Best of 2007 -- Books
I read a lot of books in 2007, some for a grad class in World Lit, many (short ones) for a class in Childrens and Young Adult non-fiction, and some on my own. My progress of reading through all the books on the top 100 English language novels of the 20th century dragged on a bit this year. Number 43 on the list (that's where I'm at) is a series of novels by Anthony Powell called A Dance to the Music of Time. Twelve novels. I'm making some progress through them; I read books 4 through 9 this year, before and after my grad classes in the summer. None of those books will make my best of list.
My favorite book of the year is one I bought just before school started in the fall and read over the next couple of weeks: Territory by Emma Bull. This was Emma's first published novel in many, many years, but she wrote War for the Oaks, one of my favorite books of all time. Territory was very interesting, kind of an urban fantasy novel set in Tombstone, Arizona, around the time of the shootout at the O.K. corral, and featuring the Earp brothers as main characters. It's almost a straight-forward Western for the first third or half of the book, until you realize the magic that's underlying everything. Fascinating and beautifully written.
Other books of note: Cal by Bernard MacLaverty, which I re-read for my World Lit class. I liked it a lot the first time I read it a few years ago, and it hit me even harder this time around. Feast of the Goat by Mario Vargas Llosa, about the fall of Dominican Republic dictator Trujillo. Could be a tough read with shifting perspectives of characters and time, but if you can figure your way through that, it's terrific and disturbing. Walking the Dog, a short story collection by Bernard MacLaverty. Irish throughout, even in stories set elsewhere. Fragile Things by Neil Gaiman is a collection of short stories, with a little poetry thrown in for good measure. Maybe not everything Gaiman touches is magic, but damn close. The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini was a bit of a letdown, only due to the hype surrounding it gave me higher expectations than could be met. Still, it's an easy and straightforward read, a gripping adventure story, a look into another culture (Afghanistan), and a coming-of-age story all in one.
My favorite book of the year is one I bought just before school started in the fall and read over the next couple of weeks: Territory by Emma Bull. This was Emma's first published novel in many, many years, but she wrote War for the Oaks, one of my favorite books of all time. Territory was very interesting, kind of an urban fantasy novel set in Tombstone, Arizona, around the time of the shootout at the O.K. corral, and featuring the Earp brothers as main characters. It's almost a straight-forward Western for the first third or half of the book, until you realize the magic that's underlying everything. Fascinating and beautifully written.
Other books of note: Cal by Bernard MacLaverty, which I re-read for my World Lit class. I liked it a lot the first time I read it a few years ago, and it hit me even harder this time around. Feast of the Goat by Mario Vargas Llosa, about the fall of Dominican Republic dictator Trujillo. Could be a tough read with shifting perspectives of characters and time, but if you can figure your way through that, it's terrific and disturbing. Walking the Dog, a short story collection by Bernard MacLaverty. Irish throughout, even in stories set elsewhere. Fragile Things by Neil Gaiman is a collection of short stories, with a little poetry thrown in for good measure. Maybe not everything Gaiman touches is magic, but damn close. The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini was a bit of a letdown, only due to the hype surrounding it gave me higher expectations than could be met. Still, it's an easy and straightforward read, a gripping adventure story, a look into another culture (Afghanistan), and a coming-of-age story all in one.
posted by Kootch | 8:22 PM
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