Wednesday, January 03, 2007

Books of 2006

Since I doubt anyone wants to read about the new haircut I got or how accomplished I felt yesterday when I finally registered my car in Arizona, I've decided to take a cue from Elah over at Ciboulette and showcase the books I read in 2006.

I think that's about it. This summer I was in a reading frenzy when I was working that crazy temp job and I have no recollection what books I checked-out from the library and read on my lunch hour in the park. That's okay though as those that were particularly noteworthy are listed here.

I would not recommend all of the books above, Bitter is the New Black was particularly absent of substance. The Anthropology of Turquoise felt uninspired and sometimes snoozeworthy.

I felt most accomplished after finishing Anna Karenina which took me forever and a day to read but it was well worth the time and effort. The Falls was another beautifully written novel, a seriously crafted work of art. The requisite Walker, Monk Kidd and Chopra are represented on the list. I don't know if it's me getting older or if it's a reflection of these works in particular, but this time around the books weren't as inspiring as others by these authors have been in the past. My new favorite author of the year is Luis Alberto Urrea. Of all the books I read this year relating to the desert and it's native plants and people, Urrea did the most lovely job portraying the pre-revolutionary Mexican rancheria and the surrounding Sonoran desert in his novel The Hummingbird's Daughter.

I just started The Story of B by Daniel Quinn; I'll make sure to let you know how it turns out.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

I loved The Story of B. Hope you do too!

Anonymous said...

I read about the registration of your car and quite enjoyed it. How are you Sweet Brita? Tell me how you are.

zeehomme treshumdrum said...

Interesting list, but I loved The Anthropology of Turquoise. Try it again when your 10 or 20 years older. And try Meloy's Eating Stone while you're at it. Even finer. I too am enjoying Tolstoy--War and Peace for me. I'm reading it very slowly, savoring it but stumbling some too. I'm racing through 36 Views of Mt. Fuji by Cathy Davidson right now and loving it.

Here's my list over the past 12 months (a very lucky year) in reverse chronological order:
--Them by Francine du Plessix Gray
--The Year of the Comets: A Journey from Sadness to the Stars by Jan DeBlieu
--Misquoting Jesus by Bart Ehrman
--The Finishing School by Muriel Spark
--The Man Who by Tony Abbott
--Jean Genet by Edmund White
--A Book of Minutes by Cathy Smith Bowers
--Lao-Tus Te-Tao Ching
--Marcel Proust by Edmund White
--My Lives by Edmund White
--The Hopes of Snakes by Lisa Couturier
--The Woman at the Washington Zoo by Marjorie Williams

Bored? Check out my poochy's blog:
http://reallykindasortatotallystupid.blogspot.com/

There are links to some of these books there, and other junk on sale for free.