Down on Ninth Street
1.15.2006
2005 Book Awards.
2005 Book Awards. I've looked very carefully over the lists of books for 2005 and handed out the following awards. To keep the awards from getting repetative, the rule is that no book can win twice. For example, Mr. Potter really should have won for Worst School-Required, but it had already won for Overall Worst and couldn't win again. I wrote comments for those I felt mostly strongly about. I read so many Holocaust-related books this year because I took an English courge on Literature of the Holocaust, which required me to read several books on it and convinced me to read several more.
Overall Best of 2005: The Red Tent, by Anita Diamant. The Red Tent puts a cool feminine spin on the Bible. It is narrated by Dinah, the only daughter of Jacob who makes only a brief appearance in the Book of Genesis as a rape victim, and it spans almost the entire lives of Dinah, her mother Leah, and Leah's three sisters. All four sisters are Jacob's wives, and all four love Dinah as their own. When Dinah is suddenly seperated from them and cast into a foreign land by the cruel, ignorant men around her (especially her brothers), she realizes that her mother and aunts have given her the strength and courage she needs face the world alone.
Overall Best Runner-Up: The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants, by Ann Brashares. This is a bestseller with an awesome degree of girl-power that rivals The Red Tent. Four lifelong teenage best friends share one pair of jeans -- which magically fits each of their very differently-shaped bodies perfectly -- during their first summer apart. As one falls in love, one loses her virginity, one loses a new friend, and one finds a new family, they remain close and committed to each other in a way that their parents, boyfriends, and siblings can't. The movie of the same name is also awesome, though it isn't as good as the book (they never are).
Overall Worst of 2005: Mr. Potter, by Jamaica Kincaid. Here is a randomly-selected excerpt: "The sun was in its usual place, up above and in the middle of the sky, and it shone in its usual way so harshly bright, making even the shadows pale, making even the shadows seek shelter; that day the sun was in its usual place, up above and in the middle of the sky, but Mr. Potter did not note this, so accustomed was the to this, the sun in its usual place, up above and in the middle of the sky." The entire book is written this way. Need I say more?
Overall Worst Runner-Up: Season of Migration to the North, by Tayeb Salih.
Best Holocaust Fictional Book: Milkweed, by Jerry Spinelli. Milkweed is narrated by one little boy has lived on the streets for so long that he believes his name to be "Stopthief." In 1939, he is suddenly assigned the name Misha, labeled a Gypsy, and imprisoned in the infamous Warsaw ghetto, where misery and death are only a background to his smuggling exploits. For example, when he's talking to another character and notices a man down the street banging his head against the wall, it doesn't distract him from the conversation. This book explores a very unusual question: After the concentration camps were liberated and the victims began to return to their normal lives, what became of those with no normal life to return to? (Even better when read with Children and Play in the Holocaust, by George Eisen.)
Best Holocaust Fictional Book Runner-Up: Auschwitz, by Pascal Croci.
Worst Holocaust Fictional Book: Night of the Broken Glass, by Peter Broner. It was somewhat interesting because its variety of characters included from a half-Jew who joins the Hitler Youth, a streetcar conductor who stands up against the Nazis, a shoe manufacturer who saves Jews by employing them in his factory (similar to Oskar Schindler), cruel, crippled SS captain, and many others. However, its writing style was so incredibly tedious and awkward that I couldn't enjoy it all. If Peter Broner had only typed up an outline of events and assigned the actual prose to a ghostwriter, this novel could have been something really good. But he didn't, and why in the world Elie Weisel provided praise to this, I will never know.
Worst Holocaust Fictional Book Runner-Up: The Painted Bird, by Jerzy Kosinski. A young city boy is sent into hiding in the remote countryside of Eastern Europe to escape the transports to concentration camps. But escaping the Holocaust becomes as horriffic as surviving it as the boy's so-called "rescuers" take turns abusing him in truly disgusting, disturbing ways. Not for those with weak stomachs.
