2015 Book List
Note: Kindle version unless otherwise noted. Non-fiction unless (novel) is
appended.
Top picks (14): listed in order of preference
The Gardens of Kyoto, Kate Walbert (novel): Published in
2001, this book does not actually focus on the gardens of Kyoto, just the hint
of them and their “true” meaning: something other than actual gardens, the
ethereal representation of other worldly places. This wonderful novel makes use
of the subtleties of loss, memory, misdirection and the tragedy of war to evoke
emotions with simple words and events filled with brief, hesitant
conversations; almost a coming of age book yet it is the emotions not events
that are so gripping.
One of Us: the Story of Anders Breivik and the Massacre in
Norway, Asne Seierstad (translated): Chilling and suspenseful though
we all know about the slaughter of teenagers on an island near Oslo. We’re all
the hero of our own movie, even when it’s a horror film. Maybe more impactful
because of the translation, which is direct and somehow devoid of emotion,
almost clinical, even when describing emotions of those involved. Maybe that’s
Norwegian-style?
A Little Life, Hanya Yanagihara (novel): THB has an
adage for high schoolers that your college years are unduly influenced by your
first year college roommate(s). Hanya has now written 700+ pages proving THB’s
maxim! The book is haunting (THB had nightmares while reading the book), a tale
of unbelievable child abuse of Jude (the main focus of the book), told almost
matter of fact, in flashbacks, and his externally extremely “successful” life
from age 16 on. And, how often do you read a book that the only characters discussing
their emotions are male?
Ghettoside: A True Story of Murder in America, Jill
Leovy: a large and intimate picture of murders of and by black men in the inner
city of Los Angeles. A depressing story told with compassion for the victims,
their families, and the highlighted dedicated police officers who believe in
finding the perpetrators.
Bettyville: A Memoir, George Hodgman: George recounts his
life intermixed with a year in rural Missouri of helping his 90 year old mother
who has early dementia. Their relationship strongly resonated with THB: like
THB’s mother, Betty (only a few years older) was cold, lacked affection,
did/did not want his help, proud and disappointed in him, hard to please,
insistent. At the same time, George recounts making a life for himself in NY as
an editor, a gay man in the midst of the devastation of the AIDS crisis, and
his struggles with addiction.
The Night of the Gun: A Reporter Investigates the Darkest Story of His
Life, His Own, David Carr: The 2008 autobiography of the just deceased NY Times media
reporter. Novelized version of his life (i.e., the one “remembered”): a
basically good guy who took a couple of wrong turns and ended up in a ditch
(addiction). Reported version (i.e., a lot closer to the “truth”): a guy who
saw the sign that said dangerous curves ahead and floored it, heedlessly mowing
down all sorts of people at every turn.
All That is Solid Melts into Air, Darragh McKeon
(novel): The early days of Chernobyl, highlighting how fear and thuggery ruled
Soviet Russia, with an important essay at the back that explains the immensity
of the long impact of nuclear radiation. THB was reading this book when the
head of the Russian political opposition was assassinated, making it even more
poignant.
The Narrow Road to the Deep North, Richard Flanagan (novel): An Australian surgeon’s
life is recounted: from humble beginnings he becomes a surgeon, survives a
Japanese POW camp, mulls over the love of his life (his uncle’s young wife),
all written in direct and emotion-filled prose.
Infidel, Ayaan Hirsi Ali: Most of you have heard of Ayaan and this book, which is
a very powerful memoir. The question is: too strong on the condemnation of
Islam? For THB, a focus on the issues of women in subjugation regardless of
religion would have made for a more reasoned obsession, yet how can obsession
be reasoned?
Nothing is True and Everything is Possible, The Surreal Heart of the
New Russia, Peter Pomerantsev: THB’s annual foray into the land of things
Putinesque, this time how a “free” press can be used for promoting the current
tsar’s vision, even making up enemies to be destroyed by Mighty Man.
