I read a lot of books in 2007; mostly either genre fiction or non fiction. Quite a few of these books I don’t remember much about. However, the following are some that jumped out as calling for comment in some respect as I reviewed the list. (I borrowed this idea from the Public, the Private, and Everything in Between.)
Best Science Fiction Series
My award for best science fiction series goes to Kage Baker for her Company series. The stories in the series are primarily about a group of time travelling cyborgs created to collect and save artifacts (such as lost Shakespearean scripts) as well as to otherwise generate profits for the Company.
The books are well crafted and incredibly readable and interesting. A lot of science fiction falls down as literature in that plot and character development are treated as secondary to the ideas being explored but that is not the case here and we really get a sense of the emotional life of the cyborgs as well of their creators. The books are also laugh out loud funny in parts though not without moments of horror and tragedy.
I highly recommend this series even to people who do not read science fiction. I think anyone who is interested in art/ literature /history /film/ anthropology/ mythology or who enjoys an epic tragic love story could enjoy it.
Best Mystery Series
My award for best mystery series goes IJ Parker ’s Sugawara Akitada series. Sugawara is a minor government official in 11th Century Japan. He is also an astute investigator and good at solving murders but, unfortunately, this does not translate to worldly success and he is frequently down on his luck .
Overall these novels give me all I could ask for in a mystery series- good characters, intriguing stories, and fun dialogue. I also really enjoy the sense of immersion in a different time and culture I get from these books. Parker is very knowledgeable about 11th Century Japan and its intricate laws and customs. Suprisingly (to me anyway) it turns out 11th Century Japan was nothing like the Akira Kurosawa movie inspired Samurai dominated society I would have assumed it to be.
Best Individual Murder Mystery
The overall best individual mystery I read in 2007 is R. S Downie Medicus and the Disappearing Dancing Girls. This novel is set in a Roman military hospital on Hadrian’s Wall in the time of Ancient Rome. Nonetheless it has suprisingly modern resonances as the protagonist, who is a doctor, struggles with financial and buerocratic constraints in the hospital he works in. Without giving too much away the story also deals with the issue of abducted women held captive and forced to work as sex workers which, is of course, still horribly relevant today. Overall I found this a compelling and thought provoking read and also a very satisfactory mystery.
Moving now onto non-fiction which I also read a lot of:
Biography that Outdid itself in Terms of Padding Out Slim Historical Record With Extraneous Material and Speculation
The award in this category goes to Kathryn Hughes with The Short Life and Long Times of Mrs Beeton. Mrs Beeton, author of the famous household management book, sadly died young at 28. Not much is known about Mrs Beeton but Kathryn Hughes manages to pad out the few known details with all kinds of things: extracts from the book, textual analysis that shows how much it utilized plagiarized material (a lot), detailed description of how subsequent editions varied from the original, speculation about whether Mrs Beeton had syphilis and how many miscarriages this may have resulted in- and so forth. It wasn’t bad by any means, I enjoyed it, but my overwhelming impression was what a heroic effort it must have been to produce 200 plus pages on a woman so little is known about.
Book about Someone Else’s Libido I Found Most Annoying
The award for Book About Someone Else’s Libido I found most annoying goes to Joan Sewell I’d Rather Eat Chocolate - How I Learned to Love my Low Libido
Everytime I think about this book I feel annoyed. Maybe I thought it would be lighter than it turned out to be. Maybe I expected more about chocolate and less about sex- but I think my annoyance is about more than my disappointed expectations.
Joan Sewell has, as she writes, a very low libido. One can certainly see that this would cause problems in her relationship with husband, Kip, who is, we learn relatively highly sexed. There probably is some value in openly discussing these issues though I’m sure if I were Kip I would not want it all publically dissected in the kind of stomach churningly, excruciatingly intimate detail that it is in the Sewell’s book. However, I suppose if he doesn’t care, why should I? If the narrative had presented itself as one couple’s struggle to deal with the fact they are sexually mismatched I probably would have found it less annoying. But that isn’t how it’s presented and it irks me the way that Sewell implicitly generalises from her own experiences to everyone else’s and in the process seems to be claiming that all women are like her and all men are like Kip because this is just not true.
Book I found Most Shocking
My final award is for the Book I Found Most Shocking. It goes to Liz Jones’s Diary…How One Single Girl Got Married. It is a compilation of columns which were published in a British newspaper telling the story of one real life couple’s relationship week by week.
As with I’d Rather Eat Chocolate I was misled by the cover of the book into expecting a light read. I suppose I envisioned a Brigid Jones-esque account of amusing misunderstandings and dilemmas like “Oh no! Mother in Law wants the bride to wear a horrible, unflattering family wedding dress! Catastrophe!” but that with good friends, good will, and lots of shopping all would be happily resolved in the end. I was quite wrong about this.
