Books – Page 9 – Life In Limbo

My Favourite Books of 2013

December 9, 2013

To me, it feels like 2013 went by in a flash. The past few years have contained so much, but this one contained an uprooting of my own doing. I chose to give up my adorable little apartment and leave all my friends – although to be fair, many of them were leaving me too – in pursuit of bigger and better things. I went on my trip and I saw plenty of big, beautiful things, but I can’t say whether they were better than my perfectly imperfect life in Montreal. I look back on my year and I can see that I lived bravely. I did things that scared me, sometimes once or more times a day. But I can see that I was not brave in my reading.

Reading comes with so much baggage. We all have these ideas of books we “should” be reading (ie. Oprah’s book club books) and ways that we “should” read (ie. read every book cover to cover, even if you don’t like it). But when we think like that, we miss the point of reading. Reading should be fun, or helpful, or calming, or exciting or interesting. Or all of the above! It shouldn’t be dull or boring or repetitive.

This year, when I was in the midst of all my brave living, I did a lot of comforting reading. I read to feel safe, to feel closer to home, to avoid feeling if I was already exhausted from all the real-life feeling I was doing. I don’t think I always did this consciously, but looking back it seems obvious. I didn’t read as many serious books, and I read a lot of non-fiction. I re-read books that are like comfort food for my brain (everything by Sarah Addison Allen). I read less serious books that were easy to read to take my mind off things. I didn’t tackle big, serious, important books that I wanted to read but just felt too tired to read. I just find it so fascinating that when I look back, what I chose to read sort of reflects the place I was in at that point in time.

And yet, I read the most books this year that I ever have before: 75. That’s a lot of books! I wanted to share a few with you, the ones that still stick in my mind or from which I still remember characters fondly.

The Sisters Brothers by Patrick deWitt: I read this one for my bookclub. There are certain scenes that still stick out vividly in my memory from this book, and our discussion of it afterwards was so great. Hearing people’s theories about the symbolism in the book was fascinating. It’s a quirky book, but really fun to read and very interesting. It’s like a more sophisticated, literary version of a cowboy western novel.

All My Friends Are Superheroes by Andrew Kaufman: I adore this book, I’ve read it twice now. It’s very short, only 100 or so pages, but there are scenes that are so touching or poignant or funny that they stay with me. The cardboard box scene! Be still my heart.

The Fault in Our Stars by John Green: I’d heard a ton of buzz about this book but never picked it up. I ended up reading it cover to cover on my flight from Toronto to Paris in July. It’s unstoppable. It’s sad and sweet and funny and perfect. I loved it and I’m sure I’ll soon re-read it.

The Year of Magical Thinking by Joan Didion: This was my first time reading anything by Joan Didion and I really liked it even though it made me sad. It’s about the author’s grief following the unexpected death of her husband. I loved the way she wrote and her way of describing her memories, but I read Blue Nights not too long afterwards and found myself growing tired of her style. Nonetheless, this was a very touching book.

Mr. Penumbra’s 24 Hour Bookstore by Robin Sloan: I’m a huge sucker for anything that involves a mysterious magical bookstore. The characters in this book were great, and I liked the story.

What Should I Do With My Life by Po Bronson: I found this book really comforting. It doesn’t tell you what to do with your life (though wouldn’t that be nice), but the author presents you with real stories of people from all different types of careers and backgrounds, and he explores various themes. He tackles questions like “does it matter if I hate my job and pursue my passions on the side?”, “does everybody get a passion?”, “is it bad to do something I really hate to fund something I really love?”, etc. It was fascinating and offered a really great dose of perspective.

One Day by David Nicholls: I’ve heard the movie isn’t very good, but I liked the book a lot. In essence, it’s about bad timing in relationships, which is one of those sad, bittersweet things I think we all experience sometimes. When she’s ready for him, he’s off gallivating, and when he’s ready for her, she’s engaged to some dashing French guy. You know, the usual. This book spans many years and I thought it was pretty touching and fun.

