detailmuse’s ROOTings

Welcome! My ROOT goal is to read 40 30 TBRs that I acquired prior to 2013.
Year-end result: I read 28 of 30.

I’ll maintain a list of books finished in this post, then add a sentence or two about each in posts below. To see longer reviews (and all of my 2013 reading), visit my Club Read thread.

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Fiction
23. Sarah's Key by Tatiana de Rosnay (2.5)
22. The Andromeda Strain by Michael Crichton (3)
19. Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro (4.5)
18. Mister Blue by Jacques Poulin (4) (See review)
16. The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger (4) (See review)
15. The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon by Stephen King (2.5)
13. Cannery Row by John Steinbeck (4.5) (See review)
11. Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn (4)
9. A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L’Engle (3.5) (See review)
6. The Fault in Our Stars by John Green (4) (See review)
4. Olive Kitteridge by Elizabeth Strout (4)
2. The Sense of an Ending by Julian Barnes (4) (See review)
1. Suddenly, A Knock on the Door by Etgar Keret (4) (See review)

Nonfiction
28. Brain Rules by John Medina (3.5)
27. Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank (4)
26. The Highly Sensitive Person by Elaine Aron (3.5)
25. Five Patients by Michael Crichton (4)
24. Gift from the Sea by Anne Morrow Lindbergh (4)
21. Earth Facts by Cally Hall (3)
20. The Invention of Solitude by Paul Auster (3.5)
17. The Wordy Shipmates by Sarah Vowell (2.5)
14. Hidden America by Jeanne Marie Laskas (2.5) (See review)
12. Writers on Writing (3.5)
10. Good Prose: The Art of Nonfiction by Tracy Kidder/Richard Todd (4) (See review)
8. The Universe Within: Discovering the Common History of Rocks, Planets, and People by Neil Shubin (4) (See review)
7. Washington Schlepped Here by Christopher Buckley (3)
5. Slouching Towards Bethlehem by Joan Didion (4) (See review)
3. Sister Bernadette's Barking Dog by Kitty Burns Florey (3.5) (See review)

1. Suddenly, A Knock on the Door by Etgar Keret, ©2010, acquired 2012

This collection contains one short story and 34 very short stories and flash fictions translated from the Hebrew. If you’ve read Keret you know exactly what these stories are like. If you haven’t, think Kafka and characters whose denial of their circumstances take them over the edge into alternate realities where they can feel again.

Very imaginative! Sometimes funny. Together, almost too sad. My favorite here is also the first I ever read by Keret, Creative Writing.

40 books off the shelves sounds do-able, and with one book already finished!

@ 2 -- I'm planning to read that later this year! Never read anything by Etgar Keret before, but it sounds very interesting.

>3 lkernagh: lori, yes it should be! But I came up just shy both of the last two years (37 and 38) so it's still a reach. I also had goals both of those years to reduce my total TBRs -- in 2011 I went from 291 to 264; in 2012 from 264 to 277 (!) ... and that's with what felt like massive curtailment of acquisitions! I'm still figuring out what to do for my total-TBR goal this year.

>4 christina_reads: christina, hope you enjoy! I have two more by Keret in my wishlist but there's that acquisitions goal above...

2. The Sense of an Ending by Julian Barnes, ©2011, acquired 2012

When sixty-something year-old Tony Webster receives a bequest from a will, he sorts through memories of his youth -- his school friends and first girlfriend -- to try to make sense of it. A novella-length exploration of philosophy that manages to be a page-turner, too.

great progress!

>8 cyderry: Chèli yay for cheerleaders!

3. Sister Bernadette's Barking Dog by Kitty Burns Florey, ©2006, acquired 2012

A light, retro volume about the history of diagramming sentences plus dozens of examples, including the diagrammed sentences of famous writers. Two flaws -- there’s no real instruction about diagramming, and Florey derails a bit into memoir and her own experiences -- but the book ends up working well anyway.

I'm not sure what it says about me that that book sounds fairly awesome (especially considering that syntax is my least favorite branch of linguistics)! Is it terribly prescriptive re: grammar or more descriptive?

>11 kelsiface: kelsey: prescriptive ... and, through the process, descriptive :)

Diagramming feels like puzzles to me and while I was browsing online for some to do, I found this interactive tutorial. The diagrams can get elaborate, e.g. see these images.

