The value of books

Nearing the end of 2012, I realise that I have read the same number of books this year as last year. My post on my reading year 2011 notes that I read 57 or maybe 59 books. This year I have noted each title in the side bar and have reached 58 to date with one more at my bedside currently bookmarked. Coincidentally, I have also recommended a similar number of titles during this year.

Two recently enjoyed titles have been intimately concerned with books and reading. The End of your life bookclub by Will Schwabe describes the last years of his mother's life and discusses the books they read together. I had read several of the titles mentioned and discussed them in my book groups but it was interesting to revisit them in a different context. Will and Mary know these are the last books that they will read together and so their reflections often touch upon illness, loss, death and grief, but their conversations also explore memory, relationships, social structures and world events. They talk often about kindness and gratitude and express their own personal values - and this is what makes the book such worthwhile reading. As an added extra, the 6 page appendix of titles read would make a good starting list for any book group.

The Little Bookstore of Big Stone Gap by Wendy Welch is also about the importance of good books but this time from a business as well as a personal perspective. The author founded a second-hand bookstore and discovered friendship and community. A good addition to my list of books about books.

Look out for my new list of books read in 2013. Happy new year and happy reading.

Taking flight

This is your summer must-read!

Flight behaviour by Barbara Kingsolver begins with a vision, both beautiful and terrifying, and its implications are explored through the thoughts, feelings and actions of some interesting characters. It also incorporates issues in class, poverty and climate change but these are integrated into the story so that we are able to understand the complexities that create and surround our lives.

Names for the sea

In Iceland in winter the surface of the sea freezes but there are people still swimming in the hot pools. In this book, Sarah Moss, writes about a year in Iceland with her young family. The tone is conversational but the content is so informative: ranging from vulcanology to knitting, from poetry to fruit (or lack of), from the financial crash to historic treasures, from bad driving to the Aurora Borealis; all the ups and downs of life made fascinating.

The title Names for the sea is from W.H. Auden's Letters from Iceland written in 1936 and hints at the isolation felt by Icelanders. Moss also found that they were disenfranchised by distance especially aggravated by the eruption of the volcano and its implications for travel. The most heartfelt moments, though, are the personal stories about being in another country, not understanding the langauage and culture but learning so much about people and places and different ways of doing things. And it's so well written.

Iceland is on my visiting list too!

An alternative alphabet

The ACB with Honora Lee by Kate de Goldi is another charming family story for well-read children and adults. Kate de Goldi understands people; 9 year old Perry and her grandmother Honora are special individuals and when they get together they are amusing and charming. In making her own alphabet book Perry chooses "jolly old" for J - an apt play on words. Kate de Goldi has a way with words; the conversations between Perry and her grandmother and between Perry and her parents give insights into their thoughts, feelings and hopes. The perceptive drawings by Greg O'Brien also add humour to the story. Indeed, it is a beautifully packaged little book and worth reading slowly to enjoy all the nuances.

Praised as heart-warming and endearing, this book shows how we can all get along together with kindness, patience and acceptance.

See this interesting article for Kate's experience of trying to understand and accept dementia.

casual or causal?

J.K.Rowling's first novel for adults A Casual Vacancy is so clever. The vacancy on the Pagford Parish Council, politically classed as casual, that occurs on the death of Barry Fairbrother is the catalyst for all sorts of problems and events in the troubled community.

This is a big book with a large cast of characters and an even longer list of social issues. The deceptions and intrigues that unfold during the narrative are circumscribed with past details and reflective comments and are plausible (well mostly, I did have a bit of a problem with the Epi-pen). What really stands out is Rowling's understanding of teenagers and her ability to create lively interesting young characters. Those chararcters' struggles with authority: their parents, schoolteachers, employers, are universal but in this novel at least two of them reach a reasonable resolution. The rest is social realism, some of it quite dark and some of it very worrying. Pagford is a microcosm of a troubled world and worth reading about.

Where would you go?

