The Eustace Diamonds by Anthony Trollope

People who read a lot of Trollope tell me that The Eustace Diamonds is not one of his best. I really enjoyed it, though, so now I’m looking forward to exploring other books by this contemporary of Dickens.

Perhaps one of the problems others have with this book is that the heroine is not particularly likeable. Lizzie Eustace lies and schemes and manipulates in order to get what she wants. Mostly what she wants is to hang on to a diamond necklace her late husband gave to her. The lawyers say it’s a family heirloom and so she cannot keep it for herself. Lizzie insists it was a special gift from her husband and so it belongs to her. (She’s lying.) No one will yield.

Along the way, Lizzie almost becomes engaged to her cousin Frank, an attractive lawyer who needs her money, but who is in love with poor governess Lucy Morris. Then she does agree to marry Lord Fawn, who needs her money, but who refuses to follow through with the marriage unless Lizzie gives up the diamonds. Frank becomes engaged to Lucy, who is pure of heart and faithful to a fault, but he still feels himself drawn to Lizzie and to the way of life she could provide for him.

Yes, it’s a soap opera kind of book with a large cast of characters and long plot arcs involving love, marriage and money. There’s also a sly sense of humor at work so that I could sometimes hear echoes of Dickens and Austen. I liked it all, so much so that I didn’t want the book to end. I wanted to continue living in this world, watching to see what these people would do next.

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The Buddha in the Attic by Julie Otsuka

“On the boat we often wondered: Would we like them? Would we love them?
Would we recognize them from their pictures when we first saw them on the dock?”

This provocative novel tells the story of a group of young women coming from Japan to San Francisco as “picture brides” nearly a century ago.

Julie Otsuka’s luminous prose shares collective impressions of the women’s first glimpses of their new husbands-often to their dismay.  The reality of the men’s appearance and demeanor compared to the pictures they had been sent was beyond disheartening!

The author’s direct and powerful writing style in these entwined tales subtly augments the stark reality of the women continuing their lives in this new world and their struggles with a new language and culture so different from where they grew up.

Gloriously revealing a sense of time and place for the “brides” experiences ranging from their journey on the boat on through to the arrival of war with Japan in the United States, Otsuka’s book has so many moments which haunt you.  Especially startling for me were recounts of the women’s first nights as newlyweds to men they do not know.

This exceptional title is a wonderful choice for fans of Honolulu by Alan Brennert and those interested in historical fiction and women’s lives.

Also, don’t miss the author’s debut novel, When the Emperor was Divine, which follows the lives of Japanese-Americans as they are forced into internment camps during WWII.

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Out Stealing Horses by Per Petterson

“All my life I have longed to be alone in a place like this. Even when everything was going well, as it often did. I can say that much. That it often did. I have been lucky. But even then, for instance in the middle of an embrace and someone whispering words in my ear I wanted to hear, I could suddenly get a longing to be in a place where there was only silence.”  Petterson is a wonderful writer.   His writing is elegant and compelling as you get to know Trond, and want to know why he so enjoys the solitude of his older years and what has happened in his life up to this point. He will let you know bit by bit as he goes about his quiet daily life that is maybe a little lonely too. Trond walks his dog Lyra, out to the lake in the early morning hours to sit peacefully, watching the swans in the cold stillness. He tells his story through reminiscing while relating the practicalities and logistics of living in rural Norway with winter coming on, only one neighbor within trudging distance and a temperamental station wagon.

The writing is succinct and atmospheric. “Early November. It’s nine o’clock. The titmice are banging against the window. Sometimes they fly dizzily off after the impact, other times they fall and lie struggling in the new snow until they can take off again. I don’t know what they want that I have.” To begin his story, Trond recounts an amusing adventure with his friend when they were both young teens and he was spending the summer with his father in the same house that he lives in now. It was the last adventure they were to have before Trond learns the truth of what has happened to his friend’s family that day. It is the end of childhood for both and the beginning of a new era for Trond’s own family. Now, he meets a new neighbor who brings back all those memories.

It was fun to go with the boys when they were “out stealing horses” and to learn about logging trees and haymaking in the 1940’s. I absolutely love his moving and subtly humorous writing and waiting for the story to unfold. This novel won him some recognition and several literary prizes including the International Dublin Award in 2007.

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Chango’s Beads and Two-Tone Shoes by William Kennedy

Robert Kennedy has been shot in Los Angeles, California, and Albany, New York, is about to enter a long night of arson, mayhem, and violence.

