A year in reading - part 2

Shall we pick up where we left off in A year in reading - part 1, my blog entry where I commented on books from my last year's reading lists? As stated in that entry, I don't comment on books that I have already talked about or on those I was rereading. My reading lists are based on my mood when I put them together and consist of books that have been on my to-read list for a long or short time (that list gets longer and longer!). Unsurprisingly, there were a few disappointments. Below are my thoughts on some books on my № 4, 5 and 6 reading lists:

№ 4 reading list (4 of 10):

· Siddhartha by Hermann Hesse. This classic is probably more interesting for beginners on a spiritual path or for those unfamiliar with Buddhism and Eastern philosophy. It did very little for me and I only finished it to cross it off my list. (Interested in Buddhism? Choose non-fiction by a leading Buddhist teacher. To give you an idea, here are some that I read at a certain point in my life: Thich Nhat Hanh, Joseph Goldstein, Jack Kornfield, Sharon Salzberg, and Pema Chödrön.)
· The Summer Book and A Winter Book by Tove Jansson. When I shared the list I had read about two stories in the latter and was well into the former, which I loved. In The Summer Book you will find a stronger collection of stories, more coherent, mainly because they have the same memorable characters.
· In Other Rooms, Other Wonders by Daniyal Mueenuddin. Felt like a gem when I picked it up but at some point the plot of these loosely interconnected stories became predictable. There is so much corruption and injustice on the pages that I was beginning to long for something a bit more uplifting. I was hoping this book would teach me more about Pakistani culture, and given the good reviews, I was expecting it to be richer.

[From the list: The Little Book of Hygge by Meik Wiking (see separate blog entry).]

№ 5 reading list (4 of 7):

· A Time for Everything by Karl Ove Knausgård. Nothing wrong with the writing but I decided to not finish it because I simply wasn't in the mood. This is a book about angels and he changes the setting of biblical stories; takes us from the desert to a Norwegian landscape. Maybe I will pick it up again later, after revisiting the originals.
· White Teeth by Zadie Smith. The book I so wanted to like and recommend to you, but still haven't finished. I like the writing style but the characters don't interest me at all. Occasionally I pick it up - reluctantly, I admit - and after a few pages I give up. I found the characters in her book NW much more interesting. In that one Smith experiments with the form of the novel, which may not be everyone's cup of tea. I struggled a bit through the first part of NW, but as soon as I reached the second I was hooked.
· Purple Hibiscus by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie. Loved the prose and characterisation in her family drama that sometimes left me shocked - the father is a religious fanatic who uses domestic violence. For sensitive readers I have to add that there is also beauty and hope. The quality of Adichie's writing is such that following horrific descriptions, her beautiful sentences seem to subsequently soothe and heal. This story has not left my mind since I finished it. Adichie is one of my favourite living authors.

[From the list: Avid Reader by Robert Gottlieb (see separate blog entry).]

№ 6 reading list (4 of 8):

· The Noise of Time by Julian Barnes. I liked the first two parts but this is one of the novels I will probably forget having read. In this one, Barnes has reimagined the life of composer Dmitri Shostakovich under Stalin. It just didn't leave me with anything; I finished it and moved on to the next.
· All We Shall Know by Donal Ryan. In my entry, I mentioned liking his writing style. Parts of this book are very dark; I even held my breath sometimes. The character of Mary stole the show; I found her much more interesting than Melody, the main character. The fault of this book is the ending; everything is possible in fiction but it didn't work (I cannot say more without revealing it). However, Ryan is an author who has made it to my list and I intend to read his previous works.
· Boyhood Island: My Struggle 3 by Karl Ove Knausgård. Of the three My Struggle books I have read, this one was my least favourite. Its strengths are the picture he paints of the father he hated (understandably) and the family dynamics. Its weaknesses are the too many repetitive descriptions of him playing with the neighbouring kids or schoolmates. This book could have been 100 pages shorter and better.
· The Return by Hisham Matar. One of those books I was really looking forward to reading but except for the first five chapters, left me rather disappointed. These five chapters have a different writing style, which I loved, and it wasn't until after I had finished the book that I learned that part of them appeared in an article in The New Yorker called 'The Return', which Matar wrote in 2013, before the publication of the book. To be frank, just read the article.

