{"id":3028,"date":"2014-12-29T08:50:52","date_gmt":"2014-12-29T13:50:52","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/meredith.wolfwater.com\/wordpress\/?p=3028"},"modified":"2014-12-29T11:42:22","modified_gmt":"2014-12-29T16:42:22","slug":"my-year-in-books","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/meredith.wolfwater.com\/wordpress\/2014\/12\/29\/my-year-in-books\/","title":{"rendered":"My year in books"},"content":{"rendered":"

Growing up, I was a voracious reader. What a surprise, right? Gee, a librarian who likes to read.<\/em>\u00a0But something happened to me between college and grad school where I lost that zeal to lose myself in a great book. That’s not to suggest that I didn’t read, but I didn’t read much for pleasure. I mostly read to better myself professionally and personally (be a better parent, learn French, learn a skill, etc.). In college, the classes I took were so reading-heavy — I have a horrible memory\u00a0of being assigned to read all of Hegel’s Phenomenology of the Spirit<\/em> in one week — that I didn’t have time for pleasure-reading. I still read the occasional novel, but I mostly read things related to librarianship, technology, teaching, and higher education. As my free time became more precious and rare (especially after my son came into our lives), I think I forgot what pleasure reading meant to me and what it gave me.<\/p>\n

Around a year and a half ago, I fell into a depression (at least that’s what it felt like… falling). It was a dark, horrible summer, but this was\u00a0when I rediscovered reading, and reading was a big part of what kept me afloat. Books\u00a0became for me that great friend who manages to push you out of your funk by getting your brain involved in something immersive and pleasurable. I started by reading or re-reading all of Jane Austen’s books\u00a0and found that losing myself in the world of Regency Britain and hopeful plot-lines helped me stop ruminating and helped me sleep. I started getting books on my Kindle through Multnomah County’s expansive Overdrive collection (I keep a good-sized list of holds so there’s always something available I want to read), and retained my appetite for pleasure reading long after the darkness lifted.<\/p>\n

2014\u00a0was the first full year (in a long time) in which\u00a0I really savored reading for pleasure, though my reading tends to be relegated to after I’ve put Reed to bed or when I’m on airplanes. Here’s an approximate list of what I read this year for fun. I say it’s approximate because I’m pretty sure there are at least a few\u00a0I’ve read through Overdrive that I’m not remembering because Overdrive is kind enough not to keep my checkout history and I don’t use anything like Goodreads to record my reading behavior. The ones in bold\u00a0are those that I particularly loved (for various\u00a0reasons) and didn’t want to put down. The ones with an asterisk\u00a0were those I slogged my way through\u00a0and wouldn’t recommend (in spite of the fact that one of them is a major award-winner… hey, we like what we like<\/em>).<\/p>\n

Sense and Sensibility<\/em><\/a> \u2013 Jane Austen<\/p>\n

The Sense of an Ending<\/em><\/a> \u2013 Julian Barnes<\/p>\n

The Hunger Games Trilogy<\/em><\/a> \u2013 Suzanne Collins<\/p>\n

Not My Father\u2019s Son<\/em><\/a> \u2013 Alan Cumming<\/p>\n

The Circle<\/em><\/a> \u2013 Dave Eggers<\/p>\n

As You Wish: Inconceivable Tales from the Makmy ing of The Princess Bride<\/em><\/a> \u00a0– Cary Elwes\u00a0<\/strong>(such a sweet remembrance of a movie I love)<\/p>\n

The Marriage Plot<\/a><\/em> – Jeffrey Eugenides (reminded\u00a0me of college life at Wesleyan, but not as good as his other work)<\/p>\n

*The Signature of all Things<\/a> \u2013 <\/em>Elizabeth Gilbert (started off great, but the second half was slow and plodding with an unsatisfying ending)<\/p>\n

The Fault in Our Stars<\/em> <\/a>\u2013 John Green<\/p>\n

Problems with People: Stories<\/em><\/a> – David Guterson (decidedly meh short story collection)<\/p>\n

Mother, Daughter, Me: A Memoir<\/em><\/a> \u2013 Katie Hafner<\/p>\n

The Art of Fielding<\/a><\/em> – Chad Harbach<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Tie that Binds<\/em><\/a> \u2013 Kent Haruf (reread just after Haruf, my favorite author died)<\/p>\n

Where You Once Belonged<\/em><\/a> \u2013 Kent Haruf (ditto)<\/p>\n

The Painter<\/em><\/a> \u2013 Peter Heller\u00a0<\/strong>(wowza, this man needs to write more books. I couldn’t put this down. I don’t usually like books about murder and violence, but this was really special)<\/p>\n