In the midst of this is the journalist Daniel Quinn who before the night is over will have filed news stories that will provoke and irritate his employer. Quinn has become a newspaper man as he wants to be a witness, and he “has a strong impulse to salvage history, which is so fragile, so prismatic, so easily twisted, so often lost and forgotten.”

Throughout the eventful and dangerous night Quinn encounters a long row of charismatic Albany citizens: alcoholics, criminals, bums, hacks, and activists who are so well portrayed that they could all be heroes of the tale. And William Kennedy makes this possible by not being judgmental and by not insisting that everyone has to be in a certain way – he shows humans in all their contradictory glory – and nobody, not even the hero, knows who will play the role of the hero before there is a need for one.

Roughly ten years before these events of 1968, Quinn has been in Cuba and witnessed another kind of violent turmoil as Fidel Castro and his soldiers revolt against the bloody oppression of the Batista regime. Like so many citizens of Albany, numerous Cubans yearn for change, but change may not always come in the desired shape. Castro will indeed grasp power in Cuba, but then the new government will feel the need to protect the revolution and before soon the country will – again – be governed by the few. Great upheavals of historic significance come and go. What William Kennedy does so exceptionally well is to show how humans respond and adjust to situations that may not be their choice.

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The Orphan Master’s Son by Adam Johnson

This is a difficult but fascinating work of fiction. North Korea is probably the most secretive society that exists today. And yet the author, Adam Johnson has woven a tale of some individuals seeking answers that might only lead to their demise in this thoroughly autocratic nation. Even though this is a work of fiction, you can’t fail to realize that we are truly getting a look at this terribly closed society. As difficult as it is to deal with China, this small nation is even more difficult to understand. And yet there emerges a tale of individual bravery and attempts to defy the odds and seek true freedom.  Adam Johnson was able to get into North Korea and although monitored with “escorts,” he was able to return to Stanford, where he teaches.  From his memories and thoughts of his encounters in this very different society emerges a more detailed and nuanced picture of DPRK…..the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.

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Best ‘New to Us’ Books of 2012: Sharon S.’s Picks

I love to read nonfiction as well as fiction, so in presenting my best “new to me” books for 2012, I decided to use the categories of my favorite nonfiction, my favorite “how to” book, my favorite biography, my favorite novel, and my favorite collection of short stories. (You can see the full list of books I have blogged, too.) — Sharon S.

A Perfect Mess: The Hidden Benefits of Disorder by Eric Abrahamson and David H. Freedman
I found this book to be deeply reassuring! It’s OK to have cluttered desks and crammed closets, say the authors, and in some cases it may even be beneficial (up to a point, of course). Abrahamson and Freedman present many examples of successful scientists, business owners, politicians, homemakers, and people from many other walks of life who spend that time they could have spent organizing being creative and productive instead. Also, staying loose and not locked in to one system allows us the freedom to adapt quickly to changing events.

Barefoot Running Step by Step by Roy Wallack and Ken Bob Saxton
You’ve got to be kidding, I thought when I first picked up this book, but I ended up being a convert. I’m no runner, so I tried barefoot walking instead (which Ken Bob says is just like running except you always have at least one foot on the ground). There’s no doubt in my mind—heel striking is a bad thing for your joints. When you learn how to bend your knees like Ken Bob suggests, your calves act as shock absorbers that preserve your joints. Of course, you can do this even with shoes on, but when your foot is not cushioned with a running shoe, you have a constant reminder not to bang that heel down! Also, it adds a new dimension to the experience to learn to place your feet lightly and actually feel the ground under them.

Running the Books: The Adventures of an Accidental Prison Librarian by Avi Steinberg
Steinberg was tired of being a free-lance writer and wanted a job that had health insurance, so he answered an advertisement for a librarian position at a prison on the outskirts of Boston. He ended up with more than he bargained for. What is or should be the purpose of a library in such a place? In trying to help the prisoners learn and prepare for lives outside of prison, he often runs afoul of the rule-bound guards. On the other hand, in getting too emotionally involved with those he is helping, he finds himself in some difficult moral dilemmas. There is no easy answer to the question of why people end up in prison, nor is there an easy way to help them get out and stay out.

O Pioneers! by Willa Cather
This slim novel set on the Nebraska prairie at the beginning of the twentieth century contains some of the most moving scenes I have yet encountered in literature. It is a story about love, friendship, betrayal, and the price of self-knowledge that readers will not easily forget. I am amazed at Cather’s ability to create characters that seem so real to me that I feel like I have actually met them. See my full review.