Best Holocaust Nonfictional Book: Hitler Youth, by Susan Campbell Bartoletti. This unforgettable book explores a side of Nazi Germany that you don't read about very often. I always knew that Adolph Hitler was one evil freak, but until I read Hitler Youth, I never knew about his sick manipulation and exploitation of German children. He separated kids from their parents, brainwashed their young minds, and sent boys as young as 13-years-old to the frontlines of World War II. After reading interviews with former members of Hitler Youth -- now elderly, ailing, and burdened with unbelievable guilt -- I felt almost as sorry for them as I do for Hitler's Jewish victims.
Best Holocaust Nonfictional Book Runner-Up: Maus, by Art Spiegelman. As he is about to become a father for the first time, cartoonist Art Spiegelman reflects on his troubled relationship with his own father, his father's survival of Nazi Germany and the Auschwitz concentration camp, and his mother's suicide. One of the very few comic books about the Holocaust, and easily the most well-known, Maus is incredibly personal, morbidly funny, and completely unique.
Best School-Required Book: Moby-Dick, by Herman Melville. I was as surprised as anyone when I actually began enjoying Ishmael's great blend of cynicism, humor, and wisdom. Although it is very long, a billion cool allusions to the Bible and Shakespeare, deep philosophies on God and mankind, characters as real as the people around you, and the very first hetero lifemates (Ishmael and Queequeeg) make all 135 chapters completely worthwhile. Sadly, I don't think everyone in my English class loved it so much. Sorry, Dr. Lowe.
Best School-Required Book Runner-Up: The Contrast, by Royall Tyler.
Worst School-Required Book: The Deerslayer, by James Fenimore Cooper. While I believe Dr. Lowe when he says that The Deerslayer is an important part of American literature, if not for the fact that this book was a favorite of my favorite author JM Barrie, I probably never would have finished it.
Worst School-Required Book Runner-Up: The Black Album, by Hanif Kureishi.
Most Suspenseful Book: Mary Rose, by JM Barrie. Take one weird woman who's as annoying as she is ethereal, add some disembodied voices and spooky ghosts, then throw in a mysterious island that bears a ton of similarities to the one on the TV show "Lost," and presto, you've got a play that had me sleeping with my lights on. I'm convinced that the writers of "Lost" must have read this.
Most Suspenseful Book Runner-Up: The She, by Carol Plum-Ucci.
Best Biography: Shirley Temple: American Princess, by Anne Edwards. While you'll never watch another Shirley Temple movie the same way again, what really stands out about this book is its unrelentingly harsh portrayal of Shirley's mother, Gertrude Temple. It presents her as the ultimate nightmare of a stage mom who completely neglected her older two children and devoted her life to making Shirley a cash cow. Other Temple biographers -- most notably Shirley herself, in her autobiography Child Star -- shine a much gentler light on Gertrude. But still, I wanted to give Gertrude some ice for this burn.
Worst Biography: JM Barrie, by FJ Harvey Darton. How anyone could take an author as bizarre, interesting, talented, and successful as Barrie and turn his life into such a boring biography is beyond me.
Most Anticipated Book of 2005: Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, by JK Rowling. Old Journal Entry: Thursday, July 14, 2005. Over two years of waiting are about to be over. In a little more than twenty-four hours, I will have my very own copy of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince in my hands. Well, it will not be entirely my very own, as Sarah and I are sharing, but that certainly will not tarnish its appeal. I cannot help wondering: One month from now, when I have read and reread the book and I am stuck waiting for who knows how many months and years for the next one, will I find myself wishing to return to this moment, to the night before, when all the shocks and surprises are still waiting for me?
Breakout Author of 2005: Ann Brashares. In 2005, I read the first two books of her madly successful Traveling Pants Series (I'm still waiting for the third one to be released in paperback) and saw the movie, so there was really no contest.
Overall Best of 2005: The Red Tent, by Anita Diamant. The Red Tent puts a cool feminine spin on the Bible. It is narrated by Dinah, the only daughter of Jacob who makes only a brief appearance in the Book of Genesis as a rape victim, and it spans almost the entire lives of Dinah, her mother Leah, and Leah's three sisters. All four sisters are Jacob's wives, and all four love Dinah as their own. When Dinah is suddenly seperated from them and cast into a foreign land by the cruel, ignorant men around her (especially her brothers), she realizes that her mother and aunts have given her the strength and courage she needs face the world alone.
