Christmas Vacation Reads

Finished three books over Christmas vacation, the first two from the Tournament of Books, bringing me to 7/19 Tournament books read so far.

Girl, Woman, Other (by Bernardine Evaristo)

Vignettes of interconnected women or nonbinary characters, many of whom are in the LGBTQ community. Loosely organized around a premiere of a play written by one of the characters. I found all the narratives compelling and vividly human. The ending gave me a very personal gut punch. Booker Prize winner. Excellent novel!

Normal People (by Sally Rooney) 

Compelling coming-of-age read about a man and woman whose emotional lives are deeply intertwined. Feels unresolved at the end, which is undoubtedly the point. Entertainment Weekly named it the best book of the year, which I would quibble with, but still a good read.

The Only Plane in the Sky: An Oral History of September 11 (by Garrett Graff) 

I had to read this in chunks but ultimately I'm glad I did. It is gripping. The political stories are hard to read with hindsight (Rumsfeld and Cheney come off like assholes; George W. Bush fares better. Almost impossible to remember Rudy Giuliani ever was non-evil.) But the narratives about the events themselves are the reason to read the book. Hard to believe it's almost been 20 years. 

Fleishman Is in Trouble (by Taffy Brodesser-Akner)

This was the only way to get someone to listen to a woman—to tell her story through a man; Trojan horse yourself into a man, and people would give a shit about you.

I had a false start with this book last time it popped into my library loans list, but then I read this wonderful Tom Hanks article by Taffy Brodesser-Akner and on the strength of that, I decided I should give Fleishman another shot. Initially I dismissed it because I didn't want to read about another nebbishy man having problems (he is in the process of an acromonious divorce), but slowly this novel unfolds, and the Trojan horse (as referenced in the above quote) becomes apparent.

The narrator, we gradually learn, is a friend of Toby's named Elizabeth. As the novel progresses, we learn more about her and more about Rachel, Toby's wife, who initially is catalogued as a neglectful mother and a "total bitch." But what Brodesser-Akner ends up unfolding is a metatextual, compelling examination of the roles of men and women as workers, as parents, as upper middle-class New Yorkers. I ended up loving this in the end!

And as I was selecting my next book today, the shortlist came out! Fleishman indeed made it, as did four other books I've read: Golden State, The Testaments, Optic Nerve, and Trust Exercise.  I gave Optic Nerve my zombie vote, but Fleishman is great too, and is a last-minute contender for my top 5 books of the year.

Queenie (by Candice Carty-Williams)

This novel is described as Bridget Jones's Diary meets Americanah, and I see where the comparisons are coming from. Queenie is a Jamaican-British woman in her 20s who makes a lot of questionable life choices, many stemming from past trauma and present-day racial politics.

It felt a bit light to be a Tournament of Books novel to me, but in the end the lightness starts to feel deceptive. There's more here than it initially appears. Most of all you can't help but love Queenie as she bumbles through her life, leaning on her friends and trying to do her best.

And oh, I hope there's a sequel!

Optic Nerve (by Maria Gainza)

Oh, this is wonderful.

Maria Gainza is an Argentinian writer and art critic who weaves memoir-like vignettes with stories of the lives and works of various artists. At every chapter I would stop to look up the artist and their work, and it enhanced my reading to have the visual in front of me. This is so assured, so confident, so beautiful. I can't recommended it highly enough, especially if you're interested in art and art criticism. I have to also give kudos to the translator; I love the style of the writing and I'm sure a bad translation could have flattened it.

For my "will this make the shortlist" pondering, I would say I am not sure. I think it should, it's easily one of the best books I've read this year, but maybe it's one of those books that speaks to me more than others. So who can say?

Song of Achilles (by Madeline Miller)

I loved Circe so of course I had to read Song of Achilles! It is the story of Achilles and Patroclus before and during the Trojan War, told from the point of view of Patroclus. It's wonderfully humane, like Circe, bringing the mythology to vivid life. The characters feel lived-in and real, despite the mythological subject matter. I didn't fall in love with it the way I did with Circe (a very high bar) but I enjoyed it very much.

Say, Say, Say (by Lila Savage)

When I'm reading off the longlist, I often read through the lens of Will this make the shortlist and in this case I am guessing no. It's a short meditation from the point of view of Ella, who is a caregiver for Jill, a wife with dementia, and in the process a friend to Bryn, the husband that cares for her. She also has a girlfriend, Alix, and Ella's relationships with all these characters are pondered at length.

The writing is lovely and interior, reminiscent of James and Wharton, and this loveliness was enough to push me past a really grotesque caricature of an obese person that almost made me quit. Ultimately this book has no plot, is an exploration of Ella's feelings about her relationships and about caring for others. But it didn't work for me in the end. It added up to less than the sum of its parts, somehow. But Lila Savage can write, for sure.