Monthly Archives: September 2014

September Releases

Posted on September 20, 2014 by Susan

September is always a great month for new releases, and wow there’s some big names with new fiction out this month. With Margaret Atwood, Joyce Carol Oates, Paul Theroux, and Hilary Mantel all having short story collections coming out, you know it’s an extraordinary month. I’m curious about these and initially chose 10 books from the list at the right that I’m interested in but then forced myself to cut that to six to highlight here.

First off, I rarely ever miss reading a new Ian McEwan book (“Atonement” is still my favorite of his). So I’ll likely pick up his new one “The Children Act” about a judge who must decide the fate of a 17-year-old boy who is refusing for religious reasons the medical treatment that could save his life. His devout parents share in his wishes. In the end, the judge’s ruling will have huge consequences for both the boy and her. It seems this plot of refusing medical treatment because of religious faith has been done quite a bit before, but I don’t know if it’s been done before by a writer as good as McEwan. So I’m drawn to his book despite perhaps its familiar topic.

I also don’t think I can resist the new novel “Station Eleven” by Emily St. John Mandel because of all the positive buzz it’s been receiving. Heck, I didn’t think I could stomach another dystopian, survival story, but if it’s as compelling as many are saying then I’d be missing out by not checking it out. Apparently the novel’s about a roving Shakespeare troupe that strives for more than mere survival after the apocalypse hits. Author Ann Patchett says “Station Eleven” is “so compelling, so fearlessly imagined, that I wouldn’t have put it down for anything.” And Entertainment Weekly calls it the “most-buzzed about novel of the season.” Hmm.

Another one that has received much praise and interests me is Laird Hunt’s new novel “Neverhome.” It’s about a farmer’s wife who decides to don the uniform of a Union soldier in the Civil War and fight. Apparently she is a remarkable narrator of the story with a powerful voice. Author Kevin Powers says “Neverhome took me on a journey so thoroughly engrossed that there were times the pages seemed to turn themselves.” So count me in on this one.

 

Next up, I’m curious about Margaret Atwood’s new collection of nine tales “Stone Mattress.” I can’t say I’m a huge Atwood nut (I know her fans are legion) though I think I’ve read five of her books, but I’m drawn to this collection because it’s mostly received good buzz. When Atwood’s on her game, her books can be truly playful enterprises. Similarly I must say I’m also interested in Hilary Mantel’s new short story collection “The Assassination of Margaret Thatcher.” Wow I thought Mantel was consumed by Thomas Cromwell and the court of Henry VIII, but I’m delighted to she has some contemporary stories coming out at the end of the month. I’m intrigued to find out what she’s written about in this new endeavor.

Lastly, I’m not sure I can pass up Garth Stein’s new novel “A Sudden Light” because I found his previous novel “The Art of Racing in the Rain” an endearing, compassionate heart-tugger. This one is about a 14-year-old boy who goes to stay at his grandfather’s mansion overlooking Puget Sound and finds the house haunted. BookPage calls “A Sudden Light” the best of many genres: a ghost story, a love story, historical fiction …. a truly killer read.” So I’ll have to check it out as well.

 

As for movies in September (see list at left), I’m sorry to see that the new comedy “This Is Where I Leave You” was pretty much panned by critics at the New York Times and Washington Post. What a bummer. I’m reading Jonathan Tropper’s book now, from which the movie comes, and had high hopes that it would be quite amusing. I will wait for it then on pay-per-view. But perhaps if it’s a love story you’re looking for you might check out “The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby” with James McAvoy and Jessica Chastain, who are usually quite good, or if you want to see a thriller perhaps “The Two Faces of January” at the end of the month will be entertaining. It’s by the same author, Patricia Highsmith, who wrote “The Talented Mr. Ripley.” Gosh was that turned into a creepy movie. Remember?

In albums for this month (see list at bottom right), there’s a bunch of big releases. I’m already listening to U2’s “Songs of Innocence,” which is a definite must-get. I’m so glad it was made free on iTunes. I also want to check out Lucinda William’s new album “Down Where the Spirit Meets the Bone” because I’m a huge fan of her music and songwriting. I’m curious too about Ryan Adams’s new album and Justin Townes Earle’s. There’s so much good music this month … and as usual so little time.

What about you — which books, movies, or albums out this month are you most looking forward to? Continue reading →

Posted in Top Picks | 9 Comments

September Days

Posted on September 13, 2014 by Susan

Greetings and happy September! I was away for a while, sailing with my hub on Lake Ontario and the St. Lawrence River. We rented a boat and had an enjoyable adventure, sailing during the days and docking overnight at small marinas and islands. I’m still learning quite a bit about sailing, but my husband grew up on it and knows most of the ins and outs. We had some good wind and the area was beautiful and we didn’t have any incidents with the boat or anything so we feel very fortunate that it all worked out quite well.

While onboard I was reading Annie Proulx’s first novel “Postcards” from 1992. It’s not really an easy novel so I’m not sure why I chose it for reading material on the boat, but a friend had given me her copy months ago and told me to read it. So I eventually did, even though I had to push myself a bit in the last 100 pages.

It’s a story that follows the Blood family, who are New England farmers, as they struggle to exist and adapt in the 20th century, from the 1940s through the 1980s. There’s the parents, Jewelle and Mink, the daughter Mernelle, and the sons Dub and Loyal, who turns out to be the main protagonist.

At the beginning, Loyal, the eldest son, is forced to leave the farm when he accidentally kills his lover and hides her within a stone wall. That’s when you get an idea this novel is going to be rather bleak. Loyal doesn’t tell anyone about her death but takes off across the country on a self-imposed exile of solitude and struggle, like he deserved the hardships for his past deed. Over the years, he roves from job to job first in mining, then fossil finding and later trapping, sending back occasional postcards to his family’s farm in Vermont. He’s viewed rather sympathetically in the book despite what he’s done.

Meanwhile, the rest of the family falls in ruins, and eventually loses the farm. The other son Dub and the father spend time in jail for arson, the daughter responds to a lumberman’s ad for a wife, and the mother finds work in a cannery till one day she loses her way driving on a mountain road during a snowstorm.

So all does not go too well for the Bloods. “Postcards” is a different kind of novel, one that follows a family’s struggles during the American 20th century and mixes in postcards at the start of each chapter from the family members to one another and from other characters. The postcards add an interesting dimension to the characters and the times they’re living in. Author Annie Proulx is at her best describing the lives of her gritty characters in farming, mining, hunting, and trapping and the natural world around them. Wow does she seem to know how these people live and breathe. This novel didn’t win the 1993 Pen/Faulkner Award for nothing; she can write.

But the story itself didn’t really consume me, and I didn’t latch on to any of the characters. Towards the end, the book rambles for a while and I had to focus hard to finish it. Proulx seems a brilliant stylist but perhaps her novels such as this one aren’t exactly known for riveting storytelling. They’re known for having quirky, odd characters, yes, in bleak or violent circumstances, but the story not as much. I read her novel “The Shipping News” back in the ‘90s and recall it being filled with quirky characters in dark situations, too.

What do you think? Have you read any of her books before?

It’s good to push oneself reading at times, but now I need something fun and lighter. I’m going to pick up Jonathan Tropper’s novel “This Is Where I Leave You” because the movie is coming out soon and it looks worthy of some laughs. Hopefully the book is good, too. Have you read this one, or do you plan to see the movie? Continue reading →

Posted in Books | 4 Comments