How We Decide, Jonah Lehrer (hardback): Another of
the oldies, pub’d in 2009. If you’ve been paying attention to all these
scientific studies of the brain in action and why we act the way we do (think
about social interactions, what influences us), then you’ve heard pretty much
every story Jonah has to tell. Even then, it’s a good group of stories well
told, all in one place, and since you’ve been paying attention, you’re six
years smarter now than Jonah was when he did the compilation.
The World Before Us, Aislinn
Hunter (novel): A lovely book, jogging back and forth between the 1870s and
today, following the life of a 34 year old museum curator and researcher of the
1870s who had a defining moment as a 15 year old babysitter when the 5 year old
she was helping watch went missing.
The Evil Hours: A Biography of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, David
J. Morris: A former Marine and now journalist gives a thorough history of PTSD
and the current thinking on treatments. Curiously, the only med that seems to
work on PSTD is propanolol, a drug that THB takes daily for helping with his
essential tremors. Coincidence? Both are off-label uses.
Girl at War, Sara Novic (novel): After a 10 year
old girl survives a horrific episode during the early days of the Yugoslavian
civil wars, she is sent to the US to join her younger sister with adopted
parents. As a young woman, after the wars have ended, she goes back to Croatia
to see if she can find her godparents.
Recommended (38): Enjoyed, listed in no particular
order (well, actually mostly in the order read)
Hold the Dark, William Girardi (novel): many dead
bodies in the cold of Alaska, with beautiful writing throughout
The Owl Who Liked Sitting on Caesar: Living with a Tawny Owl, Martin
Windrow: Yes, a man who had an owl as a pet. Lots about owls, and much about
this specific owl, from quite a few years ago.
Indonesia Etc., Exploring the Improbable Nation, Elizabeth
Pisani: a pretty decent eclectic primer of the recent history and vastness of
Indonesia, told from POV of a itinerant traveler island hopping.
Train to Warsaw: Gwen Edelman (novel): in the 1980s, a
couple makes a short bittersweet return to their shared memories of the early
days of the holocaust, in this fast/short read
The Boys in the Boat, Nine Americans and Their Epic Quest for Gold at
the 1936 Berlin Olympics, Daniel James Brown: A heartwarming
story reasonably well told about what it takes to be the member of team where
every individual has to give him/herself unselfishly over to the communal goal
to optimize their endeavor (what every coach/manager dreams of!).
Thieves of
State: Why Corruption Threatens Global Security, Sarah Chayes
(audio book, ready be the author): Goes in the “everybody knows” category of
books, with lots of historical perspective on kleptocracies. Big aha:
kleptocracy incites the rise of fundamental religious uprisings.
Olivier, Philip Ziegler: A
long bio of the great man of the theater, and you really get a feel for him
(and most of the famous British actors of his time).
The Removers:
A Memoir, Andrew
Meredith: A family and Philly neighborhood dissolves amidst stories of being in
a job picking up and cremating dead people before becoming a writer.
Naturalist, Edward O. Wilson: an
oldie autobiography, from 1999. Prescient ant scientist was on forefront of all
major (except molecular) moves in biology in the last 60 years. Still around,
now focused on saving species (and environment) from extinction (THB view:
nothing will work).
Can’t We Talk
about Something More Pleasant?, Roz Chast: A “graphic” (hey, lots of drawn pics)
memoir of her parents, focused on end of life. Slyly extremely insightful and
poignant. Obviously a fast “read” (hey, there are lots of pics).
A Deadly
Wandering, a Tale of Tragedy and Redemption in the Age of Attention, Matt Richtel: An
early story of driving while texting. THB strongly
recommends that if you are driving alone, put your phone in the trunk. And,
if you can find it, buy an analog car, not a digital one.
Bulletproof
Vest: The Ballad of an Outlaw and His Daughter, Maria Venegas: A
modern day killer (though not for hire), who was born and lived in Mexico and
spent enough time in the US that most of his kids still live In the US as
citizens. Maria, one of his daughters, separated herself from her dad after he
abandoned the family and 14 years later got to know him again, spent time with
him in Mexico, and maybe even forgave him his thuggery.
