Welcome to the 2011 edition of This Train's year in books, otherwise known as the Year of Nonfiction and other cool events that are as exciting as fiction but really happened. This year, in reading and in life, has been full of unexpected surprises and adventure mixed in with the familiar--a winning combination that has left me feeling thankful and blessed, not to mention much more informed on topics ranging from particle physics to rubber duckies and quite a bit in between.
January: The Disappearing Spoon: And Other True Tales of Madness, Love and the History of the Periodic Table of Elements by Sam Kean
Technically I bought this book last December, but it was the title that opened 2011. I read it once, then promptly read it again, this time out loud to my mother over the new year while in Belfast, Ireland visiting my sister Sarah and her family. It is brilliantly written, laugh-out-loud funny and, really, who knew what dastardly lengths scientists will go to in search of new elements? Or what wacky tricks elements can do under various circumstances, some thrillingly technical, some totally mundane. (The disappearing spoon mentioned in the title, for example, is made from gallium, an element that melts at temperatures found in an ordinary cup of tea. Those wild-and-crazy chemists love to haze the new guy by busting out the gallium spoons at teatime.)
At its core, this book is about the drama, passion and hilarity that often result when people try to bring order to chaos and find answers to life's most fundamental questions. It is therefore appropriate that is represents January 2011, the month I entered into a Pact with four of my closest teaching friends of all time. Three of us were single, and this Pact was meant to bring order, possibly passion, though hopefully not drama, to our personal lives. It was not about creating instant chemistry, but about taking the risk of putting ourselves out there--a key component in any scientific experiment as well as in life.
February: The Hidden Reality: Parallel Universes and the Deep Laws of the Cosmos by Brian Greene
The science theme continued with Columbia University professor and lucid writer Brian Greene's book on the physics of the universe. I wrote a blog about this book while reading it (see "Flights of Reality" from February 2011), so won't repeat myself here. This book, however, perfectly represents February, in which I threw myself into fulfilling my end of the Pact with a brief and memorably hilarious (though not at all passionate) experiment in online dating. Particle physics and string theory have nothing on the hidden realities of meeting up with perfect strangers in coffee shops and restaurants and attempting to make conversation based on a brief blurb on a dating website. Though I paid for a month of this service, I was done after two weeks and perfectly content to put the Pact to rest. Or so I thought.
March: A Red Herring Without Mustard and I Am Half Sick of Shadows by Alan Bradley, The Saturday Big Tent Wedding Party by Alexander McCall Smith, A Trick of the Light by Louise Penny, The Eloquence of Blood by Judith Rock and V is for Vengeance by Sue Grafton
I didn't read all of these mysteries in March, but I put them here together because they represent the latest installments of several favorite mystery series as well as almost all of the fiction I read this year. Reading a good mystery, especially those with familiar characters, is like hanging out with an old friend for days at a time. But familiarity hardly equals boredom since these "old friends" are always knee-deep in intrigue and adventure. I especially recommend, as always, Judith Rock, novelist and godmother extraordinaire. Though I'm not the most unbiased source, I will say that her second installment starring Charles du Luc as an intrepid Jesuit rhetorician/dance instructor/detective in the wilds of 17th century Paris, is impeccably plotted and researched--and, dare I say, even more exciting than her debut last year.
I spent time with a lot of old friends in March, reconnecting on a week-long spring break trip to San Francisco. I blogged about this, too (see "Sitting Still" from March 2011). What wasn't mentioned in the demure March post was the intriguing and definitely not-dull moment of meeting Anna amidst a whirlwind of familiar faces, including MW, who introduced us. The moment I'd given up on the Pact, certain that my personal-life plotline would continue on its nonexistent trajectory, the scene shifted, in the style of the very best mystery novels. I suddenly found myself not in the drawing room with Colonel Mustard, or in a random cafe with a perfect stranger, but in a San Francisco restaurant with Anna at the start of something incredible.
