December

Poet’s Choice by Edward Hirsch.
Beginning in early 2002, the lucky readers of the Washington Post Book World were treated to poet and teacher Ed Hirsch’s insightful discussions of some of his favorite poems in the “Poet’s Choice” column, many of which are now collected here. Hirsch’s three great strengths when it comes to writing about poetry are that he’s not a snob (he understands that there are readers out here in the hinterlands who are not (or were not) English majors and while we value helpful insights into better understanding a poem, we don’t appreciate being talked down to); he’s not American-centric (almost half the book discusses poems and poets from around the world); and, most importantly, he loves what poetry is and can do and enjoys sharing that love and knowledge with us. Readers will discover old favorites (W.B. Yeats, Rainer Maria Rilke, Wallace Stevens, Amy Lowell) and might well discover new ones along the way, such as Adam Zagajewski, Nicanor Parra, and Marie Howe.

Encyclopedia of an Ordinary Life by Amy Krouse Rosenthal.
There are so many memoirs being published these days that the ones I read sometimes blend into one gigantic life story in my head, but there’s no way I’m going to confuse Amy Krouse Rosenthal’s with any other memoir any time soon. I had a delightful time meeting this self-described ordinary person, learning her quirks and hang-ups, her likes and dislikes, her everyday (and not) adventures (including the inspired way she attempted to get out of paying a parking ticket – you’ll love it, trust me), all arranged, encyclopedia-style, from A (“Amy,” “Anxious, Things That Make Me Anxious,” “Ayn Rand” to Y (“You”), with appropriate cross-references and clever drawings to supplement the text.

Adèle & Simon by Barbara McClintock.
When Adèle picks up her younger brother Simon from school, he starts out on the walk home with his hat and gloves and scarf and sweater and coat and knapsack and books and crayons and a drawing of a cat that he did that morning – but as their walk home progresses, with slight detours to two museums and a pastry shop, a stop to watch a parade and a puppet show, acrobats and a sword swallower, gradually many of Simon’s possessions disappear. How they’re returned to Simon will delight young readers. An added pleasure, especially for adult readers, is that there’s a map from a 1907 edition of Baedeker’s Paris and Environs on the endpapers showing the children’s route home; as well as a guide to the illustrations at the close of the book. The detailed pen-and-ink illustrations are filled in with soft watercolors, and if you look closely you’ll find McClintock has introduced some familiar characters from another beloved picture book set in France in the early 20th century in one of the pictures.

The Brambles by Eliza Minot.
The difference between good writers and the rest of us is that good writers can take ordinary situations – motherhood, the death of a parent, marriage, the sticky relationship between siblings – and present them in fresh, luminous, insightful, and often humorous ways. That’s just what Eliza Minot does in this very enjoyable second novel. Fans of Jonathan Franzen’s The Corrections should definitely enjoy this too, but in some ways Minot’s novel is the anti-Franzen, refreshingly presented without the irony and edginess of post-modern fiction. The splendid writing and vivid characterizations made this one of the few novels I’ve read recently that I wished were longer. I just wanted to spend more time with Margaret, Max, and Edie Bramble, as well as Margaret’s three children, who nearly steal the show. (You can tell that Minot knows preschoolers forward and backwards, and loves them dearly.)

Tab Hunter Confidential: The Making of Movie Star by Tab Hunter.
For whatever reason, I’m not ordinarily a reader of Hollywood biographies or memoirs, but I picked this up , which Hunter wrote with Eddie Muller. I was immediately and totally hooked by Hunter’s story of trying to balance his life as a movie star (and subject of many a girl’s daydreams) with the reality of being gay at a time – the 1950s - when nobody could get away with admitting he was a homosexual. Hunter describes what Hollywood was like at a time when studios created stars, often from whole cloth (Hunter – who was born Arthur Gelien - was renamed by his agent Henry Wilson, who also christened Rock Hudson and Rory Calhoun), and magazines like Photoplay and Confidential could make or break a career. Readers will come away from this book with a genuine appreciation and respect for a down-to-earth, genuinely nice guy, someone who took care of his mother for her whole life, is sincere in his religious beliefs, and managed to survive a movie career that was often disappointing (his films were mostly B list at best). But, gosh, he was some hunk when he was young!

To Rule the Waves: How the British Navy Shaped the Modern World by Arthur Herman.
Here is a rousing history of the British Navy. Among the many subjects it covers are piracy, the sugar industry, the rise of England as an imperial power, the ruthlessness of many naval officers, mutinies, all the famous battles, the Napoleonic Wars, the attack of the Spanish Armada (which the Brits won through luck – weather – rather than smart tactics), Britain’s shameful role in the slave trade, and people such as Francis Drake, Lord Nelson, Sir Walter Raleigh and many lesser known, but no less interesting, men. Covering from the 16th through the 20th centuries, this is a great choice for history fans, and a must read for anyone who loves the Patrick O’Brian novels.