The Paying
Guests, Sarah Waters
(novel): set 1920s England, a couple rents space in a house belonging to a
widow and her 25+ daughter (who does all the housekeeping), who need income.
Sparks fly! A murder occurs, and the murderers live with regret. Anguish and
desire extremely well described.
Napoleon: A
Life, Andrew
Roberts: Long, very long, and took THB a long time to read. Enjoyable, a bit of
a compendium of other views of the guy from Corsica who grew up to be a famous
general, liberal Emperor, and outcast in the middle of the Atlantic.
The Marquis, Laura Auricchio:
More of interest because of Napoleon, the equivalent of Rosencrantz and
Guildenstern to Hamlet. Lafayette (De Lafayette in his own time) lived a long
life, spanning the American and French Revolutions, survived both with only
peripheral involvement, and maintained a lifelong jovialness that belied what
was going on around him.
The Last Kings of Sark, Rosa
Rankin-Gee (novel): light summer fare, done well with the usual Hollywood
ending except that they don’t have bright endings for threesomes, somebody had
to be left with only memories
A Sport and a Pastime, James Salter
(novel): Salter died in June, 2015, and this was his breakout non-military
sex-is-the-theme book, published in 1967. The main characters (she’s young,
perky, willing, easily aroused and French; he’s in his mid-20s, an American,
Ivy League dropout, lithe, easily aroused, no interest in working) spend 85% of
the book intimately embracing in bed, on the bed, near the bed, in the car,
maybe in the woods, mostly in hotels or on the way to or from hotels or long
meals.
Penelope Fitzgerald, A Life, Hermione
Lee: A biography of the British author (THB remembers reading only one of her
books, The Blue Flower, Fitzgerald’s last book, which he loved). This book
would be a top pick except THB started skipping the sections where each book
was dissected. Otherwise, it is a fascinating portrayal of a very interesting
person who came to authorship late in life, wrote both non-fiction and novels
(and book reviews, short stories, etc.), came from a very interesting family,
lived in near-poverty for quite some time, and was fairly represented in this
book (and had a challenging relationship with her oldest son!).
The Power of the Dog, Dan Winslow (novel): Pulp fiction
based on the Mexican cartels, the CIA involvement supporting right-wing drug
producing anti-communism groups in Latin American, the semi-delusional DEA
zealot, the beautiful whore and a stone-cold killer with a touch of innocence.
The Cartel, Dan Winslow (novel): More killings
in quantity, the vendetta between Art (DEA) and Adan (missing the accent, head
of one of the cartels) continues. True? Based on truth?
The Car Thief, Theordore Weesner (novel): Weesner
died this year, and this book was published in 1972 (another oldie for THB, a
trend?). A very accurate portrayal of a boy coming of age in the mid 1950s in
Detroit; accurate in the male sense of capturing the ambiguity of emotions, the
not-belonging, and the lack of self-awareness mixed with total self-indulgence.
Between the World and Me, Ta-Nehisi
Coates: The fish did not discover the ocean; a black man (journalist) writes a
short, powerful “letter” to his 15 year old son describing the racial, American
water they swim in. Accept his truth:
it’s his truth, not yours.
The Invisible Front: Love and Loss in an Era of Endless War,
Yochi Dreazen: A story of the growing number of suicides in the military, now a
top killer. Depressing as it isn’t enough to send unprepared troops off to Iraq
and Afghanistan, we’re also shortchanging them on treatment while in or after
being in the service.
Thank You For Your Service, David Finkel: Specific stories about
soldiers that suffer from PTSD and the many suicides. A companion book to The Invisible Front, though THB read them about 5 months
apart. It is very, very scary what Iraq and Afghanistan vets have to face
during and after.
Boy, Snow, Bird, Helen Oyeyemi (novel): A very unusual
book, dealing with different versions of hiding true identities, mostly taking
place in a small town in the 50s through mid 60s.
The Moor’s Account, Laila Lalami (novel): As told by a
slave brought from Spain, based on factual material detailing how the Spanish
explored Florida in the 1500s and went about enslaving natives.