April: You Are What You Speak: Grammar Grouches, Language Laws and the Politics of Identity by Robert Lane Greene
OK, I realize this whole entry is beginning to resemble one of those cheesy episodes from an 80s TV show made up of "flashback" clips from previous episodes. I promise this is the last time I will shout out a book I have already written an entire post about (see "Speaking Truth to Grammar Grouches, April 2011), but I can't help it. This was one of the best books I read in 2011, and one of the best in its genre. Once again, don't let the lengthy academic title throw you off--this book is as delightful and necessary as it is readable. And I'm not throwing around the word "necessary" lightly. The way we speak as well as perceive (and judge) the way others speak is one of the most fundamental ways we decide who to trust, respect and take seriously. Greene utterly demolishes the notion that there was ever a "golden age" of any language when all people spoke the "correct" way. In so doing, he intellectually legitimizes the way all languages (including English) evolve and change.
May: In the Garden of Beasts: Love, Terror and an American Family in Hitler's Berlin by Erik Larson
Those of you who enjoyed Larson's Devil in the White City and Thunderstruck won't be disappointed by this departure from his technology-meets-modern-crime theme. Or perhaps his research into the rise of Hitler bears witness to the most horrific crime in history. In this riveting book, Larson tells the story of the Dodd family's years in 1930s Berlin. He focuses mainly on the professorial William Dodd, American ambassador to Germany, and Dodd's fun-loving, sexually liberated daughter Martha, who immerses herself in the Third Reich party scene and discovers much more than she bargained for. As a reader, it is alternately agonizing and fascinating to watch Hitler's rise to power through the eyes of two Americans who have no idea what is coming. Larson's excellent writing and detailed historical context keep the suspense high, even when the tragic outcome is a foregone conclusion from the start.
June: The Passage by Justin Cronin
I couldn't put down Cronin's skillfully written thriller about an America devastated by a biological weapon gone awry that turns every tenth infected person into a scary, vampyric superhuman. Good times, if you are (as I am) a sucker for post-apocalyptic tales involving a few remaining humans battling the evil result of militaristic hubris against all odds. I read this while in Costa Rica learning Spanish, and it was perhaps not the best choice for bedtime in the sleepy town of Turrialba, nestled in the rainforest and full of insects, small creatures and various other things that go bump in the night. Though not for the faint of heart, I highly recommend The Passage not only as a page turner but as a glimpse into the hearts and minds of some wonderfully rendered characters that will be returning in the much-anticipated sequel due out in March 2012.
July: The Ascent of Money--Niall Ferguson
Understanding the economy with or without a MBA takes close reading as well as courage these days. The decisions made on Wall Street (whether by the fabled 1% or not) often seem based solely on myopic greed and the herd mentality. Turns out it's always been this way. Ferguson's clearly written account traces money, markets and investing back to its origins and contextualizes a lot of the historical currents that have been battering us lately. I wasn't exactly reassured, especially given how deeply these currents are affected by psychology rather than the "rational" rules we learn in Econ 101, but I did feel a lot more informed.
August: One of a Kind: the Rise and Fall of Stuey "The Kid" Ungar, the World's Greatest Poker Player by Mike Sexton and Nolan Dalla
As a teacher, I often plug reading by telling students how it will open up worlds they've never dreamed of before. I felt this way while reading about Stuey Ungar, a career gambler, drug addict and poker genius who won the World Series of Poker not once but three different times, and then died, virtually penniless in a Vegas hotel room at age 45. As single-minded a gambler as any dedicated artist, musician or executive, Ungar probably won about $30 million over the course of his short life, yet never had a bank account or home address. His story is a intriguing peek into the world of professional gambling, bookies and bets, and is ably told by Sexton and Dalla based on hours of taped interviews with Stuey before his death.