Overall Best Runner-Up: The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants, by Ann Brashares. This is a bestseller with an awesome degree of girl-power that rivals The Red Tent. Four lifelong teenage best friends share one pair of jeans -- which magically fits each of their very differently-shaped bodies perfectly -- during their first summer apart. As one falls in love, one loses her virginity, one loses a new friend, and one finds a new family, they remain close and committed to each other in a way that their parents, boyfriends, and siblings can't. The movie of the same name is also awesome, though it isn't as good as the book (they never are).
Overall Worst of 2005: Mr. Potter, by Jamaica Kincaid. Here is a randomly-selected excerpt: "The sun was in its usual place, up above and in the middle of the sky, and it shone in its usual way so harshly bright, making even the shadows pale, making even the shadows seek shelter; that day the sun was in its usual place, up above and in the middle of the sky, but Mr. Potter did not note this, so accustomed was the to this, the sun in its usual place, up above and in the middle of the sky." The entire book is written this way. Need I say more?
Overall Worst Runner-Up: Season of Migration to the North, by Tayeb Salih.
Best Holocaust Fictional Book: Milkweed, by Jerry Spinelli. Milkweed is narrated by one little boy has lived on the streets for so long that he believes his name to be "Stopthief." In 1939, he is suddenly assigned the name Misha, labeled a Gypsy, and imprisoned in the infamous Warsaw ghetto, where misery and death are only a background to his smuggling exploits. For example, when he's talking to another character and notices a man down the street banging his head against the wall, it doesn't distract him from the conversation. This book explores a very unusual question: After the concentration camps were liberated and the victims began to return to their normal lives, what became of those with no normal life to return to? (Even better when read with Children and Play in the Holocaust, by George Eisen.)
Best Holocaust Fictional Book Runner-Up: Auschwitz, by Pascal Croci.
Worst Holocaust Fictional Book: Night of the Broken Glass, by Peter Broner. It was somewhat interesting because its variety of characters included from a half-Jew who joins the Hitler Youth, a streetcar conductor who stands up against the Nazis, a shoe manufacturer who saves Jews by employing them in his factory (similar to Oskar Schindler), cruel, crippled SS captain, and many others. However, its writing style was so incredibly tedious and awkward that I couldn't enjoy it all. If Peter Broner had only typed up an outline of events and assigned the actual prose to a ghostwriter, this novel could have been something really good. But he didn't, and why in the world Elie Weisel provided praise to this, I will never know.
Worst Holocaust Fictional Book Runner-Up: The Painted Bird, by Jerzy Kosinski. A young city boy is sent into hiding in the remote countryside of Eastern Europe to escape the transports to concentration camps. But escaping the Holocaust becomes as horriffic as surviving it as the boy's so-called "rescuers" take turns abusing him in truly disgusting, disturbing ways. Not for those with weak stomachs.
Best Holocaust Nonfictional Book: Hitler Youth, by Susan Campbell Bartoletti. This unforgettable book explores a side of Nazi Germany that you don't read about very often. I always knew that Adolph Hitler was one evil freak, but until I read Hitler Youth, I never knew about his sick manipulation and exploitation of German children. He separated kids from their parents, brainwashed their young minds, and sent boys as young as 13-years-old to the frontlines of World War II. After reading interviews with former members of Hitler Youth -- now elderly, ailing, and burdened with unbelievable guilt -- I felt almost as sorry for them as I do for Hitler's Jewish victims.
Best Holocaust Nonfictional Book Runner-Up: Maus, by Art Spiegelman. As he is about to become a father for the first time, cartoonist Art Spiegelman reflects on his troubled relationship with his own father, his father's survival of Nazi Germany and the Auschwitz concentration camp, and his mother's suicide. One of the very few comic books about the Holocaust, and easily the most well-known, Maus is incredibly personal, morbidly funny, and completely unique.
Best School-Required Book: Moby-Dick, by Herman Melville. I was as surprised as anyone when I actually began enjoying Ishmael's great blend of cynicism, humor, and wisdom. Although it is very long, a billion cool allusions to the Bible and Shakespeare, deep philosophies on God and mankind, characters as real as the people around you, and the very first hetero lifemates (Ishmael and Queequeeg) make all 135 chapters completely worthwhile. Sadly, I don't think everyone in my English class loved it so much. Sorry, Dr. Lowe.
