Ten years ago I was thinking that I knew Y2K was a crock, but also sort of disappointed it didn’t follow through. I think I could survive in social anarchy – my reading preferences as a young adult prepped me for it.
On that topic, last January I started a list of all the books I read during the year. The main purpose was a memory-jogger for years down the road: if I was reading a book and a plot seemed familiar, I could actually cross-check it instead of pressing on until something clicked. But also, I wondered about how many books I read in a year. I finished at 69, with 2 incomplete (so they’ll make this year’s list - can’t figure out if that’s equal or not).
I really thought I could clear 100, because while I do read actual books for adults, my favorite genre is young adult fiction. Some of those you can knock out in a day. And while I read a lot of YAF, I was also living in North Carolina for most of the year. North Carolina, with ski slopes in the winter. North Carolina, with clear lakes for fishing, and trails for hiking, and summers that feel more like early spring. Reading is a top priority for me, but ignoring where I lived would’ve been like turning away from the glance of a man you love. Sometimes you’re strong, sometimes you’re not. I was infatuated – in love, even – and as we do, I sacrificed moments of my free time. And I have no regrets.
Where I live now has all of the cold, less of the snow, and none of the hills. While I’d love to run, it’s actually cold enough that when my mind tells my body it’s not a good idea, my body listens. And we sit inside, getting fat on cabbage soup, country ham, and biscuts, and wait for the thaw.
And until then, we read.
But a year passes and I am thinking, I oughta start responding to some of this, because what good is a list without annotations? I look back in 10, 20, 30 years and remember I read “Coraline” in 2009, but don’t remember that I loved it and hated that the movie added a new character? Or that my favorite thing about Gary Paulson is that not only is he a great writer, but he’s the type of guy who, when the robots take over – and they will take over – will survive out in the woods with his dogs? Or that Twilight sucked?
Hence, my actual return to the blog, as I have found something less awkward to write about than, like, my feelings. So here you have my feelings…on books.
1. If I Stay – Gayle Forman.
Trivia: This is officially the first ebook I’ve ever read. I say this because it might explain the next critique – I wasn’t totally convinced by the dialogue. Conversations between characters are something I pay attention to, and if I don’t buy it, then my disbelief is failing to suspend. It’s not that it really got to me – parts of it just seemed unconvincing, especially for teenagers (and parents in their 30s). But it wasn’t persistent, which makes me wonder if the first-experience-reading-online had something to do with it. Additionally, this is one of Forman’s first novels. If she had to leave something to be desired, then the occasional lapse in dialogue is ok by me.
On the plus side, I totally bought into the overall plot. The story isn’t original, but the take is new. The emotion is real, without being overly done or sentimental, which is difficult in any book with a focus on death/dying. And the descriptions are really solid – again without being over-the-top.
There are also all kinds of comments about punk rock, which (to me) was awesome.
2. Surface Tension – Brent Runyon
It’s 4 days into the new year, and if I have to pick a favorite book of the year (out of the 4 I’ve read so far), this is it. I think this will still be it by the end of the year, or at least in the top 5.
Another ebook – this one picked because the author contributes to “This American Life.” And because he’s a guy. I really, really like it when men write YAF. I’m not sure if that’s sexist or the opposite, but it makes me happy because it’s going against the norm, and they can be pretty damn good at it.
This one’s broken up into summers (subtitle: "A Novel In Four Summers") – a boy and his family return to a family lake cottage when he is 13, 14, 15, and 16. I read this because I could relate, sort of. We didn’t have a family cottage or anything, but every summer, my parents and I went to the same location and stayed in the same place. I knew what it was like to leave a place and come back a little different each time. And while I am not now, nor have I ever been, a 13 year old boy, I always appreciate a book that can make me empathize with someone. The boy and girl thing, it’s like living next to someone and having a mirror view of their room. The picture is a little distorted, but every now and then you get a clearer image, and you realize they have an E.T. poster, too. Surface Tension is like getting a better view of the mirror.
The voice is believable. The tone has shifted from 13 to 14, 14 to 15, and so on. But it doesn’t change and become something else. What I like best is that it is entirely first-person – not only appropriate for a teenage narrative (male OR female), but you also get ambiguity. Anything Luke experiences alone, you get the full picture. But when other people are involved – especially the adults – there is confusion because we’re only hearing one side of the story. Issues were raised that made me want clarity or explanation, but the day would end and Luke would be off doing something else. It wouldn’t make sense to explain every little moment. That’s not how life works, especially not if you’re a young teen. Stuff happens, and it doesn’t always make sense. It was refreshing to read something that brought back feelings of confusion and ambiguity.
I wasn’t 100% into Jenn (“16” – who writes a postcard like that?) but the method made sense. Pretty much, my only criticism is that I just wish this one were longer, but then would I appreciate it as much? The irony is that as an older Luke chastised himself for wishing away his childhood, I read through his narrative quickly, always glancing to the next page, and then wished I had slowed down a little once it was over.
What should also be on this list is the textbook I’ve yet to read for the syllabus I’ve yet to write for class that starts next week.
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