October 2014 Reading Wrap-Up

October was an excellent reading month for me, I'm happy to say! After experiencing a hellacious Reading Slump earlier in the year, I don't take a good reading month for granted anymore. Nope--instead now I know to be very grateful to the Reading Gods! Here are the books I read in the past month:

Here are the titles, with links to my reviews if I've posted them yet:

Rainey Royal by Dylan Landis

How to Build a Girl by Caitlin Moran

Some Luck by Jane Smiley

Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel

The Book of Strange New Things by Michel Faber

Without You, There is No Us by Suki Kim

Ship of Brides by Jojo Moyes

Lila by Marilynne Robinson

Certainty by Victor Bevine (review to come on Nov. 5 as part of a blog tour for TLC Book Tours)

Stone Mattress: Nine Tales by Margaret Atwood

Reunion by Hannah Pittard

Eleven books in one month . . . I couldn't get the twelfth in?! Seriously, this may be some kind of a personal record for me (well, that is, if I don't include college and graduate school. Eleven books read strictly for pleasure and not because they were assigned--that would be the record). I'm certainly reading at a faster pace since I started blogging. I don't know if that's because I feel like I should read more to add content to the blog, or if it's simply because through blogging I have become aware of-- and have access to--so many great books!

And my favorite book for the month of October? These were all good reads, so that is a tough question. But I'm going to say Some Luck by Jane Smiley, which I found to be a very satisfying and engrossing family saga.

I hope October was a great reading month for you as well. Onward to November, intrepid readers!

Some Discussion Questions on Ghost Horse by Thomas H. McNeely

Last week I posted a review of the novel Ghost Horse, by Thomas H. McNeely. Published this fall by a small, indie publishing house called Gival Press, Ghost Horse is a gripping and intense book about a young boy coming of age in 1970s Houston as his family falls apart. It is a compelling story that unsettled me at times, but I suspect will stay with me--and I recommended it for readers who love literary fiction and complex family stories. You can read my review here. I had the opportunity to read this novel through a blog tour at TLC Book Tours.

The author of Ghost Horse, Tom McNeely, was kind enough to stop by my blog and comment on my review. He left some discussion questions for readers of the novel, and I thought I would highlight them here. I do think that Ghost Horse would provide plenty of conversation topics for book clubs or reading groups, and I know from my own experience with book clubs that some thoughtful, guided questions can help generate deeper discussion among the group members. Here, then, are Tom's suggested questions:

Ghost Horse concerns a family in the 1970s which is breaking up in a divorce. How do you think divorce affects children in families? How do you think attitudes toward divorce have changed since the seventies? Do you think it is easier or harder for children of divorce now?

In Ghost Horse, three boys vie with each other to control a home-made movie that takes many shapes. How do you see children today using media to connect, and sometimes to harm each other, as in various cyber-bullying cases? Do you think children see themselves and their relationships differently because of their exposure to media today?

Ghost Horse explores the effects of class and racial tension in Houston, Texas, in the 1970s. How do you think attitudes toward race and class have changed in America since that time? Do you see a greater or lesser distance between races and classes now or then?

Thought-provoking questions, indeed, for a thought-provoking novel.

I'd like to add a few discussion questions of my own for readers of Ghost Horse. Here they are:

Children, of course, are greatly affected by their parents' attitudes towards other family members. They can overhear conversations they aren't meant to overhear, and misunderstand adult situations. As a parent, have you struggled with this? Have your children ever overheard a fight between you and your spouse, or a fight among other adult family members? Have you tried to temper your attitude toward other family members for the sake of your children?

On this same theme, children often mimic the actions of their parents. In Ghost Horse, do you think that both Buddy and Simon re-enact some of the actions of their fathers? How so?

What do you think Buddy will be like as an adult? How do you think the experiences related in the book will affect him as a father, if he chooses to have children? How can parents who have endured difficult childhoods leave those experiences behind in their own relationships with their children?

Please feel free to leave any comments, whether you've read Ghost Horse or not. And if you have read the novel, feel free to suggest additional discussion questions.

