Nov 10, 2022·edited Nov 10, 2022Liked by Jane Ratcliffe
So many books!
I'm reading UNRAVELED: THE LIFE AND DEATH OF A GARMENT by Maxine Bedat and it's so eye opening. I'd give a copy to everyone.
I recently read and loved THE GIRL IN DULUTH by Sigrid Brown (pen name of Cheri Johnson) and it was so good--all the complexity of literary fiction and all the page turning of genre.
TRUST EXERCISES by Susan Choi was . . . Wow. She's an amazing writer at the sentence level and the way she shifted things throughout the novel was fascinating.
Last year, Susanne Clarke’s Piranesi was such a revelation for me. I read it twice and listened to the audiobook (which is beautifully narrated). Fantasy is definitely not usually my jam but the way Clarke write this unusual, isolated character so beautifully really touched me. I also found the drip feeding of information about Piranesi’s world just so clever. This year I’ve also enjoyed Per Petterson’s books, particularly Out Stealing Horses and It’s Fine By Me. Short, atmospheric, rural books are definitely my jam. Oh and Play it As it Lays by Didion is what I pick up if I forget what kid of writer I want to be.
Thanks for sharing some of the books you love. Having some difficulty with attention span, it's rare I finish a book these days. One exception was the debut novel, The Astonishing Color of After, by Emily X.R. Pan. This lyrical, heartbreaking book held my interest for 470 pages. I'm now reading an essay collection, Touching Creatures, Touching Spirit, by Judy Grahn, savoring one short, gorgeous piece at a time. With titles like "Messages With Cats Attached", "Dragonfly Dances" and "Rats at the Door of Love," who could resist?
Hasidic Tales from the Holocaust, in which Yaffa Eliach gathers stories by survivors, told as Isaac Bashevis Singer might have told them. It’s a talisman that has seen me through my hardest times. The first three-quarters of Vera Brittain’s great war memoir, Testament of Youth. The Things They Carried by Tim O’Brien. Transit of Venus by Shirley Hazzard (a keeper after at least three readings). And I’m in awe of The Warmth of Other Suns by Isabel Wilkerson.
This past summer I reread HARRIET THE SPY by Louise Fitzhugh. It remains the book that defined me; first as a kid who loved books and loved writing, and now as the writer and observer of life I aspire to be. I was tickled to find it as entertaining for a now 50+ reader as it once was for an elementary school reader. :)
I haven't read it yet, but I'm about to start Anna Quinn's "Angeline." I really loved her first novel, "The Night Child," which --- I can't explain. It's just a "Wow." Hoping for the same with Angeline.
My favourite release of 2022 has been Tell Them My Name by Laura Maya - and I was thrilled when my recommendation got a recent mention in Elizabeth Held's wonderful What To Read If... newsletter.
This is what I submitted:
"After years of volunteer work creating a children’s library in a remote mountainside village, an idealistic young couple invites their Nepali hosts, two indigenous Gurung elders, to accompany them to Europe. The unusual family travels through France, Italy, Switzerland and the Netherlands, taking the culture-curious lens that mindful travellers engage on their journeys and directing it back on our own ways of life. Laura Maya’s debut, Tell Them My Name, is both entertaining and thought-provoking, balancing love and good humour with a willingness to face up to serious issues."
I was recently lucky enough to interview Laura Maya for the JourneyWoman book club - if you're interested, you can see the conversation at https://youtu.be/dGVo3G6bfGk
Oh yes! Brideshead Revisited! I finally read it this year. I'm curious watch the miniseries now but also afraid it might ruin things for me. Not that I actually remember anything I read, haha.
The bar seems to be quite high for recommending books here, so I can't say this is a title that will blow anyone's mind and/or make them weep and laugh, but the last book I gave five stars to on Goodreads was something I just finished last week—"The Brothers Ashkenazi" by Israel J Singer (Isaac Bashevis Singer's lesser-known big brother). One reviewer called it, "The best Russian novel ever written in Yiddish" and that about sums it up.
Our shared love of T.H. Whites The Once and Future King made you the best editor for my work! I revisited some favorite historical fiction during the pandemic, including one dear to my whole family, Frans Bengtsson's "The Long Ships." The best historical novel I've ever read, and an eye opener about Viking history and reach (yes, they were in Moorish Spain and medieval Russia, among other places). Also Mika Waltari's "The Egyptian," Annemarie Selinko's "Desiree." For more contemporary reads, Adichie's "Americanah" for a mind-blowing view of race in America from a Nigerian perspective, and Jeffers' "The Love Songs of W.E.B. Dubois." For historical fantasy lovers, the Temeraire series by Naomi Novik, about a gallant British Navy commander and his dragon--yes, dragon!--during the Napoleonic wars. I listened to all of it--the reader, Simon Vance, gave a brilliant performance. I've been too distracted with the election to keep my mind on anything, but now with the results in Michigan better than I dared dream I feel the need to plunge into something and see some interesting recommendations in the comments!
I'm currently reading a book about how to parent middle schoolers because it's happening next year and I'm terrified ;)
So many books!