Looking for a quirky, amusing, contemporary story with a few issues to think about? Where'd you go, Bernadette is it. A mother and daughter story that comments wryly on career parents, elitist education, neighbourly relationships, church going, the weather in Seattle and the ice in Antarctica. Never a dull moment - a fun read, with some great read aloud moments, that satirises many current preoccupations in American society and has a great ending. Enjoy!

Ladies' Litera-tea

The Women's Bookshop annual event with a line-up of local writers and tea tables of delicious cakes is always a wonderful event. Last Sunday's session connected diverse writers: Joan Druett, Joanne Perry, Hannah McQueen and also highlighted the commonality in female experience: Mary Paul, Gigi Fenster, Emily Perkins.

Gigi Fenster opened with the question about what makes a New Zealand book or a Jewish book? Her analysis of the contents of the story and the sensibilities of the characters made me realise that although I like a location I respond to the universal in a novel. The Intentions book is just that, being subtle and thought-provoking.

Emily Perkins closed the afternoon with an explanation of how she wanted to write a life in fiction through feelings and memory. Her descriptive snapshots of Dorothy Forrest through a long and ordinary life, explored in her latest novel The Forrests, show a depth of observation and understanding and reveal the common experiences of sisterhood, motherhood, loving and longing.

The next Litera-tea is on Sunday 4 November at the Raye Freedman Arts Centre, Epsom Girls' Grammar School with Stephanie Johnson, Paula Green, Fiona Farrell, Lynda Hallinan, Xanthe White, Jacqueline Fahey and Kate de Goldi. Tickets from The Women's Bookshop.

Lighten our darkness

The Light Between Oceans by M.L.Stedman is an emotionally charged read with beautiful descriptions of the seascape and skies. It covers the 10 years that Tom and Isabelle lived on Janus Rock as lighthouse keepers. An isolated life for them until a miracle happens and then a wonderful life until reality catches up with them. What happens, how they cope, what decisions they each make, what effect that has on other people is carefully and suspensefully drawn out.
I listened to this novel as an audio book and was completely involved in the characters and their difficulties, commenting out loud at certain events and crying often. Realistic characters included the kind sea captain, Isabelle's puzzled mother and Lucy Grace who is at the centre of the story.
Each character, episode and decision is credible and agonising because of the uncovering of the background and the reasons relating to them. Although the first novel by this Australian writer, this is accomplished and effective writing that engages your attention from start to finish.

See also the full review by Maggie Rainey-Smith 

Good intentions

Question: How have I come to read, in quick succession, three books with male narrators looking back at their lives? and enjoyed them all?
Answer: They are all very well written by perceptive women writers and they include some authentic character development.

I have already written about The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry and The beginner's goodbye and recommend them as highly readable.

The third title is by emerging New Zealand writer Gigi Feinster and is firmly located in our environment. The Intentions Book refers to the log book that trampers complete to inform others about their journey through the bush and their expected arrival times. Rachel is overdue and we wait,with her Father, brother and aunt, for news. During the tense waiting time everyone is reminiscing but we come to understand best her father Morris's story as he deciphers his past to consider what is happening in the present.
This is a first novel but the writing is polished and poignant. I'm looking forward to further novels from this Wellington writer.

AWRF 2012

This year's Writers' and Readers' Festival in Auckland showcased 22 international writers and more than 100 New Zealand writers in a range of sessions at various venues. There were readings, conversations, debates, lectures, live drawing, music and film, poetry performance, play reading, a business breakfast, a lunch, afternoon tea, cocktails and a dinner; something indeed for everyone. It was impossible to be in three places at once and so I enjoyed some excellent blogging from Graham Beattie and the team from Christchurch Libraries who kept us well informed about what everyone was saying.

The finale, a new initiative Honoured New Zealand Writer, resulted in a standing ovation for Maurice Gee, appearing in public for the first time in 10 years and admitting that he has finished writing fiction. But we have an amazing body of his work to read and a biography from Rachel Barrowman to look forward to.

