The Death of Bees

The Death of Bees
by Lisa O'Donnell
2012 Harper
Rating 5/5

     "Today is Christmas Eve. Today is my birthday. Today I am fifteen. Today I buried my parents in the backyard. Neither of them were beloved."
     This is the way "The Death of Bees" starts, and Lisa O'Donnell manages to carry on that intensity to the very last page. Marnie and her 11 year old sister Nelly are on their own after hiding their parent's bodies after their mysterious deaths. Set in a dark, dirty, and almost always wet part of Glasgow, this story is told in the alternating voices of Marnie, Nelly, and Lennie, the lonely old gay man who lives next door. The sisters hide the bodies to avoid being taken away and separated by the welfare system. Their parents were drug addicts that did not provide for them and often left them alone for days at a time. Both girls are very bright - Marnie gets straight As and Nelly is a prodigy on the violin, but both are damaged. Marnie drinks vodka, sells drug, and has sex with an older man. Nelly wakes up screaming and has no friends at school. But they work hard to protect each other.
     Lennie notices that the parents aren't around anymore and thinks that the sisters have been abandoned. He tries to offer them help and they form a very strange family unit. This book is very dark and sometimes hard to read, but I cared so much for these characters. "The Death of Bees" is definitely my first Best of 2013 book and I can't wait to see what Lisa O'Donnell does next.

Top Ten Books of 2012

     Made it through another retail Christmas (my 22nd!). So it must be time for another year end roundup. 2012 was another wonderful year of reading for me, I read 70 books - averaging 1.35 books a week, just a touch behind last year's average. You can click on the title of some of the books to see my original review.

1. The Dog Stars by Peter Heller. I knew this was something special almost as soon as I started it. What propelled it to my number one spot is the fact that even now, 4 months after I finished it, parts of the book are still with me. I find myself wanting to be fishing, walking through the woods with a great companion, or flying in a small plane. The Dog Stars tells the story of a man struggling to survive in a world where 99% of the population was wiped out a decade earlier. The writing in this book is beautiful and took me away to another place - the biggest thing I ask for in a book.

2. The Homecoming of Samuel Lake by Jenny Wingfield. A wonderful piece of Southern literature by an excellent new writer. Highly recommended to me by one coworker and one former coworker, I am so glad that I listened to them. The girl in this book, Swan Lake, is a worthy successor to Scout from To Kill A Mockingbird.

3. The Orphan Master's Son by Adam Johnson. The first really good book this year and my favorite for a good chunk of the year. A fascinating look at the life of a young man in North Korea. This is a culture we know so little about and Johnson really brings it to life in this sometimes horrifying and sometimes hilarious tale.

4. Behind the Beautiful Forevers by Katherine Boo. Easily the best nonfiction I read this year, this is devastating look at life in a Mumbai slum won the National Book Award this year. The author spent 3 years researching this book, conducting numerous interviews with the subjects. They really come alive and are people you deeply care for.

5. Let's Pretend This Never Happened by Jenny Lawson. Quite possibly the funniest book I have ever read, this is the memoir of The Bloggess, a woman who grew up in a small Texas town. The only book on this list I have read twice - once to myself and the second time aloud to my wife over a period of time. Please read this book! 

6. The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry by Rachel Joyce. A beautifully lyrical story of a retired British man that sets off to walk across the country to visit an old acquaintance dying of cancer. Has some of the feel of "The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society".

7. Wonder by R.J. Palacio. This wonderful children's book about a physically deformed boy entering the 5th grade made me laugh and cry.

8. Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn. I love mysteries and thrillers, probably my favorite genre. I read a lot of them and all too many of the new authors I try are formulaic. That is why it was exciting to come across this book which felt fresh and original, albeit very dark.

9. The Age of Miracles by Karen Thompson Walker. Excellent story of a young girl coming of age during a time when the earth's rotation is slowing down. Days are becoming much longer, throwing off, people, animals, and crops. The book keeps a steady hand moving between her concerns with life as a 12 year old girl and dealing with the possible end of the world.

10. A Land More Kind Than Home by Wiley Cash. Very good Southern fiction about a group of people in a small community in the Carolinas. After a boy dies during a church service, the investigation into it reveals many secrets, some long buried. Great characters kept me glued to this story.