Interpreter of Maladies by Jhumpa Lahiri
Lahiri also creates memorable, realistic characters in these stories, each one a view into the hearts and lives of people of different ages and cultures. A young married couple suffers a devastating loss that rocks their faith in each other. A school-age girl slowly learns to appreciate the fact that everyone does not live the privileged life she does. A young man and an old woman come to know and respect each other through mundane events that turn out to have been not so mundane after all. Each story shows us something unique about human nature, how and why we move toward or away from one another, how we mature and come to understand the meaning of life. See my full review.

Best ‘New to Us’ Books in 2012: Helen Y.’s Picks

I just started contributing to the Book-a-Day Blog this year.  I work in Children’s Services, so my reading history is heavy on children’s lit.  But I do love to curl up with great adult historical fiction, books with international settings, and non-fiction.  Here is a sampling of some I discovered this year — five oldies but goodies. – Helen Y.

Cutting for Stone by Abraham Verghese
Marion and his twin brother Shiva are born in an Ethiopian mission hospital, the sons of an Indian nun who dies in childbirth and a troubled doctor who abandons them.   Left to be raised by the caring hospital staff, Marion is constantly haunted by the mystery surrounding his birth and his missing biological father.  As the Ethiopian revolution ramps up, Marion must leave his country and the girl he loves to finish his medical education in America.  There he must continue his search for self and cope with the heartbreak of betrayal.  The character development in this book is expertly handled, and I loved the details of Ethiopian culture.

Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen
It is the Great Depression, and Jacob Jankowski’s parents die, leaving him penniless.  In his grief, he runs away from veterinary school and joins the Benzini Brothers’ Most Spectacular Show on Earth.  There he meets the freaks, grifters, and misfits of the circus — and the beautiful  Marlena, star of the show.  When Marlena’s cruel and unpredictable husband forces Jacob into service to train a seemingly untrainable elephant, he unwittingly sets off a series of events that bind Jacob and Marlena together and set the circus on the road to disaster.  This is a well-researched peek into a fascinating piece of history — a great setting for a love story.

Snow Flower and the Secret Fan by Lisa See
Set in 19th century China, this novel follows Lily and Snow Flower , two young girls pledged to each other as friends for life. From different villages, the girls share their hopes and dreams through notes written on a fan in a secret language.  They grow closer as they share the trials and joys particular to Chinese women of their era—foot binding, arranged marriage, childbirth, and the hardships of civil unrest.   Then Lily learns that Snow Flower has been keeping a secret that threatens to break the bonds of their friendship.  The descriptive cultural details and surroundings of Lily’s life and times make this book a feast for the imagination!

Outliers: The Story of Success by Malcolm Gladwell  
Through thorough research, Gladwell examines the (often uncontrollable) factors that lead to personal success, focusing on intriguing questions like:  Why are most professional hockey players born in January, February, and March?  Why are many of the most successful New York law firms run by Jewish men?  Why did the richest men in history all live during the same time period?  Gladwell discusses how luck and timing can be powerful determinants of success, but also considers how cultural legacies affect human behavior and influence our drive to achieve.  I read through this book in a couple of days, and read many sections aloud to my husband—it is a great conversation starter.

A Parchment of Leaves by Silas House
This is one of my favorite books of all time!  A Cherokee woman named Vine leaves her family to marry a gentle, reserved white man named Saul.   It is 1917 in the Kentucky mountains, and Vine feels the isolation of racial prejudice.  Eager to be accepted by Saul’s family, she welcomes the friendship of his younger brother Aaron, who is clearly infatuated with Vine.  When Saul leaves to work at a mill, Aaron grows bolder in his attentions, and Vine realizes she is in danger.   This a beautifully written book by a NC author, full of character, mystery,  and interconnected stories of Vine and the other families living on the mountain.

Best ‘New to Us’ Books in 2012: Emil S.’s Picks

Classics play a major part in my reading life, but in 2012 I mainly re-read classics (or read classics that I obtained through Inter-Library Loan). Thus, my “New to Us” books are all fairly new, no older than 16 years old, and therefore many years away from even being considered for the shelf of classics. In the meantime, they can perhaps be classified as noteworthy contemporary reads! — Emil S.

Red Gold by Alan Furst
France is occupied by German forces, but things have changed since “Case Barbarossa” – the German led attack on Soviet Union. French communists who take their orders from Moscow have been activated and now participate in a war effort that reaches from France to the heart of Soviet Union. Jean Casson, a former film producer, lets himself be pulled into the French Resistance, and he is good at getting things done. But the different sides of the anti-German movement are suspicious of each other, and while the occupying forces are being attacked, the French are preparing for the next battle – the conflict after the war.