My Life as a Foreign Country, Brian Turner: A memoir by guy who
followed in his family’s history of enlisting in the military, plus he’s a
poet. Another in the “why Iraq and Afghanistan were bad for all” books.
After Birth, Elisa Albert (novel): A jazzy version
of what it feels like to go through a tough C-section and post-partum blues.
Young women read this at your peril: you may not want to have kids or, at
least, skip the first year after delivering!
Outline, Rachel Cusk (novel): A few dinners with different Greek Andres? Deep
(and short) philosophical discussions with various people on a plane and in
Athens. Just THB’s style!
The Man Who Couldn’t Stop OCD and the True Story of a Life
Lost in Thought, David Adam. It appears everyone is a little OCD; if you
have it beyond a few random obsessive thoughts, you’d know. The author, a
British science journalist (and a good one!), has the illness and his version:
thinking (from about age 19 on) that he’s going to get AIDS. The “solution” for
him: Cognitive Behavior Therapy (CBT) and Zoloft, in his early 40s. A very good
summary of the history of diagnosis and treatments (amazingly, lobotomies are
still a solution).
The Wallcreeper, Nell Zink (novel): The
plot: young, hot woman (narrator) marries guy working on stealth health project
after very short romance, moves to Europe, engages in environmental activism,
husband dies. THB does not think that this accurately represents what this
short book is about. There’s birding, philosophy of open marriage, female
sexual expression, Germanic male heaviness, and death. Maybe this isn’t what
the books is about either? It’s snazzy and engrossing.
H is for Hawk, Helen Macdonald: Grief
after her father dies drives the author into depression and extremes including
deciding to train a goshawk, all the while retelling T H White’s version from
the 1930s of dismally failing to train his goshawk. Stirs up THB’s own grief of
losing a parent, though actually White’s failure seemed truly tragic.
Green on Blue, Elliot Ackerman (novel):
Takes place in the territory between Pakistan and Afghanistan in the early days
of the American involvement in Afghanistan. A young man is driven by the code
of revenge for a bazaar bombing that injured his brother and ends up a soldier
with a chance for revenge. Written by an experienced Iraq and Afghanistan war
vet with obvious knowledge of the culture and history of the area.
Los Angeles, The Architecture of Four Ecologies, Reyner Banham (paperback): Another golden oldie, this one from
1971. Tons of pictures, this British architecture historian covers THB’s home
for his first 18 years with a very positive glow (wait, that was the smog that
was so prevalent in those days).
Hold Still, A Memoir with Photographs, Sally Mann (hardback): Interestingly, the memoir is better than
the photographs, which did not reproduce well, even in a real book (and there
are tons of photos, as expected from a memoir by a famous photographer). Another
one of those talented people who somehow brushed up against other famous (and
talented) people and had a fascinating family story (hers and her hubby’s) to
tell.
The Harder They Come, T.Coraghessan
Boyle (novel): Fast paced, retired parents dealing with a troubled grown son.
Anger everywhere, and the regret over the inability to change the path of
mental illness, big government, drug cartels in the forest, and aging.
Aquarium, David Vann (novel): another
short and fast paced story, this one from a 12 year old’s point of view, about
her mother’s past and the anger that came with that past.
Neutral (11): Something of value, not enough to actively
encourage reading (or listening)
The Third Plate, Field Notes on the Future of Food, Dan
Barber: tedious and correct: if you wanna fix the chain, you gotta fix all
parts of the chain, starting at the source.
Midnight in Europe, Alan Furst (novel): the master of
“just before WWII European intrigue” novel may have hit the wall
All the Birds, Singing, Evie Wyld (novel): nothing happens in
the present, key events are all in the past
Going Clear: Scientology, Hollywood and the Prison of Belief, Lawrence
Wright: Better (and way less depressing) to read the NY’er profile of Paul
Haggis. Paranoia, imprisonment, celebrities, and the cult of intimidation (even
of the IRS - yep, Scientology is big and dedicated enough to intimidate the
IRS, let alone members and ex-members).
Scareeeeee! And, yet, it seems like many members are helped by the
psychology of improvement.
