What I Read When I Read in November, 2016
Since it's now almost mid-December, this post may be a little stale, but hopefully still tasty.
Germinal - Emile Zola. Thanks to Roger Pearson's in-your-face translation, this novel was eons better on the second go-around. True to the spirit of Zola's credo, "I'm here to kick ass and write novels." Well, maybe he didn't say that, but it must have been something like that. And in French.
Tampa - Alissa Nutting. Boy-lita. I still can't believe I enjoyed this novel so much and that I don't mind admitting it. Although, looking back, I've always enjoyed a good novel about a bad character and would take that anytime over a bad novel about a good character. Maybe even a good novel about a good character.
Hungry Heart - Jennifer Weiner. I've never read one of Weiner's novels, but I loved her memoir, so I'm going to read one or more of her fictional works sometime in 2017.
City of Secrets - Stewart O'Nan. I found this novel about Brand, a refugee from WWII Europe who ends up working for the underground in Israel, very confusing at first. I wish the explanation of the backdrop had been a preface rather than a note at the end. Since O'Nan is one of my favorite authors, I'm going to do a reread. One of my reading goals for 2017 is to finish reading every book Stewart O'Nan has written.
Cooked - Jeff Henderson. My only nonfiction for November was an audiobook which I listened to on the way to and from Tulsa Thanksgiving weekend. Wow and WOW. Listening to Jeff Henderson narrate the story of his life -- how he went from drug dealer to prisoner to successful chef -- kept me completely entertained and enthralled for hours. The miles just melted away. My favorite read for the month.
Germinal - Emile Zola. Thanks to Roger Pearson's in-your-face translation, this novel was eons better on the second go-around. True to the spirit of Zola's credo, "I'm here to kick ass and write novels." Well, maybe he didn't say that, but it must have been something like that. And in French.
Tampa - Alissa Nutting. Boy-lita. I still can't believe I enjoyed this novel so much and that I don't mind admitting it. Although, looking back, I've always enjoyed a good novel about a bad character and would take that anytime over a bad novel about a good character. Maybe even a good novel about a good character.
Hungry Heart - Jennifer Weiner. I've never read one of Weiner's novels, but I loved her memoir, so I'm going to read one or more of her fictional works sometime in 2017.
City of Secrets - Stewart O'Nan. I found this novel about Brand, a refugee from WWII Europe who ends up working for the underground in Israel, very confusing at first. I wish the explanation of the backdrop had been a preface rather than a note at the end. Since O'Nan is one of my favorite authors, I'm going to do a reread. One of my reading goals for 2017 is to finish reading every book Stewart O'Nan has written.
Cooked - Jeff Henderson. My only nonfiction for November was an audiobook which I listened to on the way to and from Tulsa Thanksgiving weekend. Wow and WOW. Listening to Jeff Henderson narrate the story of his life -- how he went from drug dealer to prisoner to successful chef -- kept me completely entertained and enthralled for hours. The miles just melted away. My favorite read for the month.
- Simone de Beauvoir
- Jean-Paul Sartre
- Victor Hugo
- Honore de Balzac
