeck stood the test of time.
I never read War of the Worlds, so I felt I had to give the classic a chance, and I’m glad I did. Flatland is another oldie. I wrote a separate post on that several weeks back. It’s terrific for getting an understanding of multidimensional physics, but not so good for the cause of advancing women.
I read are two historical books, one about photography and the other about the California wine industry. Both were readings I completed for courses that I took.
My favorite book of the year is A Prayer For Owen Meany by John Irving. It’s hilarious, irreverent, and sad. Don’t be put off by the length. It is 617 pages of pure genius.
Immigrant, Montana: A Novel, Amitava Kumar
Foul Play in Vouvray, Jean-Pierre Alaux & Noel Balen
A Prayer For Owen Meany, John Irving
Homegoing, Yaa Gyasi
Indemnity Only, Sara Paretsky
Deadlock, Sara Paretsky
Killing Orders, Sara Paretsky
Nose: A Novel, James Conaway
Anne of Green Gables, Lucy Maude Montgomery
Bitter Medicine, Sara Paretsky
Fallout, Sara Paretsky
Hard Time, Sara Paretsky
The Herd, Andrea Bartz
The Woman in the Window, A.F. Finn
The Glass House, Emily St. John Mandel
Blood Shot, Sara Paretsky
In the Heart of the Fire, Dean Koontz
The History of Photography: From 1839 to the Present, Beaumont Newhall
Photographing the Dead, Dean Koontz
The Praying Mantis Bride, Dean Koontz
The Mercy of Snakes, Dean Koontz
Memories of Tomorrow, Dean Koontz
Mr. Nobody, Catherine Steadman
The Shooting at Chateau Rock, Martin Walker
Lola Quartet, Emily St. John Mandel
The Vanished Birds, Simon Jimenez
A Wrinkle in Time, Madeleine L’Engle
When She Returned, Lucinda Berry
Crush: The Triumph of California Wine, John Briscoe
Burn Marks, Sara Paretsky
Guardian Angel, Sara Paretsky
Tunnel Vision, Sara Paretsky
Death at the Chateau Beaumont, M. L. Longworth
Murder in the Rue Dumas, M. L. Longworth
The Unspoken, Ian K. Smith
Manhattan Beach, Jennifer Egan
Disappearing Earth, Julia Phillips
Total Recall, Sara Paretsky
Less, Andrew Sean Greer
Blacklist, Sara Paretsky
Fire Sale, Sara Paretsky
Baking Cakes in Kigali, Gaile Parkin
Hardball, Sara Paretsky
Body Work, Sara Paretsky
Breakdown, Sara Paretsky
The Good Earth, Pearl S. Buck
The Old Man and the Sea, Ernest Hemingway
The Sympathizer, Viet Thanh Nguyen
The Pearl, John Steinbeck
The Red Pony, John Steinbeck
Flatland, Edwin A. Abbott
War of the Worlds, H.G. Wells
Critical Mass, Sara Paretsky
Brush Back, Sara Paretsky
Shell Game, Sara Paretsky
Dead Land, Sara Paretsky
Trace Elements, Donna Leon
Windy City Blues, Sara Paretsky
The Aosawa Murders, Riki Onda
News of the World, Paulette Jiles