Review of Stone Mattress by Margaret Atwood

Stone Mattress: Nine Tales by Margaret Atwood
Publisher: Nan A. Talese/Doubleday
Publication Date: September 16, 2014
Length: 268 pages
Source: Library

Margaret Atwood’s new collection of short stories is sharp, imaginative, juicy, and strange—quintessential Atwood, in other words! The nine tales of Stone Mattress all deal, in some way, with the theme of growing older, but Atwood also considers relationships, marriage, identity and art. Atwood is both darkly humorous and deadly serious in these stories. For Atwood fans, this collection is an absolute must-read. And for those who have never read Atwood before (and, oh my goodness, why is that?), her latest short fiction may provide the perfect entry to her work.

The Stories: Every one of these nine stories is well worth the read, but I will just highlight a few of my favorites. In the title story, “Stone Mattress,” Verna, while on a cruise of the Arctic, meets up with a man who had humiliated her high school five decades ago. She plots her revenge in the icy landscape of 1.9 billion-year-old stromatolites. In the strange and highly affecting “Lusus Naturae,” a girl born with genetic abnormalities is believed by her family and village to be a vampire. Atwood revisits the memorable characters from her 1993 novel The Robber Bride (one of my favorite Atwood novels) in the story “I Dream of Zenia with the Bright Red Teeth;” Atwood brings Tony, Roz, Charis, and even Zenia (!) back to life perfectly, and creates a highly satisfying epilogue to the original story. In the powerful final story, “Torching the Dusties,” Atwood follows an older man and woman trapped inside a retirement community while a violent, anti-elderly protest rages outside the gates.

My Thoughts: I don’t read short fiction very often. Like many readers who love novels, I sometimes find short stories overly abrupt. I fear getting emotionally involved with characters and then having my ties to them cut too quickly. But lately I’m finding that short fiction can be a welcome alternative to a novel. I read this collection just after Dewey’s 24-Hour-Readathon, and I only tackled one or two stories per night. It proved to be the perfect way to ease myself back into books after the post-readathon reading hangover. Short stories, I’m learning, can also help you sneak in a little fiction reading at times when you feel too stressed or busy to commit to a novel.

In any case, I loved this collection—maybe because I’m developing more of an appreciation for short fiction, or perhaps I was just so darn happy to read something new from Atwood. To me, these stories represent a return to the vintage Atwood of the 1990s, the era of Alias Grace and The Robber Bride—meaning a return to fiction that is psychologically insightful and emotionally gripping, but not overly fantastical. I highly recommend Stone Mattress for readers of literary fiction.

Review of The Book of Strange New Things by Michel Faber

The Book of Strange New Things by Michel Faber
Publisher: Hogarth
Publication Date: October 28, 2014
Length: 512 pages
Source: Publisher, through NetGalley

Michel Faber’s The Book of Strange New Things is an unusual and disquieting novel about love, faith, alienation, and the nature of humanity. Faber’s book, a genre-bending mash-up of literary and science fiction, is full of “strange new things,” indeed. Strange, perhaps, sometimes even outlandish, but always oddly enthralling, this original and thought-provoking novel is one I will not soon forget.

The Story: Faber begins his story as Peter, a minister, prepares to leave his home and his beloved wife Bea and embark upon a mission. Like countless missionaries before him, Peter hopes to convert the natives in a strange land to Christianity. But unlike all the missionaries who have gone before him, Peter’s destination is another planet. A rather shadowy global corporation known as USIC has recruited Peter to travel to their colony on the planet Oasis and to minister to the aliens who live there. As Peter struggles to adjust to life on Oasis and to bring the word of God to the native Oasans, he begins to receive troubling messages from Bea back on Earth.

My Thoughts: I have to admit I that I’ve procrastinated something fierce on writing this review, because I felt like I was still grappling with the issues raised by The Book of Strange New Things a few weeks after completing it. In all honesty, I think I am STILL processing it. This novel is full of big ideas, and possibly it would take me another read to sort all of them out.