4. Olive Kitteridge by Elizabeth Strout, ©2008, acquired 2009

A novel about prickly Olive Kitteridge, told via linked short stories that feature a small-town Maine setting with Olive as the main character, or more often a minor character, and occasionally a mere walk-on mentioned in a passing sentence. Wonderful writing, and linked narratives are my favorite "genre."

>12 detailmuse: I think 'puzzle' is a really good word for it. Figuring out the patterns and underlying structure of language can be very fun!

> 13 yes, I loved the linked narrative too, and I loved Olive!

>15 raidergirl3: and I loved Olive!
So many readers didn't, but I found her sympathetic early on and likeable later on. She was quite the what-you-see-is-what-you-get.

(catching up from January)



5. Slouching Towards Bethlehem by Joan Didion, ©1968, acquired 2011

A collection of 20 essays -- mostly social commentary; some self-directed; all personal -- published in various magazines in the turbulent 1960s. Much of the commentary remains relevant even if the specific details feel dated, and what kept striking me was the incredible insight of the ~30-year-old Didion.

January
Beginning total TBRs: 277
TBRs* read: 5
Other books read: 3
TBRs acquired: 14
Ending total TBRs: 283
YTD TBRs* read: 5 (year-end goal: 40)

*acquired before 2013

6. The Fault in Our Stars by John Green, ©2012, acquired 2012

A love story involving teens who have cancer. If you enjoy novels written for young-adult readers, this teen voice and book are very good. If, however, you (like me) enjoy novels about young adults, written from a wiser voice looking back, this one is good.

I loved this book very much!! and I'm almost 60!

:)) connie oh so true, I'm a little askew of the ratings on this one and I did think he nailed the teen voice, even had some wisdom. A little teen voice goes a long way for me though; I prefer YAs like The Book Thief. Thanks for commenting!

p.s. no way do you look almost 60!!

7. Washington Schlepped Here by Christopher Buckley, audiobook read by Grover Gardner, ©2003, acquired 2012

A guide to Washington, DC -- a mix of historical trivia/anecdotes and personal experience -- by a former republican speechwriter and organized into walking tours around the typical buildings, museums, monuments/memorials and Arlington Cemetery. It’s okay; not useful on an actual walking tour and the humor is corny/snarky enough that I was sometimes unsure what was fact vs. joke.

thanks! :-))

8. The Universe Within: Discovering the Common History of Rocks, Planets, and People by Neil Shubin, ©2013, acquired 2012

As Shubin traced the 3.5-billion-year history of evolutionary biology in Your Inner Fish, here he traces the ~14-billion-year history of … evolutionary cosmology? … from the big bang through the organization of our solar system and the separation of Earth’s continents and creation of oceans that eventually made oxygen available for life, to our own evolution. Fascinating.

You write excellent short reviews! And you've read some interesting books too.

Thanks Joyce! They're sometimes good fire-starters for longer versions.

February
Beginning total TBRs: 283
TBRs* read: 3
Other books read: 1
TBRs acquired: 3
Ending total TBRs: 282
YTD TBRs* read: 8 (year-end goal: 40)

*acquired before 2013

9. A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L’Engle, ©1962, acquired 2012

I finally read this 1960s children’s classic -- lots of deus ex machina but also imaginative and silly and substantive in areas of love and do-gooding.

10. Good Prose: The Art of Nonfiction by Tracy Kidder / Richard Todd, ©2013, acquired 2012

A combo memoir + how-to on writing and editing by a writer and his long-time editor. Makes me want to read everything Tracy Kidder wrote!

March
Beginning total TBRs: 282
TBRs* read: 2
Other books read: 3
TBRs acquired: 4
Ending total TBRs: 281
YTD TBRs* read: 10 (year-end goal: 40)

*acquired before 2013

Finally read a ROOT!



11. Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn, ©2012, acquired 2012

A thrill-ride exploration of a marriage that opens when a wife disappears on her fifth wedding anniversary. The beginning is good and the end is good but the middle is great!

I was very happy with that book too, Detailmuse!

>Connie I haven't had that fun a read for ages! Must. Find. More.



12. Writers on Writing, ©2001, acquired 2000s

A collection of 46 short (~5-page) essays on a variety of facets of writing and the literary life, by well-known writers and originally published in the New York Times.

13. Cannery Row by John Steinbeck, ©1945, acquired 2009

A novella about down-and-outs living near the sardine canneries of Depression-era Monterey, California, who try to find a way to show appreciation to their friend, Doc, a sort of marine biologist and all-around good guy. Who knew?! -- Steinbeck can write fun.

