November was notably wonderful. Enjoyed almost a week off of work around Thanksgiving. We hosted again this year, which is always part craziness and part delight. Ate way too much and watched some great football...so pretty much a typical Thanksgiving around here. I finished my work travel for the year, travel which took me back to Japan and Hawaii.
With regards to the books I read, it was a 4 star kind of month..with one exception, a 5 star awarded to a Picture Book, nonetheless! Selections by some of my favorite authors: Irving, Transtromer, Nesbo, Rush, Hosseini, and Diaz.
Here is a photo of my wife and I with our son enjoying the Thanksgiving Feast at his school. He insisted I dress up as a Native American (and his mom a pilgrim). They taught him and his class about the indigenous tribes and they played fun games.
With regards to the books I read, it was a 4 star kind of month..with one exception, a 5 star awarded to a Picture Book, nonetheless! Selections by some of my favorite authors: Irving, Transtromer, Nesbo, Rush, Hosseini, and Diaz.
Here is a photo of my wife and I with our son enjoying the Thanksgiving Feast at his school. He insisted I dress up as a Native American (and his mom a pilgrim). They taught him and his class about the indigenous tribes and they played fun games.
Now, on to the books...
The World According to Garp by John Irving First Printing **** John Irving is a master storyteller. A true shame this is only the second novel I have read of his (the first being A Prayer For Owen Meany). We first meet Garp's mother, the eccentric and soon-to-be-accidentally-famous feminist, Jenny Fields. Garp is an eccentric himself, altogether as unique and odd as his given full name, T.S. Garp. He becomes a great high school wrestler and shortly after decides he is meant to be a famous author, similar yet different from his mother (Jenny wrote an accidental manifesto for women-rights...a manifesto which spawned characters of all kinds to enter Jenny's and Garp's life in good and awful ways. Irving really shines when it comes to the characters he creates, characters such as Ellen James and the cult-followers called the Jamesians...so realistic I actually embarked on some research). Most of the novel is about Garp's eccentric life and his stories and novels he creates, along with the colorful people he is surrounded by. Funny, heartfelt, and wonderful! |
Nobel Prize for Literature - 2011 20 Poems by Tomas Transtromer First English Edition **** I am slowly working my way through all of the Nobel Literature winners, and I have finally arrived at one of the best poets of all time, Tomas Transtromer. I am part Swedish, this might be a reason why his poems really spoke to me. Poems filled with such beauty and imagery. My favorites within this collection (from 1954 through 1970): "Balakirev's Dream" and "Solitude". |
Nobel Prize for Literature - 2011 Bright Scythe by Tomas Transtromer First American Edition **** This collection encompasses most of Transtromer's famous poems through his entire lifetime. Some, of course, can be found in 20 Poems. Some of his poems can be strange and dark, yet they are all filled with such illustrious imagery. My favorites within this collection: "Baltics", "The Forgotten Captain", and "Sorrow Gondola No. 2". |
The Bat by Jo Nesbo Signed First British Edition **** Perhaps it's some minuscule undiscovered element within the Norwegian Sea which enables these Norwegian writers to write thrillers so well. Whatever it is, bravo! I read Nesbo's The Snowman years ago, not realizing at the time it was the 7th book in the Harry Hole series. It provoked me to collect all of the books in the series and The Bat is the very first. Where we meet Harry Hole and discover his backstory, his flaws, and his brilliance. His post in Oslo sends him down to Australia to help solve a crime, a murder of a minor Norwegian celebrity. We meet some interesting mates and goons and a mystery unravels. A great novel and hell of a lot of fun to read! |
Whites by Norman Rush Signed First Printing **** Norman Rush is a superb writer, in the vein of V.S. Naipaul and Kent Haruf. This is the 3rd book I have read of his and Whites is his first published work, a collection of short stories. Rush is a White-American who writes about Africa and its peoples, as well as the visitors of this great continent. Whites is filled with stories of Bostwana, Bastwana people, local customs and rituals, and Foreign Service Officers and other outside visitors. My favorites: "Bruns", "Near Pala", and "Alone In Africa". |
Sea Prayer by Khaled Hosseini Signed First Printing **** I have collected and read everything Hosseini has published. My favorite, of course, being The Kite Runner. Sea Prayer is more of a letter to a son than an actual short story. But it does not take away the brilliance and depth of beauty this short letter is filled with...not to mention the beautiful sketches that accompany the prose. They are refugees on the run about to embark on a perilous sea journey. I did choke up a little at the end, and I have no doubt that if there was more substance and length, a tear would have flowed down my cheek. |
Islandborn by Junot Diaz Signed First Printing ***** 5 stars for a picture book? Sure, why not? Diaz is the writer of the acclaimed Pulitzer winning novel The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao, so I already knew he could write. However picture books are an altogether different genre. He was able to pack in so much beauty, sadness, warmth, and creativity inside this gloriously illustrated book. I read this book aloud to my 6-year-old son on Thanksgiving morning and afterwards we discussed how we are from many places and it is a wonderful thing we are all so different. Islandborn is about a young girl who can't quite remember where she emigrated from since she was too young at the time. She finds a substitute for memories through the stories of others. "Just because you don't remember a place doesn't mean it's not in you." |
What did you read in November?
What are you currently reading?
Anything you recommend?
Thank you and don't forget to check out my Goodreads Page!
What are you currently reading?
Anything you recommend?
Thank you and don't forget to check out my Goodreads Page!