Best School-Required Book Runner-Up: The Contrast, by Royall Tyler.
Worst School-Required Book: The Deerslayer, by James Fenimore Cooper. While I believe Dr. Lowe when he says that The Deerslayer is an important part of American literature, if not for the fact that this book was a favorite of my favorite author JM Barrie, I probably never would have finished it.
Worst School-Required Book Runner-Up: The Black Album, by Hanif Kureishi.
Most Suspenseful Book: Mary Rose, by JM Barrie. Take one weird woman who's as annoying as she is ethereal, add some disembodied voices and spooky ghosts, then throw in a mysterious island that bears a ton of similarities to the one on the TV show "Lost," and presto, you've got a play that had me sleeping with my lights on. I'm convinced that the writers of "Lost" must have read this.
Most Suspenseful Book Runner-Up: The She, by Carol Plum-Ucci.
Best Biography: Shirley Temple: American Princess, by Anne Edwards. While you'll never watch another Shirley Temple movie the same way again, what really stands out about this book is its unrelentingly harsh portrayal of Shirley's mother, Gertrude Temple. It presents her as the ultimate nightmare of a stage mom who completely neglected her older two children and devoted her life to making Shirley a cash cow. Other Temple biographers -- most notably Shirley herself, in her autobiography Child Star -- shine a much gentler light on Gertrude. But still, I wanted to give Gertrude some ice for this burn.
Worst Biography: JM Barrie, by FJ Harvey Darton. How anyone could take an author as bizarre, interesting, talented, and successful as Barrie and turn his life into such a boring biography is beyond me.
Most Anticipated Book of 2005: Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, by JK Rowling. Old Journal Entry: Thursday, July 14, 2005. Over two years of waiting are about to be over. In a little more than twenty-four hours, I will have my very own copy of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince in my hands. Well, it will not be entirely my very own, as Sarah and I are sharing, but that certainly will not tarnish its appeal. I cannot help wondering: One month from now, when I have read and reread the book and I am stuck waiting for who knows how many months and years for the next one, will I find myself wishing to return to this moment, to the night before, when all the shocks and surprises are still waiting for me?
Breakout Author of 2005: Ann Brashares. In 2005, I read the first two books of her madly successful Traveling Pants Series (I'm still waiting for the third one to be released in paperback) and saw the movie, so there was really no contest.
Labels: books
1.08.2006
All Books of 2005.
All Books of 2005. Since 2003, I have kept lists of all the books I read each year. Here's the round-up for 2005. There are 46 altogether, arranged by author's last name. I wish I had read more.
1. A Sporting Proposition, by James Aldridge.
2. The Admirable Chricton, by JM Barrie.
3. Mary Rose, by JM Barrie.
4. Sentimental Tommy, by JM Barrie.
5. Tommy and Grizel, by JM Barrie.
6. Hitler Youth: Growing Up in Hitler's Shadow, by Susan Campbell Bartoletti.
7. The Second Summer of the Sisterhood, by Ann Brashares.
8. The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants, by Ann Brashares.
9. Night of the Broken Glass, by Peter Broner.
10. Images From the Holocaust: A Literature Anthology, by Jean E. Brown, Elaine C. Stephens, and Janet E. Rubin.
11. The Goats, by Brock Cole.
12. The Deerslayer, by James Fenimore Cooper.
13. Auschwitz, by Pascal Croci.
14. JM Barrie, by FJ Harvey Darton.
15. The War Against the Jews: 1939-1945, by Lucy S. Dawidowicz.
16. The Red Tent, by Anita Diamant.
17. Shirley Temple: American Princess, by Anne Edwards.
18. Children and Play in the Holocaust: Games Among the Shadows, by George Eisen.
19. The Scarlet Letter, by Nathaniel Hawthorne.
20. Olive's Ocean, by Kevin Henkes.
21. Mr. Potter, by Jamaica Kincaid.
22. The Outcasts of 19 Schuyler Place, by EL Konigsburg.
23. The Painted Bird, by Jerzy Kosinski.
24. The Black Album, by Hanif Kureishi.
25. Anastasia at This Address, by Lois Lowry.
26. The Silent Boy, by Lois Lowry.
27. Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West, by Gregory Maguire.