Oh my. I finished no books in April, no ROOTs in May ... then just two for this challenge in June and one in July. Here’s to getting back on the reading and ROOTing tracks.

April, May, June, July
Beginning total TBRs: 281
TBRs* read: 3
Other books read: 19
TBRs acquired: 27
Ending total TBRs: 286
YTD TBRs* read: 13 (year-end goal: 40)

*acquired before 2013

>33 detailmuse: Detailmuse: She wrote more books! ;-)

>Connie I've been leery that they're too dark? I did finally buy Where'd You Go, Bernadette?

> DM; I don't think they are too dark, but I'm not afraid of a little dark reading now and again. You just have to try them out sometimes.

14. Hidden America: From Coal Miners to Cowboys, an Extraordinary Exploration of the Unseen People Who Make This Country Work by Jeanne Marie Laskas, Early Reviewers arc ©2012, acquired 2012

A collection of nine essays that profile people working at jobs relatively unknown to the general public. There are coal miners; migrant farm workers; NFL cheerleaders; air-traffic controllers; gun-store sales clerks; beef ranchers; oil-rig workers; long-haul truck drivers; and garbage landfill workers. It’s much more about their lives/lifestyles than the job/workplace.

It’s "okay" at best; easy to read, portions interesting, large portions I wanted to skip.

15. The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon by Stephen King, ©1999, acquired 1999

Nine-year-old Trisha McFarland gets separated from her mother and brother while hiking a section of the Appalachian Trail in Maine, and as she grows solidly lost, she grows grateful for the distraction of her Walkman radio and broadcasts of Boston Red Sox games (with relief pitcher Tom Gordon). I was bored; there isn’t tension or horror. It’s more about childhood courage and resourcefulness and would be good for older children.

16. The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger, ©1951, acquired sometime after 1991

During last week’s Banned Books Week, I read the classic coming-of-age novel where 17-year-old Holden Caulfield recounts the weekend he dropped out of his life. It's a re-read that holds up extremely well.

August-September
Beginning total TBRs: 286
TBRs* read: 3
Other books read: 5
TBRs acquired: 13
Ending total TBRs: 291
YTD TBRs* read: 16 (year-end goal: 40)

*acquired before 2013

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I've read 80-90+ books per year over the past several years, and so a goal of pulling half of them (40) from my TBRs was a reasonable stretch. But this year I'm likely to only read 60+ books, and I'm mulling a goal adjustment...

17. The Wordy Shipmates by Sarah Vowell, audio read by the author and a dozen others, ©2008, acquired 2008

This is history (Puritans) + backstory (interesting) + commentary (sarcasm rather than humor) + constant digressions/audio disruptions = meh. That said, Vowell’s enthusiasm about history is contagious. Since this is one of her lowest-rated works, I will try her again.

For what it's worth, my favourite of Sarah Vowell's work so far has been the essay collection Take the Cannoli.

>44 rabbitprincess: Thanks! That it's a collection of essays on different topics sounds interesting.

18. Mister Blue by Jacques Poulin (translated from the French by Sheila Fischman), ©1989, acquired 2012

I understood that during my whole life I’d never really been in love. I’d only looked for affection. I’d done lots of things to make people like me, but I’d never loved anybody.

No surprise then, that Jim, a solitary, middle-aged writer living outside Quebec City, develops writer’s block while drafting a love story. Mysterious and melancholy.

19. Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro, ©2005, acquired 2009

A dystopian story of Ruth, Tommy and Kathy, friends at an English boarding school and afterward, narrated deliciously slowly by Kathy. Wow! I want to read more by Ishiguro.

20. The Invention of Solitude by Paul Auster, ©1982, acquired 2012

Auster's memoir on fathers and sons and memory -- meditations on the death of his father and the discovery of a long-secret family trauma that explains some of the distance and difficulty in their relationship; and meditations on his own young son, particularly when divorce threatens to make Auster a distant father, too.

October
Beginning total TBRs: 291
TBRs* read: 4
Other books read: 3
Books acquired: 8
Ending total TBRs: 292
YTD TBRs* read: 20 (my new year-end goal: 30; I’m reading far fewer books total this year so this keeps my ROOTs goal at approx. half of my total reads for the year)

*acquired before 2013

21. Earth Facts by Cally Hall, ©1995, acquired late-1990s(?)

I acquired this years ago when I realized that many of my “I want to know more about...” topics were in the earth sciences. It’s a mini-DorlingKindersley edition, so it’s a glossy, image-heavy “outline” of facts (vs. understanding) -- a good-enough overview to draw a couple more areas of interest to the forefront, e.g. gemstones.

