nomadreader

I'm sure those of you who participated in yesterday's 24-hour read-a-thon are in recovery. I wasn't able to participate this time, but I still managed to get in some reading yesterday. I'm currently loving Zoe Ferraris's debut literary mystery, Finding Nouf . I've been on quite a mystery kick lately. There's something about the cooler temperatures here in the northeast that makes me want to read mysteries. It's award week! If there were ever a week made for book lovers, this week might be it. Tuesday: the Booker Prize winner is announced (my mystery reading kick has kept me from finishing the nominees, but I'm looking forward to the announcement!) Wednesday: the National Book Award finalists are announced (the next reading challenge!) Friday: mystery lovers rejoice--the Barry Award & Macavity Award winners are announced   Saturday: Boston Book Festival! Boston Book Festival Saturday I'll be venturing to Boston for the Bost...

The basics: The Stuff That Never Happened is the story of Annabelle and Grant, who have been married for over thirty years. They live in New Hampshire, where Grant is a professor and Annabelle illustrates children's books. My thoughts: The novel starts off well. I adored the first chapter; it was smart, funny and a good introduction to the character. I really enjoyed Annabelle. Then the novel begins flipping back and forth between 2005, when Anabelle and Grant's marriage is floundering with their children now grown, and 1977, when they met. Initially, this alternation helps build suspense and provide an interesting take on the characters. I'm fascinated by tales of marriage, and its shifts over time (I am a newlywed, afterall!) As the novel progresses, however, it starts to fall flat because it becomes more obvious what must happen. The past chapters became dull, as it was clear the action was leading to something. The present chapters started to seem almost dishonest, a...

The backstory: Tinkers won the 2010 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction. The basics: George Washington Crosby, a clock repairer,  is dying, and his family has gathered around his bedside. From his deathbed, he recalls his life as he drifts in and out of the present. My thoughts: Tinkers is a language lover's novel. Harding wowed me with his words. Every word seemed simultaneously urgent, subtle and intentional. I admire a writer bold enough to use parentheses within parentheses. George Washington Crosby is simultaneously a reliable and unreliable narrator. He is not totally aware of what is happening around him as he lies waiting to die, but his memories are real: "George Crosby remembered many things as he died, but in an order he could not control. To look at his life, to take the stock he always imagined a man would at his end, was to witness a shifting mass, the tiles of a mosaic spinning, swirling, reportraying, always in recognizable swaths of colors, familiar e...

The backstory: The Girl She Used to Be was nominated for the Edgar Award for Best First Mystery Novel by an American Author in 2010. The basics: Melody Grace McCartney has been in the Federal Witness Protection Program for twenty years because she and her parents accidentally witnessed Mafia boss Tony Bovaro brutally murder a man. My thoughts: While I wouldn't call this novel a mystery, I did enjoy the story and characters. Melody is an intriguing narrator. She is truly alone in the world. She's lived through numerous aliases and has never been able to share her life story with anyone. Despite her lonely life, both Melody and this novel have a sense of humor. As the book opens, Melody is working as a math teacher. "Though I may be less effective than I hope; sadly, today is Tuesday and they are taking that pop quiz--the same day of the week, every week, that I give a pop quiz--and there are always a few who are surprised. Life will be cruel to them." It was a ...

The backstory: I heard Jennifer Egan speak at Book Expo America in May, and I was fascinated to hear about her writing process. She writes fiction in longhand and non-fiction on the computer. ( A Visit from the Goon Squad  has gone on to win the  National Book Critics Circle Award , the Pulitzer Prize , and be longlisted for the Orange Prize .) The basics: A Visit from the Goon Squad is the story of Bennie Salazar, a record executive, and Sasha, his troubled young assistant. Truthfully, though, there is nothing basic about this novel, and no brief synopsis can begin to express its scope. My thoughts: This book pulled me out of my mediocre reading slump. It captivated me from the first sentence: "It began in the usual way, in the bathroom of the Lassimo Hotel." The first chapter introduces us to Sasha, and the humor and wit of Egan's writing is entrancing: "Coz liked the couch, he'd told her, because it relieved them both of the burden of eye contact. '...

One of the coolest literary perks of living in Albany is the New York State Writers Institute and their Visiting Writers series. The Fall 2010 schedule has been released, but I'm only highlighting the ones I'm most excited about (the full list is here .) Salvation City by Sigrid Nunez Thursday, October 7 The early buzz about Salvation City has been amazing. It's the story of "an oprhaned 13-year-old boy who is adopted into a Christian fundamentalist community, and who struggles to make sense of life in the aftermath of the flu pandemic that wipes out much of the world's population." I'm also hoping she talks about her forthcoming memoir, Sempre Susan , about her long friendship with Susan Sontag. It will be published in 2011.   The Great Divorce: A Nineteenth-Century Mother's Extraordinary Fight Against Her Husband, the Shakers, and Her Times by Ilyon Woo Thursday, October 21 I've lived in Albany for a little over two years, and I'm...

The backstory: I really enjoy mysteries, and when I read my first Laura Lippman novel last year, Life Sentences ( my review ), I didn't really love it because I didn't think it was much of a mystery. I did think she was a good writer, though, and when I heard about her latest stand-alone mystery, I'd Know You Anywhere, I wanted to give her another try.   The basics: When Eliza was fifteen, she was kidnapped and held captive for weeks by a man who raped and killed young women. He let her go. He's now on death row, and she receives a letter from him that shatters her present world. She changed her name from Elizabeth to Eliza, took her husband's name and never speaks of the event. My thoughts: Once again, I read a Lippman novel I wouldn't describe as a mystery. The central mystery, if you can call it that, is the lingering effect of kidnapping. The novel is told in alternating chapters of the summer of 1985, Elizabeth's summer with Walter, and the pre...