The much-celebrated novel, The Goldfinch, by American author Donna Tartt has now been made into a much less celebrated movie. Knowing that the movie was due for 2019, I finally cracked open the Pulitzer Award winning book originally published in the fall of 2013 that had been sitting on my shelf for a few years. It is well worth the wait and worthy of all the acclaim. The Goldfinch centres around the 1694 painting of the same name by Carel Fabritius. Teenager, Theodore Decker’s mom makes them stop in at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City where a terrorist explosion happens several minutes later. Decker’s mom dies in the explosion but, in the confusion, Theo steals The Goldfinch painting and later takes it to live in Las Vegas with his deadbeat Dad and step mom where he then meets Russian teenager, Boris. The story follows his life from that point on, through many ups and downs and several scenes where Theo is not the most likeable character. Mixing Catcher in the Rye with art heist caper and art history lesson, The Goldfinch is a gripping novel throughout its 784 pages.
9.5/10
Life with My Sister Madonna was a small gift from my now fiancé… that also sat on my shelf for a few years. Written by Christopher Ciccone, Madonna’s younger brother who you can see dance in the “Lucky Star” video, it follows life with the Ciccone’s through the rise of Madonna up to her marriage to Guy Ritchie. There are certainly some interesting tidbits in the book of their upbringing in Michigan, move to NYC, behind the scenes at concerts, etc. If all is true, Ciccone has several talents of his own – he directed two major Madonna concert tours, designed the interiors of many of her homes, and directed a music video for Dolly Parton. What isn’t clear is why he is more interested in just being in Madonna’s orbit rather than following his own star. Surely someone who was a main player on several Madonna tours could work on other tours or events. Unfortunately writing is not one of his talents as the many pointless celebrity mentions are followed up with stories that amount to “I met this person, they were nice, they passed away, I was sad”.
5/10
Like The Goldfinch, The Shining Girls from South African Laura Beukes also came out to high praise in 2013. The story follows Harper, a time travelling serial murderer, as he hunts down one “shining” victim after another. His plans begin to unravel when journalism student Kirby survives one of his vicious attacks and starts researching who he could have done this to her. Beukes really makes the streets of Chicago come alive while bouncing through various eras. Horror fiction is not my typical style but the “Shining Girls” was very entertaining throughout.
8/10
Ali Smith’s 2016 novel, Autumn, was shortlisted for the Man Booker prize and also landed her in the New York Times’ 10 Best Books of 2017. The novel moves between scenes of central character Elisabeth visiting her 101-year-old former next-door neighbor as he lies in a care home, reminiscing of their visits when she was a child and her art thesis on Pauline Boty. Set to be the first in a four-volume series, Autumn is never gripping but is always interesting as the story takes place around the time of the Brexit vote. It has a surreal and has a dreamlike quality as it moves through time and back again. The follow-up Winter was published in late 2017.
I’ve been a subscriber to the James Clear newsletter for about a year now. Every week he sends out advice on how to improve daily habits. This fall, Clear released his first book Atomic Habits that expands on those newsletters and offers much additional information. This is not earth-shattering advice that comes out of nowhere but instead offers tactics on how to get a little bit better every day and keep improving over time. Instead of saying, “I want to lose 20lbs” and not following through, work on following the process of making it to the gym three times this week. Fall in love with the process instead of the results and you’ll get there in the end. Lots to unpack and learn from in this book.
In 2017, Jesmyn Ward won the National Book Award for the second time with her novel Sing, Unburied Sing. The book chronicles a family living in rural Mississippi. Meth addict Leonie and former prisoner Michael have two kids, JoJo and Kayla. The pull between the interracial parents is stronger than the love of the two kids who identify more with their aging grandparents. Chapters are dedicated to different character’s points of views and often features beautiful writing. “…like paint dissolving in water, its scales turned black… until it was the color of the space between the stars”. While the story is a sad one, there is much to like here.
Steven Hyden is the music critic at Uproxx and has appeared on such websites as Pitchfork, A.V. Club, Grantland (RIP), etc. He is also the host of the excellent podcast Celebration Rock. Twilight of the Gods is his second book following 2016’s Your Favorite Band is Killing Me. In this latest book, Hyden focuses on the classic rock he collected as a teenager growing up in Wisconsin. Rock music fans in the 40ish age range, especially those from the Canadian prairies and American Midwest, will find much to love and identify with here as Hyden is often very funny, a bit nerdy yet offers interesting perspectives on a wide range of music including several pages on his love of Phish.
The Art of Racing in the Rain by Garth Stein caught fire with dog lovers around the world upon release in 2008, spending 156 weeks on the New York Times best seller list. The novel tells of a father torn apart from his family through the eyes of his dog, Enzo. Enzo’s narration can veer from being stiff in places to extremely insightful in others. One memorable passage appears towards the end when Enzo points out that, “We all play by the same rules; it’s just that some people spend more time reading those rules and figuring out how to make them work in their behalf”. While the ending is predictable, the darker turns in the middle of the novel are not as expected. And while you know the plot moments are coming, Stein does a good job at tugging at the heartstrings when you hit them.
It was fitting that the first book I’ve taken out from the Winnipeg Library in about 20 years was Alan Bennett’s The Uncommon Reader which tells the story of Queen Elizabeth discovering books at a late age. The 2007 novella by the English playwright is a quick read at just over 100 pages and acts as a love letter to the written word. The Queen experiences that feeling that many of us do of so many books/albums and so little time. How do you cover all the important ground? You can’t really but just be happy with your sliver in the world. Towards the end, the Queen finds her voice by looking beyond just reading and starts writing. As she states towards the end, “You don’t put your life into your books. You find it there”
The Light Appears 