December Book Reviews - Part 1

This was the last book I read in 2011.  In total, I read 200 books this past year. I read so many in December, I'll post half of my reviews now and half later in the month.

THE ILLUSTRATORS OF MONTMARTRE -Frank L. Emanuel (86)
©1904 I picked this book up for a couple of bucks in an antique shop in Iowa five years ago. It’s a first edition, but worthless due to its shabby condition. Eleven artists are featured, but only one that I’m familiar with: Toulouse Lautrec.
         I enjoyed reading a book that was a contemporary art critique over a century ago. This was part of the Langham Series of Art Monographs, which also contained titles about color prints of Japan, London as an Art City, Venice as an Art City, August Rodin, and Bartolozzi.
        Of poster artist A. Steinlen’s work, the author writes: First, then, he shows us the gallery of some dark, putrid Assembly Hall; the air is thick with garlic, and oaths, and gas, whose garish light illuminates a disreputable mob of frenzied anarchists, who are applauding with delirious gusto the sentiments of “Down with everything,” “Death to everyone.” …
        Just a sample of the snappy writing. Since it was about mostly obscure artists, I never expected to like this book as much as I did. It was a great look at the turn-of-the-20th-century art scene in Paris.


THE HOUSE OF PAPER - Carlos Maria Dominguez (103)
©2004 Originally written in Spanish, this book is a beautiful translation of a novella about bibliophiles.
        Shortly after Bluma Lennon, a professor of Latin American literature at Cambridge, was hit by a car and killed while walking down the street reading a just-purchased, used volume of Emily Dickenson’s poetry, a package from Uruguay containing a book by Joseph Conrad, bearing a mysterious inscription in Bluma’s handwriting, arrives in her office. It read “For Carlos, this novel that has accompanied me from airport to airport, in memory of those crazy days in Monterey. Sorry for being a bit of a witch and as I told you right from the start: you’ll never do anything that will surprise me. 8 June 1996.”
        Bluma’s colleague (the narrator), who knew that she had attended a seminar in Mexico that year, did some investigating and came up with the name of a man named Carlos from Uruguay who had been at the same seminar.
        When he decides to visit his elderly mother in his native Buenos Aires, he makes a side-trip to Uruguay to return the book to this Carlos and break the news of Bluma’s accidental death.
Carlos, it turns out, has disappeared. The narrator visits a friend of his and learns that Carlos was a life-long bibliophile, with a huge library containing many rare books, some worth up to $20,000 each. In fact, his house was so packed with his beloved books, it was if he was living in a house of paper. He had developed an elaborate index system so he could find whatever book he was looking for easily among the thousands in his collection.
        One day a small house fire destroyed the file-cabinet which contained his index. The loss was so devastating to him, even though no books were damaged, that he packed up his books and other belongings and left Montevideo to go live as a hermit on a remote beach. The narrator goes in search of him to return the book he’d sent to Bluma.
        This is a random book I plucked from my public library’s shelf because it was short. I didn’t even read the book jacket notes, and I’m glad I didn’t, because it contained a spoiler. I was ever so surprised as the mystery of Carlos and the book was unraveled. This is a delightful quick read for anyone who loves books, is a book collector, or a book hoarder, like me.



HER CHRISTMAS AT THE HERMITAGE - Helen Topping Miller (89)
©1955 This is a short historical novel (set in the early 19th century) about Andrew and Rachel Jackson. They’re celebrating Christmas in their newly built Hermitage mansion near Nashville, and Rachel is looking forward to having her husband around more, now that he’s no longer on military campaigns and has resigned the governorship of Florida. Little does she know that the turmoil of public life will soon heat up as her husband is nominated for the Presidency.
        For a more complete look at the life of Andrew and Rachel Jackson, there’s a very good biographical novel by Irving Stone called The President’s Lady.


HOW READING CHANGED MY LIFE - Anna Quindlen (82)
©1998 In this short book, the author tells about how reading has affected her life, both as a child bookworm, and later as a journalist and writer. She gives many examples and descriptions of her favorite books through the years. She also touches on such subjects as book banning and the future of “real” books as e-readers take over the market. Easily read in one setting, I found her reflections very interesting.


THE WRITING LIFE - Annie Dillard (111)
© 1989 This author’s writing is lyrical, metaphoric, and visually descriptive prose that describes the what, where, how and why of writing. At times she compares it to a painter and his or her art. I enjoyed her Pilgrim at Tinker Creek last year, so I felt right at home with this little book of memoir-essays.


1491 - Charles C. Mann (337)
©2005 Who would believe that pre-Columbian history of the Western Hemisphere would be so fascinating? Thirty years of recent research in the fields of anthropology and archeology have come to the startling conclusion that not only did humans exist in the western hemisphere a lot earlier than first believed, but also that the population was much larger than previously thought. Recommended for those interested in the history of the “New World” before the Europeans arrived. 


TRAIL OF THREAD - Linda K. Hubalek (101)
©1995 I think this book would be considered historical fiction. It’s based on the author’s family history, and tells the story of her great-great-great-grandmother, who moved with her family in a covered wagon from Kentucky to Kansas in 1854. The story is told in a series of letters to loved ones back home in Kentucky and vividly describes what was involved in preparing for such a move and the hardships they endured on the trail. 


THE BOSS DOG - MFK Fisher (118)
©1991 The worst dog book I ever read. There’s not much of a story here. Two little American girls and their mother are spending a year in Aix-en-Provence, France. Their chief pastime, it seems, is sitting around in sidewalk cafes people-watching. A recurring character is this weird, aloof little dog that’s a regular visitor to the cafes. The writing was too “elegant”, or should I say downright boring. Good descriptions of place and French food though.


ROOM - Emma Donoghue (321)
© 2010 When I googled to find out more about the book, I learned that the novel was inspired by the Fritzl case in Austria, but it reminded me a lot of the Jaycee Dugard story.
        This story of a young woman who was abducted and held captive by a pervert in his backyard shed for seven years is told through the “voice” of her 5-year-old son who was born in the shed during the second year of her captivity. At first I was put-off by the child’s narration which seemed contrived, but once I got into the story, it no longer bothered me that much. I usually don’t read fiction about abuse, because the real thing is bad enough. The book was both disturbing and inspirational.


HOWLING MAD - Peter David (201)
©1989 What happens when a wolf is bitten by a werewolf? Chaos ensues. This is the story of a Canadian wolf, bitten by a werewolf, who ends up in a rundown New York City zoo, where he escapes and is rescued by a young animal-rights worker. This is a horror story told with humor, the tale of a wereman and the woman who loves him. Action-packed, and a quick read, with a little vampiracy thrown in for good measure.


JIM THE BOY - Tony Early (227)
©2000 This story covers one year in the life of a 10-year-old North Carolina boy growing up during the Great Depression. Young Jim was born one week after his daddy, Jim Sr., died of a heart attack at age 23. Jim’s mother vows never to remarry, believing that she must remain faithful to her husband in death until they meet again in the great by-and-by.
        Jim is raised by his widowed mother and her three bachelor brothers, the Uncles. The wise uncles teach Jim to be honest, hard-working, and compassionate towards others. This is a sweet little story about family and friendship ties.