There was also a tweet wall working in real time offering amusing, philosophical, sublime quotes from writers and fascinating comments from readers and it was right over the Festival Bookstall where several books sold out. What a weekend.

The gift of food

Charlotte Wood will be at the Auckland Writers and Readers Festival in May promoting her new book Love and hunger: thoughts on the gift of food. A prizewinning Australian novelist and short story writer she also writes about food in magazines, newspapers and in her very interesting blog.

Love and hunger describes Charlotte's relationship with food and cooking. It contains recipes but is not a recipe book. It includes handy hints but it is not a kitchen companion. It includes family memories but it is not an autobiography. It is a highly readable feast with lots of courses and I will follow some of her advice. She writes thoughtfully and intelligently and I am looking forward to seeing and hearing her at the Festival.

Look out for further posts from the Festival on more new discoveries.

Just a beginner

In a nod to the Dummies series of books, the publishing firm in Anne Tyler's latest novel has created the Beginner books, introductions to essential skills like wine, the monthly budget, dog training, the spice cabinet, birdwatching and many other amusing titles. The Beginner's goodbye refers to Aaron's grief at the death of his wife and the steps he takes to recover.

I have read several examples of bereavement memoir recently, for example A widow's story by Joyce Carol Oates and The year of magical thinking by Joan Didion but this fictionalised account of loss and questioning I found really enthralling. I zipped through the book in almost one sitting with my thoughts both challenged and reassured.

Anne Tyler is an excellent storyteller with an eye for interesting character traits and an ability to round off a book with a satisfying conclusion. Try also Digging to America and Back when we were grownups.

Plenty to read

but not too much to recommend. My list of books read this year is in the right sidebar. 19 books read so far but only 7 reviews. You can be sure that the titles I review are heartily recommended. I'm ready for another great read now.

I'm currently reading Paula Green's new anthology of New Zealand poetry Dear heart - a lovely book, beautifully designed and a perfect gift for a book/poetry lover. It sits very happily beside My heart goes swimming compiled by Jenny Bornholdt in 1996 and complements it nicely.

The importance of others

Recently longlisted for the Orange Prize is American writer Leah Hager Cohen with her fourth novel The Grief of others.

At first I thought that I might not manage to read this book; the prologue describes the death of a new born baby and the first chapter concludes with a ten year old child "slipping into the water". Having respect for the Orange Prize I persevered. This novel dissects the lives of one family in a year that sees the death of two babies. It explores individual feelings and responses and also familial approaches to difficulties. The narrative begins in the present and looks back one year and then also flips back to eight years ago when things were good. The family members, adults and children, have credible voices and reasonable reactions and are described sympathetically.

This novel shows that although we have the ability, through ignorance, despair or fear, to mess up our lives, we also have the power to restore balance and create a better future.

This is definitely worth reading.

Round and round

A book that is character driven and appeals to me for its roundedness. The title refers to Quinn who has made his home on a motorway roundabout. Who is he and why is he there? Clare Morrall's fifth fascinating novel, The Roundabout man, criss-crosses time and space to describe a childhood of privilege and neglect and to suggest an adulthood of lost opportunities. The characters, mostly family members, are well drawn with their own back stories and serve to underline the special nature of Quinn's position. Amanda, the manager of the motorway service station is similarly a complex character; remote at first and then influential. The development of the novel is slow but steady and definitely satisfying.



A perfect book club read; there is so much to discuss. Start with the front cover!

I can also recommend all of Clare Morrall's previous books especially Astonishing splashes of colour, that was shortlisted for the Booker prize, and The language of others.

Unlikely?

Unlikely may be the key word in the title of Rachel Joyce's first book but the events, problems and feelings that unfold are highly probable. The Unlikely pilgrimage of Harold Fry follows the steps of recently retired Harold as he walks the length of Britain and reveals his hidden character. His wife Maureen is similarly revealed from her reflective spectator's position at home.
Harold, without any necessities or comforts, walks from Devon to Cornwall; 627 miles in 87 days. Why? Well, that's the whole story. Along the way he meets a multitude of needy people but eventually continues his self-assessing journey on his own.
This is a gentle, heart-warming read with substance and surprises - you really want to follow the journey to the end.