September: How to Live, Or a Life of Montaigne in One Question and 20 Attempts at an Answer by Sarah Bakewell
I dipped into this book throughout 2011, but finished it in September. Montaigne was essentially the first blogger 500 years before the Internet existed. A Renaissance man (literally and figuratively), he pioneered the personal essay, writing about life, love, land, family, politics, plague and anything else that came into his head from his "writing tower" on his estate near Bordeaux. Just like the bloggers of today, Montaigne had avid fans who felt he was speaking to them alone--as well as vehement detractors who disliked his chatty style and secular, self-referential world view. Each chapter in the book attempts to answer the question "How to live?" with an essay by Bakewell that puts Montaigne's life and thoughts into context. My favorite chapters were "Question Everything" and "Philosophize but Only by Accident." Though marketed as a biography, this book is much more. It was also an excellent book to finish as I was starting my second year teaching in Austin, getting ready to through myself into the daily routine of 70-hour work weeks while keeping that question "How to live?" always at the back of my mind.
October: The Psychopath Test: A Journey Through the Madness Industry by Jon Ronson
Ronson starts this book attempting to solve an intriguing hoax. Someone was sending select neurologists a cryptic, expensively produced book, but no one knew who, or why s/he had been chosen. On his way to uncovering the (crazy?) book sender, Ronson stumbled upon the study of psychopaths and the test mentioned in the title, a roster of 40 questions designed to uncover the psychopaths among us. Turns out a surprising number of people "qualify" as psychopaths, some proven violent offenders and others successful in business, politics and even law enforcement. Ronson's thoughtful (and at times unsettling) book casts a critical eye on the test, its profound affect on the mental health professionals who are taught to use it, and a handful people who find themselves labeled. No one questions that psychopaths exist, but Ronson makes sure his readers get a complete picture of the industry of mental health diagnosis and treatment.
November: Moby Duck: The True Story of 28,000 Bath Toys Lost at Sea and of Beach Combers, Oceanographers, Environmentalists and Fools, Including the Author, Who Went in Search of Them by Donovan Hohn
Chart the currents of the ocean and the currents of global trade in this wonderful book about a container of plastic bath toys that fell off a cargo ship in 1992 and captured the imagination of every single person mentioned in Hohn's lengthy title. And Hohn interviews all of them, from the quirky beachcombers of Alaska's Inner Passage to environmentalists studying the infamous Pacific Garbage Patch to a blind oceanographer to the whole crew of a Canadian ice breaker plowing through the Arctic Circle. I cannot recommend this book highly enough. When he's not roaming the oceans on a quest for knowledge, Hohn teaches high school English, and it shows (in a good way). His writing is clear and grounded in his knowledge of American lit as well as his own musings. I especially loved the quotations from Moby Dick at the beginning of each section.
December: State of Wonder by Ann Patchett
Anything by Ann Patchett is worth reading, and her latest novel is no exception. It has made the Best Of lists of many reviewers and with good cause. Like all masters, Patchett communicates perfectly with words. She has an amazing ability to move her characters through time and space without bogging down her descriptions or rushing her expositions. She sets this latest book in the Amazon jungle among a tribe whose women continue to have babies well into their 70s. An American pharmaceutical company smells a profit, but the scientist in charge of uncovering the secret of this medical marvel has gone native in more ways than one. Enter our heroine, sent by the CEO of the company (who also happens to be her lover) to find out what's going on after his first emissary dies of a mysterious fever. Patchett's stories are never simple morality tales of good vs. evil, yet there is never any doubt what is at stake ethically for all involved. Her 2001 book Bel Canto was my all-time favorite before Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell took its place. (If you haven't read either of those books, go out and get them immediately!) State of Wonder has an equally compelling cast of characters, though its premise is much more global in scope.
It was also an excellent book to wrap up 2011 and start 2012, a year that I hope will include much more fiction in my reading life, but no less startling, wonder-inspiring reality. As always, please write or post recommendations of your own here. I would love to hear what you have loved reading this year...
