nomadreader

When Thankfully Reading Weekend was launched two years ago, I wasn't able to participate much because I had to work most of the weekend (oh, graduate school...) This year, I'm blessed (truly) with a five-day Thanksgiving weekend, and I'm spending much of it reading. I'm also catching up on neglected review posts. My plan Seriously, waking up today and realizing it's only now the true weekend left me feeling relaxed, thankful and blessed. Mr. Nomadreader and I have planned a Mexican lunch out (festive, right?) followed by a matinee of The Descendents  (review coming this week). I'm excited it's movie award season and all the films I'm most excited about are finally coming out. We plan to be back home and lounging on the couch before five o'clock. I'm hoping to finish Winter Garden  by Kristin Hannah tonight. Then I'm excited to start A Bitter Truth , the third Bess Crawford mystery by Charles Todd. It came out at the end of August, and I...

The backstory: The Printmaker's Daughter  was published in Canada as The Ghost Brush. The basics: A sweeping tale of historical fiction, The Printmaker's Daughter  is the story of Oei, daughter of famous Japanese printmaker, Hokusai. My thoughts: As I think back on The Printmaker's Daughter , it surprises me how far the book took me along its journey. In some ways, it's difficult to review books that are so epic in scope and long. In other ways, however, I think this book is particularly hard to review. The story is the focus of this book, and Govier allows Oei to tell her story. As I read, I was immediately transported into nineteenth century Japan. This novel is rich with detail, which enchanted me as I read, but also allowed the action to drag a bit at times. The slight downfall of this novel for me, was its pacing. Govier's writing steered the story, but I didn't write down a single memorable passage in this 512-page book. When the story slowed, the book...

Last year I wrote about my love of the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade . It still baffles those who know me how much I love it. The cinnamon rolls are in the oven baking, but I'll wait to open the sparkling wine until Mr. Nomadreader wakes up (or at least have a few cups of coffee first.) We're hosting Thanksgiving dinner this year, which I'm incredibly excited about. Tonight we'll be putting up our Christmas trees (yes, I take on the fully nostalgic tree filled with ornaments of childhood, while Mr. Nomadreader decorates a display window-worthy grown-up tree.) We're a two tree family in a one bedroom apartment, and I'm so excited to celebrate our first Christmas in this apartment. This year, as I contemplate how incredibly different my life is than this time last year (is it possible I was still in grad school and fretting about pending unemployment this time last year?), I'm quite moved by the spirit of Thanksgiving and giving thanks. Here's an ...

Tonight, the winners of this year's National Book Awards will be announced. I mostly follow the fiction category, but I'm always excited to see which authors win across the board. This year in particular, several of the young adult and non-fiction titles sound quite appealing. For the first time, the National Book Foundation is offering a live webcast of the ceremony on its website . It starts tonight at 8 p.m. New York City time. I'll be watching live (perhaps even from my Kindle Fire , which is set to arrive today!) I managed to read all five of the fiction finalists this year, and I can honestly say I would be happy if any of them win . While I certainly have my favorites (more on that soon), the five titles are incredibly diverse and represent a fascinating combination of American voices in fiction . Although I had hopes for other titles to appear on the list, I welcome reading prize lists to discover titles I likely otherwise wouldn't have. It is incredibly...

The backstory: Binocular Vision: New and Collected Stories  is a finalist for the 2011 National Book Award . The basics: This collection of short stories is not connected by a common theme. The stories dart through history and feature numerous locations worldwide. Most stories do, however, feature Judaism or take place in Boston, and sometimes both. My thoughts: Mr. Nomadreader and I are huge fans of The Next Iron Chef,  the reality competition show to pick the next Iron Chef. (Stay with me here.) A recurring theme on the show is the danger of making duos and triples with the secret ingredient because it allows the judges to judge you against yourself rather than your competitors. As the only short story collection to be a finalist for the National Book Award, at times it felt Edith Pearlman is competing against herself, and it wasn't always successful for me. Pearlman is a brilliant writer and storyteller, yet my lack of fondness for short stories came th...

The backstory: Jesmyn West's second novel  Salvage the Bones  is a finalist for the 2011 National Book Award  and a finalist for the 2012 Dayton Literary Peace Prize . The basics: Salvage the Bones  is the story of Esch, a pregnant fourteen-year-old girl in New Orleans in the days leading up to Hurricane Katrina. Since her mother died, Esch helps care for her alcoholic father and three brothers. Much of the action also focuses on China, the pet pit bull who gives birth as the novel opens. My thoughts: When the National Book Award finalists were first announced , I had heard the most about Salvage the Bones  (of the three I had not read.) Two bloggers whose opinions I trust, Audra at Unabridged Chick and Heather at Raging Bibliomania , liked it but found the subject matter quite difficult. As someone who lacks an affinity for dogs and is downright afraid of aggressive dogs, I was curious  how the focus on pit bull fighting would work for me. In short: I...

The backstory: I've been eagerly awaiting Caroline Preston's latest novel since I first heard about it. The basics: The Scrapbook of Frankie Pratt  is, aptly, a scrapbook Frankie Pratt has made of her life. It's a novel in pictures, but not quite a graphic novel. Preston's words are as illuminating as the objects she pairs them with. Amazon allows you to download a sample , and it is worth seeing for yourself. My thoughts: I've enjoyed all of Caroline Preston's previous books, which are all so different, and this one is certainly no exception. I devoured this historical scrapbook even as I savored it. I could not wait to see where Frankie's adventures would take us, yet I hesitated to turn the pages because there was so much visual treasure to explore. In many ways it's a difficult novel to write about because the writing, which is quite strong, is not the star of the novel. It's a visual delight with remarkable depth and character development. ...