For some readers, the meaning of religious faith—and how much a person’s faith can truly be tested before they lose it--may be the most important theme in the novel. But to me, Faber’s exploration of love, emotional distance, and alienation are what really hit home. As Peter gets increasingly involved with the strange alien creatures on Oasis, he begins to adapt their ways of talking, living and thinking . . . and becomes increasingly emotionally distant from his wife Bea on Earth. This growing alienation between the couple, at first so united in their missionary zeal and support for the project, seemed to me a perfect representation of the alienation that any couple can experience over time. At the end of the book, the reader roots for Peter and Bea to overcome the forces pulling them apart, and somehow find their way back together--both physically and emotionally--again.

On the press tour for The Book of Strange New Things over the past few days, Faber has indicated that he does not intend to write another novel. While completing this book, Faber’s wife Eva died of cancer, and he has said, “I wanted this to be the saddest thing I’d ever written.” Knowing about Faber’s loss adds another layer to my interpretation of the novel; it is clear that the grief of loved ones forced apart is a key theme to the book.

I have a few minor quibbles that keep me from rating The Book of Strange New Things as a 5 star book. I felt like some of my questions about the USIC and the purpose of the Oasis colony were never fully answered, and the novel, while mostly absorbing, is a touch long and became plodding in a few sections. I would rate the book a 4 out of 5 stars.

But overall, the novel is a fascinating read that I think will please fans of both literary and science fiction, and leave many readers (including myself) hoping that Faber will, indeed, write another novel—perhaps even a sequel. In the meantime, it is quite clear to me that I need to read Faber’s much acclaimed novel about a Victorian prostitute, The Crimson Petal and the White.

I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher, Hogarth, for review consideration, through NetGalley.

It's Monday, October 27 . . . What Are You Reading?

Good morning, fellow readers! This post connects to the "It's Monday" meme hosted by Sheila at BookJourney. I hope you've been enjoying a season of wonderful reads--I certainly have! As usual, the TBR pile threatens to topple over, but I've been reading along at a good, steady pace lately. Hooray--reading slumps, please stay away!

Last week on the blog, I posted reviews of these books:

Lila is Marilynne Robinson's latest novel, which has been longlisted for the National Book Award. It is a beautifully written, character-driven novel about a woman's journey from suffering and abandonment to love and redemption (the link to my review is in the title).

Ghost Horse by Thomas McNeely is a powerful novel, set in Houston in the 1970s, about a boy coming to terms with his parents' awful divorce. It's a coming-of-age story as well as a novel about adults behaving badly in the midst of a family crisis, and it is a moving book that will certainly stay with me. I read Ghost Horse as part of a blog tour for TLC Book Tours.

I also re-posted my review of this book:

Lily King was the recipient of the very first Kirkus Prize for Fiction, which was announced last week, for her novel Euphoria. I read and loved this book, about a love triangle of anthropologists in Papua New Guinea in the 1930s, when it was released over the summer. I didn't think Euphoria received the attention it deserved earlier this year, so I was very glad to see King win the Kirkus Prize. You can read my review of Euphoria here.

In the past week, I read these books:

Another Margaret Atwood! I don't tend to read a lot of short stories, but Stone Mattress is truly Atwood at her best, so if you are a fan, I recommend it. Review to come soon. I read Certainty by Victor Bevine for TLC Book Tours; I will host the tour on November 5th.

And currently, I am reading . . .

Reunion by Hannah Pittard looks to be a good, juicy story of family dysfunction; I'm always fond of those! It's starting off well--that's always a good sign.

This week I hope to get some reading done and even a few reviews posted, but I'll also be spending a few days in NYC with the family. We'll be seeing a Broadway show that the kids have been desperate to see, and spending some time at MoMA and in Central Park, if the weather cooperates. I love New York in the fall!

I wish everyone a great week in reading!

Review of 2014 Kirkus Prizewinner Euphoria by Lily King

Last night the first winners of the Kirkus Prizes were announced. This is a brand new set of prizes in the literary world, with one of the richest awards--$50,000 each for the winners of the fiction, nonfiction, and young readers' literature categories.

