I love books. It’s that simple and consequently, most of my recent Christmas gifts and other purchases were books. Here’s a line-up of books recently acquired that I’ve added to my ever growing and seldom diminishing book stack. Two of them I have already read.
Here, I’ve listed just the fiction titles along with my favorite titles of 2019. A future blog will include new nonfiction titles.
FICTION TO READ IN 2020
Akin by Emma Donogue
I actually finished Akin, by the author of Room, on the last day of 2019. It’s the story of a 79-year old man, readying himself for a journey to Nice, France, his birthplace, when he gets a call from social services that a great nephew he has never met needs a place to stay. The 11-year old’s mother is in prison, father deceased several years, and grandmother with whom he has been living has just herself died.
Widower and retired chemistry professor Noah takes Michael in and together they journey to France. The journey and their time together is culture shock for both of them, but you can guess how it will end. Donogue is good at capturing the set-in-his routineness of Noah’s life as well as the haphazard nature of Michael’s upbringing and his lack of manners. Their dialogue is mostly believable, and I only questioned one reference Noah made to Michael about his late wife. Very good overall!
Ask Again, Yes by Mary Beach Keane
Becoming Mrs. Lewis by Patti Callahan
The Beekeeper of Aleppo by Christy Lefteri
The Dutch House by Ann Patchett
The Last Train to London by Meg Waite Clayton
Little Women by Louisa May Alcott
Olive, Again by Elizabeth Strout
Some people I know found Strout’s earlier work, Olive Kittredge too depressing. I thought it was very well done. And I think this new book about Olive is even better, excellent, in fact! I know why it was nominated for awards and on the year’s best lists.
In it, Olive ages from 73 to 86, acquires a second husband named Jack, although she still reminisces about Henry, her first; interacts with a variety of younger people in the town of Crosby, and generally speaks her mind. She can be both cantankerous and kind. There’s a touching chapter called “Light” about Olive’s visits with former pupil Cindy Coombs, a young woman fighting cancer, in which they each reveal insecurities and worries. What Strout does so wonderfully well is capture the awkwardness and indignities of aging along with the vulnerabilities of both young and old. Olive’s relations with her son have been strained, and after he and his wife and children visit her, she’s forced to reflect on how her own behavior has had an impact on the relationship. Highly recommended!
The Sacrament by Olaf Olafsson
Testaments by Margaret Atwood
FAVORITE BOOKS OF 2019 (3 novels & 2 nonfiction titles)
The Great Believers by Rebecca Makkai
Upstate by James Woods
Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens
Maybe You Should Talk to Someone by Lori Gotlieb
No Visible Bruises by Rachel Louise Snyder
Note: Text and photos ©JWFarrington (some rights reserved).
