As 2015 comes to a close,
it's time to post my annual list of books I've read in the past year.
I've divided them into fiction and nonfiction categories and rated each book
out of five stars.
Once again the number of nonfiction books I read is double the number of
fiction books. I used to be surprised by that when I was making up my list, but
not anymore; I just really enjoy reading nonfiction, I guess. But while
my fiction list may be comparatively short, it's high in quality. The one novel
I started and couldn't finish (what am I talking about? I could barely get
through two chapters!) was the much-touted Ursula, Under by Ingrid
Hill. (If you want to see the lambasting gentle criticism I gave it
in an earlier blog post, click here.)
I hope this post gives you some ideas of books to add to your own to-read
list. And please let me know in the comments if you've read some of these
yourself: I'd love to know what you thought of them.
FICTION
A Student of Weather (Elizabeth Hay) - Nine-year-old
misfit Norma Joyce, her perfect older sister Lucinda, and their widowed father
all have their lives overturned by a handsome young researcher, Maurice, who
appears on their doorstep. Norma Joyce's tumultuous long-term relationship with
Maurice is the focus of the novel. Hay's writing is beautiful (if a little
pretentious at times), and the book just gets better as it goes along.
* *
*
All the Light We Cannot See (Anthony Doerr) - This Pulitzer
Prize-winning novel is about two young people: Marie-Laure, a blind Parisian
girl who must flee with her father to St. Malo, France, to avoid Nazi
occupation; and Werner, an orphaned German boy whose mechanical skills earn him
a spot in a brutal training school for Hitler youth. Their parallel
stories are told in short, alternating chapters that slowly come closer together
and converge in 1944 when they meet in a moment of crisis and courage.
This book is absolutely awesome: it has amazing detail, beautiful writing,
memorable characters, and an overall sense of magic that persists even through
the tough scenes.
* * * * * +
At the Water's Edge (Sara Gruen) - American society girl
Madeline, her husband Ellis, and his friend Hank travel to a small Scottish
village in hopes of sighting the Loch Ness Monster and getting Ellis back in
his parents' good graces. As Madeline befriends the locals -- ordinary people
whom her husband looks down on -- she comes to realize the truth about her
husband, her marriage, and herself. This is fairly light fiction but a
much better book than the odd premise might suggest. I enjoyed it.
* * *
Longbourn (Jo Baker) - This novel is told from the point-of-view
of the servants in Pride and Prejudice, primarily the housemaid
Sarah. Not a sequel and not written in Austen style -- just a really good
stand-alone novel that imagines what might be happening behind the scenes in
the lives of 19th-century domestic servants.
* * *
Never Let Me Go (Kazuo Ishiguro) - This novel consists of
narrator Kathy's recollections of her time in an ominous English boarding
school called Hailsham, and particularly of her relationships with two friends,
Ruth and Tommy. Like the narrator in Ishiguro's The Remains of the Day
(which is one of my favourite novels), Kathy works back and forth through old
memories, trying to explain and understand them. But the technique that
worked so well in Remains doesn't translate here: Kathy is too bland and
faceless, and it takes too long to figure out the truth -- which lacks
emotional impact when we do finally discover it. I didn't care for this
book at all.
*
The Book of Negroes (Lawrence Hill) - This novel focuses on
Aminata, a West African girl in the 1700's who is taken from her family and put
on a slave ship to America. Her intelligence and usefulness to her captors (she
can read and write as her father taught her and can "catch babies" as
her midwife mother did) help her survive the brutality of slavery and racism;
but she suffers separation from her children and from her husband Chekura, who
was one of her original captors. After years in South Carolina,
Manhattan, and Nova Scotia, she eventually revisits her African homeland and
even travels to London to assist the abolitionist movement. Triumphant novel
with an inspiring main character.
* * * *
The Light Between Oceans (M.L. Stedman) - This is one of those
novels I'd heard about for a few years but hadn't got around to; after
finishing it, I was kicking myself for not reading it sooner. It tells the
story of a young couple in post-WWI England who live an idyllic life as
lighthouse keepers on a remote island. When a boat containing a dead man
and a living baby washes up on shore, the couple's decisions about how to
respond cause lifelong repercussions for an entire community. This
excellent page-turner of a novel explores themes of guilt and forgiveness in a
thoughtful, satisfying way.
* * * * *
The Secret Keeper (Kate Morton) - Sixteen-year-old Laurel witnesses a
crime involving her mother Dorothy and a stranger, but it is hushed up and she
doesn't begin to untangle the mystery until 50 years later when her mother is
dying. Laurel comes to learn the truth about her mother, who lived in London
during WWII; Dorothy's photographer boyfriend Jimmy; and Vivien, the mysterious
and beautiful woman who gets caught up in their lives. This book has
unique characters, great description and atmosphere, and an intricate plot with
a truly stunning twist at the end.