The book had some lighter moments. I found Liz Jone’s authorial voice very likeable at times. She’s a vegetarian and batty about her cats (as all the best people are) and not above sending herself up. I’m sure she doesn’t really wash her hair with organic rainwater from Wales, for example.
But a darker tone soon emerged as the narrative followed the course of the relationship. Nirpal Dhaliwal, Liz’s bridegroom, came across as downright cruel at times. For example he calls Liz, who has a long history of anorexia, “Chubs” or “Fatty.” He also shilly shallies about whether he wants children or not. At one point he says he desperately wants to be a father and consequently is going to leave Liz as she is apparently too old to bear a child. (There is an eleven year gap between them) And then, once they have gone through the long, grueling process of being approved for adoption, he casually decides that he doesn’t want a child afterall. He also plays her in a way I find quite revolting implying that she took advantage of his youth by marrying him when she should have been old enough to know better. He is incidentally 28 when they marry- well past the age of consent, you’ll note.
All through reading this though I was aware that I was only hearing Liz’s side of the story and also of the fact that the whole way through their drama she was writing a weekly column publishing his personal emails to her, complaining about his weight gain, lack of earnings, failings around the house and so forth. I can’t see how any relationship could survive this.
After I finished the book, to my suprise, I realised I had found the story as it unfolded quite shocking (more so than I’d Rather Eat Chocolate which I mostly found annoying). I also felt uncomfortable at the way I had become a witness to, what someone described as, a sado-masochistic tango. No violence was involved but emotional abuse can be just as brutalizing in its way.
It turns out the story has a sequel- an inevitable divorce. Interestingly, Nirpal Dhaliwal spoke out here about the damaging effect Liz’s column documenting the relationship had. However, I lost a lot of sympathy for him when I read this column he wrote. You will need to read until the end of it to see what I mean.
15 responses so far ↓
Lettuce Hater // December 31, 2007 at 10:13 am
by all accounts, both liz jones and her ex-husband are pretty awful - i shall be sure to avoid her book for starters
but please tell me what you made of barbara kingsolver’s new book (the one about her family living off seasonal food/stuff they had grown etc.) - i picked it up yesterday at a bookshop…didn’t intend to buy it as it is only in hardback here but might consider getting the paperback as and when
sorry, woulda emailed you but can’t find an address (mine is: urbanchickadee AT gmail dot com if you prefer to reply offline!)
:-)
violet // December 31, 2007 at 1:46 pm
It’s interesting what he said about the kind of husband that he thinks career women are after. Because isn’t that supposed to be the kind of wife that career man are after? Yeah, the bit he wrote near the end (”who’s the boss”) irked me somewhat. But she stayed with him, so his worldview obviously worked for him.
Make Tea Not War // December 31, 2007 at 2:58 pm
LH- I’m still mulling over Barbara Kingsolver’s book. Maybe I’ll do a post on it when I’ve worked through my thoughts some more. I will say that I’ve already thought of a couple of people I’m going to offer to lend it to so its well worth reading. It is however quite US and Northern Hemisphere specific (though the Northern hemisphere part will not bother you, I guess!)
Violet- but they are now divorced. Like you - what annoyed me about the article was the “who’s the boss” bit- not the fact he said it while they were having sex- but the fact he published it. I find that off putting at a number of levels.
Interesting what you say about his take on career women ending up with unequal partners- trophy wife, trophy husband- what’s the difference really? And actually, horrible stereotype though it is- isn’t it commonly supposed to be dominant powerful men (especially English politicians) who like to be submissive in BDSM?
Julie Fairey // December 31, 2007 at 4:04 pm
Ye gads! Reading that Liz Jones stuff was mighty interesting, albeit I felt a bit like I was snooping at times. They both came across as highly unlikeable I thought, but that column he wrote just took the biscuit. He basically just said the same thing over and over and over again, and then that “who’s the boss” stuff just made me go ick.
Good point about the trophy wives.
I found myself thinking quite a bit about Helen Clark and Peter Davis actually - both very successful in their own fields, and clearly breaching every rule that whathisname was putting down in his column about What Women Want.
charlotteotter // December 31, 2007 at 6:01 pm
I like your end of year round-up, Ms Make Tea. Having read one or two of Liz Clarke’s columns, it was interesting to follow those links you kindly provided. I’m now safe in the knowledge I won’t be reading her book - what selfish, unlikeable people they both are. She wanted a prince, and look! she got a man. I think they were both in dreamland.
As for the Sewell book, I agree with you: she appeared to use her experience to generalise about women and that is irritating in the extreme. As you said, had she written about people being sexually mismatched, that could have been more interesting.
And you do read a lot! I was stunned by your looooong list.
My Reading Year « Listening to Frogs // January 1, 2008 at 8:38 pm
[...] by Make Tea Not War’s reading round-up (I counted up her books read, and she read 200 books this year! I’ve decided on this as my [...]
