I will reflect often on 2009. It starts here.
It’s the most wonderful time of the year! No, not Christmas. BOOKLIST TIME. There are a billion best of 2009 lists floating around out there, and as I am frankly tired of doing research for other people, you can find them yourself if you are interested. What this means is I can reflect back on my year and regret some things I’ve read and look forward to kicking 2010 (CAN YOU BELIEVE THIS? 2010!!!?) off with some exciting new reads.
I have mined the following from a variety of lists, and after frowning at myself for not having read them earlier, I am hereby promising myself that they are next up. Some are embarrassing. Some probably suck. Such is the nature of best of lists.
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- Lit: a Memoir-Mary Karr
- Raymond Carver: a writer’s life-Carol Sklenicka
- Under the Dome-Stephen King (I cave. I really want to read this. Blame the cover.)
- Family Album-Penelope Lively
- Follow Me-Joanna Scott
- Museum of Innocence-Orhan Pamuck
- Nocturnes-Kazuo Ishiguro
- Dorothea Lange: a life beyond limits-Linda Gordon
- The Mercy Papers: a memoir of three weeks-Robin Romm
- A Paradise Built in Hell: extraordinary communities that arise in disaster-Rebecca Solnit
- Both ways is the only way I want it-Maile Meloy
- A Short History of Women-Kate Walbert
So what I am doing now? I am reading Little, Big by John Crowley, which is essentially a 500-some page book about fairies and being secretly married to them and having your children kidnapped in the night. I think that’s what it’s about. It is one of those books that carries me along magically for about 25 pages and then drops me someplace weird in my sleep. I obviously love it, because who doesn’t love weird fantasy books, but oi! is it ever long.
Last week I trucked through Alicia Partnoy’s The Little School, because sometimes when my life is getting me down I need to be shocked into relativity by something gruesome and awful and real, and this did that.
Next week I will happily reflect on my year of goal achieving. More like 200FINE. I love the end of the year. Here’s to goals.