books i read in 2008

Cataloging the books I read in 2008:

The White Tiger by Aravid Adiga
Adiga's debut novel won the Man Booker prize, and it is a clever book that is structured as letters from an Indian chauffer who murders his master to the Premier of China. Funny at times and a different picture of India than some of the other books I've read recently from Indian novelists.

Suite Francaise by Irene Nemirovsky
This book was all over the place last year, and I finally got around to reading it this year. The author lived in Paris during WWII, and was deported to and killed at Auschwitz. This book is her work-in-progress that was found after her death and published. The official reviews are so laudatory that I really wanted to love it, and while I appreciated it as an incredible picture of German occupation in France during WWII, it was just OK for me.

Deep Economy: The Wealth of Communities and the Durable Future by Bill McKibben
I've always wanted to read something by Bill McKibben, who is at my alma mater Middlebury, and this book changed the way I think about my life as part of a community, and what makes me happy. I think that is saying a lot. Two months later, I am still thinking a lot about the questions this book raised, and the kind of participant I want to be in my own community. This book does touch on local food, which is a pet issue for McKibben who once ate local--and only local--for an entire year, but extends more widely to the broader benefits of local life.

The Bookseller of Kabul by Asne Seierstad
Sonali lent me this book in exchange for A Thousand Splendid Suns. It is such an amazing portrait of an Afghani family, I couldn't put it down. The author lived with this family for an extended period of time, adopting their customs and way of life, and writing their story.

The Last Life by Claire Messud
Dan gave me this book for my birthday remembering how much I loved The Emperor's Children last year. This book is definitely in contention for my absolute favorite book of the year, which makes Messud my favorite author two years running... The narrator is a 15 year old French Algerian girl, who recounts the story of her family who own a hotel in the south of France. It is an incredibly engaging story, beautifully written, philosophical but plot-driven. I just loved it. (As a side note, it turns out not everyone loved The Emperor's Children as much as I did, including my mother, so that's just a reminder to take my book advice with a grain of salt!)

The Shock Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster Capitalism by Naomi Klein
This incredibly well-researched book from journalist Naomi Klein draws links between economic and natural disasters and the forced advancement of the neoliberalist agenda around the world, and illustrates the similarities between human torture and neoliberalist policies (such as in the form of structural adjustment). It's a scathing criticism of Milton Friedman's Chicago School economics, and while controversial, is a really persuasive perspective and very readable. Not exactly a juicy bedtime novel, but very much worth reading.

Children Playing Before a Statue of Hercules by David Sedaris
This book is a collection of short stories compiled by David Sedaris. I loved some of these, some I was lukewarm about, but all are written by incredibly talented and well known readers. I now want to read novels by Richard Yates...

Bridge of Sighs by Richard Russo
I do enjoy Richard Russo--and I like that he's from Camden--but I did get a little bored in this character piece near the end. As you'd expect from Russo, it was a complex portrayal of small-town life and the characters were well developed, but... I don't know. I just lost interest, and it took me a while to finish.

Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett
I think I just had too high of hopes for this epic book. It was an interesting story, but I have to say that I didn't love it. I think Follett is a good storyteller, but I found the language and the writing a little more straightforward (e.g., Jack liked his sister...), and the characters less complex than I prefer.

Son of the Circus by John Irving
The incredibly imaginative and entertaining story of Dr. Daruwalla, and Indian relocated to Toronto, who writes action movie screenplays and helps to solve a murder mystery... This was just such a fun read.

Abundance by Sena Jeter Naslund
By one of my all-time favorite authors (you must read Ahab's Wife, if you haven't already), this is the story of Marie Antoinette, based an actual historical research. If you like these kinds of old stories, the writing and the depth of character just absolutely blows Philippa Gregory or Karleen Koen out of the water.

The Gathering by Anne Enright
This book won the Man Booker prize in 2007 and is beautifully written. Definitely not an uplifting story, but an interesting depiction of grief and hidden memories.

Lucy by Jamaica Kincaid
An old find from a thrift shop, this is the story of a girl from the West Indies who comes to be a nanny for a well-to-do family; it's written from a really interesting and different perspective and a sort of character novel.

Unaccustomed Earth by Jhumpa Lahiri
This is a great collection of short-ish stories and one novella by the author of The Namesake.

The God Delusion by Richard Dawkins
Dan gave me this one for Christmas this year, and I've finally finished it. Regardless of your religious beliefs, I think this is a really interesting read.

Peony in Love by Lisa See
This novel is by the author of Snow Flower and the Secret Fan, which I really enjoyed, and this is another quick-ish read that's easy to digest. Maybe a good summer beach book!

Through a Glass Darkly by Karleen Koen
This was an easy read about a high society family in the early 18th century in England. It went on a little long, but the story is so plot-o-licious that it didn't really matter. Good read for a beach vacation, an airplane, a lazy Sunday... I've been using it to balance out the other book I'm reading right now: Richard Dawkin's The God Delusion.

What is the What by Dave Eggers
Dan gave me this one for Christmas. It is the incredible true story of the one of the Lost Boys of Sudan, who was forced to leave home alone under violent circumstances at the young age of 6 or 7, and then travel on foot from one temporary refugee camp to another. An incredibly sad, but reflective life story. It gave me nightmares at times, but I highly recommend.

The Emperor's Children by Claire Messud
(My mother-in-law is keeping me in books!) This was easily one of the best books I've read this year - an incredible story, but also deep and thoughtful and intelligent. I read the whole thing in one day - a very long and wonderful Sunday on the couch with many tea refills.

The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield
(Another Marcy book!) I read this over our weekend at the Vineyard - it was an engaging story, but I have to admit it didn't strike me as a great piece of literature the same way others I've read recently have, like The Emperor's Children. Good for a lazy weekend when you want a fast-moving story.

The American Plague by Molly Caldwell Crosby
Another book-gift from Marcy for Christmas, this was non-fiction about the hold that yellow fever had on the United States around the turn of the century, and also the story of the doctors who worked (and died) to find the cause of the fever and a vaccine. Really interesting depiction of how scientific research was conducted a hundred years ago.