Oryx and Crake by Margaret Atwood: I read this book before my trip, so it seems like it was a lifetime ago. In my memory, it’s as if instead of reading this book, I watched the movie version. It was that vivid and action-packed. I haven’t read very much by Margaret Atwood, but this book made me see why she’s considered so great. It’s set in a post-apocalyptic world (a favourite type of book) that is not very far removed from our own, and it masterfully tells the story backwards, starting from the present and revealing little bits of backstory as it goes along. It was great, I’m looking forward to reading the next two in the series.

This list is probably not even close to complete. I didn’t mention the favourites that I read for the third time this year (Wild, Tiny Beautiful Things, Garden Spells) and I didn’t list ones that I loved but not quite enough to justify listing here. Heck, I’m not even sure I loved all these ones enough to be listing them here. However. To see all the books I read this year (I probably rated about half of them), check out my GoodReads. And add me as a friend! I love to see what other people are reading.

I’d love to hear what your favourite books were this year. Do you have any incredible book recommendations for me? I think I’ll be setting a similar goal of reading 75 books for 2014 so I need some suggestions! I’d love to hear about the books that changed your perspective or stuck with you for whatever reason.

Happy reading!

Read These Books by Sarah Addison Allen

April 25, 2013

Do you like a bit of whimsy?

Can you deal with the occasional cliché in your writing?

Are you partial to adorable love stories?

Do you like strong, complex female characters?

If you answered no to any of the above questions, these books probably aren’t for you. If you answered yes to them, however, you’re about to be blown over by a gust of warm wind that probably smells like raspberries and feels like love.

Sarah Addison Allen’s books take place mainly in the South, an area that has always grabbed my imagination with visions of heat, old-fashioned manners, big old trees, picnics, and long lazy days. The books take me right into that world, replete with fancy outdoor parties and baking cakes and falling asleep outside in the backyard and fireflies and small, quiet towns. I love that vibe, I can’t get enough of it. It’s a world where people carve the initials of their high school sweethearts into tree trunks and go star-gazing and there are local legends and magic in the air and quaint boardwalks and general stores. It’s sunny and happy! There is good food! What’s not to love?

All the books have a little bit of magic in them, magical things that happen to the characters. It’s hard to describe without giving examples, so: in Garden Spells, the plants and fruits grown in the backyard of one family have strange and subtle effects on other people, making them feel regret or love or any number of other things. In The Sugar Queen, one of the characters is always being followed around by different books that appear in her path just when she needs most to read them. In The Girl Who Chased the Moon, there are mysterious lights dancing in the forest behind the house at night. It’s never big magic that the characters do, it’s more like serendipity, happy whimsy that makes their lives sparkle.

But even though most of the time, the books are filled with love and sunshine, the author isn’t afraid to tackle difficult issues. She manages to work themes of domestic abuse, teen pregnancy, bullying, questioning one’s sexual identity, low self-esteem and lots of other types of turmoil into her books in a way that seems real. Those problems are a part of the characters’ lives, but so is love in all its forms: between sisters, aunts and nieces, brothers, twins, lovers, friends, old love, new love, every type of love there is. The love she describes is enough to conquer all the bad stuff.

I think what I like best about these books is how they make me feel. It’s exam season and I’ve had my fair share of stressful days lately. But I decided to start re-reading these books that I love so much and they’ve been buoying me up with a little love, a little comfort, a little joy and hope. They’re the perfect companions for my current high-stress lifestyle – they’re fun and fast to read. They feel like summer and home.

I’d recommend starting with Garden Spells, her first (and most popular) novel.

After that, there’s

..and she’s coming out with a new novel “Lost Lake” sometime in 2013. I’m jazzed, obviously.

I can’t really say for sure that these novels are for everybody. There’s probably a big group of people who wouldn’t like them one bit. But for me, they’re wonderful, and I like to share things I think are wonderful. I’d say if you liked The Night Circus, there’s a good bet you’ll like these too.

Happy reading!

Read This Book: Tiny Beautiful Things by Cheryl Strayed

November 19, 2012

Reading this book was practically a religious experience (and trust – I do not have those very often!). I read it in one sitting, which despite my love of books, does not often happen. I barely moved out of my bed for hours – hours that I barely noticed passing. Strangest part is, it’s not even fiction! Usually it’s novels that pull me in this much, but I think it must be the wonderful storytelling that this book is packed with that hooked me.

