A not-very-comprehensive list of books read in the last several years that I’d recommend. In some cases, I have stolen abstracts from amazon.com—since I’m not writing a term paper, don’t sue me for plagiarism. I notice in beginning this list, that it is does not contain very much fiction. While I have read some fiction in the last several years, I suppose that I would not recommend most of it.
Denise Mina Field of Blood, Little Brown & Company (2005).
Some people call this style of crime novel "Scottish Noir". Paddy Meehan works as a gofer in a Glasgow newspaper and dreams of being a journalist. She's an engaging heroine, one who learns about herself and the world--maybe more than she wanted to know on either score. Well-researched with a dense atmosphere.
Neil Gaiman Neverwhere, Avon Books (1997).
A man sees a woman bleeding, lying on a London street. He helps her and gets pulled into an alternate London that appears to exist belowground, but it comes and goes.... Richly described world with eccentric and dangerous characters. Plot turns and twists abound.
Gregory Maguire Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West, ReganBooks
(1996).
The Land of Oz isn't what it used to be. To enjoy this book, you have to be able to divorce yourself from L. Frank Baum's simple and sweet tales, to embrace an Oz in which paganism and sorcery battle against monotheism, in which corrupt governments put out shadowy tentacles of spies and lies, in which the Wizard is a fascist ruler and the Wicked Witch of the East wants Munchkinland to rebel against his tyrannical rule. Maguire weaves a detailed and compelling story of three women, who may or may not be witches: Elphaba and her sister Nessarose (later the witches of the West and East, respectively) and Glinda. The supporting cast is rich and interesting. Maguire has a knack for creating memorable characters who are neither black nor white, neither good nor bad. In some cases, they are green. The book is intended to make us think about evil and about free will. In this, Maguire is sometimes a bit heavy-handed, as when he arranges for characters to have philosophical discussions on the subject of evil. He also has a tendency to have his characters speak alike, regardless of station or background. But, this is a fairy tale, after all, so perhaps this can be forgiven. His prose is sometimes breathtaking. He does an admirable job of keeping the backstory mysterious, almost out of reach. The narrative moves so swiftly that you don't have time to worry about that. He is confident in the world he has created and he does not, like some other authors might, feel compelled to explain the details. I admire this economy with the backstory. He has written other books in this vein: Son of a Witch (a sequel to Wicked), Mirror, Mirror, and Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister. Son of a Witch is not as splashy a story, as Wicked--it doesn't have Elphaba, for one thing, but I found it touching. In my mind, Wicked is the best of the lot.
Ford Madox Ford The Good
Soldier: A Tale of Passion, Oxford University Press (1999).
First published in 1915, Ford Madox Ford's The Good Soldier begins,
famously and ominously, "This is the saddest story I have ever
heard." The book then proceeds to confute this pronouncement at every
turn, exposing a world less sad than pathetic, and more shot through with
hypocrisy and deceit than its incredulous narrator, John Dowell, cares to
imagine. Somewhat forgotten as a classic, The Good Soldier has been
called everything from the consummate novelist's novel to one of the greatest
English works of the century. I found it to be a fascinating example of the
deceptive narrator.
Annie Proulx Bad Dirt: Wyoming Stories 2, Scribner
(2005).
Proulx has the ability to create characters and a world with economy and humor
that I really admire. She's one of my favorite writers of short stories.
Christopher Booker The Seven
Basic Plots: Why We Tell Stories, Continuum International Publishing Group
(2005).
Many writing guides have suggested that fiction contains a limited number of
basic plots, and Booker offers his version at great length. Furthermore, he
claims all of these plots, from "overcoming the monster" to
"rebirth," are variations on "the same great basic drama,"
a Jungian archetypal representation of the development and integration of the
mature self. The meticulous detailing of this theory in plot summaries (of
everything from Beowulf to Jaws, ancient comedy to modern tragedy, Western
culture and Eastern) is an imposing enough task, but Booker is just warming up.
In the book's second half, he explains how the psychological shortcomings of
modern authors such as Shaw and Joyce led them to reject archetypal truth in
favor of writing out their own sentimental and morbid fantasies. The second
half of the book suffers under the burden of Booker's need to have a Grand
Theory of Everything that is tied to Jungian psychology. What doesn't fit his
theory, he derides. The first half of the book is worth reading; even if seven
basic plots can't explain everything, they explain much of literature for the
past 5,000 years. The second half of the book is probably not worth reading,
unless you are in agreement with Booker's Jungian views.
Donald Maas Writing the Breakout Novel Workbook,
Writers Digest Books (2004).
Short chapters and lots of exercises from a literary agent and author of fiction. The exercises were used by the author in workshops, and he sprinkles them with comments on how workshop participants reacted.