January: The Disappearing Spoon: And Other True Tales of Madness, Love and the History of the Periodic Table of Elements by Sam Kean
Technically I bought this book last December, but it was the title that opened 2011. I read it once, then promptly read it again, this time out loud to my mother over the new year while in Belfast, Ireland visiting my sister Sarah and her family. It is brilliantly written, laugh-out-loud funny and, really, who knew what dastardly lengths scientists will go to in search of new elements? Or what wacky tricks elements can do under various circumstances, some thrillingly technical, some totally mundane. (The disappearing spoon mentioned in the title, for example, is made from gallium, an element that melts at temperatures found in an ordinary cup of tea. Those wild-and-crazy chemists love to haze the new guy by busting out the gallium spoons at teatime.)
At its core, this book is about the drama, passion and hilarity that often result when people try to bring order to chaos and find answers to life's most fundamental questions. It is therefore appropriate that is represents January 2011, the month I entered into a Pact with four of my closest teaching friends of all time. Three of us were single, and this Pact was meant to bring order, possibly passion, though hopefully not drama, to our personal lives. It was not about creating instant chemistry, but about taking the risk of putting ourselves out there--a key component in any scientific experiment as well as in life.
February: The Hidden Reality: Parallel Universes and the Deep Laws of the Cosmos by Brian Greene
The science theme continued with Columbia University professor and lucid writer Brian Greene's book on the physics of the universe. I wrote a blog about this book while reading it (see "Flights of Reality" from February 2011), so won't repeat myself here. This book, however, perfectly represents February, in which I threw myself into fulfilling my end of the Pact with a brief and memorably hilarious (though not at all passionate) experiment in online dating. Particle physics and string theory have nothing on the hidden realities of meeting up with perfect strangers in coffee shops and restaurants and attempting to make conversation based on a brief blurb on a dating website. Though I paid for a month of this service, I was done after two weeks and perfectly content to put the Pact to rest. Or so I thought.
March: A Red Herring Without Mustard and I Am Half Sick of Shadows by Alan Bradley, The Saturday Big Tent Wedding Party by Alexander McCall Smith, A Trick of the Light by Louise Penny, The Eloquence of Blood by Judith Rock and V is for Vengeance by Sue Grafton
I didn't read all of these mysteries in March, but I put them here together because they represent the latest installments of several favorite mystery series as well as almost all of the fiction I read this year. Reading a good mystery, especially those with familiar characters, is like hanging out with an old friend for days at a time. But familiarity hardly equals boredom since these "old friends" are always knee-deep in intrigue and adventure. I especially recommend, as always, Judith Rock, novelist and godmother extraordinaire. Though I'm not the most unbiased source, I will say that her second installment starring Charles du Luc as an intrepid Jesuit rhetorician/dance instructor/detective in the wilds of 17th century Paris, is impeccably plotted and researched--and, dare I say, even more exciting than her debut last year.
I spent time with a lot of old friends in March, reconnecting on a week-long spring break trip to San Francisco. I blogged about this, too (see "Sitting Still" from March 2011). What wasn't mentioned in the demure March post was the intriguing and definitely not-dull moment of meeting Anna amidst a whirlwind of familiar faces, including MW, who introduced us. The moment I'd given up on the Pact, certain that my personal-life plotline would continue on its nonexistent trajectory, the scene shifted, in the style of the very best mystery novels. I suddenly found myself not in the drawing room with Colonel Mustard, or in a random cafe with a perfect stranger, but in a San Francisco restaurant with Anna at the start of something incredible.
April: You Are What You Speak: Grammar Grouches, Language Laws and the Politics of Identity by Robert Lane Greene
OK, I realize this whole entry is beginning to resemble one of those cheesy episodes from an 80s TV show made up of "flashback" clips from previous episodes. I promise this is the last time I will shout out a book I have already written an entire post about (see "Speaking Truth to Grammar Grouches, April 2011), but I can't help it. This was one of the best books I read in 2011, and one of the best in its genre. Once again, don't let the lengthy academic title throw you off--this book is as delightful and necessary as it is readable. And I'm not throwing around the word "necessary" lightly. The way we speak as well as perceive (and judge) the way others speak is one of the most fundamental ways we decide who to trust, respect and take seriously. Greene utterly demolishes the notion that there was ever a "golden age" of any language when all people spoke the "correct" way. In so doing, he intellectually legitimizes the way all languages (including English) evolve and change.
