on the waterfront

The Italian film Shun Li and the Poet, is about friendship, mostly, and immigration, poets and fishing. It is poignant and lovely and sad, a little bit heartwarming, a dash of toughness. I found it on dvd at the library, a great source for movies. I also recently read a fierce and loving book called My Brilliant Friend, by Elena Ferrante, the story of the friendship of two girls in Naples in the 1950's. So detailed and fascinating and infuriating. It is the first in a trilogy, and I am making myself wait a bit before I read the next one.

The above pictures were taken last weekend, on the waterfront in Greenpoint, Brooklyn.

books...gift ideas

Books were always under the tree when I was a child, and I kept up the tradition with my family. The other day my son Matt and I went to the New England Mobile Book Fair (when I first saw the name I though it was a book mobile) to buy some gifts. They used to shelve their books by publisher, not subject or author, which made a lot of people crazy, but I loved the randomness--it became a real exploration. I was disappointed to see that the books are now conventionally shelved, but it's still a great store. Half of it is older bargain books, which is always fun.

I freeze up when people ask me what my favorite_______ (color, movie, book) is, but I do enjoy reading other people's lists. It's been a great year of reading for me, so here are my absolute favorites that I read in last year or so--substantial books that could make great gifts.

Literary Novels 
The Goldfinch, Donna Tartt
The Roundhouse, Louise Erdrich
A Constellation of Vital Phenomena, Anthony Marra
Swamplandia, Karen Russell 
Live by Night, Dennis Lehane
The Dog Stars, Peter Heller

Memoirs
Wild, Cheryl Strayed
Cocktail Hour Under the Tree of Forgetfulness, Alexandra Fuller

Older Gift-Worthy Novels  I Read This Year
The Shadow of the Wind, Carlos Ruiz Zafon (thanks to Amelia for the recommendation). It would be fun to pair this with Mr. Penumbra's 24-hour Bookstore.
All the Pretty Horses, Cormac McCarthy (The entire Border Trilogy would make a nice gift.)
A Suitable Boy, Vikram Seth
Winter's Tale, Mark Helprin (The third time I've read it.)

Advice on Love and Life
Tiny Beautiful Things,  Cheryl Strayed

Poetry
The Ecopoetry Anthology
New and Selected Poems, Volumes 1 and 2, Mary Oliver (Dream Work is my favorite single volume of hers)
The Four Seasons Poems, Everyman Library Anthology
The Everyman Library Pocket Poet series is wonderful--attractive little books, reasonably priced. Great gifts!

And
The Best American Series is terrific. I buy several of them every year--always the essay, travel writing, and sports writing volumns. Don't feel you have to limit yourself to this year's books--the older ones make good reading too.

I hope to do another post of detective/espionage suggestion (and maybe on some other random book gift ideas). I read all kinds of books, so feel free to email me (or comment) if you want some suggestions. I'd love to know any favorites of yours too.

Jen

p.s. Comments from Alicia and Petra remind me that the majority of people who comment here don't live in the U.S.A. and therefore have no (or limited) access to the books I mention. I didn't think about that when I wrote the post. If you live in another country and have a favorite book or two from there I would love to know what they are. I found the Zafon book when asking Amelia for books by Spanish authors. thank you, merci danke gracias grazie spasbida cheers!

I've been reading...

As light snow swirls in a heavy wind, I try to imagine the vastness of Siberia, a place fraught with meaning and legend. Yesterday I finished Nicholas and Alexandra, Robert Massie's biography/history of the last decades of Russian Imperialism and now I'm embarking on one of my occasional theme reading binges. I bought Nabokov's Lectures on Russian Literature, lectures he gave when he was a professor at Wellesley College and Cornell University in the 1940's. I haven't decided which of the books in the lectures I will read, or re-read, but I look forward to imagining myself in the classroom with Nabokov.

I next plan to read Gulag, Anne Applebaum's history of the Soviet labor camps, a book that I've wanted to read but been terrified of. Historically it picks up where Nicholas and Alexandra left off, so I've decided to tackle it. Needing a quick break from the heaviness, I am now reading The Dogs of Rome, an Italian crime novel. (That a murder mystery is light reading gives you an idea of how I feel about approaching Gulag.)

Let's talk flowers for a minute. I really cannot pick a favorite, but if you made me do so today it would be the sweet pea. So delicate, so lyrical. Are they hard to grow?

As for non-Russian books, I've finished and recommend Michael Chabon's Telegraph Avenue, which you will love if you are a fan of Chabon or Jonathan Lethem*. If you haven't read Chabon before, I recommend starting with The Yiddish Policemen's Union or The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay. I also recommend Dennis Lehane's Live by Night, my favorite of all his books, and one of the best non-genre, a/k/a literary, crime novels I've read.

*I've never laughed out loud as much as when I read Motherless Brooklyn.

This blog's been drifting a bit since I closed the store, and since I read so much and you seem to like when I write about books, I'm going to do so on a regular(ish)basis. Okay?

Jen