To celebrate my birthday today - turning a frolicsome 54 - I compiled a list of 54 favorite books. The majority are novels, but there are also mysteries (Daphne du Maurier), memoirs (Patricia Hampl), Vietnam books (Tim O'Brien), classics (Norman MacLean), short stories (Ellen Gilchrist), Pulitzer Prize winners (Wallace Stegner) and more. Not a mere list, though, but also descriptions and commentary to help fill those summer reading totes.
Author: The Longest Chapter
Kassie Rose is the book critic for NPR member station WOSU 89.7 FM in Columbus, Ohio.
He couldn’t stop
Walter Kirn's new memoir mocks the academic meritocracy that deemed him a scholarly achiever. "Lost in the Meritocracy: The Undereducation of an Overachiever" reveals he was a student who collected academic awards and prizes, honors and commendations, as if it were a game to be played and not an education to be gained. It's a sobering and funny book.
The answer’s in the carpet
"Of Human Bondage" is William Somerset Maugham's masterpiece and a classic coming-of-age story originally published in 1915. It follows protagonist Philip Carey, from childhood through young adult years, as an artist in Paris and a medical student in London. Along the way, he wrestles with the meaning of life.
“The Photographer”
Photojournalist Didier Lefevre traveled into the far northern reaches of Afghanistan with Doctors Without Borders in 1986. The leader of the expedition invited Didier so he could document the mission's effort to set up a small field hospital in the war-torn nation. "The Photographer" tells the mission's story in black and white photographs knitted together with prose and artwork in the style of a graphic novel. It's a visual treat.
The pony problem
Having come off two dark books, let alone a friend's doom and gloom email, I've been thinking about books that made me laugh. Sloane Crosley hits the top of the list with "I Was Told There'd Be Cake," as do two other all-time favorites.
The revolutionary road not taken
Richard Yates' 1961 novel "Revolutionary Road" now moves off my reading table. I read it compulsively, neglecting the books on my Currently Reading list. My attachment to the book - made into a movie starring Kate Winslet and Leonardo DiCaprio - surprised me.
Libby needs a happy place
"Dark Places" is Gillian Flynn's new novel set in Kansas during 1985 and the present. It's a fictional crime story about a family murder reinvestigated by the surviving daughter, Libby, 25 years after it happened. Had the author created a more convincing Libby, "Dark Places" would be a terrific story instead of acceptable entertainment.
Window on a sleazy world
Living in a drunken stupor may not seem like palatable reading matter, but Patrick deWitt’s unique style in his debut novel "Ablutions: Notes for a Novel" is – well – addictive. DeWitt's "Ablutions" is written in the rare second-person viewpoint.
No lucky guess, but a lucky child
In his moving Holocaust memoir, Thomas Burgenthal recounts the miraculous story of his survival in Auschwitz as a 10-year-old separated from his parents. In his Acknowledgements, he writes about the difficulties in getting his memoir published in the United States.
Ian Frazier turns 40. Huh? Make that 58.
The New Yorker, May 18, 2009, published a poem by Ohio author Ian Frazier claiming he's turning 40 "in just a couple of days." Of course, Frazier, a humorist, is spoofing the reality of 58. He was born in 1951 and graduated from Harvard in 1973.
Where do underpants come from?
Six books coming out this summer that are worth taking a look at, including works by best-selling novelist Richard Russo and journalist Bob Greene.
“The Little Book of Plagiarism”
Richard A. Posner's "The Little Book of Plagiarism" is an important book for every writer to own because, as Posner explains about plagiarism, "its boundaries are becoming vague and contested." He also writes, "digitization has made it at once easier to commit and easier to detect."
Jeffrey Fisher’s “Birds”
Artist, illustrator Jeffrey Fisher published a book this spring season featuring hand-painted portraits of 46 birds. Its title is simply "Birds," and the book is delightful.
The e-book lacks intimacy
Companies that do not love books, like people love books, are creating an e-reader revolution and making us want it. Hyping its efficiency and convenience and coolness. Its readable screens and easy storage. Its instant purchase gratification. Its iPod readiness. E-readers and e-books may better fit our lifestyle, but we'll pay the price of lost intimacy.
Three additions to My Reading Table
Three new books added to Kassie Rose's Reading Table: "Revolutionary Road" by Richard Yates, "Do I Dare Disturb the Universe?" by Charlise Lyles and "Loneliness as a Way of Life" by Thomas Dumm.
The Longest Chapter 