As the holiday season bears down upon us, I wish you all a happy and healthy holiday and New Year. But I also wish for all of us a few minutes, sometime during the mania of the holidays, to sit down, quietly, away from our work and our computers, to just be with family or friends, or even ourselves. That is what I hope to do from time to time over the next couple of weeks. And so this will be my last post of 2014, and what better way to bow out of this year than to look back at all the books that have travelled with me, both literally and metaphorically, and take note. I do this every year on my blog, and I make the same statement, namely that these listed are novels or non-fiction rather than poetry or plays. For no reason, really, but just convenience. I hope you find the list interesting, but much more importantly, Happy Holidays and a wonderful, healthy and fulfilling New Year to you all!!
The Opposite of Fate, Amy Tan: Fabulous, funny, moving essays about her life and work
Scales to Scalpels, Lisa Wong: written by my friend who is both a doctor and accomplished violinist, about the intersection between medicine and music and philanthropy.
The Valley of Amazement, Amy Tan: fascinating story about a Chinese courtesan. Great characters and writing, but I felt the pacing got bogged down by too much research included in the narrative.
The Secret History,Donna Tart: A book I’ve been meaning to read for a while. I found it a bit slow in the middle, but great at the end.
This Is The Story of a Happy Marriage, Ann Patchett: Wonderful essays about life and love. I adored this.
The Year of Living Dangerously, William J. Koch: I loved the movie and read this as research. An absolutely fantastic novel. Compelling and beautifully written.
Utz, Bruce Chatwin: A porcelain collector during WWII. Interesting, quirky.
Map of Lost Memories, Kim Fay: Historical novel about the Angkor period in Cambodia. Interesting, great characters.
The Quiet American, Graham Greene: A love story rather than a political thriller, which is what I thought it would be. But beautifully written within a moving plot.
Arthur’s Eventful Weekend, Mike Horwood: Really well-written and well-executed experimental novel of stream-of-consciousness narrative of a man on the verge of a life change. Really enjoyed this.
The Foreign Correspondent, Alan Furst: Interesting time period and characters, but not particularly well written or compelling.
Sweet Tooth, Ian McEwan: A very fun read. Some absolutely beautiful writing, all neatly wound up in the end, with great pace and drama along the way.
Lila, Marilynne Robinson: Another masterpiece from one of my favourites. A beautiful inner monologue which pieces together the entire trilogy. Slow, but purposefully so.
Through Another Night, Joe Stein: The 4th in his series of detective novels in which Stein has created a unique and really fantastic character surrounded by a world that feels all too real. Very moving. Loved it.
That’s it for now. See you in 2015!!!
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