Book! Book! Book! by Deborah Bruss.
The whimsical illustrations by Tiphanie Beeke provide a perfect complement to this story of a group of bored animals who go to the library to check out some books to read and find it difficult to make the (human) librarian understand their wishes, until it’s the hen’s turn to ask. (There’s a chuckly surprise at the end, too.)

One Good Turn by Kate Atkinson.
I was delighted to find that Kate Atkinson returned to some of the characters she’d featured in her first mystery novel Case Histories, including the detective, Jackson Brodie, in her newest novel. Brodie, in Edinburgh for the Fringe Festival with his girlfriend (also a character from the first book), is one of a disparate group of onlookers who witness an act of road rage and as a result find their lives turned upside down and inside out. I found reading this novel to be not unlike unraveling a particularly knotty ball of yarn, as you gradually discover how all the different characters fit together. Atkinson has a deft touch in exploring the lives, thoughts, and feelings of her characters, and if you pick up a work of Atkinson’s, whether it’s a mystery, short stories, or mainstream fiction, you can be sure that you’ll encounter three-dimensional characters, presented with all their tics and flaws intact. In One Good Turn, my favorites included Jackson, of course, but also Gloria, a tartly, plain spoken, middle-aged woman who has discovered that she actually despises the (very wealthy) man she’s been married to for many years, and the female detective who’s assigned to solve the puzzle.

Truck: A Love Story by Michael Perry.
Michael Perry – writer, confirmed bachelor, volunteer firefighter and EMT in his small Wisconsin town – writes about his momentous 40th year, in which he and his brother-in-law restore his 1951 International Harvester pickup truck to working order and he falls in love, for real. It’s hard for me to think of anyone who wouldn’t enjoy this heartfelt and humorous tale, filled as it with accounts of gardening (Perry’s description of reading seed catalogs almost made me long to take hoe in hand myself), book tours, deer hunting, a Greg Brown concert, recipes, Roland Barthes, country music, and wedding planning. Perry’s narrative voice - smooth and low-key - invites readers along for what turns out to be a most pleasurable ride.

United States of Arugula: How We Became a Gourmet Nation by David Kamp.
David Kamp’s dishy book is the perfect gift (or read) for anyone who can identify (and/or cares deeply about) radicchio, chèvre, Jeremiah Tower, grass fed beef, and who invented pasta primavera. Beginning with the big three (James Beard, Julia Child, and Craig Claiburne), Kamp examines the movers and shakers behind the movement to wean American eaters from their Wonder Bread, canned soups, Bisquick, and Velveeta addictions and on to the brave new world of Alice Waters, Wolfgang Puck, and Mario Batali. But even non-foodies (I am one) will enjoy Kamp’s lively writing and appreciate how he weaves social history into this tale of feuds, love affairs (mainly with food), and the dawn of the age of balsamic vinegar, along with fascinating tidbits of information, such as the two extremely well-known French chefs who worked with Howard Johnson to make Hojo’s menus (and kitchens) classier (and yet the fried clams continue to flourish).

Reading Like a Writer: A Guide for People Who Love Books and for Those Who Want to Write Them by Francine Prose.
I’ve always admired Francine Prose as a novelist (Bigfoot Dreams and Hunters and Gatherers are two I really enjoyed), but I was blown away by how good her new nonfiction book for readers and writers is. This is an excellent addition to the personal library of anyone who is a writer or dreams of writing, but it’s also a terrific choice for anyone who loves to read. Prose believes that the best way to learn to write good prose is to read good prose. In chapters devoted to the building blocks of narratives (i.e., words, sentences, paragraphs, narration, character, dialogue) she describes how the great writers handle each of them through liberal use of quotations and examples. One of the best aspects of this book stems from the fact that Prose is an omnivorous reader, so the examples she uses range from John Le Carre to Isaac Babel, from Scott Spencer to Katherine Mansfield.

The River of Doubt: Theodore Roosevelt’s Darkest Journey by Candace Millard.
It’s seemingly extremely difficult to write a bad (or dull) book about Theodore Roosevelt, because he was such an interesting, larger than life character. This is no exception. Taking place shortly after Roosevelt lost his third-party campaign for President in 1912, it’s the story of his literally, death-defying trip down a previously uncharted river in the Amazon rain forest, accompanied by his 24-year-old son Kermit and Candido Rondon, the noted Brazilian explorer, among other daredevils and adventure-seekers. Necessary reading for armchair adventurers, those who love presidential biographies, and nature-lovers, this book has it all: it’s fast-paced, well written, and difficult to put down. Plus, you’ll want to read more about Rondon, a fascinating character in his own right, who really deserves a new biography of his own. (If Roosevelt interests you, don’t miss David McCullough’s marvelous – really, his best book ever, Mornings on Horseback.)