nomadreader

The backstory: Emma Donoghue is among my favorite authors. Room  remains one of my all-time favorite books , and I've also enjoyed The Sealed Letter  and Astray . The basics: Set in the summer of 1876 in San Francisco in the midst of the smallpox epidemic, Frog Music is the story of the murder of Jenny Bonnet, a cross-dressing young woman who dies in the novel's first pages. Her new friend Blanche Beunon, a French burlesque dancer and prostitute, tells the story. The action shifts between the days after Jenny's murder and a month earlier, when Jenny and Blanche meet. My thoughts: Although Frog Music  is the story of an unsolved murder, I'd classify it more as historical fiction than historical mystery. The mystery itself is compelling, particularly as the novel climaxes, but it's not what I loved most about this novel. As I read, I was immediately immersed in San Francisco in the summer of 1876. Donoghue strikes the perfect balance between vivid historical det...

The backstory: Although I'm not a big fan of short story collections, I am a big fan of Emma Donoghue and her varied work (my reviews of Room  and The Sealed Letter .) The basics: Astray is a diverse collection of stories.The characters and locations spread across centuries and continents. What unites them is a sense of theme: each story features a character who is somehow astray. My thoughts: The first story in Astray  didn't particularly captivate me. It's the story of a British circus elephant and his trainer as they prepare to move to the United States. It was enjoyable enough, but what really enchanted me was the unexpected author's note at the story's end. The story was rooted in history and based on real characters and events. As I continued to read, I looked forward to these author's notes. It was a fascinating glimpse into both what intrigues Donoghue and how much history the characters were rooted in. The collection's second story, "Onwa...

The backstory: The Sealed Letter , originally published in the U.S. and Canada in 2008, was released in the UK last year and was longlisted for the 2012 Orange Prize . The basics: Tracing the troubled marriage and divorce trial of the Codringtons, The Sealed Letter  is the story of women's roles in marriage and life in 1860's England. Emily Faithfull, a first wave feminist belovedly referred to as Fido, is a dear friend of Mrs. Codrington and finds her personal and professional reputations compromised in the ensuing drama. My thoughts: After reading and utterly adoring Room ( my review ), I was curious to read Emma Donoghue's historical fiction and see how it compared. I was immediately captivated by the setting, London in 1864, and with Fido. Donoghue is a wonderful writer of character descriptions: "What in another woman would strike Fido as hyperbole has in Helen Codrington always charmed her, somehow. The phrases are delivered with a sort of rueful merrimen...

2010 was a wonderful year of reading. I wanted to be a deliberate reader, and looking back on the books I read this year, I'm quite pleased with the quality of them. I stuck to literary fiction for the most part. I tried to read from the award lists, and I discovered many of these books on the award lists. Without further ado, here are my favorite books of 2010 (when I made my list, there happened to be ten!)  All the books I read in 2010 were eligible regardless of when the books were published. (Clicking on the links will take you to my full, original review. Clicking on the book cover will take you to it's page on Amazon.) 10. Trespass  by Rose Tremain (longlisted for the 2010 Booker Prize) I will remember 2010 as the year I finally read Rose Tremain. This hauntingly beautiful novel has stayed with me. Favorite passage: "Even here, where life went along more slowly than in England, she could sense the restless agitation people felt to make real and tangible to the...

There's been so much talk about reading deliberately this year. For me, the focus has been on the awards lists, but I've also tried to balance those with other new releases I think are award-worthy.  As a true list-lover, my first plans for 2011 reading are to read the Best of the Year lists. As a liberal, academic northeasterner, my go-to list is, of course, The New York Times . When their Top 10 Reads of 2010 were announced earlier this week, I was amazed. The Top 5 Fiction are: Freedom  by Jonathan Franzen The New Yorker Stories  by Ann Beattie Room  by Emma Donoghue Selected Stories  by William Trevor A Visit from the Goon Squad  by Jennifer Egan As someone who used to begin her goals with the New York Times  Top5 Fiction list, it feels amazing to have already read the three novels on the list. I'm rather ambivalent about short stories collections, so those may not even make it onto my list of books to read. As rewarding as it is ...

The backstory: I first heard about Room at Book Expo America, but when I heard it was longlisted for this year's Booker Prize (and now shortlisted), I was excited to have an excuse to read it sooner rather than later. (Update: Room has now been longlisted  shortlisted for the 2011 Orange Prize too!) The basics: Room  is the story of Jack, a five-year-old boy who has never left Room. He loves his Ma and he loves his life. He doesn't realize there's a world outside of room and that he and his mother are locked in Room without means of escape. If you're prone to visuals, Picador has a fantastic floor plan of Room . My thoughts: I'd like to introduce you to my new all-time favorite book . I hope this review makes me you read this marvelous novel, so I won't spend much time on the plot and particulars. I want you to experience them for yourselves as I was so fortunate to do. With that in mind, prepare for some gushing. Admittedly, the subject matter of this ...