     A few honorable mentions: "Where's You Go Bernadette?" by Maria Semple, "The Twelve" by Justin Cronin, "The Gods of Gotham" by Lynsday Faye, "Heft" by Liz Moore, "Telegraph Avenue" by Michael Chabon, "Among Others" by Jo Walton. And a nod to the most disappointing book of the year for me - "The Red House" by Mark Haddon. It may not have been the worst book I read this year, but it was close and I had it on my list of my most anticipated books of 2012.
     And to wrap it up, a little pat on the back for myself. I know I am not much a of a writer, but I do enjoy sharing my thoughts on books. The publishing site Edelweiss chose my review for Telegraph Avenue as one of their featured reviews on the book. Almost like being published! :)

More Quick Reviews

1. Let's Pretend This Never Happened by Jenny Lawson (5/5). I hate to sound over the top here, but this is the single funniest book I have ever read. Jenny Lawson, better known as "The Bloggess" online,  tells the story of her very strange life in this hilarious memoir. She grew up in a small West Texas town with a father who was an amateur taxidermist and who's idea of fun was dropping a live bobcat into a family member's lap. I read this myself and then immediately turned around and started reading it aloud to my wife when she was cooking or we were in the car going somewhere. This became dangerous at times, when she was laughing so hard she almost had to pull over. Highly recommended!

2. Redshirts by John Scalzi (3/5). Funny & interesting science fiction novel, but probably my least favorite of John Scalzi's novels so far. This one looks at the redshirt ensigns on a galactic space cruiser on an exploration cruise. They realize they are dying at a fast pace and start trying to figure out why. I laughed out loud several times, but  didn't think that the whole thing held together all that well.

3. Wonder by R.J. Palacio (5/5). Wonderful children's/young adult book about a physically deformed boy entering the 5th grade. His parents decide to enroll him in school instead of homeschooling him. The book changes narrators several time, giving a well rounded view if his life. Heartwarming and a good lesson for kids without hitting you over the head with it. This book has one of the best cover designs I have seen recently.


4. Among Others by Jo Walton (4/5).  Excellent fantasy novel about a 15 year old girl at a boarding school in England in 1979. A confrontation with her mother, who may or may not be a witch, has left her crippled and her twin sister dead. Her escape from this world are the science fiction novels that she reads, many of which I read during the same period. I really enjoyed reading this novel, but will have to go back and reread the ending at some point - I found it a bit confusing. Winner of the 2012 Hugo Award for Best Novel.

5. Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn (5/5). Wow! An excellent thriller with many twists and turns. One of the best thrillers I have read in a long tie. It is well crafted and filled with unforgettable characters that you never quite know how you feel about. A man comes home from work one day to find blood on the floor and his wife missing. We hear the wife's voice through her diaries, and the husband narrates his experiences as he tries to figure out what happened to her.

6. Ballgame! by Josh Lewin (3/5).  Good memoir by Josh Lewin, the TV play by play guy for the Texas Rangers for many years. An interesting look at his early career and good behind the scenes stuff on how the Texas Rangers finally became a MLB power. He and Tom Grieve made an excellent broadcasting team for the Rangers, it was a sad day when they did not re-sign him 2 years ago.

The Dog Stars

The Dog Stars
by Peter Heller
2012 Knopf
Rating 5/5

      A poetic post-apocalyptic story? This is it! This debut novel by Peter Heller is set in the Rocky Mountains after a super-flu epidemic has killed off almost everyone, This is an amazing mixture of poetic reflection, beautiful writing about nature & some amazing intense action. The hero, Hig, is an amateur pilot, who maintains the perimeter by flying patrol in his aging Cessna with his faithful dog, Jasper. His partner in survival is Bangley, a former neighbor who is a survivalist and weapons expert.
     After a hunting trip that goes bad, Hig, takes off an a mission to find a mysterious voice he heard on the radio years before. The book really takes off here and Hig's life changes profoundly. At times, "The Dog Stars" is every bit as depressing as McCarthy's "The Road", but there is a sense of hopefulness that makes this a joy to read. This is a book that makes me want to go fishing and to learn how to fly a plane. It is also a  book that I wanted to go on long after I finished reading it.
     Part of my favorite review of the book - "In the midst of all the devastation, Heller shows us the stunning beauty of the natural world. The pages of “The Dog Stars” are damp with grief for what is lost and can never be recovered. But there are moments of unexpected happiness, of real human interaction, infused with love and hope, like the twinkling of a star we might wish upon, which makes this end-of-the-world novel more like a rapturous beginning.” – San Francisco Chronicle.

