nomadreader

Spotted on Twitter this most amazing correction from my beloved Ann Patchett to The New York Times: Puppy Love To the Editor: I was grateful to see my book “This Is the Story of a Happy Marriage” mentioned in Paperback Row (Oct. 19). When highlighting a few of the essays in the collection, the review mentions topics ranging from “her stabilizing second marriage to her beloved dog” without benefit of comma, thus giving the impression that Sparky and I are hitched. While my love for my dog is deep, he married a dog named Maggie at Parnassus Books last summer as part of a successful fund-raiser for the Nashville Humane Association. I am married to Karl VanDevender. We are all very happy in our respective unions. ANN PATCHETT NASHVILLE As an affiliate, I receive a small commission when you make a purchase through any of the above links. Thank you for helping to support my book habits that bring more content to this blog!

Happy New Year, y'all! As always, I start the new year by looking back at the best books I read last year. Admittedly, 2013 was not the best reading year for me. I went through several reading droughts and several slow blogging periods. I thought of walking away from this blog more than once (and I'm so glad I remembered why I love sharing my reading with y'all. I'll be sticking around for quite some time.) Despite some reading and blogging disappointments, the year itself was a delight. Mr. Nomadreader and I bought our first (and I hope last) house. I discovered my new favorite band, American Aquarium , and took a solo road trip to one of my favorite cities, Nashville, to see them in concert for my birthday. I continue to love my job and all around, I feel very blessed and happy. In terms of reading, I didn't even manage to read 100 books in 2013. (It's the first time since graduate school I haven't read 100 books, and I'm disappointed in myself for ...

The backstory: Ann Patchett is one of my favorite authors. See my reviews of her novels The Magician's Assistant , Bel Canto , Run , and State of Wonder . The basics: This is the Story of a Happy Marriage is a collection of personal essays. My thoughts: Longtime readers know nonfiction is not my favorite genre to read. Yet I adore reading the personal thoughts of fiction writers I admire, and I was eager to read Ann Patchett's collection of essays, even though I'd read a couple of them before. In the twenty-four hours I spent with this collection, I felt as though I was staying up all night drinking wine and talking to a friend. Patchett's essays are fearless. While individually they address different moments and themes, collectively, they read as a personal history. These essays are all autobiographical, and while some are more personal than others, I turned the last page feeling as though Patchett is my friend. While I think of her as a friend, the relationship be...

The backstory: The Magician's Assistant  was shortlisted for the Orange Prize in 1998. Ann Patchett is also one of my favorite authors, and I'm reading all of her books in 2012. When Audra asked if I wanted to read The Magician's Assistant  with her, I said "of course!" Read Audra's review of The Magician's Assistant  at Unabridged Chick . The basics: At the beginning of the novel, Parcifal, the magician of the novel's title, dies suddenly. Sabine, the assistant of the title, is left to grieve. My thoughts: After having loved State of Wonder  ( my review ), Bel Canto ( my review ), and Run ( my review ), I was convinced Ann Patchett was one of my literary soul sisters who could do no wrong. Sadly, I didn't connect with  The Magician's Assistant at all, and I struggled to even finish the novel. My problems with this novel really begin with Sabine. While I'm normally an empathetic reader, I found myself instead wanting to shake Sabin...

The backstory: After loving State of Wonder  ( my review ), I set out to read all of Ann Patchett's books. The basics: Run  is the story of the Doyle family: Bernard, an Irish Catholic ex-mayor of Boston, his deceased wife Bernadette, their adult son Sullivan, and their two adopted college ages sons, Tip and Teddy, who are biological brothers. My thoughts: I'm beginning to think Ann Patchett is my soul sister. Her writing reaches me deeply, and I've adored everything she's written. It was a special treat to read Run , the novel of hers I knew the least about going in. Although I had the framework of two of her novels and one memoir, I didn't know what to expect. Run  isn't as universally loved as some of her other works, so I was particularly curious to see how it measured up. Admittedly, Run  started off slowly for me. It took two chapters to really get into the heart of the story, but once it happened, I was hooked. One of the things I love most about ...

This spring has been a hectic one, and it's pulled me away from the blogosphere at times. Here are some of the things I've been up to: Elle  magazine Reader's Prize Each month, Elle  selects fifteen readers, sends them three books, and has each reader rank them and comment on each one. I participated years ago in the non-fiction category, but it was so much fun to participate in fiction this spring. Fiction and non-fiction alternate months, and then at the end of the year, all of the fiction judges will read the monthly winners and crown a grand champion. It's a book tournament all its own. Our picks appear in the May 2012 issue ( it's also online ), but I read them all back in February. The titles were: The New Republic  by Lionel Shriver ( my review ), The Red Book  by Deborah Copaken Kogan ( my review ), and The Beginner's Goodbye by Anne Tyler ( my review .) I didn't know how the votes turned out until I received my issue on my Kindle Fire last week....