Five from 2012
This past year, I reviewed 53 books on Goodreads, all of which I read during the year. Some of these I have noted in two earlier blog posts, one on the five Giller Prize nominees for 2012 (won, in the end, by "419" by Will Ferguson,) and one titled "Six for Summer."
Besides the 11 books noted in those two blogs, here are five particularly superb books that stick vividly in my mind from 2012:
* "Flight Behavior" by Barbara Kingsolver -- an environmental warning wrapped around the story of a memorable young woman seeking to redefine her life, amidst the tough poverty of the southern Appalachians.
* "Indian Horse" by Richard Wagamese -- a hard-edged story of residential school abuse by an Ojibway writer, in which the clean swift skating of hockey is a metaphor for hope and redemption. Especially powerful in the context of present aboriginal protests in Canada.
* "Sweet Tooth" by Ian McEwan -- a probing exploration of belief and betrayal, as a young woman is drawn into the British intelligence service, then sent to seduce a young writer with undercover funding. A wonderful rewrite on the harsh decade of the 1970's in the UK.
* "Strawberry Fields" by Marina Lewycka -- a picaresque novel, tracing the struggles of a group of itinerant short-term migrants to Britain, trying to survive tough fruit-picking jobs, while they sort out hopes for their future relationships. Written with humour, energy and compassion.
* "The Given Day" by Dennis Lehane -- a powerful and vivid novel about the lives of black Americans and Irish immigrants in post-World War One period of extreme racism and oppression of radicals. Dramatically unlike any of Lehane's usual detective novels, but with similar taut writing.
Besides the 11 books noted in those two blogs, here are five particularly superb books that stick vividly in my mind from 2012:
* "Flight Behavior" by Barbara Kingsolver -- an environmental warning wrapped around the story of a memorable young woman seeking to redefine her life, amidst the tough poverty of the southern Appalachians.
* "Indian Horse" by Richard Wagamese -- a hard-edged story of residential school abuse by an Ojibway writer, in which the clean swift skating of hockey is a metaphor for hope and redemption. Especially powerful in the context of present aboriginal protests in Canada.
* "Sweet Tooth" by Ian McEwan -- a probing exploration of belief and betrayal, as a young woman is drawn into the British intelligence service, then sent to seduce a young writer with undercover funding. A wonderful rewrite on the harsh decade of the 1970's in the UK.
* "Strawberry Fields" by Marina Lewycka -- a picaresque novel, tracing the struggles of a group of itinerant short-term migrants to Britain, trying to survive tough fruit-picking jobs, while they sort out hopes for their future relationships. Written with humour, energy and compassion.
* "The Given Day" by Dennis Lehane -- a powerful and vivid novel about the lives of black Americans and Irish immigrants in post-World War One period of extreme racism and oppression of radicals. Dramatically unlike any of Lehane's usual detective novels, but with similar taut writing.
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