All I Want for Christmas is to Read These Books

posted by Laura

December 22, 2011

Christmas preparations are stressful. The choices are overwhelming. The pressure to choose wisely is immense. And the potential for remorse haunts you at night as you lie awake in bed. Was it a good choice? Will everyone still like me? Was this the right color to dye my hair.... Wait, that has nothing to do with holiday cheer. I’m injecting random personal crises into my writing.

To be clear: I’m not even talking about gift giving. That process is pure joy as long as the credit card has done the appropriate training in the preceding weeks. I am talking about the preparation that takes weeks: choosing those special books that will get read during the oh-so-precious work-free days lying ahead. 

One of the reasons I’m always anxious to clock that final hour of work for the year and get home to the pants with elastic waistbands is the opportunity to sit and read. Read with a cup of tea in my comfy chair. Read with a glass of wine by the tree. And yes, sprinkle my book with errant crumbs from those wonderful Christmas cookies that I love (see comment re: elastic waistbands).

This year my choices were more difficult to make than usual. It has been a crazy couple of months and my time to read has been limited. So, I want to use my time wisely. In the end, I’ve made five choices with great hopes:

1. To catch up on my juvenile, guilty-pleasure reading: John Grisham’s “Theodore Boone: The Abduction”
2. To pacify my addiction to all things Elizabeth Bennet: P.D. James’ “Death Comes to Pemberley”  (yes, thanks to 2010’s reading challenge 10-10-10, I’ve evolved to a woman that chooses mysteries intentionally. Insert applause here.)
3. To prepare for wonderful book club conversation: Paula McLain’s “The Paris Wife”
4. To be a better me at work: “The Way We’re Working Isn’t Working” by Tony Schwartz
5. To finally read a book that I should have read years ago: “The Poisonwood Bible” by Barbara Kingsolver

I’m ready to go! One issue remains: what if Santa brings me a reading selection that I cannot wait to read? I guess that’s what a fresh batch of vacation days are for, right? Dear Boss, I will be back to work in March. Forward my mail to.... Wait. Just keep my mail; it’s not on my reading list.

I Quit Reading a Hugo Award Winner and I Feel GREAT About It.

Post by Melissa

As a part of my 2011 "Read My Shelf" challenge, there were two books in particular that had languished on said shelf for Too Long, Much Too Long, and it was officially time to tackle them. Mid-August vacation with my husband's family was coming up, and I knew that I would have plenty of reading time (when I wasn't trying to fend off my mother-in-law's insistence that I play board games and cards, which to my dismay I discovered I had run out of excuses for four vacations ago.) I blew the dust off of JONATHAN STRANGE & MR. NORRELL by Susanna Clarke, a book that had several huge blinking "Melissa, you will LOVE ME" signs attached to it, including:

1. It was a 2005 Hugo Award winner.
2. It was about England. 
3. It was long-listed for the Man Booker.
4. It had supernatural stuff without being too weird.
5. It spent time on the NYT list. 
6. It was about England.
7. It was long, almost 900 pages. 
8. It was about England. 

After several hundred rounds of "Mommy, I just need ONE more thing before I go to sleep"--I hunkered down with a glass of chardonnay one evening in Nisswa, Minnesota, to tackle the very large book in front of me. I proceeded to plod through the first 30 pages or so. I wasn't concerned--it was a long book, and there had to be a tremendous amount of setup, right? I decided to get at least 75 pages knocked out before bed, thinking that things would start progressing more quickly. It didn't. I woke up the next day, and thinking the fresh perspective of a new day would allow me to really get into this AWARD-WINNING, CRITICALLY ACCLAIMED, SUPER POPULAR 8 YEARS AGO EVERYONE LOVED IT WHY DID IT TAKE YOU SO LONG TO READ IT! book. 

Reader, she couldn't get into it.

I felt like a failure. It must be me, right? What is wrong with ME that I don't love this acclaimed book? Am I a bad reader? Am I destined to a future of just rereading the Twilight series from front to back and front again because I'm not mature enough to read books judged by the literary community to be good?

At page 146 of my reading slog-slash-identity crisis, I turned to Twitter. I said, "Need the Twitterati opinion: do I continue with JONATHAN STRANGE AND MR NORRELL? on page 146 and not in love." The response was immediate and overwhelming: PUT IT DOWN.  There was but one lone voice in the wilderness that told me to stick with it. Most people (a nice cross section of the literary community, from casual readers to professional book reviewers) said their limit was 50-100 pages to make a decision to catch or release. Several of the people cited this particular book as one that they themselves couldn't finish. One person told me she picked it up three separate times trying to love it, and eventually abandoning it.