[From the list: The Makioka Sisters by Jun'ichirō Tanizaki (see separate blog entry).]

That's it, I'm done with the 2016 lists.

This year I intend to do things differently, share my thoughts sooner. But I will let some time pass between sharing a reading list and my thoughts on the books on it.

№ 5 reading list: Booktober 2016

Most delightful conversations between authors took place at a Lannan Literary event in April when Zadie Smith and Karl Ove Knausgård shared the stage. Karl Ove was there to read from his work Some Rain Must Fall, the fifth My Struggle book, and Zadie to introduce and interview him. She started the conversations with a witty story: At the airport, on her way to the event, she heard a woman saying to a friend: 'What kind of a person even says that out loud?' And she thought: 'I'm gonna go meet him now. I know exactly who it is.'

Those who have read Karl Ove's revealing-it-all autobiographical novels are probably smiling now or laughing. At least the audience was. Book 1 is on my Booktober reading list and I'm so glad that I finally took the plunge. I wasn't sure the My Struggle books (Min Kamp in Norwegian) were for me, plus I'm always a bit sceptic about works that become immensely popular. But there was something that kept pulling me and when I realised that I had more or less listened to every other conversation with Karl Ove on YouTube I said to myself, This is getting ridiculous, knowing so much about these books and not reading them. I have hardly put the book down but I'm saving Book 2 for my next list and instead reading another work by him. Here is my list, which will stretch well into November:

1  A Death in the Family: My Struggle 1  by Karl Ove Knausgård
2  A Time for Everything  by Karl Ove Knausgård
3  White Teeth  by Zadie Smith
4  NW  by Zadie Smith
5  Americanah  by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
6  Purple Hibiscus  by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
7  Avid Reader: A Life  by Robert Gottlieb

I have followed Zadie Smith for a long time - she has such charisma on the literary stage - but never read any of her works until now when I bought her first novel, White Teeth, and borrowed NW at the library (sometimes it's all about the timing). Her new novel, Swing Time, will soon be published and I'm spotting Zadie-features all over the media, e.g. an interview in T Magazine by novelist Jeffrey Eugenides. She graces the cover of the latest The Gentlewoman, issue No. 14, Autumn and Winter 2016. I wanted to buy it but haven't found it in my town. Another author with charisma is the Nigerian Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie. I loved Half of a Yellow Sun, read it twice and will probably read it again. I have wanted to listen to conversations between Zadie and Chimamanda at the Schomburg Center in Harlem in NY. I started watching and loved them together but before continuing I'm going to read Americanah, which I bought this summer. When I'm done with the novels on my list I'm reading editor Robert Gottlieb's memoir that was just published. As I write this, my copy is on its way in the mail and I'm so looking forward to holding it in my hands.

Georgia O'Keeffe, Black Cross with Stars and Blue, 1929

In August, when we were in London, my older daughter and I went to see the Georgia O'Keeffe exhibition at Tate Modern; one of the reasons for the trip. She had learned about O'Keeffe in art classes and it was my first O'Keeffe exhibition. Seeing many of my favourite paintings close up was a thrilling experience. One of them was Black Cross with Stars and Blue, 1929, which you can spot in my images:

This painting depicts a cross of the Penitente sect of Catholicism, frequently sited within the New Mexico landscape, but viewed here against the outline of Taos Mountain, a sacred site for the local Native American community. The composition thus emphasises O'Keeffe's understanding of the layering of cultural identity on the American landscape. As she described: 'It was in the late light and the cross stood out – dark against the evening sky. If I turned a little to the left, away from the cross, I saw the Taos Mountain – a beautiful shape. I painted the cross against the mountain although I never saw it that way.' (Tate, p. 68)

Another painting was Abstraction White Rose, 1927. I swear I had to stifle a scream when I saw it; my heart was beating faster when I stood in front of it. The exhibition closes at the end of October and I encourage you to see it if you are in London.

Booktober reading list in the making

images by me | Georgia O'Keeffe art via Studio International