Lila, Marilynne Robinson (novel): a great writer spends far too much time in
the head of one (semi-literate) character, far too much time.
A Brief History of Seven Killings, Marlon James
(novel): Odd book: fascinating story told from many viewpoints, and takes way
too long to get on with Jamaican / CIA machinations.
Unforgettable: A Son, a Mother and the Lessons of a Lifetime, Scott Simon (audio): During the last weeks of his mother's life, Simon recounts the events in the hospital while they reminisced about the juicier moments of her unusual life (she was not Jewish yet had three Jewish husbands, one of whom went to jail for cooking Nixon's tax returns) near show business (first husband was a drunk comedian) while pretty much raising Scott on her own during his younger years.
Wagstaff: Before and After Mapplethorpe, Phillip Gefter: Maybe not enough for a full biography, and not enough on the ravages of AIDS (both Sam and Robert died of AIDS). Lots of name dropping. Maybe better to read Just Kids and look for magazine articles on Wagstaff.
The Ways of Curating, Hans
Ulrich Obrist: A short book made up of short chapters on shows and philosophies
behind putting on art exhibitions. Worth reading, though repetitive.
The Rebellion of Miss Lucy Ann Lobdell, William
Klaber (novel): based on a true story of a woman posing as a man in the 2nd
half of the 19th century, even marrying another woman. Had to be a
novel, not enough is known about Ms/Mr Lobdell to make into a biography.
Medicine Walk, Richard Wagamese (novel): Just
okay, the story of a boy in the midst of discovering who his parents were wove
into itself a bit too much.
In the Something Else category (4):
The Trustee’s Legal Companion, Liza Hanks and Carol Elias Zolla
(niece!), in paper: Unfortunately, this book was of interest to THB, and very helpful
A Book of Walks, Bruce Bochy, in paper: Yep, by the
Giants’ skipper, a short little ode to a few different walks Bruce has taken, a
fundraiser for Wellstone Center, in the Redwoods near Santa Cruz.
In the Castle of My Skin by George Lemming Lesson Plans: THB downloaded the lesson
plans, not realizing that they were actually lesson plans, not that the name of
the book was In the Castle of My Skin and the lesson plans were there to help teach
the book. OOOOPS! Then THB doubled-down and ordered the paperback: 4 point
font. Not gonna happen: nothing to report!
The Defiant, M Quint (related to my bridgemate,
MQ), in paper: for Young Adults, THB liked it (making him a YA?). As B. Russell
said: the whole
problem with the world is that fools and fanatics are always so certain of
themselves, but wiser people so full of doubts. This book skews with the doubters, who keep
running into the fools and fanatics.
Not Recommended (and high likely not finished – 19):
The Rise & Fall of Great Powers, Tom
Rachman (novel): THB inadvertently read part of this book out of order. No problema:
the lead character is so amorphous that it didn’t matter: she was still
uninteresting, doing uninteresting things.
Killing the Messenger: A Story of Radical Faith, Racism's Backlash, and the Assassination of a Journalist, Thomas Peele: a very good story
very poorly told about the Black Muslims in Oakland. THB knew a few people
mentioned, not enough to save this slog.
Fourth of July Creek, Smith Henderson (novel): overly overwrought
The Dog, Joseph O’Neill (novel): blah,
blah, blah; THB has read several other books by O’Neill and enjoyed them. This
one: many words going nowhere
Baseball
Maverick, How Sandy Alderson Revolutionized Baseball and Revived the Mets, Steve Kettman: Too much on the
Mets and not near enough on Sandy, who was the one who got Money Ball rolling
for the Oakland A’s. DB’s bro, AEH, did some of the early arbitration work for
the A’s and gets a nice mention, well deserved. (Note: Sandy now also a baseball genius as the Mets made it to the
World Series!).
Reason In a
Dark Time, Why the Struggle Against Climate Change Failed and What it Means for
our Future, Dale
Jamieson. A very poorly worded title and the book ain’t much better. Which
struggle failed? Seems like the deniers won and everybody lost. We’re eating our way through every possible
resource. Remember, there are billions and billions of planets that at this
point we have no hope of screwing up. None! The top recommendation: Leave the
coal in the ground…DUH!