Some Quick Reviews

   I have let myself fall behind on the book reviews, so here are some short ones to catch up a bit.

1. The Homecoming of Samuel Lake by Jenny Wingfield (Rating 5/5). This is an amazing book about an out of work preacher's family in 1956 Arkansas. Financial problems force them to move in with his in-laws. Great characters and story make this feel like a worthy successor to "The Help". The little girl named Swan Lake (yes, really) has much of the feel of Scout from "To Kill A Mockingbird". One of the best of the year. My friend Lesley wrote a great review that led me to read this. You can check out her review here.

2. In One Person by John Irving (Rating 3/5). The newest novel by one of my favorite authors was a disappointment. I was intrigued by the plot, but could not get interested in the characters. This is the story of a bisexual man's life, it is especially heartbreaking during the AIDS breakout of the 1980s. Irving's writing is excellent as usual, but several themes from previous books are repeated here.

3. The Astounding, the Amazing, and the Unknown by Paul Malmont (Rating 3/5). A fun thriller set during World War II featuring a team of real life science fiction writers (including Robert Heinlein, Isaac Asimov, L. Sprague deCamp, and L. Ron Hubbard) on a military mission that involves the secret history of Nicola Tesla and Thomas Edison, an imminent Nazi threat, and more. The author did a lot of research and it was a good read, but then the ending didn't quite hold up for me.

4. The Lifeboat by Charlotte Rogan (Rating (2/5). Well reviewed fiction about a young woman among a group of people in a lifeboat after their ship is sunk in the Atlantic in 1914. Intriguing at first, with it's story of survival and conflict in the lifeboat, but it soon bogs down with a courtroom drama.  

5. Alpha by Greg Rucka (Rating (3.5/5). Excellent thriller - think "Die Hard" at Disneyland. The new head of security at a large California theme park must stop a terrorist attack the same day that his ex-wife and daughter are visiting the park. Well plotted, edge of your seat action - would make a great movie.

Telegraph Avenue

Telegraph Avenue
by Michael Chabon
2012 Harper
Rating 4.5/5
Received an E-galley from the publisher.

     Finally, one of my 10 most anticipated books of 2012, that lived up to my hype. While this Michael Chabon novel isn't on the level of the Pulitzer Prize winning "The Amazing Adventures Of Kavalier and Clay", it is nonetheless a wonderful read.
     Telegraph Avenue is the name of a street in a neighborhood of Berkeley, CA nicknamed Brokeland. It is home to a fascinating group of characters that populate this book. The book is set in and around Brokeland Records, a vintage record store owned by Archy Stallings and Nat Jaffe. They find out that a new superstore with a large music section is planning on opening in the neighborhood. While it will bring many badly needed jobs to the area, it will also almost certainly put Brokeland Records out of business. There are many other story lines going on throughout the book featuring various other friends and family, including Nat's gay, Tarantino obsessed teenage son.
     I loved the characters (including a charismatic parrot) and the dialogue rang true to me, peppered with references to old jazz and R&B, comic books, and cult films. "Telegraph Avenue" is one of those books that makes you miss the characters once it is over.

Heft

Heft
by Liz Moore
2012 W.W. Norton
Rating: 4/5
Received an E-galley from the publisher.

"Heft" is a moving, well written story of two people - a morbidly obese man who has not left his home in 10 years and a teenage boy dealing with an alcoholic mother. The two are not aware of each other's existence, but are connected by a mutual person in their lives. Former academic Arthur Opp weighs 550 pounds never leaves his home. A former student gets in touch with him and he starts making changes in his life, hiring a maid to help him get his home ready for a possible visitor. Unexpectedly, this contact with this teenager who comes to clean comes to mean more to him then he expected.

     In another part of New York, Kel Keller is the poor kid in a rich school with a promising baseball career. The biggest stumbling block in his life is his alcoholic mother whom he has to care for. As she gets worse, his personal & athletic lives deteriorate.

     The two characters are sympathetic, but not entirely likable. But as the book goes on, you grow to love and root for them both. Their story shows that there are different definitions for "family". As I hit the last fourth of the book, I could not put it down. Highly recommended. I just wish the book had been about 5 pages longer, it ends somewhat abruptly. The San Francisco Chronicle said: “Few novelists of recent memory have put our bleak isolation into words as clearly as Liz Moore does in her new novel.”