This is a continuing list of the books I’ve slept with this year.
15. The Lover’s Dictionary by David Levithan. A read-in-one-sitting, unique and emotionally powerful book. A perfect, fragmented image of what it’s like to be in a relationship. 5/5 stars.
16. Just a Couple of Days by Tony Vigorito. A great idea and a happy message. Full of quotable, whimsical passages and one-liners that overshadow the author’s sometimes annoying habit of overindulging in wordplay. This was my third reading of the book, and although my zeal for it has gone down, I still finished the book in a good mood. 4/5 stars.
17. Insomnio Lomas by Damir Keoseyan. What begins as a fairly light-hearted and whimsical exploration of the upper class of Mexico City ‘fresas’ eventually becomes a dark and layered collection of stories and characters that anyone from D.F can appreciate. Keoseyan keeps his readers on edge while telling tales that demonstrate the carefree yet dangerous lives of people living in one of the biggest cities on Earth. An engaging read, particularly for those familiar with the subculture. 4/5 stars.
18. The Best American Short Stories 2010 edited by Richard Russo. Typical of the “Best American” series, there’s always at least a story or two to love. Most of them are enjoyable. 4/5 stars.
19. Life of Pi by Yann Martel. A great story, told well. Deserves the hype it’s received. 4/5 stars.
20. Bleeding Violet by Dia Reeves. Again, an interesting YA premise that did nothing for me. Forced my way through the book because I respect the opinion of the person who recommended the series, but it was not enjoyable. 2/5 stars.
21. Eating the Dinosaur by Chuck Klosterman. His ideas are interesting and he presents them clearly. The bad part is that Klosterman isn’t always a very likable guy. Although it’s not his intention to be likable, so, the book itself is not flawed, but the way it reads is. (Although, near the end of the book, Klosterman admits to hating himself, which somehow makes it all a little better.) 4/5 stars.
22. The Corrections by Jonathan Franzen. There’s that well-circulated quotation about how it’s poetry’s job to “comfort the disturbed and disturb the comfortable.” In that regard, this book is a smashing poetic success. You’ll be disturbed, and comforted, and then disturbed again when you realize what you’re comforted by. The story of a handful of people who mostly suck at life. But they suck at life in such pretty and poignant writing that it’s hard to stay away from the book for very long, despite the fact that it’s not the quickest read. 4/5 stars.
23. Letter to a Young Novelist by Mario Vargas Llosa. It’s not a didactic collection of essays on how one should write, nor even a literary criticism on what exactly makes great novels great. It’s just an exploration of all the things novel can be and have been. His P.S wraps it up fairly nicely: “My dear friend: what I am trying to say is that you should forget everything you’ve read in my letters about the structure of the novel, and just sit down and write.” 4/5 stars.
24. Best American Non-Required Reading 2008 edited by Dave Eggers. A wonderful collection of short stories and essays and profiles and…non-required reading material from 2008, I guess. Some of the pieces weren’t to my liking or failed to really capture my attention. But most of them did. And the ones that stood out are severely marked with dog-eared pages because I didn’t have a pen with which to write down and remember my favorite passages. Huge bits of life transferred into little pieces of writing. Often moving, usually incredibly insightful, and almost always funny or heartbreaking or both, most of these fabulous and varied works I imagine will stay with me for quite some time. 4/5 stars.
25. Post Office by Charles Bukowski. First half was pretty weak. Had the Bukowski vulgarity but not the poignancy. Second half made up for it. Interestingly enough, the scenes away from the post office were the ones I really enjoyed. 3/5 stars.
26. I Wanna Be Your Joey Ramone by Stephanie Kuehnert. Fast, powerful and full of emotion, just like the music that inspired it. Easy to get lost in the characters’ journeys and flaws. Evocative and very well written. The love for music is so apparent that I would have liked to see a bit more of the specifics. Passages about albums. But then it would have risked turning into a musical critique, which isn’t the point. I think a 4.5/5 would be the best rating for it, but I’ll lose no sleep giving Stephanie Kuehnert the benefit of the doubt. 5/5 stars.
And that’s it for my 2011 reading! I’ve got a goal of 50 books read for the year and I’m right on track to accomplish that. Again, if you’d like to follow along with my current reads, past reads and future reads, add me on Goodreads. Whether it be with these books or others, please go sleep with many of them.