I told myself this year that I would NOT read something I wasn't truly enjoying, but I often find I revert to my past practice of "once you start it, you finish it." This validation from other people that I should not continue the slog was helpful to me. I do feel liberated now that I've officially abandoned it. Now I may put it on the donation pile and wipe the dust off my fingers and move on to something truly amazing. (No, not BREAKING DAWN.)

My Summer Reading is a Little Fluffy. I'm Good With That.

Post by Melissa

When I was in college and a little after, I used to go to the beach each year in June with some family friends (hi, McKells! I miss you guys!) During this two weeks, I used to read and read and read and read--and then take a dinner break and read some more. As I remember it, the entirety of my reading was comprised of mystery/thriller page turners. 

My reading life has changed (as has my free time--I miss those beach trips desperately) and I find myself reading more literary fiction with a small side dish of non-fiction almost all the time now. However, a switch flips in me when the weather turns warm--I immediately want the literary equivalent of comfort food, which for me are more "fun" books--mysteries, thrillers, popular 1-book-a-year-authors, etc. These are books that will likely never appear on end of year best lists, but I am enormously appreciative of them and the role they play in my reading life. 

An example...I have been on a major kick of late on the Charlaine Harris series of Sookie Stackhouse books. I never would have picked up these books if not for the exceptionally good HBO series--but now I'm hooked on the books (I have plowed through six of them in 2011.) They're not award winners, but I am with millions of other readers in my enjoyment of the series, which includes all manner of supernatural creatures and entertaining storylines.

These Sookie books (come on, HBO True Blood fans--you just said it like Bill Compton does, didn't you? "Sooookihhhhe....") have kept me occupied this year, but in general, summer is time for me to crave all kinds of mysteries. Kathy Reichs and Karin Slaughter are two that I look for each summer, but I love to read ALL MANNER of murder mysteries in the hot weather. These remind me viscerally of those old beach days--page turners are what I crave in the summer. 

I know there is a lot of judgment applied to people's reading choices, particularly now that we have so many social media outlets that make our reading lists public--but I'm more than happy to admit that my reading runs the gamut from very heady to pure fun. And this summer, I am really just a girl looking to have fun. Judge away. 

A Different Kind of Book Learnin'

posted by Laura

This may lead to the need for marital counseling (or a couples retreat ala Vince Vaughn), but I simply must make a confession: I do not like to study history. Never did; never will. Why does this suggest an issue in our relationship? Simply put: my husband loves history like Kardashian girls love NBA players. John was a history education major in college, has a masters in education, and defaults to the history channel and Shelby Foote for a good time.

All joking aside, John knew when he married me that history was not my forte. We’d find other things to talk about, right? Sure thing; and we have for a decade. But, as many of you know from reading my 2011 Reading Challenge post earlier this year, I made a commitment to read books that would open new doors for conversation with my mate. My initial attempts -- non-fiction history titles by some authors of notoriety in the genre -- were a failure. I just could not get through them. But then, I stumbled into some historical fiction. And guess what...

I’ve found that I simply adore history! While I never appreciated the presentation of the topic in high school or choose it as a non-fiction read or TV choice, the realm of historical fiction has opened up new worlds for me. If I were a smarter woman, I may have realized this potential existed in me during college when I devoured two books in a Modern Civilization class: The Guns of August by Barbara Tuchman made World War I come alive for me and Modern Times by Paul Johnson helped me soar through the 20th Century in total. I simply loved those books and for the first time took absolute delight in a history course. While they are not historical fiction, they revealed history to me in a narrative form that was engaging and read like a great novel.

Since those days, reflection on some more recent favorite reads reveals a pattern I’ve never acknowledged. Ken Follett’s The Pillars of the Earth captivated me once Oprah told me to read it (yes, I’m acknowledging that I followed her direction; bandwagon jumper, party of one please!) -- and I learned about the medieval time period and crusades in a new way. A classic -- The Great Gatsby -- made studying the 1920’s more enjoyable. I’ve even learned about the fall of Jerusalem in 70 AD and ancient Rome through the works of Francine Rivers in her Mark of the Lion series.