And the very first winner of the Kirkus Prize for Fiction is Euphoria by Lily King, a wonderful novel that I read and loved over the summer. This intelligent and satisfying novel, published on June 3, 2014, by Atlantic Monthly Press, is loosely based on a real-life love triangle of anthropologists studying tribes in Papua New Guinea in the 1930s. I am so glad this book was recognized with a major new literary award; I feel like it flew a bit under the radar this summer. Therefore, I decided to re-post my review of Euphoria, which originally ran on this blog on July 13th of this year. I highly recommend this novel to readers of both literary and historical fiction.

Euphoria by Lily King is an intriguing and sophisticated novel about three anthropologists studying tribes in Papua New Guinea in the 1930s. Loosely based on a real-life love triangle involving Margaret Mead, this piece of literary historical fiction offers an exhilarating mix of the cerebral and the passionate. King considers love, marriage, jealousy, as well as issues of cultural relativism and cultural imperialism.

The Story: King opens the book with a married team of anthropologists beating a hasty retreat from a violent New Guinean tribe called the Mumbanyo. As the couple departs by canoe, a tribe member throws something at them. “'Another dead baby,' Fen said. He had broken her glasses by then, so she didn’t know if he was joking.”

The man and woman are Nell and Fen, clearly modeled on the famous anthropologist Margaret Mead and her second husband, Reo Fortune. Nell has recently achieved fame from her work, and Fen struggles with resentment at her sudden success. Searching for another tribe to study, Nell and Fen meet up with another anthropologist, an emotionally damaged Brit by the name of Bankson (based on Mead’s real-life third husband, Gregory Bateson). The three social scientists begin an intense intellectual collaboration and, soon, fierce desires threaten the balance between them.

My Thoughts: I found Euphoria to be an interesting and deeply satisfying read. The subject, to me, was fascinating; I’ve retained an interest in anthropology since college. King thoroughly researched the lives and work of Mead, Fortune, and Bateson, and ably represents the controversies and issues in the field of anthropology in the 1930s.

But the novel isn’t completely focused on anthropology—far from it. King includes plenty of messy human emotions and complicated relationships. I think this is why the book resonated with me so much. It isn’t often that a literary novel combines big ideas with such an engrossing plot and fascinating set of characters.

Novels based on the lives of real people can be a tricky proposition. Of late, I have found some of these sorts of novels to be disappointing because, often, the writer seems constrained by the real-life trajectory of the characters’ lives. King makes the decision here to deviate from the facts of Mead’s life and create a new ending for Nell, Fen, and Bankson. I will admit that I did not particularly LIKE the ending King chose for her characters, but regardless, I appreciated the suspense of not knowing exactly what would happen.

Euphoria has been compared to Ann Patchett’s State of Wonder, Hanya Yanagihara’s The People in the Trees, and Fieldwork by Mischa Berlinski, all novels in which anthropology plays a central role. Of these other works, I have only read State of Wonder, and I think that Euphoria is the better novel—it is tighter and more focused than Patchett’s book. I do want to read the novels by Yanagihara and Berlinski.

I would rate Euphoria a 4 and a half out of 5 stars. I highly recommend it to those who read literary fiction.

Review of Ghost Horse by Thomas McNeely

Ghost Horse by Thomas McNeely
Publisher: Gival Press
Publication Date: October 6, 2014
Length: 260 pages
Source: Publisher, through TLC Book Tours

Ghost Horse by Thomas McNeely is a powerful debut novel; it is both a deeply moving coming-of-age story and an intense psychological portrait of a family in crisis. McNeely weaves an intricate web of a plot against the backdrop of the racial and class tensions of Houston of the 1970s, and explores themes of love, lost innocence, loyalty, and broken families. The tale of eleven-year-old Buddy over one unsettling year of his adolescence makes for a compelling and worthwhile read.

