For Ti-Cup, or, Read These Books

The Wednesday Wars: Gary Schmidt: Young Adult Fiction
If you only read one book I recommend, this should be it. It was my very favorite this year. Because Holling Hoodhood does not attend Catechism or Hebrew School, he spends his Wednesday afternoons reading Shakespeare with his 7^th grade teacher, Mrs. Baker, finding parallels between his own life in 1967 and Shakespeare’s universal themes. More than anything Wednesday Wars reminds me of the Peter Billingsley film, A Christmas Story. Holling’s school and community antics and the overall tone and voice of the work are reminiscent of the movie, but Schmidt (who won Printz and Newbery honors for Lizzie Bright and the Buckminster Boy) also addresses social, political, and family issues that give The Wednesday Wars depth and meaning.

Enslaved by Ducks: Bob Tarte: Nonfiction
When Bob Tarte’s wife suggests they adopt a bunny, it seems like a safe enough proposition, but the (evil) bunny is just the beginning of a long line of strong-willed pets about to overrun the house. Bob Tarte is an extremely amusing narrator.

Shakespeare: The World as Stage: Bill Bryson: Nonfiction
Bryson admits early in the book that there are few known facts about Shakespeare himself. In fact, there is still a debate over whether or not William Shakespeare actually wrote the plays credited to him. Despite the lack of information, Bryson manages to create a quick-paced, fun read that gives readers insight into Elizabethan and early Jacobean England—the laws, the people, the customs, and the plays—which shed light on Shakespeare’s work and time. Bryson is always entertaining. I've blogged about this one.

Run: Ann Patchett: Fiction
If you like Anne Tyler, you'll like this. While arguing in the street with his father outside a political meeting, 21-year-old Tip Doyle fails to notice an oncoming SUV but escapes with only a broken bone when a stranger pushes him out of the vehicle’s path. After the ambulance takes Tip’s rescuer, who is hit by the car, away to the hospital, Tip, his father, and his two brothers are left to care for Kenya, the 11-year-old daughter of the injured woman. The Doyles soon discover that the woman and her daughter live in the projects bordering the Doyles’ wealthy neighborhood and are intimately, and surprisingly, connected to the family.

No-Man's Lands: One Man's Odyssey Through The Odyssey: Scott Huler: Nonfiction
While reading Ulysses, Scott Huler becomes fascinated with the story on which it’s based and sets out to retrace the famous journey through the Mediterranean. Without arranging lodging or transportation beforehand, Huler travels to Troy, visits the Cyclops’ cave, paddles out toward Scylla and Charybdis, and wends his way through the famous epic. As he travels, Huler reflects on the parallels between the journey Odysseus takes and the universal journey to and through adulthood. Entirely entertaining and informative, Huler had me reaching for a copy of The Odyssey, which is no small feat.

Robot Dreams: Sara Varon: Graphic Novel
In a graphic novel with no dialogue, a dog and a robot become friends, but an unfortunate trip to the ocean rusts the robot and he spends the year abandoned on the beach, dreaming of being reunited with the dog. Portrays friendship in a surprisingly poignant way. If you're wary of graphic novels, this is the way to go.

The Year of Living Biblically: A.J. Jacobs: Nonfiction
Jacobs attempts to live every Biblical commandment for one year, first studying the Bible for several months and recording all the laws and commandments in the Old and New Testaments and then attaching tassels to the corners of his clothing, observing food restrictions, tithing, and attempting to do everything the Bible mandates. Jacobs visits religious groups that interpret the Bible literally, attending a meeting with snake handlers, inviting a Jehovah’s Witness to his home for several hours, and visiting the Creationism Museum in Kentucky. With a premise that could potentially be offensive, Jacobs does a very nice job of fairly and respectfully examining the Bible and its adherents. While there are absurd portions of the book (the author “stones” an adulterer with pebbles in a park) and Jacobs is, admittedly, agnostic, the work as a whole is interesting and thought-provoking for believers and non-believers alike.

Unaccustomed Earth by Jhumpa Lahiri
Jhumpa Lahiri, winner of the Pulitzer Prize for Interpreter of Maladies, returns to issues of family, identity, and culture in this beautiful collection of stories. In the title story, a daughter worries over the decision to invite her elderly father to join her young family in Seattle. In another story, a sister watches as her brother deals with alcoholism, a vice she may have helped him cultivate. And three of the final stories follow Hema and Kaushik as their lives intersect and separate over and over again through three decades. Lahiri is one of the most accomplished authors currently writing. Her prose is perfect and her characters are full and complicated and somehow terribly familiar in their struggles. Lahiri is so good at what she does that she makes me want to cry.

Son of the Shadows by Juliet Marillier
Liadan of Sevenwaters is a healer, caring for her dying mother and considering a marriage proposal from Eamonn, a neighboring landowner with whom Liadan’s family needs to maintain strong ties for protection. When Liadan is abducted by the Painted Man’s mercenaries to save the life of an injured man, she falls in love with Bran, Eamonn and her family’s greatest enemy.
This is the second book in the Sevenwaters Trilogy, but I read it without being familiar with the first book and thoroughly enjoyed it. I'm currently trying to read the third book in the series, but I find it less compelling.

I'm really not getting a kickback from NPR for recommending the following books (although I deserve one). I just really enjoyed these titles this year.

Talking with My Mouth Full by Bonnie Wolf

Wolf, NPR’s food commentator, shares a collection of food memoirs complete with recipes, in a style very reminiscent of Laurie Colwin’s wonderful books, Home Cooking and More Home Cooking.

Listening is an Act of Love
A collection of interviews from the StoryCorps project. So touching.

Hidden Kitchens

A collection of fascinating food stories inspired by the Kitchen Sisters’ Morning Edition series on NPR features unexpected, off-the-path “kitchens” and their chefs, including burgoo fundraisers, homeless communities cooking with George Foreman grills, traveling NASCAR cooks feeding crews, and Chili Queens celebrating their culture.

This I Believe
A compilation of the essays read on the radio program of the same name. Contributors share their belief in, among other things, reading, being present, having integrity, and putting flowers on graves. This I Believe 2 was just published.


And I've already talked about these two:

The Luxe

My mom hated this one. I liked it.

Museum: Behind the Scenes at the Metropolitan Museum of Art

I'm currently reading The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society and it's going to be a contender in the next go round.