JANUARY BOOKS

"BOOKS IN WINTER"

By Jessie Willcox Smith

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When I started my blog last January I promised myself I would list all the books I read over the year. I was faithful to my list for the first nine months, but neglected to post the books for the last three months. So here they are, plus the books I read in January.

OCTOBER, NOVEMBER, DECEMBER BOOKS

“The Girls Who Went Away”, by Ann Fessler. This book deserves a post of its own, and I will write it soon.

“Promise Me”, by Harlan Coben. Our October book club book, it's a mystery/thriller, but not a very good one.

“The Wicker Man”, by Robin Hardy and Anthony Shaffer. I thought I was going to read a book about people on a remote Scottish Island still practicing the ancient ways. Instead, I got a book about human sacrifice and so-called “pagan” sexual practices.

“Into the Wild”, by Jon Krakauer. Years ago I had read Krakauer’s magazine article about Chris McCandless, the young man who went into the wild in Alaska and died there. I was happy to read that Krakauer cleared up some mistruths and misconceptions that were in the article.

“The Huntress,” by Susan Carroll. This is the fourth book in a series I’ve been reading about the Ariane, Gabrielle and Mirabelle, the Sisters of Faire Isle of France. Are they witches or healers? I highly recommend this series that starts with “The Dark Queen.”

“Clapton: The Biography”, by Eric Clapton. Like many others, I have always considered Eric Clapton a guitar god, but he is no god in real life. I found him to be extremely unlikable as he tells the unvarnished truth of his life. Apparently he’s now a happily married, faithful man, and I am happy he is one famous person who survived his demons.

“A Short History of Tractors in Ukrainian”, by Marina Lewycka. Don’t let the odd title fool you. Our November book club book is the hilarious story of an elderly Ukrainian immigrant in England who marries a hotsy-totsy, gold-digging young Ukrainian woman so she can get her English citizenship. (He’s an expert on tractors – hence the title.)

“The Almost Moon”, by Alice Seebold. This is about a woman who murders her mother. Horrific? Well, after you read about Mom, you might not feel so horrified. Not as good as Seebold’s “The Lovely Bones.”

“The Weight of Water”, by Anita Shreve. I wanted to read this book because it deals, in part, with the famous 19th century axe murders of two women on the Isle of Shoals, New Hampshire. Unfortunately, the book stays mainly in the (boring) present.)


JANUARY BOOKS

“The Longest Night of the Year”, Dean Koontz. This is a pretty good book for Koontz, especially if you love Golden Retrievers like I, Koontz and his characters do.

“The Boy Who Loved Anne Frank: A Novel”, Ellen Feldman. This is a fictional tale about Peter van Daan, the boy who lived in the annexe with Anne, and how he might have fared if he survived the concentration camp and became a U.S. citizen.

“The Lady in the Palazzo: At Home in Umbria,” Marlena de Blasi. I think de Blasi’s series of books on Italy (this is her third, not counting her cookbooks) also deserves a post of its own.

I am disgusted with how few books I read last year, and I know that blogging was part of the problem. I am going to try to read more and blog less in 2008.