* * * * *
The Sense of an Ending (Julian Barnes) - Middle-aged narrator
Tony looks back on his youthful friendship with schoolmate Adrian and on his
romance with the enigmatic Veronica. Years later, when Adrian is dead and
Veronica is out of his life, Tony receives a surprising inheritance that forces
him to confront the past and realize that his version of events may be all
wrong. Fascinating short novel that raises many questions about time,
guilt, remorse, and memory.
* * *
NONFICTION
10% Happier (Dan
Harris) - The subtitle, How I Tamed the Voice in My Head, Reduced Stress
Without Losing My Edge, and Found Self-Help That Actually Works, pretty much tells you the whole book. Harris is a news anchor and reporter who was relying on drugs
and denial to cope with stress, until an on-air panic attack showed him he
needed to make some significant changes. He was initially skeptical about
meditation but is now a staunch advocate of its physical and emotional
benefits. Interesting and fairly entertaining book chronicling Harris's
personal journey.
* *
A Year in the Life of Downton Abbey (Jessica Fellowes) - This just-for-pleasure book is one of
several companion books about the popular TV show. Each chapter focuses on one
month of the year and has a different theme, such as The London Season,
Farming, The House Party, The Sporting Season, etc. The book combines
photos and behind-the-scenes descriptions of the show with information about
the time period, including recipes.
* * * *
Accidental Saints: Discovering God in All the Wrong People (Nadia
Bolz-Weber) - Bolz-Weber (whose book Pastrix I read and reviewed
last year) is a tattooed, foul-mouthed former alchoholic who is now the pastor
of the House for All Sinners and Saints in Denver, Colorado. (It is so hard to describe people in one sentence without caricaturing them.) She writes
with honesty, humour, and vulnerability about her encounters with people inside
and outside her church, and how she is changed by the grace she receives from
the unlikeliest people and from the God who continues to use her even when she
feels most inadequate.
* * * *
Amazing Grace: William Wilberforce
and the Heroic Campaign to End Slavery (Eric
Metaxas) - Accessible, inspiring biography of the British MP and activist
William Wilberforce, whose fight against slavery and the slave trade changed
the world.
* * * *
An Altar in the World (Barbara Brown Taylor) - A book of lovely
essays reflecting on how the sacred is found not just in church but in the
mundane things of life.
* * *
A Walk in the Woods (Bill Bryson) is about Bryson's adventures
walking the Appalachian Trail with his eccentric friend Katz. Full of
interesting historical and natural detail and social commentary -- and so
funny.
* * * *
Being Mortal (Atul
Gawande) - Excellent book exploring the the aging process and the tension
between what medicine can do and what it should do -- using case
studies including Gawande's own father. Argues that when dying people are told
the truth and invited to share their fears, goals, and hopes, it is much easier
for them to make wise and brave decisions about end-of-life care and treatment.
* * * * *
Born on a Blue Day (Daniel Tammet) - Tammet is an English man who
has Asperger Syndrome and is a savant with amazing math and memory
skills. Very interesting autobiography told in a clear, engaging style.
*
* *
Fierce Convictions: The
Extraordinary Life of Hannah More - Poet, Reformer, Abolitionist (Karen Swallow Prior) - In the 18th
and 19th centuries More was an influential writer, teacher, and social reformer
who moved in elite political and social circles, counting Samuel Johnson, John
Newton, and William Wilberforce among her friends. It's impressive to read
how More and her friends mentored and exhorted each other in their tireless efforts to teach the poor, write literature encouraging good living, advocate for
animal rights, protest the slave trade, and engage in other activist
pursuits. Prior strikes the perfect balance of scholarship and storytelling, bringing to life a woman whose life and influence may not be familiar to many readers.
* * * *
Forgiving Our Fathers and Mothers (Leslie Leyland Fields) - Drawing on her own experience with an
emotionally (and often physically) absent father, Fields explores the process
of forgiving parents and moving into healing and freedom. Fields
acknowledges that the resolution of relationships is not always tidy like the
movies; yet the book is very empowering because it shows us that even if
"they didn't" or "he can't" or "she won't" --
maybe we can.
* * * *
Friends for the Journey (Madeleine L'Engle and Luci Shaw) - A
collection of reflections, interviews, and poems on the theme of friendship by
writers and longtime friends Shaw and (the late) L'Engle. This book felt
a little dated and over-polished, but I enjoyed the poetry, especially Shaw's.
