Happy New Reading Year!
Sunday, January 20th, 2008“When you sell a man a book, you don’t sell him 12 ounces of paper and ink and glue – you sell him a whole new life.” ~ Christopher Morley
The January issue of O has Oprah lounging in bed in her lavender pjs reading the New York Times Book Review. Gee, that used to be me. NYTBR had the nerve to send me a special discounted subscription invitation. I’m still a little miffed at them even though it’s not entirely their fault (I blame our local post office). Who needs to spend money on a piece of paper anyway?
But on to better things….
Happy New Year!
While I don’t aspire to read a certain number of books a year, I reached a new number with eighty-two in 2007. I read more poetry and plays than previous years, and that was intentional. I put little more classics in my literary diet, and I hope to read more in 2008. I’ve decided that this year as part of my (obsessive) listing-making, not only am I going to log the books I read but also what year they were originally published. I thought about rating them too, but I don’t know….
I enjoyed all the books I read with the exception of Tipping the Velvet and Jude the Obscure. Actually, Jude was excellent, skillfully well-written, but good Lord, it was Drano-drinking depressing. I didn’t get around to reading a Christina Rossetti bio and as far as a western goes, Zane Grey’s Riders of the Purple Sage is the first book I completed reading this year. I liked it so much, that I may read the sequel The Rainbow Trail because I want to find out what happened with baby Fay. I’m even considering reading a Louis L’Amour book just to compare the two writers, just for fun. We’ll see….Reading a western novel was interesting because it got me out of my comfort zone. It kind of surprised me.
Anyway, my top ten reads in 2007:
1. Loving Frank: A Novel by Nancy Horan – This book was recommended to me by a friend. It’s the fictional account of the real affair and events that took place between Frank Lloyd Wright and Mamah Borthwick Cheney. I absolutely loved it.
2. Sister Aimee: The Life of Aimee Semple McPherson by Daniel Mark Epstein – I have a peculiar interest in religious attitudes and zealots. I’m fascinated with evangelists and the whole idea of influencing people with words, with an emphasis on showmanship. I don’t mean this in a derogatory manner, either.
3. Motherhood in Black and White: Race and Sex in American Liberalism 1930-1965 by Ruth Feldstein – Race relations, gender studies, American popular culture, extremely interesting commentaries on our society then and now, and more books and films for me to seek out. This is one of those books I will be referring back to.
4. Elmer Gantry by Sinclair Lewis – This is one of my all-time favourite films and I finally got around to reading the book. I’m just sorry it took me so long. I clearly saw parallels between Sister Sharon Falconer and Sister Aimee.
5. Mariette in Ecstasy by Ron Hansen – Religious life, stigmatism – all fascinating.
6. Stormy Weather by Paulette Jiles – Give me a story about women, and then give me one set in the Depression-era, and I’m all over it. This was one of a few new releases I read.
7. Sweet Smell of Success by Ernest Lehman (screenplay co-written with Clifford Odets) – I love reading about the seedy underbelly of the city (and small-town, as well), and especially about corrupt newspaper columnists, unscrupulous press agents, and running a daily paper; Walter Winchell type characters. I don’t know what that says about me, but I just love fast-paced, biting dialogue. This is another fave film too, with a great jazz soundtrack.
8. Rising from the Rails: Pullman Porters and the Making of the Black Middle Class by Larry Tye - Porters were generally African American and a few Asian men who were hired to assistant travelers on passenger trains. George Pullman’s company employed more black workers than any other corporation in the U.S. The book delves into the history of these men who were invisible yet always there to be “Ambassadors of Hospitality”, how they became unionized and Tye interviews a number of former employees and their grandchildren.
9. The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon – I was looking for Latin authors to read when I came across this book. It’s haunting and expansive and it’s about books. If it hasn’t been made already, this is definitely a novel that could be turned into a film, and Pan’s Labyrinth director Guillermo del Toro could be the one to pull it off. I believe Ruiz Zafón’s words together with del Toro’s vision would be magic. I wish someone would translate Ruiz Zafon’s other books.
10. At Home: Essays 1982-1988 by Gore Vidal – I had been looking for another Gore Vidal book to read ever since we saw him at the 2006 L.A. Festival of Books. A friend of mine read Lincoln and thought I would like it. But when I saw the size of it, I said no way. I can read ten books in the time it would take me to read Lincoln; it would take me five months to read Lincoln. I will never read that book. I’ll go watch the documentary instead, shoot. At Home is short, sweet and he writes affectionately about Tennessee Williams who I absolutely love and he introduced me to the writings of Dawn Powell.
Happy reading in 2008!