Anna's Best Books for 2008

I was inspired by Charlotte’s list of Notable Books for 2008. It has been a challenging and exciting year as we created our blog and wrote our thoughts on the books we were reading each week. So it is fitting that we should pick our favorites and share that list with our readers. I choose three fiction and three non-fiction books I have read and blogged this year. My Three Fiction Choices are:


“Out Stealing Horses“-by Per Petterson This wonderful book makes every list, including The New York Times 10 Best Books of the Year, because it is a beautifully written, wonderful story about a man who has lived his life and is looking back to the last summer he spent with his father and wondering what really happened.

“The Story of Edgar Sawtelle”-by David Wroblewski This story about a boy who can’t speak and the incredible bond he has with the fictionalized breed of dogs that his family raises is a joy to read. Again the writing is so good and the story is gripping, with a haunting Shakespearean theme.

“The Things They Carried”- Tim O’Brien writes a fictionalized version of his tour in Vietnam. You feel as though you are right there with these young men who lived and died as they fought that endless, unpopular war.

My Non-Fiction Choices:



“The Year of Magical Thinking”- Joan Didion writes about the absorbing details of the year she lived after her husband suddenly died. Her candor and strength are a joy to encounter. It is an unforgettable personal journey.

“The Diving Bell and the Butterfly”-Jean-Dominique Bauby, the editor of the French “Elle”, suffered a massive stroke. He could only move his left eye lid yet he devised a way to write a stunningly beautiful story of the survival of the human spirit.

“The Things That Matter”- Edward Mendelson has written an exploration of how seven classic novels teach us about life. It is inspiring to read how he connects these wonderful classic novels to the stages of life we all encounter.

Happy New Year and Enjoy Reading in 2009!

Advice from Maureen

Maureen Corrigan is always giving me ideas. She's the book critic on NPR's “Fresh Air”, so if I happen to have a pencil handy when she's talking I will scribble down her suggestions and file them away. Later, when I'm searching for something to read, I'll pull out the list. But by that time I've lost all memory of why she recommended a book. Was it a beach read? A murder mystery? A gift suggestion? I have no idea. But I decided to try one anyway – The Queen of the Tambourine by Jane Gardam. The cover said it was the winner of the Whitbread award, so I reasoned that it couldn't be too bad.

The book consists of a series of letters written by Eliza Peabody, an imaginative but isolated resident of posh Rathbone Road in South London, to her unseen neighbor Joan, whom she hardly knows. Initially these short notes seem to be the work of a patronizing busybody exhorting Joan to buck up. But by page five Joan has apparently fled and Eliza's letters become longer and longer as she describes her life spiraling out of control. Her husband has left her, she barely knows her neighbors, her only friend is a young man dying of AIDS in a hospice where she volunteers.

It soon becomes clear that Eliza is an unreliable narrator. Are the odd anecdotes, sometimes sad and sometimes hilarious, that she relates to the mysterious Joan in her long rambling letters really true? Or is Eliza losing her grip on reality? Gardam does a masterful job of describing the tipping point between sanity and madness where Eliza seems to be teetering. Slowly the roots of Eliza's unhappiness begin to emerge, and she changes from being eccentric, self-righteous and downright annoying into a sympathetic character, all without losing her quirky sense of humor.

I might quibble a little with the tidiness of the ending, but I did enjoy Maureen's choice.

Happy Birthday, Jane!

For a time, thanks to a gift from my friend Diane, I was a card-carrying member of the Northern California chapter of the Jane Austen Society of North America. In additional to the national organization there are about 60 regional groups (including Northern California) almost all of whom have some sort of celebration of Jane Austen’s birthday – which happens to be today December 16th (in 1775)! Completely by coincidence I have just finished listening to an audio recording of Austen’s Mansfield Park. My listening time is almost all centered around my running time and these last few weeks have been delightful thanks to this recording. While there is a plot, the novel was much more interesting to me for the portrayal of English manners. And while the heroine is Fanny Price, I was more interested in Austen’s portrayal of some of the other characters namely Fanny’s two aunts Lady Bertram and Mrs. Norris.

Lady Bertram, Mrs. Norris and Fanny’s mother, Mrs. Price, are sisters. Mrs. Price married for love but has ended up living in poverty, the mother of nine children with a drunken husband. Lady Bertram is married to the wealthy owner of Mansfield Park and Mrs. Norris is, at the time of the story, the widow of the former chaplain of Mansfield Park with reduced financial circumstances. The only resemblance between Lady Bertram and Mrs. Norris is that each is completely self-absorbed. Austen’s descriptions of them are gems of character analysis and writing.

When Fanny is eight years old, Lady Bertram agrees to take Fanny in to be raised with her own four children. Fanny is treated as the poor relation (especially by Mrs. Norris) except by one of the sons, her cousin Edmund. Most of the novel occurs when Fanny is eighteen and is occasioned by the visit to Mansfield Park of Henry and Mary Crawford (brother and sister to the wife of the current chaplain of Mansfield Park) and Mr. Yates, a friend of the elder Bertram son. So we have 4 Bertram siblings, cousin Fanny and 3 friends, all single and of approximately the same age. I’m sure you can guess where the plot is going - although it takes several twists and turns.

While the novel is generally noted for its satire, there are some serious reflections. Toward the end of the book, when Sir Thomas Bertram is disappointed by the actions of several of his children, he reflects on his failure as a parent in the children’s education and wonders if he is to blame – a passage to resonate with many parents in any time and place and financial circumstances.

Having enjoyed this book so much, I think it is time to renew my membership.

Join the Jane Austen Society

Download a free audio recording of Mansfield Park

Charlotte's Notable Books of 2008

The year is coming to an end, and Best Books of 2008 lists are appearing in many publications. So I decided to create one of my own, choosing my favorites from among the 38 books I have blogged this year. I tried to limit my list to three, but I found it hard to whittle down my choices. So I compromised with a top three and three more honorable mentions. In no particular order, here are my top three:










Last Night at the Red Lobster by Stewart O'Nan (Closing Time) – because its sympathetic portrayal of a day in the life of restaurant manager Manny DeLeon is a touching ode to the working man.

Then We Came to the End by Joshua Ferris (Office Life) – because Ferris perfectly captured the zen of office life with humor and honesty, and did it all while writing in first person plural.

The Yiddish Policemen's Union by Michael Chabon (God's Frozen People)– because I was blown away by Chabon's ability to create an entire alternate universe.

The runners-up are also terrific:

Lush Life by Richard Price (Neighborhood Crime) – because I love cop stories and Price's dialogue is fantastic.

Unaccustomed Earth by Jhumpa Lahiri (Transplants) - because each story is a little jewel.

Time Will Darken It by Will Maxwell – (Revisiting an Old Friend) - because Maxwell's prose is so beautiful.

Happy New Year - read a good book in 2009!