Best Books of 2013

Every year between Christmas and New Year’s I prepare a list of my favorite books of the year. In 2013 I read 103 books. My husband noted that this means that I met my goal of reading fewer books in 2013, since my average for the last several years has been two a week. So I made it by just one book!

Here is my list of the best of 2013. They are listed in the order I read them – not order of importance. They are also not all newly published books. Some, like John O’Hara’s “New York Stories,” are older than I am (but I note that reading those short stories gave me renewed enthusiasm for the short story form). The list is a mix of fiction, short stories and non-fiction. I read a good bit of mystery, especially Northern Irish and Japanese noir this year. None of those books made the list this year but I want to give a special mention to the new series by Jonelle Patrick, which are set in Japan. She has released three so far and I thought they were all great.

The Yellow Birds – Kevin Powers
The Wife – Meg Wolitzer
My Beloved World – Sonia Sotomayor
The Good House – Ann Leary
We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves – Karen Joy Fowler
And The Mountains Echoed – Khaled Hosseini
Mastering the Art of Soviet Cooking – Anya Van Bremzen
The New York Stories – John O’Hara
Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk – Ben Fountain
The Barbarian Nurseries – Hector Tobar
Bobcat – Rebecca Lee
The Dinner – Herman Koch
A Constellation of Vital Phenomena – Anthony Marra
The Interestings – Meg Wolitzer
Mary Coin – Marisa Silver
Good Living Street – Tim Bonyhady
Americanah – Chimamanda Ngozi Adiche
Saving Italy: The Race to Rescue A Nation’s Treasures – Robert M. Edsel

The Banishment of Nathaniel P.

I've gotten to be a more judgmental reader as I journey further down the path of being a novelist myself. I used to NEVER leave a book unfinished. I would white knuckle my way to the end, bleary-eyed and anxious, perhaps only allowing myself to skim a bit near the end.

Now, I have something like a 50-page rule. If I'm not completely caught up in the story or have some other reason to keep with the book, it's a goner -- tossed in the back seat of my car to be returned to the library.

That happened yesterday with the The Love Affairs of Nathaniel P. by Adelle Waldman. I got to about page 80 before I realized I just didn't care about the character and that in fact it was making me feel uncomfortable to read any more about him. DOn't get me wrong -- Adelle Waldman seems to be a terrific writer and the fact that she created a character that I so actively disliked is amazing. But I just didn't want to spend another three to four hours in the room with him.

As I often do before abandoning a book, I go on Goodreads to read what others have to say about it. For this one, I was dismayed to see Ron Charles' 5-star review. I really like Ron Charles and respect what he has to say. I felt better when I saw the review posted by "Elizabeth": "Turns out Nathaniel P. is a self-absorbed dick. End of story." I smiled. I felt justified. Out came my bookmark and to the back seat of the car for you, Nathaniel P!

This morning I picked up "The Dinner" by Herman Koch from the pile beside my bed. I'm only 56 pages in and I'm entranced! I want to sit here in my pajamas all day and read.

I'm so glad I banished Nathaniel P. But I will very much look forward to reading whatever Adelle Waldman comes up with next.

Rinascimento

I like to pick a theme or word for a year.

For 2014 my word is "rinascimento" -- Italian for Renaissance.

I'm picking the word now because for me the year goes from Thanksgiving in one year to my birthday in the following January -- so it actually covers a 14-month period. That's a thematic year for me.

I was pretty happy when the word occurred to me a few weeks ago. I'm about two years into trying to learn Italian, through a combination of weekly lessons at the amazing Spectrum Languages in Irvine, Pimsleur tapes and reading the cycling coverage in La Gazzetta della Sport. So I wanted an Italian word, even though I haven't been to Italy since 2010.

The word is also appropriate because I'm recommitting to my novel, which has been lingering in my laptop for a LONG time now. So let's see what we can get going in the 418 days that remain in the year of the rinascimento.

First step - breakfast with my writing notebook at Pascal's Epicerie in Newport Beach. It's been my Friday morning start of the writing week for several years.