May: In the Garden of Beasts: Love, Terror and an American Family in Hitler's Berlin by Erik Larson
Those of you who enjoyed Larson's Devil in the White City and Thunderstruck won't be disappointed by this departure from his technology-meets-modern-crime theme. Or perhaps his research into the rise of Hitler bears witness to the most horrific crime in history. In this riveting book, Larson tells the story of the Dodd family's years in 1930s Berlin. He focuses mainly on the professorial William Dodd, American ambassador to Germany, and Dodd's fun-loving, sexually liberated daughter Martha, who immerses herself in the Third Reich party scene and discovers much more than she bargained for. As a reader, it is alternately agonizing and fascinating to watch Hitler's rise to power through the eyes of two Americans who have no idea what is coming. Larson's excellent writing and detailed historical context keep the suspense high, even when the tragic outcome is a foregone conclusion from the start.
June: The Passage by Justin Cronin
I couldn't put down Cronin's skillfully written thriller about an America devastated by a biological weapon gone awry that turns every tenth infected person into a scary, vampyric superhuman. Good times, if you are (as I am) a sucker for post-apocalyptic tales involving a few remaining humans battling the evil result of militaristic hubris against all odds. I read this while in Costa Rica learning Spanish, and it was perhaps not the best choice for bedtime in the sleepy town of Turrialba, nestled in the rainforest and full of insects, small creatures and various other things that go bump in the night. Though not for the faint of heart, I highly recommend The Passage not only as a page turner but as a glimpse into the hearts and minds of some wonderfully rendered characters that will be returning in the much-anticipated sequel due out in March 2012.
July: The Ascent of Money--Niall Ferguson
Understanding the economy with or without a MBA takes close reading as well as courage these days. The decisions made on Wall Street (whether by the fabled 1% or not) often seem based solely on myopic greed and the herd mentality. Turns out it's always been this way. Ferguson's clearly written account traces money, markets and investing back to its origins and contextualizes a lot of the historical currents that have been battering us lately. I wasn't exactly reassured, especially given how deeply these currents are affected by psychology rather than the "rational" rules we learn in Econ 101, but I did feel a lot more informed.
August: One of a Kind: the Rise and Fall of Stuey "The Kid" Ungar, the World's Greatest Poker Player by Mike Sexton and Nolan Dalla
As a teacher, I often plug reading by telling students how it will open up worlds they've never dreamed of before. I felt this way while reading about Stuey Ungar, a career gambler, drug addict and poker genius who won the World Series of Poker not once but three different times, and then died, virtually penniless in a Vegas hotel room at age 45. As single-minded a gambler as any dedicated artist, musician or executive, Ungar probably won about $30 million over the course of his short life, yet never had a bank account or home address. His story is a intriguing peek into the world of professional gambling, bookies and bets, and is ably told by Sexton and Dalla based on hours of taped interviews with Stuey before his death.
September: How to Live, Or a Life of Montaigne in One Question and 20 Attempts at an Answer by Sarah Bakewell
I dipped into this book throughout 2011, but finished it in September. Montaigne was essentially the first blogger 500 years before the Internet existed. A Renaissance man (literally and figuratively), he pioneered the personal essay, writing about life, love, land, family, politics, plague and anything else that came into his head from his "writing tower" on his estate near Bordeaux. Just like the bloggers of today, Montaigne had avid fans who felt he was speaking to them alone--as well as vehement detractors who disliked his chatty style and secular, self-referential world view. Each chapter in the book attempts to answer the question "How to live?" with an essay by Bakewell that puts Montaigne's life and thoughts into context. My favorite chapters were "Question Everything" and "Philosophize but Only by Accident." Though marketed as a biography, this book is much more. It was also an excellent book to finish as I was starting my second year teaching in Austin, getting ready to through myself into the daily routine of 70-hour work weeks while keeping that question "How to live?" always at the back of my mind.
