‘I still dream of you’ by Fannie Flagg is the first book up for a look. Fanny Flagg wrote the gorgeous “Fried Green Tomatoes” which I can unashamedly say is still one of my favourite films. A quirky goodie of a story about an ex-beauty queen…
Well, this lot of books is a very mixed bag – so much so that I can’t really see how there is any connecting theme at all. Possibly they are books that those of us of the female persuasion may enjoy more than the average male – and that might be about as common a theme as we are going to get.
I Still Dream About You by Fannie Flagg is the first book up for a look. Fanny Flagg wrote the gorgeous “Fried Green Tomatoes” which I can unashamedly say is still one of my favourite films – it is just a great translation of a book to film. That said – I wasn’t expecting anything in particular especially because the protagonist in this book is a 60 year old ex-pageant beauty queen struggling with how she can neatly end her life. She wants to do this with the minimum of fuss and bother to all around her. But is often the case, fate has other plans for her. The cast of this book are eccentric but loveable and the book is a pleasure to read.
Easy on the heart with just enough of a twist that you want to keep reading more about the mixed up life of Maggie Fortenberry. It is published in NZ by Random House and is $39.99. A quirky goodie.
Not so easy on the heart is The Good Daughters by Joyce Maynard.
This is the slow, sad tale of two girls born to different families on the same day in the same small town hospital. Dubbed ‘birth sisters’ by their respective Mothers, the story follows them through their lives as they slowly intertwine. It is a little harrowing at times, but it is beautifully written and it is haunting and breathtaking all at once as the ending even I didn’t see coming. It is published by Harper Collins and is $36.99. A weepie goodie.
Gold Boy, Emerald Girl by Yiyun Li is a collection of short stories.
All the stories are set in China and are reflections on the changing face of the 21st century in a country steeped in tradition and culture. I found them very hard to get into at first as there is little that is warm about them – I found them quite distant. But by the end, each story about the complexities of loneliness and love pulled me in. Shallow girl that I am – I absolutely loved the front cover – and it was probably why I chose the book in the first place. The desolate, but beautiful snow cover scene is probably a good metaphor of the book itself. Published by Harper Collins and is $32.99. A haunting goodie.
Freedom by Jonathan Franzen is next.
For those of you that got through the previous book, Corrections, (that to me seemed like one big car crash, albeit a well-written, well-loved car crash), Freedom is the same – but different. Jonathan Franzen has been quietly working on this book for the last 9 years (yes I did say nine years – in an office all by himself). After the Oprah fiasco, where he wouldn’t allow her to plug his book through her book club, he has obviously tried to stay well and truly out of the limelight. This book comes with a huge amount of expectation (he was recently on the cover of TIME and the last person to do this was Stephen King 10 years ago).
This book has been difficult to write, and is difficult to read at times – but ultimately I found it much more satisfying than Corrections. The story revolves around the suburban lives of Pattie and Walter Berglund. Neither of them are particularly likeable – Pattie less so than Walter, but Franzen writes with such eloquence about the common life with too much choice, not enough time and too many distractions. The book is a beautiful commentary on American Life and I absolutely loved it. There is the feeling with so much at stake that one should love it or hate it – I would hope that it is read simply as a wonderful book, one that I couldn’t put down and read over two days with at least one evening spent trying to read without my husband noticing that I barely made it to bed. I may have possibly pretended I had fallen asleep on the couch. It was worth it. It is published by Random House and is $38.99. An epic goodie.
And so we finish with The Night Bookmobile by Audrey Niffenegger.
A curious wee book – it is a hard-covered graphic novel for young grownups. It is the dark and dreamy tale of Alexandra, who after a fight with her boyfriend walks the streets late at night. She sees the Bookmobile and once inside realises that it contains only every book she ever read, including her handwritten diary. As dawn breaks she is asked to leave by the haunting Mr Openshaw.
She searches for the Bookmobile for many years and during this time is so affected by the discovery that she trains to a librarian. She also becomes somewhat of a recluse. She single-mindedly works toward her goal of becoming the Librarian in the Bookmobile – something that will come with a terrible cost. The book was originally serialized in The Guardian in the UK and is not her first foray into the world of graphic novels. She has written both The Three Incestuous Sisters and The Adventurers. She has said that the current book is part of a larger project called The Library. It is published by Random House and is $49.99. A graphic goodie.
By Anya Brighouse 14 February 2011.
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