2012-33 - The Art of Fielding, by Chad Harbach

33 - The Art of Fielding, by Chad Harbach, 512 pages, Back Bay Books, 2011
WHY I PICKED IT: Saw it in a book store
ELAPSED TIME: 1 week
RATING: REQUIRED READING

Wow.  I truly enjoyed this story.  Well written, good characters, and satisfying without oversimplifying.

Mike Schwartz meets Henry Skrimshander when Mike is a freshman in college and Henry is a scrawny kid who loves baseball... and sees a talent that is truly rare.  Mike helps Henry get into college and gets him on the road to baseball stardom.  Henry's college roommate, Owen, is not your typical jock (his team-mates call him Buddha).  Guert Affenlight, the President of the College, falls in love.  Pella Affenlight comes to this college to escape an ill-conceived marriage.

This book is their story... from Mike and Henry before Henry starts college, introducing Owen in Henry's freshman year, introducing Guert and Pella in Henry's Junior year... all culminating in a final baseball game that is gripping on its own... but more so in the context of their collective experiences.

My favourite line from the book was easy to choose: "... a soul isn't something a person is born with but something that must be built, by effort and error, study and love."

I recommend this book!

2012-32 - The Spy Who Came in from the Cold, by John Le Carre

32 - The Spy Who Came in from the Cold, by John Le Carre, 219 pages, Penguin Books, 1963
WHY I PICKED IT: Recommended by my friend Darrin
ELAPSED TIME: 2 weeks
RATING: Meh

This book was ... well, just not my type of book.  A perilous assignment for a British spy at the end of a career, in the midst of the cold war.  Well written, good characters, and a very well considered plot, but that just wasn't interesting to me.  A great read if you like spy novels with good characters.  For the rest of us, skip it.

2012-31 - Wonder, by R.J. Palacio

31 - Wonder, by R.J. Palacio, 313 pages, Random House, 2012

WHY I PICKED IT: Recommended by my niece Sahar
ELAPSED TIME: 2 days
RATING: Very Good

This is the story of August Pullman, who is entering the fifth grade.  What makes this story interesting is that, until now, Auggie has been home schooled because he has a facial deformity caused by a genetic condition.  He has already had 27 surgeries, and does not look "normal."

Palacio alternates in telling the story from the perspective of Auggie and the other people in his life, and does a great job of getting in their heads... to see the world from their different perspectives.


This book is quite engaging and can teach a lesson in empathy.  Highly recommend for younger kids.

2012-30 - A Century of November, by W. D. Wetherell

30 - A Century of November, by W. D. Wetherell, 164 pages, University of Michigan Press, 2005

WHY I PICKED IT: Recommended by an Aussie traveler that I met in England
ELAPSED TIME: 4 days
RATING: Good

 

WWI, Marden's wife has died of the Spanish Flu, and he has receives word that his son has died in the trenches of Belgium.  So begins this quixotic journey to the place his son lost his life.  From the boat from Victoria to Vancouver, the train across the continent, the ship across the ocean to England.  Armistice and the trip to mainland Europe.

 

Hundreds, perhaps thousands, made a similar pilgrimage; fathers and mothers, lovers and wives.  Wetherell's book is bleak and dark... and envelopes the reader.

2012-29 - The Wreck of the Zanzibar, by Michael Morpurgo

29 - The Wreck of the Zanzibar, by Michael Morpurgo, 101 pages,Egmont Books, 1995

WHY I PICKED IT: Recommended by my niece Sahar
ELAPSED TIME: <1 hour
RATING: Good

 

Michael is reading a diary left to him by his Aunt Laura.  In 1907 her twin brother ran away to sea.  Laura relates the story from her own perspective: of being a girl on an island who is not even allowed to row out to the ships, of food scarcity where one meal a day is all that can be hoped for.  And Laura continues to fight against that: to earn the right to row, to save a turtle despite that being obvious food.

This is a very good children's book.  My only concern about the choice of words is when her brother tells her of the places he's been: "America, Ireland, France, Spain, Africa even."  Is it that he's referring to countries within Europe and continents elsewhere, or is Morpurgo referring to the USA as America (as the Europeans are wont to do), and referring to Africa with the broad colonialist brush?  I fear it is the latter.

2012-28 - The Stag and Hen Weekend, by Mike Gayle

28 - The Stag and Hen Weekend, by Mike Gayle, 402 pages, Hodder and Stoughton, 2012

WHY I PICKED IT: I read everything by Mike Gayle
ELAPSED TIME: 3 days
RATING: Meh

 

Mike Gayle tried to do something interesting... One book, two stories of the same period of time.  Phil and Helen are getting married in a week; one story (201 pages) tells of Helen's Hen Weekend at a fancy hotel and spa; and the other story (201 pages) tells of Phil's Stag Weekend in Amsterdam.  You can read the stories in either order (I read Helen's first).

 

Helen bumps into her ex... the guy who cheated on her, and admitted it a week before their wedding (years earlier), in order to end the relationship.  Now he wants her back.  In Phil's story, he bumps into Helen's ex' ex-wife (small world?  I think so!).

 

Although I typically like Gayle's style of writing "Guy-Lit," I don't really like Chick-Lit (so Helen's story wasn't engaging for me), and I felt like Phil's level of insecurity was a bit of a pain to read. (so Phil's story was a bit of a pain).  Zero-for-two: Do not recommend.

2012-27 - i can't tell you, by Hillary Frank

27 - i can't tell you, by Hillary Frank, 196 pages, Houghton Mifflin Books, 2004

WHY I PICKED IT: Saw it at a discounted book store for $1
ELAPSED TIME: 2 days
RATING: Good

 

Jake gets into a fight with his best friend and says things he shouldn't have... and concludes that talking = trouble, so he'll only communicate by writing.  The book is a collection of conversations written down on notepads, scraps of paper, and whiteboards - some of them are both sided (as his friends' agree to participate for the sake of conversation flow), others only one-sided (as the other party spoke back to him).

 

Xandra lives on Jake's floor and flirts with him constantly... but both of them are too afraid to make a move.

 

This is the story of  Jake's experience over the following months.  High literature?  No.  Light hearted entertaining read?  Yes.