Year in Reading
December 17, 2011
Year in Reading: Emily St. John Mandel 2
by Emily St. John Mandel
There’s a body in the first chapter, but the real story here isn’t the crime; it’s the extent to which we’re willing to lie to ourselves, to ignore the obvious, in pursuit of happiness or companionship or love.
December 17, 2011
A Year in Reading: Jacob Lambert 2
by Jacob Lambert
I felt utterly rabbit-punched. It was the only book I’ve ever read that betrayed me in such a way — like finding that your cousin’s hilarious web video was directed by Adam McKay.
December 17, 2011
A Year in Reading: Patrick Brown 2
by Patrick Brown
Here was the reading experience I was looking for! I couldn’t wait to get back to it. I read it over breakfast, over lunch. I voluntarily took the bus to work, just so I’d have extra time to read. It was the book that reminded me what a pleasure a great book can be.
December 16, 2011
A Year in Reading: Parul Sehgal 1
by Parul Sehgal
I didn’t read — I succumbed — to The Journals of John Cheever. I was lightly drunk and working on getting more seriously drunk; I idly opened the book — and let it have its way with me all weekend in the spare room.
December 16, 2011
A Year in Reading: Christopher Boucher 2
by Christopher Boucher
To me, this is a sign of a great book: It not only nests in your memory, but weaves itself into your life, giving you language for something you already knew, and just didn’t know you knew.
December 16, 2011
A Year in Reading: Denise Mina 0
by Denise Mina
The writing is so crisp and clear that each sentence left me hankering for the next. More than that, and this is rare in biography, the book left me fond of the subject. I once cheered on a bus when Hemingway shot himself on page 998.