Arguably by Christopher Hitchens
British born, American writer Christopher Hitchens was arguably one of the great public intellectuals of our time. He was fantastically prolific and (as Ian Parker once put it) wrote faster than some people read. In 2011, Hitchens passed away, and the fearless opponent of (almost) any kind of oppression was dearly missed by many. Arguably, published about two months before his death, contains 107 of Hitchens’ texts – his range is enormous and it’s a great book to carry around as it embraces so much of this strange and wondrous world.

Chango’s Beads and Two-Tone Shoes by William Kennedy
William Kennedy was born in 1928 and he writes with the confidence and authority of a veteran. Chango’s Beads and Two-Tone Shoes is a sprawling novel that mainly takes place in Cuba during the revolution of the late 1950s, and in an Albany, New York, that is about to explode after the killing of Robert Kennedy in 1968. When reading the novel, it is near impossible to predict where it is going, and the plot is (perhaps) hard to define. Instead, this novel is about strong, wonderful characters and about awesome dialogue – that’s the heart and soul of Chango’s Beads and Two-Tone Shoes.

The Sorrow Gondola by Tomas Tranströmer
When Tomas Tranströmer’s Sorgegondolen – The Sorrow Gondola – was published in 1996, it was his first collection of poetry since the stroke that hit him in 1990. In Tranströmer’s native land, Sweden, the book instantly became a bestseller, and it’s easy to understand why, for the poet’s writing was as powerful as ever. He writes, “The sun is low now./ Our shadows are giants./ Soon, everything will be overshadowed.” But in another poem he writes, “A blue light/ radiates from my clothes./ Midwinter./ Clattering tambourines of ice./ I close my eyes./ There is a silent world/ there is a crack/ where the dead/ are smuggled across the border.”

The Submission by Amy Waldman
A jury gathers in New York, New York, to select a memorial for the victims of the massacre of September eleventh, 2001. The winner turns out to be an American Muslim, Muhammad Khan, and when media finds out, a heated debate and even acts of violence spread across the nation. The Submission is a novel about America and Islam, and about the open wounds of 9/11, but it is also a story about media and how media shape the debates in this nation (and elsewhere). And the reader has good reasons to ask, is media interested in the truth or merely in the news?

Best ‘New to Us’ Books in 2012: Sarah K.’s Picks

This year, I decided to clump my favorite “old reads” into two categories. In one, I have stories which concern themselves with the lives of women and the other is stories which play with the Western genre in unconventional ways. On one hand you have female characters who must struggle against society’s limitations and constraints on women, and on the other you have two authors who have struggled against the conventions of a dusty genre with deep-set tropes. — Sarah K.

A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith
Nowadays, most people associate the Williamsburg neighborhood in Brooklyn with hipsters and all their accoutrements, such as fixed-wheel bikes, ironic facial hair and craft foods. However, at the beginning of the twentieth century, Williamsburg was a hard-scrabble, working class neighborhood. A Tree Grows in Brooklyn follows the coming of age of Francie Nolan, who lives there with her family as they struggle against poverty and the consequences of her father’s alcoholism. Though Smith wrote with a natural lyricism and was able to capture hope and beauty despite difficult circumstances, she did not flinch from realistic depictions of unwanted pregnancies, substance abuse and child predators. If you haven’t had a chance to read this classic or haven’t read it since your youth, give it a try and prepare to be charmed.

The Pursuit of Love by Nancy Mitford
Fans of large country houses, large eccentric British families, and outsized personalities will enjoy The Pursuit of Love. Breezy, but sharp, Mitford based her portrayal on her own family and neighbors causing much pearl-clutching and gasps of outrage when it was published. The story follows the romantic misadventures of Linda Radlett as she seeks out true passionate love and adventure. Unsentimental, the book’s candy-coating of wit hides a deeper melancholy as it examines the conflict between seeking out romantic fulfillment or settling for domestic stability.

The Group by Mary McCarthy
The Group follows the lives of eight Vassar graduates as they navigate relationships, careers and motherhood in the mid-1930s. Think of this as the Depression-era, Girls or Sex and the City. Considered scandalous upon publication in 1963, many of the themes in the book pertaining to sex and its complications are fairly tame by today’s standards. However it’s compelling to read this and see the similarities and differences in the “women having it all” discussion that American women continue to struggle with. A fascinating aspect of the book is the section centered on new mother, Priss and the proto-mommy wars into which she gets sucked. Yes, the breastfeeding versus formula debate existed even then.

