I read 29 books for grad school this semester. Some were
wonderful, some were horrible, and many were in the middle. Here’s my Top Five (in reverse order because I enjoy suspense)!
(I left THE FAULT IN OUR STARS and THE HUNGER GAMES off the
list because I’ve read them both 1224678635 times before, but they were
assigned books for my YA Lit class and I adored them as much this time as the
first time I read them.)
5. THE ABSOLUTELY TRUE DIARY OF A PART-TIME INDIAN by
Sherman Alexie
I read this as part of my YA Lit class and it was easily one
of the most well-liked books on the syllabus. The book is a National Book Award
winner and tells the story of Junior, a 14 year old boy growing up on a Native
American reservation. Instead of staying at the rez school for high school, he
decides to transfer to a primarily white school to receive a higher quality
education (the rez school has very little funding). He is seen as a traitor by
his friends and neighbors and has to find his way in this new environment. The
book portrays the rez culture honestly and really opened my eyes. At age 14,
Junior has attended 42 funerals, most of the deaths alcohol-induced. Junior is
an honest and likeable narrator. Even though much of the story is bleak, he
always talks with some humor. Junior also likes to draw, and there are cartoons
on some of the pages, depicting the scenes as we read them.
4. THE BRIEF WONDROUS LIFE OF OSCAR WAO by Junot Diaz
This book is hard to sum up briefly, but I’ll do my best.
Oscar is a “ghetto nerd” who desperately wants to find love. But he and his
family are cursed by the fukú, a Dominican myth that the family believes keeps
them from getting what they want. The book, broken into sections, follows Oscar
and his family (his sister, mother, and grandfather all have their own sections
where their story is told) and their struggles. In a way, the book is a series
of character studies about several generations of the family (AND the story of
the narrator, Oscar’s college roommate). The story is full of Dominican
Republic history, Spanish words and nerd lingo. It’s like nothing I’ve ever
read before. It won the Pulitzer Prize in Fiction and is a fascinating read.
3. THE FEAST OF LOVE by Charles Baxter
Love…and all the ways it can go wrong. That pretty much sums
up this book. It starts out with a narrator (named Charlie, a fictionalized
version of the author) suffering from writer’s block. He decides to collects
people’s love (or lost love) stories and wants to create a book from them. He hears
a neighbor’s divorce story, then goes to the neighbor’s ex-wife for her side,
then to the neighbor’s employees at a coffeeshop who have stories of their own…and
the story extends from there. Eventually Charlie the Narrator disappears, and
we hear stories from six or seven different first-person narrators and can
still tell EXACTLY who is speaking. It’s fascinating and inspiring…I WISH I could
write something like that. I loved this book! Loved it loved it loved it!!!!
2. A LAND MORE KIND THAN HOME by Wiley Cash
I mentioned Wiley’s book in a
previous What’s Up Wednesday but didn’t talk much about it. It’s modern Southern
Gothic fiction and tells the story of a North Carolina community affected by an
extremist church. A young mute boy dies during a faith healing at the church, and
the incident is witnessed by his younger brother, Jess , one of the book’s
three narrators. Along with the other two narrators (Adelaide Lyle, an elderly
yet powerful woman who refuses to be a part of the extremist church, and Clem Barefield,
the sheriff investigating the boy’s death), readers are given most of the
puzzle pieces surrounding this church and its leader, a convict turned preacher
named Carson Chambliss. I flew through this book, completely engrossed, and
highly recommend it!
1. REVOLUTIONARY ROAD by Richard Yates
My favorite book of the semester! I wrote my final seminar
paper (22 pages) about the American Dream and really got to dig into the ideas
and symbols in this book (along with some help from The Great Gatsby and The Sun Also
Rises…I’m salivating just thinking about the awesomeness surrounding these
novels). The book follows Frank and April Wheeler, a young married couple
moving to the suburbs temporarily. At least, they think it’s temporary. They always
planned to go back to their bohemian lifestyle from college, but a decade later
they’re still white picket fencing it with two kids and a boring office
paycheck. They are both depressed and fed up with the monotony of suburban
Connecticut and decide to move to Europe to pursue their passions, to really
live their lives instead of just going through the motions. No spoilers here,
but it doesn’t exactly turn out the way they planned. The book examines the 1950s
American Dream (picket fence, nuclear family, steady job) and shows how, even
if you attain it, it will never be enough to satisfy. (I could talk about this
book and its ideas FOREVER, but I’ll stop there.)
Fun sidenote: the movie version of this book was the big Leo
DiCaprio/Kate Winslet reunion everyone was talking about back in 2008. Their
relationship in RR, however, is MUCH different than Titanic’s, just to warn
you!
Have you read any of these books? What did you think? Or are
any of them on your to-be-read list?
I’ve also started
The Selection trilogy because one of my friends read it and wanted someone to talk to about
it. I’d heard mixed reviews so I went into it doubting I’d like it, but I’m
really enjoying it so far. I’ve read both THE SELECTION and THE ELITE. I found
a copy of THE ONE at my Pittsburgh Target and it was signed by Kiera Cass, the
author. How cool is that? Can’t wait to read it soon! I’m also reading THE
GLASS SENTENCE by S.E. Groves, a middle-grade adventure story. 
Grad school has made my GoodReads shelves go CRAZY! In 4 weeks (I'm in the middle of week 5 right now), I've read six books and am currently working through three more. AAHHHHH. Right now I'm reading Alice Munro's short story collection, HATESHIP, FRIENDSHIP, COURTSHIP, LOVESHIP, MARRIAGE, for my Readings in Fiction class. I'm also two-thirds of the way through David Foster Wallace's collection, GIRL WITH CURIOUS HAIR. For YA Lit, I'm finishing up THE CHOCOLATE WAR. I kept up a good reading pace for the first three weeks or so, but I slipped last week because I had two presentations and a story due. [This genius accidentally scheduled everything for the same week...oops.] Here's hoping I can catch up!
What Else Is New?
Lastly, we had our first visiting writer come to campus a week or so ago. His name is Wiley Cash and I'm OBSESSED with his book, A LAND MORE KIND THAN HOME. It's southern, dramatic, and so well written (it reminds me of Tom Bailey, my favorite professor from Susquehanna, and his writing style). He read an excerpt from his new book that's coming out in January. I can't wait that long, I want it now! 