22. The Andromeda Strain by Michael Crichton, ©1969, acquired 1990s

A novel about an uber-pathologic extraterrestrial microbe brought back on a spacecraft. It was probably thrilling to the 1969 reader in the thick of conspiracies and the space program (and pre-computers, and pre-CSI), but totally dated now.

23. Sarah's Key by Tatiana de Rosnay, ©2007, acquired 2008

A fortysomething American woman, living in Paris with her French husband and 11-year-old daughter, researches the Vel’ d’Hiv -- the July 1942 roundup of Jews in Paris carried out by French police under German orders. I was glad to see the historical event documented, but the characters were implausible and the writing was heavy-handed.

24. Gift from the Sea by Anne Morrow Lindbergh, ©1955, acquired 1986

A rumination on the phases of woman’s adult life (though only to middle age), each explored in a short chapter that suggests a way to stay grounded in self, each made memorable through symbolism by a different shell from the sea. Still relevant nearly 60 years after initial publication.

25. Five Patients by Michael Crichton, ©1970, acquired 1990s

A forerunner to Atul Gawande-type essays, this is a collection of case studies on five patients, where each case provides a jumping-off point for Crichton to examine aspects of healthcare: its history and the general operation of hospitals and emergency rooms; healthcare costs and financing; the history of surgery and a comparison of surgeons vs. physicians; medical technology and medical research; and the training of med students/interns/residents.

Definitely dated, yet forward-thinking and with issues contemporary enough to recommend it for readers interested in medical history, economics and sociology.

I read Five Patients years ago (not 1970 though!) and remember really liking it. I probably read it around the time ER started.

>55 raidergirl3: I think it gets poor ratings because readers expect it to be a Crichton thriller. I thought it was excellent nonfiction for its day, and good even today. Have you read his Travels? -- memoirish essays that I also liked, especially his Kilimanjaro trek.

Catching up with stats from...

November
Beginning total TBRs: 292
TBRs* read: 5
Other books read: 6
Books acquired: 5
Ending total TBRs: 286
YTD TBRs* read: 25 (year-end goal: 30)

*acquired before 2013

26. The Highly Sensitive Person by Elaine Aron, ©1996, acquired 1990s

Susan Cain’s excellent book, Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can't Stop Talking, contains numerous references to this book on sensory sensitivity, so I finally pulled it from the TBRs. It’s okay -- much more a self-help volume than a scientific/psychological exploration.

27. Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank, translated from the Dutch by B.M. Mooyaart; ©1947, acquired who knows when

The forever-classic diary that shows a young Jewish teen girl’s coming-of-age while hiding from the Nazis in 1942-44 Amsterdam. It’s accountably sad ... and unaccountably, persistently, optimistic.

28. Brain Rules by John Medina, ©2008, acquired 2011

An exploration of cognition -- how what we do affects our brains, plus changes we could make to societal structures (schools, workplaces) to let our brains function better. I should have liked it more than I did, but I think Medina wrote so conversationally that I only trusted his science because I’d read about many of the topics recently in other books (e.g. The Story of the Human Body; Scarcity; Pieces of Light).

December
Beginning total TBRs: 286
TBRs* read: 3
Other books read: 5
Books acquired: 27 (!!) (+1 that was in my TBRs but I hadn’t entered into LT until now)
Ending total TBRs: 306
YTD TBRs* read: 28 (year-end goal: 30)

*acquired before 2013

Juuust shy of meeting my goal.

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Some statistics from my 2013 ROOTs

Total books finished: 28
Fiction: 13
Nonfiction: 15

Original publication date:
1940s: 2
1950s: 2
1960s: 3
1970s: 1
1980s: 2
1990s: 3
2000s: 8
2010s: 7

Date acquired:
1980s: 1
1990s: 5
2000s: 8
2010s: 14

I rated 14 (50%) of my ROOTs at 4 stars or above (i.e. “good” to “great”) and several made it onto my 2013 best-of list:
Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn
Cannery Row by John Steinbeck
Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro
Slouching Towards Bethlehem by Joan Didion

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I’ll keep my goal at 30 again for next year’s ROOTs -- join me here and Happy Reading!