I'm reading UNRAVELED: THE LIFE AND DEATH OF A GARMENT by Maxine Bedat and it's so eye opening. I'd give a copy to everyone.
I recently read and loved THE GIRL IN DULUTH by Sigrid Brown (pen name of Cheri Johnson) and it was so good--all the complexity of literary fiction and all the page turning of genre.
TRUST EXERCISES by Susan Choi was . . . Wow. She's an amazing writer at the sentence level and the way she shifted things throughout the novel was fascinating.
Last year, Susanne Clarke’s Piranesi was such a revelation for me. I read it twice and listened to the audiobook (which is beautifully narrated). Fantasy is definitely not usually my jam but the way Clarke write this unusual, isolated character so beautifully really touched me. I also found the drip feeding of information about Piranesi’s world just so clever. This year I’ve also enjoyed Per Petterson’s books, particularly Out Stealing Horses and It’s Fine By Me. Short, atmospheric, rural books are definitely my jam. Oh and Play it As it Lays by Didion is what I pick up if I forget what kid of writer I want to be.
The Archive of Alternate Endings by Lindsey Drager
Thanks for sharing some of the books you love. Having some difficulty with attention span, it's rare I finish a book these days. One exception was the debut novel, The Astonishing Color of After, by Emily X.R. Pan. This lyrical, heartbreaking book held my interest for 470 pages. I'm now reading an essay collection, Touching Creatures, Touching Spirit, by Judy Grahn, savoring one short, gorgeous piece at a time. With titles like "Messages With Cats Attached", "Dragonfly Dances" and "Rats at the Door of Love," who could resist?
Hasidic Tales from the Holocaust, in which Yaffa Eliach gathers stories by survivors, told as Isaac Bashevis Singer might have told them. It’s a talisman that has seen me through my hardest times. The first three-quarters of Vera Brittain’s great war memoir, Testament of Youth. The Things They Carried by Tim O’Brien. Transit of Venus by Shirley Hazzard (a keeper after at least three readings). And I’m in awe of The Warmth of Other Suns by Isabel Wilkerson.
This past summer I reread HARRIET THE SPY by Louise Fitzhugh. It remains the book that defined me; first as a kid who loved books and loved writing, and now as the writer and observer of life I aspire to be. I was tickled to find it as entertaining for a now 50+ reader as it once was for an elementary school reader. :)
Recently finished Alice Feeney’s Daisy Darker which was pretty good. Currently reading Jeanna Kadlec’s HERETIC which is phenomenal.
I haven't read it yet, but I'm about to start Anna Quinn's "Angeline." I really loved her first novel, "The Night Child," which --- I can't explain. It's just a "Wow." Hoping for the same with Angeline.
My favourite release of 2022 has been Tell Them My Name by Laura Maya - and I was thrilled when my recommendation got a recent mention in Elizabeth Held's wonderful What To Read If... newsletter.
This is what I submitted:
"After years of volunteer work creating a children’s library in a remote mountainside village, an idealistic young couple invites their Nepali hosts, two indigenous Gurung elders, to accompany them to Europe. The unusual family travels through France, Italy, Switzerland and the Netherlands, taking the culture-curious lens that mindful travellers engage on their journeys and directing it back on our own ways of life. Laura Maya’s debut, Tell Them My Name, is both entertaining and thought-provoking, balancing love and good humour with a willingness to face up to serious issues."
I was recently lucky enough to interview Laura Maya for the JourneyWoman book club - if you're interested, you can see the conversation at https://youtu.be/dGVo3G6bfGk
Oh yes! Brideshead Revisited! I finally read it this year. I'm curious watch the miniseries now but also afraid it might ruin things for me. Not that I actually remember anything I read, haha.
The bar seems to be quite high for recommending books here, so I can't say this is a title that will blow anyone's mind and/or make them weep and laugh, but the last book I gave five stars to on Goodreads was something I just finished last week—"The Brothers Ashkenazi" by Israel J Singer (Isaac Bashevis Singer's lesser-known big brother). One reviewer called it, "The best Russian novel ever written in Yiddish" and that about sums it up.
Our shared love of T.H. Whites The Once and Future King made you the best editor for my work! I revisited some favorite historical fiction during the pandemic, including one dear to my whole family, Frans Bengtsson's "The Long Ships." The best historical novel I've ever read, and an eye opener about Viking history and reach (yes, they were in Moorish Spain and medieval Russia, among other places). Also Mika Waltari's "The Egyptian," Annemarie Selinko's "Desiree." For more contemporary reads, Adichie's "Americanah" for a mind-blowing view of race in America from a Nigerian perspective, and Jeffers' "The Love Songs of W.E.B. Dubois." For historical fantasy lovers, the Temeraire series by Naomi Novik, about a gallant British Navy commander and his dragon--yes, dragon!--during the Napoleonic wars. I listened to all of it--the reader, Simon Vance, gave a brilliant performance. I've been too distracted with the election to keep my mind on anything, but now with the results in Michigan better than I dared dream I feel the need to plunge into something and see some interesting recommendations in the comments!