Booklists for Santa

Everybody has a list of suggested books for gifts this time of year and I feel compelled to share as well. I always think books make great gifts, of course I do, but really they are personal and it's a great time of year to read. I usually read fiction, but I have some non-fiction suggestions as well. Some of these are old, some are new, and some I haven't read yet but can't wait to! Let's start with the Russians: Get acquainted with the father of Russian modernism. Get your toes wet with Gogol, or your nose more likely. In The Collected Tales of Nikolai Gogol you'll have a mix of humor and unforgettable characters. Is this satire? Is it social criticism? perhaps, but don't let it scare you, read "The Nose" first. You'll be hooked!"One day his nose disappears and then turns up "by himself' in the street wearing the uniform of a state councillor(like a general)". "Gogol's art influenced Dostoevsky decisively, turning him from a social romantic into a 'fantastic realist'". There we have it. Yes, I am recommending Dostoevsky as a Christmas read. If you haven't read them, or you read them a long time ago. Go take a brave dive there. Wonderful characters with the ability to force you to examine yourself. Please pick up Crime and Punishment or The Brothers Karamazov. You won't want them to end(and they don't for a very long time)Believe me the characters will follow you around for the rest of your life.

Not quite so old(1999)but a small novel of great power, Timbuktu by Paul Auster. "Mr. Bones(the dog) opens the novel in a state of near-pure ontological terror, mostly because Willy G. Christmas, the homeless man who has been his boon companion and spiritual adviser, isn't long for this world, and in such a case, what's a poor dog to do? ''Every thought, every memory, every particle of the earth and air was saturated with Willy's presence. . . . Subtract Willy from the world, and the odds were that the world itself would cease to exist.''(NYTimes) Who doesn't want to read about a dog and his devotion at Christmas time? In the mood for non-fiction?

Try behind the beautiful forevers by Pulitzer Prize winner Katherine Boo. "carries the reader headlong into one of the twenty-first century's hidden worlds-and into the hearts of families impossible to forget" On many best books of year lists, although 2012, still resonates. A story of how families under the burden of poverty.(NYTIMES) For the artist in your family try Leaving China-An Artist Paints His World War II Childhood by James McMullan

"It is this dreamlike quality of my memories that I wanted to capture in some way in the paintings that accompany the text-to suggest in the images that the events occurred a long time ago in a simpler yet more exotic world, and that the players in that world, including me, are at a distance."-James McMullan What I'm reading right now: Fierce Convictions-The Extraordinary Life of Hannah More-Poet, Reformer, Abolitionist by Karen Swallow Prior. "A woman who changed history with the power of her pen and her personality." A fascinating biography of a woman that I didn't know anything about but should have. Check the story at Goodreads. But what I want for Christmas is: The Nazi Officer's wife by Edith Beer. This isn't a new book either(2000) but I guess I'm just catching up.(Goodreads) also this one: Hitler's Furies: German Women in the Killing Fields by Wendy Lower _"Wendy Lower’s stunning account of the role of German women on the World War II Nazi eastern front powerfully revises history, proving that we have ignored the reality of women’s participation in the Holocaust, including as brutal killers. The long-held picture of German women holding down the home front during the war, as loyal wives and cheerleaders for the Führer, pales in comparison to Lower’s incisive case for the massive complicity, and worse, of the 500,000 young German women she places, for the first time, directly in the killing fields of the expanding Reich". All of this interest is spurred by my recent trip to the National Holocaust Museum. Very powerful. (NYTIMES)

Not exactly Holiday Reading

(image by Ray Bartkus) Ok, so I know I want to recommend inspirational stories for the upcoming season. For that here is my top one: Unbroken. Many of you have read it but if you haven't please read it before the film. I know the film will be good because the story is, but there is nothing like experiencing Louis Zamperini's story through the words of Laura Hillenbrand. And now for something entirely different..... Hillary Mantel-I knew of her, she was on the shelf to read-you know that stack-, but really hadn't read her work until I picked up a collection of short stories, her recent The assassination of Margaret Thatcher. Although it caused quite a stir in England, I don't think it should distract from her being one of the best contemporary British writers of our time. One story, "Comma". was written about in NYTimes Book Review, which was so compelling; I decided to try it. So amazing. Well that led me to one of her former works, Beyond Black.(NYTimes review)-If you like the whole idea of something existing that we can't understand, psychics with weight issues and considerabley dark hilarious humor-pick it up and read, or buy it for your favorite reader -or just borrow it from our Judge Learning Commons! (Although Mrs. Simpson has it right now!) Stay tuned for more recommendations for the readers in your families.