Ahab's Wife: Or, The Star Gazer by Sena Jeter Nasland (#1, Fiction)

I think for the time being I'm just going to post the picture of the book I read. You know, since I've been such a voracious reader lately....

Pope Joan by Donna Woolfolk Cross (#42, Fiction)

I am posting this in 2010, but this was my final book of 2009. I had high hopes of beating 50 this year, and I definitely could have done it but as is natural, life intervened.

Another book club pick. I enjoyed Pope Joan, and if there is even the slightest truth in it, that women dressed as men in order to be educated or to join religious hierarchies, that is pretty amazing.

Historical fiction always makes me happy. The writing was decent, the characters were fairly well developed, but there was just no spark about the book for me. I wouldn't recommend this to someone, but also wouldn't warn against it.

Reading Lolita in Tehran: A Memoir In Books by Azar Nafisi (#41, Nonfiction)

This book was a bit of a chore to get through. On the back it says, "Anyone who has ever belonged to a book group must read this book." I disagree. At best, it should have said, "Anyone who has ever read each and every one of the books the author discusses in this memoir might consider reading this book."

I've read Lolita and F. Scott Fitzgerald, but I haven't read anything else by Nabakov, and I haven't read James Joyce, but I have read every Jane Austen novel. These are the authors that are weaved into the story of a tumultuous Iran. A world in which I can't imagine living, that even seems fake to read about. It is really hard to follow her narrating and stories if the reader is not familiar with the book she is referring to -- that is just strike one.

I enjoy being educated and I enjoy meaningful memoirs, but I got really bored reading the continual analogies between Humbert Humbert, Daisy, or Elizabeth Bennet to various people, events, and situations in Tehran. The literary connections that the author constantly tries to make between novels and her life in Tehran felt forced. It was interesting, believable and new at first, but then as she kept doing it chapter after chapter, I got bored and started to skim. I believe that she and many of her students probably did use fiction to escape the extremely oppressive lives they were living, but I think the interpersonal relations she had, with very limited references to characters in novels, would have made for a much better memoir.

The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson (#40, Classic)

I picked this one for book club. I wanted to pick a scary book for our October rendezvous, but, I wanted a classic scary novel, a true psychological thriller. I dedicated many a precious minute to trying to find the perfect book. I'm the book snob, so I can't pick just anything.

The reviews from both critics and readers had nothing but positive (and scary!) things to say about The Haunting of Hill House.

"First published in 1959, Shirley Jackson's The Haunting of Hill House has been hailed as a perfect work of unnerving terror."

"The Haunting of Hill House remains one of the most important horror novels of all time and certainly one of the most singular haunted house tales ever written."

I wasn't scared. Not on the metro. Not at the gym. Not while I was home alone reading late at night. Not at all.

Do I just lack imagination?

We'll see what the book club critics think, maybe our discussion will give me more clarity on how I feel about the book.

The City of Falling Angels by John Berendt (#39, Nonfiction)

Thanks to some hardcover overstock, I bought this book at Borders for $2.99. It was definitely an impulse buy right by the checkout, but I figure it's not the same as buying a candy bar.

I read Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil many years ago. I've been to Savannah many times and enjoyed being taken on a written tour of the Spanish moss lined streets and cobblestone waterfront. Lots of people have stories to tell, somewhere in their past or present, and John Berendt has the ability to get people to open up to him. He did it in his first book, as well as in The City of Falling Angels.

This time he spent X number of months living in Venice. His story begins at the fire at the Fenice Opera House, but quickly grows to include a diverse assortment of Venice natives and expatriates.

It was interesting. I feel more knowledgeable about Venice, but I still don't know what a freaking Doge is!!

Wolf at the Table: A Memoir of My Father by Augusten Burroughs (#38, Nonfiction)

I liked Running With Scissors, I loved Magical Thinking, I am disappointed by A Wolf at the Table.

Not all stories and pasts deserve to be told. I think my issue with this memoir is that I don't fully believe the story and I think Augusten was reaching to have enough for a book. As I stated after reading Smashed, anyone can give a slant to their lives by focusing on ONE event, ONE person, ONE habit. If you focus only on that one thing and relate no other intervening events, situations, happenings, it can seem pretty AMAZING, TERRIBLE, HORRID . . . so on and so forth.

No one doubts that Augusten grew up non-traditionally: we already knew that from his debut memoir. This may come off harsh, but I think Augusten was probably a terribly annoying and needy child, and his dad just didn't give him the attention he wanted. I would venture to guess that he may not have really even liked him-- certainly not a great dad, but I don't know that he deserves the allusions to murder, killing, and hunting throughout the book.

Who knows. Maybe he really was a crazy sociopath, but in the end I don't think what memories and stories Augusten relates were worth being shared.

Gone With the Wind by Margaret Mitchell (#37, Classic)

It is a book like this that makes me crave for those days back in Portland at Starbucks when Steph and I would sit for hours talking about books. I caught a glimpse of it last weekend. We had few moments to discuss books but somehow we snuck in a conversation here or there within a jam-packed schedule. There are few people I can sit and talk about books with endlessly-- I am fairly certain no one else will ever compare. :)

But, man, this book. I really loved it. There is something so incredible about making a character who you love, hate, despise, understand, and cannot believe her selfishness and charity, all within a single action. And, wow, the Civil War sucked. I felt awful reading about Sherman burning through the south, because in my northern teachings, all the terribleness he inflicted was a sign of victory.

I can't believe I: a) had never read this b) did not know anything about the story (well, other than that scene from Miss Firecracker with Holly Hunter) and c) have never seen the movie. I am SO glad I have not seen the movie-- no doubt it will be a major disappointment, but one I am anxious to experience.

I finished the book at 3AM last night and wanted more.