October: The Psychopath Test: A Journey Through the Madness Industry by Jon Ronson
Ronson starts this book attempting to solve an intriguing hoax. Someone was sending select neurologists a cryptic, expensively produced book, but no one knew who, or why s/he had been chosen. On his way to uncovering the (crazy?) book sender, Ronson stumbled upon the study of psychopaths and the test mentioned in the title, a roster of 40 questions designed to uncover the psychopaths among us. Turns out a surprising number of people "qualify" as psychopaths, some proven violent offenders and others successful in business, politics and even law enforcement. Ronson's thoughtful (and at times unsettling) book casts a critical eye on the test, its profound affect on the mental health professionals who are taught to use it, and a handful people who find themselves labeled. No one questions that psychopaths exist, but Ronson makes sure his readers get a complete picture of the industry of mental health diagnosis and treatment.
November: Moby Duck: The True Story of 28,000 Bath Toys Lost at Sea and of Beach Combers, Oceanographers, Environmentalists and Fools, Including the Author, Who Went in Search of Them by Donovan Hohn
Chart the currents of the ocean and the currents of global trade in this wonderful book about a container of plastic bath toys that fell off a cargo ship in 1992 and captured the imagination of every single person mentioned in Hohn's lengthy title. And Hohn interviews all of them, from the quirky beachcombers of Alaska's Inner Passage to environmentalists studying the infamous Pacific Garbage Patch to a blind oceanographer to the whole crew of a Canadian ice breaker plowing through the Arctic Circle. I cannot recommend this book highly enough. When he's not roaming the oceans on a quest for knowledge, Hohn teaches high school English, and it shows (in a good way). His writing is clear and grounded in his knowledge of American lit as well as his own musings. I especially loved the quotations from Moby Dick at the beginning of each section.
December: State of Wonder by Ann Patchett
Anything by Ann Patchett is worth reading, and her latest novel is no exception. It has made the Best Of lists of many reviewers and with good cause. Like all masters, Patchett communicates perfectly with words. She has an amazing ability to move her characters through time and space without bogging down her descriptions or rushing her expositions. She sets this latest book in the Amazon jungle among a tribe whose women continue to have babies well into their 70s. An American pharmaceutical company smells a profit, but the scientist in charge of uncovering the secret of this medical marvel has gone native in more ways than one. Enter our heroine, sent by the CEO of the company (who also happens to be her lover) to find out what's going on after his first emissary dies of a mysterious fever. Patchett's stories are never simple morality tales of good vs. evil, yet there is never any doubt what is at stake ethically for all involved. Her 2001 book Bel Canto was my all-time favorite before Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell took its place. (If you haven't read either of those books, go out and get them immediately!) State of Wonder has an equally compelling cast of characters, though its premise is much more global in scope.
It was also an excellent book to wrap up 2011 and start 2012, a year that I hope will include much more fiction in my reading life, but no less startling, wonder-inspiring reality. As always, please write or post recommendations of your own here. I would love to hear what you have loved reading this year...
Another amazing list! I recommended The Disappearing Spoon to my science book club; everyone enjoyed it! (We also read Brian Greene's Hidden Reality, although to a person, got bogged down.)
ReplyDeleteCan't wait to get my hands on this year's picks...
Rachel, I'm adding my top eye-openers here: "The Big Short" by Michael Lewis (The Blind Side, Moneyball) and "The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time" by Mark Haddon. Both very human, narrative-driven depictions of (1) the current economic crash (2) what it's like to be autistic.
ReplyDeleteOkay, I'm off to the library tomorrow and wanted to re-read this so I'll know what to check out, but I've gotta ask: in the June entry, the book about the biological catastrophe that turns people into vampires, and you said you are a SUCKER for post-apocalypic fiction... was that pun intended??
ReplyDelete