I was disappointed but persuaded by Outer Life's post about books making bad gifts. He's right, about all of it. I'm a book giver by nature and by training. And because I'm clumsy about gifts in so many ways, and books are an area where I feel at least marginally on solid ground. But Housemate just came home with some books she received as gifts and at least one of them was one I recognized as a poor selection.
Anyway, because Outer Life has convinced me that I shouldn't give books (and it would be impractical to give you readers books anyway), here instead is a list of the books I've enjoyed most this year:
The Sea, The Sea by Iris Murdoch. A wonderful, complicated, rich novel. It's carefully and intelligently structured, and has an unreliable narrator, which I tend to really like. This is a great book group book. I blogged about it here.
The Places That Scare You by Pema Chodron. This book has finally pushed me into a gentle exploration of Buddhism, which I've been circling around for ages. It's an encouraging book and a painful one at the same time. Which I think is the point.
Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen Why, oh why did I wait so long to read Jane Austen? I read Persuasion later in the year, which doesn't make the list perhaps only because I was comparing it to Pride and Prejudice and it fell slightly short. Austen is great -- so wry, so pointed, so funny. And the formulaic quality of the plots is actually quite satisfying.
How To Want What You Have by Timothy Miller. I've read a bunch of books this year about happiness, purpose, and intentional living. This one is sensible -- not too groovy or new-agey, not too bound up in evolution or science or psychology. Its balance worked well for me. Its message isn't new -- we're creatures built to want want want, and the getting doesn't satisfy the wanting. Nor is the prescription: awakening compassion, gratitude, and awareness of the present moment. But the book somehow hits all of these things very nicely.
Safe Area Gorzade by Joe Sacco This book taught me better than any others (even, perhaps, Maus itself) the power and capability of the graphic novel. I'm not sure that's the right description for this book -- it's not a novel -- but that seems to be the category for literary works that look like comic books. Anyway, I recognized the narrative power of the graphic format from this book. I think Maus is a better work, with more complexity of character. But the journalistic and descriptive capability of the format was great in Safe Area Gorzade.
High Fidelity by Nick Hornby. I can't believe it, but this is the only Hornby book I've read so far. He's familiar and funny and great to read. The narrator is an ass, but a self-deprecating, self-aware, funny ass. My book group was somewhat appalled by the picture painted by the book about relationships. To me it didn't seem so farfetched.
Schmidt Delivered by Louis Begley. Begley is a little bit like Jane Austen, somehow, although it's a modern novel. This is a sequel to About Schmidt, which I read a couple of years ago and loved, as well.
I also re-read The Westing Game by Ellen Raskin -- high marks for this childrens' book, even later in life. Listened to Charlotte's Web as read by E.B. White and that was a terrific treat.
I am a few pages away from finishing The Paradox of Choice by Barry Schwartz. I find myself really wanting to put the book in this list. I think that's because Schwartz himself was cogent and powerful at Pop!Tech this year, articulating the premise of his book. And the ideas in the book are interesting and influential -- I've been noodling on them since seeing him at Pop!Tech. I'm not sure whether the book rises to the top of the batch, but perhaps you might check it out of the library and see for yourself. [UPDATE: I'm afraid it doesn't make the cut. It's good, but not great. Still worth reading, just not one of the best books of the year, I don't think.]
Housemate and I are planning a great purge of the contents of our house in the upcoming weeks. That will mean a serious purging of our library, which should test my instinct to grasp and hang on to books. But a side benefit may be that I'll be able to come up with a list of some of my favorite books of all time. If so, you'll see it here.
Books are pretty much the only things I know how to buy, and they are exactly the sort of gifts I like to buy, so it was only after facing the harsh reality of my own errant gift giving that I wrote my book gift post.
Anyways, your book list is exactly the sort of book gift I had in mind. Thanks.
Posted by: Outer Life | December 20, 2004 at 01:15 PM