Mark Juergensmeyer Terror in
the Mind of God: The Global Rise of Religious Violence, University of
California Press (2003).
Can a national identity be divorced from a religious identity? For the last two
hundred years or so in Europe and the Americas, we believed that a nation-state
could and should be secular. After a thousand years of virtual theocracy in
Europe, the flaws of the Church controlling the State seemed evident. I wonder
if we are headed back to another millennium of theocracy… sometimes it even
seems like that in the U.S. This book explores violence carried out in the name
of religion by using examples from around the world.
Jon Krakauer Under the Banner of Heaven: A Story of Violent Faith,
Anchor (2004).
In 1984, Ron and Dan Lafferty murdered the wife and infant daughter of their
younger brother Allen. The crimes were noteworthy not merely for their
brutality but for the brothers' claim that they were acting on direct orders
from God. In Under the Banner of Heaven, Jon Krakauer tells the story of
the killers and their crime but also explores the shadowy world of Mormon
fundamentalism from which the two emerged. The Mormon Church was founded, in
part, on the idea that true believers could speak directly with God. But while
the mainstream church attempted to be more palatable to the general public by
rejecting the controversial tenet of polygamy, fundamentalist splinter groups
saw this as apostasy and took to the hills to live what they believed to be a
righteous life. When their beliefs are challenged or their patriarchal,
cult-like order defied, these still-active groups, according to Krakauer, are
capable of fighting back with tremendous violence. While Krakauer's research
into the history of the church is admirably extensive, the real power of the
book comes from present-day information, notably jailhouse interviews with Dan
Lafferty. Far from being the brooding maniac one might expect, Lafferty is
chillingly coherent, still insisting that his motive was merely to obey God's
command. Krakauer's accounts of the actual murders are graphic and disturbing,
but such detail makes the brothers' claim of divine instruction all the more
horrifying. In an age where Westerners have trouble comprehending what drives
Islamic fundamentalists to kill, Jon Krakauer advises us to look within
America's own borders.
The Silver Spoon, Phaidon
Press (2005).
First published in 1950 and revised over time, Italy's bestselling culinary
"bible," Il Cucchino d'argentino, is now available in English. The
Silver Spoon boasts over 2,000 recipes and arrives in a handsome (and
weighty) photo-illustrated edition complete with two ribbon markers. Its
chapters make every menu stop from sauces and antipasti through cheese dishes
and sweets, with many standout dishes like Genoese Pesto Minestrone, Eggplant
and Ricotta Lasagna, Pork Shoulder with Prunes, and Chocolate and Pear Tart;
the book also includes a number of "eccentricities," like sections on
patty shells and bean sprouts, surely not an Italian dining staple. Meant to be
inclusive, the book also offers a wide range of non-Italian, mostly French
formulas, supplemented by a few "exotic" and other non-traditional
entries.
Harold McGee On Food and Cooking: The Science and Lore
of the Kitchen. New York, NY, Scribner (2004).
Before antioxidants, extra-virgin olive oil and supermarket sushi commanded
public obsession, the first edition of this book swept readers and cooks into
the everyday magic of the kitchen: it became an overnight classic. Now, twenty
years later, McGee has taken his slightly outdated volume and turned it into a
stunning masterpiece that combines science, linguistics, history, poetry and,
of course, gastronomy. He dances from the spicy flavor of Hawaiian seaweed to
the scientific method of creating no-stir peanut butter, quoting Chinese poet
Shu Xi and biblical proverbs along the way. McGee's conversational style-rich
with exclamation points and everyday examples-allows him to explain complex chemical
reactions, like caramelization, without dumbing them down. His book will also
be hailed as groundbreaking in its breakdown of taste and flavor. Though
several cookbooks have begun to answer the questions of why certain foods go
well together, McGee draws on recent agricultural research, neuroscience
reviews and chemical publications to chart the different flavor chemicals in
herbs and spices, fruits and vegetables. Odd synergies appear, like the
creation of fruity esters in dry-cured ham-the same that occur naturally in
melons! McGee also corrects the European bias of the first edition, moving
beyond the Mediterranean to discuss the foods of Asia and Mexico. Almost every
single page of this edition has been rewritten, but the book retains the same
light touch as the original. McGee has successfully revised the bible of food
science-and produced a fascinating, charming text.
Rose Levy Beranbaum The Pie and Pastry Bible. New York, NY, Scribner
(1998).
A book for those who love pies and tarts. I thought I knew how to make a good
pie crust before I read this book, but I was wrong. Beranbaum's recipes can be
complicated, but the effort is rewarded by results. If you like to bake pie,
this is a great book. Some of the recipes might be a little daunting for novice
pastry cooks.
Last Updated: 7/29/06