The Sisters Brothers by Patrick DeWitt
Reminiscent of the tone and style of Charles Portis’ True Grit, The Sisters Brothers tells the tale of Charles and Eli Sisters, as they pursue Herman Kermit Warm at the behest of the Commander, a powerful tycoon who wants to cash in on Warm’s chemical formula for finding gold. The book is narrated by Eli, a reluctant murderer who is plagued by self-doubt, yet stays in the business to remain close to his reckless and callous brother. DeWitt uses deadpan formalized 19th century vernacular as a gateway to melancholy dark humor, and his portrayal of lonely, woebegone Eli is the highlight of the book.

Blood Meridian by Cormac McCarthy
Not for the faint of heart, Blood Meridian follows the bloody trail of ‘the kid’ as he joins a violent band of mercenary scalp hunters as they tear through the borderlands of the U.S. and Mexico during the mid-1800s. A meditation on the nature of violence, embodied by the grotesque character of the Judge, McCarthy explores the myth and reality of the Westward Expansion. What elevates this book from merely a laundry list of gratuitous acts of violence is McCarthy’s piercing, hypnotic prose and surreal imagery.

Best New Books of 2012: Janet L.’s Picks

What do a clerk in a 24-hour bookstore, a snake-handling faith healer, a man walking 500 miles to visit a sick friend, a hiker on the Pacific Crest Trail and Richard Burton have in common? (And it doesn’t involve marrying Elizabeth Taylor.) Rather, they all figure somehow in my five favorite books of 2012. My reading tastes are eclectic, but I read more literary fiction and mysteries than anything else. Language, atmosphere, setting, and believable characters are all important to me.  – Janet L.

A Land More Kind Than Home by Wiley Cash
Marshall, North Carolina, has a new church, the River Road Church of Christ in Signs Following. It’s led by a charismatic preacher, Carson Chambliss, a man with a talent for snake handling. Stump Hall, a young autistic boy, witnesses something at the church that leads to tragedy. Sheriff Clem Barefield is determined to find out what happened, no matter what the consequences. This is Cash’s debut novel and it’s a beauty; gorgeous writing, believable characters and gothic overtones. Recommended for readers of Ron Rash, John Hart and Tom Franklin.

The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry by Rachel Joyce
Harold Fry is surprised to receive a letter from Queenie Hennessey, who is seriously ill and has written to say goodbye. They were friends once, but parted in strained circumstances. Mild mannered Harold is so shocked by this news he behaves spontaneously and begins a 500 mile journey by foot to say goodbye to Queenie, convinced she will not die as long as he is walking. Recommended for readers of Anne Tyler, Elizabeth Berg and Anna Quindlen.

Mr. Penumbra’s 24-Hour Bookstore by Robin Sloan
I adored this book. It has a likeable narrator, Clay Jannon, who clerks in a mysterious bookshop run by the fascinating Mr. Penumbra. The theme of Old Knowledge (books) vs. Internet knowledge allows the author to slip in scenes at Google, a museum dedicated to knitting overrun by children, arcane information about fonts, and a computer whiz who made a fortune creating realistic 3-D versions of breasts. This book is fun. It’s the kind of book that made a reader of me, the kind of book that keeps me reading, the kind of book I can’t wait to tell people about. Recommended for readers of Jasper Fforde and Terry Pratchett.

Wild by Cheryl Strayed
Hunched under a too heavy backpack quickly nicknamed Monster, Cheryl Strayed begins a real life journey along the Pacific Crest Trail that is spiritual as well as physical. Her plans for her hike are soon revealed as inadequate (who knew water weighed so much?) and she must improvise as she goes along—much as we all have to adjust in life when our best laid plans go awry. I found Strayed’s account of her hike riveting, profound, hilarious and suspenseful. Recommended for readers of Jeannette Walls, Jon Krakauer and Dave Eggers.

Beautiful Ruins by Jess Walter
It’s 1962 and Pasquale Tursi, owner of the Hotel Adequate View in Porto Vergogna, Italy, is immediately smitten by Dee Moray, an American starlet who arrives at his hotel fresh from the set of the movie Cleopatra. Their story (with a supporting appearance from Richard Burton) connects to present day Hollywood and the career of Claire, assistant to legendary producer Michael Deane. Walter creates a truly romantic story that underscores his theme of how life and art intersect.