Synopsis from Publisher: Set amidst the social tensions of 1970s Houston, Ghost Horse tells the story of eleven-year-old Buddy Turner's shifting alliances within his fragmented family and with two other boys--one Anglo, one Latino--in their quest to make a Super-8 animated movie. As his father's many secrets begin to unravel, Buddy discovers the real movie: the intersection between life and he sees it and the truth of his own past. In a vivid story of love, friendship, and betrayal, Ghost Horse explores a boy's swiftly changing awareness of himself and the world through the lens of imagination.

My Thoughts: Ghost Horse is beautifully written. McNeely’s dialogue is sharp and believable, and he skillfully creates a suspenseful, dark atmosphere that fits the intensity of the story perfectly. The characters are richly drawn; Buddy’s two grandmothers, each controlling and difficult in her own way, his hardworking and hopeful mother, his volatile father swinging wildly from one extreme to another, the cold-eyed bully at Buddy’s new school—they all come startlingly, fully to life.

Importantly, McNeely gets Buddy’s adolescent voice exactly right. Buddy is on the cusp of change, sitting at that precarious transition between childhood and adulthood; I’ve read precious few novels that capture that charged passage so exactly. Buddy's anxiety and angst, as he struggles with difficulties at home and at school, are palpable. As the adults all around Buddy make bad decisions, tell lies, and prove themselves to be mostly unreliable, Buddy must learn--at far too young an age--to make his own choices and guide himself through the rough times ahead.

McNeely touches on many themes in Ghost Horse—race, class, sexuality, lost friendship, bullying, and abuse, to name a few, and I could hold forth about how McNeely sheds light on all of these. But one issue that struck me in particular as I read Ghost Horse was that of broken families, and the tumult that divorce causes for children. Divorce felt like a great and terrible scourge to those of us who grew up in the 1970s; at least half of the kids I knew suffered through the break-up of their parents, and the rest of us feared it. McNeely demonstrates how Buddy tries to make sense of his parents’ arguments and actions, but of course he can’t fully understand the complexity of their emotions. He’s trapped in a chaotic situation that is none of his own making, forced to choose between his parents and to deal with issues that no child should have to consider. As a reader, I wanted leap into this story and hug this boy, and give him back a carefree childhood with no greater concern than creating an animated movie with his best friend.

And the “Ghost Horse” itself—what a haunting image. The Ghost Horse, from the Super 8 movie that Buddy and his Latino friend Alex create, appears like a mythological creature . . . symbolizing, perhaps, escape, freedom, and strength. The Ghost Horse represents a world in which things are still black and white, while Buddy’s world has turned to confusing and constantly shifting shades of grey. If only the Ghost Horse could fly in and save Buddy; but Buddy, must, of course, find a way to save himself.

I could go on, but this is becoming a lengthy review, indeed. Let me sum up by saying that Ghost Horse is a gripping read—I turned the pages feverishly, desperate to know what would happen and if Buddy would be okay. This is a story that unsettled me at times, but will stay with me. I highly recommend this novel for readers who love literary fiction and complex family stories.

I received a complimentary copy of this novel from Gival Press. Thank you to TLC Book Tours and Gival Press for the opportunity to read Ghost Horse and participate in this blog tour. You can visit the other tour stops on TLC’s website here.

About Thomas McNeely: A native of Houston, Texas, Thomas H. McNeely has received fellowships from the Wallace Stegner Program at Stanford University, the Dobie Paisano Program at the University of Texas at Austin, and the National Endowment for the Arts, as well as from the MacDowell Colony, the Helene Wurlitzer Foundation, and the Vermont Studio Center. His fiction has appeared in The Atlantic, Ploughshares, The Virginia Quarterly Review, and Epoch, and has been anthologized in Algonquin Books’ Best of the South and What If?: Writing Exercises for Fiction Writers. His non-fiction has appeared in Ninth Letter and The Rumpus. Ghost Horse is his first book. He teaches in the Emerson College Honors Program and the Stanford Online Writing Studio, and lives with his wife and daughter in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

Find out more about Thomas at his website.