#77 - "The Golden Notebook" by Doris Lessing

What can I say about #77, The Golden Notebook? It took me nearly three months to read it, and at times I'm not even sure what I read. It's a long, complicated, and often very frustrating book. It is often described as a "feminist novel," but I wouldn't say that at all. In fact, I'm not even sure what that's supposed to mean. I would describe it is an emotional novel, exploring the deep, personal thoughts of its protagonist. I'd also say that despite moments of brilliance, I don't think I really enjoyed reading it.

Anna Wulf, a writer, records her life in four coloured notebooks, black, blue, red, and yellow, each dealing with a different part of her life. Mixed in with this, is a narrative of her real life, which helps provide some context to the diary-style of her notebooks.

The black notebook records her time in Africa before and during World War II, which led to her writing a successful novel; the royalties from which, she lives off of, and supports her daughter from a failed marriage. The blue notebook records her emotional dreams, and more often, her emotional failures and breakdown. In the red book, she chronicles her dabbling with the Communist party, while the yellow notebook deals with her struggles to write a second novel while suffering through writer's block.

The Best of 2013

Somebody asked me the other night what the best book I read in 2013 was. Admittedly, I was at a loss, as I hadn't really given it any thought. And after looking back at the 38 books I did read in 2013, I'm still struggling to find an answer.

To be honest, 2013 wasn't a very good reading year. Sure, there were some great books, but they were far out numbered by the duds. This may be the reason I only read 38 books, as it obviously goes slower when you aren't enjoying them.

But enough about the bad, this is supposed to be about the good. When I think of books I've read, I divide them into two categories; list books and non-list books. The non-list books are overwhelmingly non-fiction (27-2), but not exclusively, and in 2013 I read far more non-list books than list books (29-9). To separate the two, I've divided my best of 2013 into these two categories.

When thou reviewest this, thou dost review

I love reading, and I love talking about reading, and I love writing about reading. It only stands to reason that I would also love to read about reading, but I'd never sought anything to fill this void. That is until recently, when I discovered a couple of great publications; bookmarks and The New York Times Book Review.

Naturally I was aware of the Book Review, but for whatever reason, I'd never picked up a copy and flipped through it. As for bookmarks, which dubs itself as the magazine 'for everyone who hasn't read everything,' I'd never heard of it at all.

Both offer a review of books coming out, interviews with authors, and general information on the book industry. I'm lucky that I'm able to stay up to date on many happenings in the book world through my work, but it's always nice to add as much research as I can.

#66 - "The Grapes of Wrath" by John Steinbeck

This was a book I felt I was somewhat familiar with before I started reading it. I know now that the only reason I thought that was because I was aware of the movie starring Henry Fonda, and I knew it involved the Dust Bowl and the great migration to California. But really, I didn't know anything about this book. And most importantly, I didn't know what a good book it was, nor what a fantastic writer John Steinbeck was. I regret that I hadn't read this sooner.

The Grapes of Wrath is the story of the Joad family, who have been evicted from their farm in Oklahoma and find themselves unemployed and homeless. After learning of the opportunities in the fertile lands of California picking fruit, they sell the bulk of their few possessions, load up the family truck, and head West.

As they set out, they're full of hope, having heard California is so bountiful you can just pick fruit of the side of the road whenever you are hungry, and that the millions of acres of farmland are in desperate need of hard-working people to earn top wages. Naturally everything doesn't turn out as well as they had hoped. To begin, the journey to California, via jalopy, across terrible road conditions through deserts and mountains, proves more arduous than expected. Unlike travel today, the Joads face a journey where a blown tire between towns could mean death, and sooner rather than later, it does for some of them.

From Antarctica to California

It occurred to me that I never mentioned what my next book would be. I have chosen The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck as my 66th read from the list. This is a book that I felt I was familiar with, but after having started it, now realize I don't know anything about it.

I must have thought I knew more than I do because of the movie starring Henry Fonda (which I haven't seen). I've also visited Monterrey, California quite a few times, where many buildings have a Steinbeck connection. Obviously, neither of these insights tell me anything about the book, so it shouldn't come as a surprise.

I started the book last week, but have only read a couple dozen pages. For the past couple of months I've been bogged down in Roland Huntford's biography of Sir Ernest Shackleton; Shackleton. I say bogged down because it's a slow, intense read, not because I wasn't enjoying it. Quite the contrary. Having known about as much about Shackleton as I do about The Grapes of Wrath, I was very engrossed in his adventures in Antarctica in the early 20th century.

But I finished that one this morning, so I can now move full steam ahead into #66.


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