Barracuda, Christos Tsiolkas (novel): A
young swimmer cannot control his anger, ends up in jail, has his first gay
lover, and then becomes an assistant to stroke-like victim. The swimming is
extremely well written, the melancholy of the rest of his life is way too
melancholic.
Preparation
for the Next Life, Atticus Lish
(novel): another book focused on characters that are alcoholic, depressed,
living meaningless existences.
The
Betrayers, David
Bezmazgis (novel): THB must have been in another state when he read the review,
because melancholic Jewish contemporaries looking back at melancholic Soviet
Jewry is not his thing.
The
Invisible History of the Human Race: How DNA and History Shape Our Identities
and Our Futures, Christine
Kenneally: rehashed hash? So many chapters covering previously well-covered
history that THB never made it to the sub-title stuff. THB went back and looked
at the review and the reviewer must have started on page 145; Kenneally’s long
lost invisible cousin?
All My Puny
Sorrows, Miriam Toews
(novel): Too many puny sorrows treated like major sorrows for THB.
The
Visionist, Rachel
Urquhart (novel): Shakers in turmoil, characters a bit too oddball for THB.
Guantanamo
Diary; Mohamedou
Ould Slahi: Slahi “smuggled” out his story, being involved on the US side in
Afghanistan in the early 90s to being incarcerated from the early 2000s onward
because he knew Bin Laden. The story goes on for far too long (he is very
unlikely to have had anything to do with 9/11), as does the book.
Three
Minutes in Poland: Discovering a Lost World in a 1938 Family Film, Glenn Kurtz: there are lot
better versions of discovering a holocaust family history than this one, start
with one of THB’s top picks from 2013, The Lost, A Search For Six of the Six Million by
Daniel Mendelsohn (cited by Kurtz!)
Man of the Helm, Nina Stibbe (novel): from top to
bottom, THB recommends Love, Nina. This book needed to get out of the head of
the 10 year old narrator and into more adult thought.
The Fishermen, Chigazie Obioma (novel): THB should
know better, another story as narrated by a pre-teen, set in Nigeria and loaded
with fairy tales and not enough adults.
Things
Invisible to See, Nancy
Willard (novel): a freebie off Amazon, an oldie with too much of a touch of
fantasy for THB.
Galileo’s
Middle Finger: Heretics, Activists and the Search for Justice in Science, Alice Dreger: There should’ve
been a decent to very good book here. Unfortunately, stridency,
self-importance, over-justification, and killing off opponents took precedence.
Total Books: 84
The sort:
-
14 Top Picks: 6 fiction, 8 non-fiction
-
36 Recommended: 14 fiction, 22 non-fiction
-
11 Neutral: 6 fiction, 5 non-fiction
-
4 Something Else: 1 fiction, 3 non-fiction
-
19 Not Recommended: 11 fiction, 9 non-fiction
-
38 novels, 46 non-fiction
|
Total books
|
Non-Fiction/
Fiction
|
Top Picks
|
Recommendd
|
Neutral
|
Something Else
|
Not Recommendd
|
2015
|
84
|
47/37
|
14
Total
8/6
|
36
Total
22/14
|
11
Total
5/6
|
4
Total
3/1
|
19
Total
8/11
|
2014
|
95
|
48/46
|
8
(+2) Total
4/4
|
36
Total 22/14
|
29
Total 12/17
|
2
Total 2/0
|
18
Total
6/11
|
2013
|
91
|
46/45
|
12
Total
5.5/6.5
|
42
Total 24/18
|
21
Total 12/9
|
3
Total 1.5/1.5
|
13
Total
3/10
|
2012
|
77
|
36/41
|
8
Total
4/4
|
26
Total
9/17
|
29
Total 19/15
|
3
Total
all
N-F
|
11
Total
6/5
|
2011
|
53
|
22/31
|
10
Total
4/6
|
25
Total
13/12
|
11
Total
5/6
|
-
|
7
Total
All
Fiction
|
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