This book by Cheryl Strayed was a nominee for best 2012 nonfiction book on GoodReads this year, and I put it on my to-read list without thinking too much of it. I almost feel lucky that I decided to check it out of the library, because (*cheesiness alert*) I hate to think that I might not have read this book. I’m serious! It was exactly what I needed to read, exactly when I needed to read it. As a twenty-one-year-old who is weeks away from finishing her second-last undergraduate semester, this book was a salve and an inspiration. I know I sound totally cuckoo, and maybe I am, but it left a huge impression on me.

The book is a collection of the letters and answers to an online advice column called Dear Sugar. The questions range from coping with jealousy to dealing with rejection to leaving relationships to insecurities of all types to learning how to love again to facing reality. Those stories are all very interesting. But my favourite part is reading her answers, because they aren’t just answers. Yes, there’s wisdom (buckets of it), and many simple, simple truths (that everyone needs to hear, I think). But what makes this book so special is how the author weaves in the stories of her own sadness, despair, heartbreak, resilience, happiness, love, and strength. Reading these conversations is like a glimpse into the real, accessible, relatable world. The advice she gives is like a DIY guide to being a strong, healthy, capable adult.

I filled a few pages in my notebook with quotes from this book, and I am going to buy my own copy soon. I am thinking of giving this book as a gift to my close friends this Christmas – it’s that good, people! It’s one of those books that should be required reading, you know? Okay, happy Monday you beautiful souls – let’s all go and be better people today, shall we? xo.

(ps. get it here, if you’re interested)

Read This Book: Come, Thou Tortoise by Jessica Grant

November 5, 2012

The simple fact that we’ve done book club more than once means that I’m calling the endeavour a huge success. Neither time were we more than 4 people, but I’m going to go with the old adage “quality over quantity” on this one. Both our discussions were very interesting, and totally different, since the two books we’ve read so far have very little in common. And this second one, I can safely say it’s far and away my favourite of the two.

How to describe this book? It’s poignant. That’s the word that kept coming up in our discussion. Someone mentioned that the whole book is about grief – it sometimes barely feels that way when you’re reading it, but looking back at it, it’s very, very sad. But it seems also to have a strange glow about it, it’s somehow whimsical and special and happy in its own little way.

The story is about a girl, mid-twenties I’d say, named Audrey, who has a tortoise and lives alone, far from her home, in Oregon. She hears that her father has passed away, and flies home, leaving the tortoise with friends. When she gets back to St. John’s, Newfoundland, she has to cope with his death, and the sadness of both herself and her Uncle Thoby who has always lived with them. It’s incredibly difficult to explain the plot, since there are several flashbacks to her childhood and it’s mainly character-driven. But suffice to say that I didn’t find it boring in the slightest.

The writing is wonderful. As one of our book clubbers pointed out, each last sentence of a chapter is very beautiful and, well, poignant. The writing can at times seem very blunt and straightforward: there are no quotation marks for dialogue, nor exclamation/question marks. Our whole book club, I think, felt that this made you have to engage a lot more with the writing, sometimes having to re-read a sentence to see what sense it’s meant to be read in. And I love the style of writing, because it seems so honest, and while reading you feel as though you’re inside her head (or inside the head of her tortoise Winnifred, whose narrative is both entertaining and touching).

I can’t really pinpoint what makes this book so good. Would it help if I said I nearly cried a couple times, and actually cried at the very end? (I rarely cry at books). Or that Audrey’s sometimes child-like way of looking at the world is so endearing and, at times, relatable? Or that it makes you want to move to a small town and have a Great Safe Adventure with a few special people that you love very much? Or that although it’s sad, it’s also very funny?

For all those reasons, and many more, I adored this book. A review can’t do it justice, but rest assured it’s quite wonderful. If you don’t believe me, know also that it’s won awards and has great reviews. I really hope you give it a chance, it’s a lovely book.

Happy Monday everyone!