nomadreader

The backstory: Ellen Feldman is one of my favorite authors. I've adored her two most recent novels: Scottsboro  ( my review ) and Next to Love  ( my review .) The basics: The Unwitting opens on November 22, 1963, but it's not a novel about the death of John F. Kennedy, Jr. In this prologue, the reader learns it will be a momentous day for Nell and Charlie Benjamin, but before we find out why, the action jumps back to the beginning of their courtship. My thoughts: The titular unwitting refers to those who were unaware of CIA connections and financial support of non-governmental foundations, publications and organizations. Throughout this novel there are questions of loyalty and paranoia about the CIA and its involvement, but these themes extend beyond the CIA into secrets and trust, of the government, of spouses, and of associates. These themes run rampant in this novel, and the reader shares the doubt of the characters as we all wonder "will we ever really know the t...

The Top 14 As I sat down to make my list of favorite reads of 2011, I ended up with a top 14. Last year I lucked into a top 10 , but I also read about twenty more books this year, so that makes sense. I don't like to set an arbitrary number of titles for my Best of the Year list, so here are my favorite reads of 2011 (all are books I read in 2011, but not all were originally published in 2011.) 14. The Lover's Dictionary  by David Levithan ( my review ) A love story told through dictionary definitions sounded so interesting I had to try it, even as I doubted how it would work as a novel. It worked beautifully and brilliantly, and it was a surprisingly emotional read. 13. Untold Story  by Monica Ali ( my review ) Untold Story  was one of the titles I was most excited to read in 2011, as I adore literary fiction about real people. Monica Ali's imagination of what life would like today if Princess Diana had faked her own death was a suspenseful, character-driven n...

The backstory: I loved Scottsboro , Ellen Feldman's last novel ( my review ), which was on the 2009 Orange Prize shortlist, and I've been eagerly awaiting Next to Love since I first heard about it. The basics: Next to Love  is the story of Babe, Millie and Grace, three long-time friends who together face their husbands (or boyfriend in the case of Babe) going off to war, the tragedies of war and re-building a life after war. My thoughts: Sometimes when I start reading a book, I never want to put it down. It isn't necessarily an indication I will think of the book in the coming months and years. I enjoy thrillers and mysteries, and it's often the experience of reading them I enjoy. Then there are books I may not especially enjoy while reading them (ahem, Freedom ), but I can't stop thinking about them. Sometimes the book is both. Next to Love  was both an exhilarating read, albeit a tragic one, and one that ventured beyond its initial scope to enchant me furthe...

Waiting on Wednesday is hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine to highlight an upcoming release you can't wait to read. My pick this week is Next to Love , the upcoming novel from Ellen Feldman. I read Feldman's recent novel, Scottsboro , when it was shortlisted for the Orange Prize in 2009. It was one of my favorite reads of 2010 , so I was thrilled to hear Feldman has a new novel coming out in July. There's very little information about it yet, but Feldman's website offered this snippet: "When men go off to war, the lives of women and children change forever." The publisher lists it as a historical family saga. The only other information available is this glowing quote from Stacey Schiff: "a powerful, haunting, deeply ambitious novel about love and war, impeccably executed, impossible to put down." Next to Love  will be published by Spiegel & Grau on July 26, 2011. You can pre-order it from an independent bookstore , the Book ...

2010 was a wonderful year of reading. I wanted to be a deliberate reader, and looking back on the books I read this year, I'm quite pleased with the quality of them. I stuck to literary fiction for the most part. I tried to read from the award lists, and I discovered many of these books on the award lists. Without further ado, here are my favorite books of 2010 (when I made my list, there happened to be ten!)  All the books I read in 2010 were eligible regardless of when the books were published. (Clicking on the links will take you to my full, original review. Clicking on the book cover will take you to it's page on Amazon.) 10. Trespass  by Rose Tremain (longlisted for the 2010 Booker Prize) I will remember 2010 as the year I finally read Rose Tremain. This hauntingly beautiful novel has stayed with me. Favorite passage: "Even here, where life went along more slowly than in England, she could sense the restless agitation people felt to make real and tangible to the...