28. Baby-Sitters' Summer Vacation, by Ann M. Martin.
29. Kristy's Mystery Admirer, by Ann M. Martin.
30. The Mystery at Claudia's House, by Ann M. Martin.
31. Snowbound, by Ann M. Martin.
32. Moby-Dick, by Herman Melville.
33. The First Year: A Retirement Journal, by John Mosedale.
34. Crossing the River, by Caryl Phillips.
35. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, by JK Rowling.
36. Fireflies in the Dark: The Story of Friedl Dicker-Brandeis and the Children of Terezin, by Susan Goldman Rubin.
37. Season of Migration to the North, by Tayeb Salih.
38. The Reader, by Bernhard Schlink.
39. Maus I: My Father Bleeds History, by Art Spiegelman.
40. Maus II: And Here My Troubles Began, by Art Spiegelman.
41. Milkweed, by Jerry Spinelli.
42. The Contrast, by Royall Tyler.
43. The She, by Carol Plum-Ucci.
44. Mila 18, by Leon Uris.
45. Inventing Wonderland: Victorian Childhood and Fantasty, by Jackie Wullschlager.
46. Jacob Riis, by Bonnie Yochelsem.
1. A Sporting Proposition, by James Aldridge.
2. The Admirable Chricton, by JM Barrie.
3. Mary Rose, by JM Barrie.
4. Sentimental Tommy, by JM Barrie.
5. Tommy and Grizel, by JM Barrie.
6. Hitler Youth: Growing Up in Hitler's Shadow, by Susan Campbell Bartoletti.
7. The Second Summer of the Sisterhood, by Ann Brashares.
8. The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants, by Ann Brashares.
9. Night of the Broken Glass, by Peter Broner.
10. Images From the Holocaust: A Literature Anthology, by Jean E. Brown, Elaine C. Stephens, and Janet E. Rubin.
11. The Goats, by Brock Cole.
12. The Deerslayer, by James Fenimore Cooper.
13. Auschwitz, by Pascal Croci.
14. JM Barrie, by FJ Harvey Darton.
15. The War Against the Jews: 1939-1945, by Lucy S. Dawidowicz.
16. The Red Tent, by Anita Diamant.
17. Shirley Temple: American Princess, by Anne Edwards.
18. Children and Play in the Holocaust: Games Among the Shadows, by George Eisen.
19. The Scarlet Letter, by Nathaniel Hawthorne.
20. Olive's Ocean, by Kevin Henkes.
21. Mr. Potter, by Jamaica Kincaid.
22. The Outcasts of 19 Schuyler Place, by EL Konigsburg.
23. The Painted Bird, by Jerzy Kosinski.
24. The Black Album, by Hanif Kureishi.
25. Anastasia at This Address, by Lois Lowry.
26. The Silent Boy, by Lois Lowry.
27. Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West, by Gregory Maguire.
28. Baby-Sitters' Summer Vacation, by Ann M. Martin.
29. Kristy's Mystery Admirer, by Ann M. Martin.
30. The Mystery at Claudia's House, by Ann M. Martin.
31. Snowbound, by Ann M. Martin.
32. Moby-Dick, by Herman Melville.
33. The First Year: A Retirement Journal, by John Mosedale.
34. Crossing the River, by Caryl Phillips.
35. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, by JK Rowling.
36. Fireflies in the Dark: The Story of Friedl Dicker-Brandeis and the Children of Terezin, by Susan Goldman Rubin.
37. Season of Migration to the North, by Tayeb Salih.
38. The Reader, by Bernhard Schlink.
39. Maus I: My Father Bleeds History, by Art Spiegelman.
40. Maus II: And Here My Troubles Began, by Art Spiegelman.
41. Milkweed, by Jerry Spinelli.
42. The Contrast, by Royall Tyler.
43. The She, by Carol Plum-Ucci.
44. Mila 18, by Leon Uris.
45. Inventing Wonderland: Victorian Childhood and Fantasty, by Jackie Wullschlager.
46. Jacob Riis, by Bonnie Yochelsem.
Labels: books
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