The Dog Stars<\/em><\/a> \u2013 Peter Heller\u00a0<\/strong>(not as engrossing as The Painter<\/em>, but it was extremely well-written and kicked off\u00a0my post-apocalyptic reading streak)<\/p>\n

Animal, Vegetable, Miracle<\/em><\/a> \u2013 Barbara Kingsolver<\/p>\n

Redeployment<\/em> <\/a>\u2013 Phil Klay <\/strong>(while it sent me to my computer Googling abbreviations every few minutes, it was a really special short story collection about war that felt very honest)<\/p>\n

The Interpreter of Maladies<\/em><\/a> – Jhumpa Lahiri <\/strong>(just as good as everyone said this collection was)<\/em><\/p>\n

The Lowland<\/em><\/a> \u2013 Jhumpa Lahiri (a beautiful story about two brothers that started off wonderfully, which kept me going through the anticlimactic middle and end. Lahiri is an amazing writer, but this novel’s pacing was uneven.)<\/p>\n

California<\/em><\/a> \u2013 Edan Lepucki (a really good read, but it was my third post-apocalyptic story in a few months and I think I was burnt out on the genre)<\/p>\n

Every Day<\/em><\/a> \u2013 David Levithan<\/p>\n

Station Eleven<\/em><\/a> \u2013 Emily St. John Mandell\u00a0<\/strong>(could not put this down; great plot and really well-drawn characters)<\/p>\n

Sweet Tooth<\/em><\/a> \u2013 Ian McEwan<\/p>\n

Bel Canto<\/em><\/a> – Ann Patchett <\/strong>(I can’t believe it took me so\u00a0long to read\u00a0this beautiful book. What a treasure! I didn’t want it to end.)<\/p>\n

Truth and Beauty<\/em><\/a> – Ann Patchett<\/p>\n

State of Wonder<\/em><\/a> \u2013 Ann Patchett<\/p>\n

Landline<\/em><\/a> \u2013 Rainbow Rowell <\/strong>(a nice break from the heavy stuff and a satisfying story. Definitely plan to read more of her stuff.)<\/p>\n

*Joseph Anton<\/a> \u2013 <\/em>Salman Rushdie (wowza, all this book did was convince me that Rushdie is a total narcissist. Read it for three weeks and then gave up because of all the name-dropping and long descriptions of every minute detail of his life. Was actually very good for helping me fall asleep, so if you’re having trouble…)<\/p>\n

Tenth of December<\/em><\/a> \u2013 George Saunders<\/p>\n

Astonish Me<\/em><\/a> \u2013 Maggie Shipstead <\/strong>(not great literature, but I really enjoyed the story and learning about the world of ballet of which I was completely ignorant)<\/p>\n

*The Farm<\/a> \u2013 <\/em>Tom Rob Smith (such a great premise, but I ended up finding the characters, story\u00a0and ending really unlikable)<\/p>\n

The Vacationers<\/em><\/a> \u2013 Emma Straub<\/p>\n

*The Goldfinch<\/a> \u2013 <\/em>Donna Tartt (I read this for a long time and for long stretches, but I just got to the point at which I didn’t want to follow the main character on his journey anymore — at the point where he reconnected with his friend from Vegas in New York. Very well-written, great beginning, and very well-drawn characters, but too slow\u00a0and depressing. I might actually try to finish it at some point, because it really was well-written.)<\/p>\n

I’ve been reading on a Kindle since I won one at a conference in 2010. I upgraded to the Kindle Paperwhite last year and I have to say that I really don’t miss reading physical books at all. Every time I’ve moved since high school, it’s been heartbreaking to let go of some of my collection, so it feels nice not to be accumulating more physical stuff. And the convenience of the Overdrive\/Kindle connection can’t be beat. I’d never use the system if I had to download an file and get it onto a device; I couldn’t even figure it out how to get it to work when I downloaded an\u00a0audiobook once. And what’s great about using the Kindle format\u00a0is that I can access the book I’m reading from the Kindle app on my iPad or iPhone if I’m ever stuck waiting somewhere without my e-reader. I know there are a lot of bad things about Amazon and Kindle, but\u00a0the ridiculous convenience wins out\u00a0for me.<\/p>\n

What did you read this year that you absolutely loved? What would you recommend?<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Image credit<\/strong>: Kindle Paperwhite by Frmorrison<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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