* *
Jesus Feminist (Sarah Bessey) - This book is neither a militant diatribe about the evils of
patriarchy, nor a dry treatise on how to correctly translate every Bible verse
that mentions women. Rather, it's a call to women to bravely follow the Jesus
who knows and loves them, and a call to Christians to participate in God's
"redemptive movement" by which He is moving His people forward toward
justice and freedom. In her warm, intimate style, Bessey tells her own faith
story and those of other women she's encountered in North America and
elsewhere. And with the intensity of a prophet, she urges the church to drop
the pointless debates about gender roles and instead focus on the work of God's
Kingdom, a work which includes men and women as equal partners.
* * * *
Rising Strong (Brene Brown) - Brown's newest book continues to
explore the themes of shame, vulnerability, and courage which her previous ones
-- I Thought It Was Just Me, The Gifts of Imperfection, and Daring
Greatly -- addressed. This book is specifically about how people pick
themselves up and move on after failure. Brown encourages us to walk into our
story, own it, and use it to practice a new truthful, wholehearted way of living. One of the concepts I found especially helpful was her discussion
of what she calls BIG -- Boundaries, Integrity, and Generosity -- and how
balancing those three in a healthy way can help us in many situations where we
struggle to know what to do. I loved this book and, upon finishing it,
would have immediately re-read it if I hadn't had to return it to the library
(oh, the trials and tribulations of the avid reader).
* * * * *
Rumours of Glory (Bruce Cockburn) - Huge, detailed memoir of
Cockburn's life as a musician, social activist, and spiritual explorer. I
particularly enjoyed the descriptions of his trips to many different parts of
the world, where he observed various conflicts and atrocities and composed
songs to bear witness to what he'd seen. The book focuses quite a bit on
Cockburn's spiritual journey. The fact that he no longer embraces orthodox
Christianity (but instead sees Jesus as "compassionate activist" and
"portal to the cosmos" and such) might be unsettling to some people
-- but I was actually more bothered by the depiction of his relationships with
women, who often appear more as a means to his spiritual development than as
equals. Yet overall this book gave me a fresh admiration for Cockburn's
skill as a poet and visionary. It's a must-read for any Bruce Cockburn fan.
* * * *
The Center Cannot Hold (Elyn Saks) -
Saks, a successful law and psychiatry professor, has lived with schizophrenia
since she was 8 years old. This fascinating memoir deals with her determination
to achieve professional success, her love-hate relationship with medication and
"talk therapy," and her social and personal struggles. A tough book,
but triumphant.
* * * *
This I Believe: The Personal Philosophies of Remarkable Men and Women
(eds. Jay Allison and Dan Gediman) - This book, originally based on a 1950's
radio program, presents several dozen short essays on the theme "This I
Believe." It includes many well-known figures such as Helen Keller and
Bill Gates, and many people who are not at all famous. It has an "America
is great" undertone that I found off-putting at times, but it's
thought-provoking.
* * *
What Remains (Carole Radziwill) - The author, a journalist, was married to Prince
Anthony Radziwill, who was a nephew of Jacqueline Kennedy; Anthony developed
terminal cancer just before he and Carole married, and he lived only five more
years. This fascinating but sad book chronicles the couple's
relationship and battle with the cancer, as well as the tragedy of the plane
crash that killed John Kennedy Jr. (Anthony's cousin and best friend), his
wife, and her sister.
* * *
When We Were On Fire (Addie Zierman) - Zierman grew up immersed
in 90's Christian culture: chastity vows, mission trips, and desperate attempts
to live the way she thought God (and her boyfriend) wanted her to. After
marrying and searching in vain for a true church home, she battled depression,
alcoholism, and disillusionment with the version of Christianity she'd been
raised in. An honest, grace-filled memoir.
* * * *
Writers on the Spectrum: How Autism and Asperger Syndrome Have Influenced
Literary Writing (Julie Brown) - Brown, a professor of literature, discusses
several famous authors -- including Emily Dickinson, William Butler Yeats, and
Lewis Carroll -- giving convincing evidence for the possibility that the writer
was on the autism spectrum. She then explores how that fact affected the
writer's genre choices, subject matter, themes, and style. In a final chapter
she discusses several autobiographies by well-known or lesser-known people with
autism or Asperger's (including Daniel Tammet's Born on a Blue Day,
which appears earlier in my list).
* * *
*********
Note: I'm linking this
books-of-the-year post (which I'm posting a little earlier than usual)
with Modern Mrs. Darcy's December "Quick Lit" linkup. Every month on the
15th MMD posts short reviews of books she's read and invites others to link up
their own blog posts on the same subject. This is partly where I get so many great ideas
of books to read.
*********