More recently, I’ve enjoyed three books in the genre. The first is a work by James Street, Tap Roots, written in 1963 and set at the outbreak of the Civil War. Our book club read this title around New Years, and I found myself doing research to add to what the book was teaching me. Crazy stuff here, folks! The second book, more recently, is a new release by Kate Kerrigan entitled Ellis Island. This paperback original from Harper was a delight that I couldn’t wait to review (click here for the full review). And third, a return to Follett was a favorite read of all times -- Fall of Giants (as reviewed in September 2010). In fact, reflecting through my reading notes from the last two years, I consistently offer five stars to these books and my husband will attest to the excitement I share with him when a book entertains me and gives me a new perspective on history. The details these talented authors weave into their stories and the painstaking research they put into the accuracy of their books is beyond commendable.

Given my newfound devotion to historical fiction, I need recommendations from our readers on what to pick up next! And, to add to the fun, let’s have a CONTEST. In 350 words or less, tell me about your favorite work of historical fiction. We will select three recommendations to post on a historical fiction round-up in late August and the winners will each receive a paperback copy of Fall of Giants (printed on beautiful Glatfelter paper). All entries must be dated by midnight EST on August 15. Please send your recommendations to permanencematters@gmail.com or leave a comment with your e-mail address with this post.

I’m having trouble stopping my rave of the historical fiction genre. Please send help! In the meantime, this is my attempt at a closing note: I’m hoping to convince the folks at Harper Perennial to lend me an opportunity to interview Kate Kerrigan on this blog. I’ve always been fascinated by Ellis Island and enjoyed visiting when John and I lived in New Jersey. Her book gave me a new perspective into the immigration experience. Check back on my progress at getting to Ms. Kerrigan. And please, send in your recommendations for our historical fiction round-up. 

Really... I’m going to stop now. Mostly because I’m pretty sure you have already stopped reading anyway. But also because this post has gotten so long that you could call the opening paragraph a historical work at this point. Moving right along...

True Blood and Dexter: Books vs. TV

Post by Melissa---because Laura is totally not down for any of the scary offerings in this post!

Right now in my Facebook feed, I have no fewer than half a dozen friends with status updates about how excited they are for the start of the 4th season of True Blood on HBO tonight. (P.S., I share their excitement.)

This morning, I was catching up on my Entertainment Weekly issues, and there was a short interview with Charlaine Harris, author of the Sookie Stackhouse series on which the show is based, where she suggests that the proof of fans of the show flocking to her books is "in my bank account." Conversely, I was reminded of a conversation I had at Book Expo with someone in the book industry who didn't know that the Showtime series Dexter is based on the series of books by Jeff Lindsay. 

I had not read the Sookie books before I started watching the True Blood series on HBO, but after I got hooked on the show (should I say I got "fanged" on the show instead of hooked?) I decided to try the books--I just finished the seventh book last night. With Dexter, I had loved Jeff Lindsay's writing from his very first book, DARKLY DREAMING DEXTER, back in the mid-2000s. A standard phrase of book lovers that "The book is ALWAYS better than the movie." In the case of True Blood and Dexter, what I love is that the books and the TV series are so different that it's easy to enjoy both of them for different reasons. 

For me, the Sookie books are remarkably less creepy than the show; although plenty of scary things happen in the books, they are never, evahhh as spine tingling as when they are on my TV screen in high definition--the dark black nights, the spooky music in the background, the vivid color of the blood--all of these are . I also feel that the books gloss over scary things--perhaps it is the speed at which I read, but sometimes there is a major (and usually violent and bloody--they're VAMPIRES, people!) event in the book and I feel like it was treated as any other scene. Similarly, I find the Dexter book series less dark than the TV series; Dexter in Jeff Lindsay's writing is extremely witty and wry, which comes out markedly muted in Michael C. Hall's fantastic portrayal, where Dexter is usually quite serious, even in his lighter family moments. The books and the TV series are similar in their portrayal of scary events--I don't have the same divergence that I experience in the Sookie books vs. the show. 

A bonus of being a fan of both the books and the TV shows in both of these cases is that their storylines do not track exactly--while their first seasons generally coincide with the first books in the series, after that they diverge. I LOVE THIS. There are characters that die in the books that don't on the shows; there are different plots and story arcs--it's almost like double the fun that I get to read one story in the book and see something entirely different (but still great) on the show. 

If you're a fan of the shows, but have never tried the books, or vice versa--GO--try the other. I hope, like me, that you find it a bonus.