What happens when you read a book by an author whose work is consistently, highly praised, and yet you're unimpressed? I discovered the first take doesn't always ring true. Here's what I experienced when I read "Married Love," a collection of short stories by Tessa Hadley.
Category: New Books
A grief unobserved
"La Petite" by Michele Halberstadt and translated by Linda Coverdale is a short (barely beyond 100 pages) memoir set in Paris 1968. It recounts events surrounding Halberstadt's childhood suicide attempt and demonstrates the devastating power of dismissive indifference. Michele Halberstadt is an award-winning French author, journalist and film producer. She's written a brave memoir that concludes with keen revelation.
A thin fabric of time and trust in Prague
"City of Dark Magic" is a fun novel to read. It's filled with mystery, time warp, musical references (Beethoven in particular) and a cast of colorful characters, including a 400-year-old dwarf. Pure entertainment.
The books I gave on Christmas Eve
Dinner at my house on December 24, 2012, included giving a book to each of my six guests. Here you'll find the titles of the books -- three novels, one short-story collection, one historical crime story, one allegory -- and how the selections were made.
Coming face to face with evil
Ian McEwan's newest novel "Sweet Tooth" is out; however, I pushed it aside, for reasons noted here, and selected a novel McEwan wrote before "Atonement" and even his Man Booker-winning "Amsterdam." It's one of his short novels, and it stirs up some interesting, philosophical questions.
Where’s the agreement? 2012 best books
How many lists of best books of 2012 can a reader take? They're spewing from media outlets like water from a broken hydrant. In a desperate measure to find some sanity in the mania, I cross-referenced four fiction lists to see which books they listed in common. The results are these five.
Everything happened. Everything fell.
Here's a book that's received a lot of well-deserved attention, a novel about two soldiers in Iraq in 2004 written by one who was there. Author Kevin Powers, however, is not only an Iraq War veteran, he also holds an MFA from the University of Texas at Austin, where he was a Michener Fellow in Poetry. These life experiences combine to create a powerful, unforgettable book, "The Yellow Birds."
A philandering poet’s fatal attraction
Deborah Levy's novel packs a punch in a mere 157 pages. She puts a deeply unsettling spin on the impulsive, lusty fling gone wrong when vacationing Brits invite a mentally unstable beauty to stay with them. They don't know her presence is dangerous, but we do, which makes this a tense, engaging read.
You’ll take leave of your senses
NYRB Classics reprinted Thomas Tryon’s 1971 bestseller "The Other" this month, a chilling story that sold millions of copies during its day, which was the decade of "Rosemary's Baby" and "The Exorcist." But of these three hair-raising novels, "The Other" unsettled me the most. Here's why. Also: An interesting database of 20th-century American Bestsellers book collectors will enjoy.
An accidental crime
Michael Kardos published his debut novel this fall, a thriller that starts with an annual golf get-together among three Princeton grads and turns nightmarish. His narrative style is brisk, making "The Three-Day Affair" a fast-paced read with surprises you won't see coming.
A forever within the numbered days
John Green's "The Fault In Our Stars" is a 2012 New York Times best-seller. Written for a young adult audience, it tells an unflinching love story between two teens with cancer. But don't for a moment believe 1) it's not for you because you're an adult; and 2) you need a hanky. Instead, be prepared with guaranteed reading time because you won't be able to put this book down.
The Best They’ve Ever Read
If you're looking for great crime novels to absorb you during reading time, here's a gold mine of suggestions. It's a list compiled and maintained by the owners of Partners & Crime Mystery Booksellers, a store in New York City that's sadly closing September 20, 2012. I've printed the list for future reference, and here describe my first three picks.
A Vietnam War novel from 1984
This is the kind of novel I would've stumbled on in an independent bookstore, if only those wonderful, passionate indie booksellers still dominated the brick-and-mortar landscape. Instead, I discovered "Fragments" by Jack Fuller online, while looking into a 1962 Vietnam pocket guide reissued by Oxford's Bodleian Libraries. Here's how the discovery happened.
Blunders of the lonely in 1950’s England
I purchased Peter Cameron's new novel "Coral Glynn" at Crawford Doyle Booksellers on Madison Avenue during a trip to New York. The clerk asked if I'd read Cameron before, and I said I had not. "You're in for a treat," she said. She was right. Also, heads up to those who love the book arts. Read the last paragraph to learn about the author's endeavors in this field.
Out of sync with the world’s ambitions
Mention the hippies of the 1960s and 1970s and those of that generation will instantly remember their peace signs, tie-dyed clothing, LSD trips and anti-government protests. Reading "Arcadia," a novel set in a hippie commune in upstate New York, those memories came back, only I experienced what felt like a more intimate view of this countercultural group. A moving fictional story written by the talented Lauren Groff.
The Longest Chapter 