Island life

This debut novel by Madeline Tobert is about a remote island surrounded by sea and its inhabitants. The sea is so important to the story that the rythm of the writing has a rise and fall like the flow of the tide and the breaking of the waves. The Sea on our skin is about contrasts: sunshine and rain, traditional island life and the modern world, sadness and happiness, violence and gentleness, the ordinary and the unnnatural, suffering and joy and lots of pain and love.
Following three generations of the Matete family, this is haunting storytelling that left me thinking about the people involved long after I had turned the last page.

The Butterfly Effect

Penelope Lively's new novel How it all began starts with an event that alters the lives of several characters just as the beating of a butterfly's wings eventually results in a hurricane (James Gleick, Chaos 1998). This is a novel of manners, an exploration of relationships and circumstances with a set of character studies that fit my requirements for a good read.

Penelope Lively was made a Dame in the British New Year's Hounours list; her contribution to modern literature is impressive. As a new children's librarian in the 70's I read, purchased and promoted her wonderful stories; 1972 The Driftway, 1973 The Ghost of Thomas Kempe, 1974 The house in Norham Gardens, that combined history, fantasy and reality with such readability.
Her first adult novel, The Road to Lichfield, was published in 1977. I devoured it and have read every one of her books since then.

All the novels trace relationships amongst an assortment of characters. They also comment on memory, history and circumstance. But all are contextual and different. How it all began references several current events: street crime, financial recession, migrants and also comments on personal preoccupations: aging, loss, memory. The random incident at the beginning of the novel obliquely affects seven lives and the narrative charts the consequences and choices made by the characters as they go about their normal day to day lives. Charlotte, the main character is sensitive, sympathetic, humourous and wise and her tone is gentle satire. I especially enjoyed Charlotte's comments on reading, story, worrying and endings that were part of her musings or conversations - all seamlessly included in the development of the novel. The review from the NY Times says this is "an elegant, witty work of fiction, deceptively simple, emotionally and intellectually penetrating, the kind of novel that brings a plot to satisfying closure but whose questions linger long afterward in the reader’s mind." Exactly!

I can recommend all the novels but my own favourite is The Photograph. The children's books may seem a little old-fashioned now but I would still recommend them for fluent readers. They also make good read-alouds. Her best read aloud title, because it is amusing for parent readers, has to be The voyage of QV66 about a boatload of animals in flooded Britain. Gentle satire again.

Click on the video clip to hear Carole Beu from the Women's Bookshop talk about How it all began.

Hard to walk on shaky ground

Fiona Farrell's The Broken book defies classification; it is about walking but is not a travel book, it includes memories but it is not a biography, there are poems but it is not a poetry book. It is in fact all of these things and more.

The book consists of a Preamble, four essays on life and walking and an Epilogue but is interspered with 20 earthquake poems. The poems arrive at random times and interrupt the flow of the essays. This book shows how an earthquake can change everything in a moment. The poems comment on that immediacy while the essays are thoughtful, often meandering like walking but always connected and enjoyable.

This is a very special book - sensitive, wise, lyrical.

The reading year

I read 57 books in 2011, mostly fiction, but surprisingly I increased my non-fiction reading to 6 titles. I also read a lot of poetry but since I dipped into many books to find just the right poems I did not record the titles. I'm sure that the poems I read would add up to 2 books full so that I can claim consistency with my 2010 reading total of 59 books.

An assessment of various reading blogs shows that most include a list of titles read even though titles reviewed are fewer - look out for a new addition to this blog page this year.

Some of the poems I have really appreciated recently come from the following books:

Fiere by Jackie Kay
How to survive the morning: new poems by Kevin Ireland
Mirabile dictu by Michele Leggott

The book that lead me into more poetry reading this past year is by Paula Green and Harry Ricketts and is well worth dipping into; I haven't yet managed all the suggested 99 ways into New Zealand poetry