Moz // January 2, 2008 at 2:32 pm
Thanks for the “Company” recommendation, I’ll follow that up.
In happy news I’ve got my flatmate hooked on freerice.com… he’s a PhD student in English with the delusion that if he just plays the game enough he’ll eventually be better than I am at it :)
The sex thing… ick. It’s not even a good laugh, that’s all I can say. I’ve had girlfriend’s with lower sex drives than mine and some with significantly higher. But I don’t share those details with all and sundry which I suspect makes us all happier.
stef // January 7, 2008 at 11:41 am
wow that’s impressive! I was aiming to increase my fiction book readings this year to 15-20 (I prefer non-fiction) and also stray from my chick-lit fluff.
Craig Ranapia // January 8, 2008 at 7:19 am
Yay! Someone I don’t have to bore by whining ‘you’re got to read Kage Baker” at. Have you read ‘The Anvil of the World’ - another book that is enormous fun and very smart, though this time it’s a homage to /piss-take of the big, baggy post-Tolkein heroic fantasy. How can you not adore a novel that begins in a fabulously wealthy city in the middle of endless fields of grain… where all the citizens have horrendous hay fever until they die of unspeakable respiratory diseases. Amber waves of grain are all very pretty, but the pollen and chaff will get you in the end.
Make Tea Not War // January 8, 2008 at 8:34 am
I have read the Anvil of the World & loved it. I keep boring on at people to read Kage Baker too. Also to watch the Wire.
Craig Ranapia // January 8, 2008 at 12:28 pm
And if you’re looking for a bit of light-hearted (but far from empty-headed) fun, let me recommend the Phryne Fisher Mysteries by Kerry Greenwood.
Set (mostly) in 20’s Melbourne, the Hon. Miss Phryne Fisher is certainly not Jane Marple. More like James Bond, but much more fun and nowhere near as obnoxious. Like Baker, they’re well written, the considerable research isn’t info-dumped on the reader, and under the delicious good fun there’s a serious point or two being made for the attentive reader.
Series website here: http://www.phrynefisher.com/
There’s also the equally delightful contemporary series, featuring recovering accountant-turned-baker and amateur sleuth Corinna Chapman.
Series website here:
http://www.earthlydelights.net.au/
Make Tea Not War // January 8, 2008 at 12:37 pm
Oh, I’m ahead of your there, Craig
http://thelongdarkteatimeofthesoul.wordpress.com/2006/07/09/books-read-this-week-saturday-1-july-to-9-july/
I adore Kerry Greenwood. And may I just say- what impeccable taste you have!
Craig Ranapia // January 8, 2008 at 8:17 pm
Ack…
I’ve got to admit I prefer the Hon. Miss Fisher myself, but that’s probably got more to do with my major fetish for the grande dames of the British mystery (Sayers/Allingham/Marsh et. al.)
Anyway, I don’t know if it’s got anything to do with “impeccable taste” as a distaste for the High Colonic School of Literature - if it doesn’t hurt, it can’t be any good for you. I’ve no problems with being challenged in matters of form, language and content; but I do bloody resent being treated as if I’m the one with the problem because I can’t be arsed decoding the pretentious, willful obscurity or plain bad writing. A coherent narrative with engaging characters doesn’t hurt either.
This might sound odd coming from a vile right wing reactionary, but the Virago Press will have my undying gratitude for bringing back into print a hell of a lot of good popular fiction in their Modern Classics list.
And every so often, I just go over to the Persephone Press website (http://www.persephonebooks.co.uk/) and drool while weeping softly for a decent credit history. :)
Make Tea Not War // January 8, 2008 at 10:35 pm
I’m not much of a one for a lot of modern literary fiction. It’s not that I’m incapable of understanding it- its just that I’m uninterested in engaging with it- especially if I deem it to be pretentious, badly written crap. (I mention no names because I’m cowardly like that!)
For my taste there was a golden age of fiction from Victorian times up till about 1950- and I agree re Virago Classics having done sterling work in making so much of that available. Haven’t heard of Persephone books (I don’t think) I’ll check that link out, thanks.
I’m partial the grande dames of British mystery too btw. Do you know, I drank Elderberry Juice today because it seemed like something Miss Marple might do.
Craig Ranapia // January 10, 2008 at 4:22 pm
Hum… my grandmother never really approved of Jane Marple - who was an interfering old bat who spent far too much time evesdropping and offering impertinent advice to strangers. Nana was more of a Georgette Heyer fan - which shouldn’t have surprised me looking back. ‘Regency romance’ doesn’t do Heyer justice at all — she was a fiend for research, wrote rather well, and could be rather tough-minded. A quality her immitators never understood. Heyer also wrote twelve mysteries, and they’re solid but unexceptional.
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